The Freelancer's Fashionblog

GLITTER, MAYHEM, AND MORE

2012-01-27T11:14:00.000+02:00

The IBTC rehearsing for HBF'11, by me, December 2010.

The fifth Helsinki Burlesque Festival is starting (or, actuallky started last week already witht he opening of the Punainen Mylly photo exhibition) and tonight it is time for the opening of the "Glitter and Mayhem - 5 years of Helsinki Burlesque!" photo exhibition, with pictures on and off stage form the past years. There are a few of my photos too! The exhibition is at the Jukka Male Museum in the Cable Factory and the opening is between 18 and 21. I won't be there though, as I have a harbour to attend...

There is an other exhibition related to the festival, mentioned above. With photos from the "Moulin Rouge of Helsinki", revue theatre Punainen Mylly (translated the Red Mill; Moulin Rouge) from the 1940's to the 1960's. Two of the grand old dames performing there back in the days attended the opening.
The "Oih! Burleskia Helsingissä" exhibition can be seen at Hotel Aleksanteri.

Both exhibitions are open until late February.

THE BLACK WARDROBE / GINGER PINUP AND CAT GIVE AWAY

2012-01-26T23:28:00.002+02:00

Perhaps you every now and then check out the affiliate banners I have in my side bar? (I hope...) For your shopping pleasures :) New to the list is The Black Wardrobe, a small business with handmade vintage inspired clothing with a gothic touch, suitable also for those in to psychobilly and rockabilly.
You will now get £10 off a dress purchase with the code FREELANCERS!

The Black Wardrobe also has lots of accessories (I love the bee brooche for example!) and now one of you have the chance to win an adorable Ginger Pinup & Black Cat necklace!

As usual, you enter by leaving a comment on this post and also by visiting and liking The Black Wardrobe on Facebook - support a small business!

The Give Away will be open until Next Friday, February 3rd! The winner will be drawn randomly.
Make sure I am able to reach me trough your signature or so in the comment field, or leave me a working email.

3 x BREAKFAST

2012-01-25T13:00:00.002+02:00

Rye crisp bread with cheese and cucumber is just So Good. And, strawberries in January! Not that they actually taste as good as summer berries, but a small luxury anyway.

Bulgarian yoghurt with honey and almonds plus ecological peanut butter (as in peanuts only, no extras or extra oil, worth the extra money; it's really good!) & jam on whole wheat bread.

Now this one started out great! Avocado-Cantadou sandwiches and apple porridge with strawberries. Only thing is I accidentally put lemon pepper in the porridge instead of cardamom, as intended.
The result was, unfortunately, uneatable and a lot of cadramom and even sugar on top did not make it any better...

BELLY IN STRIPES vol.2

2012-01-23T12:37:00.000+02:00

I'm not growing so much sideways. Yet. (Well you never know. Maybe I won't at all xxx)

But in depth, yes.

The skirt is from Lindex (a regular all-stretcy one; not maternity), top old H&M, belt vintage, scarf old Carlings and those same booties of mine from last post.
Eddi thinks they look like poodle feet.

FRIDAYS ARE FOR SHOOTING

2012-01-22T00:00:00.003+02:00

Friday a week ago I was filming a short movie and this Friday we were photoshooting a teaser for a really nice project we are working on for next winter.

Lady Laverna, the jazz singer. I made her a nice60's up do by rolling a bob-shaped wig into a bun.

Tinker Bell and Laverna getting ready.

Marko shooting. He has shot a lot of things for us, like the car and the mummy shots for example.

The theme was slightly 60's showgirl. As yu can see.
My hair has grown amazingly during my pregnancy, hehe, hasn't it?

Hair and make up by me.

BELLY IN STRIPES

2012-01-20T12:47:00.001+02:00

The dress is ASOS Maternity, booties the new ones, cardigan a sloppy H&M one, bangle and bracelet vintage and pearls from Budapest. I've had that same beret since I was 16! That's as far as in the nineties. It's getting a bit sloppy too, but I just can't find another one that suits my head...

BOOTIES. LITTLE SILLY BUT OH-SO-ADORABE BOOTIES.

2012-01-18T22:08:00.000+02:00

(Booties. Isn't that a cute word? Like cuttlings. If yu remember that one. Not that it is an actual word, but anyway. But yey, little booties!)

I sort of ordered a pair of small winter booties by accident that I stumbled across late last Saturday night - and to my surprise they were delivered from far far away to my door today already!

I thought they'd be totally useless for our winter (right now we actually have a nice one going on, pretty snow and only a little cold) but to my surprise these actually had a proper rubber sole, a warm inner sole and leopard-patterned warm lining. Sprayed them with water resistans shoe spray and out tripping I went!

Will not exactly lats to be passed on to future generations but for the discounted 41-something euros including shipping I think it's pretty alright. From Lightinthebox, runs true to size in my opinion.

AAAAND THE WINNER IS...

2012-01-16T22:02:00.001+02:00

Or, actually, in this case: the winners are!
As you were all so sweet I decided to put up two prices in my Best of 2011-competition.
Winners chosen via random.org.

First,

Miss Tallulah Porkchop will win a pair of cute robin themed earrings (made by Frollein von Sofa). (Her favorite post was a photo post with petticoats and shoes. And Eddi.)

Second,

Fairy Filigree will get a Chinese jade bangle! (She liked the"Eternal Roll"-hair tutorial the best.)

You will both receive emails from me soon.

Thank you, over and out.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: EASY SUNDAY

2012-01-15T22:46:00.002+02:00

I've been feeling rather fatigued and am on sickleave for a couple of days.

Spent most of this Sunday sleeping.

Got up and played a little piano.

Organized some more of my mother's old mommy dresses she gave me.

Baked a coconut chocolate cake (which turned out better than it should have, I wanted it to be a bit raw and soggy but it got this proper consistence instead).

And listened to some Soft Sunday - music.

And not it's time to sleep a little more!

MOVIE MAKING

2012-01-14T21:57:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I was filming a short movie.

It was shot in an old movie theatre.

And also in this one here!

On film, not digital.

The day was not totally without misfortunes, first, my co-actor had, umm... disappeared and a replacement had to be found real quick. And the the "old lady" (as the car was called) did not really like the very cold weather and decided to stop by the road every once in a while.

The sound man in the snowstorm. Dressed for the weather. I was dressed for the film and had to be outside a lot too, which was less nice... (Although the jacket I wore was very nice - nice and thin... I had SO much on underneath!)

Me in the theatre. (Btw I never really got the thing when make up artists decide to only dot a little mascara on the upper lashes and leave the lower ones bare. It happens a lot. Although they probably know more about what they're doing than I. But I feel very naked without lashes made BIG. )

MOM'S BLUE MOMMY DRESS

2012-01-12T23:34:00.003+02:00

I got some of my mother's old maternity dresses from when she was carrying me and my younger sister. (The dress from the time when she expecting my youngest sister I remember myself and it screamed the later eighties so it had to stay in the card board box. Although perhaps the "trendiest" of the bunch.)

This dress is great as I can (still) fit a lot under it, now that it's colder. It's a bit more roome that I would need for the moment, but it doesn't matter: it is SO comfy. And actually could be worn as a non-maternity dress too. You know, as a contrast to hourglass shape or so.

I wore it belted at first but it looks better falling straight down.

Dressing -and with it, making outfits and even posts- is otherwise a lot funnier now than in a long time. Because there's a challenge to it as I have to do it differently. (Haha, come again in May or so and see how eager I am then...)

The shirt is Vivien of Holloway and the shoes Minna Parikka.

RIGHT THERE AND RIGHT THEN

2012-01-11T22:30:00.000+02:00

I am sure many of you already are acquainted with 9-eyes. And if you're not, you should definitely be! It's a collection of screenshots from google street view, gathered and updated by Canadian artist Jon Rafman, containing scenes and moments captured while the Google car driving by.

I've always found Google Maps totally genius for finding your way, really. Or for wanting to know what it will or should look like when arriving to the right place. Or just for being curious.
Some Sunday mornings I browse places. Last time Eddi And I checked out Alaska.

First I was not sure how Jon Rafman actually works - does he spend his days traveling around the world trough google maps? Are they all real? Has he scouted them all himself?

One can read a bit more on the project in his article here.

9-eyes has a lot of wtf, road side prostitutes and arrests, but also such pictures that could be works of art. And it is strange that those moments happened right there, right then.

OOH LALA AND OTHER KITCHEN PRINTS

2012-01-10T23:02:00.004+02:00

We do not call this a fashion blogf or nothing: today I am going to write a little about kitchen towels! Haute!

No but really. I like it with prints in the kitchen that still are not right there in your face you know. While I out in the countryside go for more classic checks stripes and flowers I keep on buying graphic prints for the apartment kitchen.
Mostly in the form of towels.

My newest one has mustaches, goes ooh la-la! and is all frenchy (although actually Norwegian). By Darling Clementine, that also has lots of other print products. You can find similar styles by Finnish design duo PolkaJam (lots of black cats in their kitchen-themed prints! Site in Finnish but you don't really need to get what it says, right?).

One favorite is... oh, wait, cat in the way.

...my Kippis-print by Marimekko. Marimekko needs no further introduction (shouldn't at least) but "Kippis" means "Cheers".
Lesson #1 in Finnish accomplished!

I also have a vintage kitchen towel my friend Aiju gave me once with a cocktail print. Or alcohol print actually. Every kitchen needs a little alcohol, you know - an opened red wine bottle hanging around int he corner, vintage martini ad calendar, alcohol towel. Or then not. But this one is funny.

If you're all disappointed now that you didn't get a big enough dose of fashiuun ~~you came to the wrong blog~~ I can remind you of my Vivien of Holloway discount code VOH_FreelanceF4b that is running until the end of the month; 10% off normally priced products. You can use the code only once.

Then there's also my -10% code for Shabby Apple; freelancer10off, which is valid until January 16. However, they do have a site wide discount code now that is as high as 20% off basically everything so maybe better to go for that one! The code is NEWYEAR.

Fashionblog over and out.

A-LINE AND LOTS OF CATS

2012-01-09T00:02:00.000+02:00

This Sunday I drove Eddi to the airport; he went for a conference in Iceland. Spent my day going to an art exhibition with K and listening to Elvis. But before all this I engaged my husband in the very important and giving activity of taking outfit pictures.

