About 100 Happy Days

On April I took part in the 100 Happy Days challenge and yesterday, on the 24th of July, my 100 days were full. 

The idea of the challenge is to pick your platform and post a picture of something that makes you happy every day for 100 days. It can be anything; food, friends, places, books, etc. If it makes you happy, post it and share it with everyone! I am happy to report that I succeeded in this and as far as I know I never skipped a day. I posted my pictures on Instagram (@grasshopper89) and also shared some of my thoughts here on my blog. You can find them under the tag 100 Happy Days. 

I'm proud of myself for doing this. It wasn't always easy, but I did it, and this certainly reminded me that no matter how awful my day was, there was always something good in it. This challenge made me look for those things. Some days were easier than others. But every day I was happy about something. Not all day every day, but every day. I encourage you all to take part in this, because I really feel it has made a positive difference in the way I see things. 

Huhtikuussa osallistuin 100 Happy Days -haasteeseen, ja eilen, 24. heinäkuuta, minun 100 päivääni tulivat täyteen.

Ideana on valita jokin sosiaalisen median sivusto, ja julkaista kyseisellä sivulla joka päivä kuva jostain, mikä tekee sinut onnelliseksi, ja jatkaa tätä 100 päivän ajan. Se voi olla mitä vain; ruokaa, ystäviä, paikkoja, kirjoja tms. Jos se tekee sinut onnelliseksi, postaa se ja jaa muiden kanssa! Olen erittäin iloinen voidessani kertoa, että onnistuin haasteessa ja ainakaan omien tietojen mukaan yksikään päivä ei jäänyt välistä. Julkaisin kuvani Instagramissa (@grasshopper89), ja jaoin myös joitakin ajatuksiani täällä blogissa. Kyseiset kirjoitukset löytyvät 100 Happy Days -tagin alta. 

Olen ylpeä itsestäni ja siitä että onnistuin. Se ei aina ollut helppoa, mutta tein sen, ja tämä tosiaan muistutti minua, että olipa päiväni kuinka huono tahansa, siinä oli aina jotain hyvääkin. Tämä haaste pakotti minut etsimään noita asioita. Jotkut päivät olivat helpompia kuin toiset. Mutta joka päivä olin onnellinen jostain. En koko päivää joka päivä, mutta joka päivä. Haastankin nyt teidät kaikki ottamaan osaa tähän, koska ainakin itsessäni näen erittäin positiivisen muutoksen. 

You can find more information HERE.

Happy May

Holla!

It's officially time to say goodbye to April and welcome May! I'm more excited than usual about the beginning of a new month, because I feel April was a little... blah. I guess my expectations were too high. Oh well. Life goes on :)

What happened in April? Um...

*My GoDoFly -story came out

*I took part in two separate entrance exams for two different schools

*I think I complained how nothing's happening

What is going to happen in May?

*I have absolutely no idea. 

Anyways, the theme for this month is

Happy May

This month I want to pursue happiness, I want to share tips on how to be happier, and I want to share my 100 Happy Days challenge with you. You can read more about that here and here. So far I've done well, I think, and I have not missed a day! :) I'm sharing pictures of small things and big things that make me happy every day on Instagram and during this month I will be sharing more here, too. 

I hope you will all have a wonderful weekend! <3

April Favorites

Am I the only one who's had a slow month? As in nothing happened -kinda month? It's a bit of a challenge to build a monthly favorites- post with what I've got, but I'll do my best :) can't wait for May!

Fashion, Make-up & Beauty

This hand lotion is by far my favorite. The scent is delicate and this leaves your hands very soft! Dermosil is one of my favorite brands and I use a lot of their products; self-tanning face lotion, powder, eye brow pen, lipgloss and lip liner. 

Music

Phillip Phillis - Gone Gone Gone

Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne -  Rather Be

Movies & TV

I went to see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with my brother and I gotta tell you... it was an amazing movie. I'm a total super hero nerd, I love Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Avengers... This movie just blew my mind and totally made me cry at the end. I won't spoil anything, just letting you know I cried. I wish the third movie wouldn't take two more years!

When I was a little kid I watched The Nanny every Friday night on TV, and now that it's on Netflix, I've been refreshing some of my childhood memories. Yup, it's still funny! :D 

Reading

I mentioned earlier that I started reading Lauren Oliver's Panic. Here's a picture of me reading it in the cutest company! My baby fell asleep next to me and I just had to appreciate the moment by snapping this picture. And yes, the book is excellent. 

