MY KIND OF SWEAT PANTS

Black beret week part one;

Eddi is away on the other side of the world for a couple of weeks, I have some commissions to work on, a couple of workshops to keep and Dag is getting some more teeht. But no problem,  I will just clone myself times four and things should be alright.

Oh.

But that means this will be the black beret -or other head-gear weeks, covering a messy head with that thrustworthy piece of cloth for a less on-the-verge-of-a-burnout look. That, and some lipstick and I'm good to go!

 Sometimes people ask how to manage -or rather why-  to take care of oneself (as in dress up, wear make up, fix the hair) with a baby but I don't really get the question, only partly. Yes, in some terms style may alter a bit along with parenthood, but why let go of your personal style completely? If I'm going somewhere it's just as big an effort for me to get up and put on a dress as it would be to put on a pair of sweat pants or pull a plastic bag on me. And flapping on that beret and a quick go with what's inside my make up bag takes no longer than five minutes, one if I have to, with Dag by my side. Or, given the opportunity, it can of course take as long as it has to. In any case it's not something you have to defend.

Related to that I have to point out how great this dress, along wiht the Jeannie dress in the same material, I got from Trashy Diva last fall have been. Trashy Diva is on the more expensive side for some, but in this case it was especially oh so worth it; the fabric is thick and good looking -a jersey knit- while still soft and stretchy. It's like wearing a sweat pants in dress form! That also happen to look good. Because dresses or no dresses, I almost never wear anything during the day that is not comfy. If you can combine comfy and style you have yourself a winner.

"ARE YOU POWDERED TO YOUR OWN SATISFACTION? AND TO HIS?"

 My father in law is renovating a small house on the farm and bough us a fine,big tin barrel. it was full of old newspapers. They were all from 1935.

I am not the one to think something is amazing jsut because it's vintage, but browsing old ads, articles or pictures is of course always interesting. And can be rather funny too.

 Dag was checking out the papers too.

 And noticed they were rather dusty.

Advertisement for Princess Pat Powder and lots of small ads for piano lessons.

But some headlines are just the same as today; about re-structturing and health care...

COLOR SHOT

Deep coral red, olive green.

The lipstick is Zuui and shirt form Fast&Loud.

FROM ONE THING TO THE OTHER

The way things are around here.

One moment I'm doing this:


The next (cleaning up after) this...

SHAE DETAR

Lately I've been admiring the art work and fashion photography of Shae DeTar.

Soft and dreamy, dear I say a bit hipster and also with a touch if pre raphaelite- as well as some Klimt influences in some pieces.

All images from shaedetar.com

TUESDAY EVENING SHOT

Eddi had his daddy-leave -went by in a blink- and we've stayed out a lot in the countryside (as you may have noticed). Now the month is over and he'll go on a research trip to Bolivia for two weeks. We spent the last night in the countryside for a while with ecological white wine and raw food truffels (dates, cashew, vanilla, cocoa and coconut oil) and a pale bit moon shining very strong outside the window.

BABYSTEPS

We've been renovating the country side house now for five(!) months, and step by step in small bits  we're starting to finish things off. Babysteps, but getting there. Even though the whole house itself, in certain ways, will be an eternal project - you know, few houses are ever really ready. But anyway.

Things have happened in the hallway, especially to the floor. But more on that another time.


The bathroom now has a sink. More on that later too.


And the kitchen has been, as you now, in action for a few months already but is still -yes, still- waiting for some last detailing.  Meanwhile my noodles are happily cooking.

BODEN USA

I have a new affiliate for you to shop at; Boden!
I like their timeless, preppy, sixties inspired clothing. Boden also has cute clothes for children and men as well as shoes and accessories.

Now you get 15% off the whole site until Sunday night. Shipping is also free if you live in the US.
The discount is valid wherever you live, but note that it runs on at Boden US only, not the other sites.

Get to the site from the banner in my side bar or by clicking the links below:

WELL WELL WELL...

..if it isn't so that my winter boots have finally gone to rest!

La la la la la.
So it did happen, the extra snow we got  a couple of weeks back plus the nasty rain from a few days back did melt the winter away. It's like everyting suddenly jumped one month ahead, to how it should be by now; the streets are dry (which really is a feeling far more rejoiceful than you'd think if you live in a place where you never experience post-snow time...), the weather is warm(-er) and sunny, I can wear my heels again. Mmmmyes.


My skirt is vintage adn the cardigan is from h&m. I have some jojoba oil in my most of hair (it's good for the scalp if you have a dry one like me) so I made a twist in the back and a swirl in front and covered it with my scarf form BooBoo Kitty.

FLUFF

Here's some random petticoat fluff for you for Saturday night!

THE ARTFUL MUSICIAN

Some of you may remember the giveaway we did last year with the Artful Musician NY?
The Artful Musician is fine arts photographer and musician Thomas Roberts Meyers who creates art prints of music instruments and equipment. You can read more about it here.


He has now opened up a web shop of his own too, Guitar Art Print  with art prints and t-shirts, as well as started selling music themed pendants in the Guitar Art Print- etsy shop.

So, in honor of that not only one or two but three readers here will have the chance to win $50 in store credit!

In order to enter  we do as before; leave e a comment on this post and make sure I will be able to reach you trough it! And as usual: if you share, you get one more entry per share. The give away is open until Sunday, April 28 and the winners will be announced the day after. Good luck!

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Apparently I just am the kind of person that when I really -I mean really-  begin the task of organizing at home, and also should get on with those 522 unread emails in my inbox, start color-coordinating my dresses (and, taking photos of it...) 

