Portland>Finland

I am back in Finland, and hopefully back to regular blogging from now on as well. I am sorry for the lack of writing recently. Let's just say, that I'm not your regular woman who can handle multitasking just like that. 

I arrived to Finland on Thursday... Well, Thursday or Friday. I landed around Midnight and I can't remember whether it was before or after. Anyways, I was 6-7 hours late, yay for that, and as I was landing, I did not feel any kind of fondness toward my homeland. The roads were white... And the snow blizzard hit the southern coast conveniently at the time of my arrival. What a welcome party for me, a person who hates winter -.-

Rocky Mountains!

The blizzard wasn't the reason I was late, though. Due to my flight schedule change from a non-stop flight from PDX to Amsterdam to PDX-Minneapolis-Amsterdam, I already had a longer return time, BUT, as it turned out, I was about to be traveling a bit longer still... To make a long story short, I got stuck in Minneapolis for 3 extra hours, because there was something wrong with our plane. They had another plane for us, and during the preparation of that one, Delta Airlines gave 50-dollar vouchers to all the passengers on that flight. I spent mine on a duty-free store, and headed for the purses (d'oh). All the handbags were a little out of my price range, but I did get myself something nice ;)

Guess -wallet, $45,00 from some duty-free store at Minneapolis/St.Paul Airport. Note the strap that comes off -this one will also work as a purse at parties :)) I love it!! Thanks, Delta! It pays off to be delayed ;)

So we finally took off from Minneapolis, and headed to Amsterdam. The flight time was an hour shorter than announced before, so I still had a slight chance of making it to my connection flight from Amsterdam to Helsinki. I landed at 1.05pm and the connection was at 1.55pm. I didn't make it :( I was at the gate at 1.30pm, but they wouldn't let me board, because my luggage was sure not to make it to the flight, and I wasn't allowed to fly without it. So they rebooked me, and I had another 6 hours to wait at Schiphol Airport... Oh happy days. Jet lagged, and all. I got a 10-euro food voucher, a phone call voucher and a 50euro discount from my next flight, that's valid for two years.. So yeah, I wasn't too pissed ;)

Minneapolis!

So... now my trip's over :( I cannot even describe how amazing these last three months have been. I truly lucked out with my job, host family and I made a lot of incredible new friends. I had a blast. Non-stop. I'm so so so very happy that I went. Thank you, Portland <3

I'm here, but not quite here yet, if you know what I mean. My head's still a mess, and I get tired at weird hours. I'm trying to convert prices into euros, even though they're already euros, and when I want to call somebody, I try to figure out the time, even though we're in the same time zone now. Leaving Portland was hard, I cried more than once. Now I'm sort of in denial about it; I refuse to let myself think about it. I'm here, but I don't wanna acknowledge that fact. I start thinking about Portland, and I feel like I could catch a bus and a MAX downtown anytime, and remembering that I can't do that right now, is too much. I'm still more in Portland than I am here.

Slowly getting on my feet... I'll get back to you :)

-i

Poor me!

I've been pretty busy! Working - had my last day yesterday! :'( -, seeing friends, getting rushed to the ER, you know, every-day stuff. Don't worry, I just had to get a wood chip outta my foot. I'll be a slow shopper in the Black Friday MADNESS tomorrow!! I might never get to experience it again so of course I wanna go, even though I'm limping, and I have to wear this hospital shoe on my right foot... But oh well, Portland's weird, I can wear whatever and still not stand out. 

I don't have any special shopping plans for tomorrow, but I might do a post about all my bargains if I find the time! :) Sorry I've been MIA for so long!

Have a wonderful Black Friday everybody, and try not to fall down in the crowd...

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! 

Keeping it real, weird and weirder.

I believe I'm not the only one who thinks it's so friggin' unfair how time flies when you're having a good time.

I have only 3 more weeks left until I have to return to Finland. 

My time here in Portland has been amazing. I've got a ton of new friends, new experiences, new perspectives, new memories... I believed from the very beginning this would be an experience of a life time, but never did I think this whole thing would have such a huge effect on me. I knew I would come back to Finland so much richer than what I was when I left, but there's something I didn't expect.

I didn't expect to find myself in Portland. 

In Portland you can be whatever and whoever you want to be, and no one will say s**t about it. Be a hipster, be a hippie, be a nerd, a jerk, an artist, weirdo... You'll fit in. You have to be very, very strange to stand out here, and it's only uncool if you try too much to be something you're truly not.

To Thine Own Self Be True. 

