avara maiju

Teufelsberg - Listening station turned echo chamber

2010-03-30T01:12:00.000+02:00

You are facing another massive photo-overdose. If you thought the ruins of Spreepark* were creepy, weird, derelicte, fascinating, fairy-tale like or out of this world, it gets better. Brace yourselves for a montain built of ruins of - according to an estimate in Wikipedia: - 400 000 buildings destroyed in the World War II, and an old falling-apart US listening station. Welcome to Teufelsberg.

*) For Spreepark scroll down below to the previous 2 posts.

This is the hill built of war waste from up above.

And this is where I took the picture from: The US listening station from post-war times aswell.

The walk was long, and in the end we found out no-one's allowed in. "Allowed". There were people inside the fences, and helpful Berliners showed us the best hole in the fence.

Then we climbed into the buildings and towers. You go girl.

The staircase wasn't that well lit.

But it still beat taking the lift.

See - it wasn't really "closed down" at all. They'd even built new walls for painters. But I guess they need to lock it down, cos the floors are full of holes, there are practically no proper walls, and otherwise someone'd have to take responsibility for all the junkies that trip and fall. Literally.

On the edge.

First landscapes.

Then up even higher, darker, and louder. The wind was pretty intense up there. And the acoustics in the giant golf ball, man, you could hear your breath up there like it was Darth Vader!

And from this clip you can hear what it sounds like in a giant golf ball. And what it looks like when you could just walk out of the door to a free fall of over 100 meters. Turn up your speakers, guys.

Here's a Wikipedia fun-fact (especially 'fun' now that I read it afterwards)! "Wild Boar, which American soldiers nicknamed "grunie pigs," roam free on the hill. Visitors are advised to stay on the paths at all times." LOL. happy we didn't run into those.

Another fun-fact:

These two pictures made my day:

All sources and picture of Scooter from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teufelsberg
Other pictures by me.

The perfect place for horror stories, Part 2

2010-03-28T13:00:00.008+02:00

In my previous post I told you about the spooky carnival we only got to see from the outside. We thought we'd seen pretty much at the first 2 times, but we were quite wrong, fellas... Here's what happened when we got in.

Seems like the park really did close quite suddenly at its time, since someone even left their tea cup and a piece of cheese lying around.

Dinos chilling by the water.

Candy shop.

It was a bit windy and rainy.

There was a cute little island just outside the park too:

Laundry: Yellow raincloak - Spreepark
beanie - H&M men's
scarf - vintage (from Colours in Kreuzberg)
jeans - H&M
boots - Motivi

In the end we were lucky enough to get a ride on the loudly rattling rusty rail! No seatbelts or sfety measures of any kind! Awesome!!! The clip is over 3 minutes long, but hang in there, if you wanna get the tour from the spooky water slide through the dinosaur land and even further. In the first car is the old fella that we wanna think is the owner, who maybe even still runs his shady businesses in the old buildings of the park... we like to think the worst of everyone. Enjoy!

Best mates in B/W

2010-03-27T19:48:00.000+01:00

Lord Asko the Guinea Pig Dude and Me were wearing matching outfits the other day.

Laundry:
Asko:
self grown fur-overalls with cow pattern
Me:
hat - H&M
shirt - some old rag from the Big Appleback in the day
top - Ginatricot
Jeans & belt - H&M men's (Rene's stuff)
rhinestones - H&M, Six
bracelets - at least some from Green Elephant
watch - Cheapo

Peaches Christ Superstar

2010-03-26T22:43:00.000+01:00

Last week we wento to see an amazing piece of culture: Peaches performing all characters of Jesus Christ Superstar. All she had were 2 outfits, a pianist, some dancers for the crusifiction scene and a giant cross with a distinguished gross form to it. But other than the cross, the whole thing was beautiful. I'd waited so long to see her live, but I'd never had the chance, and now this was the perfect way to start.

The audience was like the cast of the L-word.

I wore:
a vintage dress I've been waiting to get to wear, from Colours
bolero - H&M
boots - Motivi
earrings - vintage from Mexico
bracelets - Green Elephant & from Lahti harbour, Finland
watch - Cheapo
clutch - vintage from Hietsu square, Helsinki

Rene's stuff is mostly from We.

The first act was incredibly sensitive, and made you forget all about the Peaches we're used to. And then came act 2, that reminded us of what we'd just forgotten. The contrast was amazing, act 2 really kicked ass. People were so excited, and so was the star, when she got a bouquet of flowers from a guy from the audience...

Amazing woman.

The perfect place for horror stories, Part 1

2010-03-21T22:22:00.009+01:00

The last few weeks we've been to some of the most spectacular places in Berlin, and I have about 500 photos to show you... I'd never heard of Spreepark before, but Saana told me about it. It's a forsaken amusement park that was founded in the former DDR, and died 2002 after the owner got busted of smuggling 180 kilos of blow in the Flying Carpet. Dude! o_O And to think I'd never heard of this shit?! We decided to find out what's going on in there now, only it was a bit trickier than we thought... we actually ended up going there 3 times, before we finally got in. And it was so worth it.

Laundry of the girl on the right:
Scarf - made by Anniina
jacket - Bershka
hoodie - Pull n Bear
belt - Vans
jeans - Levi's men's
shoes - Onitsuka Tiger
bag - Tommy Hilfiger
Saana's coat I know to be from Desigual.

The area of Spreepark Plänterwald, close to Treptower Park is really cool with a gloomy Gotham City-style twist. The first time we were on the wrong side of the bay, it was getting dark, and all we could see were the smog and the Ferris wheel in the skyline...

The second time we walked around the whole fence of the place, only to find out we weren't gonna get in at all.

This is how it used to look like. I dunno which pics are creepier...

Finally we came to this sign, and decided to give it a third try next week. The tickets cost 15 euros, and it rained like hell, but it made the experience all the more creepy and intense! (Pics of that coming up in the next post.)

After it had rained AND snowed and we were soaked and gutted, because of our 2 useless tries of finding this mystical place, we rewarded ourselves with the nicest oasis we could find: Gemelli, close to Schlesisches Tor. My camera was covered in fog.

Ginger tea was hot...

The salmon-wasabi-sandwiches were delicious.

And back in the lost amusement park the Ferris wheel was still spinning... God knows why.

The burgers in White trash...

2010-03-15T23:04:00.004+01:00

White Trash Fast Food is always awesome, and totally deserves it's own post. The first time I went there was maybe 10 years ago when it was founded in a small ex-chinese restaurant. The waiters didn't speak German and the drinks were for 2 different price categories: cheap ass -vodka for us cheap asses, and pricy one for the fancy pants.

Nowadays it's really close to Rosa-Luxembourgplatz, I'm pretty sure the address would be Schönhauser Allee something. It's a totally disturbed mixture of american fast food, china, biker-sized beer jugs and tattoos, and non-sense. I love non-sense. My dream job would be writing the menus in White Trash.

Justin Timberlake was there too.

Raclette salad. SO good. I mean raclette. MMMM. and the salad was huge and sooo fresh and tasty. It was 9 euros but totally worth it.

And the burgers are why we went there.

If you haven't yet - GO! if you're coming to visit us, remind us to GO!!!

trashfest

2010-03-13T02:56:00.010+01:00

We threw a party with the theme "anything but clothes". Everybody had to dress up into any materials they could think of, except clothes. Here were some of my trashion-inspirations:

Everyone had put alot of effort in their looks, which made us happy pappy! And this is how it all went down.

Josefine had an adorable hamster skirt. And she looked adorable herself!

My thing was reneissance and a Finnish dude called Antti Asplund-inspired.

The food and plates were quite artificial too.

And we practiced what the Spice girls must've felt like frolicking around on stage with plastic dresses. This was made possible by a game called Just dance. Love it!

These guys are doin' it freestyle.

Until the paper dresses ripped off, and all that was left were pantyhose and other flattering pieces of clothing.

Some of my favorite pics of the night:

Sam's heart earrings with Wyclef Jean and Ben Stiller on them...

...and the two dames that got awarded for their innovative dresses (Jackie O on the right)...

...and Ingrid in the "my plug-in baby"-look.

Here's what happens when you give an unemployed fashion designer scissors and too much time. My "laundry" of the night - or in this case just "disposable-by-throwing-into-the-guinea-pig-cage-as-litter-absorbers":

Hat - empty toilet paper rolls from Lidl
Collar and skirt - Berliner Zeitung
Necklace - PushShop
top - made from the cast of Nine
sequen belt - Glitter, Helsinki
bracelets - from Green Elephant, self made, etc.
petticoat - from different masquerade outfits
leggins - Turkish market by Maybachufer
shoes - Buffalo

And as a little bonus especially for you, my 5 readers... an awesome old Twisted Sister-video on speed to make your day even better!

Masquerade at Wilde Renate

2010-02-26T19:52:00.004+01:00

We went to Wilde Renate (Alt Stralau 70) for a masquerade party, and I absolutely loved the place. Even though I wasn't really dressed for the occasion at all (I bought a mask at the door for 1 euro), I did bring my camera, so I was able to take photos of all the effort everyone else had put on their outfits. As a big theme dresser I'll definitely be going back there soon after rummaging through my heaps of funny hats, animal masks, and vintage costumes that smell like death!

Saana with the whitest girl alive.

Lovin this guy's luchador-mask, and background friend's mop-moustache.

Laundry of the night: Motivi sausage skin turtle neck, self made vest, H&M necklace, Rene's jeans from men's department H&M, old Ellos mail order shoes from 1997.

And on the way to the next club my camera died, but not before I was able to capture a few treats of nightly Schöneberg. Not my favorite part of town.

