PDX-VA-PDX

Wow... November has been slow when it comes to blogging! Sorry! Oh my goodness... Where to start? 

Well, this past weekend I got to spend in Virginia, one of my favorite places on Earth, with my wonderful friends and their families. I flew to D.C on Friday and back to PDX on Monday. I had a blast! I got to see pretty much everyone I wanted to see (except for a couple of friends who didn't live close by) and we were busy doing stuff the entire weekend! Wine tasting, hiking... I wish I could still be there :) But I'm loving Portland, and going to enjoy my remaining two weeks. 

Beautiful VA <3

Thank you all in VA!!! I'll miss you! 

I'm a good Zombie :)

Half of my trip is over. 

I haven't slept in 6 weeks, and I won't sleep in another 6 weeks. I'll sleep when I go back to Finland. You know how you get so tired at some point and everything just starts being funny? And how after that comes the stupid-mode, when you don't know which way is up and which way is down? I've been there. And now I'm in the third phase. 

The zombie phase. 

And at the same time, I'm ridiculously happy :)

This weekend I got to explore Washington State.

Just so you won't be bored with all the nature pics!

Deception Pass

I love how there's drift wood at the beaches in Washington. 

Back to rainy Portland :)

I also got to do some driving for the first time since I arrived here! I love to drive. I drove us up to Olympia from Portland, and later on back to Olympia from Whidbey Island. When we passed Seattle, it was dark and raining, but we had a clear view of the city's beautiful silhouette. I felt like I was on top of the world <3

Hope you all had a great weekend, and all of you here at the Pacific Northwest, don't let the rain bother you :) I was soaking wet when I got home today. I hope my shoes are dry tomorrow!

The new (old) me

Hi :)

It's been a while again, sorry. Like I said before, my life here is extremely active and busy. Always on the move. But this weekend has been surprisingly low key. We haven't even left the Portland area. Weird. And we've (oh, by we I mean me and my roomie!) been tired. Today, on the train back home, I told her: "It's been five weeks and finally we're tired." We're both so sleep deprived it's insane. 

That's what you get when you just have to see and do as much as possible.

So, I finally got my hair done yesterday! And let me tell you, it is UH-MAZING! 

I am so in love with my hair. I can't even tell you how much I love it. 

Also, got the red lipstick today. Told you I would. 

Someone told me I look like Maggie Gyllenhaal in this picture. Do you see it? I don't :(

I was talking about my style with a friend, and when I told her I was painting my finger nails black and was going to get a red lipstick, she said it was cool that I was getting a new style. I told here that it's not new, it's just me, but when I do it in Finland, people think I'm being weird. She suggested that I just stop caring. I said I will. And since I can't stay here, I'm bringing Portland with me. 

Everything's better with cookie dough

It's still October 1st (here it is, but in Europe it's already Tuesday. It's exhausting to live in multiple time zones) and this is already my third post this month. I'm officially proud of myself. While admitting that I'm partly posting this due to the lack of posts last week, I'm also doing this because I want to. 

I have an urge to write. 

This week is going to be great. I'm looking forward to going to work tomorrow. I'm looking forward to going out to dinner with a couple of friends on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to working late on Thursday, because the day will go by fast and then it's already Friday. I'm looking forward to Friday, because... it's Friday. 

On Saturday I'm getting my hair done. After that I'm going to the NW-area and feel like I belong there. I'm thinking I want to get a red lipstick. 

I haven't got a clue what I'll be doing on Sunday. Something, that's for sure. Staying put is not an option. Even though my feet would love it. But right now my life is very busy and active and I prefer it to stay that way. After two months I'll be gone, and thinking back... and if there's something I've missed because I wanted to stay put, it'll just be that much harder to adjust to my life in Finland again. Not that I want to adjust. It's something that I have to do.

Now here's a song that's been playing in my head the entire day:

And here's my new love:

Have a great week everybody :)

Sensational in Seattle

Here's what I want you to do: click play on the video above and listen to the song while browsing the pictures below. 

I had an awesome weekend, and wanted to share it with you in a simple way without too much babbling. Enjoy :)

Finally made it to SEATTLE!

The Ferry ride to Alki Beach

Enjoying the fabulous weather!

Downtown Seattle

Up up we went!

Who knew Space Needle was so small... well, compared to everything else. 

The view from Kerry Park

My favorite one<3

Dinner at HRC

Yeah... 

Pike Place Market

The very first Starbucks in the world!

A good way to end the weekend in Seattle!

What I did on the weekend? Well...

I will, no worries.

I used the main door, shoot...

Dipped my feet into the Pacific Ocean <3

Me so happy!

I feel like it's been forever since I posted here, and it's only been like two days?? I'm not jet lagged anymore but a bit confused with the times.. It's like I'm trying to live both local and Finnish time. Sometimes the East Coast time, too, when I try to figure out what my friends there are doing at this minute. My brain is so over-loaded!! 

I have been enjoying myself a lot, though. I'm having fun at work and on my spare time. Work can be quite boring this week since it's just cleaning, but the staff is great. Everyone's funny and we're comfortable with each other, teasing each other and just having fun. That's what I love about Americans; they're instantly so welcoming, warm and open. It makes things so much easier for me. 

Today there was a humming bird at work! Poor little thing couldn't find his way back out. Maybe eventually, I don't know. I felt sorry for it, but at the same time I was pretty awestruck because we don't have humming birds in Finland and seeing one is always very exciting and exotic for me :D 

Downtown Portland. Snapped this one when I was getting my American phone. If you're reading this and you're not my Facebook-friend but want my number, let me know by email or something! 

Today I've been enjoying the company of my room mates. We've had such a fun time; we had dinner and now we're sitting by the dining table, each of us either on their laptops or phones. We're talking and listening to music. Loving this :)

I'll get back to you later!

-i

HUOM! Suomalaiset, anteeksi suomenkielen puute. Muistan kyllä lupaukseni kirjottaa enemmän postauksia suomeks, mutta tällä hetkellä on pää niin sekasin kaikesta muusta, että kahella kielellä kirjottaminen ei ihan luonnistu vaivattomasti, ja aivot on enkku-modella. Mulle on vaan helpompi kirjottaa enkuks. Toivottavasti edes jonkin verran ymmärrätte, yritän kyllä jossain vaiheessa palata kirjottelemaan myös suomeksi! :)

I'm here, safe and sound :)

I am so jet lagged you wouldn't believe. 

But I made it here! And I have to say, that the first impression of Portland is wonderful. It's such a laid-back city and it reflects out of everything and everyone. Gotta love it!

The flight was incredibly boring and long, but it went fine. I survived. 

I seriously don't have the energy to write anymore, so here are photos to tell you about my first day here!