Sauna
We finns have this tradition of spanking ourself with a birch whip in a hot (not steamy) dark room and after that go outside to -20C degrees and do some ice swimming or rolling in the snow.

Oh how I miss that and OH how I love my gym's sauna! Couple of days ago after my gym workout I couldn't wait to get to sauna and when I got to ladies locker room I quickly got rid of my sweaty pants and got my towel and ran to the glass doors.... when I saw this british lady with her damn newspaper and spectacles in the sauna. HERESY! Temperature must have been close to the room temperature and because I'm polite, civilized person the inner crazy finn just can't go inside that glass box and be like "you wan't to know what a REAL SAUNA is like?!" and start throwing water on the rocks.  You just simply can't do that. So I turned my back at her and had a nice warm shower and with tears in my eyes and trembling lower lip walked home feeling all blue...

I haven't noticed before how important sauna really is to me. Not just the relaxation but the real meaning of sauna: All can be washed away in sauna. Stress, illness, worries, muscle pain, nightmares, men problems... anything!

Sauna has it's place in finnish culture: Childbirth? in Sauna! Getting married? Bridal Sauna it is! Somebody dies? Wash the body in sauna before burial! Bad illness? No worries Sauna will deal with that! And because finnish men really don't talk that much so confessions and deep conversations are actually made in the Sauna...

These films may enlighten the subject a bit more:
Sauna - Wash your sins movie trailer
Steam of life trailer

That's why I'm glad to get back to my gym (and sauna) routines!

Saara popped into London with the best timing. No matter how long it has been since we last time saw it always feels like there hasn't been any gaps between our conversations! So there we were in my local bar Magic garden enjoying some quality sider and beer and each others company. Oh those memories of our time together in basic and secondary schools... what people we know do nowadays.. how things have changed... Where are we now in our life's and yet there is still a lot ahead of us! It really did good to have some one next to you who knows you really well and reflect your life situation and get some questions solved.


You yourself can effect your own life quality pretty much I must say. You decide where you live/work, with whom you hang around with, who you welcome to your life and what things develop from that. Even if your heart tells completely opposite occasionally you just have to be rational! It may sound harsh but I'm personally fed up with people and their excuses to things that make their life complicated: "My boyfriend did...", "Well I have dark hair so...", "I'm too stupid..", "Well that guy still..." Skip the bad and lousy excuses and be in control of your own life and responsible of your own actions! HA!

It's really good to face your nice and not so nice sides: Last friday I again found myself alone at home and used the change to relax and have mani-pedi-facial done and of course take care of that that odd mousey greyish dark blonde root growth! It was supposed to be good and gently solution for scandinavian hair type and just to brighten up the dull color... after 30min I realize that a albino is staring at me from the mirror.

At the first change when my flatmate Vilja called to see if I was home I started to cry on the phone that I have destroyed my hair and that world has come to an end! And when she came home she looked at me with this faint smile on her face: "Is that what you called "destroying your hair?!...".

(Yes! It's bye bye natural blonde and welcome peroxide blonde! )

I actually woke her up the following morning to assure myself that my hair looked alright. She wasn't too happy about it and 20min later I returned to her room keeping my head high and admitting that I have behaved like a drama queen and really over reacted. Then I officially apologized my behavior and we both started laughing from the bottom of our hearts. I now admit that I have a tendency to act sometimes like a true diva and drama queen. But isn't that ok for women? If I'm most of the time a wonder woman isn't it ok to have my weak moments too?

So now I look at the bright side of al of this and aim to try the look of my idol...

 Marilyn Monroe! The most beautiful and femine woman who has ever walked on earth!

Finally challenged myself in one of my maybe most awkward fears. Those who know me and my habit to "take the stage" and "be in the spotlight" may think that I'm like a fish in the water in front of the people (underwear, fancy dress, nude...what ever!) when in fact I'm actually terrified of being in front of the camera.

So there I wen't in to this beauty studio where they did photo shoots too. Name of the game: Make over and pictures in at least 4 out fits. All that time I felt a bit horrified and my heart beat in my chest like a ADHD rabbit. First I sensed that the make up and hair artist thought that I would be one of those individuals that don't like anything too wild but got really excited when I really let him do what he wanted. God damn! I don't have any idea how the make up, hair or anything looks like in pictures so let the professionals do what they have to do! (Btw first time in my life to have fake lashes...)

Photographer was amazing and I felt absolutely relaxed with him. They told me that there should be pretty good results and when I first saw all the pictures I started giggling hysterically. It was really odd to see that girl in the pictures posing like a real model in various poses. Good pictures... Over 20 of those! He must have taken about 30 pictures so I have to admit that that photographer certainly knew what he was doing.  Unfortunately I couldn't get all the pictures myself.

For some reason I have always felt like from the pictures people would only see what I look alike and not what I really am, what I'm feeling or thinking. WRONG! America's next topmodel isn't that much of a fiction. You have to know how to smize and follow photographers intructions. You have to be the tabula rasa!

Anyway I certainly recommend everyone to have a photo shoot like that! Especially if you feel a bit unsure about yourself or your body. (Or just uncomfortable in front of the camera like I did...) This really opens up your eyes in a completely different way.

My move to London has exposed to be a journey to get to know myself better too. It may sound quite egoistic but if you think about it more carefully it all starts to make sense. Challenge yourself, take yourself out of your comfort zone, start to notice how you react in challenging situations and try to understand why you react that way. The more you understand your behavior, thinking and your own feelings the easier understanding others will get.

And just to avoid being too serious and metaphysical here's pictures of studying in my way:

All over my bed in the evening and still there when I wake up in the morning= Single girls dreams come true!

These little notes have found their way in my biochemistry book and finally it all seems to make a lot more sense to me! Thank you british odd sense of humor and bad dark jokes!