Life is a Journey

So the deep question before last week's vacation was... what do you wear when...

you go from this ...

to this ... ? 

Since I did not want to wear a bulky coat, I opted for layers with a North Face fleece, Banana cashmere cardigan and running tights.. With three kids in tow, I also need handsfree accessories! The Missoni scarf is actually a poncho which I've folded into a scarf, and it's perfect for travel due to its dual purpose - I can then wear it as a poncho during any cool evenings during the vacation. 

And, of course, you never ever wear anything but absolutely comfortable shoes when traveling. My Nike airmax sneakers fit the bill (and provide a bit of color!)

Travelgram II

We have been so lucky with this weather in Florida - it's been nothing but beautiful sunshine and clear blur skies. Just LOVING it after the horrendous winter of New York. I take a deep breath in of that beautiful balmy air in total happiness every morning I step outside of our hotel apartment. I used to think I couldn't live in a place with no real seasons, but am starting to change my mind. Maybe retiring in Florida is the answer after all....

Palm trees make me happy!

So does the new Porter magazine.

And of course these three treasures! Mwah!

And yes, my accessories make me happy too! 

Travelgram

Here are a few instashots of our trip to Orlando, visiting family and going to theme parks. Yesterday we went to Universal Studios. What a great place for a person who can't do roller coasters anymore. Most of the rides are 3D simulation rides, meaning you get on the car, it moves and shakes and there's a screen so it looks like you're riding off the cliff but you're not really going anywhere. Very realistic and the best thing is that the whole family can ride together.

yes, the crazy man behind me is part of the family :-)

Haaste 11

Apologies for any non-Finnish speakers out there, I just had to do this one in Finnish...

Sain Amerikantadilta haasteen vastata 11:een kysymykseen, joten tassa vastaukseni: 

1. Paras dieetti? South Beach Diet - toimii mutta vaatii aika kovaa itsekuria. Toisaalta, mika dieetti ei vaatisi itsekuria? Jos olisi sita itsekuria ei ehka tarvitsisi alunperinkaan olla dieetilla... 

2. TOP 3 kosmetiikkatuotetta tai ihonhoitovinkki? Peter Thomas Rothin CC cream, YSL Rouge Pur Couture huulikiilto / Buxom Lips huulikiilto, Amlactin kosteusvoide (taivaanlahja psoriaattiselle iholleni!). Ihonhoitovinkki: Tietyssa iassa ihon kuoriminen kannattaa lopettaa. Mina en enaa nain yli 40-kymppisena kuori ihoani juuri ollenkaan. 

3. Unelmiesi matkakohde - Maailmanymparysmatka, puoli vuotta hitaasti nautiskellen, ykkosluokassa ja luksushotelleissa. 

4. Teitkö Uuden Vuoden lupauksia, jos niin mitä ja pitävätkö ne? Teen joka vuosi saman lupauksen, eli lupaan nukkua enemman, siis menna aikaisemmin nukkumaan. Tana vuonna lupaus on pitanyt paremmin kuin aikaisempina vuosina. Tai sitten olen vaan niin vasynyt iltaisin etten kerta kaikkia jaksa pitaa silmiani auki. 

5. Mikä on kaunein ääni tai sana? Lapsen nauru, ja sana on aiti. 

6. Uskotko kohtaloon, eli oletko fatalisti vai uskotko siihen, että omat päätöksesi päättävät pitkälti elämäsi kulun? Hmmm, tassa olen hieman kahtia jakautunut..uskon tietylla tavalla kohtaloon, mutta myos ehdottomasti siihen etta omat paatokset ja teot vaikuttavat elamankulkuun. Emme ole tahdottomia satkynukkeja, vaan voimme muokata elamaamme haluamaamme suuntaan. Joskus saatamme olla olposuhteiden vankeja, mutta olosuhteitakin pystyy pikkuhiljaa muuttamaan...

7. Kissa vai Koira? No tietysti, koira. Vaikka tykkaan kylla kissoistakin. 

8. Mottosi? Fake it 'til you make it. Luja tahto vie lapi harmaan kiven.

9. Paras vaatteiden nettikauppa - En juurikaan tilaa vaatteita netista, mutta tykkaan surffata ja kuolata Net a Porterissa.

10. Maukkain jälkiruokaherkku, saa laittaa reseptin? Olen erittain perso makealle, joten vaikea valita mika olisi maukkain..suklaa vie aina voiton..talla hetkella parhaiten maistuisi hyva tumma suklaa ja lasi punaviinia. 

11. Ja loppuun pakollinen Kumman kaa: Matti Nykänen vai Jussi Parviainen? Apua mika kysymys! Molemmat ovat pelottavia. Ei siis kumpikaan. 