I will be facing a big challenge in Finland. Trying to maintain my personality the way it really is, and not falling back into my old ways, when I was the quiet one in the crowd, afraid of big changes and afraid to stand out too much. That's NOT ME! If you ever see me starting to follow my old patterns, feel free to give me a good ol' slap in the face. 

"People are gonna tell you who you are your whole life. You just gotta punch back and say: 'No, this is who I am'. You want people looking at you differently, make them." 

- A quote from "Once Upon A Time".

I want to be me from now on. 

Keeping Portland Weird while I'm here,

-i

<3

California, here we come, with new shades and everything!

Hollaaa! :)

I'm almost on my way downtown, I just have to wait for the dryer to finish up. 

It's RAINING, surprise surprise, and I'll probably be wet by the time I get to Pioneer Square. Oh well, this is Portlandia. Rain is a part of it. 

I hope you've all had a great weekend so far; mine has been the most relaxing in two months. Haven't done much anything :) Sometimes it's good to just space out. 

Yesterday's catch! I happened to find the sale racks at Forever 21, and purchased the sunglasses for $3,80 and the earrings for $2,99. 

It'd better be sunny in California so I can wear my new sunglasses! Oh, if I haven't mentioned, I'm leaving for California on Tuesday!!! STOKED! And I'm going with my family! My mom and brother are flying in tomorrow :) So happy!

Gotta go, lovelies. Take care<3

Good things come in pink boxes

Today was a day when I woke up and cried. It was time for my room mate to go back to Germany. Her flight left from Portland at 7 am, and suddenly I was alone. With my host(mom) out of town, I have the house all to myself, and it's weird.
Now only my stuff is taking space by the sink in the bathroom. They're neatly organized on my side. The other side is empty. Maybe I should spread my things more.

Yesterday we had a little going-away party for S. We went out to dinner and after that a few of us gathered at our house for a sugar-filled after party.

We ordered a Party Platter from Voodoo Doughnuts. This is so funny... I still have left overs. 

We watched a movie called Idiocracy, I'd never heard about it before, but it was hilarious!
After our guests left, S gave me a present.

I'd been admiring this painting at the Made in Oregon -store, and told S that I would buy it if I had the money at the end of my trip. And now she got it for me. I love it!!!! Thank you, S <33

Something's definitely missing now that she's not here anymore. But today wasn't a goodbye, it was just a see-you-later.
Way later, though :/
Fortunately, there are cheap flights from Finland to Germany.

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 :)

1/3 of this trip is over...

First of all, millions of apologies for not blogging in a week. I think it's my record. A shameful one. When I started blogging, I didn't blog as much, but now that I have more readers and I've really got the hang of it, I feel really bad not blogging :( sorry! 

I thought that after coming to the States I would blog more. But I'm busy. All-the-time. I'm working Tuesdays through Fridays from 9.30am - 4.30pm. Tuesdays I've got other plans after work (every Tuesday), Wednesdays I'm either at home, relaxing after Tuesday or off somewhere else. Thursdays the same thing. Fridays too. Sometimes home, but usually not. And I'm always on the move during the weekends. Mondays are my easy days, and even they are not always easy. Oh well... I'm enjoying every little bit of it :) All of it. I love it here more than you could ever comprehend. It kills me every day a little to think about returning back to Finland, because I feel like my heart does not belong there. 

Before I get too mushy, I want to share this weekend with you. 

Multnomah Falls in Oregon. This picture looks like a screen saver, or something google gives you when you search for "fairytale sceneries" or something. But I'm proud to say that I snapped this picture. It was such a beautiful place! <3

Oh... I bought shoes today. 

And I love them!

You like? Me loves.

Tomorrow I'm going to the store-that-should-not-be-named.

Glasses without prescription? YES PLEASE!

The other day I was watching Say Yes to the Dress - tv show with my room mate, and we started talking about wedding dresses; what kinds we would like to wear at our own wedding etc. We came to find that I have two very different styles. I love everything simple and put more effort in accessories, but on the other hand, I also love to dress up - put on more make-up and new kinds of clothes, combine pink with orange just cos it's cool, wear things that stand out. I like to seize the opportunities to look different from what I usually look like. The problem is, that when I do so, people think I'm weird and it's just not me, and what they don't realize, is that it totally is me! 

After two and a half weeks in Portland, I'm ready for a more permanent change in my style. I feel like I have more courage to try new things and find the style that goes with me no matter what. Portland's such a trendy place, you just can't help but be inspired by everything and everyone around you. I'm loving it here!!! :)

What defines one's style? Can a person have more than one styles? Let me know what you think!

