CHRISTMAS CHATTERBOX

Christmas madness has come to Finland. Streets of Helsinki are quite crowded - not to mention shopping centers, especially during weekends. Buying, giving and getting gifts for Christmas seems to be more than important here in Finland. However, I am only sending some cards with Season's Greetings. I won't travel to Slovenia during Christmas/New Year's either, it's just too expensive, too long as I should change planes - and I also have to work. Thus, I will spend this particular family-all-together kind of holiday more or less alone, and that...  well, that slightly sucks, I guess.

Considering lonesome Christmas Eves, I have recently seen Swedish movie adaptation  Män som hatar kvinnor of Stieg Larsson's novel from his Millennium Trilogy. However, in the movie there was a short scene when the character Lisbeth Salander catches a glance through the window. For a moment  she observes the joyful  family next door during Christmas dinner while Lisbeth herself sits alone at home. She gives an impression that she does not care at all, but then again she hesitates and considered the situation a bit. I slightly know how that feels... 

On the other hand, I don't like all this Christmas commercial pressure, kind of forced images of happy family celebrating together. Reality is sometimes quite different than these ideal images offered in the media. Here in Finland the expectation of Christmas is important; I have already mention the gifts. Then, good food and all that. Already on Christmas Eve, the 24th of December, all the offices are closed and public transport completely stops around two o'clock in the afternoon, if not earlier. Everybody is supposed to be at home or somewhere, celebrating. Or whatever. 

I have never put a lot of stress on such holidays. Also, I think that such a general image of overall happiness and constantly highlighted necessity for, in this case Christmas, celebration can bring some bad mood to those that do not have any option to celebrate. Well, at the end it's all about money and commercialism; the necessity of celebration most probably would not be mentioned so many times in the media if it would not bring the benefit of shopping for Christmas gifts/food/you-name-it. But who knows, perhaps even lonesome Christmases would become trend and fashion one day... 

To conclude this chatter-boxing, there surely is something I like about all this Christmas-celebration-thing: lights! Many lights and candles. It is so dark during Finnish winter that I have decorated my apartment already at the beginning of December - and also the city is very nice, especially in all this snow. Thus, we can enjoy at least some shiny, decorated and so Christmas-like traditional winter wonderland. Happy and lovely holidays I wish! :) 

KAAMOS

Today I have read the news in Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that kaamos has started in Lapland. I really like this Finnish word for the polar night. It feels so calm, dark and deep as I imagine the real polar night would be... We don't have kaamos in this part of Finland and no matter how beautiful the word itself feels, I guess it would be hard to endure the time when the sun neither rises nor sets. We only have short days, winter darkness, and living with it does not always feel comfortable.   

These days were very cold as well, not only in Lapland. In Helsinki it was around -14, and the cold will continue for some time. According to the news it is very unusual that such a cold strikes at the end of November already.  This is North, but I know that North can be mild and tender even during winter. So I don't know was it the winter darkness or this unusual cold... I just had a hell of a week. Even now during weekend I still feel the burdens of the past days, like stones. Sometimes it's just too much of everything.

Luckily, I visit the gym regularly, and exercise helps. Otherwise I don't know how would it be. Bleh.

WINTER AND SOME MORE PRESENTS

 The present and the snow, natural light

Helsinki has got the first portion of snow - and it looks like there will be more of it. The weather is also quite cold, much colder than it usually is in late November in this part of Finland. Today it was -3 degrees Celsius, and the forecast is promising even more cold yet to come...

However, I have to show another birthday present - or six of them, to be precise. My friends from Slovenia were so nice that they have sent me a package full of nail polish. And not just some nail polish - I was told these bottles would be special. So they are, in many ways. The colors, the brands - and last but not least, they have been sent to me all the way from Slovenia with a nice birthday card  from and by my friends. :) Oh, and that red cloth also came with the polish. A lot of colors to brighten up this winter darkness for sure. ;)

The present and the snow, flash

From left to right, back row: SpaRitual Drop Dead Gorgeous, Regal and Solitude

From left to right, front row: Zoya Harlow, Nubar Midnight Glory and Nfu Oh 131 

PRESENTS FOR KANELI

Last week I had my birthday, and as I usually write a post about the occasion - well, here is Kaneli's birthday post of 2010. This was my third birthday that I celebrated in Finland, and regardless the important change of the front number (from 2 to 3, huh), I celebrated more or less alone. I have my friends and family either in Slovenia or in Jyväskylä, so the real party is yet about to come.

