Jan
27

All the light

by Sofia   -   in Random

I am not a person who really gets affected by the lack of light or warmth. I have other things that make me upset. But I do know and understand that it does have a very strong effect on some peoples moods. So I am happy to tell you I did the math and today we have around 2 hours more sunlight a day than we did a month ago and next month it will be two more. The sunlight might not be the strongest word for weather like todays looks like it’s going to be. Pretty grey and wet. But let’s try to think of ways to find the silver lining in that too.

Collage pictures from my Pinterest files. 

If it’s grey outside the candle light looks even lovelier. People always make fun of ” candle lighters” and yes it is very true that if you have real life altering worries in your life the candle light will probably not make it any better. But if you are just annoyed it’s another cold and rainy day it really might. I have the Heather candle from Nest Helsinki in our kitchen and it has such a warm and  inviting scent it just makes my day a little nicer from the get go. I will try to get myself one more as it’s burning out. They are on sale now so I hope there are some left.

Make nice plans throughout the day to cheer you up. I’m not saying you have to have lunch dates etc. It can be the smallest things. Buy yourself that nice tea you always look at in the shop and brew a cup when you feel like rubbing your forehead. Or go get yourself some fresh air, even the grey days are still fresh, and buy the loveliest cup of coffee you know in town. If you have take away it will also keep your fingers warm on your way back home or the office. Take a moment to text something nice to people you like. Or someone you haven’t seen or heard from in a while. I always find that sending nice messages to my friends instantly makes me feel really good. Get yourself a lovely snack. I love to choose a seasonal fruit like blood oranges at the moment. If you plate them nicely they will make you feel even fancier. Or silly, but to me it feels lovelier. Or buy some pastries for the family or even yourself and enjoy. Make small plans also for the evening so you don’t just fall down on the sofa unable to get back up. Decide to light up the fireplace. Play a round of Uno with the kids or memo or whatever they like. Do you have a show that you like to watch? Something to look forward to in the evening. Make yourself a nice nest and relax. Take a hot bubble bath or pamper yourself a little. Read a book, a poem or an interesting article. Flip through a magazine you like. Just treat yourself with the smallest little things that might make you happy. Things you can also do on a sunny day but they feel much cozier when it’s not. On sunny days nobody has time for hot bubble baths inside.

Jan
17

Ski bunnies

by Sofia   -   in Random

We escaped the city for a little ski-ing up North. Just our family, the wonderful white nature, the peace and quiet of the snow filled forests and fresh air all day long. A lit fireplace and a sauna every night. We love our yearly trips to cross country- and downhill ski. Great cozy meals and playing games at night. We do spend time together at home but it’s always a little different when you change the scenery.

I am very unsurprisingly in navy and white at the slopes but we got the kids colorful Colmar outfits from the sale last year ( I shared it here). Great for spotting them at the slopes especially as in Finland there is often snow or the weather is otherwise grey. You want people to actually see you to not get run over. This is what we learned last year when trying to spot our friends and one of their kids had a very brightly colored helmet and pants. We could always spot her from the lifts.

Jan
3

Happy 2022

by Sofia   -   in Random

Toivon sinulle erinomaista uutta vuotta! Tänä vuonna tekniikka tuntuu toimivan paremmin. Sain joulupukilta uuden läppärin ja oi onni ja autuus kun kaikki toimii sujuvasti ja sutjakasti. Blogimerkintöjen tekeminen helpottui ja nopeutui juuri huomattavasti. Joten toivottavasti näemme todella täällä taas enemmän tänä vuonna.

En taaskaan tehnyt mitään tiukkoja lupauksia uudelle vuodelle, mutta ajattelin antaa sellaiselle ajatukselle tilaa elämässäni, että annan asioden soljua pakottamatta paikoilleen. Katsotaan josko näin elämän huolettomuus ja ilo korostuisivat ja itselleni luomat välillä ehkä turhatkin rajat voisivat kaatua. Olkoot tämä kohtuuden vuosi, mutta myös sallivuuden vuosi. Alla englanniksi vähän tilinpäätöstä edelliseltä vuodelta ja lisää soljuvuuden aiheesta. Vuosi sisälsi ihan hirveän paljon hyviä ja ihania asiota. Hyviä ihmisiä ja hetkiä roppakaupalla. Mutta samalla myös vähän vastoinkäymisiä ja oppimisen hetkiä. Taas vähän vanhempana, viisaampana ja ehkä myös rauhallisempana uutta kohti. Tilaa on annettu nyt ilolle, onnelle, kasvulle, menestykselle ja ihanille ihmisille. Niitä mahtuu! Vastoinkäymisiäkin mahtuu, kohdataan ne hieman hellemmällä otteella ja paremmilla yöunilla. Enää en anna kenenkään muun huolien valvottaa minua liikaa ja omanikin yritän selvittää rauhassa. Minulla kun on ollut tapana mennä vähän tolaltani jo pienemmästäkin vastoinkäymisestä. Ehkä nyt on aika höllätä hieman. En ole kenellekään mitään velkaa, varsinkaan omaa mielenrauhaani. Se ei tarkoita sitä, ettenkö hoitaisi työ- ja ihmissuhde asioitani yhtälaisella kunnianhimolla ja innolla kuin tähänkin saakka.

Happy happy New Year! And thank you Santa for bringing me a new laptop which means a new opportunity for blogging. I hope this year it’s all smooth sailing with my technical issues and blogging can return to something efficient and fun instead of technical hurdles for each post.

I wonder if you made some new years resolutions? I, as you may know, am not big on life changing resolutions. But I did decide to make 2022 the year of going with the flow in many ways. Listening to my body, mind and soul. I love joy in my life but last year brought a time period that I took hard, probably a lot harder than I should have, and I feel like I was sort of robbed out of my joy for a while. I will not let myself be drawn there anymore. I felt mistreated by a person who was going through a rough patch in their lives but still I felt I did not deserve to be treated so badly. If I were a person who did not take things so in to heart or let something crawl under my skin so easily I probably would not even have had to care. But I do and I did. Now I will not give that kind of thing a momentum this year. Although I must say I can’t really see why people always say things like ” you shouldn’t take it personally” or ” it’s not about you, it’s about them” or ” you shouldn’t be so kind and let people treat you like that”. No, I say, enough. It should be ” they should not act like that” or “it’s not ok to mistreat peoples kindness or sensitivity”. And absolutely I understand if someone is having a hard time and they do have my sympathy and support. And obviously from their point of view it really is about them and not me. It does not take away from the fact that I got bruised along the way. Don’t get me wrong, I do forgive as I do understand, I have a lot of empathy. But some things are not so easy to forget. So it’s up to me to not give space to such things in my life anymore. More joy and more people who bring joy is what 2022 has in store for me.