Black & White finds

 

Okay so I promised to show you guys what I found in Tallinn a couple of weeks ago. I don't go shopping that often and when I do it's normally in a flea market. But anyway, it seems that when I do some shopping it's weirdly colour-coordinated ;) Like here, everything is black&white! But I do love that combo so it's ok ;) Anyway, what I got:

-A houndstooth print vintage skirt from the 80's, from Les petites disain (For once, a skirt that fits me perfectly without alterations!)

- A lovely pair of earrings by Kirju that I found in Tali design shop (it was hard to pick only one pair)

- Ecological shea butter tha I found in Nu Nordik 

- Metallic tags I found in another store in Telliskivi Loomelinnak, I just don't remember the name right now. I was thinking to use them as a small christmas deco. I'm a serious tag-addict...

Also, I love the way they seem to pack everything in small brown paper bags in Tallinn. Isn't it cute? They even packed my skirt in one of those :)

I also saved some business cards and flyers. I know I'm a horder when it comes to small travel souvenirs like that, but sometimes I find flyers and menus and all that one of the most inspiring things when travelling... Is there anybody out there as weird as I am when it comes to this?

One more thing: I really appreciate the fact that it's possible to find good and FREE maps of Tallinn. They have this "made by locals" map with lot of tips for restaurants and places to see, and a design map so that you don't have to check all the addresses of all the design shops beforehand. I mean, sometimes it's impossible to find good free maps when travelling, don't you agree?

On a final note, things are getting a bit crazy round here since we realized it's only a month before we're moving back to Paris... Oups! So, I might not be posting that often before the christmas holidays, but I'll try to take a couple of blogging breaks from all that packing ;) Untill then, have a good week-end y'all!


Hei, tässä muutamia löytöjä sieltä Tallinnasta! En ole todellakaan mikään himoshoppailija (pikemminkin kirppishaukka!) mutta tältä reissulta tuli muutama juttu mukaan, ja kaikki vielä hauskasti mustavalkoista:

- Kukonaskelkuvioinen 80-luvun hame, Les petites disainista (Kerrankin hame joka istuu ilman mitään muutoksia!)
- Ihanat (ja jo paljon käytetyt) korvikset  Kirjulta jotka löytyi Talista (oli kyllä vaikeaa valita vain yhdet)
- Ekologista sheavoita Nu Nordikista
- Metallisia tägejä jotka löytyivät yhdestä Telliskivi Loomelinnakin putiikista, en vaan millään muista nimeä. Olen kyllä kehittänyt varsinaisen addiktion näihin... Mutta, ajattelin että nuo toimisivat hyvin pieninä joulukoristeina!

Ja sitten tietty keräsin mukaan ties mitä flyereita ja käyntikortteja. Näitä tulee aina rahdattua kaikilta matkoilta, ja joku voisi pitää sitä vähän turhana. Mutta mulle ne on vaan joskus yksi inspiroivimpia juttuja matkoilla :) Onko ketään yhtä outoa tässä asiassa kuin minä?

Plussana Tallinnasta mainittakoon vielä se, että osaavat tehdä oikeasti hyviä ilmaiskarttoja! Joistakin kaupungeista on vaan mahdotonta löytää hyviä ilmaiskarttoja. Näissä oli oikeasti hyviä vinkkejäkin.

Hei, en ehkä tule postailemaan hirveästi seuraavan kuukauden aikana, koska tajuttiin että pitäis varmaan alkaa pakkaamaan ja hoitamaan kaikkia asioita kun Pariisiin paluuseen on se kuukausi :) Mutta yritän ottaa välillä vähän lomaa niistäkin hommista ja palailla tänne! Mutta nyt ainakin, hyvää viikonloppua ihanaiset!