Mmmmmmmh, dresses-

But then I sort of started "home-shopping", remembering this and that item in my wardrobe. Very useful. However, the hard truth and it's conclusion is that there is no need to buy any dress ever again!  Ever. (Ha ha!) Well except for green dresses; turns out I don't have any green ones - how did this happen? Nothing wrong with green. Must be corrected! (Ah, what a great feeling; relief).

Now let's just hope for a long and warm and very sunny summer and children that magically stop being messy so that I can actually wear every single one. (Can I get another HAHA?)

PAGEBOY-ISH 360°

My hair is now long enough to start making do's where I fake it short. Which makes totally sense. In some parallel universe at least.

I can't really decide weather life was better (hair-wize, that is) with long or short hair, but I think I'm going to let my locks grow out for some time. Because then, like here,  one can sort of have both.

I have curled my hair and rolled it towards the neck in three thick pin curls in the back, each roll pinned from both sides. My hair is cut round; a bit shorter in the front so after pulling the front back with combs I just let the ends be; tucked them in a bit backwards and put a few pins here and there, then smooth it out in the back. Quick and easy!

My dress in the pictures is Trashy Diva Jenny dress.

SHAKING IT / JKL OHOI

Applying glitter on legs. The very essentials of life. Sort of.
Cropped from a photo by Tuomas Lairila, from HBF earlier this year.

I realized it's quite seldom we do open gigs these days; we've been doing so many  corporate events, or then the big sold out burlesque-only happenings. Before we did lots of bar and night club gigs, combined evenings with bands; we had our own clubs Wanted and Blues Trash Cabaret running for a couple of years, 2009 and 2010.

But now we'll get into some of all that again for a couple of nights; we're doing a spread out mini tour with Sweet Jeena and her Sweethearts for the release of their new record. This Thursday, the 18th at YO-talo in Tampere, next Thursday (April 25) at Le Bonk here in Helsinki and then Firday May 17 at Lutakko in Jyväskylä!

We are looking for a pickup girl (or, girls. Or boys) for the Jyväskylä show to strut on stage and pick up our glittery thingies! Email us at info@ittybittytease.com if interested.

DRESSED IN SHADOWS AND LACE

My iPhone went a little artsy.

BATHTUB

I have one.

And I had to try it right away! Or, we had to. We don't have  the right drain tubes for it yet nor electricity in the bathroom but we do have hot water. Mmmyes.

Dag probably peed in the water right away because that's what I would have done would I have been not-yet-ten-months old. But I didn't let the thought ruin my bath, it's not like a little baby pee on your skin would kill you. I mean they do use synthetic piss in some lotions out there did you know? (urea).  But well, mostly I had orange oil and cocoa butter in my water. Very nice.

If you wonder why I am so bananas about a tub it's because nobody has those around here anymore, unless you specifically put one in your bathroom when you renovate it, more or less. In newly built houses with enough space they put in small saunas instead, and in old they throw the tubs our when renovating the pipes, to fit such modern luxurities as a shower and washing machine instead (and, in some cases,  a small sauna too. Finns and saunas, you know. My sister could actually turn her shower cabinet in her pervious flat into a miniature sauna fitting one behind or two small ones at max.)

I actually can't remember when I had a bath  the last time!

(OK, I can it was when I was giving birth. That OBVIOUSLY does not count. And yes I do remember the other times too, they have been in hotel rooms. But the last time at home, my home? In 2002 in a flat I shared with a couple of guys. We had a tub for some time. Then they renovated the pipes and threw the tub out. )

BOTANICAL

Among those things you plan forever and one day actually get done, or almost:

Apart form the raspberry wallpaper that had been lurking in my head for years I also had the idea forever of framing old pages from a biology book and putting them up in the countryside kitchen. The past years I've seen such posters and pages more and more in magazines and interior blogs. I had checked out plenty on etsy and such, both old and newly printed, but the whole thing kind of lingered.

Now I don't even want such for the (new) kitchen anymore, I have new plans for what to put on those walls, but some time ago I stil grabbed the old idea and ordered a few random pages from an old botanical book via Lundagård. Will put these pictures elsewhere, somewhere.

At about the same time Ikea started selling similar pictures too, already framed... well of course they did. (pic from Ikea)

Sandberg also has a wallpaper with the theme, Botanica. Beautiful, but for a swooning 407e (!!? read it in a mag but must have been a typo?) per roll I think I'll just stick to old book pages in frames. From ikea. Or glue them directly to the wall like that. Why not, if the space allows it? (pic form Sandberg)

SNOW, STILL

Where did all this new snow come from?

In Finnish there is this saying called  takatalvi, meaning 'returning winter', or 'back winter', "behind winter"; it can't be translated fully. I think of it as the dèrriere of winter, because it sucks. In any case that is when winter strikes back a last time (or some last times) after spring has already kicked in, recurring wintry weather in spring. Snow on crocuses, freezing in spring jackets and so on. It has been snowing on-off for two days now, but even if it just was beginning to actually, finally feel like spring before that one still can't speak of a taka talvi yet as the season hadn't propably changed yet, although almost a month late.


I had however already thanks to the sunny days and dried up roads before taken out my in-between boots and tucked the winter ones away. Might have to jump back one step in spring developement now though.

But I hadn't gone as far as switching jacket. This one is keeping me warm still. And cosy. A few years ago I was so eager to bring out those thin jackets of mine as soon as I could - I remember a long walk to  a party one Friday evening in m leather jacket and a surprising snow storm. But not being cold is rather awesome.


And you now what they say? It takes some new snow to melt the old away.
So let's hope this was it!

I got my wrap around plaid jacket last year from ModCloth, the dress underneath is from Trashy Diva and the boots are very old but somewhat re-discovered for me.