FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: SUNDAY

In a time when I kind of dream I would catch the flu so I could lay in bed and just watch Netflix  with a clean consciousness (that wouldn't be able to happen even if it did happen) a weekend off is a truly amazing thing.  Being in a rather constant mode of constantly needing to perform and produce things, even anticipated events in the free time start feeling like something that you have to accomplish rather than get to experience and thus becomes harder to look forward to. They turn into another task to manage yourself trough. This weekend however was totally off-duty-time and on Friday I got into a real relaxation-mode as I attended the first night of the Superwood-festival (more on that later). And then I got to spend the rest of the weekend at home! Eddi is off on a three-week work trip to Yazd, the stepsons away for the autumn holidays so it's just been me and Dag (and some to do's and work which I have exceptionally well been able to neglect) enjoying the late autumn sunshine.

 The first frosty nights have arrived and left traces that won't melt away until the afternoon.

 Picking rowanberries, the last ones available, to dry for a tea infusion.

Enjoying  a chocolate-lingonberry cake that we baked with Dag!

And working on a new dance partner of mine for our up-coming Halloween show. Ergonomically on the kitchen floor; I've used up all other workspaces and surfaces available in the house.

And come evening, I might allow myself some non-guyilty Netflix time as well!

HALLOWEEN AT KAUHUKLUBI

Happy Halloween! (Because, even  though it's past midnight here by now there's still some Halloween left somewhere in the world).

Last year I spent my Halloween (with a skeleton) at a pilates trainers camp, but this year I got to celebrate it big time at the horror-themed RubiesKlubit burlesque club I produce with Tinx. It's great when you get to host an event with a spooky voice all night long.

Here are a couple of shots from the show, all shot by Bernhard. Miettinen.

I did my 50ft woman thing, inspired by the, ehrm,  epic masterpiece from 1958.

Pepper Sparkles.

Vera de Vil.

Tinker in monster mode.

Bent van der Bleu.

One of the winners of our costume competition and my skeleton hand handing over his price.

We run RubiesKlubit about every six to eight weeks at Mascot in Helsinki's Kallio district, always with a different theme. The concept has worked really well and it has developed into a great club night with a super audience each time. The next RubiesKlubit will be on January 13, but before that we'll throw our yearly Christmas show Under the Mistle Tease on Decdember 17!

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: SUNDAY EVENING

I have a jack-o-lantern and some lights burning on the front porch. Once the pumpkin is gone I will add a bunch of lanterns and lights in different sizes  more still -we changed to wintertime today and it's almost November now so the darkness really is here (that sounds very gothic doesn't it) and the more the merrier applies here; our world up here needs more lights now!

Meanwhile, it's nice and cosy on the inside. Made myself a marinated chick-pea salad for dinner. With some Sunday-evening red.

There's so much mess and stuff here, because of moving houses, that one has to really focus on how to crop the photos in order for not to reveal any of how it actually looks over here for the moment.

And Uh! I broke that fine orchid of mine when I brought it out here. It was even making new small flower buds and all! Apparently you can't have an orchid branch grow roots to plant again the way you can do with many other plants' branches and leaves, so I'll just have to cross my fingers my orchid will continue to be happy and look good and grow new blooming branches after this little misfortune still...

The window-plant from my city-home now hangs in the kitchen corner.
And once again, carefully choosing the angle of picture and subject to leave any of that crazy-putting-two-homes-into-one mess out...

HALLOWEEN AT THE STUDIO

Time for some self-promotion!
Or not promoting me but my business (which I suppose I really should remember to do more often) -

Both my colleague and I (plus our assistant. Yazzz, we have one that actually the employment agency pays for! Phew!) are huge fans of Halloween. So to get the most out of it we are celebrating Halloween weeks at the studio with spooky tunes and choreographies. Plus some discounts - come and try out a new class for just 10€!

You can find our studio at Facebook here: Facebook.com/StudioShangriLa
And our Burlesque School (which is pretty much the same as the studio page, but focusing more on the burlesque content) here: Facebook.com/ShangriLaSchoolOfShowgirls
You can of course find our website here: studioshangrila.fi
and us at instagram @studioshangrila
For any blogreader of mine who hangs around Southern Finland and wants to take classes with us (a whole season/weekly/once) I've made a discount code to use at the web store or at the studio for 15% off any purchase (not applicable to special weekend courses or classes with guest teachers from abroad): FREELANCERS15

You can see a little clip from last month when we did some fun and easy go-go dancing here!

While we are mainly a burlesque school I still have to add that pilates (which I teach if you've missed that) is the best thing you can do for yourself, ever. EVER.

So see you at Shangri-La, yes? BUAHAHAHAAA! (spooky laughter, you know, for Halloween)


(Not sure why I felt I still had to tag this post 'photoshop' though. In case it was not obvious enough.)

HA-HA-HALLOWEEN NAILS!

A video posted by turrrbocherry (@turrrbocherry)

Here's a little silly instagram video of this month's manicure that I forced my dear husband to film.
Note that is has extra zombie-moster sound effects in the background improvised by my two-year old son. Family project!

