Age

I happened across the "Twilight" series of books. Fell in love with the story - I'm after all a complete sucker for romance. I picked up the phone to a good friend of mine in London to tell her about Twilight. I was astonished by her response - "That's a children's book! (and then in a much light-hearted tone) I forbid you to read anymore! ;-)"

It then struck me - at what stage in our lives do we decide we're too old? Too old to wear certain clothes, watch certain movies, read certain books and hang out at certain places? Or is it just the pressures of society that give us a false sense of security in an obscure "norm"?

It's the whole nature vs. nurture argument all over again. But no matter which way we spin it, we ARE influenced but the society we live in. And those brave enough to stop worrying about what others think of them and start worrying what they think of others have achieved a great freedom.

---RANT END---

What has age got to do with it anyway, it's for each one of us to decide when we have passed the twilight of our youth...

Till then, I'm climbing back in bed with the sequel: "New Moon" :-)

The catch up

Well, Tandia was excellent, not quite as good as The Power of One, the "romance" definately could have been excluded.

Spent the last couple of weeks working on my business, watching movies, reading and getting ready for South Africa.

Movies

• Taking of Pelham 123 - quite good, wouldn't watch it again though.


• Public Enemies - a slow start, but thoroughly enjoyable.


• Bronson - had no idea what this movie was about before it began. Really great directing and interesting movie. Very unusual and needs an open mind to be enjoyed (Darn I missed my vocation in life - should have been a movie critic!).


• The Hangover - hilarious and highly recommended.


• L.A. Gigolo (aka Spread) - mmmm interesting, but save it for a rainy day - dvd.


• The Proposal - Chick Flick, predictable but still good entertainment.

Business
Going well and on track for the 1st Oct launch.

South Africa
Heading over to a Spring-time SA (in 3 weeks) and am really looking forward to it, however, it does mean one thing - packing AGAIN! I'm now officially an expert in packing, repacking, unpacking, pack pack pack!

Gym
OUCH is all I can say... my legs are sooooo sore - there must be an easier way!

Life
Loving life, I have been blessed to have a life overflowing with joy, happiness and love.
Strive everyday never to take it for granted.
Thank you Lord!

Finland Forest & Lakes

Awoke rather early for a Saturday, packed a bag and headed for a hike in the forests and lakes of Finland with an organised tour group. On the way to meet everyone, I stumbled across these guys...

I did chuckle at the guy on the right - he seemed on a different planet!

Two hours later we arrived at the Nuuksio Nature Reserve.

Super cute sign!

The guide had the most hypnotic voice, made you feel sooooo sleepy listening to him, however some of the facts were rather interesting:

The government allows you to pick berries in the forest and sell them, all profits are tax free.

As they also have a huge problem with wild mushrooms, you are entitled to pick these

Eat them - if they're edible (or you're just brave!)

BUT you cannot sell them.

The paths in the forest were lined with stunning yellow flowers, paradise for bees

and so pretty with all the butterflies.

The trees in the forest are NOT allowed to be cut down; however, if a tree falls naturally you may cut up the wood and use it.

The hike started out on a main road

then slowly turned into a well trodden path

in the more dense areas there were planks you walked across

Of course all the stagnant water around could only mean one thing: MOSQUITOS - In their drones! Luckily, our guide insisted we all use a repellent as we climbed off the bus - which he supplied - life saver!

The scenery was diverse

From the magnificent tree tops

to the ground - everything was alive

almost enchanted.

Then in the midst of it all... this! Cute.

After about an hour we reached the lakes

Wow

Wow

WOW!!!

Really exquisite!

That was until the heavens opened - but that just added to the mystique of it all.

A solitary jetty

then as if in the middle of nowhere - a home. Imagine living here - I think summer would be wonderful but winter... mmmm not so much.

That home above is actually visible in this photo (click on photo to enlarge).