(I look super pregnant here but is really only is the pose, I am still not due before June.)

The important activity of outfit-posing is not made easier by two posing-eager cats. But maybe funnier.

I have had to buy some new clothes. Or, so far only this one made it to my wardrobe as I haven't foudn anything else that pleases my eye in the stores over here. But thanks to the good ol' internet I won't have to succumb to just leggings and trendy tunics for later in spring. As you may recall, most of my clothing is non-stretchy and cut in at the waist. Not comfy with a little bump and extra fluff. Not wearable actually. Apart from a few items, most things started feeling uncomfortable right away, due to many reasons. One being the fact that my ribcage, yes, not breast but ribcage, grew right away (hmpf); I couldn't fasten the zipper in many dresses without feeling stuffed and uneasy.

This here is not a maternity dress though but an a-line dress I found (at Seppälä) and bought in one size bigger than usually. It has lots of room, but the lining underneath is actually not that roomy, so I might have to cut it up and alter it at some point.

The shoes are my Melissas and the cardigan an H&M-one from a few years back.

FRIDAY INTERLUDE

2012-01-06T20:05:00.000+02:00

Well hello there, and thank your all so much for your congratulations!
I was planning to write this baby-related thing but I'll save that for another time.

On a totally different note; I totally loved this song and video when it came out in my late teens. I found it genius. (And still think it's pretty good).

I mean for heavens sake, it has a monkey in it!!!

WHAT WAS AND WHAT IS TO COME

2012-01-04T11:58:00.001+02:00

While you are occupied with participating in the New Year's give away and before we head on to new things I though we'd take a look at the year that was. A lot of things happened in the world but we'll just stick to over here. But quite a lot happened here too!

The winter was long and cold.

Really cold.
And really long.

I did lots of burlesque shows; here as the serpent at the Helsinki Burlesque Festival. Photo by Rik Stavale.

And here at The Burlesque Hall of Fame in Vegas in June. Photo by Melody Mudd / Burlesque Beat.

I also did lots of photoshoots too. This one by Kaylin Idora.

In spring in the countryside our baby lambs were born.

Of which half have sadly ended their days on someone's dinner table already.

And in summer the IBTC got a new line up.

I was in a couple of magazines.

And showed you some of my home as it had turned out after the renovation!
Which also made it to a magazine, although not yet published.

Was on the radio and visited some TV shows; here where I styled the host.

In summer we did a long US trip trough some of the southern states and down to the Keys.

And as you all know - got happily married!

By autumn my friend and I had both turned 30 and we celebrated it True Blood style.

And for the last quarter of the year I've been expecting a child!

THE ANNUAL BEST OF GIVE-AWAY

2012-01-02T12:24:00.001+02:00

So - we have started a new year and the first week of it. Let's begin the year here with what is turning into a something of a tradition: the new year's give away and your favorite post of the past year!

What was the best post - content or image wise- of 2011? And why?
Link it in the comments!

As usual, I will draw the winner randomly (among those that actually answered something real and perhaps even scrolled past the frontpage...) and the winner will win a small surprise I've picked out. And it will of course be something nice :)
You can see the best of 2010 and 2009 here and here.

Anyone can enter, but be sure to leave me your email if your signature does not link me to a blog or similar! I will drw the winner next Monday, January 9th!

Happy New Year!

BLACK AND WHITE FOR THE LAST OF 2011

2011-12-30T18:52:00.003+02:00

You know you're getting old(-er) when you use the phrase "have to go" in front of "party tonight" (instead of "get to go, yey!" or so). My sister has finished her studies and graduated and my friend from Berlin is here celebrating her 30th birthday. Lost of celebrations going on. And I'm just really tired.
But it will be fun anyway. Hope I just don't fall asleep.
Ha ha.

The shoes, skirt and beret are vintage, top from H&M and the camée/clock necklace was a Christmas gift from Ina.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW - EASY THURSDAY

2011-12-29T18:58:00.002+02:00

Had a nice and late breakfast, muesli, blackberries and banana. Carbs rule.

Plus some baby carrots.

Wet set my hair. Really, I hate doing that; I have more hair than one might think so it takes forever.

The cats have, in their usual manners, been chilling most of the day. This time on their own leves.

After this I danced and worked on our new group routine's choreography for a couple of hours (to be seen in February at HBF), now it's time for popcorn and cinema; the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Which original title is Men That Hate Women, which of course suits the whole triogy better.

Ta-ta!

DARK AND STOMRY

2011-12-27T22:06:00.000+02:00

(...is a drink at the Kokomo Tiki bar but that's not what I'm after here.)

A storm swept over us yesterday of a seldom seen strength in Scandinavia. Some roofs and pieces of buildings flew off, traffic signs tipped over and trees broke down in the hard wind. The officials sent out warnings trough the media for people to stay inside. But what do the harbour workers do? Go out in the wind and load the ships! (which were not running by schedule I can tell you). We had to close down parts of the harbour due to safety risks as some contraptions were about to burst.

After finally finishing my very long and tiring week of work I drove out to Eddi in the countryside where the electricity had been off since seven in the morning. Right after driving out of town and the suburb area everything was dark. When we left some hours ago, our place was still without power, even though the village nearby was lit. (Good thing I was busy and lazy and missed out on picking and storing berries last summer, as things in the freezer -some of those lambs you've seen in posts before...- had started to melt by then.)

Luckily we have a wooden stove to heat the house and cook food on. The house itself is not heated by electricity but by it's own wood chip system, but the system need electricity to run.
Candlelight and a burning fire is of coure cosy, but less cosy is the fact that unlike in the city, water here (from a well on the far) does not run by pressure bit the pump work with -you guessed it- electricity. So no running water and no working toilet. I've spent my summers in the archipelago without those comforts, but it's a little different in June than in December :)

I put candles everywhere. I learnt this trick with using old porcelain cups as candleholders from my friend Maiju, she again had spotted it in some store long time ago. It gives a very nice light!

Warming my feet by the oven and cooking tea.

It was not only the electricity that was not working, the mobile phone network, which usually is nothing to cheer about over there, was also pretty much down and I couldn't get online. That was it!
We're back in town now.

LAST MINUTE GIFTS AND NICE WRAPPING

2011-12-25T23:03:00.001+02:00

Up here in Scandinavia we've handed out most of our Christmas gifts already; we do that on Christmas Eve. But I know in many other places there are still gifts under the tree and hanging in the stockings. And I actually hand out quite many gifts -to friends and family I haven't had the time to see before- during what we call "the in-between days"; the days between the Christmas days and New Year's celebration. Here are some last minute tips for those who still might need it, and why not for just any other occasion too.

...I planned to post this yesterday already but I was at work (yes, on Christmas Eve and today and tomorrow too, ships leave all the fxxxing time) and there were no breaks in between to blog so let's do it now instead - I at least have many things coming up related to the holidays....

You know I think the wrapping or packing is almost half the fun. By putting the gift in a pretty box with a ribbon it's kind of like giving two gifts in one. I mean I for one love small pretty boxes to store all the stuff I have lying around everywhere. The contents do not even have to be that special to feel a lot fancier; socks, a pocket book, cookies, candles... you know, just whatever small and nice.

Or then jar it. You can give away just anything small in a jar to make it more interesting, lip balm and fake lashes for example, hair pins, those socks again. Or cute patterned cupcake molds or small candles. And of course, what works for almost everyone; sweets. Gingerbreads. If your short of time (or money), just buy some ready made of one kind or make your own mix. It still feels a lot nicer and more personal in different packing. Or, if you have the time ,make your own sweets. Just note that if money is an object and you want to make many different kinds it can actually get quite costy.

Not that I have had that much time on my hands, but I managed to make truffles, saffron toffee and white chocolate pralines. Want to make something yourself and get away easily? Melt some chocolate, add a little cream and butter or some fruit juice or coconut oil depending on if and what you have at home, and spice it with Christmassy spices - cinammon, ginger, clover and / or chardamom. Add dried fruit in mall pieces or chopped nuts if you have any around. Pour into praline molds or let cool and roll into balls and wrap in basic folio, or cut into chunks.

Fill your jar and tie a ribbon into a bow around it!

Another nice thing to give, especially to someone with kids, is to jar a recipe for a cake or cookies. Put the ingredients in the jar; last to be added to the dough first and the first last. Remember to add the rising agent to the flour. Write down the instructions and what needs to be added (usually butter and eggs) on a card and there you have it!

Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

MORE SEASONAL STUFF

2011-12-23T21:55:00.001+02:00

Merry Christmas!

And here's me in that 'Hi-I'm-wearing-a-red-dress-for-Christmas'-photo.

(What makes this photo utterly retarded is the fact that I actually did not bake those gingerbreads, they are store-bought. I did bake some, but they were not at hand right here. But ignore that and just go along with the spirit here!)

The red dress for this year is the new Runaround Sue dress from Vivien of Holloway, and is a strong competitor for that perfect day dress I'm searching for. You see, it has that magical little detail: pockets! But I might have to shorten the hem a little bit.

Anyway, remember that my discount code for Vivien of Holloway is still up and running; you get 10% off an online purchase until January 12! The code is VOH_FreelanceF4b. Check my sidebar for more info.
And remember to enjoy your gingerbreads!

GET IN THE SPIRIT

2011-12-22T22:06:00.002+02:00

Hahahahahaha.

But in a way this is pretty epic.
At least the video.

A YEAR AGO

2011-12-20T22:44:00.002+02:00

Last year it looked like this outside our windows.
Quite the difference from what we have now! But I'll spare you with pictures. Because it looks shitty and it's too dark anyway to get any photos as there is no snow to lighten things up; it's been raining for three weeks and rivers and fields are flooding over.

Some three years ago we had a snowless Christmas. But it was dry and a bit colder and I could wear my heels outside and other nice things in general (see?). Now it's just soggy and shitty. We've had rainy Christmases before, many of them, but after two years of cold and snow I actually miss it! Even the cold! Remember this?
I'd rahter have than the constant rains! I mean what's the use of a warm winter if you can't dress nice?

Oh well, over and out, good night!