A (Small) Urban Guide to Tallinn

This week we had friends visiting from France and we decided to go all together to Tallinn during the week-end. This time we only had not even one full day to visit, but luckily we've visited there before. I really like Tallinn, there's an interesting DIY & design scene, nice coffee shops & restaurants and cool museums. So, I wanted to share a couple of my favourites with you! I've done city guides for this blog before, but since this was just a small w-e trip this is just a small guide :)

Let's start with the most important: food! As said, there are nice places to go out and eat or have a coffee. I'd recommend these:

- Boheem - Relaxed atmosphere and delicious homemade food just a bit outside the city center
- Vanaemo Juures - Traditional estonian food - like visiting your grandma!
- F-hoone - Industrial meets cosy in this cool place
- Must puudel - coffee, lunch or drinks, loved by locals

This time, we chose F-hoone for lunch. It's situated in Telliskivi Loomelinnak, which is the biggest center of creative industries in Estonia. So, at the same time you can check other cool stuff there's going on in Telliskivi. Since our last visit they had opened more boutiques at the same building with the restaurant, on both sides of a long corridor, a bit like a modern market hall!

But that's not the only place to visit if you're interested about estonian design scene! Here are some other places:

- Nu Nordik - Always an interesting place to visit, a good overview of small estonian brands

-TALI - a small but interesting shop in the heart of the old city!

- Etno.ee - Ethnic style, nice combination of traditional & modern

- Estonian Design House - I haven't yet got a change to visit, but I've heard only good things about this place!

This time I had time to visit only TALI and Nu nordik. But I managed to snap some pics from the later ;) Not always easy travelling with a couple of guys! I also found little something from both shops, but more of that later.

This time we didn't have time to visit any museums or such, but I'd recommend you these two spots:

- Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design - One of the best museums of applied art I've ever been to. Nice location as well!
- KUMU, Art Museum of Estonia - Foreign and Estonian art, located next to the beautiful and historic Kadriorg parc.

Hope you liked these tips! If you've been to Tallinn, what's your favourite spot?

OTHER URBAN GUIDES & TRAVEL TIPS:

Brooklyn, New York City, Åland, St Petersburg

Käväistiin nopeasti viikonloppuna Viron puolella ja hauskaa oli! Tallinna on kyllä niin mielenkiintoinen kaupunki, etä tahtoisin sinne joskus asumaan pitemmäksikin aikaa. Kivoja kahviloita ja ravintoloita, hyviä museoita ja mielenkiintoista, nuorta designia... Klikkailkaapa linkkejä, siinä on muutamia suosituksiani!

Mikäs on teidän lempipaikka Tallinnassa? Haluan laittaa korvan taakse hyviä mestoja!

MUISTAKAA MYÖS MUUT MINIMATKAOPPAAT:

Brooklyn, New York City, Åland, St Petersburg

Halloween round-up, part II

So the second halloween party this year was one that we threw last Saturday. It was second year in a row, because halloween just seems like a good time to gather people together: it's well before all the Christmas stuff, it's the darkest time of the year (a party is a good way to cheer up!) and it's also j-m's birthday. And, one can DIY costume and decoration. I know that not everybody likes dressing up for halloween, but I find it a perfect excuse to use my creativity and diy ideas for something I wouldn't use every day.

We always try to choose a theme for a party since it's so much easier and more fun to organize. This year it was movies and movie characters. Here's what we came up with it!

To go with the movie theme we borrowed a projector to watch movies on a big screen. I'd love to have a projector anyway, it's so much cooler to watch movies this way! We also printed these little popcorn cups and filled them with unspiced popcorn. This way, everybody could spice up their own in the popcorn station.

We had some movie posters lying around so we just put them to the wall. I also printed these, because they were just too cool.
 

As for more halloween-ish stuff, we used my jewellery tree and hang little bats on it. Then we usede these letter wall stickers to write on the walls. I think this is a very easy way to decorate, and it's even suitable for renters, like we are.

I guess we were too busy to enjoy ourselves since there's not really any good photos of my costume but this is the best :) I went as Daisy from The Great Gatsby and J-m as Chaplin. I just combined all these white vintage things I already had in my closet (normally I wouldn't use them together of course) and then I DIYed the headband out of some pieces of old & broken jewellery I had in hand. I cut the leaves in silver faux-leather and put everything together with metal wire so that I can re-use everything again. 

Last but not least I saw this tip on cup of Jo the same day and wanted to give it a try. It totally worked, we got some cool pictures with it! Too bad there wasn't so much light so they're a bit blurry, but they still make fun memories for us.

