Happy Midsummer Day! May your days be long -and your hardships few!
Midsummer Eve and summer solstice are now behind, and I can say I've enjoyed the time spent during those days! I have been at my mother's parents' summer cottage, and now I am at my father's one. It's nice to get some peace and quiet even though all my little brothers are here too, but it only takes to find a silent spot and I can start blogging again!
My poor Converse-shoes were not the best for my feet, as I've suffered from leg strain on my left leg for about two months now. So on Monday I went to Jumbo's Nilsen Shoes, just to find these beautiful, new suede shoes that remind me so much of the vintage style! I was also looking for jewellery and accessories, such as a spike headband and a choker, but couldn't. Didn't matter, though: I still rewarded myself with a visit to Classic Pizza Restaurant, to have a pepperoni-basil pizza all for myself! ☺
This blog post is heavily Emi-based as I have pre-taken all cat pictures - I am now at the summer cottage of Dad's side of the family. The WiFi is poor, but I'll try to put as much kitty in this (and future) post as I can, but at the same time, it's midsummer day and the eve is behind, so why not celebrate it with some throwback bonfires, nature and a little bit of Ella?
This week's been half at home and half away - though away with Ella the Dog! She's been left at home too many times now, and now for Midsummer we were anxious to take her with us. And she was just as confused and excited, not during the terrifying car ride but when she got to smell the new plants and fresh grass under her paws, and when she got to walk and rest in the sun after chasing some bugs and butterflies! She has been a real cutie, enjoy a very recent picture of her, you secretly dog-loving lot!
At home, Emi found the string of my super old pants a perfect toy! One of her favourite toys, the purple ribbons on a stick, has gone missing, and Emi is quite heartbroken because of it. So she literally ripped my pants' tightening string off and began to play! She got quite wild, as seen in the quality of the following pictures...
A wild Bimbo has appeared!
And the best part is, even Ella can be her playmate now! Well, except that both share only one common trait: both like to rest in the sun.
Correction: she just likes to sleep. ☺
For everybody's good, I've now got Photoshop CC and Lightroom! They're super handy for photo editing and I can't wait to start drawing with Photoshop. I might still be a newbie but I'm making progress every day! As for video editing, I'm now having lots of time to play with Filmora, though only starting today. The newest video was still done in Movie Maker.
Yes, folks, that means that there will be a new video up on my YouTube channel! The video is a little peek to the midsummer we celebrate here in this part of Finland and with my family and relatives. This time, it includes Ella for the very first time!
A very big part of my midsummer is not only the bonfire and the tasty food, but also the midsummer magic. In Finnish and other Nordic countries, there is this ancient belief, that if a maiden picks seven different flowers in all silence and puts those seven flowers under her pillow, she will dream of her future spouse that night. I do this mostly for fun, but sometimes when my heart gets lovesick for no particular reason, I like to think that yes, I will have a great future with loads of love, just as everybody else will (including You!).
So last night I had the simplest dream: I went to Germany and joined the pride parade.
A sign?
Maybe!
We (or at least my brothers, father and I) have been dreaming of going to my father's working country, Germany, in just a few weeks! He has work to do there, which is the only planned and sure thing, but I try to keep the hopes up - even more now! The pride parade is over for Germany at that time, but nothing is impossible, right? ☺
In the next post I will most probably visit Azeroth, where Tower-Jan is, to celebrate the Midsummer Fire Festival - hopefully this time I'm there not only today but also next week, so I can participate in the firework show! I will also be doing another video, this time solely of cats. Maybe I also could upgrade the layout of the blog? Winter is over and I have been burning for time to just sit down and play with themes and coding!
We'll see what the next few days of summer bring us! It's possible we will have to leave for home tomorrow, because of my father's work, but wherever I am, nothing can keep me from my blogging passion!
I will see you all soon! Take care, be safe, and have a glorious weekend!
Yes, yes, I know. I did forget to tell you that I'd be away for a while - a whole week. And I am really sorry for that, and for the fact that I am writing this and it's near Midsummer for heck's sake. But there's a bright side: I was so much away only to have plenty of things to tell - which is what I am going to do right meow!
So I got my tests back after so many nights brainstorming and cramming for tests and tasks, with my first F in the whole upper secondary school (which was from Math, sorry!). I did well on the languages though - well, Swedish only (with a beautiful A!), since my Finnish got passed to the next school year. That, because I had been in such crap condition since grandpa's death and all that. and I wasn't able to do much of the exercises in the independent studies (yes, I have studied all my courses in Finnish at home. From period 1.). Chemistry was passed barely, but still passed, which I am in terrible relief over. It was hard but I had help from the fun lab works we did with my group of friendly classmates! ☺
I almost forgot to tell you - on Wednesday, after my chemistry test, I went to Tikkurila to get a new haircut (for the bangs, what else than the bangs?) and to do my nails. For the first time ever. I got acrylic nails put on, with solid, purple gel nail polish on top. I was so tired after studying for the chemistry test I literally looked dead when I took a picture of myself with my nails... but hey, we were heading to Burger King and swimming afterwards, and that, my friends, is called a miracle recovery!
