The Creative Process

It's been a while since I've talked about my favorite subject: writing. Sometimes I feel like my blog is the only place where I can really talk about it; unfortunately I have failed so far in surrounding myself with other people who write. Some of my friends ask about it every once in a while, but I tend to stop myself from talking after a while. Otherwise I will not shut up. Ever. 

The creative process is an interesting thing, and different for every person. What works for one writer, might not work for another, that's a given. Some like listening to music while they write, and speaking of that, make sure to check out this post by Kami McArthur. And listen to that playlist. Uh-mazing! 

Some write and write and write, and then rewrite everything. Nothing is ever good enough.

Some let their friends read their work as soon as one chapter is ready, and some never show their work to anyone. 

Most of us have a wide range of emotions and feelings when it comes to our work. I am loving, hating, liking, and resenting my writing. Sometimes all at once. It can be frustrating, but in the end, when I write something I don't want to erase, it's worth all of it. 

Tästä onkin aikaa, kun olen viimeksi puhunut lempiaiheestani: kirjoittamisesta. Joskus tuntuu, että tämä blogi on ainoa paikka missä voin puhua siitä; valitettavasti olen epäonnistunut haalimaan ympärilleni ihmisiä, jotka myös kirjoittavat. Jotkut ystävistäni kysyvät aiheesta silloin tällöin, mutta yleensä estän itseäni puhumasta liikaa. Muuten suutani ei saisi tukkoon. Ikinä. 

Luomisen prosessi on mielenkiintoinen asia, ja erilainen jokaisella. On selvää, että yhden kirjailijan keinot eivät välttämättä toimi toisella. Jotkut haluavat kuunnella musiikkia kirjoittaessaan, ja kun nyt siitä puhutaan, niin lukaiskaapa tämä postaus, jonka on kirjoittanut Kami McArthur. Ja kuunnelkaa se soittolista. Aivan mahtava!

Jotkut kirjoittavat ja kirjoittavat, ja sitten kirjoittavat saman uudestaan. Mikään ei ikinä riitä. 

Jotkut antavat ystäviensä lukea tekeleitään heti, kun yksi kappale on valmis, toiset taas eivät koskaan näytä töitään muille. 

Useimmat meistä kokevat laajan skaalan tunteita kirjoittamisesta. Minä rakastan, vihaan, pidän ja halveksun omia raapustuksiani. Joskus tunnen tätä kaikkea samaan aikaan. Se voi olla hyvin turhauttavaa, mutta loppujen lopuksi, kun saan aikaiseksi jotain, mitä en halua pyyhkiä, se on kaiken arvoista. 

London

We took an early bus from Torquay to London on Thursday, after spending two nights in the Riviera. I had blisters all over my feet (ugh) and was a little worried how the rest of the vacation was going to turn out. I was still walking, though, so that was good :D 

After a quick lunch we took the subway (or the tube, as the English call it) to Paddington, where we stayed at the Easyhotel. (a quick word about easyhotel: this was my first and last time there. You'd think that something like free wifi, TV, and cleaning the hotel room is included in the price, but it's not. They charge you extra for everything. Make sure to learn your facts before you book a hotel; I admit, we didn't do much research. Still, am I crazy to think this way?!)

Paddington is a great place to stay in. I've actually never stayed there before, Victoria has always been my go-to place. So here I have two places in London to warmly recommend: Paddington and Victoria. Both are full of hotels, amenities and within an easy and quick access to everywhere via buses and the subway. 

