Shine bright like a Diamond

Just a quick post about this wonderful sunset I captured while out grocery shopping. I'd say its one of the little joys of life, especially in Finnish winter to capture the sun. I at least enjoy it greatly. Hope you guys enjoy it too. 

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream....

Sleep deprivation is a interesting thing. I never knew how much sleep affects you until now that for over 4 months I haven't slept more than 3 hours in a row. It comes with the job I guess but I do admit I wish I could sleep a little more in a row. Maybe after 20 years right? I can understand mom's that get upset and mad, lack of sleep really makes you on edge. Luckily in general I get at least two 3 hour gaps so I can manage.

Unen puute on kyllä mielenkiintoinen juttu. En koskaan oikein tajunnut kuinka paljon unen puute erityisesti vaikuttaa ihmiseen. Mieliala heittelee laidasta laitaan niin helposti. Onneksi kumminkin saan ainakin kaksi kertaa yössä kolmen tunnin putken niin sillä pärjää yllättävän hyvin. 

I made some 鸳鸯虾, good practice for Chinese New Year. Gonna try this year to make a proper Chinese dinner for Panda. We had a relatives Birthday a while ago and I decided to rock out my sequined top and a glittery cardigan. Like I said it feels wonderful to have sometimes a reason to dress up extra special when you are used to just wearing sweatpants and so on.

Kyllä sitä heti huomaa kuinka kaipaa tälläytymistä kun pääsee lähtemään sukulaisten synttäreille niin iskee heti niskaan mahdollisimman paljon kimalteita. ;)

1/18 Nail Challenge - Nude Gold

So I opened up my L.A. Colors ColorBonanza pack and rocked out a nude and white shade. The white nail polish wasn't really even so I thought I'd put one of the glittery nail polishes on, but the one I chose didn't look good.  In the end I chose to use one of my old favorites that never lets me down. This is what I ended up with. I had much longer nails but a few of them cracked, too much play I guess, so I had to make them all short. I really hope they grow back quickly. Oh yeah these L.A. Colors don't have any name on the bottle or pack so no idea what to call them.

Noniin avasin mun uuden L.A. Colors ColorBonanza paketin. Päätin ensimmäiseksi kokeilla nudea ja valkoista väriä. Valkoinen sävy oli ei oikein levittynyt kunnolla joten päätin pistää päälle yhden monesta glitter lakasta mitä tuli mukana mutta valitsemani sävy ei oikein näyttänyt hyvältä niin päätin korjata lakan mun luotto kultahile lakalla. Tulipa hassu lause, pahoittelut mun lukihäiriö taitaa paistaa läpi. Jouduin leikkamaan mun kynnet todella lyhyiksi kun pari lohkesi niin pahasti, toivottavasti saan taas kasvatettua mukavan pitkät kynnet. Niin ja näissä L.A. Colors lakoissa ei ole mitään nimeä pullossa tai pakkauksessa joten ei mitään hajua miksikä kutsua näitä.

 ORLY - Too Fab

L.A. Colors (Nude and white shade)

A gift for me

Just stopping by the quickly post these lovely thing I got (also complain that its snowing and I can't go out for a walk even though I need to workout for the wedding). I wanted to get something from Victoria's Secret even though there is no point in buying a bra now, so I got some makeup bags so I can organize my purse even better. I also got 18 new nail polishes!! I'm in heaven. Can't wait to try them out, I'm almost tempted to pain each nail in a different color. There are 11 solid colors and 7 glittery ones, so I almost could have. So guys you can expect 18 new nail post during this year.