What do you guys think? Do you have any tips for organizing a great party? I'd love to hear!

Huh, vähän vielä halloweenasiaa, vaikka monilla ajatukset alkaa varmaan kääntyä jo joulua kohti :) Mutta tosiaan, viikko sitten halloweenia vasta vietettiin! Kaikki ei niin ole halloweenihmisiä ja ymmärrän kyllä senkin, mutta itse näen sen hyvänä tekosyynä kutsua kaverit koolle ja käyttää luovuuttani pukuun, jota muuten en ehkä käyttäisi. Ja kyseinen juhla sattuu myös olemaan j-m:n syntymäpäivä!

Tänä vuonna mentiin leffateemalla, joten asiaankuuluvasti piti väkerrellä vähän popcorn- kuppeja ja muuta. Saatiin onneksi projektori lainaan (ihana olisi olla tuollainen aina!). Lisäksi askarreltiin vähän halloweenkoristeita: lepakot ilmestyivät lentämään oksaan jossa yleensä riippuu koruja, ja seinille tarrattiin tekstejä prismasta löytyneillä sisustustarroilla. Noi on kyllä käteviä muutenkin sisustukseen näin vuokraajalle.

Pikkuvinkkinä vielä: kokeilin tästä blogista löytyvää vinkkiä, ja laitoin kameraan kiinni lapullisen ideoita, joita kuvata. Toimi! Suuri osa kuvista on kyllä vähän epätarkkoja, mutta se ehkä kuuluu asiaan :) Ja hauskoja ovat!

Mites te, onko mitään hyviä juhlavinkkejä? Aina olisi kiva keksiä jotain uutta, vai mitä :)

Halloween round-up, part1

What a week! Friends visiting, a halloween party to attend and another to organize... So good kinda busy :) So I know this is kinda late, but I still thought to share our this years costumes&other ideas since we had fun creating them!

First up, a halloween party we attended on Thursday. It was organized by J-m's old employer and they always throw a super party. This year was no exception, with good food, cool costumes, burlesque shows (!) and a photobooth. 

This year they announced a theme that was 70's sci-fi and horror. At first I couldn't come up with anything. I mean, I know some movies alright, but to create a costume that's easy, that wouldn't cost a lot and that I could wear to work since this was just after AND that would go with that theme was kinda hart to imagine. But then it hit me: I had a maxi dress that I could use, and then I just had to get a floppy hat from the local flea market to become one of the Stepford wives (love the original movie, don't you?).

Cool photobooth isn't it? I'd love to create something like this one day, but man, this was a professional work. Also, the "boyfriend jeans are so yesterday" just cracks me up.

J-m, on the other hand, didn't get a costume but fortunately they had a professional make-up artist to help people with their masks. So, he became, well I don't exactly know what but it sure fitted the halloween season ;) 

What about you, did you participate to any halloween festivities? I still have party numbet II coming up, but first I have to organize the photos!

Huh, mikä viikko. Torstaina osallistuttiin yhden firman bileisiin, ja melkoiset olivatkin: ruokaa, juomaa, burleski-esityksiä (!), maskeerausta, ja photobooth. Pakkohan sinne oli mennä vähän itseään kuvauttamaan!

Bileiden teema oli 70-luvun sci-fi ja kauhu. Ekaksi meinasi paniikki iskeä: mistä saada teeman mukainen puku, joka olisi helppo, ei maksaisi paljoa ja jonka voisi ottaa mukaan töihin kun tuonne oli mentävä suoraan? No, vastaus löytyi suurimmaksi osasta omasta vaatekaapista: vain leveälierinen hattu piti käydä kirpparilta hakemassa, ja jo tapahtui muutos yhdeksi Stepfordin naisista!

J-m taas tuli paikalle ihan omana itsenään mutta maskeeraajien osaavissa käsissä muuttui, no en itseasiassa tarkkaan tiedä miksi, mutta ainakin hyvin halloweenmaiseksi hahmoksi vai mitä ;)

Mites te, osallistuitteko mihinkään halloweenjuttuihin? Mulla on vielä bileet nro II tulossa, kunhan saan kuvat järjestettyä!