Scroll down also for another post from today... love, Maiju

Berger fabric store

2010-02-26T19:01:00.003+01:00

My sister tipped me on a great fabric shop in Berlin: Berger, on Potsdamerstrasse 68. I went there on a venture to find some fabrics for my wedding dress. And I did, indeed. The place is a dreamland with really cool retro stuff and modern fabrics just suitable for today and tomorrow's fashion, and they did also have just as much tacky stuff from fake cow fur to red pvc!

I wanna make something of these:

Here's a sneak peek to what gave me the inspiration to my wedding dress. Cotton sheets and colorful organza and tulle... too bad I can't spoil the surprise by telling you more... ;)

Now I just need to find a seamstress, 'cos I refuse to make the wedding dress myself on my crappy old Brother machine. So if you know any good ones, lemme kno! I of course have a bunch of great seamstress friends from the time we studied fashion, but they're all in Finland, so that's kinda tricky...

Finnish suicide ballads in Berlin

2010-02-19T17:01:00.005+01:00

This was HIM on a free gig in Berlin, arranged by Myspace Secret Shows. A free gig by HIM in Berlin sounded like an idea born dead, since I know the emo- and goth-kids of this city love their Finnish love metal bands. This is like the only place in the world where Finnish music breaks through (apart from Bam Margera's iPod). So I didn't expect us to actually get in, since they only let in 500 (and I'm the least VIP ever, I'm VUIP, if you know what I mean. I sometimes don't get in when I'm on the list - or maybe it was the blacklist...). But luckily the "secret" show was still secret enough I guess, and we weren't too many. The secret concept MIGHT not work very long though. (Hush hush.)

Anyways, I hadn't seen these homeboys in a long time. Actually I started reminiscing, and realized the first ever time I saw HIM live was warming up for a Prodigy gig 1998, and we were all like, "who the hell are these healthy skinny boys talking about death?" And since Finland is rediculously small, we finally my girls and I all had our little stories of how we're all somehow slightly almost related to Ville Valo.

They still give a hell of a show, and make damn pretty pictures!

This is a clip of Join me, probably their most known (and disturbingly creepy) hit.

It always warms my heart when 500 teenagers sing "This life ain't worth living".

Shoes to run away from

2010-02-09T14:31:00.006+01:00

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

2010-02-06T23:49:00.004+01:00

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)

2010-01-31T17:18:00.008+01:00

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

2010-01-29T15:22:00.006+01:00

...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."

2010-01-26T20:09:00.011+01:00

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

2010-01-25T19:21:00.004+01:00

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

2010-01-24T19:14:00.007+01:00

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!

Our family is getting bigger

2010-01-23T15:46:00.007+01:00

We're gonna have hairy tiny babies tomorrow! They're not hairy just because their dad is Mexican, or because I'm just maybe the hairiest woman alive, but because they're guinea pigs! Freaked you out already, didn't I? We decided around Christmas, that we're gonna start a family. Rene wanted to get a dog, but I'm not sure he understands the hassle it'll bring, and to be honest our life is not regular* enough to take care of something so dependent.

We found these two from Julia, who runs a small shelter for creatures who have lost their home. I've been checking into this whole rodent business, and apparently it's a no-no to take animals from a shop (when there are homeless ones available) and you should always have atleast 2 guinea pigs at one home, otherwise they get really lonely. I believe the wise ones, and so we turned to Julia, and these two sweethearts will be moving in with us tomorrow!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Girl above, boy below. (That's what she said.)

Name suggestions wanted
We're still not sure about the names... maybe you can help us choose! We've been thinking:
- Moustache Marshal and Regina Phalange (like Marshal's moustache growing look-alike in How I met Your Mother, and Phoebe's alias in Friends)
- Jim and Pam (like in The Office)
- Jim and Dwight (like in The Office)
- Asko and Jenna (like the sleek baldy and the blonde hottie you sometimes see in my pictures! This was Asko's request.)
- Asko and Jatta (as above, but Jatta is a brunette and reminds us of the girl guinea pig, cos it runs around like a maniac) :)))) OK, clearly the choice between these two is impossible, but just for laughs I wanted to put them here. :)
- Cabbage and Tumor (they just sound funny)
- Owen and Loretta (old-people-names also sound funny)
- Moto Moto and Gloria (they kinda look like the hippos in Madagascar 2, right?)
- Paco and Pekka (like the Mexican and Finnish "John Smith")

Please vote! We've been back and forth so many times with these, that we decided to take our time and get to know the new-comers. So you can vote 'til Tuesday. They're a dude and a chick, but I'm hoping their identity won't be crushed if we call them something else.

Interior design for Guinea pigs
I've been, of course, totally rediculously over-the-top psyched about the animals, so I've made them some cool stuff to their new house!!! Take a look at these quilt-sleeping bags! I made them from old padded fabrics mom and I wound stored in her attic...

...with a rustic Lexington-style checkered flanell lining!!! How posh is that! (Actually they were old sleeves I cut off from my flanell shirt in my grunge-era when I was 11. As a practical girl I'd saved them!)

I also built a fancy house from an old christmas present-box!

And a barn from an old Chuck's-box! (You can see a mexican ass on the background.)

What do you think? Should I start a career as a tiny construction worker, an interior and textile designer for pets or a rodent stylist?

*)Side note on "regular life": I mentioned our life is not regular enough to take care of a puppy. This whole concept of regularity is not that familiar to me. I recently found out that normal people apparently have regular lunch and dinner times. I'm 27 and I've never really known this. I've always just eaten when I'm hungry. Sometimes we'll seriously have breakfast at 4pm, because we forgot to eat. Or I might cook a meal at midnight, which doesn't have a definition. People ask me like "Have you had dinner?", and I'm like yeah I had "yoghurt around 3, is that dinner?" Maybe I should start learning this before we start getting human babies. Perhaps the guinea pigs will teach me to become a proper mother.

Remember to vote for a name, or send your own suggestion!

Wintersports!

2010-01-20T12:40:00.003+01:00

My trip to Finland wasn't all about hats and parties, like the previous post. We also went out into the snow, frolicking like little animals. This winter has been white and beautiful, like in my childhood, when no-one had heard of global warming and you could litter how ever the hell you wanted. It was cold and really snowy. :) Loved it!

We went ice skating in Jääpuisto, the ice park next to the railway station.

Situations:

Hot chocolate with mint, the essential companion to every winter fun.

Outi was serving everyone:

On Sunday we made a trip to Messilä, a ski resort close to Lahti.

Breaktime vol. 1: "Minttu - an ice hot adventure". I had another mintchocolate and a Shrove bun. That's a bun we tend to eat on Shrove Tuesday, when everyone goes downhill with a sleigh. It's a bun filled with cream and jam or marsipan, and it's supposed to be the last thing you eat before fasting starts.

Mini-me snowboarding:

It was pure beauty! I hadn't been on my board in 2 years, because last winter we spent in Mexico. I'd missed it so bad...

Breaktime vol. 2: Tiiuli and Tuomuli came to visit us!! And my cam was slightly foggy!

When we left it was purple outside:

25 hats

2010-01-17T21:54:00.005+01:00

Yesterday was Jenna & Outi's 25th birthday party in bar Siltanen, Helsinki. Everyone was asked to wear a hat and an outfit to complement it. People looked really cool, the night was a lot of fun, even though I didn't win the title of the ugliest hat, goddammit! (The cocky bastard Juhani beat me with a fake-Burberry-train driver style cap - no one can beat that, it's a fuckin' ugly hat.) And even when fate took over and started to mess with my promise, that I'd get you some outfit pictures, and I happened to forget almost all of my shit in Berlin (keys, phone, chargers...) I managed to get my camera charged and the pics turned out mighty fine. Thanks to the stunning folks with a variety of hats.

Look at these gorgeous featherheads!

The hat variety also included...
A Garden Elf!

His bucket

The Cake

Gandalf Copperfield and Alex.

Sherlock and the Cap'n

and Brett Michaels' gf! Maybe my cup size wouldn't get me into the Bus of Love, but I do wanna pretend so.

And the best twist was, that we went to the biggest disco-hell of all time, my worst nightmare, and the devil's mouth: an SK-rastaurant, Royal Onnela. The weirdness of it was absolutely fantastic! (And where else do you go dressed like me?)

Meanwhile people were agreeing very loudly.

And Asko the disapprover of stetsons, and all things that don't share his taste in fine cigars, quality knitwear and noble alcholic beverages, was there. He is a loveable character, who inspite of his cynical manner, always does what I say.

Yo! Meet Kikka, Finland's Samantha Fox, from the 90's soft-porn-pop era. This is what you get in Onnela, which is not at all a bad thing. At least not, by far, the worst thing in there. Wanna kno why?

I absolutely loved the party, well, that's no surprise I guess. Loads of friends, who just never seize to amaze me with how great fun they are; tacky shit; poles to hang from; and Kikka in a wet t-shirt. Thank you 2010, I like you already!

a new activity in my Poor Pleasures -list

2010-01-12T18:59:00.007+01:00

I've been looking for a decent job now for a few months already, and I'm running out of savings pretty badly. Yesterday I found out that I'd miscalculated a few things, and it looks like I lost a bunch of money I had thought I was still getting from my old job. Just great.

But as a poor but creative girl in one of the cheapest big cities in Europe, I have my ways of cheering myself up. This'll most likely work for any girl enthusiastic to shop or play with dolls:

Take your boyfriend (or any guy who needs cheering up, a makeover, or just has more money than you) shopping at the sales!
*Stay out of the women's department,
*just go binge on cool clothes
*do a fitting room montage with the fella, as long as the gayness of a fitting room montage doesn't put (either of) you off. It doesn't in our family! :D
*It also helps, if the boyfriend's kinda the same size as you (although you may not wanna admit that) - cos now you get to look all trendy and masculine wearing men's stuff for free. Everybody wins!

