Artwork or not?

Last weekend I was lucky enough to have time to go watch some Finnish baseball. And it was not any team but my absolutely favorite one playing. I used to play myself years ago too. It was also great to see some old friends who don't really live herearound. We meet each other maximum once a year. I didn't have time to take pictures 'cause for me it was more important to watch the game and see the familiar faces in my current hometown. :-) The route I took to the baseball field included some funny graffiti.

There's a great juxtaposition when there is graffiti surrounded by nature. In places like these I accept this kind of artwork when it does no harm to anyone. The places themselves, where the paintings are, are not that pretty anyway. It's totally different when there is some smudge on someone's property which has value e.g. house wall. But these... these I like!

Game Day

We had a game themed evening with my friends the other day. It included three different pubs and five different indoor games. First we played table curling. I've tried also the real curling and this was a lot easier though still challenging. The second game was pool. Everybody was familiar with that game, so no pressure on that one.

After the previous it was good time to play air hockey, because there's not too many rules in that game. And finally we played couple of board games like Alias and Trivial Pursuit so we could all sit around one table together.

It was a lot of fun, but whenever there is a group of terrible loosers playing games it needs some arrangement to make everyone happy in the end. Well, I may exaggerate a bit, but anyway the winning was nicer. ;)

Egg Salad

Today's lunch was an egg salad. It was supposed to be a chicken salad, but somebody forgot to buy the chicken... Anyway, the egg salad was just as good in the end. The salad included lettuce, pepper, rucola, nuts, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Just threw them all together and that's about it.

In addition I had french bread with prosciutto and blue cheese. The prosciutto ham is one of the best things I know when cooking something cold. You can upgrade many dishes with it. The flavor is so strong that there is very little ham needed to get for example the bread just right. And the taste - it's pure perfection!

Gone Jogging

Today was a free day from work for me. (Ok, I was at the office in the morning but left early.) So after a looong time, six months or so, I went running with the dogs. Sure I make long walks with them every day, but it always seems to be too hectic to go for a jog. But today was a good day to start - hopefully a bit more regular - running again.

Taking pics was a good excuse to breath a bit - for me and the dogs.

The weather was perfect; sun was shining but it wasn't too hot. We went to a forest nearby so also the trees gave shade from the sun. I could tell from the dogs that we haven't been running for quite a while. They were just as tired as I was, but we did surprisingly well. I used to be a proper sportswoman earlier in my life but the latest year has been so busy at work that the sports has been neglected. But I'm planning to do a change! :-)

City Day

I participated the Restaurant Day yesterday, just as I said here, but not exactly as I planned. There was some delays at work so I had to work some overtime (thank god not too long), and that caused a little problem for me to get to the restaurants on time.

Some of the restaurants were closing earlier than other ones, so there was no time to get picky of choosing the restaurant. Luckily there was one in the same building where I live selling milkshakes. Naturally I hurried to get one of them to get my tummy filled. It was tasty and the restaurant 'owners' were nice (well, obviously - they are my neighbors after all ;))!

Today we had a city day even though all the 'real' shops were closed. There was a fashion flea market in Pakkahuone with all the stylish people selling their stuff away. I didn't really find anything to buy, but neither was I looking for. It was more interesting to see the people and enjoy the summer feeling of the city.

The most important thing to me was to find something to eat. It's starting to be a tradition for us to have a Sunday lunch in pizzeria Napoli every now and then. I've been there like hundred times and never been disappointed. This time I had pizza called Montagna. It included parma ham, pesto sauce and goat's cheese - yummy!

Tour De Hometown

Last weekend we took a walk with my grandparents around the town. It was nice for them to see a little more of my newest hometown. I've lived here over two years now, but in my downtown house only half of that time. Due to that the grandparents haven't got a chance to explore the city that well. We explored all of the interesting places with time, since time was all we got that day. The best thing was just to sit on a bench and look at the people wander by.

Tomorrow I'm planning to participate The Restaurant Day as a customer. There is private persons setting up a restaurant for a day to a park, to their backyards or where ever. The Restaurant Day has been arranged for years and I've visited many of the restaurants in the past years and so far they all have been fantastic. There has been for example spinach pies, brownies, soups and cupcakes. Delicious!

Have a relaxing weekend!

Two Mothers And Two Daughters Makes...

...daughter, mother and grandma of course!