However, it was a nice coincidence that one of my favorite bands, Katatonia from Sweden, played their gig in Helsinki exactly on my birthday. Even better as I really wanted to see Katatonia live for ages, but for some reason I never had that chance. Now I have seen the band and I must say they are very good live as well.

I also have to show two presents I got for myself - a new corset and Kalevala Koru silver necklace. I was happy to get this new corset as I hadn't bought anything so alternative for ages, and I really like the necklace as I have always been a huge Kalevala Koru fan.  

And last but not least:  I have been tagged by Ulmiel a while ago to answer some questions, and now I finally have time to write my thoughts. 

1. Innie or Outie?

Introvert for sure. It takes time for me to open and show my feelings.

2. Unlimited wealth? Or Unlimited health?

Unlimited health. I guess I don't need to explain.

3. What is your favorite book?

Quite many of them, actually... perhaps, I can mention some writers like for example Sofi Oksanen, Haruki Murakami, J.R.R. Tolkien etc.

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?

In Finland because I speak Finnish. :P The second option could be Iceland; anyway, I like North.

5. What is your security blanket?

I don't have any. Stupid question, anyway.

6. What is your mode of transportation?

Public transport - a local train, tram, metro or bus. Sometimes also a ship and a plane. 

7. What is your signature scent?

Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue, for years.

8. If you were at Hogwarts, what house would you belong to?

Ravenclaw for sure. I'm smart, but not too heroic. 

9. If you could be any Disney princess who would you be and why?

Bad Fairy. ;)

10. What is one of your bad habits?
I am too slow/lazy/unmotivated considering the work for my MA thesis.

FASHIONED IN FINLAND GIVEAWAY

As you can see on the side-bar of Cinnamon Book, Parokeets are giving away some nice metallic and magnetic nail polishes. However, also Nea  from Finland has something nice to offer - just click here and enter the giveaway on Nea's great blog Fashioned in Finland. The prize includes Shu Uemura eyelash curlers, Sleek Storm palette, Sleek Good Girl palette and TKB mini samples. The products look very tempting... :P The giveaway ends on 3rd of December 2010 so there is some time to enter.

However and by the way, I feel so very sleepy today that I cannot produce a better or longer post than this... Finnish winter is getting stronger, especially considering its dark powers; there is no snow yet, just darkness is longer and longer... I eat D-vitamin and fish oil, but those things do not always help as I would like. Well, soon Christmas time will come anyway, and there will be lots of other light... and candles and sweets.

EDIT: The Parokeets giveaway ended on the 8th of November, I did not get anything - not surprised at all as I basically never win anything in raffles. :D

SKYR IS IN FINLAND!

I was actually thinking to write some other post today, but then I went to one of the local stores to buy some fruit. When I passed the fridge with milk products, something caught my eye. I stared. I could not believe. What I had stared at was so very familiar to me, yet it belonged to my images and memories from some other Nordic country. There, on the top shelf, there was a pile of pots with the very real and the very Icelandic SKYR!!! Woow!!!

This surely is the news of the day as I am so very happy that Finland has started to import skyr from Iceland. Now what is skyr and how have I fallen in love with it? According to Wikipedia, skyr is an Icelandic cultured dairy product, similar to strained yoghurt. Technically it is a very soft cheese. It is very popular in Icelandic cuisine. It seems to have originated in Norway and been brought to Iceland by the Vikings. Skyr has a slightly sour dairy flavor, with a hint of residual sweetness. Commercial Icelandic manufacturers of skyr have added flavors such as vanilla, berries, etc. common to yogurt to the final product, to increase its appeal.  

Skyr is exactly what I was longing to taste even before my first trip to Iceland in 2003; you must know that I have always been a big fan of Iceland, anyway. During my first trip I ate really a lot of skyir; I guess I don't need to repeat how much I liked it. This summer I went to Icleand again - and the first thing I did when I came to Keflavik airport was that I had bought a skyr in the shop on the airport and ate it  outside while waiting for the bus to Reykjavik. Strawbery skyr. Then, I dragged my two friends all over the city to the biggest shopping center in Reykjavik, Kringlan, just because I had read that somewhere near that shopping center should be an ice-cream shop, which sells skyr ice-cream. I took a map and walked and finally found ÍSland, the place with great home-made skyr ice-cream. And of course the last thing I ate in the morning before leaving Iceland in August 2010 was again a big pot of skyr. 

I have missed skyr. Until now. I really like such cottage cheese/yogurt-like products; however, skyr is, at least for me, something special. It should be also very healthy, low on calories and with lots of proteins.  My favorite flavors are vanilla and strawberry, but I also like others. However, it seems that the economic crisis has affected Iceland also in the way that they have started to export skyr to Nordic countries - first, I think, it was to Norway in 2009. Well, I just hope Finland will like skyr, and that the product will remain here in our shops. For the benefit of the Icelandic exporters - and just because skyr rules. 