Headless stylist ready to do business.

Wearing: scarf - self made, jacket - LeGroup, Rome, earmuffs - Pieces (I recall), bag - Mexx (christmas present from Outi my dearest), jeans - Cheap Monday, boots - Mauerpark

Rene found a load of new stuff for like 9 €/piece in H&M, and the stylist even got a little something on the side. Thanks! :)

The hat was a 5-euro purchase from H&M men's (OK, so you can't avoid shopping even when you stay out of women's departments),
belt - a COS-christmas present from the Mr.
Shirt - my mom brought it from Paris like 15 years ago
dress - H&M.

Manic folder-man folding his laundry with a self made gadget (instructions in youtube). He's so funny. My dad (a textile engineer) loves this kinda stuff, once he watched Rene fold all his shirts with awe.

Laundry: Rene bought the beanie also from H&M,
Lady Gaga tee - Who Killed Bambi,
brown monster tee - Drop Dead.

Hats

And more hats! In the end we even found awsome pieces to complement our vastly growing weird hat collection. The shop we found them in was curiously McPaper (a stationary shop). And they were like way cheaper than the crappy shit you order online. Here they are, the old and new. I should probably wear more hats from now on. There. A new year's resolution!

El sombrero. "Mexikanischer Hut" for 4 euros in McPaper. I know it's a disgrace to my Mexican family to buy it here, but bringing one of the original ones on your head in an overseas flight might be a menace to the fellow passanger.

El Cubano

The British granny

The Abe Lincoln. 6 € in McPaper.

The black collection

The leather cap, the puke-cap, and the latin lover. (1. From off a guy's head in a bar in Kuhmoinen, Finland. 2. from Volcom. 3. Self made by Rene's friends for his birthday.)

The good old bowler that dear friend Sam stole from her brother for Rene.

Flatty

And the tackiest of them all, and clearly my favorite: the Rock of Love-stetson inspired by Brett Michaels and all white trash morons (like me). White trash is by far my biggest inspiration, it's my fashion filosophy.

I'm going to Finland tomorrow (and I'd paid the trip way before my personal bankrupcy, so there's no reason to feel bad about it!), and there's a hat-party coming up. My two great friends are joining their forces to a massive birthday party, and the code is to wear a hat and an outfit to go with it. Guess which one I'm taking along? This is the outfit that I'm packing with. I'll try to get a good picture of it when it's on.

My 2009 in pictures: Part 2

2010-01-07T20:05:00.001+01:00

Yoyoyo! That was not all, folks! In the last post I told you about Mexico, moving in to Berlin and how that has been the best ever, and how I've gotten to meet more and more cute cuties. Well, here's more!

My baby and I got engaged! So, if I'm lucky, he will be marrying me this year.... YAwza!!!

The rings cost 10 euros at Mauerpark :), and the proposal was so embarrassingly boring, that we had to make up a better one! I absolutely love it though!

BUNS in the Park

I'm pretty proud of starting the Finnish bun shop, first touring around the street events and parks of Berlin finally settling next to the Sunday's karaoke in Mauerpark. We spent great lazy hangovered afternoons on the grass occasionally singin along or even taking the mic a few times. My favorite customers were my niece, nephew, and everyone! It was great, sometimes it got a bit sweatty in the kitchen by the stove, but mostly it was great fun and a huge success! And I couldn't have done it alone, without my Mexican help and other sweet visitors.

Loving the tan lines in this pic.

Finland and Sweden in the summer

Eating monks by the waterfall with Piritta.

Sweatty forehead, dude. No airconditioning in the buses.

Buns in the Hakaniemi square.

Yummy munchkies in the park (Kaivopuisto, Helsinki)

Girls, girls, girls and an amazing weekend in Tampere.

Sweden is just always so cute

Roadtrip through the archipelago to Sweden

I learned a few things. Juggling was not one of them.

Overdressing

Sometimes it was to a theme, sometimes just plain unsuitable for anything.

Pretty pirates on a steam boat

Please leave, you're making too much noise, this is a wellness spa!

Free Berlin turned 20! And treated us to an ice cold party.

And although I only went to Finland for short visits, and saw my friends less than I'd wished to, it was some efficient-carpe diem-shit!

Helmetty Helmersons drunk driving in a kids' go-kart.

Asko, Mokka, and the Grannies!

Aleksi presenting the summer fashion for babies underpants.

The most random place I'd ever find myself in: a summer festival behind god's back in Mallusjoki.

And by far my favorite picture of the whole year, the human letters. The product of a dozen great minds, 2 hours of counting people wearing Croc's-sandals, and too many beers and ciders: Fucking Vääksy.

My 2009 in pictures: Part 1

2010-01-06T21:02:00.000+01:00

OK, this is gonna be a gigantic post with 2 parts, and like 50 pictures, but that oughta keep you busy for a few days... :) You see, one of the things I did last year was starting blogging, which means I started to take shitloads of pictures. And also I had so many nice things to look back on, that I just had to publish them all!!!

A few posts ago I gave you a little compilation of the highlights of last year, but here they are in pictures. I hope you enjoy!

2009 started off in Mexico, where we stayed 3 months enjoying the hospitality of the amazingly nice people, I learned some Spanish, and bleached my hair whiter than I could ever imagine. I can totally recommend! They sell 1 liter coctails at the roadside!! They put the "fun" in dysfunctional.

Seriously, the hair. It was whiter than me.

Mexicans love to play bingo. And it teaches u Spanish too!

In March we moved to Berlin, the city of my dreams, always and forever. Little moments, friends, visitors, home, games, and more friends made the first year as an official berliner memorable.

Roomies.

Picnic-brunch Spanish-style by Tracey and my sis in the park on our backyard.

Little coffee break outside of Ina's shop.

Birthday worm in Goodtimes. (Picture by Rachele)

Lasse made us brunch at his cooler than cool Kreuzberg-apartment.

Karaoke-guy Joe was coaching me to air-guitar in Mauerpark.

Licky Lickerson in my face in Dice-club.

Fashion week and an art installation in Wedding

Had some visits from awesome people...

Among others these lovers came to visit us, and hopefully many more will come in the future!

Met new amazing people!

Such as these babies:

And an actual baby!

I loved, loved, loved these moments!

Coming up in Part 2: among others the weirdest moments, stupidest costumes and getting thrown out of the only night club (which turned out to be a wellness hotel) in my home town. See ya! Love ya!

Playing with my new toys

2010-01-02T19:40:00.002+01:00

Piritta and I were just talking about how we seem to be getting just kids' presents for Christmas. She got Playstation last year, Nintendo this year and next she's gonna ask for a sleigh with a steering wheel. Well, I also got some toys this year. Toys for kids and... dumb adults. I love them all!

This head scratcher has kept me by far the busiest!

This is something I've been craving ever since I was like 6, and now Rene got them for me! You know those tiny plastic buttons you pin into a picture and iron to sort of weld them together... yeah those. I'm a big spokesman for these kind of cheap ways to bring out the child in yourself, so I say try it! Or come over and try it with me, I have a huge bucket of multicoloured buttons!

I dunno what this is either...

OK, the next one I bought myself, but it's brilliant! It's a remake of a traditional board game (The Star of Africa) we used to play as kids, only this one is hand made by Finnish-German 4th graders! It's really funny and exciting too! It's the Finnish map, and you need to find "the Gold of Finland" and you get to find treasures on the way... I bought ift from the Finnish School.

Hihihihihi the buttons look so cute.

So enjoyable... Rene gave me a foot spa.

My roommates seem to think I may wanna chop my boyfriend and put him in a blender. I was also hoping for an artsy calendar, and this time I get do make one myself! It's so great that they like to encourage the creative side in me. And Friends is just my alltime favourite. I'm still missing the 1st 5 seasons, if you wanna get me something...

And then some pretty and grown up stuff to balance it all. :) The fashion book and bell are from my Swedish (read elegant) side of the family.

The last pictures are a bit crappy, but most likely u'll be seeing them in better light when I get to wear the Cos belt and bracelett Rene got for me, and the Mexx purse I got totally unexpectedly from Outi. Love them!

I feel so pampered for all my gifts. Thanks Santa!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T19:29:00.003+01:00

I hope yours started off with something else than a massive headache and a deathwish. The party was great, but somehow I don't feel so good the day after. First we had a gorgeous slow dinner at my sister's house, and then I ran to Rene's bar to kiss him at the stroke of midnight. It was really slippery out there, and I almost didn't make it, but I did! (Oh the drama, it was like in the movies.) Soon some of our friends joined us in the cuban fiesta! The house was packed. Rene had to work, but we partied on his behalf!

Last night was wonderful, but I forgot one thing. OK, two things. My camera, and the fact that I should always take the picture BEFORE I start looking totally gross. These are seriously the best (and only) clips from last night. I'm sorry.

The hot waiter.

Oh dear god.

Laundry of the night: top - Mexico, crown - Mexico, bracelet - from a Christmas decoration kit from Ikea, skirt (later in the pics) - vintage

So mysterious.

Lovely ladies.

Highlights for me in 2009 (in sort of chronological order)

*I visited Mexico, Cologne, Sweden, Riga, Potsdam and France.
*I had a conversation with my father-in-law in Spanish about the Finnish history and politics
*My hair got bleached whiter than ever possible (with Mexican hydrogen peroxide)
*I moved to the city of my dreams
*little moments, Berlin, friends, visitors, home, games, more friends. Seizing the day big time!
*My baby and me got engaged!
*I got a job in Germany (albeit a pretty stupid job most people wouldn't be proud of)
*I quit 2 jobs and was happier quitting them than getting them
*I was unemployed for quite some time, still kinda am with just small writing jobs, but holdin' on
*I had a bake sale in the park
*My best friend had her first child and it looks like the mini version of her
*I got to know amazing new people
*I wore funny costumes and got thrown out of the only night club in my home town
*really enjoyed the summer with my loved ones in Finland and Sweden
*I got a tattoo (that everyone thinks is temporary)
*I didn't see my friends in Finland as often as I'd wished to, but the times I did, were incredibly good and full of crazy fun.

