Everybody is a hero in the enclosed pasture-land

I read such a truth on the milk package today: "I kohagen är alla hjältar". Translates into Everybody is a hero in the enclosed pasture-land. I wish we could all live in an enclosed pasture-land. Oh what joy. Without the doodies, ofcourse. Just with the butterflies, flowers, happiness and heroness.

Going to the gym

I was at the gym the other day and was fascinated by these male creatures sneaking about in there. Or no, they are not sneaking. They are boasting about, like they own the place. I just couldn't help laughing to myself. I'm talking about the "I'm-wearing-girl-sized-shorts-guys". A lot of girls probably dig that kind of thing, but for me...No, doesn't hit any buttons, except maybe the laughing ones. Sure they can be very attractive, but if they are their own biggest fans it kind of falls at that. At least it's very amusing being at the gym looking at people.

What to give a guy for his 30th birthday?

And not just any guy...My guy. Well my first thought was: an expirience. And that he got. We went to Barcelona a month ago, which was all a surprise for him. Now his real birthday appeared and I wanted to buy something materialistic too. so my second thought was: gadgets. He loves gadgets and mostly electronical gadgets. I know he is such a guy. Well this is what I got him (with the help of my family, thank you guys!)

An LG X110. Mini laptop. Cute, but still manly. And no, I didn't get the pink one. ;) Anyway, I can't say that I won't be using it myself every now and then, but I did really think of him when I got it. And fyi, it was the store's last one in entire Stockholm.

My sister, the rock.

It turns out my sister is made out of steel or something. You can try to bend and break her, but she just keeps on bouncing back. She has her last batch of cheamotherapy tomorrow and I want to tell everybody how proud I am of her. She has this glow of strength around her even though times have been tough. She is the one giving people advice and even comfort. So this posting is an ode to my beloved sister, Annika.

This is taken on the train between Turku and Helsinki last week. My sister's first trip outside Turku in 6 Months. Good times.

Rolling, rolling, rolling down the river...

You know that thing bellydancers do with their tummies? The rolling thing. I can do it. It used to be my partytrick up my sleeve as a kid. You know the ones where you'd go: "I'll do this if you do that or I'll show this if you show me that". Well now I've decided to take this fantastic gift (I mean it's very useful. I should put it on my cv) to a whole different level. The thing is...I signed up for bellydancing lessons! Thank you Malin and Mia who got me into it. I hope to be able to put up some pics about it, or even better...a film of the rolling! ;)

Oh and this is what I would want to look like doing it... ;)

The place to go for bellydancing in Stockholm is found at: www.orientaliskdans.se

Eighteen going on thirty

What yoghurt do you eat? -a doorman asked my husband after seing his i.d. at a place with an agelimit of eighteen. At that point my hubby was twentyeight. Today my friends, my hubby turns the big three-o. And still looks eighteen. Now I'm wondering: What is he eating? Give me some!

A model citizen in Helsinki

The model citizen I am, I took a trip to Helsinki to see that everybody was behaving...and worked some too.

The boys. Check them out at Paparazzi (Umberto, Thomas, Nico)

Oh the catsuits were so comfy. I bought one. I'm not kidding. To dance in. Ballet classes. Not in public.

Some of the sweet models.

Waiting...

My husband would kill for me to read this kind of books. It would be almost as hot as if he would catch me playing a computer game. he he
Check Carolin out at Modelboom. She was scouted by my friend Vesa.

Where to go running in Stockholm?

• Hagaparken
• Kungsholmen (around the island)
• Norrmälarstrand-Södermälarstrand (with the amazing Västerbron)
• Liljanskogen
• Södermalm (around the island)
  

Work hard, play hard

I love love love working hard. After working hard the best way to wind down sometimes is to play hard. Here are some play hard pictures.

My friends and I

Trying our best to be serious



Kickeli and Mioli

My favorite words

Why do some words just make you feel all cosy and happy inside? I don't mean lame ass (ooops, I mean lame buttock) words like baby, pumpkin, sugar or whatever. I mean words like:

• MÖGEN (to like, in German)
• BÖSE (angry, in German)
• MÖK (very stinky fart, in Swedish)
• JUUSTO (cheese, in Finnish)
• GAU LAA (enough, in Cantonese)

The letter o with two dots on top of it is pronounced like ea in earning.

