Gifts and trophies!

The last days I've been savouring the treats my parents brought me from Finland (and Sweden, actually - they're so scandinavian). They really pampered me this time, I got like 8 blocks of Fazer's purple chocolate (with raisins and nuts) and OOPS I totally forgot that Rene hates raisins, so more for me! :)))) hahah. Visitors like that are always welcome. ;) I'll post some pics of what we did later.



I was extremely honoured to get my first blog-challenge from Maria! Thanks, that was cute! (I in fact hate chain-letters, but I'm not expecting much of it, since nobody really knows my existence yet! So I will pass it forward, although it's somewhat tacky. I'm still extremely honoured! :))

Looks more like a knitting-blog logo than a trophy. *giggling*. But I should not look in the gift-horses mouth, right :)

The rules are:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award (OMG really??? That's genuine. You need to ask this in the rules? These are the kind of things that suck in chain letters, so for the record, the ones I pass this on to, you don't need to thank me just because I said so!).
2. Copy the logo and paste to your blog. (- Check.)
3. Link to the person who gave you the award. (- Check.)
4. Name seven things about yourself that no one would really know. (- Coming up.)
5. Nominate seven "Kreativ" Bloggers. (- Let's see... I'll nominate My milk toof, burp, Fashion Chalet, 30 Doradus, More to love, Laura de Lille, and Dancing through life. The first 4 are in English, the others in Finnish. But I recommend to check them all out for cute pics.)
6. Post links to the seven blogs. (- Done.)
7. Leave a comment on each blog so they know you nominated them. (- Will do.)

Really, who has time for this? Well, I'm still so smitten, that I got an acknowledgement, and it makes me feel like part of a community in a way. :) So, forgive me this nonsense. (Check out also an older post of mine where I confess my hatred to chainletters.)

Seven things you may not know about me yet:
1. I can't live without real butter.
2. I could trade working for being a house wife (even with no kids) and just cook delicious things all day. I'm not sure I'll ever have kids though, 'cos I also like my gipsy-lifestyle. So I'd gladly just feed the meals to my sisters kids.
3. I wish there was a way to combine living in the best city in the world (guess which?) and the best country (guess again) at the same time. It pains me, that all my friends live in different countries, although it's so cool to have friends everywhere you go.
4. I don't mind being poor.
5. I wish I had the chance to travel more though.
6. I sometimes wish I knew the answers.

raw fish and moustache

Do you ever think about how life just keeps repeating itself? Sometimes it feels like all I do is walk across the bridge to work or buy the same 2 kg German apples from the grocery store. I've done it so many times it feels unreal. Now, I've noticed that we sit in the same sushi restaurant all the time. We take all our friends there and never get tired of it.

Yesterday we were goin' there again, and our roommates, Sam and Jeo, were like "Oh shit, we're goin for sushi too, but we wanna go alone" (the unsocial bastards). Lucky for them, there's another one across the street! How cool is it to have 2 local sushi places around the corner? And they're both friggin good. Make your own comparison on Brückenstrasse 15 in Don Sushi, and Brückenstrasse 3 in Shochiku Sushi Bar.

The Philadelphia rolls in Don Sushi are my favorite, they're hard to find in Berlin. I always ask them with extra cheese. *Chuckles*

We ordered 'a few' things.

And 'cos they love us, they gave us an extra Sake-maki on the house. Heart!

People say this guy looks like Che Guevara, and he works in a Cuban bar, so everybody thinks it's somehow cute. I bet my dad wouldn't.

Don't gasp at Rene's and my incredibly tacky matching headbands, please. We weren't like that the whole time. Laundry of the day: top - Ginatricot, chain - Motivi, headband - self made.

Zorro

Later at home Rene shaved off his beard. El Che was gone and El Zorro came out! He's gonna hate me for publishing this one. :) I've been begging him to have a moustache, and now he did, for like 12 hours. Today he came to visit me at work all shaven and looking like he was 18 again. Creapy!

For my Finnish readers, as a bonus, some more Google Translator laughs from the previous post:

Cute rengas sanoo viheltää viheltää

Oma suosikki on naisen kokoinen revolveri eräänlainen vain makaa pohjassa.

Satoi kuin helvetti, ja olen tehnyt jotain 20 euroa, mies!

Sain vähän innostua, ja jotenkin overdid määrä leivonnaisia varten puolueen, joten nyt olen 2 koko banaani kakkua pakastimessa.

Lukija minulle, Helena, joka hyväksyi minun ensimmäinen leipoa myyntiin toukokuussa pyysi minua tekemään hänelle kasan riisiä piirakatavaamista hänen Store. Ei ole niin siistiä?

Rakastan stroopwafels niin, etten voinut kääri itseäni yhdeksi ja syödä itseni.

Yarrrrr mitä kettu!

The beginning of something beautiful

The 1st and best Vääksy festival

Tuomas is waving hello to you.

This weekend was the ultimate ending to my month in Finland, it was something undescribably beautiful and weird at the same time. I had a huge bunch of excellent friends of mine around me and just that makes things pretty friggin good. But also involved were an endless sunshine, an over 100-year-old steamboat, an ass-kicking little village in the middle of nowhere, the lake and nature, good food and drinks, a blonde wig, and 16 pretty wild attitudes. Here's how it turned out.

A piece of our human creativity.

The Cruise

We were equipped with plenty of eager captains, pursers and even a few pirates.

Hostess and the cap'n. Laundry of the day: vest Fishbone, top Ginatricot, skirt Fornarina, leggins H&M, accessories from Outi - the best accessorizer of all time.