I'll try to make a little photo compilation of last year. But this is it so far.

I'd love to hear from your new year's eve and what you'll remember from 2009. Also, would be great to know if anyone else is feeling shittier than me today. Kisses!

I'm not giving up on Christmas yet...

2009-12-30T21:07:00.003+01:00

Since our roommates were also away from Berlin for Christmas, we agreed to spare some presents for later and have a christmas volume 2 together. I love prolonging good things. We made a decent grown-up-style dinner, got a christmas movie, I played my awesome new fireplace-dvd on the tv (those things don't get old), we even drank Robby Bubble-"kids champagne" from flutes, pretending to be all proper people. (What's wrong with us?) Only the gifts were totally out of our age...toys, games, and totally irrational random stuff. but I'll tell u more of the presents in another post.

We still had a good amount of packages! Doing Christmas twice rules!

This is how Rene's presents were addressed.

Rene was totally in love with Sam's brothers bowler hat in France... guess what he got from Sam?

For dinner we had a full menu with Sam's amazing French cuisine and some Finnish traditions from my side. I made a piggy cake for dessert! It was not 'the piggy cake', it was a version I made with the ingredients I could find, and I must say it became really ugly, but friggin delicious!

This is what I was going for, the traditional Finnish "possukakku" (photo source here, recipe in the end):

But instead I used a lemon cake base, with sugar icing (instead of the traditional marsipan coating). It was quite alot of work carving all the small details, but everything went sort of well and it seemed like the piggy would turn out pretty. Until I started making the icing I finally remembered how much I hate icing, and regretted immediately.

Sculpting a piggy out of a 1 liter cake form.

Stuffing the pork. I cut it in half really carefully with a good knife, moisturized it with juice and spread some rasberry jam and whipped cream in the middle and on top.

Attaching the pigtail. It kind of looks like a pig tail from some angle, right? I used the icing to glue it.

Until this part it was big fun. With the icing you need to be so careful you don't make it too loose, too thick, too little... because it sticks everywhere, dries really fast, and ends up looking grainy. But whatta hell, it's delicious!

The poor bastard ended up looking like he had a bad skin infection. But he's peaceful and cute, no matter what! The eyes I made with icing coloured with a mix of red, green and blue food colouring, and squeezed it through a small hole in the corner of a plastic bag (see picture).

There's the calm fellow sleeping in the fridge.

And the proud creator!

And this is how the guys spent their time preparing for the event of the year. Spoiled brats. *Feministic mumbling*

Starters: Smoked salmon, caviar, creme fraiche, red onions with potatoes and carrots. I cooked the veggies and fried them in butter after.

Main course. Aaaaw my god in heaven. Sam made amazing steaks, blue cheese sauce, champignons and a gratin of zucchini and aubergines. Do I have to tell you how good it was. I'm getting hungry just thinking back on it.

And that was enough of the 'acting our age'. Time to open the prezzies. Rene's wearing the bowler, in case you didn't guess from the package earlier.. :)

Time to watch how the Grinch stole the christmas, and eat the piggy!

It was a shame to eat that sad little fella. But it was good. The lemon cake was a nice fresh base.

I tried to colour the dough pink too. I should probably stay away from food additives and conservatives for a month or so, that's how much unhealthy stuff I put into the cake.

There's the tail. :)

This is how a happy livingroom looks like. Messy as hell, the remains of an awesome dinner on the table, people playing with their toys by the (fake) fire place... yeah, that's life.

Cat got the best out of the wrapping papers.

My version of the Possukakku (piggy cake):

Base
cake base (sponge cake or which ever fluffy cake you prefer)

I used a lemon cake base, which is like a "shake n' bake" mix, but you add butter, eggs and milk yourself. It's easier than making it all from the scratch, but it's way better when you know it has real butter and some fresh ingredients.

Filling
4 tbsp juice for moisture
4 tbsp rasberry jam
1 dl whipped cream
1 tbsp sugar (for cream)
1 tsp vanilla sugar (for cream)

Topping
about 2 dl icing (powder sugar and a tiny bit of warm water)
- but if you prefer to make the pig a bit prettier than mine, maybe you should try making the coat from marsipan.
a few drops of food colouring (pink & black)

Bake the cake as in the package/your own recipe. Follow the decoration instructions as above.

Ho ho ho

2009-12-28T20:32:00.004+01:00

Christmas in Finland was incredibly snowy, like from a story book. We got to decorate another tree at my dad's house in Vääksy and frolic around in the snow. I haven't written much lately, mostly 'cos it's taken me 3 days to recover from the trip and settle back home in Berlin. The food was so delicious and plenty, that I'm just rolling around the house like a ball. I could just wrap myself in Finnish christmas food and eat myself out, like Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrel in Talladega knights) would say. As a matter of fact I think I did that already, that's how huge my belly now is. (I'm just kidding, I really don't wanna sound like those chicks with a body complex.)

Check out the ice christals on the window!

The river was mostly frozen and so were we (It was -15 degrees).

Our Mexican was excited.

Green cannonballs.

Rene is so easy to make happy. Hugging a russian beer can from my dad.

These are a little something I got for my dad n' Eija: three candle shades for wine glasses from pushShop.

Some scenes from the frozen lake Päijänne by our summer house and steam boat.

One night in Helsinki, in We got beef.

Jallu-shots. None for me, thanks.

Why do people drink that shit? It tastes so bad it hurts.

Laundry: Rene: shirt - Marimekko, Me: shirt - vintage

On christmas night there were really no cabs, so we walked home in the effin cold weather. My god, it was windy and icy. It really is no suitable environment for humans...

...Maybe that's why Finns drink. It numbs the cold. We didn't mind that much, until we got home, and my thighs were bright red until the next day, and my nose was running so bad it hurt. Piritta and Rene making angels:

The last days we've mostly been playing with our new gifts, but more of that later... We still have a few more to open, since we decided to save some for when we're all home with the roommates. Tomorrow we'll make a second christmas with a huge French-style dinner and a Finnish piggy-cake, and open up the last presents. Can't wait!

White Christmas wishes to you

2009-12-23T11:46:00.013+01:00

I'm back home and it's better than I expected! The land of the original Santa (no baby jesus, penguins or polar bears though) and loads of snow (occasionally, despite the climate change), is a pretty sentimental environment to spend the holidays. And this time there really IS snow! Today my man's coming from Berlin too, and we're going to Vääksy, the good old tiny village, most likely covered in snow, to spend the holidays. :DDDDD

Helsinki these days:

This guy may not be 'the original Santa' I mentioned, but he can fly!

Last year we fleed the darkness to Mexico, because the previous christmas had been black and snowless here. In Mex the cold and snow were only decoration or a side joke in the door mat, that spoke whenever you step on it: "Brrr, come on in, it's cold outside!" It was a pretty cool chance to spend christmas for a change in the summer. (For them it's winter, but for a Finn it 's like May.)

Santa was a bit worn out of all his work.

So the Mexicans hit him. And candy came out of him!

We had a lot of posadas (christmas parties) and all of them had pinatas. This pic is with my mother in law (amá) hanging the pinata with Adry. (Sorry I can't use the ~-sign properly on my German travelling laptop.)

Remainders of the pinata made a nice hat on amá.

They say I look like a christmas tree sometimes.

Frosty got a bit tired under the heat.

I hope you all darlings, close to me up north, or on the continent, in Mexico, in Australia or even further away if possible, in the city or countryside, surrounded with winter or summer, have a really funky, sweet and memorable christmas!

Yours, Maiju

Avoiding the other christmas shoppers

2009-12-20T19:34:00.005+01:00

This weekend we did some serious christmas shopping. I only had Saturday for it, and you can imagine that's a god-awful day to go shopping, the last Saturday berfore Christmas. Yuck. In the U-Bahn everyone was getting in from Alexanderplatz, looking so uncomfortable carrying huge plasticbags. Yuck. And it was -16 outside!!! We decided to go a bit off the track of all the shopping paradises, to Prenzlauer Berg. There are great areas for shopping, nice places to stop for food, and they're still not too crowded. I especially recommend the sex-shop Gorgeous, on Schönhauser Allee for naughty and funny gifts, and Who Killed Bambi and the secondhand shops around Eberswalder strasse.

Too bad I can't show you all the things I bought, 'cos i really think they were so cool! (Hopefully the receivers will think so too.)

Laundry of the day: beanie - Fenchurch, scarf tube - Naf Naf (my souvenir from Paris), coat - Guess, gloves - Naf Naf, tunique - Ginatricot, Jeans - Cheap Monday, boots - vintage

I love lamp. This baby is in the sealing of Who killed Bambi:

Fuck off, I love MJ! (they're my initials too! haha)

This is the shop with the big orange boot in the wall, on Eberswalder. Loving the Mickey Mouses' hands on my ass-skirt! Dear Santa, can I still ask for something...?

Saana is presenting us some party fashion for our night in KitKat club.

I bet this would work for KitKat too. The Pimp-look.

Alf.

Mojave-glasses!!!

Alf again! He was so annoying in that show. God, I can't remember who was more annoying, Alf or the father of the family.

Let's see, who should I get these...?

