Bye, 2014!

Hi guys!

I hope you had a lovely holidays! I spent mine with the whole family in Spain... Pics will follow later ;). I had a look at the photos of 2014 and built some collages to get a better view of what I did.

In January and February I did my vision board, visited Stockholm (where I lost my wallet), had dinners with friends, went to see an opera, went to an organic market often, did lots of sports, Including the 10k challenge - 10.000 kettlebell swings in five weeks! went to Berlin fashion week and moved to a new, lovely apartment with Ben.

In March I visited my cousin in Paris where we got to experience our childhood dream of visiting Disneyland ;). We had a housewarming party, I tried aerial yoga, I cooked and baked a lot in our new, big kitchen and planted the first flowers on the balcony. We did raw chocolate with a couple of friends. 

April was the best month because my older sister and I took our little sister as a surprise to New York! The trip was amazing. The city has completely different energy and phase than any other place I've experienced before. The Lion King musical and rollerblading around the Central Park were the highlights of the trip. If I wasn't 100 % sure before, I was now: I want to move to New York.

In May and June the weather was awesome. I spent time cooking with my friend, Fanny, bought a vegetable spiralizer, went to see World Press Photo exhibition, hiked 20 km and spent lots of time outside in parks, street food markets etc. I also had visitors from Finland :).

In July and August I had awesome long holidays in Finland. I got to spend time with my family, Ben and friends who also had a holiday at the same time. The highlight was our boat trip to a small island where we spent the day swimming, sunbathing, eating and discovering the island. I also visited the legendary Sauna festival with punch of friends. In August the evening started to get darker, but the weather was still warm so we spent lots of time at the balcony. We had a "shrimp" party with some friends.

Because the previous trip to Finland was too good, I had to book another one for autumn. In September and October I baked a lot, went horse riding and spent lots of time outside with my dog, I also started grafting my "vision book" (easier to transport in a book form :D). We also moved again with Ben.

November and December were full of pre-christmas parties, christmas markets and crafting. The highlight was the trip to Spain with the whole family where we shared a villa together.


All in all it was a great year! I even manganed to travel a bit even though I'm trying to save my money for something big ;). I made lots of new friends, tried new things, read more books, and almost stayed vegetarian :D. My biggest goal this year is to eat vegetarian or vegan food and to stay healthy (almost managed that as well last year ;). I have also very exciting plans for this year, but I'll write about them later.

I wish you a happy, exciting and adventurous 2015 everybody!



Last Minute Christmas Gift DIY

Hi guys!

So here's a last minute christmas gift DIY idea for your panicking souls. I did these origami "diamond" ornaments for my grandparents. You can find the instructions here.


I've packed my suitcase and I'm ready to head to Spain with my family tomorrow to (un)celebrate Christmas :). Have a lovely Christmas guys!




The best Christmas Market in Berlin: Holy Heimat

Hi guys!

Hope you had a lovely weekend! I spent my weekend shopping, eating well and visiting a couple Christmas markets. I also saw the new Paddington movie with Milka - a perfect Sunday movie :D. 

These pics, however, are from last weekend when Essi and I visited Holy Heimat Christmas market at Neue Heimat (near Warschauer strasse). The market was the best I've visited so far in Berlin (and I have visited many). It was quite typical "Berlin-style" market. The venue was an old building full of graffiti but the fairy lights made it look all cosy and christmassy ;). They had lots of street food stalls, so unlike at a normal Christmas market here, you could choose anything from whiskey ribs to Korean bibimbab. Not to forget the nice assortment of different cakes and desserts. The ice skating ring and design market were a nice extra! Obviously a DJ was playing some hipstery tunes by the bar.

We also made a note that the people there were pretty. This was after a few glasses of Glühwein though so I'm not sure how reliable this statement is.

And then to the pics.











Christmas crafting: Advent calendar & straw diamonds

Hi guys!

Lately I've been busy with mainly three things: Christmas parties, crafting and being sick. We also celebrated Finland's Independence day with a couple of friends by watching President's party while sipping some sparkling wine and stuffing ourselves with sweets.

Last year I made a "christmas town" advent calendar for my niece with Ben. This year we did something different. Every day Isla will get a card with a picture I d
rew and the name in Finnish and in German ;).

Last year's advent calendar

This years' advent calendar
I've also done some other crafting.. like these diamond ornaments made out of straws. The instruction for the first one is here and for the second one here (unfortunately only in Finnish but the pics explain it pretty well!).




Finally a little sneak peek into our christmas party ;)




Kiitos!

Kiitoskirje läheisille.

Kiitos, isä! Kiitos, kun näytit esimerkilläsi, että töihin lähdetään reippaasti hyvillä mielin, koska päivästä on tulossa mahtava! Kiitos kun laitoit mut työskentelemään, noh, niska limassa, että ymmärsin rahan arvon. Myönnän: osasin todella arvostaa ekaa työtäni, jossa en siirrellyt puutavaraa pinosta toiseen (kiitos Hilkka ja Tarmo kesätöistä kukkien myyjänä!).

