Mission: 1920s

Even though I am on maternity leave, I am still welcome to the corporate Xmas party. This year it will be held in Astoria Hall which was built in 1920s and that is actually The Theme of the party. The epoche of young Chanel, low waists, pearls, T-bar shoes, first jazz, curled short hair and bright lipstick. Mission: I need to find the outfit by 2.12.2011. And i think I have got it already, from my own wardrobe, indeed.

There would be an easy solution. A swedish high street store Kappahl has got a "Vintage Stories" collection with very affordable things. There 1920s glamour would be delivered straight to ones wardrobe for a few dozens of euros without any headache.

Sequined dress with scallop hem? - Check!

Low wasted long sleeved blouse in powder pink? - Check!

Plus art deco costume jewelry, feather accessories etc. - for under 10 Eur. But that's not interesting, is it? It is the same as eating a burger instead of sushi, I think.

OK, low waist is definately not my thing, waist is one of the assets of my hourglass figure and I do not want to look like a balloon, not at all, considering that I have looked like that most of the year 2011 anyway. I do not want to go black, though one can never go wrong with that. But did you not know that LWD (Little White Dress) is the new staple of A/W 2011? And i am lucky enough to own at least 3 LWDs, which were impulse buys for my April wedding this year until I found my perfect one at Muotikuu shop.

So, I decided to go white. All white. Including tights. And shoes. I have gotten 2 options:

OPTION # 1:

Cream dress with chiffon applique flowers and powder pink cardie with pearl trims, white tights:

Accessories: Bronze leather sandals, sequined bag, semiprecious stone necklace with metal tassel (! Tassels were BIG in 20s).

OPTION #2:
Or this cottom lace dress with multirow semiprecious stone necklace in pastel tones and " retro dancing" shoes. The shoes are a bargain from the local store from 4 or 5 years ago and looks like they have been waiting for this very day as I have not yet found a single place to wear them to. So they are NEW and I have just digged them from a cellar.

So, which option do you like more, my friends?

Do not worry, I will not forget to accessorize with the most important: the Red Lipstick (by Clarins, the perfect shade for me) and Her Majesty's perfume: #19, Poudre. It does smell like powder, like old times, like the real fur which sophisticated lady wears for a special occasion. I remember that powdery smell from my childhood, when my aunt, a singer, who lived then in Moscow showed me her wardrobe of treasures. I remember those textures: suede boots, fur coats - everything smelling like this powdery scent. I decided then: when I grow old enough I will buy myself delicate high-heeled suede boots and a fur coat. And I have done it. This Chanel's scent i have got as a tester mini bottle which is even more handy when you have a small evening bag. And I love it.

I know white is NOT the colour #1 for post pregnancy times, but I love it and most importantly I will follow the golden wisdom of Iris Apfel, which I read from British Elle this month: "Fashion faux pas is when you look in the mirror and see a stranger staring back". Isn't it most important - to wear YOUR clothes, non?

Checked and Learnt: There is Life After 30...

On an unusually warm November day (the 12th) i have turned 30. And it felt like nothing, frankly, except I really tried to make myself understand that I am not a child anymore.

I got a feeling of being mature simply because I have two small kids, but I tell you a secret, 30 feels like nothing. Unless you have kids. :)

On The Day i had my favourite spa treatment at CenCei Asian Spa - Balinesian massage and went for a premier of ballet Don Quijote at the Finnish National Opera House. Sat next to Jorma Uotinen, the local dance star, in the 1st balcony. Ballet was very impressive, really spectacular and left an optimistic spirit. Not the dramatic one that I usually get when I see ballet, especially Tchaikovsky, when i usually, well, simply cry...

Another important milestone is getting a Flirt. Yes, Lancel's Flirt in Brown Mocha. It is perfect, it always has been, ever since 2006 when it was invented by Lancel Fashion house. In April this year we travelled to Paris with my husband for a honey moon and one day we were hiding from a rain in Lancel's flagship store (it was a destiny, you see). He learnt to appreciate the sophisticated classiness of Lancel bags. And he kept it in mind for my 30th birthday, which i truly appreciate. So here she is, the Flirt. And yes, nowadays I wear clothes to match her. Just because she is perfect.

 I am still trying to process my new age. I go through things i have done and it is maybe the first time i look back for a review. I have gotten many things. And I have been in many places. I have experienced a lot. And I have them:

  I also have great friends who made me a great company for a jazz evening at Ursula seaside restaurant (16.11.2011):

And at Cafe Jugend for a brunch (20.11.2011):

So I can say by the age of 30

MA VIE EST TRES BELLE

Cafe Ursula & Luxurous Dreams

Days are not enough for us to explore all the interesting corners of Helsinki and now it starts getting dark already at 5 p.m. We use every moment of sunshine to be out and it starts bringing results (not sure about Leo, but I lost 2 kg last week, yes, yes! and more to come - I very much hope. Now it is only 7 kg to go until i am perfect, well, ALMOST perfect).


