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.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW: CAKE AND MUSCLES AND LIVING ROOM DANCING

Sunday. Humid and misty outside, warm and cosy inside. Inspite of that I made it out for a late morning run. Brrr.

Then I cleaned up a long-coveted family item of mine, and old chess-table that now found it's way to the farmhouse. A closer look on it some other time.

Did some work on a set of pictures I took for a sports team's calendar that they are making to raise money. It was quite hilarious to do.

Took a break from the abs and baked a mud cake with lingonberries to take along when popping by for afternoon coffee at Eddi's brother's at the other house on the farm.

But first Dag wanted to do some dancing to whatever was on the radio, and so we did.

MAGPIE

Remember the photoshoot my friends had by our tree last summer? (And at the foot of our hedge too, as you can see in the photo above.)

It was a promo shoot for my friend and fellow performer Bent Van der Bleu's Magpie the Master Thief number. Asko Rantanen, who has taken many fabulous photos of me as well, took the photos of the magpie.

COLOURS AND AFTERNOON SUN

 Just look at these colours! I have hundreds of pictures like this from each year but it's as much of an 'Oooooh!' every time.  Isn't autumn amazing?
(Animals spotted in this picture: two. Cats.)

And here I am posing all naturally as anyone would when standing among a bunch of autumn leaves.
In a Trashy Diva dress. It's those checks making their way out of the closet again because: Autumn.

Animals spotted in this one: several. For a well-trained sheep eye like mine. They are hanging out on the other side of the road between the birches.

Also, thank you for the comments on my marathon-long post the other week. I did not answer them separately, but read each and every one and appreciate the thoughts given me.

DOUBLE CHECKS FOR A BAD WEATHER BRUNCH

Yesterday we defied the nasty October weather and headed out for a family brunch to celebrate my sister's hubby's birthday.

It's been rather cold but the vintage pendleton jacket I got myself earlier this year has kept me warm still even though it's unlined. Hooray. And because autumn kind of equals checks I've been pairing it with my checked scarf. Double checks all the way!

The dress underneath is trashy Diva.

TIDIED UP AT LAST (PLUS THAT HIDEOUS MONKEY I ONCE GOT)

Our flat in the city has looked like a dump for the past year. It's been messed up by unpacked gig-bags of mine, filled with my paperwork and crumbled over with Dag's toys. As we've mainly been concentrating on fixing up and renovating the farm house, and all free time is spent there,  our apartment has been rather sad and forgotten.

But now I  finally got around cleaning it up -to the extent my sister doubtfully asked Eddi why was it so neat there, what's going on? when she came over- and it feels great. I haven't gotten everything I want organised yet, but I'm getting there. And as my nausea from the lost pregnancy is now over I apparently got an energy boos; I even washed all walls and every door in the house. And we might even get around finishing Dag's room now that I'm on fire!


I got some new plants and moved around the placements of the old ones. I always thought that plants are a great, quick and affordable way to freshen up and make a mini-renewal of the interior.

The Helsinki poster we have framed on the wall is one of my favourites by one of my favourites, Erik Bruun.

 If you know your Helsinki you'll love the simplicity of how landmarks and parts of town are portrayed.

Here's my anti-Bojesen monkey btw (and this is a total btw-mention).
It's horrible and not really supposed to be there, but I once hanged it ironically and then it has stayed. You know,  the classic wood design monkey-toy-thing by Bojesen that costs a lot and has no actual function, that people have on, or hanging from shelves (preferably a string one like this). Well, my sister and I have a thing of sending sad stories or links and such to one another. Sometimes it leads to things, like when I once saw a super sad listing for an old teddybear no one wanted and she ended up buying because she just had to. Another time a friend of mine linked me a weird ebay listing for a "hideous monkey" on my wall joking it was Plytis' evil cousin. My sister then sneakily got me the hideous monkey for my birthday the same year. Yes I did scream out in horror a little when I opened the package, before laughing like crazy.


Hideous, ain't it? I have no idea why it looks like this or why anyone would make it so, and sell it, but well, I know why someone bought it.

