Walk in the City

Saturday, no plans...we just all went for a walk in the city. Actually, we didn't plan but bought a new vehicle for Leo, can be seen on the picture. Lighter and easier to pack to the car. Simple black Mercedes Brio. :)

I am so tired of dark colors, so I wore all light outfit. I look so tortured because little man is waking every morning at 5 or 6. This is not forever, I know...

Faux fur - Asos

White jeans - Kappahl

Bag - Michael Kors

Shoes - Vagabond

Good News and Smart Posters

It is an important day for me today: agreement with the owner of new home finally signed. Most probably we move during the first weekend of May - so soon and so far away...

Today we took it easy with Leo and slept until 9 a.m. which is very uncommon for us. Then we had lunch at Ikea and bought frames for all the posters that needed them.

Here are the two I promised to show. They are coming most probably to our master bedroom in the new home. Guess what I am considering as a new accent color for that room?

Owls Again :)

This time it is a lunch bag and a plate, so something functional at last. The lunch bag has an isolation layer so it preserves food cold/hot. Also the plate is divided in 2 compartments, providing a grown-up dining for Leo.

More animals are available at Vipanat shop

Papershop & Kruununhaka

Today spring winds took us to Kruununhaka again to meet Linda for a sushi lunch. We took advantage of that and took a nice walk through Kruununhaka admiring little flower shops and finding a new totally cool retro papershop where we got some new decoration inspiration for a new home.

They also have very cool mobiles, which we are in a line to get: the hedgehog and the baloon one - next week, hopefully.

The papers we got from the shop are actually packaging papers at 3,5 € each but very luckily sized 50*70, which is a standard IKEA frame size. So, as you may have guessed...they will be framed in black and white frames for new home. Can't wait to get to Ikea to buy the frames. I have two more posters for our bedroom which I am going to show as soon as they are framed.

I like the retro look and feel of them and the cool signature of the original year 1973. They are antique already. Time flies...

Poppies in Bloom

I feel so relaxed today as I went to a sport massage first thing in the morning and a lot of back tension disappeared immediately. Back and spine are very important for a well-being, that's what I understood quite recently. Now i promise to go to sport massage regularly.

After that we visited a local "baby morning" event at Lindex. Good discounts, tea, chocolate, grapes and lovely kids clothes - any mum's dream. We got some nice things for Leo and Laura. And myself I picked  a poppy top already at the cashier line. It was a destiny, I know! It was not yet allocated to a shelf or a stand, but I fell totally in love with the watercolor print and fluid fabrics of it. It can be worn with skinny jeans and my leather quilted jacket and it certainly looks cool with denim shorts and tan.

And what is your summer flower? :)

And here Leo wearing his new star body and super soft light blue jeans. 

Exploring Tiger and Summer Winds

I have read in another blog about a Tiger shop, which is located in Kamppi and which I have never noticed and never have been to. They have a lot of useful and cool things for very low prices.

Here are our purchases of today.

Plastic storage. Like the colours, transparancy and so convenient for this small things like keys, post it notes etc. Ideal for cosmetics too. At as little as 3 eur.

Postcards. Very nice ones! I am a postcard freak so those just had to come with me.

Tin lunch satchels for kids. Smth like 3 eur each, Blafre ones are 5 times more expensive. I like the retro colours of these. Now kids are ready for a summer picnic.

I am also somehow already done with the spring and dreaming of summer. Bikini, beach, sea wind, some soft drink, a hat and a white shirt to cover my shoulders. Here it is. by Esprit.

Just A Weekend

This is just a normal weekend at home with kids.  Laura was visiting an English club and in the meantime i went to Munkkiniemi flower shop and bought some willows which we decorated with pink Easter eggs back home. I also spent about an hour reading a design magazine in Fazer cafe, which was an amazing time off. It was an early Saturday morning and there was noone in that cafe except me and an old lady.

Today we decided to make pizza ourselves. Laura was so excited, she wants to help in everything, so cute.

HAVE A NICE WEEKEND TOO

Back To Basics

So now i do not need a down coat anymore. It is spring. And today I was wearing spring shoes and a light silky scarf and no hat. Only sunnies.

Among some practical things we needed to take care of with Leo we dropped by at Ikea and of course, we did not come back with empty hands. I do have a new home in mind and I would like to decorate it but I need to do it step by step and when we already live there (lessons learnt). But some things i could not resist.

Black and white candle holders. Something in their shape, that little circle on the side - make them very special. Tall candles are very festive always. And this candle holder placed single on a simple wooden table - what could be more stylish? white one is porcelain (at ridiculous 1,95 €) and black is made of heavy metal and is slightly more pricey (5,95€). I think I have seen similar in some design store but can't remember where.