The hike concluded with some sweet tea and Finnish bread. People from all over the world were on this trip: Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, South Africa, China and England. I'm sure there were more nationalities, but those were the only ones I spoke with.

All in all - a great day. Really beautiful and well worth the effort!

The Power of One

I must confess I have been totally engrossed in the book "The Power of One" and have neglected all else - it really was unputdownable!!! It is undoubtedly one of the best books I have ever read, second only to Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom".

Unfortunately I have made the grave mistake of starting the sequel "Tandia"... so you may not hear from me in the next few days!

Happy Reading!

Finland Fun Fair

Now I LOVE funfairs, the rides, the atmosphere, the food, the people, the adrenalin - you name it! Finally the Helsinki Fun Fair opened (it closes during the winter months).

First things first, as the ritual begins...

Ritual 1: The Big Wheel.


You get a feel for where everything is and what rides are a go or no-go. You can see Helsinki in the distance.

Ritual 2: Always start with a crazy ride that gets you into the swing of things!

This one more than did it.

Ritual 3: Then a tame ride.

Caution: Never wear white while going on any water rides! (Advice I should have adhered to!)

We were drenched

Ritual 4: Dry out whilst gorging on real "healthy food" and then discuss the "veto" rides.

Marc is more of an adrenalin junkie than I am, so we agreed for every 10 rides I can veto 1 ride.

Ritual 5: Free for all!!!

"Veto" Ride 1

Definitely "Veto" Ride 2

Marc - Letting Loose!!!

"Veto" Ride 3

This is without doubt the worst ride!

My final "Veto" Ride 4

This is more my style - "The Rainbow"

But nothing beats the good old fashioned Roller Coaster!

Such Fun, such fun!!

BLING BLING!!!

When Marc first proposed it was without a ring, so we decided to look for one together. This process took WAY longer than expected. I never saw the purpose of actually buying a ring unless it was perfect. It only took 2 years... and finally it arrived today.

I just LOVE it!!!

My sister once said to me years ago, "It's not about the ring, it's here (pointing to her heart) that makes you married". Such wise words... but still great to have the "Bling Bling"!

Madonna

Helsinki is a buzzing tonight as Madonna is in town!

Would have rushed out to buy a ticket - if it weren't for my terrible experience at a Madonna concert in London.

I was at the concert with a friend, Monique, when the guys behind us bought some drinks. Mine was spiked! Monique turned around, grabbed the guy by the collar and gave him a piece of her mind... What a horrifying experience - totally ruined the concert!

Loving the Finnish Summer!

Watched "The Hangover" yesterday - it was brilliant, very funny indeed. Definitely worth watching.

Marc played cricket today while I worked on the 2008 blog. Then it was time for another fabulous braai / bbq.

Loving the Finnish summer!

Neither here nor there

The sky was fierce today with much thunder and lightning - it was brilliant.

Also had a super long chat to my friend Meridy, who moved to Sydney a few months ago. Ahhh I do miss my friends!

I was really disappointed when I found out my ring was not going to arrive today... instead the earliest will be the 5th August. It's true what they say "A watched kettle never boils", well I have been waiting for almost 3 weeks now and gee, time can move slowly when looking at the clock!

So decided to treat myself to a movie - you guessed it, "Harry Potter". It was not nearly as good as the other HP's but set the scene for a great 7th movie! Finishing the evening with some Indian take-away, "West Wing" and my baby!

I want one!!!

This was just too adorable not to share - so cute!

I can't wait to get one!

Bleakness...

Just realised the we have NO photos of our trip from Sydney to Adelaide. No 12 Apostles, No giant lobster, no submarine "city", no crater, no photo's of Melbourne - but then that's no great loss! ;-) and even worse... no photo's of my friend's wedding either! Bleakness I tell you; Bleakness!

The weekend

This weekend I started a book "The Adventures of Harold Trollope", he is my great grandfather. It's been very interesting and entertaining so far and I can't wait to finish!

