finland update....finally!

whoa, it's been crazy few weeks! we are back in good old helsinki, though during this time we have been able to enjoy the company of henna and antti in kuopio, and do many, MANY things. i have truly remembered why this country will always be so dear to me; the people are so full of life (something for me to always try to keep up), the food is SO good and fresh, and the culture just is...crazy. wonderful. everything you can imagine. here are a few highlights from our trip so far:

- henna's dad's 60th birthday. it was one of the most epic parties i have ever been to (and thomas was saying the same)! oh, a night in the middle of nowhere, finnish lavatanssit and humppa, seeing 70-year-olds dance to rock'n'roll like there's no tomorrow. oh my, was it a fun night! we have the funnest culture :D

- juhannus (finnish midsummer party, which we celebrate on the longest day of the summer. during this day, the sun never sets and it stays light outside allllll night..ok this happens every other night as well..). we were in kuopio, and had gathered some dear people to henna's place - the fun thing was that now we all were married or dating. how we have grown up ;) we grilled a ton of meat, and enjoyed the hot sauna. it was precious.

-our plate hunt adventure today :D so, i am completely nuts with finnish dishes and design, and it has gone muuuuch worse while in the states. there are some very, very good brands here, and they have some designs to die for. we got my dream plates, utensils & bowls as a wedding gift from my relatives, but there are still some things that i wanted to get for our dish collections... on our way back from kuopio we stopped at an iittala outlet, and found out that this dreamy design was on sale for 10 euros a piece. of course we decided to get the bowls and mugs, but decided to leave the plates there. until yesterday, we realised that we should have totally gotten them. so, today the chase begun. we woke up early (10am....), left for the mall and another outlet just to figure out that they were all sold out there. i called a place in helsinki downtown, and they said that they have 10 plates left. oh the adrelanile going through our bodies. we somehow made it from tammisto to esplanadi in 20 minutes, thomas ran to the store to get the plates while i parked the car. he came in a second before these other customers, and got our six plates, and the couple after him got the rest... ahhh! :D such an exciting day! after that, we just went shopping in jumbo, then came home and made some yummy lunch. and also, we went out for a walk in pouring rain. finnish summer, we love you!

i have figured out that thomas is more finnish than i am. he has already gone swimming to the lake countless times, while i whine that it is too cold. the other night, we were sitting in the sauna, and as thomas threw a ton of water on the rocks, he told me that he could eat a finnish sausage right then. seriously, how much more finnish can you get?! he has been wonderful with meeting new people, and everyone loves him. it melts my heart when he says 'kiitos' (=thank you) everytime someone does something to him. he is such a sweetheart. and i am glad that we have somehow managed to stumble upon every single stereotypical summer activity, that i am even not that used to experiencing.

now we have my parents' house to ourselves for the weekend, and may i say that it is really nice to be by ourselves for change. i have loved seeing our families and friends, but being a month without our own routines & home is sometimes hard. we have decided to just relax and enjoy our alone time to the fullest. could it get any better than this? i don't think so.

ok, maybe it's time for me to end this ramble here. hopefully the next post will come out a bit sooner (and won't be as long ;)).