Hey lovelies! ♥

Did you have a wonderful Christmas?

I had, which you can probably realize from the fact I wasn't posting anything - because I was too busy having fun with my family and enjoying the peaceful Christmas. However, I did take lots of photos, some of which I will share with you on weekend. ;)

Now, remember how I told you we found a new apartment and that we're moving? Well, in order to make the most of the new place, we kinda need to update our couches. My parents are so awesome they promised to help financing that, but in the condition we get rid of the old ones first. So, my fiance went online, and at the end of this week, we should have no sofas in our apartment. And we will order the new one(s) only after we have the exact measurements from the new place - which means we might live many weeks without a sofa. :D

But anyway, today I wanted to share with you some pictures I took before Christmas.



Welcome to Gingerbread Town!



This magical little town was at the Ideapark mall on Lempäälä when we were shopping a winter coat for my fiance. Luckily I remembered this, and therefore had my camera with me.



The houses there were built and decorated by ordinary people, and they were competing for votes - all in the hopes of being the best house in town.

They were all more or less cute, but I'm only sharing some of them with you so that the post won't go overboard.







I loved this church so much, the simple beauty of it was incredibly perfect. I wish I had the patience to make something like that. Maybe someday.





Also this one was amazing, it's so far from a traditional gingerbread house I had to actually see the little voting number on the right to realize it is, indeed, a gingerbread house. Amazing job!





This pink truck was, too, so completely adorable. I love the idea of doing this when others bake houses, because this one truly stood out from the rest.







There were also few international monuments, like the Eiffel Tower. Can't help but to admire the patience you need for doing this.



A beautiful castle with vines and all, gorgeous!







Some more traditional decorations, these both were adorable!



The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and of course, a bunch of tourists.



Colosseum, with a lion and all. I wish I had more accessories for my camera, so I could've photographed this bit closer.



And then there were some injured ones. I truly felt bad for the houses that had taken damage, because I'm sure everyone taking part in this had put a lot of thought, effort and time into their creations.



This was the saddest one. I'm pretty sure it wasn't meant to be this way. Luckily most of the houses were all whole and not damaged.

This gingerbread town is one of the things I look towards when the Christmas time approaches. (Pictures from last year's creations can be seen here!) Maybe some day, I will take part myself, if I find it in me to get around baking something that time-consuming.

Did you make a gingerbread house this Christmas? Or do you have some other baking traditions?

Post about my Christmas this year will be up as soon as possible - I have so many pictures to go through it will take a little time to choose the best ones. ;)

I hope you will have a great weekend! ♥

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna

Hey lovelies - and Happy Holidays to everyone! ♥

I hope you're all having a great time with loved ones, now that we didn't have an apocalypse and so on... ;) I just came by to post a quick little thing about our Christmas tree and its decorations - can't waste much time in writing now that we're visiting my parents - but I will be back in couple of days with another Christmas post. :)

Anyway, here are some more or less nice pictures of our tree, which is the only decoration I bothered to put up because of the upcoming move. (Guess who has start packing already? Only 40 days or so to go!)





I know it's a bit funny to put it on a table, but my sewing table is seriously the only place that can hold it without it being on anyone's way. :D Maybe in the next place we can have it on the floor for the first time! But anyway, here's more detailed photos of the decorations:





























So, what do you think about our tree? And, what sort of decorations do you have on the tree - or around the house now at Christmas time? Share your thoughts on the comments! ♥

Have a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, or whichever holiday it is you celebrate this time of the year - and those who don't, have a fabulous weekend!

I'm off now to celebrate with my loved ones. See you in couple of days!

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna

P.S. You can read through this week's post through following links:
Burgundy & Gold Nail Art
Our fun hockey-themed weekend!
Glittery Nail Art
Copycat: Serena van der Woodsen's first look
Bonus: My Advent Calendar from Ciate
♥

I know the boots on my look are different than the ones on the show, but, as Serena wears tall boots so often anyways, I thought it's fine. To more accurate look, go for ankle high boots with a little heel. :)



The scarf is the one many of you have loved on previous posts, and it is a little bigger than the one on Serena, but this was the closest I had. Also, the belt was a challenge as I have too many very wide ones - and not so many ones to wear with jeans.



