Vintage shopping and sushi – love at every sight

Yesterday almost turned out as a perfect day, unless we hadn't had a parking ticket while shopping at a vintage store Buffalo Exchange. Santa Monica parking regulations are strict: after 6 p.m. only the ones with permission can park. In Finland it goes vice versa, you pay for parking on the street during the day, but it is free during the nights. So besides what I paid for the things I got, there's also a 60 dollar extra bill waiting, yay! Ok, I spent 2 hours in the store, so perhaps this was a wake up call for me to control my inner shopaholic.

Gina Tricot lace top, Sandro shorts, RayBan shades,
second hand hippie bag, Urban Outfitters sandals.
I found this hippie bag at a flea market in Helsinki (Valtteri).
All Maya inspired designs seem to attract me right now.

Fish dish

We had a nice fish dinner the other night: baked cod, mashed potatoes and sweet white corn. Won't take credit for it, this is not my recipe, but wanted to share it!

 Step 1: chop the garlic, potatoes and parsley.

 Step 2: place the cod files into a oven safe casserole dish. Pour over sauce made of lemon juice and butter. Sprinkle garlic, parsley, capers, and lemon slices on top of it. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Step 3: Roast the garlic in butter, boil the potato chunks in milk until the milk reduces and the texture of potatoes is creamy after mashing. Add garlic chunks, butter, and parsley.

Boil sweet corn for about 4 minutes.

Step 4: grate some lemon skin into the mashed potato.

Step 5: enjoy with white wine! Sweet corn is best when served with butter and sea salt.

Newport rooftop BBQ party

I don't know about you, but I first became familiar with the Newport Beach area scenery via the teen show O.C. (just barely over my crush on "Ryan"! ;)). Newport really is beautiful, even though we saw only a small piece of it last Sunday when we attended a nice barbeque party at a very beautiful house. The view from the rooftop was amazing! There was also a jacuzzi on the roof. It was too cold to dip in, but I could easily imagine myself sitting in hot, bubbly water with a cold drink in my hand watching the sun set far behind the rooftops...

Me: Topshop dress, Rossodisera fringe bag, Urban Outfitter sandals.
Javan: Calvin Klein shirt, Calvin Klein linen pants, RayBan shades,
Bass boat shoes.
Ashlee: GAP top, Pieces lace vest, Wefashion pants, Asos boots.
(Ashlee dug my luggage, put together this outfit and pulled it off perfectly!
Need to try that one myself one day!)

Green asparagus, pepper, beef, chicken, sweet corn and good music
coming right up! Also coconut chicken (yum!) was served.

Everyone likes Skittles, but how about Skittles mixed with vodka?
Anything with candy: yes, please!

I want this ghetto blaster! They won’t notice if I take it, will they?

Hollywood night life - long drinks, short skirts

It's been a while since going out in Hollywood. On last Saturday we went to Colony for a house night. I've never been a big fan of house, trance or club music, but I was lucky to win dance classes at Helsingin Tanssiopisto last year. I took some house classes (besides hip hop and reggaeton), wasn't totally into it at first, but during a trip to Amsterdam this spring we hit a house club which really got me jAmsterdammed (our term for what the city did to us jamwise ;)). 

Colony was a nice experience, even though the dj's could have been better (thats what my friends said, I just concentrated on dancing!). After clubbing we went strolling on the Hollywood Boulevard / Walk of fame. It's funny how they make the place seem very glamorous in tv shows. It's just another street with bunch of tourist shops. Not saying I don't like it, but it's different from what I thought of it before I first went 5 years ago.

Stylewise Hollywood differs from Helsinki night life. Quite a bit. I thought I was the one wearing a short skirt :D.

American Apparel tee, Forever 21 skirt, River Island heels,
vintage clutch (by my mom)

 

 

Driving on Sunset Boulevard never bores me (well, techincally sitting on passenger seat never bores me). Good music, all the lights... let the night take flight! 

The Chinese Theater

Good night, Hollywood!

Different juhannus @ LA Film Festival

We were lucky to get tickets to LA Film Festival through a friend (thanks, Ashlee!). It was held at Nokia Center, which warmed a Finn's heart. Juhannus, the big midsummer celebration is taking place right now in Finland. This is one of the rare midsummers I'm not spending at a summer cottage swimming and grilling sausage.

The festival is about feature films that are trying to make it through to big distribution. We went to see Gayby by Jonathan Lisecki (gay himself, he gave a hilarious speech before screening). The film was superfunny, it's about long-term best friends, a woman and a gay guy, who decide to have a baby (gayby) together. Loved the dialogue and the characters! There must be so many amazing movies out there that never reach the big audience. Hope this one will!

Ready for the night:
Blouse and denim shorts from Weekday, Asos boots.

After the film, we crashed a celebrity party for an actress apparently from HBO's Game of Thrones (someone with too blonde hair and a revealing dress but don't ask me who, don't watch the show :)). Got free drinks and a nice view over L.A. downtown. We chatted with one of the waitresses until a guy with a suit came to say to her "he's leaving". Apparently she needed to escort out a guy, who had been sitting on a nearby couch. He turned out to be Quincy Jones.

