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

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

Heya lovelies!

Long time no see! How are you all? ♥ 

I'm sorry I've been MIA for so many days, but I've been insanely busy with school, work, and personal life. I mean, I haven't even had the time to take pictures. How crazy is that?

But, there's some good news, too. We have signed the papers for a new apartment, and we'll be moving to it on February. Yay! So be prepared for interior decor related posts in the near future. ;)

Anyway, I decided to keep this post short, showing you this neat little mani I had on some while ago. I promise to post a Christmas related stuff very soon, though, so you will get more up-to-date material for once. But, check out this mani. I personally liked it a lot.

I used this amazing burgundy shade from Essie, and I Herd That from China Glaze. I also added some microbeads as studs.







And I also added a little cross to the thumb just for fun. The cross didn't come out the best possible way, but I still liked it.

What do you think about the manicure here, and what have you been up to while I was gone? Tell me! ♥ 

Now I need to catch some sleep, but I have a ton of things to share with you, so I'll be back sooner than you'll know. ;) Have a nice start for your week!

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna

Hi everyone! 

How are you? ♥ 

It's not a big secret I'm such a child at heart - that's why, even at the age of 22, I can't help but want an advent calendar. This year, though, I wanted something different. 

What do I mean by different?

Ciaté's Mini Mani Month calendar ♥

I had seen this beauty in some blogs and Instagram accounts and was dreaming about it - but couldn't even dream of actually buying it, before my mom said she would get one for me. Needless to say, I was over the moon. Thanks again, mom, it's amazing! Love you ♥ 

For those who don't know, Mini Mani Month is an amazing calendar, featuring 20 mini bottles of Ciaté polishes and 4 bottles or caviar beads. 3 of the nail polishes are exclusively for these calendars, which I think is super exciting. You can imagine how many manicures these all make possible to create.

I love the design of the calendar very much, the abstract geometric pattern is cool enough for a couture sweater, and the colorful lids make it fun (though maybe too easy) to find each day's polish. I also love the way they've printed fun facts, quotes and such on the inside of every lid.

I only got this yesterday, so I had 10 days' work to do with the calendar. The mini bottles are exactly that - mini. But I'm confident that I can do many manicures with each before the polish runs out. 

A closer look to the first caviar bead bottle to pop out. This one is called Prom Queen, and it has blue, pink/purple and silvery beads and hexagon glitter to it. I can't wait to see the other three!

After freeing the first ten bottles from their little "prisons", I took the time to admire the fun shades I got.

There's the caviar beads, two different shades of white, pink (which doesn't show here), dark red, purple....

...baby pink, gray, bright red, and a curious glittery shade. I wonder what tomorrow might bring?

So here you have it - a spoiled girl's calendar, a nail enthusiast must-have, and the perfect treat for a blogger in shopping ban to make it through this month without shopping. :D I'm super excited I finally got this, and I had to share this with you right away, even though I have a ton of things to post for you that should come before this... Oh well. 

So, what do you think? Yay or nay? And, if you have an advent calendar, what kind is it? Or, if you don't what is the best one you ever had (e.g. your childhood's favorite Christmas calendar)? Share your thoughts and memories in the comments! ♥

I wish a nice week to you all, I still have lots of things to do before I can have the holiday break from school - and I will let you know more later this week about that. But now, it's time for me to catch the bus and go to school!

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna

Hey peeps!

How are you all? And how was your weekend? ♥

Mine has been great, we had my fiance's mom's party today, which was fun since I got to meet new people and to eat nice food. We also got a lot of presents, so our Christmas tree doesn't look so lonely. ;) And the most exciting (now this is going to be shallow) thing is that my Ciate calendar is arriving tomorrow! I can open so many hatches (if that's the right word?) since it's so late, so it almost feels like Christmas! I'll blog more about the calendar later this week. ;)

Today's post is quite short, with another Autumn look I haven't had the time to post. This was a pretty simple one, with very little accessories. I was just wearing one of my favorite color combos - red and black.











Faux leather jacket: H&M
Red waxed jeans: Mango
Boots: KooKenkä
Bag: Mango
Knit: DIY
Scarf: mom's old

Very simple, pretty fun, and combining many things I love in clothing. This was one of those days I didn't feel  much like dressing up, so one could say this is what it's like when I dress down. The knit is something I made  a couple of years ago, and this Autumn I added some gold studs to it - which unfortunately won't show here, but will surely come up in some other post. :D

What do you think about this super simple outfit? ♥

Now, I'll get my cup of tea, latest episode of Glee, and start going through this weekend's blog posts with them. I hope you all will have a great start for your week, and I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can. ;)

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna

Hi beautiful people!

Who else is loving the fact it's December already? I know I am.

And because it finally snowed a little, it's not as depressing as it was a week ago because it's not so dark. I was energetic enough to get up at 8 to do a online exam, not sure if that went very well, but... We'll see. Also, this week I should go and get a new battery for our stubborn little car, who decided it's super fun to kill the battery as soon as the snow came. I would really need the car to get to work smoothly, but luckily the buses run pretty regularly, too, so as long as one dresses up warm enough, it's all good.

Though personally I think it's hard to dress up warm enough for -20 degree weather. (That's in Celsius.)

I'm really hoping my Christmas calendar would get to me soon, like, in this week, maybe. I bought one for my fiance yesterday and like a little child, I'm a little jealous because I don't have mine yet. It's silly, I'm aware. 

Today, I'm digging up my archives again and sharing this Autumn outfit - once again something the weather would not allow here at the moment. I hope I get to the snowy pictures soon enough, I'm at least planning to take those during the weekend. If it's not as cold as it is this morning.

Dress: Gina Tricot
Top: Gina Tricot (studs DIY)
Belt: Mango
Blazer: H&M (thrifted)
Boots: Boohoo.com
Bag: Mango
Snood: Gina Tricot
Earrings: Seppälä
Rings: Nelly.com

Simple, girly outfit with a little messy hair, something that felt right that day. I would love to learn to rock a "I just got out of bed" kind of hair, as that would solve many issues in the mornings. And think about the saved time! Those boots have been in so many outfits already, but I can't help myself as they are so comfy. Now they're a bit cold, but I'm going to clean them up and store them to wait for Spring very soon. I don't quite know what else to say about the outfit. Just that I had a couple of weeks I was very into neutrals this Autumn. And it shows here very well.

What are your thoughts about this combination? Has there been certain color schemes you've loved this year? Share your thoughts! ♥ 

Now I'm going to make a big cup of tea and watch a bit of one of my favorite series, after which I need to do some writing for school. But that doesn't stop me from writing comments to all your fabulous blogs. ;)

I hope you're all having a lovely start for your week, and keep warm even if you have a freezing weather out there like we do here in Finland! 

Blog ya later,

xoxo

Johanna