I moved!

Guuuuyyss, it has been a crazy week! Sorry for being so quiet on the blog, but let me tell ya... moving sucks. Even if you're moving to a brand new, renovated apartment, it sucks. It really takes everything out of you, and it's known to be one of the most stressful things in a person's life. 

My moving process wasn't the easiest; at first I heard I wasn't going to have running water until October 6th (my moving day was October 1st). Well, my dad lives in the same building, so I can shower at his place and all. Fine. Then, the workers didn't finish my apartment on time, because someone forgot to tell them I was moving in despite the water issue. So after leaving my old apartment I spent the first night at my mom's, and the second at my brother's. Yesterday I finally moved in, even though there's no water and I can't really use my kitchen. But sleeping in my own bed is the best thing<3 And Monday is already so close, I'll have water and then my apartment is completely finished. And I can start unpacking. 

I hope you all have had a better week, a less stressful one at least. Today wasn't too bad, I got to go to IKEA with my mom ;) got a lot of nice (and necessary) things and I still have to order a home delivery for a couch and possibly a burrow. 

Any interest in seeing a home tour once it's finished? :)

Kaiken saakelinmoisen sekoilun jälkeen pääsin vihdoin muuttamaan. Juoksevaa vettä ei ole, mutta onneksi iskä asuu samassa rakennuksessa ja pääsen sen luo suihkuun ym. Muutto on kyllä yksi stressaavimmista asioista ikinä, ja on ollut rehellisesti sanottuna aika kamalaa :D vaikka onkin uusi ja vastaremontoitu asunto. 

Nojaa.. kyllä tää tästä. Kiinnostaako nähdä asunto kuvina kun on valmista? :)

End of Summer

I'm sitting on my couch, eating Finnish strawberries. They are probably the last ones of this summer. Year after year I find this moment very bittersweet. The strawberries are so delicious, but fall is inevitably on its way, and I know I won't be eating these for another year. I have probably raved about Finnish strawberries before, but in case you've forgotten: they're the best in the world. Because the summers are so full of light and it doesn't get dark at all, the ground/soil keeps producing sugar even at night, and that makes the strawberries extra sweet and full of flavor. 

It somehow marks the end of summer here, when you can't find strawberries anymore. I was surprised to find these. 

Despite of missing summer already, when it hasn't even completely ended, I am really looking forward to the fall. I'm starting school on September 1st and I'll be moving to a new apartment on October 1st. A lot of new things happening here! This Friday I will be going shopping for school supplies; I've always loved doing that, ever since I was a little girl. That was my favorite thing to do before going back to school. Can't wait!

Istuskelen tässä sohvallani ja syön suomalaisia mansikoita. Varmaan tämän kesän viimeiset. Vuosi vuodelta tämä hetki tuntuu aina katkeransuloiselta. Mansikat ovat niin herkullisia, mutta syksy on väistämättä tulossa, ja tiedän, etten saa mansikoita taas vuoteen. Olen varmasti ylistänyt suomalaisia mansikoita täällä ennenkin (ja te suomalaiset lukijani kyllä tiedätte, että ne ovat ylistämisen arvoisia), mutta jos olette unohtaneet: ne ovat maailman parhaita. Jotenkin se merkkaa kesän lopun, kun mansikoita ei enää löydä kaupoista. Yllätyinkin kun löysin nämä. 

Vaikka ikävöin jo kesää, eikä se ole edes kunnolla päättynyt, myös todella odotan syksyä. Aloitan koulun syyskuun ensimmäisenä päivänä ja muutan uuteen asuntoon lokakuun ensimmäisenä. Paljon uusia juttuja! Nyt perjantaina lähden ostelemaan koulutarvikkeita; olen aina rakastanut sitä, pikkutytöstä lähtien. Se oli lempiasiani aina ennen kouluun paluuta. En jaksaisi odottaa! 

My future apartment will undergo a total renovation before I move in. Can't wait to show you guys the after-photos!

Tuleva asuntoni remontoidaan täysin ennen muuttoani. En malta odottaa, että saan näyttää teille jälkeen-kuvat!

TBT: Home Sweet Home

Hello, lovelies!

Today has been a very emotional day. More so than I expected.

This spring my mother has been renovating her late grandmother's old house, and today she moved in. Today I said goodbye to my childhood home. 

It was weird seeing the house so empty, when just a little while ago it was full of stuff, and full of life. I have so many wonderful memories from there, and those will never go away, of course, but still it was very sad to leave. Even though I haven't lived there in five years, my mom has, and the house was always there for me and my brother to go back to when we felt lonely and wanted company. 

I lived there for 19,5 years. My mother lived there for almost 25 years. When we were kids, my mom attached glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceilings in the bedrooms, and when the lights went out, we fell asleep under those stars. I could go on and on about my happy childhood memories, but you get the picture, right? I'm very blessed to have had such a great childhood and a happy home, and I don't take those things for granted. 

My mom felt it was time to move on, and seeing her so happy and content now makes me feel happy, too. The old home was our home, and her current house is her home. It's time for another family to make memories in the old home. 

The new house has apple trees on the yard, that are in full bloom now. I'll go steal some apples in the fall. 

Now we have another home to go to :) I can't wait to make new memories there!

Things That I Don't Want To Do

Here are some things that I don't have time to do don't want to do. Because I don't care.

1.

 Make my bed. 

Why would I make my bed in the morning when it gets messed up again at night when I go to sleep? WHY? Unless someone who's not that close a friend of mine is coming over, I never make my bed. Ever. My close friends don't care if my bed is made. They freaking jump on it, so why bother?

2.

Brush my hair daily.

