moomin chewing gum

Yup, there's *a bit* of a Moomin theme going on here now. A Helsinki trip can do that, apparently. (Even if I never did get to fondle that fantastic Ivana Helsinki Moomin dress irl...)

And obviously really cute, good for the teeth chewing gums is a must too. The yellow bag with raspberry & fruit flavour I kept for myself and sadly the flavour is very short lived. But the bag is adorable and the lack of long lasting flavour doesn't diminish the teeth and gum benefits. And it wasn't exactly the investment of the year.

moomin pillow case

This is certainly not my first Moomin pillow case and probably not my last, but it is my latest. And one of the cutest. I love when they tell a little story rather than show a scene.

Plus it always put a smile on my face at bedtime.

fazer liquorice soft caramel

I'm not a liquorice person, but this, this fine finnish liquorice with soft caramel flavour was a lovely multilayered liquorice experience. From classic Finnish bread and candy brand Fazer. Not sure I've seen it in any Swedish shops, so perhaps it was a rare treat and memory from Helsinki.

If you find it you should really get a bag or two.

moomin sneakers

I'm convinced that the world would be a much better place if everyone wore Moomin shoes. From now on - or at least  from spring - I'll do my bit on that front.

By getting my pair in the webshop instead of buying them in Helsinki I saved about 50% of the price (crazy). 

They are adorable! I wish they came in half sizes too, because they would indeed fit better as a 40,5 instead of 40. But on the other hand my experience with trainers and sneakers are that they stretch A LOT compared to any other shoes I've had. So in this case better slightly snug fit than  a bit to big.

From classic Finnish brand Karhu, they come in orange/red too. Plus two other Moomin styles, higher priced.

the unikko sweatshirt dress

Well of course I bought it, the Unikko sweatshirt dress I tried on at the Marimekko outlet in Helsinki. Ever since I spotted it in one of thecompany's newsletter I've wanted one. 

I might have preferred one of the gorgeous Unikko blouses or flowing dresses, but sadly they're all made of silk and not cotton or linen so that won't happen in my world.

If I could change one thing it would be a different neckline, more open or a V-line. Other than that it's a great happy dress that clearly shows you can, quite effortlessly, combine  comfort and style. 

Snoopervisor agrees.

organic tea collection from english tea shop

It seems like THE thing of shopping choice these days is tea - it's the perfect and useful souvenir somehow. And since I/we drink loads of tea there's most always room for more...

I bought a few tins and boxes of tea in Helsinki too. The prettiest may be this selection of organic and fairtrade teas from English Tea Shop. First time I tried this brand was last year when I got the chocolate, rooibos, vanilla tea, which was really lovely. I had hoped every single one of these 9 different teas in this collection would be equally nice, but sadly they are not. I think a few of them lack that fullness in flavour the above mentioned one has. They're a bit blah. But M has enjoyed some of the ones I don't like so all is well in the tin anyway.

And yes, a tea snoopervision session has certainly been held.

vegan food in helsinki

So. I've been enjoying a fantastic array of vegan food here in Helsinki. The Yelp-app has helped in finding those gems that didn't exist when we were here in 2012. And I have rekindled with old favourites. Yes the food has been great. The cakes not so much alas, but the odd cinnamon bun thrown in has been fabulastic too.

I have yet to write reviews on Yelp for most of the places, but I can still give you a hint on where to go for a kind and great meal if you find yourself in Helsinki! (And be sure to check out my When in Helsinki-list on Yelp, I will slowly add things to it. These have been my favourite food moments over the long weekend:



Classic vegetarian - vegan restaurant Zucchini was just as good as I remembered it from 2012. Old school, healthy and very flavourful vegan and vegetarian food. Kind staff that speaks both Finnish, Swedish and English. (This was a potato cake with tofu and spinach plus a great salad and ratatouille.)



This is a wonderful vegan meze plate at Just Vege. Lovely textures and flavours, the pita bread is fab. Mostly organic stuff and just as the name says, an all vegetarian (mainly vegan apart from the halloumi) place were they make their own bread and falafels. The owner got so excited about the bobbaloos he took a lot of pictures too - myself I politely declined to be in them. M had a seitan kebab plate which he enjoyed a lot.



Remnants of a, surprisingly given the looks, good vegan pie at cafe Bergga. Simply filled with great, firm tofu, carrots and onions in a flavourful gravy. Their cakes weren't nearly as good, quite the opposite, but this savoury pie, mmm...



A simple falafel from Fafa's - which is a chain of falafel bars that, unfortunately, offers some meat dishes too - which wold have been rather nice (but of course not as lovely as the falafel at the Stockholm place Falafelbaren) if M hadn't said yes to extra chili and we'd gotten it as takeaway...



At another vegan fast food place Soi Soi, situated in the same street as above Just vege, we had these vegan burgers and sweetpotato fries that was quite heavenly according to at least me. Mine is a tofu burger in oat bread and M's is a hot chili tofu in pita bread. I really really enjoyed the texture of the tofu here too, in Sweden the tofu despite claiming to be firm often is to soft, not in Helsinki obviously.



This was the nicest, by far, breakfast (brunch) I had in Helsinki. The popular (amongst all ages and walks of life) cafe is called Tin Tin Tango and they have different breakfast menus of which this is the vegetarian. I don't eat egg, so M got that one, but I fully enjoyed the rest, including a strawberry smoothie, orange juice, an apple, two rolls, cheese and veggies. Plus tea of course. Who knew there was such a thing as a heart shaped roll, too cute!