ON AVANT GARDE

2011-12-19T22:00:00.002+02:00

I should probably start a new label here called "the internet" or something (or wait, let's make it Teh) - I can get stuck on a certain page I bump in to or am told about and then I sit there for hours or follow link after link for the rest of the night.. Tonight, instead of wrapping gifts and making Christmas sweets I've been watching videos over at THE AVANT/GARDE DIARIES.

When I was in design school we had the rather diffuse but also interesting courses of the philosophy of art and on the sociology of art; i.e what defines and artist, what puts a certain piece of art into a certain genre, what is considered avant garde, and so on? THE AVANT/GARDE DIARIES idea is maybe something in that direction, showcasing creative individuals view on avant garde or what perhaps could be considered that. This trough very different short movies about creative personalities, such as authors, fashion designers, musicians, artists and more. Some less, some more know to the public, like the Cobrasnake here above. Interesting; so my gift wrapping will have to wait a little while still!
I you are interested in the articles/videos and persons featured, find them at www.theavantgardediaries.com.

CHIC IN SHABBY APPLE

2011-12-17T23:36:00.000+02:00

I received a dress from Shabby Apple!

I think that while Shabby Apple may be know to those of you in the States it is most likely a rather new acquaintance to us elsewhere? Shabby Apple has a range of vintage inspired dresses, more fancier frocks and also maternity- and swim wear. They also have such styles that I have not really seen elsewhere. The dresses are divided into differently styled collections; this is the A+ dress from the Academica collection. Many of the dresses are pictured on both a model and doll which is good - I actually prefer to see the dress on a doll rather than on a posing mannequin. Many dresses seemed a little too short for my taste though, so did this one - but it's a good thing those models often are taller than average, as the length on this dress is just perfect, enough below the knees!

First I thought this dress would have to wait until spring as shirt dresses usually are of a rather thin "shirty" cotton but this fabric is actually a quite thick and stiff cotton, which adds enough woompf to the skirt and which will work well during winter with a thin slip underneath. The sleeves are full length which I've rolled up a bit. You can also button the collar all the way up but I've folded it down.

As I am always on a constant hunt for perfect day dresses this one is surely welcome in my wardrobe!
My belt is vintage and the shoes are form Mod Cloth.

Last but not least there's something in this for all of you out there too:
Shabby Apple offers you 10% off a purchase with the code "freelancer10off" to use at checkout!
The code is valid for 30 days; until January 16 2012.

(You can find out more about Shabby Apple and future promotions and discounts by liking the Shabby Apple Facebook page.)

Happy Shopping :)

ART DECO AND A WHOLE LOT OF POSING

2011-12-17T02:03:00.001+02:00

On Thursday night I got to use my art deco jewelry, that you could read about some posts ago!
(Well, I actually did get the brooch especially for this occasion.)

And now some serious posing will follow:

My dress has belonged to a relative of mine; it is from the 1930's, as are the rings with pearl and turquoise. I got one of them from my grandmother for my confirmation many years ago. The other one is from the vintage store Hoochie Mamam Jane.

Eddi and I (plus our huge name tags) at the family gathering at the House of Knights. It's interesting every time as you always meet someone you might not even be that far related to but of whose existence you didn't even know... (Btw not that it is of any relevance today; but we; in my family, are not noble. But some in the family have been. Which in some aspects probably made life more pleasant in the pre-1900's.)

The fellas posing, much to their enjoy (as you can see).

The hall of nobility and it's Finnish coats of arms.

I had made my youngest sister's hair for the evening. (Her do was in more interesting than mine, as I nowadays with shorter hair mostly just curl it more or less...)

Me and my sisters posing in front of out great-great grandfather; whose 150th birthday celebration the evening all was about.

Now it's just to wait for the next reunion and the chance to get seriously dressed up again! Or, until something else fancy comes along...

THE RED ONES

2011-12-14T22:58:00.002+02:00

It's that time of the year again.

From Trasy Diva and Vivien of Holloway.

From ModCloth.

From Tara Starlet and Shabby Apple.

I own one of these - can you guess which one?

MONDAY BUSYNESS

2011-12-12T22:53:00.000+02:00

Aaaaa! Too much to do in too little time!

But here's some Monday Platter's to go.

SATURDAY IS LEOPARD DAY

2011-12-10T22:28:00.001+02:00

Or, at least this Saturday is.

It was too cold however to go leopard all the way and combine this with my leo jacket (♥)...
My dress is from The Platypus Sisters. Which, as they name says, is a shop by two sisters. Not Australian as you might presume by the platypus though, but Italian! They have a range of hand made vintage styled dresses, inspired by the actresses from the 50's. My dress is the Sophia dress which is, of course, inspired by nonetheless than Sophia Loren.
I've shortened the dress a bit as it was a little too long on me.

I've received some questions on how I style my hair like this. (Or, how I've styled it the other way, when rolled inwards.)

Which really is just that; rolling the hair outwards or inwards. Both are very simple to style - no fuzz about it.
But I can add that I mostly -or pretty much only- do this on sort of dull and semi-dirty hair that has old styling products in it and with fading old, curls.

I either just brush it a lot into shape and spray, or then curl it a little more in the edges with heat. I have quite a lot of hair, so if I use heat I have to curl it in the desired direction in two or three layers (as in not all hair at once, it will look ugly unless your hair is thin enough to bend all at once). Another option to do it without heat is to brush it, spray a little and then roll it outwards (or of course also inwards, but it's harder to stay put) and secure with alligator clips, spray some more and then wait for a couple of hours before opening the hair and giving it some strokes with the brush. You can add a little wax to finnish it off. The hair just around my face is just rolled into regular curls and not bent in any special direction.

ART DECO FÖR HELA SLANTEN

2011-12-08T19:30:00.001+02:00

(Which in case you wonder would be Swedish and mean something like Art Deco for all the money; as in all the way. Koko rahalla. Which then again was Finnish for the same thing.)

I got myself a art deco brooch. It is from the same Chez vintage series you have seen somewhat a lot of before here; from my friend's vintage store Hoochie Mama Jane. I actually have a pair of matching earrings already.

Which I will wear next week for this Very Fancy family celebration thing in the House of Nobility, together with my early 1930's velvet evening gown. Ah, a chance to actually get to dress up... Love those.

(Let's just hope I'll get other chances to use the jewelry too... over all I have not been much of a jewelry wearer the past years, but that is slowly changing. I want bigger hair and more rings on my fingers, gold and glitter and the whole bling thing! Sort of.)

TUESDAY GLAMOUR

2011-12-06T19:49:00.001+02:00

I was about to blog abut something totally different but just received some pictures from a shoot I was part of a long time ago. And as I am in a slightly glamourous mood due to the President's Independence Day Ball on TV (no 4th of July partying over here, this is a very serious and calm day mostly remembering the war those who fought in it. The ball is for politicians, officials, the most famous artists and people who in one way or another have done something for the country. Plus some randoms. Apparently my invitation got lost in the post, again...) with all it's glamourous and perhaps not always so glamorous dresses and hair do's I decided to post something a bit more glamorous myself.
Of me.

Photos by Timo Kauppila / Indav

This was before I cut my hair; I had curled it and rolled it into a fake bob.

The photos are part of a bigger whole for a project for which we, the IBTC, modelled. We'll probably post some more on the burlesque blog at some point.

Well alright, that's it with the movie star inspired pictures, now I'll get back to the ball on TV waching the next 500 people shake hands with the president while people at home judge their appearance. For the rest of you out there, here's a piece of Sibelius for you, suitable for today: Finlandia.

LADY

2011-12-04T12:22:00.001+02:00

I've never been a huge fan of Lady Gaga per se, but I've always found her a rather cool artist, or should one say phenomenon. In general her music is not really my cup of tea although it is quite catchy and well produced. (But I think the refrains kind of suck.) However, I've heard some a capella or acoustic versions of hers and she really can sing! And she is a rather versatile artist, as you can see (and many probably already have) here:

>
This is quite funny I think! And I love the turquoise bob. The lace dress is pretty cool too.

(But you know what's weird. Everybody knows who Tony Bennett is, or at least the name. But he is not the kind of performer or person that I think that much about, in fact I don't think I've ever thought about him or deliberately listened to him, just had it registered in my head who he is and what he does, sort of. So I thought it was pretty weird that I one night earlier this autumn had a dream where I had this big ceramic plate in my hands that said "Tony Bennet" on it, painted with a thick brush, in blue colour. And I remember walking around with that plate, holding it over my head. When I woke up I was all wtf what a pointless and strange dream. And then I opened the morning paper and they had an article about Tony Bennett!! About the new record of his that he's done together with all these contemporaneity artists, this with Gaga and also with Amy Winhouse for example. But it was a very strange coincidence to first have the dream and then read the article. OK bye happy Sunday!)

HOW IT IS NOWADAYS...

2011-12-03T23:54:00.001+02:00

Some people go out and party on Saturday night.
I stay at home in ~~mjukisbyxor~~* my negligée (of course) having cookies. With milk. Milk!
Where has the world gone? Where has my red wine gone?

Oh well, considering I've been away most other weekends performing I am not that much of a granny yet... (although I feel rather old as I totally oppose to change of any kind in any routines especially -and pretty much only now that I think of it- when it comes to the internet. I am not fond at all of the new Layout um, mode or so whatever its called that I am finally trying out on blogger. Have all of you updated already? I'm pretty sure it'd bring more benefits in some ways but I think I'll leave my template as it is and just switch back to the old interface too. Hah! Now somebody please fetch me my wool socks! And that walking cane too.)

*) Academically correct term for soft leisure pants in Swedish

THE SCHOOLGIRL

2011-12-02T21:09:00.001+02:00

Whenever I wear this outfit I get some scholar vibes. Maybe it's the bag. In combination with the jacket. And the beret. Plus the shorter hem, don't know. (It also makes me feel a bit like this one here -or here- which btw is one of the most wtf costumes around; in my opinion.)

