Shoes to run away from

Here's some non-sense we were up to before all the depression when my cat died, Rene got sick with angina, and I got denied another really cool job I'd applied for with an application I put so much time into that they'd given the job away before the application period even ended. Maybe these pics I took was an omen of all the negativity...

We went on a quest to find running shoes fro Rene. They're ALL ugly as hell. Seriously, what is wrong with people who design these? Or folks who wear them??!

Here are some pics of how pretty it was outside first, though.

Rene's laundry of the day:
Hat - H&M
3D Glasses - Cinemaxx
coat - somewhere in Mexico
jeans - H&M
shoes - New Balance


Laundry of the day:
Hat - gift from mom's neighbour from Mallorca
scarf tube - Naf Naf
coat - LeGroup
shirt - Motivi
jeans - Cheap Monday
winter sneakers - Rubberduck
purse - Hilfiger
gloves - no idea

Rene went to see Avatar, and wont take off the 3D glasses ever since.


UGLY SHOES! I am never setting foot in a sport shop again, that's how uninspiring the stuff there is. Seriously, is there a person out there who would wear these with pride? Definitely you wouldn't say they're pretty, or flattering, or fashionable, or anything more positive than "OK for running". Sure, the neon yellow makes me feel so sporty I'm sweatting already!


And can't they hide the ugly bouncy bits with a normal looking heal? WOW that's so high tech, I feel like I'm in the air...


Seriously UGLY! They're everywhere!

YUCK YUCK YUCK YUCK YUCK


OK, Rene seems to have found something normal and shoe-looking...

But they still weren't good enough...

It gets worse! What is UP with these high tech looking bouncy robot-shoes? I'm sure they're very good for running, but do they NEED to be made of grey plastic? Yucky Yuckersons!


And may I present my favorites: the gradient grey Nike's with so many energetic skid marks to make you look faster, and red Duplo-style-heels! These are so ugly it hurts!


EEEEOW!

Somebody explain please. Is it so, that the uglier they are, the faster you run, so you can take 'em off?

Old man Jeppa, the awesomest cat in memoriam

I dunno if a blog is the place for an obituary, I just want to give my respects to the coolest cat in the world. Our almost 16-year-old cat Jeppa passed away last Thursday, and will be missed so much. He was our family member for a long time, the years I grew up. The best and biggest cat I've ever seen, all white with long hair, a totally unpredictable but wise old timer, and the most innovative sleeper and stretcher, as you can see below.

The right pic is from when he was a baby, and we lived in Lahti. The left one is from later (2 years old) when we moved to helsinki, and I set a pillow for him in front of a heater, cos he loved the warmth.



We had to find a new home for 4 months due to a pipe renovation, so the two of us sacked at my ex's house and Jeppa had really good company of his 3 male roommates. Around this time he was about 9. They were a good 4 months, once Jeppa got settled to a new environment, and he loved sleeping in the beer case. :)



This one's from around last Christmas when I was planning on moving him to Berlin with us next summer (he lived with my mom in Helsinki). We even taught him some German. :) He was waiting for me on my bed usually when I came home. Of course this room (that used to be mine when I lived at home) was now totally his room, so maybe he wasn't actually waiting for me, but I liked to think so since he always purred when I came to him.



God I love this fella. I'm out of words now...

My head is saved! (not shaved)

So last night I took the chance of re-dying my failed hair, and luckily it's now better! Yess! In your face, doubtful me! It IS though, almost black. But I love almost black. "Almost black" was the newest trend colour in the Intercolor trend guide for autumn/winter 09-10 I think... I still remember it, 'cos I love the names they invent for colours (like "sunset" or "teardrop"). That's why everybody hates me in wordgames 'cos I remember this kinda useless crap.