RUSKA

I was away from Finland for 9 days - on holiday in Slovenia. While I was away, all the birches in front of my building had turned golden yellow. The birches, so typical Finnish trees, grow in the park here, and my balcony looks directly to the park; thus, I have a nice autumn view, especially if the day is sunny. Just too bad that the trees will soon be black and bare, all the leaves on the ground. However - Finnish ruska, the time of colored trees, is really beautiful. 

Otherwise I have brought some autumn flu from Slovenia with me, which is totally annoying. Not to mention that I am on sick leave right after I have returned from holiday... now how clumsy is that... 

A LUSH LJUBLJANA

Whenever I am visiting Slovenia, I have to, of course, do some shopping. Usually, I pick up the shops/stuff I cannot get in Finland; however, in case of Lush I realized  I also have to buy their products in Ljubljana - or in Tallinn. I was actually quite surprised when I had find out that cosmetics of Lush is actually cheaper in Ljubljana (and in Tallinn) than in Helsinki. Whereas the prices in Ljubljana and Tallinn were the same, the difference between Helsinki is much cheaper - from 2€ for soaps up to 7€ for Dream Cream and even 10€ in case of some more expensive creams (which I don't buy, I have just noticed the difference).

The thing is that Lush is a big worldwide chain, and according to my experience with other big chains I would expect similar prices everywhere; at least H&M does not do any difference, and prices are the same either in Ljubljana or in Helsinki. The Body Shop is similar everywhere in Europe as well; also in Tallinn. The Lush example is interesting; however, I did not shop in any other Lush store to do a more exact comparison, just in Helsinki, Ljubljana and Tallinn.

Anyway, I have bought a few of my favorite products and spent quite a lot at once - well, I hope I have also managed to save some money as I have chosen a cheaper Lush-franchise. ;)

P.S.: For all of you that come to this page while searching for any info about Lush store in Ljubljana- you can find the shop in the old town, right next to the famous Robba fountain, the address is Ciril-Metodov trg 21. However, more info is here.

NOTD - Nails Of The Day

Just because I have become a nail polish fan and because I read more and more nail polish as well as make up related blogs. :D Not a perfect swatch at all, but one has to learn, right? Oh, btw - the black line on the edge of the fourth finger was removed later.

Depend 019, IsaDora Graffiti Black Tag and Essie Good to Go on the top

HELSINKI - REALLY THE BEST?

While I was writing posts within one internet forum, I also had to mention, every now and then, that I live in Helsinki, Finland. Well, I am not boasting with this - it's a fact, I am an immigrant, at least at the moment. However, the reactions of other members were something like "ooh, Finland, I envy you, such a beautiful country" and "ooh, Helsinki, I envy you". Yet - are Helsinki really so great and the best city and all?

Newsweek magazine recently ranked Finland as the best country to live in - mainly because of very good educational system - but still. I surely do like living in Finland, it's clean and naturally beautiful country. The salary is in general good - but on the other hand, the taxes are high, and that hurts. Further more, there really is a big difference between Helsinki and, for instace, Jyväskylä where I first lived. Helsinki is, of course, much much bigger - here lives half a milion of the population, whereas in Jyväskylä it was less than 100 thousand. So, all the good shops are basically located in Helsinki, all the biggest bands come to Helsinki; the city is a capital and, as most probably elsewhere in the world, everything aims to the capital.  

However, it also looks like that it is much easier to find a job in Helsinki. Thus, people have to move from other parts of Finland - and that causes a shortage of proper rental apartments. So, there is a big competition among tenants, which make rents very, very high. I mean, the difference between Jyväskylä and Helsinki is almost 60%  regarding rental costs. For instance, one can easily pay even 900€ for a small one-room flat in Helsinki, whereas in Jyväskylä the rent could be 400€, or even less. Of course there are possibilities to get a municipal flat, where the rent is cheaper etc. - but for a young individual just starting to work and with no family, small flats on the rental market seem to be the only option. And thus, one has to take the situation as it is, and get over it.

As Helsinki is much bigger than other cities in Finland, I also sense some kind of metropolis-feeling. Sometimes, the city feels too crowded, and one cannot be alone. People squeeze on vacant seats of public trasport, and sometimes I get this feeling that they really don't care about others. There is much more rush and ignorance in general; quite hard to explain. Annoying and loud teenagers, people all the time talking on mobile-phones, no silence. Drunks, and lately beggars from Romania. All in all - Helsinki can be too big and too crowded place, where one can hardly maintain her or his own little personal space. 