On Friday I went to listen to Queen + Adam Lambert (!!!) in Helsinki at 22:00 (10 pm) - yes, just listen to it. I hadn't got tickets so I placed my beloved food near me and tried to get most out of the music. I attempted to do a vlog about it, but I failed, I forgot, and I just... failed. And since I was only outside, where drunkards peed in the bushes and all I could record was noise and noise again, it'll just remain a fun (??) story to tell. Apologies!
After getting my report card so much later than my schoolmates (why was it 9:15 am we had to go get them on the other side of Tikkurila, and why did I sleep to 9:07, dang it!?) but still getting it in the end, I went to my grandparents (Mum's parents), from there back to our place where my grandfather gave us kids "diplomas" (even though my genius little nut of a brother got a diploma-award-thing from Maths anyway - the 11-year-old Einstein!) with money in it...
...money which I, the next morning, at 5:00, with Mum, at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, would transfer into £30. One word: England.
I literally had to wake up when the sun was still rising (thank you sunshine for finally shining down on little Finland!) and get to the airport, which wasn't easy at first because I had to force myself to get up and get ready while sleep was still in my eyes. But I soon got over it and not even mildly rejoiced the fact that I'd be away from home for a longer while now, which wasn't possible for a very long time. Here, down below, begins my tale of how I fled to Great Britain's southern part, leaving the stress behind, just to enjoy what it feels like to be the shopping - and quite the adventurous! - type of a Finnish Londoner!
Day 1
As I said before, I had to get my tired arse off the bed - which went quicker than expected, since even on school mornings I could just sit o lie in my bed and just think of nothing but of how tired I was. This time it went smoother, and Mum drove me to the airport with one cup and one bottle of coffee (thank you Robert Paulig for making such coffee in such a container!) at around 5:30 or so. So I wasn't really tired, and spent some money on a pack of Pringles and the classic "Fazerin Sininen" ("Fazer's Blue", milk chocolate by Fazer that never ever lets you down!).
I arrived at London at around 8 o'clock but naturally it took a whole crowded hour to get out of the terminal. My cousin was there to meet me, and as we both were relieved and happy that we found each other in the mass of Heathrow, we went to Cafe Nero, a coffee shop that can be found anywhere in London (England's Robert's Coffee?). I can't remember what beverage my cousin ordered for me, but I had left pretty much all my tiredness in Finland.
OK, not quite so. After more than an hour of sitting in a bus (which was super nice as I love bus rides and this one was a double-decker to add to it!!!) we got home to my cousin Aukku's (Aurora is her real name) and unpacked. I got to sleep in her sister's room, and she told me to get a power nap for about 30 mins... well, the sleep that I believed wouldn't come surprised me unexpectedly and I slept for about 2 or 3 hours. Whoops!
We had planned to go to a fair in the evening, which was a bus ride away from home (Aukku's), and fortunately, my nap hadn't affected the plans in any way. But after two rides, the absolute wildest, I didn't feel well and needed to rest, and we decided to go home earlier than planned because I felt so ill. The rest of the evening went to watching YouTube videos, something I do almost every night before bedtime. Sleep came later, but before that a wave of relief and contentment that everything had gone well that day - and would do so the rest of the week!
The view outside my room's window!
Day 2
Since Aukku is a vegan, she had me to try soy yogurt for breakfast. I was quite open-minded when it came to the vegan food Aukku offered me, but the soy yogurt... oh boy, it was heaven! It was definitely more than I expected! It had a sweet vanilla taste which was perfect for the mild sweet tooth I do have. I didn't even have cereal with it for the first couple of times, because it was just so good! Definitely recommending it to anybody eager to try something like ice cream.
For the day (or actually the afternoon - we left the house at around 4 p.m.!) we decided to go to Hyde Park through Hyde Park Corner. As a coffee-a-holic, or a caffeine addict as Aukku put it, we first needed to find a cafe to eat something, and drink (coffee, for my part). We were lucky to find Starbucks Coffee after a bit of searching. And to put some fun into it: they misheard my name and wrote Olga instead of Pella on my cup! Of course, for the rest of the day, Aukku called me that and I sent a message to Mum in the evening, "greetings from Olga"!
We headed to Hyde Park, just to chill and look around. I photographed some flowers, even though the whole park itself was splendid! The green of the fields of grass, with trees and at least one big lake putting colour and excitement into the view, was something that reminded me of Finland. Which was nice!
