Tag Archives: lifestyle

Kissakahvila Helsinki: a Trip to a Cat Cafe

This summer we finally got a cat cafe here in Helsinki. There’s been one in Finland but none here in the capital so it’s great that Kissakahvila Helsinki opened here now. It’s right in the center of town and naturally I made a reservation there as soon as they started taking bookings. The cafe proved to be so popular that first two weeks it was booked solid before the place had even opened.

cat cafe

The cafe takes a 5 euro “cat care fee” which goes to supporting the cats that live on the premises. There are right now six cats living there: five kittens and one adult. The kittens were all really lively although they had a tendency to go nap a lot…but that’s what babies do, of course! Sadly we didn’t get to see the only adult cat, Pete, because he was away getting worm medicine.

The food was absolutely amazing: everything is made in the cafe, so all the food is fresh and home made. We saw some of the delicious looking sandwiches but in the end opted for carrot cake and cheese cake. They were to die for. It was like eating a little slice of heaven.

cat cafe 2

The cafe had instructions on how to interact with the cats on their menus, which I thought was an excellent idea. It’s good that they have established the ground rules because I’m sure many customers would just love to pick up the sleeping little furballs, which naturally isn’t very nice for the kittens. All the cats seemed to like the attention, and they were not disturbed by the hassle even when sleeping.

Hopefully soon I’ll have a chance to go there again!

Have you ever been to a cat cafe?

#YearOfHappy – A Love Letter to Myself

#YearOfHappy is Here!

#YearOfHappyI decided to take part in the #YearOfHappy linkup that October June and Allisonleighann are hosting in pursuit of a more positive attitude (and perhaps also a more regular blogging schedule). This month’s topic is “A Love Letter to Myself”.

I felt extremely flustered last year: from writing my Bachelor’s Thesis to running the Her Campus Helsinki chapter and writing for our student paper, I just had so much on my plate that I don’t know how I managed. But now, I am so grateful I participated in all those things because ultimately they made my year busy and fulfilling and made me feel super accomplished.

This year looks like it’s going to be just as busy but this time I’m less scared. I know I can pull it off and I’m eager to start working on all of my projects. I have so many great people helping me in all my endeavours that there’s no way I can fail!

So, I’d like to just remind myself, if you feel swamped/stressed/anxious, take a deep breath and step back – it’s not really that bad! You’re not in a hurry to get your Master’s, you don’t need to be best in everything, and you certainly don’t need to achieve everything RIGHT NOW. There’s time. So enjoy all the little moments and don’t forget to have fun.

Here’s a little reminder list of all the great things in my life right now:

  • Merlin the kittykat#YearOfHappy Roses
  • my boyfriend
  • amazing friends
  • BA and hopefully soon MA degree
  • Her Campus Helsinki and my lovely writing team
  • BTSB magazine
  • Lukufiilis magazine
  • a wonderful apartment
  • supportive family
  • my health
  • so many books to read…
  • all the travels I’ve done and the trips I’m going to do
  • my blog :)

 

Life Lately: Fall Semester Shenanigans

life lately

This semester has been really crazy: I took a lot of courses for my MA studies and somehow in between all my classes I managed to have some resemblance of a social life as well as travel a bit.

When summer was ending and school only starting, we did a short weekend trip to my boyfriend’s cabin, which was a great was to get away from the busy everyday life. We also celebrated our third anniversary shortly after that. I was involved in some events for the new freshmen, which was a great way to get into the swing of things at school.

I also managed to have time for the art fair and a trip to Suomenlinna and to Tallinn.

life lately 2

I also saw the first football game of my life this fall – Ari dragged me to the Finland vs. Romania match, which was surprisingly entertaining even for me (I have never followed sports of any kind).

Midway through the semester I went to the book fair (an annual visit for me) and then I visited Ireland for the first time ever. I loved that trip and everyone there was incredibly friendly.