I can't leave you with the image of the scary monkey so here is a cuter picture of Dag, happily unaware of said monkey, playing in his play kitchen.

AT WORK

Some of the things I've worked with the past week.
Some will always think this is "not a real job". But well, that's them.

Last weekend we performed at Pressa. Here we are all lined up in the back room.

 The next day we had a couple of workshops. We have a monthly coaching-class for upcoming performers. And then the occasional themed-ones. Here we are posing before class. We always do, take a photo. That we never use for anything afterwards. Well except for this time, here you go!

 And here our students of the posture & posing class are trying out switching from pose to pose.

(By the way. There have been many requests for a stage make up-workshop so keep your eyes on our the Shangri-La Rubies Facdebook page for that one, which we'll try and throw one in next winter!)

The day after that it was time to set up huge rehearsals for Spectac-O-Rama!, our rockabilly-burlesqe revue that takes places two nights in November (the 8th and the 29th).

Loading in a full band set-up in our studio, going trough heaps of coffee. And the usual stuff: some extra hair, various hats, random leather gear and your everyday sequinned cardboard horse...
It's quite the spectacle I tell you and a lot of fun to work with! Book your tickets directly from the venue, Allotria.

For those hungry for shows, next Saturday I will be at Lavaklubi, Ocober 31st at Kaapeli and November 1st at Horror & Tease in Tampere. And a little extra puff well in advance; if you didn't have plans for New Year's you can make them now - head over to beautiful Astoria for show & dinner and some good ol' dress to impress!

As for the not a real job-thing I can add that this also contains hours of paperwork, paying and sending bills and answering emails, scheduling and planning. But that does not make much for photos.

WARM AUTUMN DAYS

And still time to get around wearing my poncho!

OCTOBER; 33, THE EIGHT YEAR AND THE SECOND ONE

Arrived home after a fabulous and work-filled weekend in Turku (of which you can see an ultra quick  fun time-lapse vide of on vimeo, by Tuomas) just in time to catch all the lovely colours of autumn - last year I missed it, as the leaves fell of quickly, and I was in Stockholm performing during those short days of excessive colour.

Dag and I had to go out on a mission immediately as some of the lams had decided the grass was greener on the other side of the fence rather literally, and for some reason also on the road. So we chased them back much to Dag's excitement. 

He is wearing a Mickey Mouse-coat that both me and my sisters have worn when we were kids, that we got from our cousins who were a few years older than us. There was one in about every size and this is the first one. Dag finds it very fancy.

Lambs trying to camouflage themselves.

Last weekend, on Saturday, it was also my 33th birthday. I rarely celebrate mine; last time was when K and I threw our very fabulous True Blood feast when we turned 30. Usually I have been at work on my birthdays as a grown up, first in the harbour (where one tended to spend the whole day as shifts are long), now on stage. This year was no different!

As those of you who have hanged around here for a longer time know, my blog also gets a year older along with me - so we are entering our eight year here now. That is a long time I tell you!
If someone ever wondered about the rather imbecile but catchy name of my blog it has been explained here on a few occasions back in the days but we can do it one more time; the idea of a blog was born way before it actuallystarted, when blogging looked a bit different that now. I had just found fashion blogs that consisted of outfits and outfits only, and I found them both inspiring and a bit silly at the same time. So The Freelancer's Fashion Blog was an ironic idea -  I have always had a big wardrobe, but from time to time (a lot like now) I haven't really been able to use it properly. Back then in 2006 and -07, when thinking about blogging, I had finished my studies and worked with freelance graphic design as well as in the harbour. So I was basically working most of the time (like now, but in a different matter) and felt that I mainly was wearing black tights or leggings (or underwear) and a black t-shirt or a top, when in front of my computer or under my workwear. What people who work from home often look like... And I thought about how that would make it in a fashion blog, different versions of something that looks just the same. Well, that blog never happened. When my blog then started it was all about drawithe outfits though and staying incognito -it took until March the next year until I posted a photo of myself - and as with most blogs this one slowly developed into something more personal.

