Jacket / Zara // Shoes / Converse // Jeans / Pull and Bear 

Earrings / BikBok // Necklace / Tiffany & Co.

Have you ever felt like your life is paused? Like there is this enormous rusted pause button in your head and your life, that no matter what you try or do it never goes down and switches to play? That's exactly how I've felt this entire summer, which seems to have no end at all though the leaves are already turning yellow.. I just feel that uni and my moving is a lifetime away and I still haven't quite realised that I actually am moving to Milan... I mean I don't even speak Italian, and I've been there once?! Plus my friends have been making fun of the fact that I can't eat pasta or potato or rice and I am moving to Italy... BUT I know I'd have regretted the choice of not accepting my uni place there, and hey at least I'll have a thick skin in three years time? 

Anyways, what comes to here and now, I am in Porvoo, South of Finland until Wednesday (going to Milan for a week to look for a shared apartment and a room for myself with my parents!). This summer has been non-stop travelling for me and I really am getting enough of living out of my suitcase. Just can't wait for October and to be able to call some place a home. 

 Yesterday the shops were open till late (10 pm.. which is the normal time for Singapore for shops to close so I'm finding it kinda hard 'cos the shops seem to close so early here) at the old part of Porvoo, so we went and walked around and visited some of the small stores which btw should try and have a bit better air con, it was boiling hot inside! Might have been also because of the people though.. made me feel actually at home 'cos of the crowd! I hate the fact that I can't really buy any house decor stuff, except for textiles, from here since they'd all get broken anyways... But the good part is that I know exactly what I want to buy now, and I won't waste money on nonsense.

x

Everybody has a place that is closer to their heart than any other place. The place that instantly makes your heartbeats blur into the background and makes you realise how wonderful life is and how lucky you are to be living the life you are living. It might be your childhood home, or it might be just a random place like a gas station, that other people see as a forgone conclusion. What matters however, is the memories you attach in your thoughts to the place. Personally for me, having born in South-eastern Finland, Koli is my "place". And not just because of the fact that it reminds me that hey Finland is your home, but because it is the most beautiful place I've ever been in. Trust me Bali and its white sand beaches and crystal blue waters are nothing compared to the sound of the loon (bird) in the middle of complete silence that opens when you climb higher to the mountains of this National Park. It feels like the only colours in the world are blue, white and green there. It feels like there is 10 times more air than you'd ever need. So if you ever get a chance, GO! (there is no place in Finland that would ever showcase the nature as well as Koli does, and nature is a part of the Finnish culture, or at least that's how I see it. Plus it makes you feel purified in a way.. you get a sense of serenity I guess?). Even if you are not the hiker type of a person, you can still go the cafe at the Sokos Hotel and have a rye bread with salmon. Doesn't get much more Finnish than that I think. 

The ones of you that have ever edited photos and especially the ones of you that have a blog, know the pain of keeping your photos crisp and clean on your blog (I can't surely be the only one having this dilemma?). Well that's pretty much the reason why I haven't been posting for this whole entire summer, not that I wouldn't have had things to share, but because I've been just so mad at myself for being so wonderful at using technology (NOT!). I want my photos to look nice because what is the point of even posting them, if they look like a snowy tv screen? I even tried out a whole new website but that didn't work out either. I had pretty much lost all my motivation and was going to close this blog down, until I decided to give one last go at it this morning by typing "how to remain photo quality on blogger" onto google (thank you god for google) and guess how many how to's I found?  How can a person be so relieved but so frustrated at the exact same time? Well, it's all in the past now, and from now on you can expect a post every single Monday from me! But I will do some catching up this week though...

And what comes to these photos here, I was finally able to celebrate my graduation here in Finland with my relatives in this bea-uti-ful place in Mikkeli called Tertti Mansion about a week ago. We always stop by there on our way to our summer house, and I couldn't have thought of a better place to celebrate (food played a big role.... ;) ). And hey reds to my brother I didn't honestly expect him to take such great shots! 

I have a few months left in Finland, and this fall is sure going to be an exciting one let's just hope that  I get through it without too many bumps and bruises!