Mioli, The Road and The Defender

This little (when I was thinking of what to call myself, just now, I started thinking of Puff Daddy for some strange reason. My second thought was that if Diddy were a girl, would he have been Puff Mommy?) Mioli the Muff (because that would totally work, right? Give me street cred and all? Oh yeah, def.) hit the road today. Had to drive to Västerås for work. No prob.
So off I went. And not just in some crappy stationwagon minivan, but in a Land Rover Defender from like...the sixties or something. It is fantastic. You could camp up there on the roof if you wanted to.

I was minding my own business, cruising in my leopard shades and just, you know, enjoying my coolness (which was ICE cold of course, I mean look at this baby!). All of a sudden I hear honking. I'm all excited.

Maria: oh they love my car (read: ME)

Whereupon the Volvo people overtake me (!) and give me a face AND obscene gestures.

Maria: oh no they didn't

And at that moment I realize I'm driving kind of in the middle of the road. Ha ha. Just for a second or so, no real danger, but this car is no Smart we're talking about. It's the Belgian Blue of cows. And I mean, I could drive in the middle of anything and it would keep going. But still, I was brought back to reality. Back from my übercoolness to just plain enjoying the Land Rover drive.

Blabbermouth

So I learnt a lesson today. When you are up to your ears in sh** (poo), it's better to keep your mouth shut. That's it.

Don't give it all away!

We were out bouncing in Stockholm on Saturday. We wanted to listen, and dance to some electronic music, so we went to grodan ("the frog"). They had some problems with the descant sound, which was a real bummer, but when they got the soundsystem up and running again the party was ON and twice as good. BUT the thing that hit me this evening was the appearance of the girls there. Call me old, call me oldfashioned, but OMG. Girlies, don't give it all away at once! It's just too easy! I'm no prude myself. I like to show some skin, but still keep it stylish and interesting. It felt like their cheap look (and I'm not talking about my intended cheap look, I'm talking about the cheap cheap look) made them act cheap too. They totally sold themselves short. Is it due to a lack of selfesteem or lack of a sence of style, I don't know.

Expensive to be fat

Now some airlines have started to charge fat people extra. Airlines like Delta, Continental, Jet Blue and United Airlines now charge fat people for two seats. I think they should have let thin people bring twice as much luggage instead! ;)

What pisses you off?

One thing that really gets me mad is injustice. And that we have plenty of in this world. Take this one case that has been given a lot of attention in the press here in Stockholm, Sweden: A swedish 15-year-old girl was repetedly sexually abused by a 42-year-old man, and then right before the court proceedings she killed herself, because it was all too much for the already so broken girl. Well now this man is going to be set free. Read an article about it here (in swedish). Set free! I just want to scream!

I've been reading a book about rapists, I know, pretty heavy stuff. The book is called "En riktig våldtäktsman" In english: A real rapist. It's about the society's view on rape. In the book the author tells about real cases and rapists and their stories of what happened. It gives me the creeps. As it is supposed to, I guess. It is fantastic in that way. It is time to openly discuss these matters and get the clearly needed changes done.

In several cases the rapists have gotten a milder sentence due to the woman wearing black underwear, red lipstick or a short skirt. The court has determined that that is a sign of the woman clearly wanting sex and the screams, struggling has not been enough for the man to understand she does, in fact, NOT want to have sex with him. This is OUTRAGOUS and makes me FURIOUS down to the bone. I mean, what kind of animals do we take men for? Do we think they are some kind of Neanderthals who, after seing a bit of black underwear, or heaven forbid, black lacy underwear, are incapable of stopping themselves. That it will make them see red and their brains go syntax error. I think we should give men more cred than that!

In one case the prosecuter wanted to quit the case, due to the woman wearing thongs. That made him believe that she wanted to have sex that night. Luckily the policeofficer was smart enough to tell the prosecuter that his wife wears thongs everyday but that hardly meant that she wanted to have sex everyday.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be a rapevictim and sit there at the policestation being questioned for hours about what kind of clothes I was wearing and about my choice of underwear that night. Who's the victim here? In media, the society and in the justice system it seems the answer to that qestion is the men. The men are victims under their penis. As soon as blood rushes to their limb they lose control. That, my friends, is one ancient myth long overdue. Once again, I give the men more credit than that! That would mean all men are ticking timebombs of becoming rapists. The problem lies much deeper than that.

This one works for dancing, running, moping, cooking. Yup, the works!

Being cheap in Stockholm

It's hard having a shopping ban in Stockholm. I mean it's especially hard here. It's not like I can't do anything else than shop (I can, I really can! And I do!). But (there's always a BIG BUT!) here in Stockholm there is just too much fancy stuff out there waiting to be bought. Plus everybody else buy them, it feels like. Everybody in Stockholm is fabulous. I'm not kidding. So I'm taking a different approach now.