Julie in Captain Stubing's arms.

The fuel.

The engine.

The captain.

Finally I had my man there too, we hadn't seen eachother the whole month!

Rene had the original idea of getting dressed according to the theme. So he went to H&M already in the spring to get a Finnish-Swedish-style blue and white sailor-outfit (that really has nothing to do with steam boats, especially 'cos it gets really dirty there, and dressing up in white is rediculous). Then we got the whole crew to dress to impress, and beautiful pictures! Gotta love him!

We stopped at the open of the lake to have a dip! The best place to swim, I tell you!

The smallest, and BEST crew member was wiggling her toes!

We cooked lunch in the heat of the steamengine.

In the tin foil: the Finnish barbeque-favorite: mushrooms filled with garlic cheese and wrapped in bacon. Then some sausages and steamed spring onions.

Champignons and paprika with blue cheese, and corn. Looks good, huh?

...Jatta's turkey-wieners weren't that alluring, though. But she was happy as always!

Hitting the town of Vääksy

Asko, Rene and senior ladies on the move.

The traffic park is a legendary childhood memory, and even better now that I'm a big kid.

Some smaller girls had stolen all the good cars, so we had to fit ourselves into the tiny ones. Then they chased us and laughed because they were faster. (The lady said it was OK, just 'cos they were there first and actually under 12! Bitches.) My legs hurt so bad, that I decided to pedal with the hand.

The size didn't seem to matter.

Another craetive and free activity in Vääksy.

The Vääksy canal.

Outi presents: some marine fashion in the harbour.

And a dude presents, that crop tops really are IN this summer even in Vääksy.

Some mayhem in the most useless night club in the world

Tallukka, a famous wellness hotel in Vääksy used to have the best (and only) nightclub in the village. Unfortunately, alot of people (that we just saw around the town and invited to go with us) said that it's so dead that it might even be closed. We still decided to go, 'cos we just HAD TO go somewhere. I mean where do the Vääksy-people go?!

I had recently asked from their bar manager, if they'd have live music there when we go. He said they'd given up bands and even DJs already 2 years ago. Despite of that, it says on their website: "Tallukka’s popular events feature top performers and make the Arena a genuine nightlife paradise. The 400 m2 dance floor under a disco ball raises the atmosphere to the roof and the evening does not end until the morning comes. Our staff will see to it that you will not experience hunger or thirst even in the small hours."

We added like 400% to the population of the place, saw no sign of a disco ball, and got escorted out well before the morning came, because "customers had complained of the screaming". If nothing else, Tallukka was an awesome place to get thrown out of!

The lame-ass atmosphere didn't really hold our newly assembled Vääksy-crew back.

The quest to find some life in nightly Vääksy required new theme-outfits.

This guy came in with his fanny-pack and new age crocs. The outfit of the night!

It's sad, really. We did find another place that was still open, but only for another hour. The mystery of the Vääksy night life remains. The whole extravaganza was so good to us all, though, that we're gonna make it an annual (unofficial) festival with more days, more people, more mayhem, and in the end we'll start our own night club there, if that what it needs. A massive hug to all who made it possible!

Kaffe & Bulla in the Swedish Archipelago

My mom and Stig have a summer house by the sea in Sweden, and it's a really sweet traditional red wooden cottage. Staying there is always a real relaxation. The village is super cute and the neighbours smiley. We travelled there by car from Helsinki through the archipelago on loads of ferries and through many islands.


Food means life

The food is always just so great when I'm staying with mom. We mostly just chill and enjoy life, go to see the picturesque places, cafés and fleamarkets in the nearby villages, and eat fresh, local food. She takes good care of me. :)

Fresh, self-picked blueberries!!!

The best breakfast is the world consists of fresh fruits (eg. apple, banana, pear), some berries (here strawberries, blueberries), granola and soy milk. Sounds a bit too healthy but tastes delicious too! Try it.

The Danish beercan asked me: "At work?" I didn't consider it work, so I kept drinking.

Peali taught me to make my favorite Indian dish, Palak Paneer with spinach and cheese!! Yummm.

Mom mad us a casserole she had invented lately: aubergines, pesto, onion, pasta, goat cheese, tomato sauce... she's amazing!

Can you read the recipe in Swedish? :)

Stig and Janna enjoying by the cosy dinner table on the porch.

The café project

This is where we originally were supposed to open the bun & coffee-shop, which I've been trying out in a way in Berlin. So with great expectations I started baking and brought my buns to the side of the road. The crowd was 'a bit' smaller here though, so the sales weren't that great. Haha, actually our only customer of the first day was a lady who had taken no money with her. That was the case with most people, who were just taking a walk. But, it wasn't bad just sitting in the sun and having an occasional bun ourselves. We also gained a few crowns the next days, mostly from our neighbours Stisse and Bengt. Thanks guys! :)

The Baker.

And the Shopgirl.

Our drive-in-customer Bengt. (We know all the customers by name.)

Stisse, our jolly good neighbour.

It looks like alot in Swedish crowns, but it's mostly our change! Lol

Some landscapes

Lelle.

Mom and Peali in Café Kalaset.

The fleamarket was nearly closed, but we snuk in to have a look.

Marina.

This is where I spent some of my huge earnings.

Some souvenirs for myself :))) The tray was second hand for 10 crowns (1 €), the shoes to die for, on sale only 17 euros from Halstavik!!! And the Finnish chocolate I just got, cos' it was cheaper here! :0

A little oasis in Stensäter.

Bio-groceries and a very trendy looking shopgirl. Even in the countryside the Swedes are just so pretty. :)