I’ve been doing a lot of work, running the Helsinki chapter of Her Campus. For our Snapshot articles, I’ve attended a lot of art shows, which is a lot of fun!

The last Hobbit just came out and we went to line up for the midnight premiere tickets for the special night event, which effectively destroyed our sleep rhythm.

We also organized a Her Campus Helsinki bake sale, which was a big hit. Now, classes are over and we just have our finals left, which is something we had to celebrate with some Chinese food in Kaisaniemi.

christmas helsinki

Christmas is almost here and I can’t believe how fast the fall semester went by! Hopefully 2015 will be just as amazing as this year!

Traveling to Tallinn

cruise tallinn

This week I took a cruise to Tallinn with my boyfriend’s mom who was kind enough to take me there :) I’ve been to Tallinn many times but it still hasn’t lost its charm – especially the Old Town, which is as beautiful as ever. Our hotel was right in the middle of the Old Town so we had all the amazing restaurants and little boutiques nearby.

tallinn-collage

Our first night we went to a Russian restaurant Troika, which has great traditional Russian foods (the salmon I would recommend to everyone; the restaurant is on the edge of the town square in Old Town). Our hotel breakfast was in a traditional Estonian restaurant that was next to our hotel (St. Petersbourg).

Most of my shopping was done in Viru Keskus, which is a huge mall with tons of fashionable (and cheap) stores. I found some great items from the summer sales.

I will soon be posting more photos from the cruise as well as a haul post so stay tuned!

My Life Lately: an Update

life lately

A little update on what I’ve my life lately:

  • Barbecue at our friend Riku’s house: brilliant food (smoked salmon, lamb, salad, etc) and good company!
  • Dinner with Ari’s dad and his girlfriend: we went to Helmi Grilli, which is a restaurant at the mall near our house.
  • Enjoying the company of our new kitten, Merlin: he’s growing up so fast and it’s a lot of fun seeing all the new things he keeps learning!
  • Cycling to the nearest beach: there’s a beach 30 min bike ride away from our house and we have been going there a lot – there’s a café that serves the best salmon soup and pancakes and the water is finally warm enough for swimming!
  • Throwing a surprise party to our friend: more about this in the next blog post ;)

 

Liebster (Again)

Firstly: I’m INSANELY late with this so, my apologies. And a huge thank you to Jess from Bookworms in Dresses for nominating me for a Liebster! Be sure to check her out: she blogs about books and food, and all things cool! (Almost rhymed.)

The rules for the Liebster award are:

  1. Thank and link the person who nominated you.
  2. Write the rules.
  3. Answer 11 questions and write 11 of your own.
  4. Nominate 11 other bloggers (who have less than 200 followers on their blog) and don’t forget letting them known that they have been nominated.
  5. Write 11 facts about yourself.

723a4-liebsteraward http://asoutherngypsy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/liebster.jpg

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Quick Update

  • I had a horrible flu just a little while ago (just on time for my big thesis presentation) so now that I have done a big part of my school projects, I’m just trying to relax and take it easy so I won’t get sick again. Normally I’d just push myself just as hard as normal but then I always end up getting sick several times in a row. Not this time! Okay…just kidding – I am swamped with projects so I do work super hard, but I am definitely trying to take better care of myself.
    update
  • I recently started emailing and writing letters with the super amazing Ingrid from Smilingrid (go check out her blog, okay?) and I would love to get some more people to write to regularly… I miss letter writing; I feel like it’s a bit of a dying art and it’s so exciting to get mail – other than bills – so I thought I’d start a Pen Pal Project here on my blog. If anyone would be interested in exchanging emails or letters, go check out my new Pen Pal Project page for more information :) I’d love to interact with my readers more!
  • I’m working really hard on my Buffy the Vampire Slayer thesis paper (I love my topic :D ) since I don’t have a lot of time to finish it – it’s due already on 30th of this month! Scary! But I’m pushing through and hoping for the best :)

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