Tämmönen nopea postaus pikku jutuista ja samalla valittaa siitä kuinka sataa lunta enkä viitsi lähteä tarpomaan ulos vaikka pitäisi kuntoilla häitä varten. Mulla on tapana tilailla Victoria's Secretiltä vuosittain uuden rintaliivit mutta nyt ei oikein ole tarvetta niin päätin tilata uudet pussukat jotta voin vähän organisoida käsilaukkua paremmin ettei kaikki pikku tavarat ole sikinsakin. Postista löytyi myös 18 uutta kynsilakkaa lahjaksi jenkkilästä päin ja olen ihan innoissani niistä. Melkein teki mieli lakata jokainen kynsi eri värillä mutta ehkäpä mielummin yksi kerrallaan. :)

Lace

As I spend most of my days at home in relaxed clothes, the few times I do venture out into the world I try to take advantage of it. Though I tend to choose quickly and always wear jeans, but perhaps as the spring starts to come around I'll try out some dresses too. I can't wait to take more pictures outside, now I wouldn't even dare take my jacket off when I'm outside. Its strange how when you were younger you could even run around with out a hat but now I wouldn't even dare. I guess I finally realized how precious my brain is.

Nyt kun ilmeisestä syystä vietän suurimman osan ajastani kotona lökäreissä niin sitä huomaa kuinka paljon enemmän panostaa pukeutumiseen kun lähtee ulos. Tosin yleensä pukeutuminen on salaman nopeaa ja farkut on melkein aina päällä mutta aina on vaikeus valita kun on niin monta vaihtoehtoa. Ehkä kevään tullen saan inspiraation laittaa hameen päälle mutta katellaan miten käy. Olisi muutenkin kiva päästä ulos kuvailemaan varsinkin kun nyt on niin kylmä ulkona etten edes tarkene ottaa takkia pois päältä. On se hassua kun nuorempana juos ulkona ilman hattua mutta nykyään ei edes tulisi mieleen talvi pakkasilla. Kai sitä vaan kasvaa aikuiseksi ja tajuaa kuinka tärkeä se oma pää onkaan. 

I often just choose not to do makeup as I don't have the time and well I really don't mind going without. Though I could use some mascara at least. Though I will admit that I can't wait to do my makeup properly in the near future.

Naama ihan peruslukemilla ilman meikkiä kun ei vaan ole aikaa, vaikka olisi ihan kiva edes ripsiväriä laittaa. Tosin kun oma naama kelpaa ilmankin niin miks ei nyt vaihteeksi. Ootan kyllä että taas voisi meikata kunnolla, mutta siihen menee ehkä vielä hetki.

12 things of 2014, and a big bang

Gosh, it's yet again the time of year that I do my 12 things of the passed year. Well, not really 12 things, just 4 pictures of each month. Choosing just 4 pictures turned out to be such a hard task. Some months I have too many pictures to choose from, then others I don't even have 4 good pics. The past year was amazing, eventful and a tad scary. I'm going to reveal something I haven't yet posted about, which I have been thinking about for a while. Panda and I discussed this and finally I'm ready I guess. The reason I haven't talked about this is simple, privacy. I even kept this out of my personal Facebook page and I don't post anything about it on Instagram, well, not just yet. Panda is a very private person and feels worried about sharing so much online, which I understand perfectly. Yet at the same time I love to share my pictures with the world so we came to an agreement, I can speak about things just leaving out some details which also applies for pictures. That being said lets kick start this throwback to 2014... 

January started off with New Year celebration at my sister's place in Espoo and odd cravings for fresh food and feeling disgusted of Christmas food which was quite unusual for me. I also craved orange juice which made Panda think of a Chinese saying of women craving sour things are pregnant with a son... So Panda suggested we take a pregnancy test and boom our world changed over night. Panda was going to spend that semester in Taiwan so we packed up our home in Vuosaari and I moved back to my childhood home so we could save our money for the new arrival. January went by quite quickly with the packing, me working part time, Panda's farewell party and us working at a Conference. I was there as a photographer, it was so much fun! I was quite sad to give up my new dance hobby but I had to take care of myself and our little arrival. I should give her a name as well, maybe little Panda or Tiger. We used to call her hungry Tiger so I guess that will be her name here on the blog. I won't post her picture here or reveal much more, maybe some pictures of her clothes since they are so adorable. Anyway we will see what happens.

