Busy week -> Early weekend

This has been a busy Monday-Wednesday. I am so happy we have Thursday and Friday for "independent studies", which translates itself in my mind as 4 day weekend with a side of homework. God forbid a teacher reads this! 

(In that case, I love to diligently work on school projects at home and I will try not to spend my time doing everything and anything that sounds more fun!)

I have some pictures to share from Sunday and this week, so I may as well get started!

Sunday:

(The Finnish poet) Runeberg's day = Runeberg Torte Day

Runeberg Torte is a kind of cupcake made with cookie/bread crumbs, flour and ground almonds. It's buttery and crumby and delicious. 

They are baked with a drop of (raspberry) jam in the center. After cooling, you add a bit more jam and a ring of powdered sugar/water icing. Traditionally, you are supposed to add rum to this. Unfortunately (or is it?) we didn't have any rum on hand, the only alcoholic beverage would have been hubby's beer.

(Read more about this traditional Finnish dessert  here!, non-Finns!)

These are gluten-free because my parent's were coming over for dinner and dessert! Always fun! :)

Later that evening, inspired by my decision and days of research and thought, I broke out the oil pastels and started practicing. ...This was at 10.30 pm on a school night... BUT oil pastels will be the medium for my self portrait (because they can be used on paper and they dry quickly), which will hopefully aid me in getting into art school, so I figured practice is good practice no matter the time!

I am still obsessed with learning more, and very pleased with how the orange rose turned out, although the colors are something I have to get used to. I looooove oil paints but nothing else is like oil paint! I've yet to see any medium produce the kind of colors and variety that make painting fun. 

However, these are supposed to be the next best thing. I read somewhere online that oil pastels were invented in the 1920s, but perfected by Sennelier per request by Pablo Picasso. Apparently, he wanted to draw but still wanted to paint... Sums them up pretty well. I was using a small brush and small dabs of turpentine to blend the colors. (I just can't let go of painting!)

ALSO on Sunday night (geez, I was hyperactive!), I played around with sock buns, and curls. I will have to show you sometime the before and after, it's pretty cool. I have gotten better since Sunday, at least the curls this fine Wednesday morning were a lot nicer than the  ones on Monday! Lol! I was a skeptic when I first saw this stuff months ago, but it really works! And it's not hard to do! (I'm proof of that!)

I learned about sock curls through pinterest, here is the link to learn more!

Monday:

Monday the moon looked gorgeous, but by the time I set up the tripod etc, it disappeared behind massive clouds. 

Tuesday:

We had fun at school applying wrist and leg casts to each other. I was nervous about it because I get claustrophobic easily (like if I try a shirt on at a store that is too small and I get my arms stuck, I silently panic!). Fortunately, it wasn't so bad and we all had more than a few laughs. 

 I took my body parts home on the bus with me. Needless to say, I got more than a few odd looks! 

 Later Tuesday evening, the moon came out (no clouds to be seen!) but it was being difficult. I couldn't get a clear photo because of the glare that the layers of glass produce...and we don't have a zoom lens so it was a speck.

Fortunately, I got to practice something else and realized I could write with the moon! I contently scribbled away, making lots of shapes and blobs! 

 Of course I had to make a heart! 

Wednesday:

I am taking it easy tonight. I've already got my pajamas on at 5 p.m. and I am making brownies for dinner. I also am going to be very naughty and start yet another crochet project. Ok, so it's now going to be my 4th WIP and we are only in February, but who's counting?! 

I'm envisioning a hat and scarf. This is Novita Puro, the color is luumupuu (plum tree). It is variegated and I have been holding on to some of this since 2010, some since last November. Glad I finally figured out what to do with it! 

So that makes the WIPs

1) pink hexies

2) granny squares

3) baby things... (is the mother to be reading this?!) ;)

4) plum hat and scarf. 

I guess I will be busy this extended weekend... 

Thanks for reading!

Weekends, gotta love 'em!

Monday report:

I had a WONDERFUL weekend! 

I made time to work on my bachelor's thesis (stress levels came down about it temporarily), which left me plenty of time for my favorite things.

Eating. A lot. 

OK, so it's a bit indulgent, but I had been working really hard on that thesis and thought I deserved something GOOD! We were trying to make homemade big macs (recipe here) and ran into some trouble. Like the ingredients being different here. Like the buns being too round to stack (mine toppled rather quickly...). Like the beef patties being too meaty and round (adding to the toppling effect). 

But boy, they were MM-MM delicious! 

Do you like the bottle in the background? It's one of hubby's homemade dark ales! They are strong (like holy cow strong!) and pretty ok for a dark beer. Unfortunately, this so happened to be a bottle that slightly leaked thanks to Ikea's superb quality (wink wink), so it wasn't as carbonated as some of the others. Fortunately, hubby is smart and he's been bending the "bales" (I think that's what they're called, the metal bits...) and making the seal tighter for the next batch. (Light ale, ready in about 2-3 weeks!) 

Onward!

I crocheted more squares, up to 23 I think now and all the ends are sewn in!

This is what happened when I tried to take a picture of my beautiful yarn:

"I wanna be in the picture!! Let me talk to you!! Awoowowwowo ahhhh WOOF!!!" :)

(I swear that's what he sounds like!)

When he went away, I finally got it! 

I was crocheting (in my pajamas) with the falling snow outside my window... I really have enjoyed this winter!

And looooots of time was spent getting to know my camera (and lightroom) better. (Sticking to my new year's resolutions!)

I even broke out the tripod! (Yay for not being lazy!)

(Pardon the dying plant the cat has eaten...And why does everything look so much better in black and white?!)