Social Media

Again, Instagram. I lost 90 followers when IG fixed the bug, but I've regained the lost ones and even more. Thanks for the follow all of you! :) I love Instagram and update it every day, so if it gets quiet on the blog front, make sure to check out my IG if you're interested in knowing what I've been up to! :)

Thanks for reading, folks! :) Hope you will all have a fabulous week! <3

February Favorites

A little late with the favorites, but better late than never, right? :) 

Let's get started!

MAKE UP & BEAUTY

Haha, don't mind my reddish eyes. This picture was taken soon after waking up. My absolute favorites for February are my eye lash extensions, which I already talked about on this post, and the Garnier BB-cream that I bought on sale. It smooths the skin and corrects little faults; I don't think it's as efficient as a foundation would be, but I feel it's more gentle and light as it also serves as a moisturizer. 

MOVIES & TV

Besides my regular shows, I also started watching 30 Rock on Netflix. I watched the show when it first aired years ago, but then stopped, who knows why… Anyway, brilliant cast, brilliant writing. Such great entertainment! 

My mom told me Under the Dome the TV-show is nothing like the book, and now I'm just compelled to read the book, even though it's a freaking brick (do you guys use that expression on big, heavy books? We do lol!)

Anyways, I still loved the show and ended up watching the entire first season within a few days. Can't wait for the second season! If you guys have been watching this, too, what do you think??

MUSIC

Lucy Hale - You Sound Good To Me

Taylor Swift -  Our Song

It was all about country music last month! My fav genre :)

TRAVELING

I went to Germany for a few days! Read more about my trip here. <3

SOCIAL MEDIA

I hit 200 followers on Instagram! Yaaaaayyy! Go follow me :) Instagram is becoming my favorite social media site; I love the simplicity of it. Link me your Instagram-site and I will go check them out!

Somewhat shorter favorites-list this time, but oh well, hope you enjoyed it anyway!

I will get back to y'all later! Thanks for reading! 

January Favorites

Hollaa!
Another new thing that I'm going to be doing in my blog, is monthly favorites. Monthly this, monthly that… This is something I've noticed a lot of YouTubers do, and since making videos didn't exactly work out so well for me (I'm not saying I'll never do them again, but I think I'm better at writing) I decided to present my monthly favorites to you in the written form with pictures. From now on I will be posting my favs either in the end of each month or in the beginning of the next. Yay!

JANUARY 

Make-up & Beauty

I am absolutely in love with Covergirl's Lashblast Fusion Mascara. I hadn't used it in a long while, because unfortunately Covergirl isn't sold in Finland, but my December trip to Florida fixed this problem and I stocked up on this! It stays on very well and leaves my lashes looking full and longer.

This primer by Dermosil leaves the skin so soft and silky feeling, and it doesn't create that stuffy feeling, like you have too much stuff on your face. Love it!!!

My toiletry bag from Victoria's Secret has proven to be extremely handy and useful! Not to mention it's so pretty :P

Other things from Victoria's Secret have quickly become my go-to products; especially the Mango Temptation. I love VS's fragrance mists, because they don't have that strong perfume smell, they smell fresh and I use them every chance I get. 

Movies & TV

Chick flicks that never get old…

I watched Frasier when I was a kid, because I was a weird kid who liked witty comedies, but last year I started watching the show again on Netflix and finished it last month. Hands down, one of the best TV shows e-v-e-r!

Music

Books

I read this book last month and now I can't wait for the movie version! I really hope they won't mess it up. This book is about a terminally ill teenager Hazel, and her first love, Augustus. The story is tragic and beautiful and I think the author depicts everything in a real and honest way. Make sure to get your own copy and read this! :)

Food

I've been more into cooking from scratch lately. For those of you who don't know, I'm a cook by trade, and I'm maybe the worst ever. Cooking at home has never been a passion of mine… cooking in general has never been a passion of mine, so for me to actually buy fresh ingredients, prepare them and make myself a nice home-cooked meal is kind of a big thing. Also, I sort of fell in love with tea. I don't really drink hot beverages, but when the weather's really cold, I do enjoy a few cups of tea and just relax on the couch under a blanket. Heaven<3

Social Media

I am becoming more and more addicted to Instagram. And seriously, who doesn't want to wake up and see that when you log in?! Made my morning. Awesomeness, right there. 

So what do you guys think of the Monthly Favorites as a continuing thing for my blog? Yay or Nay? Let me know! :) And link me your monthly favorites if you're doing them, I would love to read/watch them!

xxo

iira

Out with the old, in with the new!

Hiiiiiiiiii!