Last weekend my grandpa and grandma came from the north to celebrate the Mother's Day here with me and my mom (we live in the same city). It was great to see them after a long time. We see each other only few times a year, because the distances are so huge. Sure we call each other every week but it is important to see them also physically, because they are very dear to me.

On Sunday we made a long walk with grandparents around the city. I'll post the pictures a little later from that trip. As a Mother's Day coffee bread we had a princess cake and champagne&strawberries.

As a Mother's Day gift grandma got flowers and a water carafe. Mom got a golf course with us next month. It'll be interesting because mom has completed Green Card like hundred years ago, I have never played golf and my brother has played golf only in someones backyard and never got any courses. Fun!

Also the trees gave flowers to all mothers.

 Today is finally warm enough to wear shorts, so this day is going to be a good one! :)



Pot Garden

I should start to plan what plants do I want to my entrance at home. Last year I had a green&pink themed flower arrangement and it worked well with white and grey backround. Here is what it looked like then. The boxwood have lasted until now. It worked also as a christmas tree so money well spend on that one.

The entrance to my home is between two high building so there's not much direct light to flowers, so I have to keep that in mind when choosing the plantings. What I also need to keep in mind is the little helpers who live next door. Last year they made a great work as you can see from the picture underneath. You probably don't believe me when I'm saying that those kids are adorable, but they really are! :)

Have a nice weekend! :)

Lace Shirt & Salmon Salad

Yay, summer is almost here! It's warm enough to have just a tee on - that's great after a long winter. (Not that long for real; it was standard and went quickly since I had so much to do with the work. I guess it's just a bad habit to complain about the winter. Is it just us Finns who do that?)

Besides wearing lighter the warm weather makes me also eat lighter, which is great after too many pizzas and burgers. I made an extremely simple salmon salad with couple different lettuces and paprika. Only thing I needed to add was a bread and Somersby and that's about it.

Here is my yesterday's work look. It's plain enough not to distract the customers but interesting enough with the lace. The lace shirt is somewhat transparent so I can easily imagine to wear it also at a party with skirt and high heels or on a hot day with colorful tank top and shorts.

I have not managed to get tanned yet but I'm sure the time will come. It's been said that it's going to be the hottest summer in years. That would be okay to me. Until then I flag to the Snow White look with my pale skin. ;)

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Loyal Customer Days

Huh, what a workweek! In a good way this time, it was just amazing. We had Loyal customer days and it was reeaaally busy. The whole work group was working their best and it was worth the effort. We are having the loyal customer days two times a year and every time they have been bigger. We have arranged them since we opened in February 2011, so altogether five times this far. It's always great to have good feedback from our customer but every time it's kind of suprising. You don't get used to it. It's like winning in sports, you just can't get enough and that's what makes you work even harder.

I'm blessed to have the best work group in the world. The collaboration is seamless when we are working, that's great! As a thank you for the employees we had a dinner together later on saturday evening when the loyal customer days were over. I ate inter alia Risotto al mascarpone e code di gamberoni (Mascarpone risotto and king prawns) and Semifreddo al lampone (Rasberry semifreddo and raspberries). They were delicious.

All in all the week was fantastic though tiring. Tomorrow we settle ourselves back to everyday life and I'm happy for that. The amount of work is huge when you organize this kind of event. It's great, but two times a year is enough. ;)

May Day

Yesterday we had fun with my friends. We had white wine with french loaf, played board games and laughed. Also my brother joined us later that evening. There's not many pics from yesterday, because taking photos wasn't the first thing in my mind. The main thing was to relax before a hectic working period starting tomorrow. (We are having a loyal customer event from thursday to saturday at our shop. It means long days and hard working, so there's no place for taking it easy before weekend.) We stayed indoors the early evening because of the rain, but went out right after it stopped. It's tradition to gather to the river to celebrate so that was what we did. It was cold, but it was fun.

Nighttime & white wine.

Muffin&cappuccino saved the day.

Daytime & love locks.

It wasn't only yesterday but today as well when the city was celebrating. It's the first of May and the city is full of students, so EVERYBODY is on the go. There's balloons, costumes and treats all around & the sun is shining, so you just cannot skip the festive mood. Sure it wasn't that easy to get up this morning due to the last night, but somehow I managed. Cappuccino and choco muffin kept me going. ;)