Blazer: H&M
Denim vest: H&M (lace detail DIY)
Striped top: Gina Tricot
Scarf: mom's old
Boots: Boohoo.com
Belt: thrifted



I even tried to do my makeup the way Serena has it, but I don't know how close this came. :D





And of course this outfit isn't complete without a denim vest - which doesn't show in the inspiration photo, but can clearly be seen on the episode itself. I love the piece on the show, it is a basic denim vest in the front, but it has this delicate lace back. Unfortunately similar one is a bitch to find anywhere, so...



...I transformed my vest into one kinda similar. My sewing skills don't exactly go as far that I could completely replace the whole back with lace, but I added lace on top of the vest and thought it's okay like that.



So, here you have it, my version of the first Serena van der Woodsen outfit ever. If you have celebrity looks, outfits from TV shows/movies, or trends you want me to cover on these copycat posts in the future, let me know what you wanna see. I always like to hear suggestions for posts from you all, that keeps me constantly inspired as a blogger. :)

And, let me know what you think about this post! I still need to figure out a little more neat layout for this kind of posts, but what I really wanna know is what you think about the content otherwise. Share your thoughts on the comments! ♥

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna

Heya lovelies!

How are you today? ♥

I woke up this morning to this HUGE noise by our buildings renovation (thank God we get to move out) at 7:55am. Not cool. I'm on a break, for heaven's sake! Well, the good thing is that I get to balance my sleeping schedule back to great after six months or so when it has been bad.

And as many of you always want to know what I'm up to and so on, I might as well tell that I went to see a school nurse yesterday for school stress and the insomnia it has cost me. She gave me a lot of great advice, and we also checked my blood values, and turns out I'm anemic on top of everything. So after an hour of crying at her office about how stressed I am, I got home with a small pile of papers to read, book recommendations and so on. And I must say, it feels good now.

So do not worry about me, because everything is fine. The school just seems like a lot to take right now, but I'm sure I can find a solution for that, too. And according to the nurse, moving to a new place and reorganizing my life will help significantly. And I'm sure she's right, a clean slate is exactly what I need now. Luckily I have a fiance who is such a rock for me, I don't know how I'd go through everything without him.

Sorry for burdening you all with my little worries, but somehow I felt like this was something I want to share. Anyways, to more happy things - like mentioned, the moving is coming closer and closer day by day, and I get more and more excited as time goes by. :) We have so many ideas for the new place, and luckily we have quite the same view on how to decorate the place. I guess it'll go like this: My fiance draws the main lines on how the big furniture goes, and I get to plan the place of most little details that make the personality of the apartment. ;) Can't wait to show you everything!

Okay, the post is getting way out of hand... Let's move on to the main point, which is once again manicures.



Very simple girly mani with a little leopard print and glitter accent nail. I seriously love that glitter polish, it's from China Glaze's United in Purpose collection. Look at the rainbow sparkle!





Also, excuse the weird thumb, it had a bad time when I had this mani on, but I didn't want to cut them all down.



So that's the first glitter manicure. Ready for another?

Great. Here we go!



This was a bit more earthly, with China Glaze Kalahari Kiss and Glitter Goblin. The glitter was once again impossible to shoot, the pictures don't give justice to the multi-color shine it has to it.



Lol, can you see the marks on my hand? I clearly had been writing on my calendar before taking the photos. I have no idea how I manage to mess up my hands every time, though. :D



This is an overall bad pic, but it shows kinda nicely the colors on the glitter. Btw, if there's a reader here who knows the best way to photograph glitter polish, please share the tips with me - and of course, with the other readers. Thank you! ♥



I don't know about you, but personally I just love the base - Kalahari Kiss - because it's such a pretty shade.  I really need to do a new mani with it very soon. ;)

So, I would love to hear what you think. Do you like these manicures? And what colors have you used for your nails lately? Share your thoughts in comments! ♥ 

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna