10 ways to show yourself some love

We’re probably living the busiest and darkest time of the year. Holidays aren’t here yet and we have like 204583405 things on our to do lists. No wonder that we might feel “a little” exhausted. Or at least I do and I can’t even tell how happy I am, because today is my last school day in this year, yay!

But when we are living the dark times like this, it’s so important to show ourselves some love. And if you have no idea how to do it, don’t worry. I’ve made you a list, hurray! I know you must be so thankful for me but you are welcome, I’d do anything for you babes. And here it comes.

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xx Iida-Emilia

Get Creative! #2: Step out of your comfort zone

It’s time to get creative again! If you missed my last Get Creative post, you can read it in here.

Today I’m gonna tell you to step out of your comfort zone. You probably have never heard before that to achieve something, you have to step out of your comfort zone…Or maybe you have heard it like hundred times before. But even if you’ve heard it before, you are still chilling peacefully in the middle of your cozy comfort zone, am I right? And I’m chilling there too often too.

But now you may ask, why do you have to get out of your cozy little place to be more creative? Well, that’s because you need to constantly change, try new things and move if you want to keep your creativity (or whole life!) flowing and feel yourself inspired. And that’s what we all want. New ideas and inspiration flowing to our brains.

So now it’s time to do something new or start something that is little scary but what you’d still want to try. Maybe you are used to write only blog posts but you’ve been dreaming about writing poems. Give it a try, now. Or maybe you only paint with watercolors, because acrylic colors feel like too professional. Or maybe you have this masterpiece novel idea in your head, but you haven’t started doing it, because you never have time. Now it’s time to go for it.

New year is starting soon and it is a perfect time to set some creative goals as well. I’ve decided to take some photographing courses and also put a little more effort to my blog. I’m not that good photographer and it is really a huge step out of my comfort zone to take that course. But I’m excited and I’m sure I’ll get so much inspiration and new ideas from that course.

So go for your creative dreams and work for them until they come true. Even if it means you have to live the rest of your life out of your comfort zone!

xx Iida-Emilia

Writer’s block? Read my tips to survive it!

Blogger’s block, writer’s block, designer’s block… I can bet that some kind of block is familiar to every single one of us. Usually a block hits us exactly at the moment when we should start doing something important. I have writer’s block every now and then and that’s only natural. I’ve heard some people saying that if writing isn’t always easy, you shouldn’t do it at all. I think that’s just bullshit. Every now and then we all need some help with our ideas and inspiration.

I’m in a lucky position, because I am studying journalism and believe or not, but at the uni we’ve been taught how to deal with a writer’s block and how to get new ideas out of nowhere. I’m still struggling with writer’s block now and then but at least I know how to handle it. And because I’m a nice person, I want that you, my dear blogger and writer friends, also know how to handle this oh so annoying but so common problem of all creative professionals. And because I love check lists and I know you must love them do, I’ve made you one. And here it comes.

Okay, here it is, any questions? I’m sure you have a lot of them. I know that now you are thinking like “what the hell does that editorial calendar there?” or “Ideal reader? Who is my ideal reader?”, but don’t worry. Keep reading and I’ll explain everything.

1. Read everything. This is exactly how it looks like. I recommend you to read a lots of books, blogs, newspapers, magazines, poems, acts, science fiction… you name it! Just keep reading. I have that Finnish book named “advises for a young journalist” and there some very experienced journalist tells writers to read like 2 books in a day. Ok, let’s be realistic. Most of us don’t have that much time for reading. But I think that’s a good reminder that you have never read enough. So keep doing it.

But why should we keep reading? Because books and interesting articles give us new ideas, points of views and something to think about. Briefly: You’ll get inspired. And that’s a very good reason to grab a book immediately.

2. Keep your notebook near. Great ideas almost never come up when we are sitting in front of our desk and waiting for an inspiration. Usually something comes to our mind when we are in the middle of something interesting. Like having a cup of tea with our friends or hiking in the forests. And that’s why you should always pack your little notebook and a pen with you. Or maybe you aren’t as old-fashioned as I am and just write your ideas on your smart phone. It doesn’t matter what your method is, unless it’s called “nah, I’ll remember it when I’ll get home”, because you WON’T remember it. So write it down.

3. Keep your editorial calendar updated. Now you are thinking that if you do have an editorial calendar, how is it possible to have a writer’s block? Well, I do have my own editorial calendar, but it really doesn’t always save you from this block. I try to keep it updated for next seven days, but some days when I see open my calendar and see the subject I’ve planned for today, it just doesn’t seem right.

For example today when I opened my Google Calendar it said that today I’m gonna write about how to keep motivated. But I just thought the subject is boring, I don’t have anything to say about it and I’ve already written about motivation before. So I decided to write about something else. BUT I didn’t have to start inventing new subject out of nowhere. That’s because my calendar said that the category of my post should be “Career.” And that helped me. So, if you don’t want to plan every post a week before writing them, just add categories on your calendar. Like Monday: weddings, Tuesday: clothing etc. It’s easier to invent a subject if you already have some idea about what you are going to write.

4. Brainstorm and do mind maps. So when you need to get an idea immediately, I think brainstorming is the best way to start. Think about some subjects you find interesting or some subjects you want to write about. They can be quite abstract or wide subjects like “clothing”, “beauty” or “love.” Write your ideas on the paper and start doing mind maps of those subjects. Just write everything that comes to your mind. Like if your subject is love, you can write “relationships”, “family”, “divorce”, “weddings”… and so on. When your mind map is ready, I bet it’s full of great ideas for writing too.

5. Use Pinterest to get inspired. It’s not a secret that I love Pinterest. I can spend hours and hours just watching beautiful pictures. And I think that Pinterest can help you to win a writer’s block too. I have a board on Pinterest just for writing inspiration. I pin there everything beautiful, inspiring and everything that makes me think. When I feel like I have no idea what to write, I just watch my board and almost every time I find something useful. So create your own board and start preventing your writer’s block!

6. What your ideal reader would like to read? This is probably the most important thing to ask yourself ALWAYS when you start writing your blog, book or article. What your ideal reader wants to read? What kind of problems he or she has? Could you solve them? If you don’t know who your ideal reader is, Regina here can help you.

7. Go out and live a little. As I already said, great inspiration almost never hits you when you are staring at your computer. So go out of your house. Have an adventure, meet people, fall in love and scream out loud. Then come back to your computer and write about what you learned, what you experienced or what you did.

So, here were my tips for surviving writer’s block. I hope you found them useful. I’m also interested to hear if you have any methods to survive it. Feel free to share your tips with the rest of us in my comment box!

xx Iida-Emilia

How to improve your personal style with Pinterest?

As we all know, Pinterest is full of beautiful, inspirational and interesting content and pictures. But it can actually be very useful too, especially for fashionistas or people who are thinking what to wear and how to wear it. Since I started using Pinterest to improve my own wardrobe, I’ve probably saved hundreds of euros and also it has helped me to really find my own style. And now I’m here to share these 3 steps towards a better style.

1. Create separate boards for different kinds of clothes

I do have an own boards for boots, heels, coats, dresses, bags etc. You can use the same technique or you can for example create different boards for work, school, home, formal or what ever suits best for you. When you are pinning all your favorite boots in one place and heels in another, it is easier to see immediately what kind of boots you like by just watching that particular board.

2. Pin everything you love

Even if you have those separate boards, they won’t be useful if they are empty. So spend some time on Pinterest or exploring some great fashion pictures online. Every time you see something that looks great, pin it. Also when you pin things, add some description and tell why you loved it. It helps you to find out what are the things you want to add to your own style as well. You can also pin editorial fashion pictures, pictures of patterns, materials or colors. Make your pinboard an endless source of inspiration.

3. Plan before you go shopping

Before you go shopping take a little bit time to think about what you need. This is actually something you should do even without Pinterest. When you have decided what you are looking for, it’s time to take a look at your Pinterest wishlist.

Let’s imagine you need to have a new coat for winter. You see your “Coats for winter” board and start making a list. Write down you favorite models, your favorite materials, colors and brands. You immediately see that you have pinned red coats made of leather. You can also print out your favorite pictures and add them to your list as an inspiration. Take that list with you when you are going to find out that coat.

I know these steps aren’t rocket science, but for me Pinterest was really something that helped me so much to figure out what I love and what I don’t. And it is easier not buy something “not so me.” I mean if you have decided to buy 50’s style dress with floral pattern, you probably won’t go home with little black dress just because “I couldn’t find anything nicer.” And Pinterest is so easy too! You only need some interest to explore new outfit inspiration and new products on the internet.

And when you have been doing this for a while, you start to realise how your closet is full of clothes you actually like to wear. No more mistakes or compromises with clothes. It’s all about planning and getting inspired by other people’s styles.

xx Iida-Emilia

Celebrating Finland

Happy independence day, Finland

Today is 97th independence day of Finland which means it’s a holiday in the whole country, stores are closed and we are celebrating this day with our families. This is kind of serious day in here, maybe because there are still lots of WW II veterans alive and people who remember the war. So it’s not like we are having a carneval or something. Depressing Finland -blog wrote well about our celebration, so I’ll share it here with you guys.

In Finland you wont see anyone on the streets celebrating loudly (Unless you go to the cemeteries where some people might take a walk and lay candles to the graves). Finns respect holiday this important by silence and peace. It would be rude to carouse on the streets.

Traditionally people mostly spend Independence Day at home with family. They eat something, probably sauteed reindeer with mashed potatoes or Karelian stew. Then, of course, there’s blue and white colored candles lighten up in front of the windows.

“The Unknown Soldier” movie from 1955 is traditionally shown in TV in the afternoon. The movie is about the Continuation War and it’s based on a book with the same name, written by Väinö Linna.

But the Main Event of Finnish independence day, the TV broadcast of President’s party, the “Castle’s Party” begins at 18:00. Traditionally we watch TV for three hours and watch as famous people and people on high position shake hands with the President Sauli Niinistö and his wife. And of course you judge all female dresses and condemn etiquette blunders.

Happy Independence Day! Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää!

I shared this because it’s so funny and also because it’s a true story! While I was writing this, I watched how the Finnish celebrities shaked hands with our president 😀

I hope you had great day too!

xx Iida-Emilia

8 ways to make your December more magical

December is the most magical time of the year. It’s time when people are spending time with their loved ones, eating lots of delicious food, decorating their houses for Christmas, being nice to each others, resting and also setting goals for the next year. It’s also the darkest time of the year, but you almost forget that when you are looking outside your window and seeing all those beautiful lights people are putting on their gardens and balconies. It just feels like pure magic.

December is probably my favorite time of the year. There are so many things to do right now. I have made you a list of 8 things that will make your December even more magical. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Mulled wine

I love mulled wine, if someone asked me how does Christmas taste, I would answer that it tastes exactly like mulled wine. During December I drink it like one litre a day and right now when I’m writing this, I have this nice cup of hot mulled wine in front of me. Here in Finland you can find this delicious drink from most of the supermarkets. There are all kinds of mulled wines, with alcohol, alcohol free, blueberry taste, vanilla taste, white wine based, etc. But did you know that you can also make your own mulled wine? It’s actually quite easy too! This recipe is my favorite and it’s great for a christmas party.

Glögi (Finnish mulled wine)

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick (ca 3-inch)
• 1 teaspoon whole cardamom seed
• 2 inches candid orange rind (about 1 tbsp)
• 1 bottle of red wine
• 2 tablespoons raisins (optional)
• 2 tablespoons almonds, blanched whole (optional)

In a non aluminum mid-size sauce pan, heat water and sugar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.Tie all spices and the peel into a small piece of cheesecloth for easy removal. Add the spices and peel and wine to the sauce pan and simmer, covered, 5 minutes. To serve stand one spoon in each glass, evenly divide glögi into each glass. Add few raisins and almonds in each or serve separately. Enjoy!

2. Movie marathon

Invite some friends over and have a Christmas-themed movie marathon. I’m actually gonna do this next Sunday when me and my best friend are going to have sleepover at my place. Lots of cookies, mulled wine and Netflix. If you don’t know which movies are worth watching, these classics always work.

It’s a wonderful life (1946)

White Christmas (1954)

Gremlins (1984)

Christmas Vacation (1989)

The Nightmare before Christmas (1993) MY FAVORITE!

How the Grinch stole Christmas (2000)

Bad Santa (2003)

3. Decorate your house like a winter wonderland

My plan is to get little white christmas tree to our house and decorate it with silver and blue ornaments and with lots of glitter. Also I’m gonna make those cute little paper snowflakes and put them on my windows. That reminds me of my childhood when me and my mom were doing these every Christmas. If you need inspiration, search it from Pinterest or from here. There are many great tips and ideas for serious christmas decorating.

4. Visit a Christmas market

I think there is some kind of Christmas market in every city right now. In my city they opened it today, 5th December and I’m totally gonna go there this year, like I’ve done every year since I was a kid. It’s so nice to see all those small business owners selling their stuff while eating chestnuts and gingerbread cookies and listen how some kids are singing Christmas carols. Christmas market is also great place to look for unique Christmas gifts. I’m actually quite proud of the Christmas market of Tampere, because it managed to get into the Telegraph’s list of best Christmas markets in Europe.

