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...

PALE BLUE KITCHEN HUES

Today the dishes were matching each other.

RED & YELLOW, SUGAR & CREAM

The darker and more desaturated it gets outside the nicer it is to wrap yourself in colours. Well that, and -a bit contradictory I guess - all black as well (which is still a very common day-to-day choice for me). But today it was deep red för hela slanten as one would say in Swedish. (Well probably not the young folks to be honest, but that's how I'd say it.)

This is a damask pattern chiffon dress that I received from Sugar & Cream vintage store.
My bag is vintage (that I haven't apparently used, or emptied properly in some time as I found a concert ticket to Gotan Project from 2010 in it!) and my red lace-up high heel boots are from somewhere on the internet from a few years ago. With the boots the dress gets kind of a folk-y vibe to it.

You know I love shirt waist dresses and this one also as an elastic waist (comfy-points!) plus a hidden zipper in the pleats in the front which means you can step into it and don't have to pull it over your head! That gets points too!

Sugar & Cream is a Bangkok vintage store ran by two sisters; you can visit their actual shop in Bangkok but also shop online via their webstore. You can also find them on Facebook here. 
I will be writing a couple of posts for their Sugar & Cream blog in the near future!

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.)

LIGHT CARNEVAL AT LINNANMÄKI

Eddi is in Iran for a month, and I am working on a lot of projects, but I've tried to come up with some bigger and smaller quality-time things for me and Dag to do when possible. We've played some word games and made late night apple pie, and the other day we went to  Linnanmäki with my sisters and their boys. The amusement park normally closes after summer, or is open just a few hours in the afternoon, but throws a light carneval each October with evening opening hours and different programs and light installations. (Light is an often recurring theme -and subject- in happenings over here, as we tend to go towards darker days, and there is an acute lack of it...) Last time we went to the Light Carnival was three years ago when Dag was just a baby.

The park really looks pretty with all the lights of the attractions on (in summer it is so light so they don't really show) as well as the trees illuminated, led-light infused cotton candy, and light installations and performances all around.

There are a few attractions for smaller kids that are free of charge, which is a welcome feature, but we of course had to buy tickets with Dag for the old carousel too. This time Dag rode the giraffe.

Tonight is the last night of the light carneval!

DRESSED UP FOR OCTOBER

I went to a Octoberfest-themed party in the weekend and dressed inspired by myself in 1983.

(Even though I remembered my tiny dirndl had the colours the other way around, with a red skirt.)

I did not have that much time to put together an outfit and also wanted one just inspired by the look of a dirndl, not to create one. But if there's a next time I'll sew myself a pair of high waisted lederhosen-inspired suspender shorts (or skirt) instead!

This is a selfmade skirt and the waistcoat/corselette is one I use on stage as part of a very differently themed outfit.

This was also a great opportunity to get to use one of my petticoats! I seldom wear them nowadays.
I should go to parties more often I guess (not just perform at them).

THE PERSISTENT ORCHID

I have an orchid in my soon-to-be-former home, that keeps in growing and making new branches and new flowers. As soon as the flowers fall off new ones appear. And I don't know how this little fella does it, considering most orchids just come to wither and die under my tl-and-c, as I've pondered upon before.

Not sure what I've done differently this time, perhaps watered it with a more constant routine, or then it's the fact that I only sleep in the apartment a couple of night per week and it grows better that way because it's just not fond of humans.

Either way, I hope this one will survive the move out to the countryside and can keep making me happy with it's amazing prettiness!

MY SON, THE TATTOO ARTIST

It does not take much longer than a hair wash for your child to decorate himself throughly.
And when your own canvas is not enough anymore you will want to continue onto the next one - Dag thus gave me a foot tattoo that he got a little eager with and extended onto my leg.

I noticed the kid had managed to "tattoo" himself on the neck as well. Rather impressive, I'd say.

So much concentration.

So now I have a leg full of ninjas.

And Dag has them on his arms and chest as well. Plus in the face.
Time to pour up a bath I think.

GREEN TOMATOES

I've harvested my tomatoes -from the three slices of tomato I planted we got a big bunch of beautiful green tomatoes.

 

I started my whole tomato-project a little too late in spring in order for them to have the time to ripe properly and turn red, and now the couple of sudden sneaky frost nights that we had managed to kill some of them off already. So I had to harvest those that were left now.

It does not matter that they are still green, as they taste pretty awesome when fried in butter and garlic anyway (well, doesn't everything...).

SILK & POLYESTER

Channeling some 70's lounge vibes with my blackjumpsuit, peeptoes and slinky silk shirt.
It's all old stuff from the closet.

AT THE PIN-UP FINLAND FINALS

One thing about getting older, I've noticed, is that you get more tired doing things that before did not tire you as much. So after a weekend of working for about 30 hours, of which half of those hours in high heels, walking an uncountable amount of time back-and-forth between stage area and back stage at a huge fair center (note to self for next year: bring a pedometer!) it does take some days, not just a, to recover. But because work and moving apartments and such those days have not yet appeared; this is the first time in a week I managed to sit down by the computer and do internet-stuff from a bigger screen than the one in the palm of my hand. Phew!

Here are a few shots from the Pin-Up Finland pageant that we were working on last weekend -
It's not really a pageant per se, that focuses on looks, but a modelling competition that values over all style and how to embody the modern pin-up, as well as modelling skills live and in front of the camera. The pin-ups this year were between ages 18 and 35; the age range is usually quite wide, as is the style of the contenstans. We produced the final event with all it's hundreds of bits and pieces and also help coach (=calm, mostly) the girls for it. As said before, I've never been much for competitions myself, but as one competitor put it: it did not feel like a competition; more like a pin-up camp. All contestants usually become great friends, plus get a lot of new opportunities via the events around the competition.

 My hosting-face.

 Our lovely ladies on stage of the first round, that they get to style themselves.


Milkshake break!
@Nancybites snapped this one of us.

 Backstage with the girls before the second show of the day.

We had one go-go themed round and Eija sew these amazing groovy outfits our of vintage materials for the girls! So much want there!

Cherry Liqueur, who would win the competition, at the final show of the event, featuring beautiful robes and fluffy pyjamas from VintagEija's, and and on-stage boudoir we put together with furniture borrowed from Kymen Viiri

 After the show with our winner Cherry Liqueur!

We will produce the Pin-Up Finland 2017 finals again next year, and also work on the photoshoots and other happenings around  the event, so if you want in as a sponsor or to see your products featured throughout the summer season do get in touch.

Photos by Harri Antikainen and Operation Rocking Piggy.
(Instagram photos by me.)

RED LEO COMBO

It's that weekend, or rather, week of the year, again that seems to have more hours than the rest of the weeks and in the same time way too few, as you don't really get to sleep and everything all blends into one long day. A very long such, during which I have managed to manage more things and details than one could possible think of, one of them being putting this pencil skirt tie-top combo together between one and three am two nights in a row. It turned out really good; the past years I've spent more details on how the clothes I sew look on the inside too and I've gotten used to how to cut the pieces of fabric for myself I usually get it right once away without having to correct the seams (I don't use patterns, just cut straight from the fabric) afterwards.

We are producing the Pin-Up Finland event this year again, thus the long days and short nights this week; and if you head over to Lahti tomorrow (or, it might be today by now already) you can catch me wear this on stage when I also host the event at the Autot & Viihde happening! Lots of great looking cars, bands, custom goodies to shop and lots of aspiring pin ups. And me, running on Choca-cola (that's caffeinaited chocolate for ya) for the xx-day in a row. So come, it will be fun!