Kiitos, äiti ja isä, että autatte, kun omat varat eivät riitä unelmien toteuttamiseen. Tämän takia on helpompaa unelmoida suuria. Kiitos tuesta ja seikkailunhalusta! Kiitos, että otitte meidät mukaan matkoille. Tajusin, että koko maailma voi olla koti.

Kiitos, äiti! Kiitos, että muistutit opiskelupaikan valinnan edessä tyytyväisyyden työhön olevan tärkeämpää, kuin sen, mitä siitä tienaa. Kiitos, että asetit rajoja. Vain harvoin ne ylitin... Kiitos, että kokkaat herkkuja, kun tuun käymään. Kiitos, että loihdit kodin tunnun sisustamalla jatkuvasti, vaikka se kellertävä sohva olikin outo valinta. Joulu kotona on parasta mitä tiedän. Se tunnelma ja perinteet ovat yksinomaan sun ansiota!

Kiitos mamma ja paappa, että eläkeikä vaikuttaa vuosien lomalta. Sillä silloinhan käytetään aika rakkaimpien harrastusten parissa. Poimitaan marjoja, pilkotaan puita, leivotaan (vaikka aamusta iltaan), ehostetaan puutarhaa ja kaffitellaan frendien kanssa joka toinen päivä.

Kiitos Jenni, että opetit avoimuutta meidän juroperheessä. Kiitos, kun osoitit, ettei haittaa vaikka omaa tietään joutuu hakea hetken. En pelkää astua välillä harhaan.
Kiitos nauruista, Juulia. Kiitos möllötyksistä, tyhmistä vitseistä ja spontaaniudesta. Kiitos, että nukuit vieressä, kun sydän oli särkynyt. Kiitos siskot, että hörskötätte!

Kiitos Ben, että pidät musta huolen ja tuet juuri niissä asioissa, missä oon heikoimmillani. Kiitos että autoit Saksaan muutossa. Kiitos, että opiskelet suomea miltei päivittäin. Kiitos, että oot järkkymätön, turvallinen ja jaksat naurattaa omilla hullutteluillasi.

Kiitos ystävät, kiitos kaverit! Miten kiitollinen oonkaan, että mun tielleni on osunut niin mahtavia tyyppejä! Ootte maailman hauskimpia! Kiitos tsempistä ja tuesta. Jokainen teistä on mulle inspiraation lähde ja toivon omaksuneeni edes vähän teidän mahtavista luonteenpiirteistä. Muutetaanko eläkeiällä kaikki Teuvalle ja kaffitellaan päivät pitkät?

In English: Happy thanksgiving!


Christmas market season has begun!

Hi guys!

I kicked off the Christmas market season! They have to be my favourite thing before Christmas. It's so cozy to sip mulled wine and look for the next food stall to conquer. Offially they start next weekend but a couple of them opened already this weekend. We headed to a Finnish market in Kreuzberg. My homesickness was fully cured with a dose of smoked salmon on a rye bread, salmon soup, glögi (mulled wine), and cinnamon rolls... Obviously I also didn't leave empty handed but I picked up some rye bread and Finnish chocolate to bring me comfort until I get to visit home again ;).

If you're not from Germany I highly recommend to visit during the Christmas market season :).










Let's catch up!

Hi guys!

Yo. I'm back! Here's the extended list of excuses why I haven't blogged:


  1. I went to Finland and fell out of track
  2. I didn't have internet in one month
  3. My computer is slow
  4. Too many ideas to write about
  5. I've spent too much time at gym
  6. The previous one was a lie


Few things have happened while I've been "gone" so let's look back for a bit...


  • We moved! Again... The girl who rented us the previous apartment needed her lovely flat so we looked for a new flat closer to my work in Friedrichchain. I'm not gonna lie; this is not as nice as the previous one was, but oh well, you can't have everything now, can you? It's nice to be closer to work because for a while I was biking 16 km per day to get to work.
  • Ah, a designer sale! I left with a dress and a skirt from Kenzo.
  • I went to see Lady Gaga! 

  • I went to Finland! Lovely as always. I got to spend time with lovely Isla. At the end of my stay we planned Christmas holidays in Gran Canaria with my family. 
  • In Finland I went horseback riding. Haven't done it in years! Loved it!

  • I've been on a mostly-vegetarian diet pretty much the whole year... In October there is a "meatless October" campaign in Finland. Ironically I was craving more meat than ever in October. Was it the autumn doing its tricks for me? I don't know but I cooked everything from meatballs to cabbage casserole (traditional Finnish dish). 
  • I got a new phone! The first thing I did? I joined Instagram! Follow me ;) (maikkoo0)
  • I've been building my new vision board, although in the form of a book this time (easier to transport you see ;) ) I also took part in manifesting workshop organized by Clare from Woodward institute. Feeling all inspired now ;)

  • We had a nice team event at Teufelsberg ("devil's mountain")which is an artificial hill with an old spying station that was built after the second world war. We got to golf there. One of the "in Berlin only" -experiences.



















 
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