Anyway... I like Helsinki, and I like living in Helsinki. I like green suburbs, I like the sea, I like the fact that people have so many dogs here - and I also like the fact that I can get much more stuff  here than in Jyväskylä, or even in Ljubljana. Helsinki is trendy and up-to-date; Helsinki is, afterall, very cool -  but still no fairyland.   

BLOG AWARDS

Ulmiel has just created a fresh and colorful nail polish blog Did Someone Say Nail Polish? - and handed me two blog awards. Kiitos, thanks, hvala! :) The awards are Sunshine Award and Happy 101.

The rules are:
1. Save the image above and post it on your own blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.
3. Link the nominees.
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from. 

The rules are:
1. Post who gave you this award.
2. State 10 things you like.
3. Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment.

10 THINGS I LIKE

   more or less random order

1. dogs <3
2. metal music with good lyrics
3. traveling (consequently, Iceland and Finland)
4.   Japanese martial arts (or visiting a fitness club, heh)
5. good movies
6. water
7. foreign languages
8. nail polish
9. independence 
10. ice-cream

Now I should pick up some nominees, but I am not sure how many bloggers still read this blog as it had slept for a while...  Well, let's try. I pick: 

Alcessa

Nina

Riki 

OK,  it's Sunday, I have time and so I should go and apply one of those three nice and also nicely expensive nail polishes I have bought last week. ;) 

THE AWAKENING, A MINDSTREAM

Just yesterday, I was given a question similar to "Do you still write your blog, anyway?" Then I went to check my dear Kanelikirja, and the last post was written in April. Huh. 5 months ago or what? I did not miss writing so much, I felt kind of empty - and on the other hand, I was dealing with my "new life" a lot. Tiredness, stress, trying to deal with my endless M.A. thesis - and also some a bit better things. Dogs, shopping and especially travel.

I don't even know if I still have some readers, but well... let's try to bring Cinnamon Book back to the blogosphere. Perhaps, I should do a little make-over, considering the themes and also lay-out, sometimes just write, sometimes just post pictures. Let's see what happens! I think blogging is still a very cool hobby - and I am becoming a fan of, especially, make-up blogs. Jep, here the shallow part of Kaneli is exposed. ;) By the way, blogging is also a great way of therapy, and perhaps I need some therapy again. :P I miss talking, I miss my friends from Slovenia and Jyväskylä, I miss the dog... and I just miss because of missing, hard to explain.

Yesterday was also the first day of autumn, and here in Finland trees have been changing colours already for a month. Almost every day I see wild gees migrating south, in big and small flocks; I have never seen so many migrating birds before, or I just haven't notice them. The autumn reminds me how fast the time goes. I feel comfortable, but all the time I have this little burdon of my thesis, and fear what could happen in the future. And now is autumn again. Time moves too fast by all means.

Alright, let's finnish now this mindstream, before any doubt appears and I won't even press the Publish Post button, thus leaving Cinnamon Book forgotten. I guess Kaneli can still share her stories in the future, and she will try to do her best - now let's just hope there will still be those who listen... and who have listened to Kaneli's stories all this time. Is it four years already...? Must be.

Nice autumn I wish! :)

A LOT AND THEN AGAIN NOT

What's new? Some things in my life have changed all of a sudden, some are still the same... First of all, I have got a job in Helsinki. Thus, I also have my own flat and I don't have to share it with flatmates. Finally. I had good as well as bad experiences with shared flats and people that shared the flat with me; however, I rather live on my own. Oh, it is a very big difference. I am certainly among those that cherish individuality and, sometimes, also loneliness.

So I had to move quite fast into a new city; alright, that was not such a problem as I had known Helsinki quite well for some years, at least the center. The thing is that I had to start with a whole new rhythm. Which makes me to feel a bit old. But... I should still finish my Master's thesis and that is what still makes me a student. :) And also bothers me a lot... I am really slow when it comes to writing a thesis, any kind of a thesis...

Well, I guess I should not complain as it is probably not that easy to get a job in these times I am happy that the days here up North are much longer again. Spring is finally coming to Finland, no matter some remnants of snow are still lurking under shady corners. However - good Vappu, May Day I wish!