All presents almost found! Now I just need to pack them up and fly to Finland. It's supposed to be snowy and effin freezing (-15) in Vääksy, my home town. Hopefully Santa will come over and bring me sumthin' too... At least I'm looking forward to the Finnish christmas food, yum yum yummm!

So, what's on your list?

France Part 2: Gay moments at the countryside

2009-12-16T12:30:00.006+01:00

Ok. Now I know what I want from life. To live in the French countryside, in a house like Sam's parents do, eat smelly cheese and sit by the fire place. Because that's what life is like in this beautiful house where we spent the weekend.

Note. You'll see that by 'gay' I really mean both 'queer' and 'happy'.

This vehicle would bring us back to the airport. Jeoffrey's dad had bought it for him for 200 euros, and it sure had a nice sound and smell of rubber in it, as we took it for some nightly spins. I loved it! (I still don't have a driver's lisence, but I know when I get one, I'll be just like all 18-year old boys who just go cruisin pointlessly into the night.)

Jeoffrey's birthday party. It somehow reminded me alot of Mexican parties with the latin spirit, loads of food, being in a garage decorated with balloons, people dancing their asses off... me not understanding most of what was going on... :)

May the gayness begin.

Laundry of the day:
top - H&M
pants - Herrlicher
shoes - a small Turkish shop on Karl Marx Strasse
hat - Rene found it in Sam's closet, but nobody really knows how it got there. Apparently someone stole it, and almost everyone claimed it to be theirs.

Waking up again to the beauty of the morning in the most idyllic house.

Some of us chose not to wake up at all.

Cats are so cute. And unpredictable.

Haha.. in the end, where the picture freezes, if you look closely, you can see the cat's deamon eyes. All cats are evil.

This is how it was supposed to go. No touching. (Rene in the background is bitching about Jeoffrey's non-alchoholic lifestyle.)

I can't begin to imagine how long it had taken Sam's mom to cook for us, since just eating it all took like 2 hours. It was so good! Mom's are the best all over the world!

First some foie gras with mango and green salad with vinaigrette...

This is what we call "the french country bread" in Finland, and it's true!

Main course was a stuffed turkey with those golden brown small potatoes cooked in the oven. Mmmm...

After hours of eating, relaxing, and having some tea, we took a little walk at the area.

And found some neighbours.

Where does this lead? If I lived here, I wouldn't need any goals. No need to go anywhere. Everything seems just perfect as it is.

More animal-friends... eoooow. The only bad side in France were this monster, and the cold toilet seats. Why is it, that toilet seats are always so warm in Finland?

To top it all off, Sam's mom gave us a huge bag full of different types of cheese to bring home to Berlin! Oh, the bliss! Our flat smelled pretty intense, and Rene had to wash all of his stuff that had been in the bag he'd carried it home with, but man, it was worth it. We invited some friends over for a spontanious cheese-feast...

OMG OMG OMG how perfect was that! I'm a bit sorry, cos I know I made all of you jealous. I'm actually making myself jealous! I'm jealous at the 3-days-ago-me! I can't thank my roommates and their families and friends enough for taking such good care of us. Hey folks, let's go there again soon, OK?

France Part 1: Berliners in Paris

2009-12-14T20:15:00.006+01:00

Paris was better than ever, especially this time 'cos we went with Sam, our roommate, who knows the city like her own pockets. I've been there twice before, and my experiences were pretty horrible. It was like 40 degrees Celsius, water was over priced, we got lost big time, and nobody really felt like helping us. It looks like it's good to know people, because this time it was all bliss!

We only had 1 night in Paris, literally, and I'm not referring to Miss Hilton. But we made the most of it. (That's what Rick Salomon said.) We stayed at Sam's friends cosy Parisian apartment, had some croissants, saw some Eiffel, had the whole Paris experience! We even had a short time to see my cousin's cute little family. We definitely need to go back for more soon, the flights were like 60 € with EasyJet, man, and it was quite painless! On the way back we even bought loads of fresh warm croissants in Orly airport for 1 €/piece, since there's no food on the plane. Good times!

This one's dedicated to mom. We used to take pics like this under every main street sign (and Gucci store) in every city we would visit. Not that we'd buy anything there.

It's probably no surprise, but my post mainly revolves around food.

Aaaaw.

Munchk.

Heaven.

In part 2 I'll show you as our trip follows to the countryside, where things got even more idyllic! Unfortunately we had a really short stay in France for just the weekend, but I hope we can go back soon.

Rockin' around the christmas tree

2009-12-09T14:32:00.005+01:00

We decided to get a christmas tree for the four of us (flat mates) and for that we of course needed loads of cool decorations. We went to Ikea to get some good old Swedish christmas spirit, in the form of shiny balls and delicious ginger bread cookies. We found awesome decoration kits for the tree for 1,99 €/set and the rest we decided to make ourselves, to avoid looking like page 72 from the catalogue, and to get into the holiday spirit and back to our childish innocent selves.

So here's my recipe for a cheap but rockin' christmas-home.

Ask the kitty to help. She'll most likely just walk on top of stuff, trash the wrappers and take down the tree. But sometimes she's also just there to keep you company.

I fell in love with the black christmas stuff in Ikea, and our Halloween-raven liked it too, so he got company of a black holiday-decoration in the chandelier.

First we did a black, white & red tree, but then it was not full enough, and way too harmonious, so we got a bunch of golden stuff, disco balls, ribbons, stars, candy cones...yeah well, you know the drill. I can't ever seem to stay inside the limits.

Love those classy red and white glass cones, also on sale in Ikea, for 1,99 €/4 pieces.

These stars are made by my mom, don't ask me how to make them:

I made some cones to fill up with candy for my niece and nephef, who are coming over to play with the kitty, when we go to France. Hopefully they'll find them!

Half of the fun are the preparations, so me and Sam've been running all over the shops getting different kinds of wrapping papers, ribbons, stars, balls, glitter, glue, papers, stickers, you name it. The other half is having some mulled wine (Glühwein/glögi) and cookies, so we got stacked up with those too, and the third half (?) is the actual making of the handicrafts, if you ever actually get there.

Ginger breads, also from the heavenly warehouse of all things scandinavian, practical and delicious: Ikea.

We got all kiddy with the girls on our old-ladies-getting-creative-and-ready-for-the-Season-party. Bing Crosby was singing at the background. Only thing missing were the raindeer-sweaters and Egg nog. (Notice French boy sleeping in the background.)

Now this is another thing everyone should do more often! It's like being 6 again, and getting the 'wow'-effect every time you open a new snow flake.

So, any christmas spirit there yet? Or just stress with all the hassle and gift-shopping? Hopefully you got some ideas or spirit out of this one! I'll be in France for the weekend, we'll see what happens there... Kisses! - maiju

Finland's 92nd birthday in the president's castle

2009-12-07T23:48:00.006+01:00

Last Sunday was the 92nd Finnish Independence day. We weren't there to celebrate it, but the patriotic spirit rose within me and my Finnish friends even stronger, and we celebrated long-distance-style. We went to have some champagne in the church. (It was served after a concert of Finnish christmas carrols, where I really had a hard time not singing along all the time in a fit of engagement into the wild show. I really threw myself into that national spirit.)

The ones of us, who actually are in the country, usually celebrate by getting wasted the night before, and the watching the president's reception from her castle on tv. It's a long, boring, queue of pretty, fancy and famous people shaking hands to our beloved redhead. Here she is all dolled up, Tarja Halonen, the cuddliest president ever, who always looks good in blue.

The outfits are the main reason people glare at the tv for hours, and talk about it for the next week. It's 'cos we don't really have the red carpet in Finland, so this is something special. It's a tradition. People actually arrange theme-parties on that, some just sit on the couch sipping mulled wine while watching. I sort of hate the concept of celebrities, so don't really see the point in watching, eccept for the fashion of course. I remember regretting not having seen the show once, though, when somebody just tripped in the middle of everything. A lady just fainted suddenly, the music stopped, the cameras were confused what to shoot, and it was a huge sensation in the tabloids, and I couldn't stop giggling when I heard of it.

My pics of the favorite dresses from media next day, were these. Love the layers and falling, folding fabric:

It was hardly a surprise, that my favorites included PMMP's singers Paula and Mira. They always manage to look stunning in a girly but street cred-way. Both are wearing at least partly finnish design: Paula (left) a dress by designer Tiia Vanhatapio, and Mira red shoes by Minna Parikka.

I can't help agreeing with most of the Finns, these two are the cutest ever:

Some more pics of cool details: I like the traditionality and use of cultural elements (such as old Finnish lace-patterns and the whole Scottish outfit).

OK, I'm totally kidding of the last one! :D But as you may guess, it's also a popular pastime in Finland to gossip about the flops of the party. My choice for the freakiest frock would be this electrifyingly blue feathery penguin. She's like the parody-version of the president with her over done red hair-dye. On the other hand, you know I'm into weird shit when it comes to party outfits, so if I were even to enter the castle, I might get something pretty stunning too... ;)

Happy Birthday, my dearest country! Kippis!*

Picture sources: http://www.mtv3.fi/helmi/linnanjuhlat/

http://www.mtv3.fi/helmi/linnanjuhlat/pukujuhlaa.shtml?1012822
http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2009/kuvagalleria.html

*) Cheers in Finnish

Some more skin

2009-12-07T20:48:00.005+01:00

Apart from nervously waiting for Santa and the season finale of Dexter, I've recently just been staring at my new tattoo and looking forward to getting another one. We went to see Aaron again, who made Rene a tattoo in his calf. That was 5 hours of getting inspired, going like WOW, having small naps, and looking through books to find more inspiration for the next piece. I always knew I wanted something big, but I wanted to start carefully with a tiny one. Next up I think I'll go for something more traditional, but we'll see if I can...

