Midsummer

Midsummer in London. Bird’s don’t sing, there is no light in 1am. On the roof I can see how the city goes to sleep, only taxis are driving under the street lights. We have some Rose wine on the Coca cola glasses and the neighbors’ cat is joining our celebration. Happy Midsummer I say. It doesn’t feel like it. Sky is dark, we cannot see any stars. No lake, strawberries, sauna, flowers, pagan magic and nature. This is London; Cars, buildings, people. No place for Juhannus.

xx Lipstick

Don't you know how it hurts?

Amazing music video. Directed by Teemu Niukkanen. Check his other works as well! I jusrt wish that I could be that talented!

xx Lipstick

London lifestyle

My week has been hectic; all of my weeks are hectic. It’s London. This metropolitan city makes people busy, when you do something you know that you should be doing something else in a same time. My friends and family don’t understand all the time that I just don’t have time. And when I have holiday and I come to Finland, it’s not a holiday for me, it’s keeping my relationships on. I feel that I would need a holiday for a holiday. I was talking about this to my aunt who has lived abroad almost all of her life and she said that she use to have couple of days “her” holiday in spas or doing something just by herself, before going to see all friends and family.

The truth is harsh, you cannot see everybody. For me first things what I want to do in Finland is spend time with my family and unfortunately friends are not the first ones in my mind.

London is busy. I realized yesterday after a work week, that I race with a clock every day. My normal day goes like this; I woke up at 6.45, leave to work at 7.20, start at 8am, and finish at 6pm, usually I work over time to 6.15 to 7 and then go to gym where I spend an hour then walk home and time is almost 9. I couple of times I do couple of hours more. Even if I crave more time, I know that this year has teach me how the life is really going to be in my future and how hectic it’s going to be then!

Today I’m going to meet some new people in First out café. It’s one of my favorite café in London, good vegetarian food, free g-magazine, down stairs there is a small bar and the decoration is warm and cosy.

Hyvää Juhannusta kaikille!

xx Lipstick

Feel the summer breeze...

Last weekend I walked central London and back to find a dress I desired to buy, but couldn’t find the right size anymore, size 14 is too big even if I would put 10 kilos. Day was warm and windy; we walked through Finsbury Park and found a duck pond where we saw these super cute ducklings!

xx Lipstick

ps. I have some big project going on now, so I’ll be busy!

Cats and Dogs

Today I was blessed to have coffee twice. First I had a morning coffee with my old roommates. They had been in New York and Rome last weeks and now came back to London and in two weeks they are going to travel in Europe. We went to one of my favorite café’s, Le Pain Quotidien, where coffee is amazing and the food also. I love the blueberry muffin they have in there!

Then I had coffee with my lady, espresso like I had yesterday and I tasted a little bit of my lady’s Mocha.

Now the weather is like the typical English weather, it’s raining cats and dogs, I didn’t have umbrella when I walked to home and now I’m wet and tired. Tomorrow work. Hopefully it's going to be sunny tomorrow.

xx Lipstick

(6/52)

White Mochas and Wine

 My day included White Iced Mocha, Chinese food, high heels, amazing piece of chocolate cake and espresso. I felt that today was the first really hot summer day in London. Last week I have worn jackets in work and being frozen in the mornings. There is a one good thing about no windows in a room; it’s nice and cool temperature inside even if it’s boiling hot outside.

I have been told that I’m “classy” or I look "posh" and I'm afraid that some people confuses that to arrogance. Some may say that the life I live right now is privileged.  I know that I have been really lucky to born in Europe, but mostly I'm just a normal girl from little town in Finlad. I don’t have more money than any other who works on “not so good paid job”. I can even say that I earn almost half of what you earn in Finland if you are a cashier and I save half of it to next year. Still I feel that I can have almost everything I want and I can eat in nice restaurants and drink coffee in cafes. How this is possible? It’s all about choosing what you really want to have. I don’t go and have huge nights out, if I shop I try to be really reasonable and only buy what I need. I believe that it’s only choosing what kind person you really want to be.

I feel so good to have that one piece of chocolate cake in small chocolate shop, than going out drinking too many wine glasses and being drunk. Yes I drink only wine or some drinks, but usually they are nicely priced so we stick only with the wine. I live really near to my favorite bar, where we had wine glasses yesterday, live music, laughing people, nice atmosphere. The best time in there is before night when the music is not too loud and you can eat something small with wine.

(5/52)

xx Lipstick

Living in London

Living in London is expensive and most of the money goes to rent. Young people live flat shares in here, which means that you have our own room, but you share kitchen and bathroom with others. Even people who has a permanent jobs, needs to live in flat shares if they want to live near to central.

My first room was a tiny box room, which means that it was a size of a box. In 1,80m x 2,00m you can have a bed and nothing else; I used to have my clothes on my suitcase under my bed. Room was on zone 2, but the nearest tube station was 20-30 walking distance. Rent was 70pounds per week plus bills, which is extremely cheap in that area, but so was the place as well. It was falling apart, our landlord wasn’t the real landlord, she was only making money from it, in my room there was a bed bugs, water was leaking to my room from upstairs, so was the other bathroom as well, in the winter it was so cold, that I needed to warm my clothes in the morning on radiators, because they were so wet and cold after a night.

The only thing which was good and how I survived there, (even if it was such a huge jump from well build Finnish houses to English flat shares), it was roommates, amazing roommates. Okay let’s say that first ones weren’t that nice, but eventually, the last ones, one Aussie couple, Aussie sisters and one British girl they were amazing. It was so nice to go home and just talk about the day. That place felt like a home.

My second place and where I live right now, is amazing location, next to tube station and huge mall. I can walk to work and I have bigger room. (I have even a wardrobe!) But, there is always a but, first this place was cold, like every other place. I bought a second heater, its okay, but I don’t have a window, so the room is really dark. Even if the place hasn’t been the best, I still feel little bit sad to leave. I’m going to live here next 5 weeks then I’m going to move to North London with my love and we’re hopefully going to have a studio or a flat!

xx Lipstick