But Hyde Park had something Finland did not (or had very, very rarely): a group of birds you could feed. No, not a group, an army of different species of birds! Doves, swans, geese... even the duckiest ducks to ever duck, and a photogenic stork! Aukku fed them bread we bought for the sole purpose of feeding these birds, while I, scared of the birds almost the same size as I, stayed back and photographed. Well, most of the time. I got to feed them too, but laughed and screamed at the same time every time more than two birds came too close!
An adorable little family!
Day 3
The next day we wanted to do some shopping, and go see a movie that would come to Finland for the first time only the day after: Warcraft: The Beginning!!! After a visit to another Cafe Nero, this time a local one in Hammersmith, we went to Westfield London to get tickets and to do some shopping later. After a bit of considering we decided we wanted one popcorn box and a drink, but we left for the movie with two HUGE popcorn boxes and two ENORMOUS Coca Cola drinks! But it was alright, since the movie was a long and exciting one, we would consume everything quicker than anything else because of the thrilling film. (At least I would.)
And what did I think of the film?
IT. WAS. MAGNIFICENT.
I loved every bit of the movie! Normally I would sit back and be bored at some parts, but Warcraft was a lovely surprise! I loved the characters, they were given so much depth and justice, and so much development over the film. I even liked the subtle funny bits! My favourite characters were Khadgar, because he was such a cute little cinnamon bun, and Garona. I loved Garona. She was the simply the best, I loved her from the moment she was seen on screen, to her last part of the dialogue. Not only do I adore Garona as a character, I think I fell in love with her whole self as well. Oh Garona. My world will never be the same again.
Simply cropped in Paint - the effects are cinema poster-real!
My love, my love, my love... I used Adobe Lightroom for this edit! ☺
After recovering from the film that even Aukku enjoyed (even though she's never played any Blizzard game) we went shopping in the rest of the building of Westfield.
I really can't remember the shop where I bought this gorgeous lilac lipstick, but it was super cheap, and will surely be put into good use when school starts! (I don't mind being a bit different ☺)
We also went to another makeup shop, but again I have no memory of what it was called. There I found my first lip pencil, ever! I had let Aukku do my makeup the other day, and after she did a miraculous change to my lips using a dark red lip pencil, I realised a lip pencil is a true must-have for me!
We finished that day with visit to Top Shop, where money and currency issues appeared for the very first time on this journey. As Aukku went to get some more cash, the cashier asked me where I lived. Our talk from there went on to reasons to visit Finland, where I live, and I instantly had one thing in mind: coffee. By who else than Robert Paulig. Without the mocha in a bottle by the Finnish hero, I wouldn't have survived even the first day. 'Nuff said. (PS. The clothing that we bought can be seen if you scroll down a bit.)
Oh, and guess what? I tried three new foods in London, during the same day: I, Pella, fell in love with avocado sushi with soy sauce! Three foods - soft avocado, tasty sushi, and exciting soy sauce - I had no great experiences on, but which turned out to be surprisingly, almost astonishingly, good! Now, back in Finland, I want to go to the nearest sushi restaurant with or without family as quickly as possible!
Day 4
Oh boy. This day must've been the most amazing day on the whole week while in London. And it started quite nicely, too: I had a morning bath, with calm music, just relaxing. I thought it wouldn't get any better than this; I was wrong.
On the 4th day I wanted to go to a store I had looked up earlier at home: Vivien of Holloway, a vintage shop for spirits stuck in the 40-50's! But the weather had a little surprise for us: it went from the sunniest in all of London, to "London... what the heck!?", aka rain, rain, and even more rain. Oh, and a tiny furious thunderstorm. Well done, Mother Earth, well done!
It was at King's Cross Underground Station, where we were going to meet Aukku's mother (in money business, mwahahaha! No really, we were running low on cash as my card wouldn't work properly), and that's where the weather went at its worst joke. Complete downpour with a (more than a) pinch of hard wind and thunder! However, it only affected Aukku's mother, who was laughing because the weather had struck at such a bad time, and she was now soaked through. Aukku and I were lucky to take the underground to Holloway road, thus avoiding the poor weather (for the most part). Still, it was quite extraordinary, how the weather there changes its mood in just a matter of minutes!
King's Cross! ☺
Finally we reached Vivien of Holloway, where the vendors lived up the minor expectations: they were super nice! I, and even Aukku, got to try out different 50's clothes, including capri trousers, an off the shoulder shirt and a halter neck top - which we bought! You can see what we bought if you scroll down just a bit more. My cousin could go there anytime she wants, so all the shopping was made for the guest in the house. I was so happy, she's the kindest!
Next we took a few trains to Oxford Street, to yet another shop that is not available in Finland: Primark. Full of cheap clothing, we found really nice clothes there, both of us. We also planned everything for the next day, when I would be leaving London for Nottingham, with my uncle though the phone. Or, well, we planned it as well as we could, as Aukku wrote every word of my uncle's babbling down on a city map from her backpack, using my brand-new lip pencil. It was just too funny to get stressed, though - like in a sitcom! Anyway, here are the things I got at Primark for about £40, plus all the other things we shopped during the trip:
The wonderful bag we got for free!