Another btw is that I've been looking like this a lot lately; it is one of those "in disguise" outfits - you know the ones I tend to go for when busy and working and want to be comfy and so on, hiding pretty much anything under a proper jacket and that same old beret of mine. The dress is a 60's styled a-line jersey dress with white details I got late last summer (from Seppälä) and has really come in handy at both fancier occasions and for just pulling over ones head at 5:30 AM when heading to work. (You know, I am getting really tired of those early mornings. But tomorrow it's time again, at zero five ten. Damn!)

The boots are from Seppälä too and the rest is vintage-shmintage.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

2011-11-30T20:37:00.001+02:00

I was asked to feature a competition where one of my readers will have the chance to win a shopping trip to New York!

HUGO BOSS will fly one lucky follower to New York who then will have the chance to do some VIP shopping with a yet secret but famous style icon in their NY store in the Meatpacking district. The trip takes placces december 13-15 and flights and accommodation in a luxury hotel are included. And not to forget: a shopping budget!

Well that sounds pretty great doesn't it? So of course I was up for that!

However, the competition is not really open for everybody - it only runs in one of the following countries: the US, Canada,Germany, France and the UK.
You know I like to keep things world wide, so sorry for that - but if you do happen to live in those countries mentioned, go grab it!

To enter, you need to follow HUGO BOSS on foursquare and check in or watch out for check in specials. Time to enter is until December 6, after which the winner will be drawn randomly.

CUPCAKE GIRL

2011-11-29T21:36:00.001+02:00

I made a custom drawing for a porn actress and her production company. There is a coloured version also, but I'll let her present that herself.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

2011-11-28T23:59:00.005+02:00

It feels like I just packed away the Christmas lights and now I'm putting them back up again...

KITTY WEEKEND

2011-11-26T19:02:00.004+02:00

Zippa-dee-doo-dah!

Seems this is going to be cat-themed weekend here on the blog.
Oh why, for what stupid reason you may wonder?

Not really for any other reason than the one that I am wearing my kitty shirt today!

And now I'm off to my music quiz team's Little Christmas party! Not that we've actually done any quizzing in a year, but that's peanuts.

The cat shrit is from Vintage-Eija's, skirt by Olivia Rouge, bag and jacket vintage, shoes Minna Parikka and FYI my stockings are purple but that does not show in the pics. Just had to add.

Have a nice weekend!

...SPIT THREE TIMES OVER YOUR SHOULDER

2011-11-25T23:28:00.004+02:00

Black cat auditions, Hollywood 1961

So many Pekkas and Lulus!
via How To Be Retronaut

ALICE AND THE RABBIT

2011-11-24T12:08:00.002+02:00

If you will be around Helsinki in the days to come I suggest you go to Galleria Volga to see Sara Salmi's photography exhibition Everything You Did Not Want To Know About Alice And The Rabbit.
The last day is this Saturday. You can read more abotu the exhibition here.

FIRST EAST AND THEN SOUTH

2011-11-22T12:48:00.006+02:00

Some on-the-road-pictures from last summer's trip.
At some point I actually thought I'd post them all during summer but what do you know, it's almost winter already! And then why not, it's always nice to look at pictures of sun and warmth when it's getting more and more grey and cold outside.

Pictures are mixed from around Missisippi, Florida and Georgia; for example Panama City Beach, Mexico Beach, Nahunta, Savannah and Boca Raton.

SUNDAY DRIVING HOME

2011-11-20T11:34:00.002+02:00

Soft Sunday music: The Gun Club - Mother Earth

Two days spent with great company, two shows that went pretty well and far too much for breakfast, uh. THe camera however remained unused in my suitcase. Frost on the ground and a pale sun on the sky - now it's time for the half-day drive home.

SHOWTIME AND A TROPICAL MOOD FROM SOME TIME AGO

2011-11-18T12:45:00.004+02:00

From the series Photos of me when I was still fresh.
Well, now it's all cut the crap and get out of bed and better start looking fresh, cause I'm off to a four hour drive and a two night show in Pori - the town where no one reads my blog, at least no one burlesque interested (taking form my shout outs here and on Facebook about possible work shops and pick up girls :) Hehe. Surprisingly enough tonight's sold out! Which is great, of course.

So if you however, for some strange reason happen to read this blog and also be in Pori then come see us (as in Tinker Bell and The Holy Curves) at Kulttuurikulma!

Photo form the Belle Modeste corset party form a few weeks back. The corset is a show corset of mine made by Belle Modeste, the dres from Vivien of Holloway and the head piece from Ansa.

DILEMMA

2011-11-17T16:19:00.001+02:00

I don't know how it's possile; my home is overflowing and piling up with clothes everywhere - but I have nothing to wear!!!!

THOMAS ALLEN

2011-11-16T21:22:00.006+02:00

I've been meaning to post this for about a year! (You should see my lists of "to post about" ...it's pretty long.)

But anyway, I am a huge fan of Thomas Allen's diorama art work, cut out from vintage paper backs!
Here are a few examples:

You can find Thomas' blog here.
Photos source: Foley Gallery.

CANDY HATS AND POM POM SNOW

2011-11-14T20:43:00.006+02:00

I've been really ill the past days and although I'm starting to join the world of the living again I still look like a Walking Dead (great series by the way, spent the last sick hours watching season two!). So I thought I'd do a little mini series on the blog called "Photos of me when I was still fresh".
Haha.
No, but really, yo may remember the-behind-the-scenes of me modelling for Fiona's hats some months ago? Here's one of the pictures!

Photo by Saara Salmi, make up & hair by me.
The jacket is vintage, the fake fur collar by Fiona Timantti and the hats can be bought trough her Etsy for example.
We shot some other goregus hats too, so there will be more later on.

BJÖRNEBORG OHOI!

2011-11-12T21:09:00.003+02:00

Hello Pori and ladies form there around! (Or why not lads as well...)
Tinker Bell and I as well as the ladies from the Holy Curves are performing in your town (at Kulttuurikulma) the up coming weekend -Friday 18th and Saturday 19th - and we are looking for a pickup girl!
If you'd be interested in strutting on stage placing our props and picking up our glitter as well as getting your share of back stage fun and have the chance to be in Pori one of or on both nights then let us know! Either trough here or then by emailing info@ittybittytease.com.

A GIFT

2011-11-10T20:55:00.004+02:00

I have the silly little habit of always asking "oooh did you bring me presents?" if the husband has been elsewhere for a day or two. Today as Eddi got home after a work trip I was so concentrated on the take away sushi I he had picked up for me (really that is what kept me not dying from boredom and sickness here today, the thought that I would actually get some suuuushi..) that I totally forgot to give the present thing a go.

And this time he really had a present !

A book with Eric Bruun's designs!

(Yes, those are my sick little sock covered feet)

Eric Bruun is one of the more famous Finnish graphic artists and my favorite one. He was active since the late forties until the nineties and int's interesting to follow one artist's works trough that time span.

ON A WHITE HORSE

2011-11-09T21:41:00.005+02:00

I've been rather occupied with on thing, but you will hear more on that later. And now the boys got ill and I managed to catch whatever it was they had, and have been spending most of the day in bed eating youghurt berry ice cream (pretty much the only thing I can get down as my throat is really sore), listening to opera and just now watching The Man Who Cried. Which I have seen before, even mentioned here I think. It is by no means a marvelous movie, but is has some great moments. And it has Johnny Depp as a gypsy prince on a white horse, so basically it wouldn't even need anything else...Oh well, It also features one of my favorite arias and good music in general. But otherwise it's a very sad movie about a very sad time.

(You can watch in on Youtube for example, in ten parts.)

HATS AND HEADBANDS

2011-11-08T21:59:00.005+02:00

I have a new winter hat.

One among many, this will be the casual and practical one. But it goes well with a more skirty outfit too. It has something 20-30'ish over it. And a bit of Tirol too, were I to stick a feather in it. The hat is from Eka wear.

And once we're at it with Eka, let's switch head gear and get back to the head band give away from a couple of weeks back! Didn't forget about it; just been busy!

And who will win the headband? The excitement will go on a couple of scrolls still

.
..
...

Aaaaaaand Miss Fortuna this time pointed her finger to commenter no 74; Vintage Chinchilla!

Congrats, I'll be sending you mail soon!

THE BREAKFAST

2011-11-04T12:44:00.004+02:00

Even though I in general eat rather healthy I sometimes get this urge to go all pure and clean and super when it comes to food. Mostly it's back to it's normal self after a while, with some sad wrinkly dried goji berries in the back of the fridge. (they just weren't that good). Some time ago I went to pick up something totally different from the bookstore and came home with a bunch of book on raw food and such for myself instead. (Plus one on how to make better use of the kitchen and food and stop throwing things away or leaving them behind. In hope of no more sad forgotten super food berries in the back of the fridge...)

Although I'd love to do more avocado shakes and raw food cakes I wonder how the hell anybody can afford to keep such a diet? I bought breakfast inspired by raw food for a week for a ridiculous amount of money. The fancier kind of dried fruit, nuts and seeds and fresh berries cost a fortune... But it is quite yummy with ecological peanut butter and pear, almonds and fresh blueberreies, dried dates and a coconut smoothie for breakfast every now and then at least.

And In the true spirit of ying and yang, to balance things up, I had a bunch of Domino cookies (oreos) and instant noodles at work instead :)

A vegan coconut smoothie however is not that expensive or peculiar to make; I use some frozen berries, fruit juice and some coconut milk and blend it togheter. It's really good!

THE SURPRISE SUIT

2011-11-02T21:43:00.004+02:00

You know that joyful feeling of suddenly discovering one piece in your wardrobe that you did not know exist?

OK; maybe you don't know. Maybe it's not that normal to find out you have had a vintage wool two piece suit hanging in the back of your closet for a couple of years at least!

I went to the storage closet - quite the trip I tell you, all the way trough the messy study with suitcase after suitcase of burelsque stuff waiting to be unpacked after shows. And the US suticase from last summer with one cotton dress and two tops still in it (I did not just admit that!) -to already pick up my winter jacket since I had been feeling cold and there all the wtf of a sudden the suit was, all the way in the back! It took me quite the while to go "oooh, that one!". I had completely neglected it for a couple of years.

Semi thick wool and lined, the perfect jacket for this both warm-and-chilly-at-the-same-time autumn weather.And with a warm pleated skirt too!