This was that very first photo, from many years back.

Speaking of outfits, there is of course a reason why I have been walking around mainly in stretchy wear and sneaky yoga pants, other than the one that I am always running from workouts to rehearsals and classes nowadays- I got pregnant again! And unlike the pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage this summer, when I had felt strangely well when I thought back on it, I this time felt bad and swollen,  just like I had with Dag, feeling like I was hungover for two months. Until week seven was over I was a bit scared every time I went to the toilet that I would see blood, and was reliefed when I passed the weeks of the previous miscarriage. I had my first prenatal appointment and had all future ultras and appointments set now, as is the custom. But, even though I am lucky enough to get pregnant easily - so far always on the first try, I am apparently not as lucky after that. Last Friday, the day before my 33rd birthday, I had an ultra sound and found out I had had a so called missed abortion; the foetus had died a few weeks earlier. Well, I could almost see it right away - the baby in the monitor looked too small for it's weeks, although I kept thinking that perhaps they always grow miraculously just the week after this. But I moved my face from the screen to the doctor's face and saw he looked serious and then he told me he could not see a heart beat. As the first miscarriage came rather slowly I had time to let it sink in and it was an event that made me disappointed and frustrated, but this was totally different. I couldn't imagine it could go wrong a second time because everything had felt so normal!  Not now, not this one! I was rather shocked. Not just because of the loss of the  baby-to-be, but because of how much we already had planned with everything else around the fact we would have a baby in April; jobs, life, arrangements. It's because I was looking at maternity dresses onine already. I shouldn't have! Everything had been just right, damnit! But it wasn't.

I had a lot of things to take care of during that day, which was awful to go trough, and I skipped out on some because I was so tired and just wanted to lie in bed. My body still felt pregnant, swollen and nauseous, and I was distressed over the fact that it was not over totally yet, but I would still have to abort it during the week to come. The thought of the pain that might bring, and all the arrangements around that felt the worst for the moment. I would have to call lots of places and re-arrange meetings and cancel classes and tell them I had the flue or something because you don't tell people you lost a pregnancy. You could, but you don't, because they will get uncomfortable. Too much info, stick to the flue.

As Scandinavia is ruled by the Jante -law (the 'don't think you're any special'-one, which in cases like this translates to: don't think your pain is any worse than anyone else's), and as I've grown up in a society that looks down on self-pity (well, don't they all?) and go by the mentality that one should shut the fuck up and quit whining, I thought it was best to do so. And as everyone keeps telling you: it is very common and it happens a lot. So it is. I had a lot to do during the weekend too; had to perform and hold a workshop and first the thought of all that felt rather horrifying. But it actually helped to be busy and around people and kept my mind off the fact there was a little dead beginning of a human lying inside of me. On Monday I went to the hospital and got the pills to empty the womb and so today this second one was over with less physical pain than I had expected. (For the record, for those who might read this in a similar situation: they gave me Cytotec, which is what they use over here pretty much as the only option, a drug I have had once before -I presume- many years ago for a similar reason and that was a very painful experience. Well at least I was prepared for what the beginning of labour would feel like when the day that came. The almighty internet is also full of mainly horror stories on said drug, as you see I of course googled a lot waiting in horror for it to kick in, but let it be said here for those who have an interest in this: This time I was stocked up with strong painkillers and it was not all that bad, by evening the medicine had done it's job. So it worked for me.)

As I wrote about the first miscarriage I thought it would be strange not to mention this second one. And, as I said the last time, when you have some sort of situation going on, you google all you can find about it, and then you google some more. (I always search in three languages to get as much out of it as possible). You want to and need to read about it. There is always someone out there who feels better reading about things like this, because of how one can relate, even though this story here is not one of those miracle stories where there was still a living twin inside!  (which will only give you false hope, because you know, there seldom is).

But it is still a bit odd, how we are not really supposed to mention miscarriage, and are not supposed to feel bad about it either. It is something of a taboo. With a friend who was, and luckily still is, as many weeks pregnant as I was, we talked about how you usually feel your worst and weirdest in the beginning of pregnancy but you are not supposed to talk about it because things can go wrong , and then if they do go wrong and you feel terrible you can't talk about it either because no one knew about it and you know, it does happen all the time.