This is me slightly bloated in my "I just came home from dancing all night in Villa"-look:

It's also Doppelgänger-week in Facebook, where people are asked to change their profile picture to someone famous they've been told to look like. I just love seeing my friends as Lady Gaga, Che Guevara, Vicky Pollard, and my favorite, the lion from the Wizard of Oz! Lol. With all this I was inspired to gather some old photos from the years back, and show you who people have told me I looked like back then.

Björk
It all started when I was working in the Football World Cup 2006 in Germany. Mostly Americans (altogether I counted like 19 people) kept telling me I looked like "that Scandinavian quirky singer, is she also from Finland?" It was the black and multicoloured hair and the eyes they said.

Mira Luoti
The Finns mostly (since they knew all Nordic people look more or less like Björk) thought I resemble Mira Luoti, the singer from Finnish duet PMMP. My moves aren't maybe as graceful as hers on the mic, but I just had to put that pic in there.



Kirsten Dunst
Another frequently mentioned name is "Spiderman's girlfriend" or "M.J" especially in Mexico, where the previous names are unknown (and so seems to be the name Kirsten Dunst). Of this I'm extremely flattered, even though I know it's mostly the drunken shots of her wobbling to rehab that I resemble.




Kellie Martin

When I was a kid I was told I looked like Becca on Life goes on. I hated that. But you gotta admit the likeness! Mother of God, I hated those specs. Now I think they look awesome!

Me and my bessie Emilia on 1st grade! LOL

Clare Danes
In secondary school I was told I look like Clare Danes. I was really cynical and bad with all kinds of self-critisism back then, so I hated that too. Hah. Allthough it was probably sincerely a compliment! But I hated being the geeky kid in all the tv-shows. I mean I was a total geek, but I didn't wanna admit it. I don't have a picture of that time that I would like to publish (too much teenage angst still there), but I do admit the resemblence, especially whenever I've had brunette and reddish hair.

Aileen Wuornos
This is how I see myself in the mirror some mornings. So far nobody's dared to agree... how bout you? Atleast I feel like a lesbian serial killer in her mugshot, when instead of washing my hair I've had chips & beer for dinner (and maybe rubbed some of them in my hair aswell). And don't get me wrong, I don't wanna label her as anything. There's something very true about this woman. I mean what else do you expect to come out of a girl treated like her all her life? (Although the same effect comes to me with salty snacks and bubbly beverages.)

Picture sources:
Björk 1 and 2
Mira Luoti 1 pressphoto by Aleksi Kinnunen and 2
Kirsten Dunst 1 and 2
Kellie Martin
Clare Danes
Aileen Wuornos

Bad idea

...was to dye my hair dark again. I hardly ever regret stuff, but this I could've left undone. I wanted to have some change, and this is what I was going for:

Photo source here.

BUT I ended up with something I don't really wanna photograph. It's alot darker and has shades of greenish grey and dark blue. It looks like a forest in November. It's beyond my understanding. It's something I wanna tie back and cover with a wig.

So I think next up I'm gonna try something like this. "Dream on" I hear you say.

Photo sources here: Hilary Duff, Lady Gaga.

I haven't learned from my mistake, I'm still gonna try again by myself. I bought a new package, and the lady in the shop asked me sadly "Why did you do it?" Most likely it'll be even worse, and you'll never see a picture of me again. I'm gonna shave my head. I'm gonna have an army-style stubble by the time of our wedding in July.

I'm gonna take this moment to wallow, and reminisce my beautiful blonde hair. And tell you some of the other lucky things that have happened lately! Bad things happen to bad people.

These pics are of Sam and me from last week, when we were invited to a Bread & Butter party. It took us like 2 hours to get all dolled up, and found out that Solar bar was closing in like 20 minutes when we got there. What place closes at 1 am in Berlin? So, we took our red lips and high heels elsewhere, went to Alex for some coctails and took loads of pictures of our overly dressed Thursday night.