Lisaksi piti kertoa itsestaan 11 faktaa: 

1. Rakastan lehtia ja minulle tulee niita aivan liikaa. Mieheni vihaa joka nurkassa ajalehtivia lehtia. 
2. Olen kirjaston vakkari asiakas
3. Olen hulluna Vitamix blenderiini. Heidan pitaisi maksaa minulle provikkaa siita miten pajon olen mainostanut sita ystavilleni. 
4. Suunnittelen ompelevani kaikenlaista, mutta toteuttaminen jaa kiireiden ja laiskuuden jalkoihin. Suunnitteleminenkin on nautinnollista. Ehka jopa nautinnollisempaa kuin toteuttaminen. 
5. Osaisin kylla ommella, teinina ompelin melkein kaikki vaatteeni itse. 
6. Lemppariohjelmani on Project Runway. Kerran suutuin miehelleni oikein kunnolla kun han pilaili innostukseni kustannuksella.  "You don't like my designs?" on vielakin lentava lause meidan perheessa...
7. Teen kotona outoa taukojumppaa, heiluttelen kasiani ja teen jalkapotkuja. Melkein mika tahansa liike alkaa tuntumaan kun tekee tarpeeksi toistoa. Kuvittelen etta tama pitaa minut paremmassa kunnossa...Viime aikoina olen googlannut seisoen tehtavia vatsaliikkeita. 
8. Olen hirvean ylpea lapsistani mutta koitan pysytella coolina enka ikina lahde mukaan vertailuihin joissa pitaa kehuskella lapsen saavutuksilla. Mutta jos lapsi sitten itse ihan viattomana tulee keskusteluun mukaan ja selittaa omia saavutuksiaan, tai sattuu muuten vain tekemaan jotain hirvean fiksua, pakahdun onnesta ja ylpeydesta. 
9.  Saan raivarin jos pitaa heittaa ruokaa pois. 
10. Olen aika mestari kayttamaan edellisen paivan tahteet uuteen ruokaan. 
11. Vihaan vaatteiden lajittelua ja poislaittoa. Minulla taitaa olla pieni vaatteiden ja laukkujen hoarding ongelma.

Sitten piti viela keksia 11 uutta kysymysta laittaa ne eteenpain 11:lle bloggaajalle: 

1. Lukevatko perheen jasenesi blogiasi? 

2. Paras huulipunasi ja sen savy? 

3. Jos saisit vaihtaa nyt ammattia ja menestys olisi uudessa ammatissasi taattu, mita haluaisit tehda? 

4. Jos saisit tunnin lisaa paivassa, mihin sen kayttaisit? 

5. Mika on tarkein tapa jolla huolehdit terveydestasi? 

6. Yksi Chanelin laukku vai 10 Furlaa? 

7. Mita vaatekappaletta et ikina kayttaisi? 

8. Paras kirja jonka olet lukenut vuoden sisaan? 

9. Jos voisit muuttaa ihan mihin tahansa maailmassa, missa haluaisit asua? 

10. Jarkevat ja mukavat alusvaatteet, vai pienet pitsiunelmat? 

11. Mita haluaisit tehda mutta et uskalla? 

Mutta koska olen laiska, haasteen saavat vain seuraavat 4 bloggaajaa: 

Sara S. 

Tibs

Anniina

Jaana / Akaasian Alta 

Collage

Making collages has been the "thing" to do in my house lately. It's artsy and fun, and the kids enjoy it.

My oldest daughter made a collage for school to go with her report on Archimedes, you know, the Greek scientist and mathematician. I'm not sure how many times Archimedes' picture was combined with neon pink and silver glitter, but hey, it worked here, right?

Then my lovely au pair made an inspirational collage for me. How sweet is that? This is a support collage to inspire me to stay on the South Beach Diet until the Florida vacation. And you know what? It really worked. I had the collage in my bedroom, next to my bed where I saw it first thing in the morning, and it did give me a boost to stay away from carbs and sugar. By the way, the South Beach Diet really works for me when I need to drop a few pounds. The first couple of weeks are really tough, but once you get the sugar out of your system it gets easier.

The Polar Vortex

This has been the most challenging winter in memory. It's been so cold and snowy that we really had to dig all the warmest woolen stuff out. Here's an outfit from one of the cold days with a rabbit fur scarf and some woolen leg warmers to keep me from freezing. The jacket is an old one from Zara, so is the cashmere knit from Banana Republic, the booties are from last year, and the Chloe bag is an amazing recent sale find from Bloomingdales. 

 

The Winter Olympics 2014

Is anyone into the Olympics? I am trying to see as much as I can. I just saw the finals of the women's slope style where Jamie Anderson won gold, and Enni Rukajarvi won silver. YAY! Both my countries on top! The opening ceremony was amazing, and despite the glossy and light touch on Russian history..it was still a visual feast!