And Leo got his first traffic toys. Believe it or not, there is not a single car in this family yet. Now he got the traffic mat and a wooden railroad with an extra train. I love the feeling of wooden toys. And they last so much longer. Happy play moments, Leo and Laura!

Arabia and Something Very Good

Today is a very sunny day and we happen to have gone to Arabia, particularily to a cozy flea market store for children to reserve a table to sell old Laura's and Leo's clothes. There is a cafe and a play corner and a lot of mums. Which is a guarantee for business success, I hope.

The area around the store is very unique, it is called Toukola. A lot of wooden buildings in cute bright colors. The actual Arabia center is a red brick complex with cool glass roofs and homeware outlets, mostly dishes of Iittala and Arabia and Pentik. They offer very good deals. For new home need to keep in mind. And the place is full of art students. One can see it in the way they dress. Main accessory - a scarf and quirky sunglasses. I saw a girl in jeans short and black leather ruffle top, who was hardly 18-19 but the way she was dressed was very artistic and mature. Arabia is worth a day visit for sure. There is also a shore to walk on a sunny day.

And....seems we got a home! more about this later. But this is for tonight...cin-cin!

Waiting for A Miracle

Are you waiting for Easter? It is such a positive spring holiday. I like to decorate and bake for Easter perhaps even more than for Christmas.

Today my routines were positively broken by an April Elle arrival to my post box. We made a little Easter oasis on the table with Leo and he is a bit too interested in those chickens (for eating purposes). The idea of this oasis is that there will be chocolate eggs appearing there from time to time. And Laura will not be able to ask more from mum as they would come from an unpredictable source, i.e. Easter hen. :) Colourful candles were also selected by Leo.

Dreaming Of A Home...

I have seen so many homes in the past 4 months that I do not expect anything new anymore. I know what to expect from Finnish houses in capital area. I have also been able to come up with the list of things that are important for me right now, things I would love to see in my dream home - in one way or another.

1. Own entrance - it does not need to have a purple door, but maybe I will paint it purple

2. Stairs - I love the spiral ones, they are so architecturally beautiful but of course not practical with children. But I would like to have my home on 2 levels.

3. Functional, light kitchen with a spirit.

4. Spacy functional bathroom with a touch of old school chic

5. A fireplace or a so-called home oven (kakluuni in Finnish, covered with tiles). We have lived now 1 year with a fireplace in the living room and I love the spirit it provides even when the fire is not on.

6. Big windows which let the natural light in.

IMPOSSIBLE? Maybe...

But now I need to stop dreaming and see a "Norwegian Wood" film which I was planning to see for a long time...

3 Hours in Porvoo

On a non-sunny Saturday it was a time for a spontaneous mood-raising trip to Porvoo. Old Porvoo with its wooden houses and cute shops and delicious food restaurants is always a good idea. And spring has arrived to Porvoo, indeed.

Fighting Against the Blues

...of not having a home or any prospect of having a home. Here is the list, how I try to do it.

1. Flowers. Perfect pink tulips.

2. Bright summery bracelets and manicure.

3. A rabbit. On a pillow. For Laura.

4. CHOCOLATE. surprise...

5. Skincare for compensation of #4. :) My new best friend - DayWear by Estee Lauder, tinted moisturizer with SPF 15. There is nothing this tube does NOT do.

Little People's World and Some Life Thoughts

Recent days have been a lot about kids routines and hobbies. I realize each day more and more how little time we have and how short is childhood, but there is a second chance - a childhood experienced through your own children. But that miracle won't work unless you are really really patient. Patient to understand how it feels to be a little person.

How does it feel to want to hold your bottle for several weeks and finally succeed?

To sit down and see the world from sitting position?

To dance in front of the audience?

To visit a toy exhibition?

To get a big chocolate cookie as a surprise?

I like to watch them so excited from minor things.  And it is interesting to see a disappointment from a very minor thing. Because a minor thing can be very very important for a little person and what is worst - grown-up may not understand that. Because little person's logic works totally different from grown-up's. Security is the key to little person's happiness. Security spiced by positive surprises. Does the same go for a definition of happiness for a big person? Maybe it is also about security?..ONLY?

The tiring topic of home is still present here and we are a bit losing our hope. I would like to have a home. Rental, small, under construction, free only after x months - does not matter. But the knowledge that there is a place for you...We do not have such and the May is approaching. Laura will turn 5 on 30.05.2012. She would like to have a birthday party with balloons and Hello Kitty cake. And she made a wish for a birthday gift - a beach set: bikini, hat, sunnies and a bag of course! I hope she will have that perfect day in a new home that we all love. I keep fingers crossed. Tired but I do...