Valentimes

Thank you for the Valentine's Day wishes! I hope everyone had a wonderful day! :)

I myself had an amazing Valentine's Day! I got beautiful roses and chocolates, as well as knocked hubby's socks off with my surprise...

I got home early from school, ran through the store, picked up some bubbly, made sushi (warp speed, it was like the iron chef!) and cleaned up a bit. Oh and of course put on a dress, although I didn't have time to do my hair before he got home. Lol!

The sushi was salmon or (imitation) crab *cough student budget cough* with the usual culprits of avocado and cucumber, but also a bit of carrot and bell pepper for color. I loved the crunch the carrot brought, it's definitely going in my sushi from now on since I am a self-proclaimed "texture eater". 

We ate it with some chopsticks we got as a wedding present (the Japan honeymoon theme) and drank green tea out of our little Japanese cups bought from an outdoor flea market in Kyoto. I swear people drank tea out of these bowls and I'm not making it up! I even drank tea out of these in our hotel room then, hahaha!

The bubbly was poured into our wedding champagne flutes (since that's all we own) and we both enjoyed trying to photograph the bubbles, golden liquid, candlelight, and our etched initials. Gotta love having hobbies in common!

Dessert was a warm chocolate cobbler that I added large chunks of dark chocolate to for that molten lava cake effect. I really did want to make molten lava cakes but I need to expand my ramekin collection...and remember to buy eggs next time. Hah! 

The chocolate concoction went down nicely paired with a coconut whipped cream. Mmm.

I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the roses in the candlelight. I sure do love a good flower picture!

Ah, so that was the last holiday as a married first. 

We have been doing a lot of reflection with our impending first anniversary and I must say, it's still hard to believe it's been almost a year!!

Thanks for reading! I have some scarf and hat pictures to share for next time! :)

Bittersweet homecoming

It's always sad to leave. 

I love my brother and sister, I love spending time with the little nephews o'mine and I love being a part of the hubby's bubbly family. I love the palm trees and the sunshine, not the heat so much anymore. I love the food, but am craving a salad like crazy after that week long junk food binge-fest we were on. (You have to stuff your face with the foods you can't get where you live, ya know!). 

I disliked the area more than I thought I would, I feel like a lot of what was great about it growing up has changed. And while I love those big American personalities, I find I may have become a bit too Finnish to get into it. And I felt like a cynical wazoo the whole time! 

But all in all, it was a fantastic trip and I'm happy and sad to be back home. Good thing there are Koda Bears, Kissa panthers and Manta-faces to make it better. Oh and skype.

I took quite a few pictures of our whereabouts but not nearly as many as I thought I would. It's just harder to take pictures of your old hometown, I guess. Here are some to share though. :)

In between closely documenting the makeup and hair going-ons of the bride and her maids, I snapped some still lifes of everything available and mostly of these gorgeous shoes the bride wore. Ah, reminiscent of Cinderella!

(I can't believe I ever lived without this camera)

The hubby and I looked rather spiffy if I say so myself. :)

The amazing wedding cake.

I had a bit of a love thing going on with these chandeliers...

The super tasty dinner I ate. Yeah. I ate ALL that. Mmm, I would do it again, too!

It was just a really gorgeous and enjoyable wedding! I am so happy for the wonderful couple! :)

The next morning I took some pictures of the flowers taken home from the reception. So beautiful, makes me want to grab a paintbrush! (Speaking of which, I found a good deal for 10 small canvases so now I  have plenty to paint on!)

I also got to meet some new dogs; my sister-in-laws two (a Boston terrier and a miniature pinscher) as well as her husband's old hound. This picture makes me laugh, look at their expression when Charlie (seen below) got to come in the house and they stayed on the patio.

This is Charlie. He's a jack russell and my mother-in-law's. :)

I think this could possibly be enough of sharing for now? I still have a few pictures to share of my sister's house and flowers. You know me and flowers...

Thanks for reading! It's good to get a chance to blog again! :)

Sunflower garden

Our garden is gearing up towards fall... The berries are all about picked and have stopped production and the peas are just on their last leg as well. The fall hydrangea is blooming (see my last garden post for pictures of that) and my asters are looking as though they're going to be opening in the next week or two! I love this time of the year, even though it is quite sad in a way to see the summer ending. 

But I love fall. A lot. And as I grow older/live in Finland longer, that love grows each year. 

There is still some summer love left to be had though, the roses are blooming on their second round and the sunflowers have mostly opened! 

No matter how many rose pictures (ahem, flower pictures in general) I take, I still fall in love with them. This camera rocks my socks. These roses even more so!

Double-headed!

Here is a rather good example of the difference in raspberry species. The smaller one was on the garden when we took over, we added some of the jumbo brand when we started  here all those years ago.

We ate this salad after our gardening trip: tuna, chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, nectarine, lettuce, feta and caesar dressing. Mmmhmm. 

I made another batch of nutella meringues, but I failed miserably to actually take them to school like I had planned. They are just too good to share! Lol! 

I baked a nutella cake, but I am frosting it today, I want to play around with those decorating tips and such. Hopefully it turns out nice enough that I can post pictures and not be embarrassed, haha. 

Our puppy is not so much a puppy anymore... He's just a couple days shy of 11 months. :( He still acts like a puppy though, even though he weighs well over 40kg/80lbs and is 72cm/28in tall (when last measured at the shoulders). My baby is a big guy!

That's all today. I have packing, repairing Koda damage (from puppy days) and cake decorating on my agenda today. I could probably take a look at school stuff too. Oh gee. 

Thanks for reading!

Sunday lunch + rose garden delight!

My dad's cousin and her husband came over today to visit us all and I was in charge of food... so we made meatballs with a tiny cube of cheese in the middle, boiled potatoes and a cheesy cream sauce. We made a salad with lettuce from the garden, cucumber, nectarines, bell pepper and grapes. I used fresh herbs growing on my parents' balcony and made sure the house was filled with pleasant aromas. Lol. Dessert was coffee and my new favorite, the lemony "cheesecake". I say this with " " because I don't use any cream cheese for the filling, just sour cream and "rahka" which is like creme fraiche mixed with plain yogurt. Kinda. I love the stuff!

Aah! This nasty beetle snuck in and was in our composting trash! Ewwwww, super gross because I accidentally touched it! But the green was just amazing, like an emerald!

After we ate, we went for a leisurely walk to the arboretum to see the rose garden. Summer is great!

 Gebruder Grimm

 Morden Blush

 Pepita

 Bluhwunder

 The Fairy (this one was blooming out of control!!)

 Goldquelle

 Nostalgie

 Barkarole and its black rosebud! 

 Morden Sunrise

 I think this is little rose tree is called Rody.

 Black Forest Rose

 Lupo

 Rosita

 Postillion

 Pomponella

Remember this post with the pear blossoms? Here are the pears and unfortunately this is about as big as they get! Our summer is a bit too finicky and short for real pears.

That's all for me. I'll be spending my evening with old school Super Mario World. Yup, wiis are awesome. :)

Thanks for reading!