Here's another pic of my kitty, for Piritta who was asking me for one taken in a better light. It's now pretty much healed and feels like a good old friend I've always known. (..that hopefully wouldn't mind if I get a new one.)

I've been seeing so many new symbols in it since my last post, and I love it even more. The "peas" are actually red, so after some thought they're not peas after all, they're lingon berries - traditional stuff from the Finnish forest, reminding me of back home. Aaaaw. And did I mention that the toy kitty has a big tail like our family cat Jeppa? And the red dots, because I was helping my brother dye his hair red once (lol), and we decided to dye Jeppa's a bit too! We were 10 and 17, and loveable back then.

Here are some pics of the artist working on Rene's new companion, that immediately gave me a serious case of jealousy, you know the kind of envy you get when your friend ordered a way better portion on the menu than you. It's just so much bigger and full of stuff and colours! It's like America! But in a good way!

Nice, huh? Don't ask me about the story behind that one... It's something about his family and a Levi's commercial. :)

Singing baker and her tiny little groupies

2009-12-02T12:44:00.004+01:00

I'm so happy my bun business is still blooming, and didn't end when the summer did. The park is totally full of jolly people, because the weather is really warm for November (I guess I have to admit global warming has given me one direct benefit there) and they like to come sing and listen to Joe's karaoke*.

It's funny that my project started in May with a careful attempt of making like 20 buns and 15 pasties to a carneval in Kreuzberg, and now people are checking that I'll be back next Sunday in my usual place. I know most of my business ideas haven't been very succesful, but this really feels nice. People will always want food and warmth. And I'll always wanna give it to them. :)

These tiny frequent customers came for one at first, split it between each other (!), and then came back for a whole round of buns! HEART!!!

Olivia (my niece in the orange coat) was keeping an eye on the products for me. Anton helped me serve them, and eat them. :)

This time I went to sing an old favorite, Enter Sandman. Joe was coaching me on the way like: "Open your hair! Play the guitar!" And I did, of course. It was a big mess.

Aaaaw, I love those smiley faces in the audience! Especially a certain Mexican...

I had the best support from Anton and Olivia:

Laundry:
coat -
jeans - H&M
shirt - Motivi
boots - vintage from Mauerpark
scarf - I really don't own enough scarves (only like 20, but I just always wear this one). Fabric from Mauerpark (I seem to live there, work there, & shop there)

And here's the tasteful video of me and Joe making a manly duet. Sounds pretty grim, I'm surprised I didn't freak out my little listeners. Anton just came to tell me: "You sounded funny." :)

Absolutely loved that day!

*) Joe's youtube site for the Bearpit Karaoke is here.

Meet my new lifelong friend

2009-11-30T20:52:00.009+01:00

I finally got the tattoo I've been craving for almost 3 years now. I drew the design myself and had it made by Aaron in Old School Tattoo, on Pettenkoferstrasse. I'd heard he was good, but he was way better. Steady handed guy, really nice fella, did the job in less than an hour and it looks just like I wanted it to. It didn't even hurt like at all! I want another one!!

There's a better pic coming up, hold your horses, keep reading nicely, and you shall be rewarded.

The weekend we spent pretty much partying. Friday night was the 1st birthday of Kippis, the Finnish interior design-shop on Torstrasse. Mimosa, a performance artist, was serving Finlandia vodka from a Finnish glass bowl taped on top of her head. Here you go, shit loads of heavily coloured partypics with a high saturation and contrast factor:

Then we went to Ruz on Auguststrasse, for tapas and wine with my sis and her friends.

We were all giggles!

Then across the street to Clärchens Ballhaus, the good old (100 years) balldancing joint...

Laundry on Friday:
dress - Motivi
leggins - Ginatricot
earrings - H&M
necklaces - Six & H&M
ring - vintage from Mex

I can even tell you what Jenna was wearing, cos it was partly from me!:
dress - H&M (she bought it from me, 'cos it was just perfect on her!)
purse - a gift from me from one of the second hand shops on Oderbergerstrasse, makes me happy that she loves it!

Oh boy, did we have fun!

Saturday was 'dress to kill'-night at our house. We went to Dice, a club close to our house, where they play good music but no-one goes there. We were totally overdressed, plus almost the only ones there. That didn't keep us from staying 'til 7 am.

Saturday Night Laundry:
Fur coat - vintage from Colours on Bergmannstrasse
Tunique - H&M (I haven't been affording anything else lately...)
leggins - Ginatricot
gloves - Mango
Head piece - borrowed from Jenna, from Dom

Jen got the adorable tiny hat from H&M.

That's my new buddy! Since you may ask, it represents 3 basic things. It reminds me to eat (peas in a fork), sleep (zZzz) and play (eagerly jumping toy cat). Relevant stuff that I should do more in life. I wanted to make it cartoon-like and scketchy but with some traditional tattoo elements (eg. the composition and the banner). (Also it kinda looks like the toy cat gets shocked by a lightning and stabbed by a fork, which makes me giggle.) So what should I get next? :)

Blinky Christmas

2009-11-28T14:17:00.003+01:00

So sorry for staying radio silent for some time! My dearest Jenna is here right now and I'm too overwhelmed in eating all these goodies she brought from Finland, and playing tourist. :) It's a treat, but I tell you, it's hard work too! We've been out and about, shopping, seeing sights, christmas markets, clubbing, tapas, you name it.

Here's a short post about the christmas fair next to Alexa, that looks more like Mexican or American in style to me with its massive lights, huge gadgets and pink fluffy toy animals to win from games.

I never expected to see anything this grande in Berlin. It's like a whimsy mess of blinking and multicouloured tourism out there! It's like Crusty the clown barfed on Alexanderplatz. Go check it out for yourselves, if you get the chance.

P.S. We also spotted our future kid in a shop window:

Potsdam Part 2: the pretty side

2009-11-24T11:11:00.004+01:00

In the previous post, I wanted to find the ugly side of Potsdam. Well, I couldn't avoid photographing the cute one either, since there so many are tiny pastel coloured houses next to each other, little old ladies selling arts and crafts, and before christmas the whole town looked like a big ginger bread-village. It's like Stars Hollow from the Gilmore Girls.

We defied the tourist office's advice of going to the local American coffee chain, and found this cutie instead. Café Rothenburg, (on Gutenbergstrasse i think). The Bauernfrühstück (Farmer's breakfast) was divine!

There are really not that many options to shop. We went to H&M for a good old movie-style fitting room montage. Rene finally got his red pants he's been craving.

We found the best Italian restaurant ever, called Pfeffer & Salz! It is so authentic, simple and the food is just to die for. I had a steak that friggin melted on my tongue. We're thinking of making small trips to Potsdam again just for this:

The christmas window of another granny-shop:

Castles and parks everywhere...

Rene spotted a funny shaped thing on the ground.

A chinese pot with a tilted swastika... hmmm.

Ladybug!

It's gonna look even so much better in the summer, I think... now all the statues were covered.

Potsdam is totally worth a short visit, pretending to be fairytale characters sipping coffee from small cups and living in a post card. But I'd probably lose my mind if I had to live there. I prefer the randomness of Berlin, where some areas are just plain ugly, and you can't do anything about it.

Potsdam Part 1: Ugly is pretty to me

2009-11-20T11:54:00.008+01:00

We went to Potsdam with the mister, on a little mini-trip over one night, 'cos we wanted to pretend we were abroad and the train ticket only cost 2,80. Potsdam is a little city next to Berlin that's known for its fairytale-like castles and picturesque scenery. Well, there were so many castles and statues, that they literally didn't fit the map, and every time we thought we'd seen them all, another one popped into sight.

More of these coming up in the next post:

Potsdam is a bit too cute for me, I have to say. Everything's really well kept and renovated, so it almost looks like it wasn't old at all. It's like Disney World with castles made of plastic. I prefer old stuff that looks old, like its falling apart. That's why I chose to start by showing you my pictures of the other side of Potsdam:

In Potsdam you can find surprising stuff. This shop offers you ways to stash your coke and pot: into a rock, a beer or can of peas.

At least one of the houses of the famous Dutch block (Holländisches Viertel) was still the way it used to be. I bet by next summer this one'll look as good as new.

Our hotel: The tourist information office recommended us Art'otel, which was by far the most unromantic, ugliest hotel in the universe. I can only imagine a businessman or a blind person would think it looks nice. Our room was like a classroom from a United Colors of Benetton ad in the 90's, the carpet was red, green and bright blue, and everything was totally square. But The location, price and bathroom were awesome. They had the newest cleanest tub I'd ever seen. So even this time, I'd have to say ugly was a good choice!

I always love the minibar, although I never buy anything from there. No way. I just go stack up from the nearest Lidl, with stuff way better than they have, and pay like 8 euros for the whole bunch. Being cheap makes happy!

Our view was not too shabby!

We took a walk in the windy harbour.

It didn't rain but my rubber boots were still the best shoes for the place. I could run through puddles!

I can imagine Potsdam's gonna be so cool in the summer. Check out this beach bar!:

(In case you're wondering: yes, the pictures are especially grey. I took off some saturation to add the gloomy effect, 'cos I'm a sneaky bastard! :) I usually love to add intensity to the colours and now I'm a bit confused of which actually looks cooler. What's your opinion?)

Stay tuned for the prettier pictures of the more touristy side of Potsdam.

Jolly good day for my portable café

2009-11-16T20:20:00.009+01:00

Last two weeks I haven't had my bunshop. Well, actually 2 weeks ago I did, but it was too late and got dark so fast, that no one could see it. Last week I was flying from Finland on Sunday, so that was no good either. Now I was prepared, I went there early and I brought candles in case it would get dark again. I sold out before it did, though! :)

Mauerpark was in its colourful fall-outfit and full of happy people.