So, no use of dwelling on things one can not change! I have a lot of work and projects that I will concentrate on the rest of this year, and also on the wonderful little fella in the Mickey Mouse coat that I shall snuggle up!
And come the weekend, I will drink some wine, oh yes.

DESPERADOS AND OTHER CRAZYNESS IN TURKU

Packing my bags to head off west for Turku Burlesque Weekend!

Among a lot of fabulous tongue-in-cheek but also totally flipped out funny things we'll do there I'm also bringing my updated Desperado-act. So there's been a lot of sewing and glueing lately to get it done. To the point that I suddenly realised my old western movie bad guy is turning into something more like the Three Amigos...

Here's me in 2010 when I last did it.

And Turku hey! I will also throw my Vintage Hair 101-workshop, a "showgirl edition", on Saturday before the show! There are a couple of places left, more info behind this link.

For more info on Turku Burlesque Weekend, click the pic.

PINKKI PAPLARI & NATURAL HAIR COLORING

The other week I went to the hairdresser's. Which is kind of an occasion, as the last time was in March 2013. In between I've just had to rely on a couple of mirrors and scissors in my bathroom.


I go to a place called Pinkki Paplari (the "pink roller"), which is a vintage style hair parlour that coiffures both men and women and that will make any crazy rad punk coloured styles you may want as well, but the main thing (for me) is that it is also an organic hair salon, meaning you can get all-natural treatments there as well.



The salon moved to a new location in Tölö late last spring. The old parlour was in red and pink, but the new one is mint green!

Fabulous owner Anita is a friend and burlesque student of mine. (And btw her hair is naturally wavy; she doesn't even have to curl her bangs!!. Now how jealous that does make me!)

We had talked about doing a natural hair color mask for me to get some warmth back into my colour and brighten my shade -it has turned more dull the past year, age does not come alone as one says in Finnish - ever since my last visit. now we finally got the time to try it out. I've done lemon-and-camomille washes and such but never really tried to color my hair with herbs and plants before.

Paplari has lots of nice photofriendly retrolicious and fun small details.

Not to forget the misters as well - Pinkki Paplari just started with beard & shave workshops for men btw.

In the back room the brightening parts for my color were soaking in - camomile and marigold (calendula).



A range of colorants in jars. You have alder cones (I remember colouring yarn with alder in the art club when I was small) and walnut for brown and dark shades for example, avocado pits and hibiscus for reddish tones and so on.  It's interesting to see the ingredients, some may come as surprises (like the avocado) while others are more obvious (the henna, and indigo for jet black).

You can get a wide range of shades depending on what  you mix together and how; in general Anita makes the colours one by one for each colouring. You can't bleach hair naturally though (although, a little btw from a poison-point-of view; bleaching is less bad for you than colouring your hair darker, although it will dry your hair) but you can brighten it's tone and get a more golden shine to it, like we set out to do.


The soak was blended out with cassia for shine, and a little henna for a toffee like result. The cassia will also slow the henna a bit down. But that's it, nothing more than that!
I have a lot of hair and the mix is compact so when it was all in my head was rather heavy I tell you!

On with a compostable bag and a nice scarf and time to sit under the hood for some time!

With the company of organic snacks and some mags.

Then it was time to wash out the goo, give the locks a go with the scissors and dry and wait for the result!

Which turned out just right! Brighter and more toffee just like planned.

With natural colouring it's advised not to wash or soak the hair for a day or two, as the color will grow in intensity for a while and set. I had a little irrational feat that it would wash away once you wash your hair but it won't, it stays. As the tone is rather subtle there won't really be a harsh edge as it grows out.

Oh, and last: Pinkki Paplari is celebrating it's 9th year at Golden Classic Bar this Friday, starting at 21hrs!   The entrance to the event is free and among a bunch of bands our very own student group The Shangri-La Showgirls are also performing there!