Torstaiaamuna otimme aikaisen bussin Torquaysta Lontooseen. Jalkani olivat täynnä rakkuloita (yäk) ja vähän huolin, miten loppuloma tulisi menemään. Mutta sentään kävelin, joten se oli hyvä :D 

Pikaisen lounaan jälkeen matkustimme metrolla Paddingtoniin, missä asustelimme Easyhotellissa. (pikainen sananen easyhotellista tähän väliin: oli muuten eka ja vika kerta siellä. Luulisi että ilmainen wifi, TV ja huoneen siivous kuuluisivat hintaan, mutta ei. Kaikesta veloitetaan ekstraa. Muista varmistaa tällaiset asiat hotellivarausta tehdessäsi. Myönnän, että tässä menimme vikaan. Silti, olenko väärässä tässä?! Typerää mielestäni)

Paddington on loistava paikka asua. Tämä oli itseasiassa ensimmäinen kertani siellä, yleensä olen asustellut Victorialla. Joten tässä on kaksi paikkaa mitä voin lämpimästi suositella Lontoossa: Paddington ja Victoria. Molemmat alueet ovat täynnä hotelleja, kauppoja, ravintoloita yms. ja molemmista pääsee helposti kaikkialle bussilla tai metrolla. 

It was great being in London without the pressure of seeing all the tourist sights. We'd already seen the most. There was still plenty to see, like the market in Portobello Road, Notting Hill. We stopped at the Hummingbird Bakery for some delicious cupcakes (carrot and red velvet) and enjoyed the beautiful day. From Notting Hill we headed to Westminster and walked by Thames. Our plan was to locate a certain café, that sold the most amazing chocolate cake... ten years ago. Needless to say, the café wasn't there anymore, but we did get to recreate a picture of us! :)

Oli ihanaa olla Lontoossa ilman mitään paineita turistinähtävyyksistä. Suurin osa kun on tullut jo nähtyä. Silti, Lontoossa on aina nähtävää, niin kuin esim. Portobello Roadin markkinat Notting Hillissä. Pysähdyttiin Hummingbird Bakerylla ostamaan herkulliset cupcaket (porkkana ja red velvet) ja nautimme kauniista päivästä. Notting Hillistä suuntasimme Westminsteriin ja kävelimme Thamesin varrella. Suunnitelmana oli löytää eräs kahvila, josta sai maailman parasta suklaakakkua... kymmenen vuotta sitten. Ei tarvinne mainita, että sitä kahvilaa ei enää ollut, mutta saimme sentään otettua erään valokuvan uudestaan! :)

London was as amazing as always. It would truly be awesome to actually live there. I enjoy the big city vibe, riding the subway, always having something to do and see... I know the novelty would eventually wear off, but still. I just love London, there's no way around it! 

We sat in pubs, met up with some friends, toured, shopped... really had a great trip. So if you ever have a chance, go there. Maybe I'll run into you :) because I'm planning on going back asap!

Lontoo oli yhtä mahtava kuin ennenkin. Olisi oikeasti niin ihanaa asua siellä. Rakastan sitä suurkaupungin fiilistä, metrolla matkustamista, sitä että aina on jotain tehtävää ja nähtävää... Tiedän, että se viehätys kuluisi jossain vaiheessa, mutta silti. Rakastan Lontoota, siitä ei päästä mihinkään!

Istuskelimme pubeissa, nähtiin kavereita, kierreltiin, shoppailtiin... meillä tosiaan oli hyvä reissu. Joten jos sinulla on mahdollisuus, käy Lontoossa. Ehkä törmäillään :) koska haluan takaisin mahdollisimman pian!

 

Where I've Been

Sooo.. You may or may not have noticed I've stayed away from the blogging world for a while now. 19 days to be exact. 

In case you're wondering, I've done so intentionally. Not that I had too many brilliant ideas for upcoming posts, but my lack of motivation did strike at a good time for once. To be honest, I grew a little tired of blogging, because I felt like nothing was happening. Let's face it; where's the fun when no one reads your blog or writes their own? 

I hate to rant, so I'll just leave it at that, and tell you what I've been up to in the past few weeks. 

Nothing too significant has happened. I know, right? Kinda boring. While not wanting to blog, I didn't really have a reason to, either. I did book bus tickets and hotels with my friend Minna, for our upcoming trip to London! That's always exciting and fun :) Only a little over a month to go! We are super excited and happy about that. 