Peeps, it's January 1st, 2014. For an hour and a half more at least, here in Finland. I feel sort of disoriented and confused at the moment; I returned from my vacation yesterday, and am jet lagged + I caught a flu on our way back. It's surreal to think that two days ago I was in Miami, and now I'm here. Two days ago I was in warm and humid Florida, and now I'm in cold and dark Finland. Well, at least there's zero snow here, which was a pleasant welcoming gift :)

I will do a separate post about my vacation in the near future, once I get my head straight and pics uploaded. Now, since every other blogger in the world is doing so, I want to talk about 2013. I won't make an extensive post about every single detail of the past year, but will share some highlights with you! With that being said, let's get started!

2013:

*My dear friend from Germany visited me in Finland
*I visited her in Germany

*After promoting my blog on Instagram, I was invited to join Glipho and blog there, too. This was a major turning point and gave me a whole new perspective! Thank you, Glipho Team!

*I worked through the entire summer, which wasn't exactly ideal, but for a good cause ;)

*Despite working a lot, I got to spend a lot of time with friends

*I became more and more passionate about writing and working on my novel

*I made some new friends

*Some of my best friends moved abroad; again, not a highlight, but they're happy and that's what matters!

*I traveled to Florida. Here's a little sneak peek:

I managed to snap this awesome photo while in downtown Tampa. The lighting was just perfect!

Now I'm starting a new year. I never make any resolutions. I just hope things will look up and something exciting will happen. I'm fortunate to have experienced a lot in my life, but it has left me thirsting for more. So, I hope 2014 will bring something amazing to me, and to all of you. Make it your year<3

Here's an inspirational song I wanted to share before signing off. I will get back to you guys later! :)

Indian Summer

This year we have been enjoying an unusually warm weather for this season (I'm sorry if I'm boring you out with my constant weather babbling! I kind of annoy myself, too, but I'm a Finn, and weather is a constant topic here.) It's supposed to start cooling down soon, though. It feels weird being able to walk around in tees and ballerinas when we're half way through September already.

Today was probably one of the last remaining warm days, and I got to enjoy it with a couple of friends after work.

Just a quick reminder: I can be found on Instagram as well, my username is grasshopper89 :)

It gets chilly almost right after the sunset. Almost time for the new clothes ;) I found a cute scarf today that I think I'll buy the next time. Why didn't I buy it today? It's blue with white start... or white with red stars. I think I'll go with the blue one.. feeding my americanflagobsession. American by heart<3

How's your weekend going? :)

here comes the sun

We don't have leaves on the trees, but other than that, spring is here! About time!! Today was the first warm warm day, and for us, it means the temp was around 68°F in the sun. And I was working, of course! But I will have the next two days off, and I'm hoping to have a little me-time. I noticed I've been feeling a little down lately, due to stress and some uncleared business, but I know that when I just get to reset, I'll be fine :)

My plans for tomorrow and Wednesday include cleaning, writing, reading, cooking, redecorating my apartment a little for the summer, maybe drawing if I find my pencils, and watching a couple of movies. Oh, and doing a ton of laundry. Doesn't really sound like relaxing, right? Well, it can be. Basically, anything but going to work can be relaxing ;) I'm actually really looking forward to getting started! What's gone into me? I used to loath the idea of cleaning on my day off, but now I can't wait. I must be turning into my mother..

Well, I've had a long day, and it's almost time to turn in. But first I want to share a photo with you, that I took today on my way home from work.

The day light increases every day and this is how our 11pm looks like now :) I can't wait to have those 19 hours of daylight again. Summer is such a short season in Finland, and even though I'm aching to move away from here, I always picture myself coming back for the summers. They're pure magic.

Take care :)

-i

the spring is late

Hey y'all :)

I am dealing with a serious writer's block right now... that's my only reason for the lack of posts now. Also, I feel like I'm running out of ideas. "Already?!", you may think.. Well, I've been blogging for 2,5 years, so yeah :) Feel free to give me any ideas! Otherwise, I will post here asap... when I have a topic. I could start alphabet -posts? I did it in my old blog, Pandemonium, and it was fun. 

Well, anyhoo.. Oh, if you wanna find me on Instagram, my username is grasshopper89.

Any other Instagram-holics over there? I have to admit that it's got me totally hooked. At first I started out kinda slowly, but once I got the hang of it and started gaining followers, it turned out to be great fun. And it's so simple!! Just post pictures! It's amazing how one picture can capture so much. So in love with IG! Join, if you haven't already ;)

I have had a loooong day, and am about to start enjoying a little alone-time for the first time today. A free night, and I don't even have to get up early tomorrow. Evening shift at work! On Friday I'm off again, and hoping to get a hair cut. If that happens, then I'll definitely have something to write about on Friday ;) Yay! 

Can you believe it's May already?!

xxo,

iira