-i

P.S. I have an appointment to get my hair done on Oct. 6th! AHHH CAN'T WAIT! It should be pretty awesome ;) Pics to follow!

Life in America / Elämää Amerikassa

After posting about what I've been doing lately, I wanted to tell you about my life here in general. 

It's been almost two weeks now, and I was very surprised to learn that I was still a bit jet lagged over the weekend. I thought I was done with it, but obviously not. It was like my brain and mind were fine but my body was still adjusting. Now I should be fine. At least I think I am :) 

Another surprise was how everything seems so normal to me here. Of course there's always the novelty when you're in a new place, but this is my 6th time in this country, and it truly is like a home to me. I no longer storm from store to store, looking for things I want but don't need, but rather find the place I know that has what I need. I know what to look for and where to look for it. It's one of the things I love about here; I fit in, and I feel like home. Instantly.

I'm working Tuesday through Friday, from 10am to 4pm. Not bad, 'eh? The work is fun, easy and creative. During the weekends I like to do stuff, go to downtown Portland or somewhere else. Life here has been surprisingly easy. I haven't experienced a cultural shock of any kind and I just feel like everything was fine from the very beginning. I'm loving it here, and I'm already having nightmares about this being over too soon. The sad truth is, though, that I can't stay here forever. I just have to enjoy this adventure to the fullest while it lasts.
Just wanted to let you know I'm happy :)

Viime aikoina oon lähinnä postaillut siitä, mitä oon täällä rapakon toisella puolella tehnyt, joten nyt halusin antaa teille tällaisen yleiskatsauksen mun täkäläiseen elämään. Melkein kaksi viikkoa oon täällä nyt tosiaan oleskellut, ja todella yllättynyt olin siitä, että vielä viime viikonloppuna olin jet lagin kourissa. Luulin jo päässeeni siitä yli, mutta ilmeisesti en sitten kuitenkaan. Mieli oli virkeä ja aivot pelas, heh, mutta kroppa oli vielä sopeutumisvaiheessa. Nyt on kyllä jo rytmit kohillaan :)

Myös se, miten normaalia mulle kaikki täällä on, yllätti mut. Tietty uudessa paikassa on aina se oma uutuudenviehätys, mutta tää on kuitenkin jo mun kuudes kerta tässä maassa, ja todellakin kuin toinen koti mulle. Mä en enää ryntäile kaupasta toiseen etsimässä turhaa kamaa jota en tartte, vaan ennemminkin etsin paikan mistä saan mitä tarvitsen. Tiedän mitä etsin, ja tiedän mistä sen löytää. Asia, jota tässä maassa rakastan on se, että mä sovin täällä joukkoon ja tunnen oloni heti kotoisaksi.

Töitä mulla on tiistaista perjantaihin klo 10-16. Ei paha, vai mitä? Työ on hauskaa, helppoa ja luovaa. Viikonloppuisin tykkään tehdä kaikkea kivaa; mennä Portlandin keskustaan tai muualle. Yllättävän helppoa on elämä ollut täällä. Minkäänlaista kulttuurishokkia ei ole osunut kohdalle ja jotenkin kaikki vaan on mennyt tosi hyvin ihan alusta saakka. Rakastan olla täällä ja oon jo nähnyt painajaisia Suomeen paluusta :D Surullinen totuus kuitenkin on, etten voi jäädä tänne pysyvästi. Täytyy tästä ajasta siis ottaa kaikki irti.
Tietäkää, että mä olen hyvin onnellinen nyt :)

Finally PDX

I flew to Portland a week ago but until today I hadn't had the chance to actually see Portland. It's been a week, but it feels like forever. I've done so much stuff and experienced new things. I'm constantly on the move. Today that took its toll, too. After a week of walking around (and working) in the wrong kind of shoes, in the heat, my ankles are swollen. Not nice. So, tomorrow I'm staying put. We're going out to dinner tomorrow, but that'll be it for me. I'm going to get some well earned rest! I'll have Monday off, too, so maybe then I'll find a shoe store and get myself a good pair of sensible shoes. 

Man, I love the malls here. This is Pioneer Place.

We went to IHOP, of course, and after that we did a little shopping. And the funniest thing; I saw the first Walmart here today! It's so weird, that in the East Coast you can see a Walmart practically in every corner, but here it's like a curse word. This Walmart didn't even say 'Walmart' on the front, it just had this blue canvas with the logo and the words 'We're open". In a very small print in the down corner it said 'Walmart'. But omg, how they hate that place here! I was aware of that little fact before I arrived, and thought I'd have to sneak into one in the darkness of the night. I probably will at some point :P

Have a nice weekend everyone!! :)

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!