FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: INDEPENDENCE SUNDAY

It was the Finnish Independence Day today.  One custom is to light white-and-blue (the colour of the Finnsih flag) candles in the window, but I just had a huge white one, that got to make company with the cactuses on my window sill.

We are back in town now for the following week. We have not been here properly for ages. I had to search for matches like crazy - as I no longer smoke (never was a heavy smoker,  but did have an occasional one every now and then, sometimes more frequently sometimes less) and as the one that does carry a light all the time is now at the other side of the world I was scratching my head wondering if it really was so that we had nothing to light stuff with in the house. But then I went trought my old handbags and purses stuffed in my closet (that all contained the following: bobby pins, emergency tampons and 5 cent coins, the ones you never really use) and ta-da, in the bottom one was a box with matches.

We baked an apple cake with Dag on things I could pull together out of the cupboards (the stores are closed on Holidays like this).

As we have indeed not been living here in the city apartment for quite a while, just a night here and there, the whole place has looked like shit for the past six months. The flat is still what I've considered my real home so far, so it feels good to get to clean it up and spend some time here other than just dropping in to get something or just to sleep. Making it cosy and enjoying having everything in one place for a while. And cooking food in my pastel pink kitchen. Eddi lives at the farm all the time as the older boys lives with us now constantly instead of every second week -their mother moved out there a year ago and the boys switched schools to the countryside. A couple of months later she moved back to Helsinki and as you can't really yo-yo kids from one school to another they remained with us. We stay in town with Dag every now and then as I have my studio here and work late, and as Dag already had a spot in a playschool in the city a few days of the week. (That's a lot of driving back-and-forth with a lot of ikea bags on the back seat. ) But now Dag and I will be in town for the whole week while Eddi is away on a work trip to Australia!  (The older boys will stay with their grandparents who also live on a house in the farm; I have a lot of work in the evenings so we won't be going out there. I even brought the cats back with us to town.)

So as it was rainy and really stormy outside we cosed up and stayed in baking. Dag really loves to cook. He was very anxious for the cake to be ready in the oven.

So while waiting he set the table and made us a fancy Independence Day dinner. It had broccoli, porridge with strawberry jam, carrots, egg and a "garlic he had fried in a special way so it was not so strong in taste".

And then finally  the cake was ready (yum) and we had it while we watching the Independence Day reception on TV. (That's really the only independence day how-to-thing I managed to do, it's pretty much the same every year. Or well, I did get a fancy mini-family dinner  ;)

MINT GREEN, WINE RED AND KITTIES

When it's dark and grey outside I easily tend to wrap myself in a lot of black but the opposite can be quite soothing for the eye as well, strong colours in the middle of all desaturation around.

Lately I have been living with such a schedule and activities that I don't really get around using any of my "normal" clothes anylonger. It's most often just studiowear. Reminds me of when I was studying my first year of painting and I used to sew lots of clothes to myself that I also never really -well other than at goa parties - got to wear. (With no internet back then like now so nowhere to show them off! hastag: backinthedays. Or something...)  We just painted all day long at school and I'd wear an old bathrobe from the seventies with a long zipper and mushrooms on it (well it was actually a pretty cool bathrobe) to cover  my clothes and then after school I'd work in the harbour in work wear.

But ta-da! I just blend in my studio wear with my regular way for the in between moments!
With a kitty romper under my skirt.
Also, kitty rompers make grey November days a litle bit better.

The kitty romper is from Coquetry Clothing. The shoes are those water proof ones from Melissa.
I have to say though, that the jacket,m as lovely as the colour may be, is made from such a wool blend that makes the texture look totally awful after less than two months of wear. Booh.

Also, as I mentioned the studio, all our spring classes are now 5% off until Christmas with the code JOULU5! Shopping shopping from our webstore!

THE THIRD WEEKEND OF NOVEMBER; THE FIRST SNOW

Autumn is chancing into winter and it's dark in the afternoon here already. Just like it should at this time of year - the time to take out all extra light and light candles! And drink lots and lots of glögg.
(The cats get to demonstrate the cosing-and-candeling-it-up.)

Today the first snow of the year fell.

And so did it on this weekend seven years ago too. I was out with our music-quiz team glöggging about on Satruday evening wearing a big beige checked skirt and my red shiny heels. It started to snow and I had to walk on my toes. And then later that night I met a man who I would come to marry two and a half years later.

POSING FOR AND BLENDING INTO ART

Maria Stereo: Maisema 3 

Clothes and accessories:

IvanaHelsinki – Nudge / YCM – Hoochie Mama Jane – OVVN / Uhana Design

Earlier this fall I modelled for an art project between Tabulaland Art Store, stylist Nina Erkkilä and photographer Marko Saari, for which Erkkilä styled artworks by different artists on display and sale at Tabulaland with Finnish design and vintage.

Sami Viljanto: Tell Us About Your Worries
Jacket: Vuokko, dress and skirt: Poola Katryna Acessories and hat: Hoochie Mama Jane

MUAH for these photos are by me.

It just so happened that I posed with the smallest and the largest pieces of the project.

You can see all the other great photos from the project at Sylvi.fi. I think the interpretation is really interesting.

The Finnish Fashion Loves Tabulaland Art- exhibition is on display at GLO Hotel Art Kitchen until mid-January next year.