Thank you Anne Taintor. If I have to be cheap, I might as well look cheap, right? :) And maybe I want to, right?

What is sexy?

One of the most attractive features in a guy, in my opinion, is a sence of humor! I would die if I couldn't laugh with my husband. Sometimes I can't fall a sleep because I'm laughing so hard. Our neighbours must think we smoke crack or something.

I found these bike streamers on sale on Urban Outfitters. Could you imagine if, let's say the Prime Minister of Finland would ride a bike equipped with these puppies on the handlebars to work? How sexy wouldn't that be?!

Positive thinking vs. Pragmatism

Dirty Harry said: A man's got to know his limitations.

I disagree. Thinking about your limitations will only take you half way. Believing you can do anything will take you higher than you ever imagined possible. Being naively positive pays off sometimes.

When I was an elite runner my coach always had us run 10 metres extra. So whenever the finish line was at the actual finish line, he put our finish line 10 metres away. He knew that once you see the finish line, you automatically start to deccelerate. This way, he made us think the finish line was 10 metres later, so we would give 100% all the way. Not just 95% of the way.

My mother has always made me feel I can do anything. I'm grateful for that. Visa laughs at me sometimes, because I think I can do anything. Like sing, ha ha. Well maybe I can't, call me stupid or a massochist (or sadist, I hope my singing isn't THAT bad, though), but I still think I would make it to the second round on the Finnish version of Idol.

The first and best victory is to conquer self. Plato

Two kinds of people

I've noticed there are two kinds of people. Firstly there are the ones, my favorite kind, who whenever they enter a room it just fills up with this nice vibe and the second kind is the ones who just kill everybody's happiness wherever they go. I'd say it's all about energy. You have the ones who bring energy and then there are the ones who just suck the last bit of energy right out of you.

The Knife

Does love die?

I've been thinking about love lately. You hear a lot of this "we drifted apart" stuff going on and see a lot of relationships breaking up. Sad, but true. There are a bunch of people getting divorces now a days. Why?

Is it because we don't have time for each other anymore? Probably. Is it because we are too self centred? Most likely. Is it because love fades? I don't know. That's my thought and question for today: Does love fade? change character? die? Or is it like energy in the laws of physics: it just changes form but never fades? As an optimist I'd go for the last one. I think the problem now a days is that love is just not enough. We want more. We always want more.

Are women whiny?

I read about a swedish poll that was done by a magazine. The target group was men aged 40+ and the subject was: "What do you wish from your partner?" And the answers were:

1. Be more satisfied with yourself 55%
2. Surprise me sometime 25%
3. Stop whining at me 19%
4. Ask me how I like it in the sack 17%
5. Laugh more at my jokes 13%
6. Start to excercise so you get a nicer body 10%
7. Be sexier 8%
8. Be better at courting me 7%
9. Be better at talking about our relationship 7%
10. Be smarter 5%

Hmmm... Well... I can totally check that number 2 right off my to-do list, but don't you think there is something really weird about the number 1? It's so accurate. Why do we women have such a hard time being satisfied with ourselves?

The best way to give your mother a heartattack

I, once again as the scheming little broad I am, decided to surprise someone. This time the victim was my mother. I took the ferry over to Finland where my sister and her husband came to pick me up. They have the keys to my parents building, so we let ourselves in. Luckily we decided to ring the doorbell instead of barging in...She opened the door still very sleepy and looked straight in my eyes and said "yes?" Like I was the janitor or something. BUT THEN it hit her and she almost fell over. Literally. It was fantastic. Her eyeballs jumped out off her face and made a loop before they got sucked back in again. Sneaky, sneaky!

Darn this shopping ban of mine!

Oh my oh my...

Free People Drapey Scoop Muscle Back Top

Urban outfitters £35.00

Get that laid back look in this double layer drapey jersey top from Free People with scoop neck and wide short sleeves.

Are blondes stupid?

I took an IQ-test today. I had to. Before I never had the guts to do it, because I was afraid I would make the above statement true. But hey it turns out: I'm not stupid! (I knew that, but I just thought I had my own kind of smartness that wasn't measurable). My result was actually better than 91% of the population. Go figure. Blond AND smart. I could take over the world. ;)

Good running music

Are men too feminine now a days?