We had warm meeting with Hetti and her sweet princess Essi on the Eteläranta (shoreline leading to Helsinki city center).

Cafe Ursula must be already familiar to the reader of this blog. It is a beautiful place, can't you see?

Also from indoors with the round indoor terrace with direct views to sea:

Hetti and Essi were a great company and Leo was happy to model a little in front of the camera:

Maybe Leo should go on a diet as well, but he is surprisingly non-aware of these issues. A typical male, you know...


Pay attention to my shirt if you can even see it really in the picture. It is a simple navy blue cable knit. Yes, inspired by my stylish reading a la francaise. According to Ines de la Fressange navy knit is one of the most stylish things any Parisian should own - it is versatile, it is classy and it is comfortable! I agree, I start preferring navy to black.

On the way home we walked a new route - Korkeavuorenkatu with its little boutiques. we just passed through really, but the route deserves a separate city trip (coming soon).

And once again we came to the window of Della Marga to adore those Chanel shoes. They are perfection. With that chain detail they represent the most luxurous of dreams.

Yes, and speaking of shoes, I am participating in the shoe competition of Nina's boutique, where you need to publish the photo of your favourite shoes and audience votes them. Winner gets a generous shopping budget at Nina's. These are the competition participants - my peach Ted Bakers:

Waiting for the competition results on 16.12. Keep fingers crossed for me!!

The New Life of Kiseleff House

Autumn is still here with its beautiful colour carpet. This is how our yard looks like now. Isn't it just beautiful? I would like to put it directly on a wrap dress or stiletto shoe as a print. I am sure there will be a young design who will do it before me:

Today me and Leo decided to visit the Kiseleff House Design Mall. It is located directly on the Main Square of Helsinki in the old building which was built already back in 1770s.  Kiseleff is the name of the trademan (Russian, as one can decide by the last name) who was running the sugar processing business in the building. Later on it has been under the Stockmann empire ownership (first Helsinki Stockmann was right here!) and once it was even a police station. Now, since May 2011, it is a trendy design boutiques gallery with very well-preserved original atmosphere, beautiful staircases, old elevators (only for decoration, they have got modern hi-tech ones, of course, which are perfect for moving with a pram). There are also several cafes in the building including Patisserie Teemu Markus, where two guys are preparing macarons and cakes in front of your hungry eyes. visit their mouth watering home page here: http://www.patisserietm.fi/

The peaceful downstairs cafe of Kiseleff house:

The original elevator:

The shops:

The most interesting boutiques of the Mall are Samuji (androgynous styled clothes by a Finnish designer, once working at Marimekko but then opened an own label, I still own his Marimekko designs) and au3 (one of a kind jewelry store with precious metal jewelry in trendy designs).  Check au3 designs here: http://www.au3.fi/Mallistot.html

Kiseleff house from outside:

The magnificent view after exiting the main entrance of the Kiseleff house:

Kiseleff house is opening its doors very soon on 03.11 for a special event:

We are in! remember to check in by 01.11 ;)

Food & Good Life & Book Fair

Back to the Fair Center we were today with Leo, this time for the Food & Book Fair. It was predictable - the place was full of people, expecting to get canapes and free tasty bites instead of the regular Saturday brunch.

Parmigiano Reggiano Corner was so crowded that I could not get a proper pic of it:

At noon the Fair Hall started to get so full that I could hardly move with the pram. Here is the Dutch cheese corner (I would have liked to get a bite of cumin cheese from there, as it is one of the sweetest memories of Soviet childhood) and the Sushi place:

In the British corner there was a very wide selection of very decently priced porcelain. I loved the floral and cupcake ones, with those Dior looking a bit too brand conscious for me:

And this was the most popular stand of the Fair (after the wine corner, of course) - British fudges. It was also the place where i made my first purchase. I got some orange and chocolate, rum and raisin and coconut fudges, they were far too sweet for me, luckily I have male support to finish them:

They also had a sushi school for 20eur, which I certainly missed, but that is one of the things I would love to do in the future.

We also got some foie gras from Deli deli stand and honey with asian and italian spices. So now we are well prepared for the cold autumn nights indoors.

Something that was not advertised in the Fair but was a very pleasant surprise was an exhibition of art works, also by Russian painters. I have very sceptic approach to modern art, but there were things worth buying, the future antiques, definately. I loved the paintings of 2 young Russian women. One is Ekaterina Chekalina (her style is romantic and sweet and fairytalish with a bit dreamy compositions, no wonder she exhibitied in the International Doll Museum in Moscow). Another one is Marina Fedorova (she paints realistic situations, usually people in nature, a bit photographic style, but very natural and touching). I met their gallerist and she gave me an invitation to Marina's exhibition opening on 10.11 at 18 o'clock in Gallery Kadieff. Here is the link to the gallery pages: www.gallerykadieff.fi. I am in for the opening ceremony, definately!

