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.

a blingy christmas cat sweater

As a LOHAS (Lifestyles of health and sustainability) I rarely shop at H&M (for a gazillion reasons obviously). And I do hate bling.

But this. THIS. I spotted it at an H&M store in Helsinki and was actually pretty darn smitten right away - since clearly the template for the bling cat adorning the front of the simple sweater is chubby Zigne. Not as Finnish as a Marimekko Unikko must, but still...



I was very hesistant if I should get it or not in the changing room *seriously, I can't stand bling!* and *really, I do not shop at H&M!*, but M just 'well you know you'll never ever find a similar sweater again...'.

Inaugurated it today. It was lovely. Despite the bling.

And it's very obvious how the Christmas photo of 2015 will look - Zigne just doesn't know it yet.

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.

for the love of trams

I think public transportation is a brilliant thing - if well thought through, well-built, well-kept and used by people who actually know how to act in a decent way - and I just do not get societies which are built around the excessive use of cars. Bad for the environment, bad for the waistline and bad for the wallet.

As a recent reminder of just how bad a lot of excessive driving really is for the environment and health, with the recent presidential visit in Stockholm, pretty much the majority of the inner city streets where closed off for traffic and the emissions dropped drastically. I wish politicians could learn from this, put more money and resources into public transportation, I wish drivers could make an effort and cut down on their excessive driving.



Which brings me to my favourite type of public transportation, the tram. Adore it. But I don't fancy the Stockholm trams we have these days, too modern and therefore dull and uninspiring. (Apart from the special cafe tram above. Which I, believe it or not, have yet to try.)



What I thoroughly enjoy is riding trams when on trips, love the Helsinki tram-system (not only because they have free wi-fi, which in itself is awesome) and the way in which you can have a great and unpretentious sightseeing around the city with it. I digged the trams in Lisbon, because they were so pretty, old, rickety and a bit scary due to their borderline ramshackleness. And I totally fancied the trams in Budapest, their opened windows offered sweet relief from the summer heat as well as lovely views and easy transport.



What's your favourite kind of public transport?
And do you have a favourite city/place for it?

ten teas

one thing i can honestly say i love about autumn is the there's always tea time feeling. myself i'm working my way through some of the teas i've bought the last six months. most of them in helsinki.

some truly delightful, others not nice at all plus some just dull.

from top left to right;

~ wij garden (which one day will have a blog post of its own) rose garden tea. haven't tried this yet. sure a good rose tea is lovely, but to be honest i'm rarely in the mood for it.

~ kobbs rabarberkalas (rhubarb party). this is heavenly! subtle yet pleasing rhubarb. heart.

~ forsman toffee tea. same brand as the wonderful liquorice tea, but this is far from as good. smells nice, lacks flavour.

~ äppelfabriken's äppelfröjd (apple joy). rooibos tea, which i'm generally not a fan of, with apple vanilla cardamom flavour. just like its name it's a joy to drink. new favourite!

~ five o'clock herbata gdanska. sweet and spicy tea with hints of chocolate from (surprise) gdansk. lovely.

~ nordqvist moomin tea little my. lemon flavour. non memorable but sweet package of course.

~ nordqvist summer fruits. smells heavenly but for my palate it's a non pleasing, bitter herb tea. good thing m loves it.

~ stockmann fruit tea. from posh helsinki department store stockmann, bought it as a souvenir - i prefer edible and/or useful ones - but it's quite bland and uninteresting.

~ ekberg tea toom tea. tea from a classic helsinki café - swedish name/last name meaning 'oak mountain' - just tea, no flavour and therefore not very interesting. i'd take yorkshire tea anyday over this.

~ nordqvist moomin tea "kämpa på!" (plug away!). blueberry muffin flavour, rather nice though one has to be supercareful not to let it brew too long then it gets a tang.


so, what will be your tea favourites this autumn?
any new blends?

helsinki thoughts and snaps

I'm glad to report that despite health issues - and no, still not feeling better... - the little trip to Helsinki was fabulous! It really is such a pretty city, filled with wonderful and interesting architecture, fantastic design, nice people - although I was very surprised how few that seemed to speak Swedish this time around compared to some 10 years ago when we were there last... - I'll write a proper "random thoughts on..." about it soon, but for now, here are a few snaps from the recent week, when two Swedish trolls roamed the streets of the city (picture evidence above).



A beautiful city no matter weather...



which offers shoe choice issues galore...



stylish places to eat...



trams to fall completely in love with...



... though not the best place to visit if you want lots of vegetarian food options, although one particular place may be all that you need...



swoonworthy architecture everywhere...



surprising cafés and...



Marimekko temptation EVERYWHERE...

Now, how was your week?