PREPARATIONS

I'm at work in Siberian weather loaing like hell until midnight, but yesterday and this morning I prepared a lot of things and put ourselves in the Christmas mood!

With a martini and some Sinatra we decorated our small Christmas tree last night.

It's actually the first Christmas tree I've had since I moved away from home a decade ago!

I usually pack a lot of my gifts in old newspapers - saving money, saving nature. Normally I go for the daily papers I've read at home, but this time I picked up some free chinese magazines in my local supermarket (apparently Tapiola is full of Chinese readers?). I make the cards out of lace-like cake paper or left over gift paper from last year.

If you have no idea of what gifts to give, a pretty bowl (from the flea market/super market/fancy store, however you like it) filled with fresh fruit would at least be appreciated by me.

I baked heaps of gingerbreads! Spelt gingerbreads with a hint of orange and another set with almonds.

Eddi wasn't totally happy with being dressed in my apron, having to mix the other dough. But he did enjoy eating it later on.

Saved some for ourselves, while the rest is meant to be decorated and given away.

The decorated ones turned out surprisingly ugly though. For a while I considered saying it was Eddi's kids who baked them. Disappointment. But well, I'm good at a lot of other things! And they do taste good.

I also gave myself a little Christmas present!I had already give up on receiving these before the holidays, but then the delivery boy arrived only minutes before I was on my way to work. Ave Maria was playing in hte background when I opened the parcel. It was a very beautiful moment.

And very beautiful shoes!It is however minus 20 C outside so I won't be wearing these beauties for some time. Well, except for indoors.

Bonus cat-in-the-box!

How are your Holiday preparations coming along?

Ok, Edit : it's almost minus thirty, not 'just' twenty.

CHRISTMAS AROUDN TOWN

Yesterday Ina and I went out on town for Christmas shopping and getting in the Holiday mood by visiting some of the Christmas markets and fairs in the centre. First time I've been on a carousel in winter! It was very cold so we also went in to café after café for glögg in between.








(I don't know how the f it was possible but we both happened to wear black cardigans and pink shirts. Or well, mine is actually jeany red but it's pretty close.)

COMBINED

Cold, snowy and windy weather isn't much about outfits to take pictures of but more about keeping warm. And it's also pretty damn dark most of the day so one might as well forget about natural light in photos.

But anyway, my point here was actually the one that you can very well use your summer dresses even though it's cold (well, when quite cold, not real freezing like minus twenty cold though), as long as you just layer right (remember?). Not the most sheer ones of course, but a good ol' cotton dress will do, preferably lined, worn with a long slip underneath, a blouse, cardigan and enough of stockings and socks.


I've been wearing some of my Trashy Diva dresses with wool stockings lately. The cardigan is vintage; a present from Ina for my birthday. The hat is from Made By (the Finnish version of esty). Lace up boots are old Vagabond.

WINTER WONDERLAND

Yesterday evening on the way home. All the same though, it could as well be morning as it is dark most of the day now.

ON THE WHITE DUNES

Last weekend Jackie, Lola and I headed up north to the plains of Pohjanmaa for a nightclub gig. The morning after, before taking the train home, we took a walk on the snow covered sand dunes. It was very cold, all-white creating a dramatic scenery. The photos turned out almost like stills of a film .(Well especially after I added the borders, heh)

TWO YEARS AGO

This Saturday two years ago exactly our first big burlesque-related interview was published in Volt magazine.



And our then so active music quiz team had a so called "Little Chirstmas party" and we all happened to be dressed in red ad black. Our taxi driver into town called me Marilyn Monroe.

Later that same night it started snowing, first snow of the year, and it snowed a lot. I was strutting around in my small red patent heels in all the wet white.

And that was also the night that I met my Eddi.

TIME TO TAKE OUT THE WINTER BOOTS AGAIN

And so I have; taken them out and in to use. Although it still is pretty warm* and wet over here; I wouldn't have had to quite yet.

*)=That of course depends on what you compare it with. Warm as in plus degrees yes, but the weather is still totally, like we say over here, from the arse.

I got these boots last year as I needed shoes for winter and thought they were pretty ok, although a bit 'trendy' for my taste due to the extra zipper on the side without any use. However, they turned out to be super comfy, kept warmth surprisingly well considering they are made out man made materials only, they fitted an extra pair of socks and still made my feet look super tiny and they did not let any water in when it was soggy and wet. Nor did I really think of that zipper either. So, it was a smart buy, I wore them a lot and I almost worn them out. That's why I was smart at the end of last winter and bought myself another pair! So far I'm still wearing the old ones, and saving the extra pair for later.

Anyway, I have received lots of questions from people elsewhere about the boots and where to find such; mine are from Din Sko, a shoe chain here in Scandinavia with rather cheap shoes, often considered to be of rather low quality. (Funny thing is, the shoes I've worn most for daily use and have lasted a long time have been form Din Sko...). The company makes new collections every season so I'm afraid they do not carry these shoes any longer (although they seem to have an uglier version available).

But, perhaps this will interest some of you; I spotted a smiliar kind of skiing-inspired boot on ModCloth; the Bowery Boot!



Oh, a little PS. still concerning shopping : Shabby Apple is offering the readers of The Freelancer's Fashion Blog a 10% discount for thirty days; Monday November 15th to December 15th! Shabby Apple has lots of lovely dresses, jewelry and other accessories. The code is freelance5810 and the shop can be found at shabbyapple.com.

PATTERNS, LINES AND ICE IN THE HARBOUR

Stripes on my window.


Rusty squares by berth.


Clear lines, clear blue skies.


Bird feet pattern on a frozen water pool.


A lot of ice.


A little less ice but some more water.


Now I don't know about you but ice-mash like this always makes me think gin tonic.


No ice (if I wouldn't know better I could fool myself it's summer already). You know all these ice pictures are taken within 250 meters of one another; ice can act pretty strange.


(I just put this picture here because I thought it looks nice with a little red among all the blue.)


I was here.


Yours truly.