Also went to see Ice Age 3 - in 3D. So imaginative and extremely cleaver, a great laugh!

Apart from that, and a rare appearance at the gym, just worked on the 2008 blog. When we were burgled in Dec and they stole our laptops, with it, all our photos. I am only now, just beginning to realise how many memories were captured and lost!

So I'm "beg, borrow or stealing" photo's to make up for this loss ;-)

Just so grateful I uploaded some pic's on facebook, at least those have been saved!

Cleaning

I bought a clothes drying rack today and bizarrely enough they had vacuum packed it

Definitely not user friendly when unwrapping!

As I was also in a spring cleaning mode today, decided to include some admin and stumbled across these...

From top left across:
BBC Security Pass (SP), BSkyB SP, RSSB SP, SP for the Queen Mary II cruise, ITV SP, Skandia SP, WCC SP, Open Water Divers Card, a very old ID used for London transport, a fake "student" card forged in Cairo for $40 - all students got major discounts on transportation (bad bad bad me! hehe), Euro Card for when I went travelling across Europe on the next card - Bus-a-bout and of course the infamous London Oyster Travel Card.

Such great memories!

Harry Potter...

I've never been that into Harry Potter. I'm more a chick-flick type gal and always thought HP to be super scary! yeah yeah yeah yeah I can just hear what you're thinking! :-)

Anyhow, after all this hype about Harry Potter I decided it's about time to do something about it...

1. First stop Video Store
   
2. Popcorn
   
3. Couch
   
4. Uninterrupted hours just HP and me
   
   

Watched all 5 movies and surprisingly LOVED them. Of course that's because I could just press pause whenever necessary!!

Point of note:
The DVD's in the video store all have Finnish covers and synopsis's, and if that's not confusing enough there's no way of knowing if the movie is actually an English or Finnish one - so unless you recognise the actors...

Just embracing the culture!

Just another manic Monday!

Today has been one of THOSE days...

You know, when the alarm goes off and you say to yourself, just 5 more minutes. The 5 min turns out to be an hour later - when you bolt up and realise you still have to shower, wash and dry your hair, tidy the apartment, eat some breakfast, draw out some cash and be at the acupuncturist in just 20 min!

Now, my hair doesn't do "rush" well - unless it's blow-dried to my scalp it becomes wilder than a lions mane. So there I am trying to eat my toast with all this hair getting in the way and I'm wondering why this darn tea is taking so long to draw, after taking a quick gulp realised that might be it - I never boiled the water! doh...

With no time to waste, toast in one hand, an umbrella in the other I run down the road in the pouring rain. Not looking where I'm running - SPLASH - hit the biggest puddle ever, now my jeans are soaked and it's too late to realise that perhaps flip-flops aren't the best thing to wear today either!

As I open the door, I think to myself "phew made it, nothing else could possible go wrong..." I should have known to touch wood for my sunglasses were trying their best to keep my hair tame but came shooting off my head, as I turned around to pick them up I accidentally hit the corner of the table and broke it!

Think I'll just curl up in bed for the rest of today and wait for tomorrow to arrive!

Bits and bobs...

Now that the 2009 blog is up to date, I started the 2008 travel blog. Wow... I'm surprised how difficult it is to remember what happened only a year ago - is this an age thing?!?!

While I've been trying to think about what happened last year, I remembered a few things that happened this year...

• A while ago I decided to become more Eco-friendly so bought some "Ecover" cleaning products. After a couple of weeks and loads of washing later, it was time to do the dreaded ironing. The clothes felt SUPER soft almost as though I hadn't washed them. After some investigation... turned out I had been washing with "Conditioner"!
  
  
• We've bought steak - only to discover it was horse meat! (Shame, poor horse - Needless to say it was left untouched!)
  
  
• Bought chicken - which turned out NOT to be chicken and I'm too scared to ask what the vile taste really was!
  