We shared this freshly baked cinnamon bun too - it was delicious. All and all we shared three different buns at three different places, they were all very very good in their own ways. Conclusion: Helsinki knows how to make a most pleasing bun for a discerning Swedish fika high liver.

window display happiness helsinki

There are a lot of window displays in Helsinki that get my juices flowing -

and others that certainly don't given that Finland is the 3rd largest producer of fur in Europe (3,8 millions per year compared to Sweden on 5th place with 1 million and that is really really heartbreakingly bad enough)... -

these wonderful Moomin lamps are certainly on my top five list of those! Pretty fantastic, wouldn't you agree? Especially on a dark winter night. Instant happiness.



Marimekko's collection colours for 2015 are just up my colour alley, a lot of pink, red and orange - which obviously the average dull Swede is afraid of, but I love love love -

And I have been oogling this fake fur coat, also from Marimekko, since I saw it on their website. It's adorable and fluffy, but also quite expensive. I don't think that will be the reserve winter coat for my darling happy coat alas.



And some cute cups seen in the Design Quarters shop's window display, shop was never opened when I went by though. Which probably was a good thing. Window shopping should not be underestimated. Still inspiring but also good for the wallet and the planet.

my little pony shoes

I may prefer comfort AND style over high heels like this, but I can still adore the quirky prettiness that is a pair of My Little Pony shoes by Finnish shoe designer Minna Parikka. I love her sense of style, but I've never contemplated getting a pair since they're simply not me. 

And not just because many are high heels, she unfortunately uses real fur trimmings and such too. Never okay.

If you are a shoe lover you should definitely check her website out, it may inspire in new ways.

hello helsinki

A belated birthday trip has taken us to neighbouring Finland and its beautiful and inspirational capital Helsinki, hooray!

For a long weekend of walk a lot, tram hopping, design, culture and architecture spotting, 

not to mention great vegan food and fabulous fika. 

And possibly a Moomin-ishly stylish dress or shoes.

Plus if you are a small sized woolly, everyting is huge and exciting. Even a rawfood chocolate cake. Or two.

Happy weekend!

the blue-white keepcup

Who says you can't have more than one keepcup? It may have been a slightly impulsive move to buy another one with my tasty oat latte, despite having this awesome red-pink one, but that doesn't mean it was a bad one.

Because a) the large red-pink one is perfect for a large soy latte at Espresso House - I'm sure you could use it at any other coffee place too, despite the logo, but for me that's the only coffee chain / cafe where I know they can handle soy milk and always make a great latte with it.

b) the blue-white is medium sized and perfect for the oat latte I always get at just that place, Johan & Nyström - which apparently has been named Sweden's Best Cafe 2014 by Whiteguide and also Second best cafe in Europe by Alegra Awards. Not sure if I agree, because my kind of best cafes need to have reliable excellent service and always friendly staff (no matter if the guest is concidered to be of the *right* sort) plus be very much more cosy and quirky and less posh hipster. That said I do enjoy their oat latte, buy their teas often and is a rather frequent guest on my way to and from the train. So yes, I do recommend the place and enjoy lots of what they offer, but from that to The Best it's a long way to go...

Now I simply have to remember which way I'll take on a particular day so I bring the right keepcup, for the right coffee.

And yes, I find the blue-white colour combination rather dull - especially as Espresso House has lovely new, perky colours in their keepcups - but for some reason that's the only colour they have. However as they have a cafe in Helsinki now too the colour combo is very Finland befitting so that might be the reason. 

I do know that I'll not forget to bring this new keepcup with me to Helsinki when we got there in November. Can't wait! Even if the cup itself isn't the major reason for my excitement, believe it or not.

may day åland 2015

Just a lovely day at the Åland islands. Mindfullness was the keyword. And colours. Always.

marimekko unikko shower curtain

The Marimekko delivery of the other day didn't hold only a lovely dress, it also held a gorgeous shower curtain - the Unikko flower one. This is a true happy pattern! The Unikko flower pattern celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. It was about high time I got me that shower curtain I've been wanting for so long! Sales a fine things for dreams to come true.

I do believe my cross stitched roses show curtain has a competitor in the title The most beautiful shower curtain in the world. I also adore that it's in three perky colours, not only one as the classic red and black (and others) Unikko flowers.

My previous shower curtains - all alive and well still - has been presented by Little Loaf. He sadly didn't live to see this one, but in fact he is in this picture too, of sorts. Because behind the Unikko curtain hides his lilac shrub, under which he rests.



Want to see more lovely shower curtains? Then go fort and read about Little Loaf and the birdie shower curtain and The duckiest shower curtain in the world (although with time I've found the Peking duck illustration really awful and I'm thinking of ideas to cover that bit up).

hey june

I am in you. And I have three happy dresses to get me through both you and you siblings July and August in care-free style.

So happy dress of 2012 and happy dress of 2013 say hello to happy, albeit slightly subdued by comparison, dress of 2014. We're going to have so so so much fun together, I'm sure!

Happy dress 2012 + 2014 from Danish Masai
Happy dress Impi of 2013 from Marimekko

may day åland

A day well spent on Åland. Good for the soul, resting for the mind. Easy on the eye. And as a vegetarian you never need to worry about leaving the island hungry. Behold a wee Åland cavalcade de la snaps.