So February rolled around, Panda was in Taiwan and I was in my childhood home. I started cleaning up my old room and closet to make room for our little Tiger and also to check out all the baby clothes my mother and sister had saved. I also spent some time with my sister and her kids and went to see Disney on Ice. I dreamed of the day I would go there with my little Tiger. We also had to postpone our wedding plans which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the place we had reserved had stopped business and never informed us. So we were lucky in a way and found an even better place to have our wedding. Anyway this new year I'll post more about our wedding plans and my new found love for Taobao :) Though our wedding plans were postponed I still ventured to a wedding fair and got some OPI nail polishes.

Most of my months rolled the same way, work and cleaning. Then the end of March rolled around and I went to visit Panda in Taiwan. We spent two weeks driving around the island. I plan to post about this trip this year if I can find some time. Taiwan was such a nice place to visit that I don't think you guys mind reading about it later on. Sometimes I wish I could just be a travel blogger.

So the beginning of April I was still in Taiwan and got my nails done for the first time with gel, which turned out so nice that I did it several times after I returned to Finland. The rest of the month rolled on with work, cleaning, exercise and spending time with my sister and her kids.

The first of May is always a big thing in Finland and I spent it for the first time in Levi. It was nice to see how they spent Vappu there, with a parade of costumes. On Mother's Day I cooked pulled pork for the first time for my mother and we absolutely loved it. She also liked her mother's day breakfast and dessert (mango cheesecake). I had a superbly easy pregnancy and that's why I'm not mentioning much of it. I didn't really notice much hardship and such. Besides, if people are interested, I can write a separate post about it. I also got some good news regarding my master's studies that I will be completing after my maternity leave in a new city ;)

June went on as all others, work cleaning etc. Also some farewell parties for me, new gel nails, spending time at a summer cabin and not being able to fit into my own clothes anymore, a.k.a. no outfit posts. Panda returned from Taiwan and we started grilling a lot outside.

July saw no more work but double the cleaning. I also tried my hand at sowing and made my very own kimono. Me and some friends tried out a diner in Lahti that serves good burgers. We made a quick trip to Tallinn, the last me and Panda trip..

August is when we started getting excited, baby things and waiting for the due date. Last time I got gel nails and then had them removed. Panda's parents came to Finland for the first time and the waiting game began. And oh boy did the little Tiger keep us waiting until the last moment.

I actually have no pictures of September except ones of the little Tiger I won't post. So you get to enjoy these pictures from August. Like they say, the first months go in a haze and feel overwhelming, but at the same time they feel so rewarding and not to mention the amount the new things you learn.

October I finally ventured outside for walks with a baby stroller, and our first trip to Espoo for my sister's kid's Birthday. The little Tiger makes normal things so hard, but at the same time so exciting. I can't say I remember much of this time, like even now I can't tell you what I had for breakfast, but I can remember all the little smiles and toes. This was also the first time we didn't do Halloween, but for a good reason. ;)

Each month is full of new baby things and memories, but very little me time. Sometimes I could manage to do my nails and even bake, but other days I can barely make it to the toilet. It's the small joys of life, you appreciate different things as time goes by.

December was so busy, limited nap time to decorate, shop and so on. I managed though to succeed and finally be sick for Christmas. I guess I should learn to take it easy next year. Gosh it's been a busy year, if only I could sleep a little more. I guess that's the wish of all mothers with little babies. I wouldn't change this for anything though.

ps. It took me several days to finally finish this post and not to mention how many times I had to proof read my own writing. Seems my attention span is really short now and I lose my train of thought mid sentence but hopefully its not too hard to read. :)

Snowflakes

Just realized I never posted what I finally did to the nails I posted about in the beginning of December. I found after some googling a cool thing as a nail stamp and had to immediately order a pack and try it out. I'm quite in love with it now, especially the snowflakes and loved the speedy delivery and extra gifts I got. Can't wait to try out some more cool designs later on. If I ever have time haha, I guess I should post why I'm so busy lately since I write about it all the time. I think perhaps the new year would be a good time to reveal it. Let's see.

OPI - Bogota Blackberry

OPI - Snow Globetrotter

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Konad Stamping Nail Art Christmas Set

Konad Plate M59 (Snowflakes)