Sweden is one of the most equal countries in the world. Which, of course, is fantastic. Still has a long way to go, but still way ahead. In Finland when you sometimes see a well dressed man you might think he is gay, because of his taste, but most of the time he is just swedish. In Sweden it has become an issue lately. Are men too in touch with their feminine side? I mean in midst of all the "pappaledighet" (paternal leave, in Sweden we have the longest in the world. Up to 7 months I think) and diperchanging and ironing (!), do men forget their manliness? Have we created a madonna-whore complex for men?

Owning your own home

Thursday February 19 th the Government in Sweden decided on something revolutionary (to Sweden, the other Nordic countries are way ahead). From May 1st you are now able to actually OWN your home! I know it sounds braindead, but that's the fact. Before, when you bought an apartment, it meant that you bought a share of the tenant association (bostadsförening). You could only buy and completely OWN a home if it were a house that was seperate or in a chain, not if it was an apartment in a high-rise or a block of flats. So now I'm eager to see how this will work out and how it will take shape. I'm just glad Stockholm is up for some change.

A day in a model's life

Got to sleep in this day, which is always fantastic, concidering you have to look good and all... Make up and rehearsal started at 11:00. 12 girls aged between 13-28. Yes, the oldest could be the youngest mother, literally, I am aware of that thank you very much. You can guess in what end of the ageline I stand...


Karin and Mioli backstage. Black violet was our theme.

Models backstage before the grand rehearsal. It's always nice to test the runway before they send you out there to strut with your anklekiller milehigh heels.


After the show. You have the black violets, sunflowers, english roses and sweet peas. At this point the time is around 23:00.

Very Galliano, don't you think?!


After the show It was time for a spin out with friends.

And this is what you look like the morning after a show, if you go to bed with your make up on. Rookie mistake, but sometimes you are just too tired.

The swedish trends for FALL 2009

According to the swedish designers these are the trends for next season:



Transparent fabrics (oh my...there will be alot of booties with frostbite in Stockholm this fall)

Anything tailormade

Green stuff

velvet

Torn jeans

Chunky Shoes

Hoods

Apricot (the colour)

Inspiration from the Circus (yes that includes the clowns, unfortunately)

Checked fabrics

Fat ass mommies with fat ass carriages!

What is the deal with women with carriages? They seem to think they OWN the pavements? Especially when the sun comes out, the city is invaded by these Café Latte drinking, racecar-carriage pushing monsters. Is it just me, or do they seem to follow the rule "biggest goes first" (Störst går först"). Just because they have this thing they are pushing doesn't mean they can't be polite, right?

Why am I so wry, you ask? Well I have a trauma. The monsters hit me. All the time. With purpose. Are they after me? Because I have no babies? I think they are after me.

Or is the carriage too heavy for them to move? Are the women too heavy to move themselves? (I know, I'm just trying to provoke) Are they just too tired from all the staying up all night with crying babies? Or are they just so ignorant? Or does motherhood come with some sort of feeling that "now that I've populated this planet, it's partially mine."

If you want something badly enough...

...you will find ways to get it/do it/make it happen, right? Well we did, Kat and I. We had a running date booked yesterday eve and Kat came straight to our appartment from work and we were all geared up to head out when she realized she had forgotten her shoes! Well Kat is 30 cm shorter than I am and has tiny feet. We were just so eager to go out running, we solved it! I borrowed my husband's shoes, size 44 (that's 5 sizes too big for me) and Kat put my 39:ers on her size 35 feet and off we went. Not the best run we had, but one of the funniest. And ugliest. And it felt soooo goood.

My kind of Stella

Stella Nova. Love it. Crave it.

The difference between men and women

As a physical therapist I have given lectures for people about obesity, which is a great concern in the western countries. It is developing into a major Pandemic really. And it costs money like crazy. Anyway. One time when I was preparing for my lecture I found this article on the difference between men and women when it comes to psychology and obesity. The difference is:

Women: I know, this is my fault. I ate too much and exercised too little. I'm such a bad person.

Men: I have nothing to do with it, it's my genes. I was born with them.

Into the wild with Vedder

Credit Crunch Shopping

I have issued myself with a shopping ban, since I came home from Hong Kong. First of all the shopping is so amazing there, you just start to cry when you go out hunting here. And secondly I still have a closet full of new stuff I haven't worn yet. Oh crap, my husband reads this. And third...I need to save the money. It's that boring. BUT if I were to buy something...or if a certain husband would surprise me...This is what I would get.

Lace Up Cut Out Sandal, this springs MUST HAVE, 65 £

A Rachel Leigh bracelet

All of these goodies you can buy at www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk and to a survivable price.