Paris, mon amour!

So here I am! In the city of lights, love and history, endless boulevards, cafés and revolution! Oh, it feels like a homecoming, this is my 3rd time in the same little hotel in the 4th arrondissement, Marais, my favourite area! Words cannot describe the feeling when the escalator takes me up from the metro St. Paul, how the first thing I see is the blue sky, then the small chimneys, the carousel, the people, the many bikes parked in the fences, the tabac store, the magazine stand where a fiery debate is going on, cars, traffic, the good fuss, everything!!

The flight was really early, so I just dropped my luggage to the reseption, and hurried across the block to a really good sushi place for lunch. Then walked around a little bit, checked-in to my room, unpacked, got some flowers from a flowershop downstairs to make the room even prettier, had some champagne, naturalmente, and walked my way via MAC-cosmetics to Place des Vosges to Bastille, where a famous arts and crafts-market happens every Saturday.

Continued to walk along the Seine, had a delicious 3-cheese-salad for dinner in a bistro, picked up a tea-to-go from the café next door, and am totally ready for bed now! The alarm went on at 4.50 in the morning, so I'm beat, really! Sweet husband, whom I miss already terribly, drove me to the airport, which was the chivalriest thing to do! He is a gem, truly, my love!!

Tomorrow I intend to wake up early anyhow, because I'm heading to a flea market in Port de Vanves down South. I'll take a bus, which is always nicer than the metro. Who knows what I'm going to find from a Parisian marché aux puces! Even got a wish list from my sister, so I'm on a mission my friends! I'll report to you for sure how the day went by! Now good night everybody, I'm falling asleep right this min.... zzzzzz...

Sunshine & Old Friend!

Today has been such a nice day: constant sunshine and meeting a dear old friend!
Bloody cold though, it's still around -10 degrees with the famous Helsinki wind, so not too springy yet, but the sun is shining so bright it makes up for the temperature!

We met in Café Villipuutarha! So lovely! We studied together, she's an excellent cellist, and we had so much fun whatever it was we were up to! Since then work has taken us apart but once we sat down today it was like picking up where we left off! This is the best kind of friendship there is! Plus excellent cups of tea, coffee and a salad! Thank you my dear!!

Now it's time to start thinking sleepy thoughts, I have an early plane to catch so next time I'll be posting from Paris... Bonne nuit, mes amours!

Morning Tea!

Good Morning my Dears!
It's a beautiful morning here in Töölö, sun is shining and birds are singing, and I've been up for sometime already! Spring does this to me every year: I start waking up with the sun. I don't mind that, especially now when there's no hurry!
I'm on my second cup of strong Assam tea with honey, reading the paper and thinking about today's schedule.
Love it!
Let's have a fabulous day everyone!

Crazy Tuesday!

This morning was not at all one of my best. I was in a terrible hurry, forgot my keys, ran up the stairs, woke up the poor husband with a doorbell, accidentally knocked over our beautiful Tiffany-lamp (which didn't brake, fortunately), didn't find the keys so rushed out again, realised I'd forgotten my lunch so back upstairs again, rang the doorbell, husband stairing at my crazy tantrum in the hallway, found the keys, got the lunch, finally ran out, and still catched the tram. I couldn't believe it. Usually this happens on Mondays, occasionally, of course...
The day went by ok, and when I came home, there was dinner waiting for me! I got tears in my eyes, it was the sweetest thing! Felt like I didn't deserve that, at all! Oh thank heavens for all our loved ones who understand us no matter what. Whether they're your best friend, your partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, Mom, Dad, daughter, son, whomever. They are a treasure, and we are so lucky to have them in our lives. Pure and simple.

Afterwards I went for a walk outside, it was still sunny, everything was really pretty, and came back home with the ingredients for the muddiest mudcake ever, which he loves so much! Am going to make it perfect and kiss him good when he comes back from work!

I hope your day was a bit more calm than mine! Happy thoughts, everyone!!

Here's a few pictures I took while out, nice things, window shopping, pretty decorations, all things nice and good!

Exclusive: Play it again, Sam

My series of second-hands continues with a true legend and the epitome of vintage here in Helsinki: Play it again, Sam.
This boutique is beyond all dreams, you have to experience it, and it's just impossible not to fall in love with it!
This is not just a boutique, it represents a whole era of time, attitude and beauty, grace, poise and style. All items, whether being a beautiful dress, a pair of shoes, jewellery or girdle, have been selected with an impeccable taste and thought.
The person and the soul behind all this is the Lady of Vintage herself, Arja Könönen, whose personality lights up every corner of the beautiful shop! She's had the boutique for 25 years, and has watched us Finns find and grow into the beauty of old fashion. She was ahead of us all but had the patience, and now this shop is a legend, and is listed where ever the word Vintage is printed from travel guides to magazines, articles and books.
I'm sure all of you know this place, but I think it needs a chapter of its own, truly. Go and get a glimpse of glamour! That's what we need every now and then!!

Rauhankatu 2, Kruununhaka

A romantic dinner at Muru!

Yesterday my sweet husband took me out for a wonderful dinner! I got to choose the place which was such a beautiful little restaurant in Fredrikinkatu, Restaurant Muru! I love the name! It fits so well for a romantic evening! But it sure is popular! It was pure luck that we managed to get a table due to a cancellation, otherwise the weekends were full until May!! Good for them, and truly it is no wonder, the food was just heavenly!!

We took the 4-course menu with delicious cheeses after the main course, oooh, beautiful!! Husband had helmikana (guinea fowl) and kateenkorva (thymus), and I had made (burbot). The starter was an artichoke soup with white fish, so smooth I couldn't believe it! And the desserts were incredible, chocolate fondant and pot de créme... The whole evening was a real treat and everything worked beautifully: the atmosphere, the lighting, candles, service, the food, and us of course! I love evenings like these, thank you my love!!

Second-hand Shops!

I thought to start a series of posts about second-hand boutiques! I got the idea from a sweet reader here in the blog, and think it's brilliant! I'll write about interesting shops where ever I see them, and hope you share your favourites too! Where ever they are!
You all know how I'm a big fan of all things old and nostalgic, flea markets and vintage, so this is perfect! Thank you Nina!!

First stop is Lahti, an hour's drive or train ride from Helsinki. Here my two favourite shops are Florencia and Friikku.

First Florencia!

This is a beautiful combination of vintage, up-and-coming designers and flowers! They have such pretty clothes, truly picked with style and love! Shoes, bags, purses, jewellery, you name it! Plus it's also a flower shop. It's lovely just to pop in and have a chat with the staff which is very nice and helpful, but rarely do I leave with empty hands! This time I bought super cool earrings, to me a reminiscent of 80's ghetto gold! Whoa!

Address: Lahdenkatu 14
www.florencia.fi

Then Friikku!

This little pearl has its first anniversary around the corner! These quality clothes are more of today's fashion with luxury bags and sunglasses, shoes and accessories! Also a very friendly staff, I got a chocolate heart when leaving!
The exitement of these boutiques is that you never know what you find. Like myself, the first thing I spotted was a pair of Melissa's by Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania!
Oh dear, can you guess what happened..?! Yes, I'm now a happy owner of another pair of these candy-smelling beauties!

Address: Vapaudenkatu 14, in the courtyard!
www.friikku.fi

And here you can see my finds in detail!