Afterwards my feet hurt and we were both tired of running around London. So my cousin comforted my weary mind and heart, such a sweetheart she is, by taking me to Oxford Street's Lush store, so that I could take a bath again, at home in the evening. Only this time we'd use a bath bomb that smelled like citrus fruit, and bath oil that smelled (and felt) like honey and cinnamon.
At home was the bathtub waiting for me once again, and before I could relax every ounce of energy out of me, I got to eat a whole cheese-pesto pizza by myself. Then the bath followed, with chamomile tea, popcorn, a bottle of water, candles, relaxing music, and the stuff we bought from Lush. You guessed right: I slept like a baby that night!
Day 5
Now it was time for me to head to Nottingham. We took takeaway food from Nando's (takeaway was my idea) since eating at the restaurant would be too slow, and so we had to run to the train on the other side of King's Cross. I got there in time, though: in fact, the train was late to depart and I got to rest a bit after the fierce running. Nando's was great, by the way!
I arrived at around 16:00 (4 p.m.) to Nottingham, where my cousins and my aunt met me and drove me to their place. I played with the little boys, and we had a fine meal: chicken and pasta. Afterwards came the famous "pudding", a dessert tradition in England: for pudding, we had cheesecake with sugar and strawberries. Even though the cake was from a mere grocery store, it was still the best cheesecake I had had in ages! At that moment I knew my time here would be of great value.
Day 6
Gosh, I can't remember when was the last time I had croissants and chocolate pastries for breakfast! My cousins were at school and my aunt and uncle were at their workplaces, so I had the whole house of theirs in my use. Until noon, I made coffee and watched reality-TV shows, but only until noon as said. Because after 12 my truest adventure of the trip would begin...
Just a little part of my breakfast!
This mug is practically picturing my life
The town of Loughborough was just a 15-minute bus trip away, a beautiful place resembling that of Tikkurila - only about ten times bigger! I bought this wonderful necklace from Denham's jewellery shop, which I chose because it reminded me of the Hearthstone symbol from the Warcraft universe. For lunch I took McDonald's food (for the first time in London!) that I wanted to eat at home.
Well? No?
Fate made a twist.
I searched for the bus back, and had to ask a few locals for directions. After going from one stop to another, my uncle said finally through a text message that the bus back would leave from the same stop I had come from. So what did I do? I came with a number 1 Loughborough bus into town, and logically thought the number 1 Nottingham bus, the bus that departed from the same place as the Loughborough bus, would take me back home in 15 minutes. I showed the place where I believed was the place I would get off to the driver, and patiently sat in the bus.
After 30 minutes (yes, after 30 stupid minutes) I realised I *might* have gone wrong... suddenly I was in places I had never heard of, far away from home. After 45 minutes I called my uncle, which was the silliest yet smartest thing to do. He was super worried and just fussed about, and even though after he had given me new, correct directions, and after I convinced him that I'd be fine... he was still worried.
I was super glad the bus drivers were really friendly and understanding (I kid you not, the bus drivers called me "this foreign lady"!) and after two hours on the road I finally found my way back home. Phew. Who would've thought my hobby of bus travel would be transferred to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? ☺
Loughborough!
When I got home I was, surprisingly enough, the first person at home. Then came my aunt and my cousins, and we went to Nottingham (this time by car) to eat and see a movie. My uncle joined us later at the American restaurant, where we ate burgers, pasta, fish fingers and pizza. Afterwards we went to the nearby cinema to watch Angry Birds, a movie the little boys had wanted to see. It was very enjoyable, even for me, and the cutest thing was that after the movie, both of my cousins asked their parents if they could go see it again! Truly it was a day of adventures, that day - but none a bad one!
Day 7
Now it was time for me to go home. I packed (and played with the little boys at the same time) and was escorted to the Loughborough train station. The trip back to King's Cross went well, and soon I was at the Heathrow Airport again. After minor things going to the wrong direction, I was soon on the airplane, tired, but happy because of the more than successful trip.
And I am definitely going there again.
So this blog post is more of an update of what has happened, and a diary of my trip to England. Next posts are going to be heavy with cats and other things... mostly cats, though. I am eager to do videos now that writing this massive post is done, and I have planned to do something about the design of the blog - I'm talking major changes! We'll see what the days bring us... ☺
But now, I am off to make some coffee. This post took several days to make, and now my reward will be a cup of café au lait. Another reward is that we're going to Jumbo's Flamingo, the entertainment center, to the spa to go swimming! It's going to be so much fun!
Have a wonderful day - and a joyous Midsummer Fire Festival! Take care, I'll see you all soon! ♥