By the way, I thought the Swedish team's ladies' outfit in the opening ceremony was really cool. A little H&M'ish, but definitely young and cool.

On the other hand, I didn't care for the Finnish team's outfit, it was quite run-of-the-mill... American, after much criticism after the last games, were at least manufactured in America. And in the actual games they have pretty nice light silver jackets, sponsored by Nike - wish I could get my hands on one of those!

Icicles

This has been an unbelievable winter...meaning, it's been so cold, and we've had so much snow. More than ever in my over 20 years in New York. It seems that the tables have turned somewhat, as Finland has been relatively warm and no snow on the ground. Now I certainly remember what a real winter feels like. How do you like our icicles?

Sisters

It took me forever to tell anyone that I have a blog. In the beginning only my husband and oldest daughter knew. Is that silly? I just felt that people would think that I'm really self centered if they knew that I blogged about my life (and my outfits - how shallow!). On the other hand I had kept a journal on and off all my life. And had no problems telling people how therapeutic it is to journal.  Now that I'm all grown up and don't really have that many deep issues to work through anymore, this blog seems a more suitable outlet. And so what if I love fashion and style. This is more of an electronic scrapbook, maybe, of all the good stuff in my life. Or an album to put happy pictures in. Whatever it is, I am now quite open about the blog. I don't bring it up, but if the topic of blogs or blogging comes up I won't hide the fact that I'm a blogger... Hmmm, so the train of thought here was that one of my oldest friends recently found out about my blog. She took it in stride (and even agreed to be photographed for it). But I still have other friends/family who don't know, and now it's a bit awkward to tell them after such a long time. So I guess I won't and just leave it at that and let life and the blog issue unfold as luck would have it... What is everyone else doing - do you broadcast your blog to everyone around you, let them find out by chance, or keep it a secret?

Anyway, ever since I've known this girlfriend people have asked us if we are sisters. I admit that we do look alike, quite a bit. But we don't even speak the same language. She is dear to me, and we've been there for each other through thick and thin. She also has a very fun sense of style and looks much younger than she is ;-) We are planning an all girls' Vegas trip for her big 50 next year! Yes! THAT much younger! Good genes, healthy lifestyle, positive outlook. Wish I will look that good in 7 years...

Super Bowl

Last Sunday we hosted our traditional Super Bowl party. I'm not sure how this tradition started, because me and hubby are not big football fans. In fact in the early years as we hosted we hardly knew who was playing. It probably got started because we had the biggest TV of our circle, and hubby's friends wanted to come and watch the game on the big screen. They brought their girlfriends and thus a party tradition was born. I can't say that I've improved in football knowledge all that much, but since the party is now expected by friends and family, I at least find out in advance who's playing, and some tidbits about the quarterbacks so that I can impress my clueless girlfriends. Nowadays the guys watch the game in the basement on the really big screen, and the girls watch in the family room. Well we really focus more on socializing, and watching the half time and the commercials, which are both a big deal. Part and parcel of the Super Bowl party is the junk food. It's really a day when you put your clean eating program on the side and gorge yourself on chips, dips, chicken wings, and all kinds of nasty (but oh so tasty) stuff. And of course desserts galore!

Decorations created by au pair and the kiddos. 

Go Seahawks! Our baby was the only Seahawks fan in the family. She picked the winning team!

The giant football cookie. Just don't throw it!

One of the guests brought this homemade cookie brownie. All I can say about this is OMG! I don't know if it was because  I had not had any sugar for 10 days prior to the party, but this thing was beyond yummy! 

Another amazing dessert - the chocolate strawberry mousse cake. I think I ate enough sugar to account for all the 10 days...

Office Outfit

I haven't posted any office outfits for a long time, one reason being that I've left home at an ungodly early hour recently, and returned so late and burnt out that all I could do was to just quickly change into pajamas and veg and go to sleep. But today I was back at a more humane time, and was able to document the outfit. (Actually my au pair suggested it and took the pictures!) So here are pictures of what I wore today. The Joe Fresh jacket is really warm which served me well in a super cold conference room where I was stuck all day at an event. Underneath is a Banana Republic silver top from last winter. The necklace (Alexis Bittar) was a Christmas gift from me to me. I am not wearing any earrings because at some point during the day I noticed I only had one on. Don't know what happened to the other. I was a bit bummed because it was the Juicy Couture earrings that I really liked. But hey, nothing lasts forever. Except maybe the gray pinstripe skirt which I had on which must be like 10 years old. I actually wore slightly different shoes (black patent with gold rings on toe) but left them back at the office, so I just substituted these Tory Burches instead of the weather proof Uggs that I actually wore on my commute (it's pretty bad with slush and snow and water and ice out there). And of course the Balenciaga is the perfect work bag as it can fit everything you might need during a long day and a commute and more. The crazy hours should be over for a little while now, so I hope to be able to blog a bit more...