  
• I spent an hour translating "How to cook oats" from Finnish into English- where is the instant 1 min oats when you need it the most!?
  
  
• The floors at the airport are made of wood and pristinely preserved - very nice!
  
  
• Marc missed his flight to the UK last time as there were major strikes on at the airport - this happens quite often and without warning!
  
  
• The doors lock backwards here... good thing to know especially when using public toilets!

Oh... and this is the "Premiere" opening of Harry Potter, which happened last night - a far cry from Leicester Square Premier openings!

It was held at the "Tennispalatsi Finnkino". This used to be an indoor tennis court facility, now converted into a cinema - have to say the most comfortable cinema I have been to with the most delicious tasting popcorn EVER! Yum

So it looks like this weekend I'm on my own as Marc has just left for the UK and I'm in bed with a tummy bug! :-(

Happy Engagement Graeme and Mishi, sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you. xx

The Tong Master - in Finland

Woke up to a gorgeous day!

After a great sleep in I headed off to gym... then off to the shops to pick up a bbq / braai.

Although it's small - it was BRILLIANT to be able to braai again... and as it's a disposable braai - no mess no fuss!

Marc was the "Tong Master..." of course.


Just perfect for the lamb sosaties I had made - very domesticated and yummy indeed!

Shop till you drop... or not!

So today Marc and I decided to check out this AMAZING outlet store which had a 70% discount sale... quite excited about the prospect we hurried over.

WOW... the advert was huge in the papers - quite the opposite of the shop! It must have been 3sq metres IF that! We opened the door, took two steps... moved our necks and that was that - most uneventful indeed.

So we headed over to catch a movie: Rajattu Maa (Crossing Over - Harrison Ford and Ashley Judd) it was too much of a "Crash" wanna-be film - entertaining enough though!

Then we strolled around new areas of town we hadn't yet frequented. Found a great shoe shop - and had to contain my laughter when I saw these

Priceless!

Quick story:
Yesterday I became a blonde again (after a year of being a red head and a brunette). Just in the nick of time too, as today I had a seriously blonde moment...

I was in an outdoor store looking at all the latest camping gadgets and stuff; when I came across this baby's stroller - a serious 4x4 stroller. I was quite impressed so pushed it a little, checked out the tyres, inspected the trimmings looked inside it, then went to call Marc over... only to return to find a frantic mother pushing her 4x4 stroller towards her husband and baby. Turns out this shop doesn't sell strollers after all!

Headed back home with some Indian Takeaway and Series 4 of The West Wing.

Snuggling in now for a great evening ahead...

1 Month Today!!!

Started posting to my blog one month ago today, have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. To date have had 95 hits - I am very pleasantly surprised!

Started my own business in May and am doing my first launch in October... so busy busy busy at the moment - hence the short post.

Life is good... enjoy!

2nd Anniversary

Can't beleive we've been married for 2 years already!

And just as happy as the day Marc proposed, on this private beach in Australia!

You can still see our footprints!

Chinese Medicine!

Today I went to an acupuncturist, heard such great reports about it so decided to try it out for myself.

Well it was... interesting. Afterwards I did feel amazing! Anyhow, as I was leaving, the acupuncturist told me to take one of these a day:

It came in the white "egg-like" shell. Yip it's the black thing. It tasted about as bad as it looks...

Now those who know me, know I DON'T take tablets very well on the best of days...

OH MY WORD... it was the second worst thing I have ever put in my mouth. The worst being some quinine tablets I had to chew when I was 12, in order to go on the school camp in a maleria infected area - scarred for life!

Had to try REALLLLLLY hard to keep it down. So I decided to actually check out the ingredients: Black-bone chicken, Sweet Wormwood, Oyster Shell, Deer Horn, Ovum of Mantis, Starwort Root - to name a few!!!

Needless to say the rest of these were quickly disposed of! brrrrrr I've got shivers just thinking about it...