Um, no. Basically I only brush my hair on my days off (not always) and when I'm going some place other than work. On work days I just gather my hair up on a bun, because at work I have to wear a stupid hat. After taking that hat off, no matter how nicely I've put my hair, it's flat and ugly. No point in wasting precious minutes every morning trying to make my hair look nice. 

3.

Watch stuff on TV.

YeahNO. Why not? Commercials. Timing. BLAH! I'd rather watch my shows online or on Netflix, or a recording at a time that is good for me and I can just fast forward the commercials. 

4.

Use the library.

Now, I LOVE books. But I don't have time to make a gazillion trips to the library to browse books, take them home and then return them. I'd rather take one trip to a bookstore, a.k.a my heaven, and buy what I want to read.

5. 

Redo my make-up.

Other than reapplying powder and occasionally filling my eyebrows again, I never redo my make-up. I hate putting on make-up, but I'm one of those unfortunate people who look horrible without make-up. I look for easy solutions, and can't wait to go get eye lash extensions again in a couple of weeks, so that I won't have to waste a half an hour every morning to do my eyes.

6. Dress up on my day(s) off.
I know that some people feel lazy and even depressed if they don't put on their every-day regular clothes. Spending the day in PJ's is out of the question. Not for me. I'm perfectly comfortable wearing my sweats or PJ's at home if I'm not planning on going anywhere. I can do the same stuff at home no matter what I wear. And whenever I come home from work, my jeans are the first ones to go!

7. Do the dishes before I go to bed.
Seriously, I have no problem at all going to sleep with my sink full of dirty dishes. I'll do them when I do them!

This is how I choose to rebel.
Feel free to share your wild ways ;)

Updates on yours truly + plans for the rest of the year!

Hello, everyone. Another week has gone by and I have been swamped! Besides my job, I've been doing a lot of work at home; I got my new bed delivered and since the bed is a lot bigger than my old one, and I live in a studio apartment, I needed to improvise. I'm getting rid of one of my junk drawers, and now I have to figure out where to place all the junk. Right now it's all laid on my coffee table. I had to move all my furniture except for my couch and TV stand, and I'm very happy with the result. I still have way too much stuff, and I'm planning a major cleaning process starting in January. I wish I didn't hate cleaning so much...

The reason I'm not starting until next year, is that from now until December 18th I will be working a lot, and on December 19th I'm traveling to the States! Finally time for my summer vacation! ;) I am beyond excited and we have so much fun things planned! I will definitely take a lot of pictures and share my vacation with you guys, and I will also do some filming! Yay:) Talking about filming, sorry for the lack of videos since my very first one.. I'm not even going to explain what happened when I filmed a new video, so yeah, it will be a little while until I have something new for you! 

Getting a new bed and having to move stuff around the apartment has a lot of perks to it. Not only do I have a fabulous new bed (it really is amazing. I'm so happy I want to cry), and a new look to my place all together, but also a new, more inspiring environment. I feel like lately I've been lacking some inspiration... Writing hasn't come so easily, but I've been working on my stories in my head, which (as you may have read on this blog before) can sometimes be very exhausting mentally. I'm so bad at taking notes, and I lost a few nights worth of sleep because I had way too much stuff to think about. So for now, I'm taking a conscious break from working on my novel, and just focusing on other things. I will still write every day, but I am not exaggerating when I say I'm in serious need of a vacation. Three more weeks, you guys...

Do share, if the mental exhaustion sometimes gets you, too. And please let me know, if you have any tips! Hope y'all are having a good week so far! :)

-iira

A little repair and renovation

Hello, my lovely readers :)

Sorry for being MIA for so long. I won't make any excuses, but I do want to let you know that I have been extremely busy lately. Work, work, work (and yet, I'm always broke -something doesn't add up, right?!)

I've had a lot on my plate, and I realized that for my own good, I would have to get rid of some things. Some time ago I was presented an exciting job opportunity, and had I gotten the job, I would have left Finland in the fall. The ultimate dream of mine (besides making it as a writer): working abroad. BUT, I decided not to apply this year. It was just too fast; I didn't want to figure out my entire life in just a few months. So I'm giving myself a year and have another look at the job next year :) I feel very good about my decision and a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I've also been dealing with some ear-related health issues for a while now, and until I have that all figured out, I don't want any other major twists in my life. 

Writing was also one of the reasons I decided to stay. My job abroad would have been very hectic and I knew I wouldn't get any writing done in a long time. Right now I'm feeling like I've made some real progress with my novel, and I'm not ready to give all that up just yet :)

So after deciding to stay put for another year, I took a hard look on my apartment. When I first moved to live on my own four years ago, I had almost everything ready. The only major purchase back then was a dining table + chairs. I got everything else from mom, dad and other people. Had to do some little basic shopping, but the point is, I never really got to decorate. I had some vision of the colors I wanted, and mostly I got what I wanted, so I was happy. But now I was ready for a change. So I went to IKEA and shopped. 

I'm sorry I don't have the 'before' shot. But the colors in my apartment changed from brown-pink to white-blue-red. It's so much more brighter and fresher now. I got the expedict-shelf from IKEA, also the turquoise baskets in it, and the picture frames used to be pink. I used to have a dark brown carpet and I am in love with the new white one! I have no idea how long it will stay white, but it's certainly inspiring me to be more neat ;)

My couch is also dark brown, and since couches are expensive, I just bought a blue cover for it and some pillows to add more color :) The cover doesn't reach over the entire couch, since it's pretty big, but it does the job! 

Redecorating a studio apartment is not that expensive in the end :) I'm very happy with the result and just love spending time home! It's so worth to making your place feel like home. Also makes for a better learning/studying/writing environment! 

I am enjoying summer to the fullest, even though the heat makes my apartment feel like a sauna. I'm a Finn, and don't like sauna, weird? 

Hope you all had a great weekend! :)

-iira