It's just soo lovely to have the time to do the things you want...

After my last post I walked into the kitchen and realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of another find at the juthbacka market...I have quite a few plants in the flat so this charming little table felt like something useful to have. And no, it does not bother me in any way that it is also very cute and retro.

As I've been on holiday this week, I've tried to get some projects done, such as revamping a pair of shoes which I haven't worn for a few years. Before;

And after;

From useless shoes to glamorous slippers to wear around the house, makes me feel a bit more luxurious than wearing woolly socks with my dressing gowns...

A little something else I made this week was this matching set of skirt and hat;

Also note my new handbag with the cute shoe-shaped clasp. From a shoe/bag shop here in town.

Finally, here's another outfit I wore to town a few days ago, sorry about the sunglasses inside but hey, that is what I looked like...


Another fun thing we did this week was taking a dance class, basics in Finnish tango. It was fun, but sadly, both Mr. Kitten and I feel like we've already forgotten most of it...

Glenn Miller Dance

Here's what I wore to the dance;

The dance was quite fun, although on a smaller scale than what I expected. There was however enough people to fill the small dance floor and push you in all directions... But mostly the dancing was ok, and the big band was really quite good. So I enjoyed it. And a girl in the bathroom thought I looked very french?! She'd probably seen some WWII movie where they wear rolls and red lipstick and all that...

Anyway, for once I'm actually wearing only one piece of second hand goods, the skirt, everything else I've bought new. Still old stuff though...How was your weekend?

Got my bags packed

My recently purchased second-hand suitcase is packed, I've got my pin-culrs in and a WWII inspired oufit waiting to be worn. I'm going away for an other cultural caravan weekend, my brother is starring in "The lion, the witch and the wardrobe" at the theatre (set during WWII, hence the outfit) tonight and tomorrow we'll be shopping and in the evening I'll be trying out my new dancing shoes! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Kitten does blues festival

So I couldn't pass up the chance to listen to some blues and rockabilly music so close to home, so I dressed up and did my hair and convinced a friend to join me. My hair;

My outfit;

My brand new shoes; (from Anttila)

While I waited for my friend to pick me up, I quickly looked up the basic step for jive on youtube, just to sort of get a feel for the rhythm of it. We were among the first 5 people to hit the dance floor, both my friend and I enjoy dancing and just could not sit still. All the bands were really good so there was a lot of dancing going on. We had a great time, but, I'm still too shy to go up and talk to strangers, so even if there were a few people with rockabilly style there, I didn't make any new friends.

However, at the end of the night this guy (normally dressed) comes up to me and starts talking. He asks if I take dance classes and if I have a dance partner and all sorts, turns out he's a dance teacher at the local dance club, which I didn't know existed. Apparently my dancing was so bad that he thinks I should learn to do it properly, ha ha. No seriously, he had noticed my attempt at jiving (I guess no-one else was jiving) and saw some kind of potential. So he invited Mr Kitten and me to come and learn to really dance (all the dances you see in Let's Dance/Dancing with the stars/Strictly come dancing on tv) and maybe, possibly compete at some point...(!)

So I'm going a bit crazy at the moment. Was he serious? Had he had to much to drink? Did he realize that we are complete beginners? But...he did say he prefers teaching people who don't know anything but has the will to learn...? So. I don't know. I'd love to learn, Let's Dance is the only thing I really watch on tv, so why not? I have no idea what will come out of this, if anything at all...Just have to wait and see!

Weekend

I think I might attend this little festival on saturday. Anybody else going?

Last weekend was pretty nice, we did go dancing and slept in the caravan, where the heating worked just fine I might add! Yesterday was also dancing, we learned the basics of the waltz. Quite fun although I did have some trouble to begin with...Hope everyone is having a nice weekend whatever you are doing!

And more shoes

Oh dear, I've ordered yet another pair of shoes, all because Ellos sent me a 50% off cupon. So I thought I'd have a look through their selection, and the only products I liked were shoes. And why not get myself a good quality pair of shoes - half price? 89,90 € was the normal price but I'll only have to pay about 47 € with shipping. Not bad. I plan to use these as my dancing shoes, if the fit me...Hush puppies is the make.

Speaking of dancing, Mr. Kitten managed to get the heating working in the RV, so we went dancing to a place about 100 km away from here, and then slept in the RV. Luxury I tell you, not having to drive all the way home after the dance. However, I did kind of wake up in the middle of the night thinking the heating was off and that I was freezing and trapped in my sleeping bag and so on, until I woke up enough to realize everything was fine and I had been imagining things...

Secret project revealed

So here what I was working on last week, I modified the pattern for this dress which fits me really well but has this annoying cut that makes my shoulder look miles wide.

I took this massive old sweater that was a hand me down from my aunt who was young when this stuff was in fashion. (Click for a larger image) It's been in my closet for years waiting for some attention, and now the time was here.

I undid the seams and cut accordingly to the pattern everywhere but the bust area.

I used the sleves for the bust-area, folded in two, and came up with this really versatile upper part (which is why I was so excited).

The dress actually feels really comfy and quite warm on the bits it covers, and I think it will be very useful as it is so versatile. I may also use the same idea and make a few more in different colours and patterns. Someday. This is how the finished product looks, as worn to the dance in Vuokatti at the weekend:

The weekend was absolutely fabulous by the way, the spa was great, we managed to visit six (!) different types of saunas, turkish, steam, finnish, smoke and more. Of course we did some swimming too, and lying around in different bubble pools etc. And in the evening was the dance thingy where we actually made a bit of progress with our dancing skills, still a long way to go though, hah.

Sunday we went skiing, the ski tunnel closed for maintenance just as we got there, but luckily there was a few km of outdoor track as well. It was quite fun, I haven't gone skiing in years, kinda hard if you live in the south of england for a couple of years...It wasn't all joy though, my feet hurt in every uphill because of the poor technique I must have been using. Oh well. Maybe it had something to do with several hours of dancing in high heeled boots the night before?

Another great weekend

Last friday was the preview of the musical "Oliver!" in which my 15 year old brother has one of the leading roles. I was a bit nervous but he did so well, I was really impressed. He sang, danced and acted like he'd never done anything else.

On saturday me and my bf went to my parents house to change the tires on my car. It was about time, as it had snowed quite a bit on friday. On our way back we dropped of my actor brother for his premiere (he's the one in the top hat, image from KUF) and then headed on to prepare for our evening plans, the dance gala!

We had so much fun, although we don't actually know the steps (for foxtrot) we made up our own and managed to get around the floor without crushing each others feet or anyone elses for that matter. It was great, I usually end up feeling kinda depressed and out of place every time I go out to clubs or events such as this one, (or my works x-mas party) but this time was different. I'm starting to believe that I could go anywhere with my boyfriend and enjoy it, because he's there. I'm so glad we ended up together!

This weekend was also what many call Halloween, but personally I'm a bit bothered that the rest of the world want to copy the americans and cannot stick to our own traditions. Because we do have our own holiday on the 31st of october, the all saint day, when the tradition has been to visit loved ones and relatives graves and light candles on them. But nope, I guess the younger people who perhaps dont have any graves to visit prefer to use any excuse to party...

About five years ago I did however go to a Halloween party, here pictured with my roomate at the time, who was pretty hot in that bin-liner...Wow, crazy how fast time passes. I cannot believe it 's been five years. Mad.