I think this is my grandmother's suit. It it most likely from the early seventies. But rather timeless ain't it? I remember not being too thrilled about it in the beginning as it was a little bit too big for me earlier, but, ehrm, it has magically shrunk during it's time in the closet. Amazing isn't it? And it's nothing wrong with it being a little bulky, I can fit more warm knits under it!

And, what best, it is just the same colour as my Fiona Timantti hat! Wooh!

(This reminded me of another suit I also have tucked away in the realms of my closet. But as my body has miscomprehended the fact that it is only the nose and ears that are supposed to keep on growing it might be a little too tight for me by now. That damn ass of mine just won't stop growing! Damn you, derrère.)

WELL WELL

2011-11-01T21:35:00.006+02:00

Hell did freeze over - this time you in the other parts of the world are actually able to view the show I was in!

If you are not interested in a lesson in Finnish Swedish you can jump to the later half of the show (to hear me talk a language you won't understand :)

If the embedded version does not work you can view it here, until November 30.

HALLOWEEN OUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE AND SOME DETAILS FROM THAT HOME

2011-10-31T20:16:00.010+02:00

After doing a show in another town on Friday I drove out to the farm for Saturday night and Halloween.

We had some friends over and made hamburgers form scratch; the buns, the burger, the sauces.

I made coleslaw.

And here's my burger. Soy burger. With a whole lot of topping. Pretty heavy stuff I tell you.

K brought pumpkin pie.

And my sister's hubby and Eddi were textile twins.

Kitchen details.

As you may remember we did a mini renovation there last year, changing the walls from baby poop to baby blue, and other small stuff.

Old pictures in the kitchen.

I got a floral apron for my birthday.

Which gave me an idea for the long desired kitchen sofa we had just brought over from another house -

I wasn't sure what kind of fabric to use for the cushion (the original was something kike dirty mustard); the one I used for the curtains is out of production. From the apron I got the idea to use a Pip Studio table cloth (or runner actually, which luckily happened to be in just the right measurements!) as the top of the cushion. I used a custom cut mattress and red heavy cloth underneath.

Not that easy to sew actually due to the lace edges lf the runner, but it turned out pretty nice I think!

Here's a bonus pic of how it looks after a man has been tidying up in the kitchen ♥
Alright, he did a lot more washing up than me that night, and it was clean and neat, but my first reaction to this was "only a man"... (you know, as in response to all those "yes, it's a woman"-parking etc. pictures on the internet...)

We plan to remake pretty much everything in the house; floors, ceilings, walls, as a lot of the materials are kind of ugly (due to being put there in the 80's). There's a mix of too many different woods and shades. But that requires lots of time and money and one seldom has those at the same time... The right materials and colours would make the old furniture stand out more and look better - there is a lot of nice old furniture in there - plus give the old house it's character back. I like the old worn door however so it will stay.

And while waiting for being able to renovate I've done some moving around with the furniture in the house, as earlier it was just placed there without any thought. Gives more depth to the rooms now. Anyway, looking very much forward to get to plan and decorate (alright, planning done already, to get in to action)the whole house!

HALLOWEEEEEEN

2011-10-29T12:37:00.003+03:00

Last year was Horror film Halloween, remember? Two days in a row actually. This year as the actual Halloween is in the middle of the week one kind of gets to celebrate it twice, as very few things nowadays are ever celebrated in the middle of the week. So we're doing it now!
(alhtough of course, the one and only day really is October 31....)
And we're doing it in a slighly lighter verison tan last year; old horror and skeleton cartoons! Booooh!

And ot to forget; find you Halloween playlist HERE!

NEXT MONDAY

2011-10-27T23:06:00.004+03:00

Just a little hint that next Monday you can see me int he new talk show on FST5, A Night With Anne and Hannah. I will be in the end after the actor Pirkka-Pekka Petelius and presidental candidate Biaudet. (Let's see if my un-rehearsed little two minute fan work shop in the very end of it all makes us look elegant or like dorks with feathers :)
So that's 21.00 on Monday 31, you can watch it on Areena later! But inly in Finland I suppose.

(Photo shnatched from the show's blog.)

COUSIN PAUL'S BOX

2011-10-26T21:23:00.006+03:00

I've been trying to light up the flat again as The Dark Times are approaching - I've already lit up the bedroom lights as you know. It's not yet time for any Christmas lights (although Stockmann already has opened up their Xmas department - AAAAA!) so I try to come up with more neutral ways to cosy it up. And I kind of prefer lights I can leave all year round if I so wish.

The lanterns I hung in the kids' room last year never were that good as led lights give such a cold light. So I went and bought a set of La Case de Cousin Paul lights instead. They are, ladies and gentlemen, interior balls.
As annoying as that may sound and seem they actually are pretty nice! I stumbled across these last year while Christmas shopping and got a set in beige white and silver for my sister. Now I noticed Stockman has them again. Only left in purple turquoise and lilac though and I was a bit disappointed as I had hoped for warmer colours, but mr. 5 year old who was with me told me they were nice (but that only applied to the blue balls; we could put the purple balls in our bedroom).

At home and after dark turns out the lights, regardless of their blue hues, are rather warm and cosy anyway! (The purple lights were also accepted by the boys.)

And now I have complete interior ball mania. More! More!

GO WIMBLEDON!

2011-10-25T22:17:00.009+03:00

As you may remember I just ordered myself a summery straw hat. Since the ground will soon freeze I decided to go all ying and yang; even things out and get one hat for winter too, which I did; from Eka Wear. And that hat is great but I wil return to it later on - in the same time I emailed with Gilly who is the mastermind behind the brand and here's what will happen now:
One of you lucky ladies will have the change to win yourselves a Wimbledon headband!

I have had one myself for a couple of year sand really like mine; it can be both sporty and preppy, cute or elegant at the same time, depending on how you style it!

Eka wear is ecological, ethical, vegan and hand made. They make knitted acessories for both me and women as well as some interior items too. You can and should read more about Eka and the way the products are made HERE!
Visit the site at ekawear.com and the shop here.

The winner can choose the headband between the four available combinations: Red with Black Ribbon, Brown with Mint Green ribbon, White with Black Ribbon or Black with Red Ribbon.

So, to enter the give away, visit me here on freelancersfashion.blogspot.com directly and leave me a comment on this post. You don't have to be a follower of my blog to participate, but really, if you just googled "give away" to end up here then maybe you shouldn't bother.

The winner will be drawn randomly so please leave me only one post per comment.
However, if you tweet/blog/mention and link to this post you may get another entry by leaving me a second comment about it, linking to the mention.

Be sure to have your profile available or that you leave me an email so I can reach you! You can enter no matter where you are located.

The give away is open until Friday night next week; November 4!
Good luck!

THE WRAP

2011-10-23T20:56:00.006+03:00

Until about now it has been pretty warm this fall. And I don't know how it's possible, but I have kind of felt I haven't had any suitable jackets to wear, even though it actually might (read: is) be that I have too many in-between-seasons jackets compared to the time we are able to wear those here. I wore my red little jacket to bits and pieces last year but for some reason this year I've skipped it. And the other ones too...

But instead of buying anything new I've been wearing scarves instead - it's so easy!

I just wrap the biggest one I have around me and tuck one end in from above and the other one in from underneath the wrap. Works well in winter over the jacket too.

And then you can go around looking all arty.

The other way to do it is just to take a scarf that is long enough and wear a mathcing cardi underneath, drop it a bit on the shoulders, wrap it around and fasten with a belt!

Ta-da, easy as that!

(My skirt is by BooBoo Kitty, the black scarf old frmo H&M, checked scarf from Sokos last year, belt vintage and shoes from Melissa and the black-and-beige ones from Next.)

SOME DAY MY NAME AND HERS ARE GOING TO BE THE SAME

2011-10-21T13:52:00.002+03:00

Guys in matching suits:

Some Friday pop to go! Bus stop by The Hollies from 1966.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW : MINOR MULTI TASKING

2011-10-20T14:38:00.003+03:00

Been sewing on an updated outfit for a number of mine. (Last minute as always; the show's tomorrow. We're heading to Lahti for the whole weekend to perform!)

And I made myself a huge pile of manna and apples. Haven't had manna porridge in ages and was lucky to have some grains at home. Childhood memories, my grandmother made the best manna porridge!

In the same time I've been trying to figure out that to wear for a talk show I'm just abotu on my way to now.

And Pekka says hello! From among my clothes. Gnaah.

Soudntrack for today HERE.

BACKSTAGE AT THE GALA

2011-10-19T22:57:00.008+03:00

I took some pictures last Saturday at the Finnish burlesque gala:

Candy rollers!

Last minute fixing.

Some more last minute fixing.

Lots of bubbly.

Cheers!

Cherrie.

Brushing out hte curls.

Sequins and sakura.

Sandy and Gigi.

Fiona.

Olivia.

The giant gingerbread and the pirate.

And here come the skeletons!

Booh.

The Itty-Bitty Tease Cabaret on the other side of the doors.

You can see more photos at blog.ittybittytease.com!

GORGEOUS PACKING IS HALF THE FUN pt.2

2011-10-18T21:18:00.003+03:00

I heard this took about half an hour for the clerk to pack :)

What I had heard before receiving this was that Kielh's is supposed to be real good and as they had just opened a store in Helsinki my sisters gave me a package full of their products for when I got older a little while ago. Now it's just to wait and see if the stuff is as good as it looks. A good start, it was joyful to open.

EVIL VOODOO SKA SKELLITONS

2011-10-16T19:55:00.002+03:00

SUNDAY. PANCAKES COWBOYS AND IKEA

2011-10-16T11:39:00.004+03:00

Sunday after a great big show. I just made us a huge pile of banana pancakes and a berry smoothies. Now Eddi is off to the farm and I am off to IKEA (yey, love those trips!) to pick up some stuff for our new rehearsal studio and then heading there with the other girls to try and manage with the drilling and hammering ourselves.

But before that some sunday music:

The Soft Sunday list keeps on growing but today we'll do something different and listen to som cowboy music; TurrrboCherry: Songs for Cowboys on Spotify.

When I was little my favorite food was what mother used to call "cowboy food"; baked beans and bacon with white bread. All of us girls loved it. Perhaps partly due to the name too :) Haven't had it in quite a while since I've been without meat for a decade, but perhaps I should try and make some one day with veggie bacon...

FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER

2011-10-14T22:05:00.005+03:00

Here's me early (REAL early I tell you, harbour-morning early. Only with glitter lips this time) with that other new hat of mine on my way to the morning TV show with Bettie Blackheart to talk about burlesque.

It was live and I'm doing an 18 hour day (yey!) so I haven't had the chance to see it online yet. You can view it online here for about a week: LINK
...but it will not work abroad. I know, since our god damn server here at work is across the Finnish Bay. So it won't work for me even though I goddamit am right here in Finland right now.

Well, anyway, here's me some hours later, just before sunset.

My life is all about contrasts.

GORGEOUS PACKING IS HALF THE FUN pt.1

2011-10-13T13:34:00.003+03:00

(Or, sort of at least :)

I opened up a box with a sea of confetti!

And with a straw hat inside! That will, I'm afraid, have to wait for the seasons to change a couple of times before I will be able to wear it, but hey; there is logic in buying a summer hat just in time for winter? Some sort of logic from some parts of the world at least, laet's say so.

And there was also another lovey hat among the confetti, but I think you will see more of that tomorrow.
At FST5's morning show 07:45 to be precise!

The hats are from Frolllein von Sofa.

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

2011-10-12T10:04:00.010+03:00

Under a bridge in Helsinki -

There is a steamboat.

And last Saturday on the lower deck...

...there was a party.

Our 30-year x 2 party!

And we are SO the party masters.
Kristina and I used to share a rather notorious flat with Mr.Drum n'Bass in the early 00's and threw a bunch of great theme parties back then. And we still know how to do it!
Can you guess what the theme was sort of about?

We had us an Andy Bellefleur there (would he once have been young and hot). And a whole bunch of other great people (didn't manage to snap any photos during the shows tough) :

Ten points and a parrot badge (ancient Finnish saying) if you can guess which song mister Marty is playing here?

(Sookie & the fangbanger! :)

It was a great party! You can listen to the soundtrack here: Tupelo Honey by TurrrboCherry.(That's a lot of banjos for you I tell you!)

You can see some more photos via the Freelancer's Fashonblog's Facebook page.

Next up is 40 then! (Seems pretty far away though as I can't recall what I did when I turned 20...)

THE NICER WAY TO THE BUS STOP

2011-10-10T13:25:00.007+03:00

Yesterday was such great weather so on our way into town for a birthday dinner (not mine this time :) we decided to walk trough the park to another bus stop further away. I wanted to take my camera with me to go on a proper walk at the same time and take some photos but because that would have meant we should've left in proper time too (which of course is near to impossible) I had to leave the nature photography behind and satisfy with some quicker shots with the phone.

Today however it is so stormy the windows are shaking! And, I can tell you, it really sucks that I have to be at work in an hour. Which is, you know, outside, by the sea.

SUNDAY MORNING, BREAKFAST FOR TWO

2011-10-09T14:47:00.005+03:00

Today will be thee Soft Sunday. It's the day after The Awesome Birthday Party, having a huge almost-afternoon-breakfast, soon out for a walk in the beautiful autumn weather and then in to town for an early dinner for my sister's boyfriend's birthday.

FRIDAY

2011-10-07T23:17:00.007+03:00

Thank you all for the birthday wishes!

I've had lots of posts planned for you this week but they have had to wait as I have been working on a commission (that's what I did most of the B-day, sat by the mac), planning a huge party which will take place soon, being involved in renting a new burlesque rehearsal place after Bittycave which we gave up last May (finally!) and also, had some problems with the internet here at home. Which is more than annoying.

So instead of all else planned I give you some shots straight form the camera from today, as I've been snapping details of home during the day.

I baked a couple of cakes; I was having the family over in the evening.

And I licked the pot for breakfast.

Birthday flowers.

The cake turned out 12cm high and really really good.
I am SO the cake master!

I've also planted som more cuttings. I mean ticklies!

More birthday flowers!

Meow.

My parents gave me this book, which I've been meaning to get forever!

With great old posters for Finnish tourism.

My sister.

Mom. Or, her bracelets.

My youngest sister and her boyfriend.

Hello there.

It's a nasty rain storm outside, but it's cosy on the balcony with it's lanterns, candles, and most of all sealable glass panels!

Plyti.

Crinolines in the bedroom.

But mostly here...

...I'm just trying out the new lens I got from Eddi as birthday present!

ABOUT THIRTY YEARS AGO

2011-10-04T19:25:00.004+03:00

Mom and I on our first walk togehter.

And here's that little baby girl thirty years later!
Thirty years old today.

I WILL PHONE YOUR MOTHER AND ASK HER IF I CAN MARRY YOU

2011-10-02T12:36:00.003+03:00

Soft Sunday music for you!
This time from the Finnish band Hurriganes, early seventies.
And yes, a small percentage of you actually do listen to and like these and even subscribe to the Spotify Soft Sunday-list - so they will keep coming :)

And funny btw, me mentioning the especially warm weather.
Not so funny anymore this morning at the farm when I, about to go to work, wearing just a cardigan and summer shoes as I had left my jacket at home, stood scraping the window of my car with the spatula, freezing my ass off. Now all of you from the more warm parts of the world that do not understand what it means I can tell you: the temperature had fallen to below zero Celcius during the night. First I thought there was just an awful lot of dew on the car, only to find out it was in fact not a thin layer of waterdrops on the windshield but frost. Normally not unusual for the time of the year, but so much for the indian summer this time.

Also seems the trees had turn red and yellow overnight, as with just a snap of the fingers. Or; a snap of cold. It was very pretty driving to work over the fields, silvery of the frost, framed by the colorful trees and with the morning sun putting it all in a nice shimmering light that is surprisingly full of contrast, althouhg the sun itself white and pale. And every time driving down a hill I was diriving trough thin veils of fog and morning mist, dirving uphill the mist rised and disappear among the trees, making one understand the old norcic folklore believes of elves dancing on the meadows and moores at dawm.

But now in the afternoon the sun is all bright and warm again; I went to pick up a doulbe ice cream during lunch break (yes god forbid I work on Sundays), toffee and strawberry topping.

THE LIGHTS ARE BACK

2011-09-30T23:09:00.003+03:00

Neglected for half a year behind the curtains I have plugged my window lights back on. Felt totally right and cosy with the rain and wind outside and me curling up under the blanket with a cup of tea and the lights framing the window.

Today however they felt a little bit less right as it turned +20 all of a sudden in the afternoon... Normally I am not the one to complain about unexpected sunshine and warmth, but by brain had already been set on autumn and cold. Now I just need to re-boot it for as long as the warmth will last.

HATS, FAKE SNOW AND PIN UP PROPS

2011-09-29T23:17:00.005+03:00

I did some hat modelling for my friend and rather fabulous milliner Fiona Timantti. You've seen me model summer hats of hers before (here), but now we were shooting her winter hats.

We shot at Studio Blank where Saara and Marco (that you mostly know from Atelieri O.Haapala) resides. But Saara toghether with Fiona and make up artist Miia Magia also runs Pin Up Helsinki, a team that styles and shoots pin up photography. (If you are interested in getting pin up shots of yourself or to give a photo session as a gift to someone you can find more info on their Facebook page.)
They did some shooting when I arrived, but I couldn't of course snap any pictures of that so here are som details of props (that's a giant heart for you there in the middle) and make up instead.

And then we prepared for the hat shooting! You have got to love those huge snow flakes!

And here's me in a collar and hat!
I however did slightly different faces for the actual photographs.

AUTUMN OUTFIT / EYE DUELLING

2011-09-27T22:14:00.003+03:00

Looking out on nature.

Which looks right back at me.

(Seriously, sweet as the lambs may be they sometimes scare me. The moment they notice you. Makes me think of The Far Side every now and then...)

HORROR & TEASE AND MORE

2011-09-26T16:08:00.007+03:00

A couple of weeks from now I will start this burlesque-weekend-gig-marathon; each and every weekend some place different. From Helsinki to Lahti to Tampere to Pori and then back to Helsinki again. (Those are all Finnish cities in case some of you started wondering...)So that means a whole lot of putting on make up doing hair and, of course, shaking. For more info (yet to come) and details you can check out the Itty-Bitty Tease Cabaret blog.

But before that I will do a whole lot of drawing; I drew the poster above for Olivia Rouge's Horror&Tease event on Halloween in Tampere (that you saw a bit of in progress some time ago).

Next up is something for a porn lady and then for a politician. It's the contrasts that make it worth while now isn't it!

FOUR THINGS THIS WEEK

2011-09-24T11:08:00.005+03:00

Every now and then I actually hope for a little flu so I can lie at home in bed with a good consciousness. And perhaps even get that damn wardrobe of mine organized and cleaned out. And with the amount of work that I do, and it's kind, I really do get ill a couple of two three times a year. The only thing is that then I tend to be rather tired, alas, the closet is still un organized.

This week I was home for three days with an ill knee and a slight flu. I did not do any organizing but here's what I did instead:

Stayed in bed drinking smoothies, browsing interior magazines and reading. The cats kept me company.

Re-planetd some of my pelargoniums in bigger pots. And made those ticklie things. I am not totally hopeless when it comes to plants.

OK Alright, I know they're called cuttings! I just think ticklies would sound better (and it would derive from the Swedish word for cuttings; stickling).

Had lots of peppermint tea with honey waffles. And Laponian bread cheese! I you may recall I tend to get addicted to certain foods for a period and now it's bread cheese. (Those waffles are a long term favorite.) Its a firm, rather tasteless fresh cheese that goes squisch squash when you chew it. Should be eten with cloudberry jam, although strawberry also works. I remember the disappointment when I first tasted it as a child; I thought it was a pancake.

And then I've been trying to sketch on a work I have waiting for me. With chicks and cup cakes. But so far I haven't made it that far. Blah.

THAT OUTFIT POSING

2011-09-22T15:37:00.005+03:00

I'm not too good at taking it too seriously. (And why should one anyway? :)
Also, it does require quite many shots to get one good for the blog. That's at least the way it is around here.