And what did they like of Salmiakkikossu and liquorice?

Ever wondered what to bring from Finland to your foreign friends? Salmiakki, liquorice, and Fazer chocolate? Have to admit, I followed this boring pattern with a few refreshing adds. Let's find out how Americans dug them. (Sarcasm might be included :)).

Panda Lakupala liquorice with banana, chocolate, taffy and strawberry filling.

"I love the chewy texture and the flavors remind me of trick or treating as a child" - Javan

 Fazer Turkish pepper candies

"I crushed the middle, not that bad! Little intense, but surely to wake you up if you are hungover." - Javan

"Tastes like black liquorice a.k.a nasty." - Ashlee

 Fazer Angry Birds assorted sweets 

 

"Angry Birds is Finnish? The candy is ok. It doesn’t taste like any fruit, tastes like it’s a manufactured flavour." - Javan

Fazer liquorice bars

 

"These are pretty much the same as Lakupala." - Javan

"It's actually not bad, never tasted anything like that. Doesn’t taste like regular black  liquorice. Wouldn’t buy it but would eat it if someone gave it to me." - Ashlee of Dumle bar

Forsman liquorice tea

"Maybe I didn't put enough tea in it, because the liquorice didn't dominate the flavor." - Javan

Pirkka organic white chocolate, banana almond

"Oh my God, you're kidding me, this is my favorite of these all. I'm saving a small piece to savor the flavor as long as possible! Send me more!" - Javan

"Send me this!" - Gabriella

"I don't like banana but this is good!" - Ashlee

Iittala mug HEL2012, designed by Per Josephson  

 

"I think I will drink whiskey out of it" - Javan

 "Comes handy with coffee :)" - Ashlee

 Pirkka Ivana Helsinki napkins, designed by Paola Suhonen 

 

"I feel like they are too fancy for my simple self. It did a good job wiping the crap off my face." - Javan

Globe Hope Jaakko bag, made of recycled materials 

 

"F*****g awesome! This is the best thing since brown paper bags! I can now drink my Mickey's 40oz in style. It's a fashion accessory for the functional alcoholic." - Javan

Salmiakki Koskenkorva

"Love it! It's like liquid candy in a bottle that tickles my stomach. Send me more, I mean it." - Javan

 

 

 

Kuksa

 

"It's fantastic. I feel like I'm drinking... what's that stuff called.. err.. it's fantastic, it makes me want to drink more tea." - Javan

Alvar Aalto trivet and a small piece you can lift the cover of the pot to prevent overboiling 

 

"Looks like an alien remote control, but it's really cool, sleek design and it makes you think. I call it wedge. And the small one is squirrel." - Javan

Porvoon Herkku liquorice with red filling (which I already finished)

 

"A little intense. Too much for my taste buds to adjust." - Javan










The jury has spoken. The ultimate winner of these Finnish souveniers is Pirkka white chocolate, which is made in Switzerland.

Los Angeles loafing

On Wilshire Boulevard

Hello there dames and dudes! I've been planning to start a blog for a while now and figured an LA trip might make a good enter. My stories will be about personal style, travelling, food, interior decoration, and what not.

 Leaving on a jet plane...

SO.. this is my third day in LA (staying at my friend Javan's place in Brentwood, West LA) and will be here until the July 12th. The California bug bit me in 2007 when I came here as an exchange student. Two years ago I came back, rented an apt in Santa Monica (only a few blocks from the beach) for 3 months. And this year I'm spending my whole 4 week summer vacation here.

So far it's been mostly recovering from jetlag, couldn't really sleep during the flights. You know how annoying it is to sit next to someone who's constantly poking you JUST when you fell asleep. On Helsinki - Chicago flight I sat next to a drunk Finnish guy who kept ordering wine and placing his arm on my leg (!!!! :S). From Chicago to LA I had a window seat (=freaking cold and they didn't even have blankets!) + a huge guy next to me taking 1/3 of my space and playing some iPad game which included moving his right arm towards me all the time.

First breakfast: berries, banana and
cottage cheese

 Happyhappyjoyjoy

That's where the complaints end. When I arrived I had sparkling wine and berries waiting for me. Passed out after one glass next to Javan's dog, Kaiser. He made a good pillow :).

Santa Monica (through car window)

On the first day we went shopping on Wilshire for all the necessities I couldn't fit in my luggage such as shampoo. The highlight of the day was Santa Monica, it has changed so much since my last visit. The big shopping center was under construction then and now it was open, yay! And strolling on the 3rd Street Promenade (the best shopping street) again brought me back memories. 

The 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica

We also went to Melrose Avenue for shopping, but hit only 3 stores before they closed. Did some good finds at Urban Outfitters. More about shopping later!

We got tickets to LA film festival for tonight, so excited to go! More about that later, too!