5. Send some nice Christmas cards

I’m not sure how is it in other countries, but here young people don’t send Christmas cards very often. I think it’s a great way to see that you care, even if your friend or relative lives far away from you. And I am totally going to send my Christmas greetings in this year too! You can buy cards or you can make them. This year I’m going to do all the cards myself. I don’t have that many cards to do, probably 7-10 is enough, so it won’t be that big thing to do. You can find inspiration from Pinterest again. This board is full of beautiful christmas card ideas I’m totally going to try.

6. Spend a whole day in your pajamas

In my family there is a tradition that my parents give us children new pajamas every Christmas. Then in Christmas day we hang around the house in our new pajamas. I love it and I can’t wait to get my new pajama in this year too. My dream is to lie on the couch reading my new books and eating lots of chocolate in my new pajamas. This year I’ve been dreaming of these 3.

Ariel and Spongebob are from Topshop, One piece pajama from Cubus.

7. Host a glorious Christmas party

If you are young like me, I’m quite sure you are spending you Christmas at your parent’s. That’s at least what I am gonna do. BUT that doesn’t mean you can’t host your own Christmas party. Choose a day before Christmas, invite some friends over and have a serious party. It can be more formal party with dinner or maybe it’s more relaxed situation with some snacks and cocktails. It’s totally up to you.

It’s not very common that one of my friends would host a party. This year I’m gonna change it and I’m going to have this “dress up, dinner and cocktail party” for my 5 closest friends in next weekend. I’m already excited and I’m all the time planning what I’m gonna cook, what kind of music I’m gonna play etc. It’s so much fun to just plan things. I hope that this party is gonna be as fun as this. Lauren Conrad has written about hosting a great dinner party and I think there are some great tips, so it’s totally worth reading.

8. Take a look back

Watch your photos, read your diary and write down your most special moments and life lessons of the year 2014. Think about the mistakes you made, what you learned from them. Think about the people you met, Maybe you made friends with someone new or maybe you lost someone. Life is all about ups and downs and your year has probably included them too. Think about your dreams, are you closer to them than last year? Are you happy with your current situation? If not, what could you do better next year?

Write down your highlight moments, print out your favorite photos and set your goals for next year. Put those memories in some place you can always look them when you feel like that. Then write down your mistakes, arguments and disappointments on the piece of paper. Then rip that paper or burn it. Promise yourself you won’t repeat your mistakes. When you’re done,it’s time to move on.

I hope you have a magical December!

xx Iida-Emilia

Tampere 4.12.2014

Get creative! #1: Add some artistic activities to your week

This is the first post of my new “Get creative!” serie. I’m gonna publish 10 posts about how to wake up your inner artist and how to find your creativity. This is perfect for you if you have lack of inspiration, if you are suffering from writer’s block or if you just don’t think you are creative at all. For me creativity doesn’t mean only painting alone in your atelier or being an artist. It’s more like a way of life.

And if you now think that you never need creativity in your life, you are wrong. Many businesses appreciate if their employees have fresh, new ideas and creativity is something you definately need to have those ideas. And I think I don’t need to say anything about how important it is to be creative, when you are having your own business.

Creativity is intelligence having fun

-Albert Einstein

So the first step towards your creativity is to actually do something creative. What do you want to do is up to you. You can write, paint, draw, play a saxophone, dance jazz or take pictures. The most important thing is that you do it regularly and often enough. Many people think that you need an inspiration to do something creative. Like “I’ll paint my masterpiece when I’ll have a good idea about it” or “I’m gonna write a bestseller novel, I’m just first waiting that inspiration to come.” Let me tell you a secret: You can wait forever and that inspiration will never come. It won’t hit you out of nowhere. Yo have to work for it to come. And that’s what I’m talking about right now.

So you work for that inspiration by doing something creative regularly. But what you can do if you don’t have any good ideas? What are you gonna write or what are you gonna paint? That’s totally up to you again. It can be anything. My advice is to focus on doing it, not on the result. Just go with the flow and do what makes you feel good. You can write about what you did today or how you hate your boss or you can paint abstract shapes in different colors. It’s important that you do it, not what you are doing.

Sometimes it is hard to know where to start. Fortunately there are plenty of workshops and inspiration on the internet. You can for example start working on your own radical self love bible or your art journal. You can look for a help offline too. I bet there are some art classes or writing groups in your city. They are great places to make new friends and at the same time you get advices from people who are already more experienced.

Ready for morning pages

You can also find advices from library and for writers I can highly recommend books of Julia Cameron. Her tips for writers are great. One easy exercise is called “morning pages.”  Every morning when you wake up, start writing and write 3 whole pages. Just write what you think right now, what you are gonna do today or whatever crosses you mind in that moment. I’ve written morning pages for a one year now and it has helped me to try different styles of writing and it has also made it easier for me to just start to write.