Kite and boy were stuck in a tree:

As the park got more crowded I started getting neighbors selling beer, Glühwein, corn etc.

Only a few buns made it to display, the rest are keeping warm in the thermos-bag. :)

Guess who finally got the courage to go sing? (Camouflaged pretty well in the pic)

Photo by Josefin.

And by 16 o'clock the park was full, and buns sold out. YIPPEE!

So next week, I'll try to be there before 14, (if it doesn't rain) and I'll bring even more buns and pasties, so you're not left licking your fingers (a Finnish saying). You can always email me to check on the latest agenda. Kiss!

Here's a little surprise to all you who missed this beautiful moment... LOL, I made my debut in Youtube! Oh dear god. I love it that Joe's backing me up and suddenly you hear a male voice going like "Yeeeah." I'm so confused about seeing myself like this right now, dunno weather I should laugh or puke. :)

Oh god, I just noticed how much people there were. I must've been in denial all the time (or just not seeing the crowd from under my cap), otherwise I would've thrown up and ran for my life. And hey, can someone tell me, do I always dance like Chandler Bing?

why not join in the car crash set and wipe away the tears

2009-11-14T19:02:00.003+01:00

Thursday night was Broken Hearts Club in Ballhaus Berlin again. It was a chaotic mix of all musics you'd normally never mix, and I loved it. On their website they define it as "a raucous fairytale mix of rock, sleazy disco, post punk, burlesque, whorehouse, torch songs, neo-wave, raging house and 80s pop"! Enough said, I'm there.

The dress code was black & metal this time. The people were gorgeous as always. Where do they find this many people with heart shaped cleavages and dresses like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl, and especially guys with an awesome "trashion sense".

My black & metal laundry:
top - Motivi
cardie - H&M
skirt - vintage from Kreuzberg
leggins - Ginatricot
shoes - Cheapo
chain - Motivi
rings - Bijou Brigitte
bracelets - Motivi, Boxhagener platz, my sister

The ever so stylish Berlin guru, Lise was there too, with a stunning pair of leather pants!

Oh boy.

My Berlin started in 1998

2009-11-11T22:19:00.006+01:00

As a tribute to the 20-year-old free Berlin I've been browsing through my old photos from here. I first came here in the summer of 1998 to visit my sister, and fell in love at first sight.

I never really knew why I loved it here so much, the city really was quite ugly, it was no Rome or Paris, and everyone I knew hated the language. My Finnish colleagues still asked me two years ago, as I'd decided to do an exchange in Berlin, why would I choose to study fashion in Germany. Well, I guess they know it by now, as Berlin has become the new New York (according to an article in Spiegel) and even us Finns know it by now. I always thought it must be the people, that make the difference, and I still do.

Pics from 1998-2002, we'll see if you can recognise me. Rene couldn't.

So many things have changed... Loveparade has left Berlin. It used to be free and open for all. Just love, techno and street everywhere. No-one was worried about getting in or out. Ever since the World Cup 2006 all the events on Strasse des 17. Juni are closed by gates and so full of people it's impossible to get in.

Mitte used to be 'east' = poor, torn up, neglected by the DDR government, and not yet completely rebuilt after the war. Oranienburger strasse and Hackescher Markt were not touristy, instead there were underground clubs that weren't allowed to call themselves clubs, 'cos there was no toilet. Instead you had "a gallery" that had "members", who came to see a show and were served beer.

Those days Amrit was still a small chain with simple surroundings and paper menus, no huge buddha statues or neon lights like today.

My "member card" to the underground club Galerie Berlin Tokyo, which now serves as a toilet for the highly trendy and expensive restaurant Pan Asia.

Palast der Republik (on the background of the photo) was still up, ugly and toxic. It was a kind of symbol of the era, built on the site of the old Berlin Castle (which was torn down by Hitler, and now being rebuilt again). I find it sad that pretty castles deserve to rise up again, and poor ugly brown buildings get torn down (although being full of asbest probably gave it a nudge). I feel for the ugly toxic palace.

Some things have stayed pretty much the same. :)

S-Bahn-tickets used to be pink and cost 3.90 DM.

We mostly hung out in the west, 'cos my sister lived there. That was the place to be. Beautiful, well kept parks, buildings restored, coffee chains everywhere like in the Western world. For me as a teen-ager, it was wild enough.

Kreuzberg was wild back then.

Screwy bar (in Schöneberg) served the best frozen coctails, and the only cost 1 DM! (German mark used to be about 0,50 €.) I hear Screwy still exists, but I wonder if I'd still find it.

Ku'Damm (the highstreet of the west) was my favorite shopping street, but hey, I was sixteen, and little did I know. here's a pic from Ku'Damm with Anniina in the Christopher Street Day Parade, 2002.

And here's the pic where Rene went like "Are these some of your friends?" It's me and Reetta in 1999, after watching three 3D movies in a row in Imax. This is a good one to finish with!

The Wall & The Fall

2009-11-10T11:05:00.008+01:00

I came back from Finland pretty fast so I wouldn't miss the event of the year. Last night we squeezed into the crowd on Pariser Platz, and stood in the rain all evening celebrating the 20th anniversary of free Berlin. I would like to thank my Lumix for taking these pictures dispite the humidity and my hands for pressing the shutter dispite the cramps of hypothermia. I have to say I was about to turn back and go home where my roommate was watching it all on the couch, but in the end it's nice to be able to say I was there. After all, the fall of the wall is the reason Berlin has developed into my favorite city on earth.

I came back from bleek dark November-Finland to an even rainier and colder Berlin. Yet, I love this city more than ever.

Although you've probably seen these guys on the news already:

20 years ago:

Today:

The great men and women include our own little Finnish president (Tarja Halonen, on the right side of Hilary Clinton), who just makes most people go like "awwww" 'cos she's so sweet, humble and as Finnish as possible:

Two great men.

I would've preferred Gorby to be followed by David Hasselhof, though. I hear he's said in his biography (not that I've read it) that he launched the fall of the wall, when he sang I've been looking for freedom on Alexanderplatz, but I was recently given different information. Gotta love that hairy chested superhero, never mind the rumors. The best that Jon Bongiovi has had to offer lately has been a song that sounds exactly like everything else and is called Have a nice day??!!!. My friend Tuomas would call that "the crappiest crap I've ever heard".

Handsome Italian dudes singing a pretty song makes the crowd wet themselves:

Happy b-day pretty city! I love you and I wont stop posting in your honor.

I'll soon compile a post for you from how I've seen this city throughout the last 12 years. I was a little girl when I first came to visit my big sis in the real world, and rapidly it became my other home... stay tuned. Love Maiju

dolled up sweet hearts in the night of Helsinki

2009-11-09T13:05:00.007+01:00

The reason I went to Finland, was this party. My really awesome friends Jatta and Lari got engaged, and decided go on a trip around the world. I had the honor of being there when they found each other, so of course I needed to be there for this aswell. The party was in Helmi, and continued to Cuba café afterwards. A huge bunch of my friends was there, so for me the night was just the perfect ending to my visit. I'll miss those monkeys again!

Laundry:
sequen scarf: Glitter,
sequen tee: H&M,
leggins: Ginatricot,
boots: vintage from Mauerpark,
purse: my mom's
PS. I know Jatta's dress (in the middle) was from Ginatricot, 'cos I saw it in the window on the way home. :)

Photos: Me, Anna and Outi

ps. Check out also the previous post about Helsinki food and friends. I just posted it. :)

Organic moments in down-town Helsinki

2009-11-09T12:43:00.006+01:00

On my short trip to Helsinki I noticed a cute old-style organic food store in Lasipalatsi. I went to get dad some treats for father's day. Even the personnel was adorable and told me about their suppliers. There's a lady who sends them freshly baked Karelian pasties from eastern Finland every morning by bus. Isn't that the best story ever? I wanna be that lady!

On Saturday morning I had a surprise visit from sweetie darlings Tiia and Tuomas from Lahti. We went to get some vintage-clothes from UFF that has 1 euro-days twice a year. Of course all they had left was XXL-leather coats and commercial t-shirts from Finnish telephone companies, but we made some funny bargains. The I took them for toasts and coffee in Corona bar, one of my favorites in Helsinki. They totally fell in love with the toasts and Johnny Cash playing in the background.

Tiia found this AWESOME shirt for 1 euro in UFF. So jealous:

This time I remebered to go buy some Finnish food that I know I always miss when I'm living abroad. And I got a LITTLE carried away. I brought Rene, my sis, some friends and myself shit-loads of chocolates, liquorice, rye bread, pea soup and christmas things, like ginger bread cookie dough, cookies, plum jam and 'glögi' (a hot juice you can mix with red wine/spirits).

I also bought my first audio-book ever, of a book from Jouni Hynynen, a Finnish rocker, read by himself on his soothing voice:

I've had a craving for Weetabix for like 2 years already, but I've forgotten to get them.

Dad gave me some self picked mushrooms from our summer house.

Dark times in the windy city

2009-11-05T22:09:00.004+01:00

It's the time of the year, that's the only reason I've ever wanted to move out of Finland. I used to dream I could run away, have an asylum somewhere in the south for this these dark bleek months, and come back when the snow comes down, and stays on the ground without melting into black puddles. Yet I came here now, especially now, in November. "The month of death", marraskuu. And it's actually quite poetic.

Dudes stopping for a late snack on Tuesday evening:

The second night there was already snow in the ground.

Snow that turned into gleam when it hit the ground.

Coming home late at night, when mom had made me a bed and our giant-cat Jeppa was snoring by my pillow.

Next day there was more snow.

That turned into drops when it hit the window.