Laundry of mine:
Yellow beanie - H&M men's
gloves - Naf Naf
Scarf tube - Naf Naf
Coat - Le Group
purse - Mexx
tee - H&M
bolero - H&M
necklace - Youth vs. Future
jeans - Cheap Monday
boots - vintage (Mauerpark)

Oh, I miss that hair. Wish me luck, that I'll have Sam's hair soon! Thanks :)

In Finland we say "a loved child has many names."

Tadaa! Meet

Lord Asko Johannes Renenpoika Marshall del Bigotes von Matterhorn
and
Princess Jenna-Jatta Rullakatriina Regina Phalange Ala-Pietilä
or in short
Cow and Chicken!

Our piggies are now at home, and named. And they're incredibly cute and interesting personalities. Thanks so much for your great suggestions and votes! I was so happy to read them! I especially loved E.Birdie's Cow & Chicken idea, because the two actually resemble them. The girl keeps running around nervously and won't shut up, and the boy even has cow-pattern all over him! Pirittas Bruce Lee was also a good runner up, but we finally thought it didn't fit the combo so well. In the end we were so overwhelmed with all the good names, that we let go of the rulebook and gave them pretty much all!

For the Paco & Pekka voters, sorry, maybe next time. "Pako" means prison break in Finnish, that woulda been too confusing, and the girl just doesn't look that much like a Pekka. I think we got the whole Mexico-Finland-thing going on in the overly long names anyway. Or what do you say?

The little rascals immediately found their houses, stood there long enough for these pictures to be taken, and ever since the cage has been a goddamn mess.

Lord Asko Johannes Renenpoika Marshall del Bigotes von Matterhorn a.k.a. Cow!

Princess Jenna-Jatta Rullakatriina Regina Phalange Ala-Pietilä a.k.a. Chicken!



Some other ideas we came up with (gotta save these for our human kids):
- the Chick and the Duck (from Friends)
- Possu and Kärpänen (Bunny and Fly from Finnish comedy Kummeli)
- Dumb & Dumber (lol)
- Britney & K-Fed (because the girl is a bitch and the dude is a total slob)...

As a little bonus I give you Moustache Marshall: (picture source here.)


...and two funny videos related to the names:

Regina Phalange:


Do you get this? :) Novelty of the Finnish humor: Possu ja Kärpänen.



Ha. Ha. Ha. ;) Lemme know what you think!

Bread & Butter, Part 2: Trends, fall/winter 2010-11

Here's the second part of my fashion week report. I really can't say I'd seen anything majorly innovative or new at the fair. All major trends that Bead & Butter had to offer for the next year have been visible already this winter. But that's how it the trend reports always are. (There are always the usual black & white, stripes and checks, short and long, big and small etc.)

General feeling
The overall feeling of more feminine and high class stuff is really nature-oriented, but streetwear is still quite urban with neon colours, and strong contrasts in patterns. Basically like in the beginning of the 90s. I'd say the American vintage style comes out even more, with leather, boots, denim and brown shades. Both rugged cowboys and old gentlemen are definitely there. Remember Northern Exposure, the tv-show with Maggie and Joel, in Alaska? (Villi Pohjola in Finnish.) That's what I'm talkin 'bout.

Here's Kuyichi's stand with a bunch of examples of the trends that I picked out in the fair: vintage naturality, brown and denim, preppy meets casual, thin black & white stripes...


Since these trend reports are always a load of opposites, also strong colours are there, even if it's winter fashion: neon yellow, magenta, purple, acid green, and metallic rainbows.

Preppy schoolkids and old gentlemen meet strong colours and patterns from streetwear.

Toned-down, almost pastel shades of basic red, blue, yellow and green.

More 90's, with college shirts, jumpsuits, and big shades with gold and purple.

Silhouettes are mostly slim with loads of layers in different lenghths. Cardigans on blazers, short jeans jackets on knitted tuniques. The combinations are extravagant, the women's wear brand Set had even combined leg warmers with sandals on their dummies. Maybe not the most practical combo, but looked friggin fine! Also big silhouettes with volume are there, but in a feminine way in slinky, soft materials that fold beautifully.