How often should you do it then? I recommend you try to work with your creativity at least once a week. If you have time to do it daily, that’s good, but most of us are too busy for that.Though once a week should be possible for anyone. I am a big fun of scheduling things and I recommend you to mark those “art moments” on your calendar. It’s easier to stick to creativity if there is this regular time for it in your calendar.

So, I hope this inspires you to try something creative regularly. Next time I’m gonna talk you about how getting out of your comfort zone will help you to be more creative. So keep reading!

Perfect people are boring, don’t be one of them!

I haven’t been painting or making art for a looooong time, which is sad, because I absolutely love painting. It’s so relaxing just let it go and see how all those shapes and colors fill an empty canvas or paper. So yesterday I finally decided that NOW I’m gonna paint and then I did. But it didn’t feel good at all. Usually painting gives me that “flow”-feeling, but this time it felt just painful and I was so frustrated, because everything I did look just awful. When I stopped it, I was almost in tears because I was so frustrated and the whole thing pissed me off.

It was weird, because I used to love painting and I still do. I started to think, where is this reaction coming from and what was the main reason for that. The only reason I figured out was the fact I wasn’t happy with my paintings. I thought the paper was full of ugly shapes and wrong colors and that the whole thing looked like it was made by some 3 year old toddler. I wanted to paint something amazing, something unforgettable and something, well, perfect.

Okay, I realised that the it’s about perfection, again. It seems like wanting to be perfect ruins almost everything I’m trying to do. Of course it’s good to practice and it’s just natural that you want to improve your skills. But when it’s about some hobby that you do just because it feels good and makes you happy, perfection is “No No” number 1.

If you always try to be perfect, you are losing your courage. You are all the time afraid of making a mistake or doing something wrong. And when the things won’t go the way you want them to go,  you are upset. And because nothing is or can be perfect, you feel miserable all the time. Trying to be perfect is not worth that.

Instead of trying to be perfect, just let it go. Do what feels good and don’t pressure yourself. Don’t worry if you are not talented, the next Van Gogh or if your paintings/articles/poems are different from your friends. Don’t be scared of making mistakes, actually you can learn from them! Set yourself free and go with the flow, don’t care about the result, it’s all about doing it and having a great time. When you hear that little mean voice inside your head saying “that looks horrible, you suck”, just ignore it, because it’s not true.

So, after realising that it was all about trying to be perfect, I took the piece I painted yesterday and improved it a little bit. That painting propably isn’t the most beautiful painting in the world, but it is here to remind me, that imperfection is what makes us beautiful and unique. Perfection is just boring, so there is no reason for trying to be perfect.

Checklist: Sleep better

Everyone loves sleeping. Sometimes we are just too busy to sleep or maybe we have troubles falling asleep. Whatever your problem is, here is a checklist for better sleep.

1. Go to bed at the same time every day, even when it’s weekend. It becomes a routine and falling asleep gets easier when your body and your mind are already waiting for it.
2. Paint your bedroom walls blue or another calming and relaxing color. Avoid aggressive colors like red.
3. Keep your bedroom tidy, messy bedroom will distract you and you won’t fall asleep.
4. Bed is for sleeping. Don’t work, eat or watch tv on it!
5. Turn off the tv, computer and your phone an hour before you’re going to bed. They keep your brains working too quickly. Try reading or yoga instead.
6. Do not exercise hard after 6 am. Walking, yoga or stretching are good for sleeping though.
7. Get some beautiful and cozy sheets, you can’t wait going to bed. Also keep your sheets fresh and change them often.
8. Don’t eat too heavy meal just before going to sleep
9. Don’t go bed when you’re hungry either. Try warm milk with cinnamon or natural youghurt with honey.
10. Do deep relaxation exercise before going to bed
11. Avoid drinks with caffeine, try herbal tea instead. I love camomile tea and drink it every night.
12. Buy yourself a good pillow, I used to have those weird backpains and headaches and then I bought a new pillow… after that nothing! New pillow can really save your life, babe.

+ 1: We have our own unique rhythm and what suits you, maybe won’t suit for everybody. For example my boyfriend goes to bed at 9.30 pm every night. I’ve tried to do the same, but I just can’t. If I fall a sleep that early, I wake up at 2 am and stay awake at least an hour. And because of that I’ve decided to go to sleep later, at 11 pm.

Good night!