I have tried out a couple of different shades of a colour changing gel polish this fall (not at home, at my salon) and I am excited like a child about how my nails shift in hues and colour (darker when cold and lighter/brighter when warm)! Variation for the win. This manicure in honour of Halloween goes from a sparkly red to a sparkly purplish-black.

Oh, and,  not to forget: Happy Halloween!

TRIPLE CHECKS AND HALLOWEENISH WEATHER

Even though it has been pretty nice during the days lately evenings have turned stormy, dark and spooky - just like they should this time of year!

Apart from a few days a bit back it has however still been rather warm, so the vintage Pendleton jacket I finally got around getting myself (after thinking about one such for years) really did come in handy and has been of much use.  I think I've always had issues with the so called mid-season wear, everything  most jackets I've had have usually been too warm or too cold, but this time around not!

To take my double checks from last week up a notch I added a checked skirt for triple checks. Autumn, you know (although,  the checks on the skirt are pretty subtle.) Scarfs and checks and coloured tights that just call for huge hot cups of tea.
And some red wine, not to forget.

COUNTRYSIDE HALLOWEEN

I'm the kind of person who likes to stretch my holidays and celebrations to make them last as long trough the season as possible. I find it totally alright with christmas lights and mulled wine in mid November already (not yet though, damn it!) and enjoy my gingerbreads a few weeks into the new year too. Or, in the case of Halloween (which isn't that big of a deal over here really, but one of my favs of the year); I get a great reason to put up lights and lanterns now already without being a total Christmas geek about it. Plus, with the actual day being in the middle of the week this year, one is given two weekends to celebrate it!

So, we spent our Halloween this weekend already. When it is dark and gloomy outside -like it should- the best thing to do is put up lots of lanterns and lights, make a bunch of good food and some awsome people come over!

A werewolf-spiderweb moment.

 My mini skeleton.

 Building burgers.


My tofu-avocado burger.

 Lots of cakes (and wine) later on in the night.

And here's some music to go for your Halloween mood: Hell of a Halloween!

SKELETONS

Last Friday we went to a Dia de los Muertos-themed Halloween party. And you know how I love theme parties. And Halloween! As the party was over at Studio Blank where for example Atelieri O. Haapala (and PinUp Helsinki) resides there where of course fab photos of the great skeletons.
Here are a few lovely.

Our host for the evening.

And hostess.

Itty-Bitty Kitty and her skelet.

Lumimarja.

Fiona.

Former Bitty Aiju. Who as you can see, looks a lot like I did in early June. Belly wise.
Which is a Yey-thing since I have very few friends with babies.

Our skeleton-family!
My skirt is the one from BooBooKitty Couture, the top from Vivien of Holloway and the look-alike corset is from a very old Bitty number, made by Kitty there a few photos up.

All photos by Team Muertos.

Alright well, enough of the skeletons and Halloween, it just to bring on the Glühwein, gingerbreads and candles now, right?

DAY OF THE DEAD

Yesterday we went to a fabulous Day of the Dead indoor picnic and today, on the actual day, I will be driving up in the country for a show. Tomorrow I'm planning to just lie around the house eating coconut balls and reading magazines. We'll see if I can manage that.

Btw funny; I didn't want to paint my face too much because I thought Dag might freak out but he was just 'naah, whatever, gimme the boob!' In fact the seemed to like all painted faces, exaggerated and colourful. A kid a little older was totally horrified by all the skeletons though...

PS. this weekends give away at my FB page is for a four-colour set of mineral lip colour!
Here's the link to enter: http://bit.ly/PonDjs

4 THINGS RIGHT NOW AT THIS EXACT MOMENT

We're on our way to a theme party - not too hard to guess what kind I suppose. And you know I love>/i> theme parties!
Well, I'm off; have fun you too and howl to the moon!

WILL WORK FOR CLOTHES / HORROR & TEASE

I am getting ready for premiering my new number tomorrow (in other words, have been dead busy as usual, this time with a baby by my side too. Phew.) at the Finish Burlesque Gala. Which is sold out. So if you missed out on the tickets and thus didn't manage to get your October dose of burlesque, of if you just cant get enough, or if Tampere is more convenient for you than Helsinki there is another superb event next week: the second annual Horror & Tease Show!

Just as last year,  I did the poster for Miss Olivia Rouge's Halloween burlesque party spectacle.
And just like then, I will get paid in clothes now too. Obviously I'd be ruined if I did all my works like this but then again I buy quite many dresses with the money I earn anyway so in this case it's just cutting out the middle man. Hahaha.

Last year I was performing and the Bitties too but this year there won't be any Horror& Tease for me neither on stage nor as a spactator; too far away for me. (Or, for Dag actually, to be precise). But among many other one gets to see Anna Fur Laxis on stage instad and she is one of my absolute favorites, ever! I mean I saw her to this in Vegas for example:



The event is a week form now; next Saturday. That would be the 27th.
Get your advance tickets from the Olivia Rouge Shop in Tampere.

And once we're at it; let's throw in a little speedy give away too! One of you will have the chance to win a pair of tickets (your names on the list) for the event. You have time until Tuesday Oct.23 to enter; I will announce the winner then! Leave a comment on this post letting me know your in for the competition. And as usual, make sure you are reachable to me.

HALLOWEEN OUT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE AND SOME DETAILS FROM THAT HOME

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!