Flowers, animals and other natural patterns are still coming strong in the more feminine side of fashion. Multicolored flowers on a dark surface are, in mostly peach and blue shades. By animal patterns i mean more pictures of whole animals instead of animal skin prints, but leopard was also still there to some extent.

Jeans are mostly slim and feminine either with a loose or a layered long slim top, but you could also see some boyfriend cut there. The patchwork-jeans that so far have been mostly worn in the sub-urbs of the former DDR part of Berlin, are apparently making their way to the high street. I've seen them in the shops already in 2009, but I never saw anyone buy them. Having said this, I must get a pair immediately!

Stripes are mostly thin, black and white, checks are traditional tartans and lumberjacks, and there's plenty of red, black and blue there. Almost every other stand had a red-checkered jacket or shirt on their hangers.


Fur is combined with knitwear. Scarves and collars are still huge, and the knit has different kinds of voluminous surfaces with e.g. big loops and braded patterns.

To balance all the colours, of course winter is all about black and white, and different shades of grey combined.

The fair was extremely cool, even if there wasn't anything shockingly new to be seen. For me it was still all good, since I love the 90s, and it was nice to see more colours than usually at winter. Besides, it is comforting to know, as a consumer, that you can get most of this stuff already in H&M and flea markets. Or that you already have it in your closet. ;)

Bread & Butter, Part 1: the people and the atmosphere

So Fashion week is over, and I'm left with a bunch of cool photos to share! Bread & Butter was a fascinating and colurful candy shop of fashion for a small timer like me. I really felt like such a tool in the middle of all those fast paced international hot-heads with their huge bags, big noses, tanned skins and millions of different dialects, everyone looking like they knew where they were going, and I was always on their way, because I was spinning around overwhelmed and distracted by everything shiny and pretty. This was the little girl avara Maiju from tiny village Vääksy in Finland in the usually so humbly trendy Berlin that suddenly changed into a cold hard fashion capital. But only for a week, phew, now it's back to its normal self.

Part 1 is about the general atmosphere, people, and my favorite stands at the fair. The second part will be an exciting selection of trends for fall/winter 2010-11, so remember to come back for it!

Since Bread & Butter has come back to Berlin, it's been organized at the Tempelhof airport, which is a really cool location I have to say.




3 Finnish brands were there, all really interesting and relatively new. Makia makes streetwear for guys, that I immediately fell in love with, 'cos they combine Finnish culture and streetwear, and their models were total dudes! Makia means 'sweet' in Finnish dialect.

Two other Finnish brands were Kaksitvå and Costo, both looking real good.

One of my absolute favorites was Kuyichi's stand. It was really well decorated in their style, they served organic coctails accordingly to their ecological cotton line, and the stand was very trendy with denim and warm brown colours, in the kind of American vintage-style that we remember from the Camel- and Marlboro ads from the 90s.


That style and atmosphere seemed to be the theme that most stands were following at Bread & Butter. It was all wood, brown vintage arm chairs, old leather bound books, and 50´s milk bottles.


I absolutely love it about Diesel, that they make unconventional things into fashion. Remember the whole luxury of dirt -thang? Well, you know I always love ugly and weird things, so of course this is gonna work for me.

Lonsdale also had an unusual stand for a fashion fair (although appropriate for their target group): Tough broads kickboxing, sweat flying, and no sense of beauty anywhere. I of course though it was cool as hell.

And it gets better. I knew I'd have to find something tacky even in the holy mecca of street-cred! Rollergirl in glitterpants and a slimy bald guy at the Ed Hardy-stand!!!

Goal achieved!

And this is what I came home with:
So many cool books and magazines to read, and a talking Swedish watch I found at the Cheapo stand 5 minutes before closing time, and sweet red-haired dude sold it for me for 10 €! Tack så mycket, puss puss!

Part 2 coming up with closeups of what we'll be wearing one year from now!