And now some pure pleasure for the reader, a few paintings by Ekaterina (pay attention to her level of detail, it is amazing!!!):

BOOTS OR NOT

Today the most interesting place we have been with Leo (after Laura's carnival in kindergarten) is actually an online store YOOX.  Beware, girls, its address is www.yoox.com but luckily they have got Halloween discounts now for loyal customers. That amazing opportunity could not have been missed by me, so a long searched black leather bag by Michael Kors is coming to mummy. The leather is butter soft and ages beautifully, this bag is mid-sized (I started hating spacy bags when things started to get lost in their bottoms). I think this one will accompany me to many places. And hopefully those little pockets won't be used for nasty parking tickets storage.

 YOOX is a dangerous place, really. They have got nearly EVERYTHING one may wish for. And they often do the reductions, so really dangerous place to check. But still in search for a perfect boot i was adoring some funny inventions by

D&G (didn't know what to put on for the cold party night?):

Mister Marc Jacobs (wanna be a gentlewoman?):

Kenzo (wanna shock?):

Still the boots that qualify for my search requirements are these Gaia Bardellis (elegant -tick, sexy - tick, useful - tick, comfortable - tick). I could wear them with LBD, with skinny satin trousers, with city shorts and with mini denim. Perfect.

I keep on reading Helena Frith Powell's book "All You Need to Be Impossibly French".  To be French (read "chic, classy, seductive") it takes only a few things, really. A lover and 2 lipsticks. One for day and one for night (the lipstick, of course!). Well, that was an introduction joke to the book, but it goes through those most important tricks chapter by chapter. So far I learnt it's important to:

1) be arrogant (trying, won't work for me)
2) wear matching underwear, no matter what and how, underwear is #1. (agree, 100%)
3) no obsession over sports, but taking a chance to move at any moment of time is a key (subconsciously i always did, but i love some heavy aerobic classes, though they are not too chic but i love to use my energy to full)
4) use cosmetics and believe in its power (it works, it really does. I started using a moisterizer at the age of 25 only which is terribly late for a French girl (author tells French girls start waxing their legs at the age of 11) and i started using day and night cream only at the age of 28. I notice immediately when i do not forget my morning and night routines for at least a week that my skin becomes glowy and smooth.) Currently my favourite products are Estee Lauder's Night Repair serum and eye cream which i use at night. Shop assistant warned me that i would fall in love with these products and they do make the difference. Or maybe it's a placebo effect, but at least i did not get any additional wrinkles.

I have to confess I have got one naughty habit of browsing the whole book ahead. So I checked that books every chapters beginning for those wisdom quotes that the author has put after every chapters heading. Here are the ones I loved:

"There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaved no other time". Coco Chanel.

"Elegance is refusal". Coco Chanel.

By the Sea

I found a new great route to walk with a baby pram - the Eteläranta coast which leads to the Helsinki city center from its western end. I have walked it also yesterday but the landscape is so amazing with open sea that slightest weather change, new boats in harbour, new people walking - all change the spirit of the places i pass. Another important and rewarding part of the walk are the 4 great cafes: Carusel (a huge seaside cafe with a nice indoor terrace and outdoor seats), Ursula (a more cozy cafe with a champagne bar and an outdoor terrace with a tent shaped like a sail and jazz evenings held regularly), Mattolaituri (newly built, all white and sleek bar with outdoor seat and a terrace on a top with open view to the sea and Moet bar with macarons and cocktail snacks) and finally the Old Market Hall in the Main Market Square of Helsinki. Market Hall has recently received more attention and new stands with fruit, vegetables, meats were opened there along with excellent restaurants and cafes. Today on test was Norisushi place and i would totally recommend it. By the way, cooks are Japanese ladies.

The lunch with just an excuse to meet Louisa, looking all great in the autumn coloured outfit. After the sushi lunch Leo requested a brief visit to Cafe Jugend, now a permanent favourite of ours with its excellent location on Esplanade and very impressive Jugend styled interior and cereal cookies.

Cafe Jugend definately deserves an own post and i will publish more on it when i learn not to forget things home (iPad, camera). After that we certainly had to visit Muotikuu, a Finnish boutique selling own line and Italian brand clothes. All clothes are colour coded and it is easy to browse them through. My wedding dress was bought there and Elle Finland has published a story of finding it in that boutique. Here is the link. I am the bride in peach shoes, naturally.

http://www.elle.fi/muoti/uutiset/_a221615/kesan+upeat+morsiamet/

Muotikuu is a beautifully decorated boutique with a very sophisticated atmosphere. It is one of those private little shops where there are always customers. I think it may be due to the exceptional friendliness of the staff or maybe just that oversized crystal ball has some magic inviting power.

All that unfortunately was spoiled by my first ever parking ticket. I really hoped to live till the age of 30 without receiving one.


However, girl can keep dreaming. On a wishlist (before even tried out) is Chanel's new scent "Jersey". That deserves a separate journey to shops, indeed. Reviews say it's really mild and subtle.

I am also waiting for a new parcel from Amazon. This time more style/fashion reading by Cristian Dior and a long searched DVD of "The Last Tango in Paris".