THE DAY AFTER IN TURKU

2011-09-21T23:27:00.006+03:00

Two Sundays ago, after that wedding, was spent in Turku as it took us a few hours before we could start driving home. Those weddings tend to last late...

I've actually been quite little over to Turku but Eddi studied there during the nineties. Also, as you perhaps can tell, he does not really like to be in the focus of the camera.

We went to see the Alice in Wonderland Exhibition in Logomo; it's the biggest exhibition of contemporary photography over here so far and it's part of the Turku being (one of the? Not sure) design Capital(s) in Europe this year. (Helsinki is giving back by being World design Capital next year).

We found the first red leave of the season on our way there! Then I noticed that rather many trees were red already, which is strange since they have quite not turned yet at home, not even during this week. And there's not exactly a difference in climate between the cities. Well, nature worked in mysterious ways…

Here's Eddi doing fashion blogger outfit pose; I asked him to take a photo of me but I usually do a test shot first.

Those by-the-wooden-gate shots did not work out so here's me in my clothes (yup, not naked) above the railroad instead. Btw I'm wearing a shawl with a belt instead of a jacket. Quite nice when it's a-little-but-not-yet-that-cold.

Then we saw the exhibition. I can't say I'm a huge fan of contemporary photography per se ; it is such a wide concept - some artist and some works I like, others not.
Snapping photos of one's own was forbidden due to copyright so here's some of the pictures trough the internet instead: my behind (the censored version); the Ateileri boudoir shoots, among other Ateileri O.Haapala photos were displayed at the exhibition.

They also had a Tom of Finland retro perspective there. (You should know your Tom of FInland, at least a little bit. He has inspired a lot of things.) Interesting and oh so nasty!

I've seen lots of pictures of the Logomo café in different interior magazines and we had coffee there afterwards. Yes, very design-y and rather fresh, but as with many other impressive things it gives me a headache thinking of the actual work behind the piece. That somebody actually had to work there with X amount of black tape and stripe the whole place; walls floor ceiling and furniture. Not a good thing to think about on that kind of Sunday.

(Btw have you ever though about the fact that it is nearly impossible taking a photo of somebody eating wihtout having that person look like a moron. But never mind me and my sandwhich, just check out the tape-thing.)

After this I got myself a whole lot of coconut chocolate and then we walked back to the car and drove home.
Over and out!

BEFORE A WEDDING

2011-09-18T12:54:00.007+03:00

Last weekend Eddi and I went to another city to attend a wedding.
I like going to weddings because they tend to be fun (duh) and since one really gets to go all dressed up.

I should probably start a series called getting ready for weddings in hotel rooms...

And now, getting ready to do some of that outfit posing... in 3,2,1...

Ta ta!

For the actual weddings I however leave the camera in the room and concentrate myself on the champagne and fun. Pictures from weddings? They have wedding photographers for that and they do it better than me.

My dress is from Trashy Diva, the jewelry vintage and shoes from, hmm, somewhere.

(Previouis getting ready for weddings in hotel rooms can be seen here: 1,2,3,4)

NEW ORLEANS, HORIZONTALLY

2011-09-17T15:40:00.012+03:00

With some captions this time!

Bourbon Street.
Which was not a sad lonely jazz tune in the night and Tom Waits sipping whiskey, but more something like Pattaya or Viking Amorella. Broken illusions. But there were other streets near by that had more of that jazzy spirit. (That Clover grill was good; Eddi had a great burger there and they had a waiter just like Lafayette. Seriously.)

Husband and horse.

More of those Mardi Gras beads. I like the fact that they're everywhere. The owner of this house came up from around the corner and was all What The Fuck!?! though, until I showed him I only took a shot of his beads. Not his empty porch.

Uptown shot. The French Quarter is, of course, great, but it is worth taking a walk elsewhere too.

...and back in the french Quarter.

There was also one powder to stop gossip! These were sold by a woman known as Priestess Mariam.
Didn't get any though. (But I sure as hell could use some, cruel and evil world.)

Heart covered coffin! There's nobody in it though.

Tomb / prayer.
But for some seriously fancy cemetary photos, check out those by my New Orleans friend Kaylin Idora, whom we also hang out and had a great time with. She has made a book on the subject.

Tomb of Marie Laveau. Although we were told that the scribble on the tomb and the sacrifices actually are shameful, although people obviously do it with good (and selfish, to be granted wisehs etc.) intentions.

Since we traveled by ourselves after Vegas there are not too many photos of us together. But here's one! By the cemetery. If there would be a small goth in each and one of us, mine would celebrate.

The Easy Rider acid scenes were shot here. They had apparently not asked for permission, but filmed it secretly.

Back on 'our' street. The guy who lived in this pretty house introduced us to a Swedish girl who lived across the street, i.e. next to where we were staying. "You're from Scandinavia? Do you know Linda?" Noup, but turned out her roomate was actually Finnish. We did not know her either though. But it was pretty funny.

The sun is setting outside our room. We did not stay at a hotel but rented a room in the courtyard of a house. Very good solution.

Moon over Bourbon Street.
Well not really. As just said that was neon lights all the way. But nearby.

Last, and least indeed - a video I shot on town. Not that much to cheer about cinematically I'm afraid, but there's some ambience for you; young lads playing in the corner of Frenchman and something.

And this will be the end of my (coincidental) New Orleans themed week.

IN THE MAIL / THE 27 CLUB

2011-09-16T17:58:00.003+03:00

Today I went to the post office to pick up my Amy Winhouse print by French goth n' roll artist Marie Meier. She has made a whole series of the 27 Club. I love her work.

Not sure where to put this yet, but I'm guessing it will be part of my "print gallery" that I have in the blue room.

PS. Marie also has an Itty-Bitty tee! How awesome is that?

NEW ORLEANS, VERTICALLY

2011-09-14T23:10:00.005+03:00

I will continue with this week's New Orleans team here - it is a little more than three months since we left NOLA to drive onwards; I took more than one thousand pictures during our whole trip of which I planned to post some tens of them during summer, but I haven't made it that far yet, but now it's time for a bit of New Orleans. Most things usually take longer time for me than planned...

So; put on my latest Soft Sunday song from a few days back (really, do it) and here you go:

STORYVILLE

2011-09-13T15:05:00.007+03:00

Last week we had a show at Jazz Club Storyville and took some backstage photos. You can see the rest of them HERE.

YOU USED TO BE MY HONEY 'TIL YOU SPENT ALL MY MONEY

2011-09-11T11:40:00.003+03:00

But, as I am in the city of Turku now, I will actually be walking to Logomo to watch that huge photo exhibition were also our Atelieri O.Haapala boudoir photos are displayed.

CAT IN THE SINK

2011-09-09T22:49:00.003+03:00

I'm terribly busy with other things so while I occupy myself with all that I give you some Pekka (instead of Lulu this time).

HORROR CHIC

2011-09-08T18:52:00.003+03:00

Right now I'm drawing on a thing. (And made it work safe for you on the screen shot, how thoughtful of me.)

Today I've done all three jobs; first harbour, then this and soon I'm off to do some semi nude dancing on stage with feathers and bling-bling on my head.
Ta ta!

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW

2011-09-07T21:19:00.008+03:00

Been drinking pepper mint tea by the window after work, watching the rain. I get up a bit after five and the morning is dark already and feels cold, although the temperature is not that low. But when people downtown walk around in their t-shirts we in the harbour already wear beanies and scares, it is always colder by berth. I kept on waiting for that last promised heat wave that never came, and now the daily dose of rain has made me start changing into autumn mode. And it's all dark and stormy by now, the evening*.

Been dancing around a little practicing for mine and Tin's new feather routine for our Storyville show tomorrow. I like performing at Storyville as it is rather prestigious to be there and the staff is really great.

Lulu is anxiously watching over everything I do. (Especially those feathers)

And now I'm listening to arias and chansons. Sans red wine this time though**.
Bizet ♥. I like opera.
Eddi is not so found of my faiblesse for arias but, it comes with this package.

*) That made me think of a drink at the Tiki bar; Dark and Stormy.
Tea in all it's glory but I wouldn't say no to a tropical cocktail by now

**) Although now that I mentioned it I might skip the tea and pour myself a glass...

(Really, how will a person like I ever manage to one day be pregnant. My work team and I once did "italian day" in the harbour -we sometimesdo stuff like that not for things to suck too much-, printed out checks on A4 to make a tabel cloht and had pasta and tiramisu for lunch. And alcohol free wine. Which is not good I tell you, not good at all. Damn.)

SAILORETTE AND DYING FLOWERS

2011-09-05T21:46:00.006+03:00

Now you m ay know I am sort of home proud and like to keep it nice around me (although no, I may not always perhaps manage to keep it that tidy, ehrm, but I refer to it as a bohemic mess...I know Eddi, my mom or my sister will point this out anyway when they read this.)

I especially like to get plants and flowers and place them out around the house, mostly on the balcony now that we're still on the lighter side of the year.

I also try to remember to take care of them properly.

However, it does not always go that very well.

In fact (oooops)...

...sometimes it goes really really bad.
(I nowadays refer to my balcony as the gothic garden due to all it's dying flowers- the sunflowers did not make it that along either as you may spot from the corner.)

But one does not always have to be perfect at everything.
Or at least not admit it, right? *wink wink*

But oh well, I may not have that green fingers.
But I do have red nails!
And-

a really swell dress!
You did not really think this post was about my balcony gardening now did you?

Perhaps you may remember this dress from a few years back; I bought it from a vintage store in Copenhagen. It only took me two years to sew those two small seams in the back it needed to fit me better. Whoah, I can actually use it now instead of just having it on display on my clothing rack.

And, it's the perfect day dress -haha- it has pockets! You know that immediately raises it on my dress scale. Were I to have such a scale, that is.

The suede shoes are old, very old; my grandmother's from the early fifties and the belt is Vivien of Holloway.

Also, I took these pictures myself. On our balcony. Sometimes when I think about that it seems a bit retarded. But then again ladies, I do have a tongue and I tend to stick it in my cheek from time to time.