I paid a visit to my teacher, Annika, from the time i studied visual merchandising, and she showed me the new school and some of our old stuff was there. We had a really nice chat and she gave me some inspiration to go further with my career. :)

And then there was a bit more snow, falling in a parallel position. And a blue moment, when everything turns blue. That only happens in the north, they say.

And the street lights and cars turned the blueness into brown mud, no white-balance switches or other camera options have been changed here, it's honestly like 10 meters away from the previous picture:

And then I had some babies over for a visit!! We had a little wedding-planning session with good friends, Kick-soup, mom's apple pie, and the girls' home baked cinnamon rolls and chocolate cake. YUMM

Ilona.

Aarre.

Lol, they were so qute! Plus it didn't freak me out "at all", that both my highschool friends are having babies and I'm not...

Cafe's and bars worth your visit

2009-11-04T00:28:00.006+01:00

Here are multiple ways and places to warm the bench on cold winter days, have a sip of juice, beer or coffee, the way you like it. Some more high end, some really humble, but all cosy and with good fresh stuff. Pic your favorite.

Barcomi's with Maiju on Sophienstrasse, Mitte. Expensive for Berlin, but really yummy sandwiches. See for yourself.

Scotch & Sofa with Saana and Rene on Kollwitzstrasse, Prenzlauerberg. Cosy and warm on a wintery night, they don't serve food but some snacks.

Laundry, in case you'd ask:
scarf - self made,
shirt - men's from H&M,
belt - vintage,
pants 9 euros from H&M

The original old Café Einstein with mom, on Unter den Linden, Mitte. Way better than the trendy chain-Einsteins. Reeeally expensive, so you should bring mommy along too. Really nostalgic and good too, feels like the cafés of Paris, and the mozzarella bufala is divine.

Turandot with Yvet, Sami and Pelle, on Bergmannstrasse, Kreuzberg. This was the cosiest bar we could find on Bergmannstrasse, that har recently become much more posh and polished than it used to be. Unfortunately you can smoke there, and everybody does, which I hate, but it's hard to find a cool place in Berlin that's smoke free. It's a great place for us kids to sit listening the stories of a legendary Rock-dude.

rocky horror halloween

2009-11-01T19:40:00.009+01:00

So this is how halloween looked like in our humble home. It was all whimsy, gross looking funny food, freaks dressed as hobos, a 2 hour nap, then back to the party, out at 5 am, the usual shit. It was so good, we're thinking of going with a similar theme to our own wedding. The plans are on, and ideas are being tossed. :)

It's now the evening after, lazy Sunday. We have friends over from France, Holland and Romania right now, so the house is still full. Last night we all kind of just split, and everybody's now found their way home little by little. Some of us are napping, a bald guy just woke up with stockings and make up on, and some are fixing dinner from all the leftovers (crepés, ham, cheese) which we'll heat up on this raclette-like pan called plancha in French. Yumm dinner coming up.

I hope you like the pics!

I think Aliisa's interpretation for my outfit was "Cruise hostess of a haunted sunken Swedish boat".

There was Sami (on the right) dressed up as a bunny, and then there was Mark, dressed up as Sami.

We left the house around 5 am and ended up in the old faithful Golden Gate, which is open and welcoming at all hours.

Halloween laundry: Hat - Punanaamio, Helsinki
Glossy top - UFF, Helsinki
Pants - from my old graduation outfit,Sisley
belt - my aunties old disco belt from the 70s
A messy mix of bracelets - H&M + vintage
fake blood - Kaufhof

R got changed into his disco gear.

This foxy diva we ran intoon the dance floor.

What's your favorite character?

Muse

2009-10-31T03:54:00.005+01:00

We went to see Muse on Thursday with the tickets I got for my birthday yeeeah! The gig was incredible, totally exceeded my expectations. Our seats were all the way up and back, so I was a bit worried we wouldn't see or hear well enough. The show was amazing though, the lights and set were so huge they blew my mind, and took away the worries of not seeing. Matthew Bellamy is one hell of an artist. There's a guy whose job I couldn't do. Enjoy the pics!

Laundry of the gig:
NKOTB-tee - somewhere in Vääksy when I was 9
jeans - Cheap Monday
purple jacket - H&M
leather jacket - Bershka
belt - Vans
shoes - Cheapo Shoes
scarf - self made

Wallace and Gromit having hotdogs.

To my surprise the Germans sat down nicely on their seats all gig, so it was kinda hard to get into the mood. Soon we gave up the seats an joined the party in the stairs. That made a huge difference. If you go to a gig in the massive o2 World, I recommend doing that, 'cos you see really well from up high, and there's much more space than in the pit.

Getting dressed for Halloween, Part 2

2009-10-29T12:04:00.002+01:00

Some more themes from the years, that inspired us to get creative and go crazy with the accessories:

Ghetto
This was another party with the style loving fashionistas... Here are just some pics of the ladies, I'll save you from mine. You can imagine it with a leather cap and the big lipliners again, that I mentioned in the previous post, this time made with dark brown eyeliner. I made myself a durag from a pantyhose. So that's pretty much it.

80's and 90's - the golden years of my childhood, shoulder pads and abstract neon patterns. It's hard to put these decades into one or two outfits, 'cos it's just an endless source of inspiration.

In the first pic we're in my best friend Anniina's bachelorette party, and the theme was 80's inspired. We even made the food together with all the girls according to the theme, with little sausages and tacky childhood party snacks. We got her a bunch of pink and turqoise accessories that she got in little packages every time she did a task. She ended up looking smokin hot (and I must say we weren't too shabby either)!

Laundry: We got the satin ribbons from Stockmann, Anniina's dress from Laura's closet, her leggins from Pieces, mine from H&M, and my dress from Ginatricot.

The second one is from a 90's party. I tried a mid 90's approach with a long tee-dress and the zigzag-parting. I've come to notice I always (dispite the theme) do these really strong liplinings that go slightly over the edges. For chavs, for hillbillies, for ghetto, anything. They somehow just always go.

Laundry: Outi got her outfit from the fleamarket, mine and Rene's is from a vintage shop on Kopernikus strasse and my sisters old boxes in our dad's house in Vääksy.

80's Girlband on the party boat
This was a Michael Jackson inspired, weird theme, that just somehow made sense to us and made us all look like my moms friends 20 years ago. All the stuff is vintage from UFF.

Loveboat
This was one of the biggest, best group theme parties ever. We basically had a theme-weekend, and a few weeks after we were still living it in our minds. God, these people are good company! (Maybe not in the sensible meaning of the word, like how your mom would say someone is 'good' for you, who shows good example and keeps you on the right track, but just friggin awesome fun!)

My laundry: vest - Fishbone, top - Ginatricot, skirt - Fornarina, leggins - H&M, bracelet - self made, scarf - Ellos in the 90's
Rene's laundry: whole outfit - H&M, hat - Punanaamio.

Getting dressed up for Halloween, Part 1

2009-10-27T19:12:00.002+01:00

First of all thanks for a plenty bunch of comments, sweetie darlings! I was also really excited to run into Pelle Miljoona, and I'm glad you liked the pics too. I wanna especially mention to E.Birdie, that it really was a pity you missed the bun-sale, and I hope you'll find us next Sunday next to the karaoke in the amfi theater! Would be nice to meet you. :)

I've been trying to think of a kick-ass halloween costume, and it inspired me to dig out some old costume party pictures from the years back. If you haven't noticed I'm all about theme-parties, and luckily so are my old classmates from fashion design, and pretty much most of my other friends too. I'm going to Finland for a quick visit soon, and hopefully I'll be seeing some of these babies there!

Some themes that have inspired us to dress up:

Tacky and tasteless
This was a theme party that we threw with the fashion grad-students. In grad school we were really into testing the line between taste and tack. The theme was broad, and allowed you to choose from young and old, different decades, and different stereotypes. I was going for a kind of trampy multitalent singer/pageant queen/tabloid wannabe. We have alot of them in Finland.

Laundry of this tacky broad: pvc-vest - borrowed from a colleague (didn't wanna ask why she had one) earrings - from when I was a kid and freekishly into big flashy earrings denim stetson - H&M

Pirates on partyqueen Jenna's birthday in nightclub Helmi, Helsinki, 2008. She really knows how to arrange parties and get people to have fun, (and that's one of the reasons I asked her to be the Mistress of ceremony for our wedding). I look pretty beaten up in this one, but that kinda goes with the theme.

My stuff: scarf - oldie, vest - self made, shirt with puffy sleeves - somewhere in Amsterdam, belt - Motivi, scarf - H&M, baggy pants - Vila, boots - Seppälä. Rene's stuff: outfit - Aprilli costume shop, beard - his own.

Chavs (Pissis in Finnish)
This was my favorite of the crazy series of theme parties we threw with the classmates. We really developed some sort of twisted relationship with fashion and the lack of it, and we used to laugh hysterically at stupid little things. Our teacher said we had 'grouped' well.

For the chav-theme we wore tons of mascara and eye brow-pencil, cropped tops, g-strings, basically anything that shows places you don't wanna see. I folded my skirt shorter so you could see the pockets from underneath. I think that's something Mariah Carey, or someone as important used to do. I'm the one on the left, in case you don't recognize. :)

I'm afraid I can't remember half of where I got this stuff, but if you wanna get all chavvy I'd recommend shops like Fiorella in Finland and New Yorker in Berlin.

Reindeers
The horns were a gift from our friends in a "Little Christmas party for naughty children", that we arranged with Anna in 2007.

Neon
The incredible Jatta and the graceful me in Lost & Found, Helsinki on the 1st of May 2008. My "wig" is a piece of fur that I got for Loveparade 2001.

Stay tuned for part 2, and help me out with my halloween costume!! I'm swimming in 70's disco-pieces, but I don't know what to do with them! Ideas??