I've also been visiting friends, went to see an apartment I will be moving in in the fall, have made some plans as to how I will decorate it, I've done some reading and watched a lot of Orange Is The New Black, The Nanny, and Disappeared. I made a little trip to Staples with my mom, to check out what I would need when school starts. I swear, Staples is my heaven. I LOVE office supplies. 

I can't say I've enjoyed summer, because the weather is nothing like summer... it's been very cold and rainy so far, and I can only hope it'll get better by the time my vacation starts, which is July 21st. I'm having a friend over from Germany, and I would love for her to see how lovely Finland can be in the summer :)

This week I've been sick, and spent a few days at my mom's new house in the country side. Even though the weather sucks, she still found wild strawberries from her yard :) so yummy! 

So yeah, that's what's happening. I'm still a little ill, running a little temperature and coughing. I'll return to work this Saturday, though, and can't wait to get back to some kinda routine. Tomorrow I'm getting together with some old co-workers and that ought to be a lot of fun! 

And what comes to my blog's future; I honestly have no idea. I'm sure I won't stop, I just love this too much. I'm excited to share certain things with you, and would love to get back to regular blogging, but right now I can't make any promises. While I love blogging, I also loved not having to stress about it for 19 days. 

If you're reading this, and happen to have good tips on blogging (ideas, how to not give up, etc.), then please leave a comment below. Love you all for reading, and still remaining in my list of followers. It means a lot. 

Hope you're all having a good week so far!

TBT: Our Group of Four

I was thinking about some of my closest friends the other day. Wondering what the heck happened to us. 

Life happened, I guess. 

There were four of us, and we were very close. We knew everything about each other and our girls' nights were legendary. Gosh, I miss those times! 

There was a point when we were all living in different cities, and then closer again. Now one of us is married and living pretty far away. Two of us live within 15 minutes from each other, and one an hour away. I'm still blessed that I get to call them my friends, but as a group we haven't been together in... almost 18 months. It's kinda sad, but like I said: life happened. 

What is friendship? Really? 

To me, it's when friends don't judge each other by their mistakes. When they listen to your problems and do their best to help. If they can't help, listening is enough. It's when they see each other, they can pick up from where they left off the last time. When there's no awkwardness. When they have fights, realizing it started because they care for each other. It's when one look is enough to tell them all they need to know. When their secrets become your secrets. It's group-chatting online. Laughing and crying at the same time. Hiding each other's phones so no one can do anything stupid. Making a complete fool out of yourself knowing that there's nothing that can make them not love you. 

It's the need to see each other after a long time, and the wanting to make that happen. 

When I see them, we continue from where we left off the last time. Sometimes I get a little anxious before seeing someone I haven't seen in a while, afraid that we will run out of things to talk about, afraid that time has erased our friendship. But that doesn't happen with real friends. I may not have a lot of people in my life that I get to call true, ultimate friends, but the ones I have, are not going anywhere, and I will always be there for them, too. 

I will always miss the times I had with this group, and who knows, maybe one day we will all be reunited and have one more fabulous girls' night. 

SO MUCH TO SAY! Too Much.

I don't talk about my writing that much with my friends. Most of them know I love to write, they know I would love to be a published author, but for some reason it's not a subject that comes up often. I always hear how writers should surround themselves with people who share the same passion, and I too think it's extremely important. But I don't actually mind that my friends don't ask too many questions. When it comes to my writing, I'm very private. I haven't shared the details of my novel with anyone so far, and won't be doing so in a long time. 

But when it comes to talking about writing in general, I could go on and on. 

Which is probably why my friends know to keep their mouths shut ;)

There are a couple of beautiful souls in my life who still ask me how my writing is going on a regular basis. They are the two people I've promised will be the first two to read my novel when it's finished. 

I could not appreciate their interest and input more, even though I can't share too much information. You know who you are, and if you're reading this, I love you for putting up with my endless rambling about writing. I rarely get to do it outside my blog. 

And you, my precious reader, I love you as well. Thank you for sticking up with me. 

Have a beautiful week <3