LIGHTS; EARLY AUTUMN SUNDAY

2011-09-04T18:19:00.004+03:00

Due to popular demand (HAHAHAHAHAH!) I'll give you another Soft Sunday song, Lights by Finnish singer Badding:

You've heard lots of Badding here before and also this very same song sung in Finnish, Valot, by rautalanka band Agents. And all the Sunday songs are, as you know, available on lots of Badding here before and also this very same song sung in Finnish by rautalanka band Agents.">my Spotify Soft Sunday list.

This song was actually sent and suggested to The King himself, but it is not clear weather he ever got to hear or consider it as he died shorty thereafter. And I'm talking about Elvis, if remained unclear to anyone.

I'm spending my Sunday out on the farm with freshly picked chanterelles, apple pie made of apples from the tree outside and a god damn poster that just won't come out as I want it to. You all go on and have a nice one, what's rest of it at least!

STUFF I REALLY LIKE BUT WOULD NOT NECESSARILY GO FOR MYSELF

2011-09-02T23:45:00.005+03:00

Part 1: Pastel lips

I'm pretty sure I couldn't pull it off - or well, I even might, just don't want to - but I still find pastel coloured lipsticks rather delicious! The thing however is that whenever I wear another colour than any shade of red I at some point start regretting I did not wear plain red instead of pink, coral or whatever. Talk about a habit. And no, I really couldn't picture myself in mint green lipstick but I really love the idea of it. Lime Crime has lots of crazy and yummy pastels. And yes, in mint green too! Love the idea.

(Here I have to add hat when I was little mint green was the one colour I could not stand. Maybe because it was everywhere in the eighties. Things change :)

ON THE RADIO

2011-08-31T23:02:00.003+03:00

I was a guest at Radio X3M earlier today, nationwide station in Swedish for youngsters and youth minded, beign interviewed about burlesque.

You can't listen to it online but you can however see a little clip we did afterwards, a goofy mini lesson in burlesque. Watch it here, not the greatest clip I've been in, but surprisingly enough this one is viewable abroad also.

Photo from yle.fi/x3m

DEMONS

2011-08-30T22:40:00.008+03:00

Wonderful Helsinki Burlesque-photographer Kerttu Malinen took some pictures of last week's Demon Night show:

(Boob alert! Might not be safe for work if you scroll down. Obviously, where I work it does not matter as that's probalbly where many NSFW links start, but you get the point)

Me as the very angry and upset 50ft woman.

Tinker Bell as an undead girl.

And The Itty-Bitty Tease Cabaret (with it's partly new crew) does Ghost Town! Can you guess to which song we do this one?

You can see some more shots from the show over at out IBTC burlesque blog!

THE GREAT OMELETTE

2011-08-29T22:39:00.005+03:00

Omelette. It sounds kind of funny if you say it over and over again (I tend to do so with certain words until they sound all strange and dumb. Great hobby.). In Swedish you supposed to say "omelette!" the way you say 'cheese' with a grin when you're having your photo taken. Or at least what you said when I was a kid - maybe you say "usb" or so nowadays, I have no idea. Well, either way; I do an omelette quite often as it is fast to make, tastes good and is pretty much something you can make out of anything! Well as long as you have eggs at home.

I didn't eat eggs for many years though. I stopped eating eggs before I became a vegan, and when I started consuming dairy products again I still didn't touch eggs for quite some times. Nowadays I always have eggs at home. I happen to like pancakes. And cakes. And, omelettes. But I am very strict that we only buy ecological eggs from those chickens that actually have free space, and not just wander around "free" along with ten thousand others inside a big hall. I've been thinking that we maybe should get chickens to the farm since there already are lambs to take care of...

But anyway, back to that special great omelette of mine!.

You'll need:
-ecological eggs - I normally use three
-fresh green peas (I use peas in everything! Mostly frozen. Today I quickly defrosted mine in the microwave so they got all wrinkly. You can also just defrost them by pouring hot water over them, they stay nicer looking that way.)
-cherry tomatoes, or regular ones if that's all you have in the fridge
-cream cheese (feta cheese or crème fraiche can be an option if you so prefer)
-Some spices and fresh herbs, if available.
Other ingredients like mushrooms and spinach go really well here too, but I had none today.

Mix the eggs with some spices; I use white and black pepper and a bit of Cajun spice blend. You can also put some garlic in the batter and add a drop of milk or water if you prefer.

Pour the batter in a pre-heated pan and start frying. (Duh...) Meanwhile slice the cherry tomatoes in half (or chop the regular ones). If you want to use other vegetables you can mix them in the egg batter qnd fry or warm them up separately. I often mix spinach in the batter for a green omelette, or warm some up in the micro wave with the peas and mix together with the cream cheese to a green thick sauce.

Sometimes I flip the omelette over and fry it on both sides, other times I just leave the top soft and let the vegetables sink in.You can also shake the omelette like the pro's do here for example. How you do it is really up yours, as Matti Nykänen, Finnish national hero, would say .

Either way, just before the omelette starts feeling ready you pour the vegetables on the omelette in the pan. I want them to remain rather fresh; you don't have to cook them for long.

Scoop a lot of cream cheese on to the omelette, add some fresh herbs if you had any and then flip it over like a calzone and carefully put it on a plate.

You're pretty much done by now but for the real cherry on top, or in this case: Chipotle on top, you do just that; sprinkle some Chipotle sauce all over it. It really crowns the whole thing!

SUNDAY; HATS, RAIN AND SUNFLOWERS

2011-08-29T00:13:00.002+03:00

Today we went out for a croquet picnic in the park organized by the "Enchanting Hat Walk"-community; in other words, hats were mandatory.

I was hoping to be able to play croquet and go all "off with their heads!" as I felt my outfit entitled me to do so. (I also felt this is pretty much what most five year old girls in the world would want to look like at their birthday parties...)

But- the weather turned so bad we turned around pretty soon and went back home; the rainy day option of sitting in a cafe sipping champagne instead did not really suit the 5-and 10 olds in our party. (And as you can see the rain and humid air did not only ruin the plans, but also instantly ruined my fluffy curls, always as annoying.)

So the only sun we got were the sunflowers on our balcony.

(And just for the record, I love love love sunflowers!)

So it was just off with the princess clothes and on with the casual Sunday wear. I am getting older and what I earlier in my years would have referred to as more boring as I nowadays almost -or pretty much always actually- prefer less fluff and more plain. Well you know, that's the way it goes in the end I guess.

(By the way, that little olive tree of mine in the background looks pretty ridiculous. But it is still alive, so so far so good.)

The dress is an old one from Trashy Diva, the hat by Frollein von Sofa and the shoes my waterproof Melissas that sometimes are super comfy (like today) and other times not. Strange. My blouse is from Vivien of Holloway. Eddi pointed out today that it is actually a very nice one.

HEAVY BAGGAGE

2011-08-27T20:41:00.006+03:00

Oh my! Looks like I'm about to do some traveling?

But noup; no! This is just the basic pile of bags I have to drag along when going performing...this time only to do two numbers - you can imagine what I have to carry when doing a full night's show! However, I have to add; the IBTC-suitcase does contain a small city, hence the other bag. (If that last sentence confused you and made you go all WTF? then you might want to refresh your mind with this post :)

The dress is the Trixie sarong dress from Trashy Diva (summer decided to linger a little longer, yey; I got a chance to wear it this year still!). The shoes are from Andiamo last spring and the jewelry vintage. And yes, I have rollers in my hair; this is usually how I leave home for a show; huge-headed.

JUNGLE CATS & DEMON NIGHTS

2011-08-25T11:13:00.005+03:00

You may remember the jungle shoot from about a month back?

Photos by Emma Jo
(post production by me)

Do check out the whole series over at our BITTY-BLOG!

And you can see the new IBTC-crew perform together for the first time tonight at Kokonut Kult's Demon Night in Kokomo! And a bunch of other great performers so some might say this'd be an event one would not want to miss...

SATURDAY BY THE HOUR

2011-08-23T22:58:00.012+03:00

Last Saturday I spent in the habour and later at a great rocking gig in town, but this is what a few Saturdays ago as looked trough my phone:

09:00 - I wake up and start pin-curling my hair for a gig at a wedding I will have in the evening. I thought it'd be a lot faster now that my hair is short, but I need to make the curls smaller in order for the to actually be curly and not just a little bent. Alas, my arms still get tired during the procedure...

10:00 - do about an hour of yoga out in the garden. The cats are as awlays very eager to join.

11:00 - pick some left over wineberries to put on my breakfast sour milk.I wish I'd have had the time to pick some earlier are out in the freezer. (But the freezer did break down recently so good thing in the end I did not pick those berries on time; it would've pissed me off big time to have seen them ruined!)

12:00 - We're about to head back to town and I say goodbye to the lambs. They get to stay out all summer and are re-located a bit according to how fast they eat the vegetation up. Right now the female lambs are just outside our house.

13:00 - Driving home trough summery fields.

14:00 - Change of plans! Since somebody's ex wife has a little different way of comprehending schedule and agreements than the rest of the world we have the kids arriving a few days earlier to us rather sudden and need to re-organize everything and change the dinner plans I had with my sister; we'll do take away in stead and have it at our place after our show - which means a quick tidying up and cleaning! (PS: the bottle does say NON-toxic cleaning, although the picture tells it a little different :)

15:00 - Still panic-cleaning...

16:00 - Packing for our gig! I'll be doing my old Finnish movie summer themed number and Eddi will be part of the show too.Last time we did said number was in July a year ago.

17:00 - my sister and her hubby has agreed to do some extempore babysitting during our show. Here's their little Lily dog with it's huge bone! Lily is quite the hit with the kids, serving as a never ending source of fascination...

18:00 - Arriving at the veune before all the guests and hiding away backstage as we are suprise perfomers. Sir Willy Waterlily, Mis Sandy Jungle and Lola Vanilla are also performing tonight which means quality time make-upping and hanging out.

19:00 - Stil waiting... Here's lovely miss Jungle.

And Lola Vanilla, drag queen extraordinaire.

The staff at the place is great; we've performed there often at different events. They send us up some bubbly.

Showtime! Here's me and my co-star just about to go on stage. And oh yes I do this number to some good ol' rautalanka; my favorite.

Back home; pick up children sister and boyfriend and have lots and lots of sushi. And edamame and kimchi and wine and I'm telling you; I could have this every second day, at least!

A while after this I fall asleep on the couch.