COLOURFUL UPDATES

OPI Romeo & Joliet

Nothing special is going on, I am basically working on my thesis, or at least trying to work on it, and so I actually do not come up with some interesting material for the blog. However, some things are new and they even surprise me. I guess it's because I was bored with colourless everyday of Finnish as well as Slovenian winter, or merely bored with colourless everyday in general - and so I had started to paint my nails. For a girl that has owned just a transparent top-coat and possibly some black nailpolish only a month ago, this surely is a big change. I think that now I have something like 15 or 17 nailpolishes - heh, I am not even sure about the exact number. :P

It all started with a small bottle of Lumene's blueberry-purple polish called Drama Queen. I was quite skeptic as I was not very patient when applying colorful polishes in the past, I was clumsy with the brush, I put too thick layers, the polish did not dry nicely etc. But when applying Drama Queen I was more concentrated - and I have realized one just needs some more patient (which I surely need to practice, so dealing with nail polishes is useful in this way) as well as a good polish (my black ones were usually very low-quality). So I have started to enyoj the colours on my nails and I have also started to collect nail polishes. Well, at first I thought I would only stick to those small 4ml bottles of the same family as Drama Queen was, but then, and this is another "interesting" update, I have started to follow some nail-polish blogs and forums. Thus I have discovered some other famous and commercial names like OPI and China Glaze. Finally, I have also found out that one can get OPI as well as CG polishes in JKL as well. Eeek. Luckily, some very nice shades were also on 70%-off sale. :D

Now I am thinking to get a small cosmetic case as I suppose my nail polish collection would probably keep growing. At the moment I am protecting myself to start ordering stuff via Ebay as internet shopping is dangerous in the sense of wide selection of products. However, I have already realized, kind of, that there are numerous shades of one colour and that one could just keep collecting forever; according to my current polishes, I prefer purples and reds, rather darker than brighter. But I do own one bright turquoise and shinny apple-green, too.

All in all, I probably won't change Cinnamon Book into a fashion/make-up/polish blog as I don't feel too competent for something like that, and I guess I have not turned that commercial. Or well... let's first see how nice I will learn to apply polishes; at the moment I cannot even take good pictures of swatches. I dare to say I have got better with eyeshadows, but that would be another story. ;)

NEW YEAR, NEW TRIP

First of all, I should wish all dear friends and fellow bloggers HAPPY 2010! Lots of luck, love and such nice things. And for the bloggers only - lots of interesting posts! I might not be writing that regularly, but, believe me, I have become a constant and devoted reader of your writings.

A moose resting in Skansen - especially for Alcessa ;)

Again I spent Christmas here in Jyväskylä and it was really nice as we had so much snow. It is just perfect white winter, regardless -20 degrees Celsius; and it just keeps snowing. However, for the rest of the Christmas/New Year's holidays I got another chance to visit Sweden - the capital Stockholm, to be precise. My Slovenian friends had got some very cheap tickets from Klagenfurt, I had booked a ship from Turku harbor, and off we went.

Regardless the fact Sweden is just across the sea and Finland's neighbor, the actual trip from Jyväskylä to Stockholm takes much more than a flight from, for instance, Klagenfurt. 4 hours on a train to Turku, a whole night on the ship to Stockholm's harbor Tegelvikshamnen. I had a cabin on the ferry so at least I could sleep. I went to Stockholm once already, but that was with a group of exchange students. We had shitty cabins below the car deck and near the engine room; okay and good when one plans to drink all night and then sleep drunkenly for a few short hours. However, if the passenger wants to sleep as I do, and enjoy other things but drinking, then I would recommend a better cabin. Mine, for instance, had a window and so I was even able to see the shores of Åland during the night. Well, the reader must note that these big ferries sailing between Finland and Sweden are kind of big floating fun/drinking places, yet there are still some people that use the ship as a means of transport.

Runestone

And then Stockholm... this time, I stayed in the city much longer than during my first visit. Also, now I was in a cosy place with a bunch of friends. And yes, it was very cold, it was snowy and icy, we were sometimes walking too much and we were tired and our mood might had been bad sometimes, but still. It was time for visiting museums, for remnants of the Vikings, for runes carved in stones, for white squirrel with red eyes (a painting in Nationalmuseum). It was also time to see some modern art in Moderna Museet, like for example Dali, Warhol, Pollock and others. And it was also time to walk on the frozen Vallentuna lake in the sun while the snow was glittering all around.

Vallentuna lake

Finally, it was also time to do some shopping, but those details would destroy all the upper fairy tale. Anyway, I liked the city, regardless the winter cold and lots of tourists swarming in Gamla stan. Now when I am back to my everyday with the new Koirien Kalevala calendar for the year 2010 (the year in which I have to finish my MA thesis)... now I have realized that we had really some good time in Sweden and that also Stockholm can produce some special magic I am usually looking for when traveling to the cities abroad. Jep, it was nice.

P.S.: But Helsinki still has better metal bars! ;)