Inspiration strikes when I'm home alone, so no one else to practice on but myself. It's hard to get yourself in the frame without being able to see! And then not make a totally stupid face either! There were a loooot of out-takes. Lol!

One reason I've been diehard practicing, is that I read somewhere (probably through a pin on pinterest...) that if you are shooting in manual but just going by metering, you are still not really shooting in manual. I was so guilty. 

So now I am trying to break free from the metering and I'm trying to use it more as a guide and analyze more what to adjust: iso, f-stop, shutter speed and use the tripod if I'm getting blurry pictures!!

These peppers deserved a picture and although I was too late for proper natural lighting, I still think these pictures turned out rather alright. I tried something new and hung a dish towel behind them for a more interesting background.

However, I could have used the tripod...and a speedlite. And a macro lens. Or just a lens with more range. Proper daylight would have been pretty sweet, too.

But all things considered, I'm still pleased as punch! :)

I had to give these granny smith apples a go as well! They were on sale at the store so I bought a bunch  for apple desserts (probably a nice pie) and for this reason, too. I love still life photos! 

 

I suppose I should end it here.

I have some more pictures, but I'm saving them for another post. They are of the doggy kind. :)

Thanks for reading!

NOVEMBER!

Hello November 1st!!! Can you believe it?! NOVEMBER ALREADY? I can't understand where the time has gone.... Anywhoooo, here's what I have been up to! 

Evil kitty stare-downs. Happens daily. She's actually kind of scary... 

This is the morning of November 1st. How November-esque. The fog has since this picture cleared up, but it's still GRAY outside. And who knows when we'll see the sun again..

That is why I am so happy about the way we spent Halloween! Hahaaah! SHOPPING! 

Halloween is not a thing at all here in Finland, no trick-or-treaters here...so we took solace in retail therapy while the rest of the world was out having Halloween fun. Tee-hee.

I bought this plant on sale for 1 euro. I like it. These actually don't die immediately in my care. And I don't think Kissa ate the last one we had. Hopefully it lasts a while! Or even grows!

I about peed myself when I saw this green apple birdfeeder on sale for 2 euros. I looove it, had to have it! I don't have an outdoor space to hang it but I think it will look nice hanging from the ceiling in our apple themed kitchen.

More sale finds: blue polka dot gardening gloves. Um yes! It will match my blue boots and straw hat perfectly. Gardening fashion -- it's half the fun!

My mama was sweet and bought me this flower for our bedroom! I love the color and lushness of it, so so pretty! Thanks Mama! 

I found these pretty old tins and thought of my mom's friend who collects old tins. I think I'll give them to her as a belated birthday present. :) They are finds from my favorite thrift store, the Finnish Red Cross's Kontti. 

That is also where I found this nice oven dish, only 2.50e! Something new to make some casseroles in!

And I found these doilies for only 2 euros! 5 doilies for 2 euros! I think I am going to starch them and hang them as snowflakes in the window. It was an idea I saw on pinterest. Or I could start collecting for that great lace doily lamp that has been circulating pinterest, too! :) Oh the ideas!

The tea collecting continued, as we next went to the grocery store. Darn tea section! Lures me in every time! This time I bought Clipper's brand Indian Chai. It is TASTY. I have never been one for chai teas but the hubster wanted it and I was overwhelmed by the selection that I gave in to just be done with it. (Don't you hate when that happens!) Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise! I had a cup last night and one again this morning and my-oh-my, my tastebuds have rejoiced! We were thinking of adding a dash of glögi which is a Finnish (or Nordic?) winter/Christmas hot spiced drink. I think it would add a nice juicy touch, the tea itself  is reminiscent of Christmas, warm and spicy as even the box says.

Well, this is all for me today. I am so excited about this upcoming Christmas party, it's hard to get me off pinterest sometimes, I'm always looking for new Christmas ideas! 

Thanks for reading! Have a nice start to your November! 

Oh so very...Pinteresting...

It's 11 p.m. I'm finally home, in my PJs and sipping tea. Yes, oh yes, I am going to sleep well tonight. It's been a long 6 day work week at clinical training. (Only 4 more work days! Yay!)

After running into some old high school friends this week, I was inspired to finally go through with my plan of arranging a little Christmas party-reunion type deal. 

I do love a good party! 

So I locked down a date that suited me best (Nov 26th) and set up an event on facebook, clicked a bunch of faces that I associate with being in high school and voila, just over 50 people were invited! 

What's that? Over 50 people? Whaaaat? 

Hahah, we live in 65m2 (google tells me this is 699.654177 sq feet) -- HOW are we going to fit?! 

Good thing the usual rule of thumb is only half of the people invited come, which is ok and definitely a good thing although it would be so very nice to see everyone! 

Now for the exciting part though! Finally getting to use and add more to my pinterest board created long ago with this particular event in mind: Christmas party ideas

YAAAAAAY!

I am far to lazy to link any pictures to this post, also because I don't want to upset anyone by using their pictures, but do check out the board if the link works! 

I am so excited to decorate for Christmas and CLEAN (weird, I know) and make this place sooooo pretty and cozy! :)

And the thought of preparing food and baking... <3

Like I said, I love me a good party! 

I feel bad making this a text only post, so here is a picture from last Christmas, or well the beginning of December!

 

Can you believe he is already over a year old now? And he weighs more than 40kg (~80lbs)!? He's over 70cm (2.3ft!) tall at the shoulder?!

Since I got to looking at these old pictures, I'll share one more of my favorites! 

He's up around my hips these days, certainly no tripping on him now! Lol!

Thanks for reading, I promise to share some newer pictures next time! ;)