Singer 401

For a couple of years now (four to be exact) I've been making a lot of my own clothes. It actually started when I was about 16 years old. I was going through some boxes in our attic, when I came across an old sewing machine and about 5 boxes of different kinds of fabrics. I started sewing immediately. I watched sewing tutorials on youtube and printed a lot of patterns from different websites, which helped me out quite a lot. When my parents saw that I really loved sewing and did it every chance I got, they surprised me with my very own sewing machine for my birthday.

My first sewing machine. It was really old but at least it worked.

I love making clothes for myself for so many reasons. An obvious one being that it's nice to have something that's unique and self-made. I can feel proud when I wear something I spent hours making. I also save a lot of money buying fabrics instead of clothes. Another reason it's good to know how to make my own clothes is that my arms and legs are quite long, so at times it's really hard for me to find clothes that fit perfectly, so when I sew for myself, they do. The thing I still love the most is that for me, sewing is like meditation. It's calming and it helps me clear my head. I've been meaning to take some sewing classes for the longest time now, so that I could learn more about techniques and stuff like that, but I just haven't gotten around to it. It would be so nice to have my own clothing line someday, but for now I'm just going to continue sewing for myself and my friends.

Here are a few pictures of some of the clothes I've made:

A skirt I made last winter

Yeah, I guess I really liked that fabric..

My sister lost her favorite pair of shorts so I tried to make a replica of them for her birthday.

I wanted a peach-colored one shoulder dress for my graduation party, so I came up with this:

My next projects

There are so many clothes I have to get finished (including my sisters birthday present!!) but there just aren't enough hours in a day. Hopefully during the upcoming weekend I'll get some of the work done.

New Year, cleaner diet!

Since the new year started, I also promised myself I would clean up my diet a little bit and eat more healthy foods. Even though I don't really eat junk food or unhealthy stuff too much, I love sugar and I decided that little by little, I'm going to start giving it up (I've pretty much always been a sugar-addict). A lot of people make a new year's resolution (every year) to go on a diet and lose weight, but I think it's better, or more realistic, to set little goals and achieve them. For example, "I'll work out 3 times a week and leave certain things out of my diet" instead of saying "I want to lose 10 pounds in the next 3 months". When you don't put too much pressure on yourself, you're more likely to follow through with the promises. One of my resolutions this year was to be more active and healthy, and it's worked! I've worked out almost every day and eaten way less sugar..yayy! :)

My usual diet includes a lot of greens (lettuce, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, kale, edamame, cucumber), berries, grape fruit, pineapple, tuna (i love!), chicken, salmon, tilapia, shrimp, egg whites, Greek yogurt, almonds, oatmeal, etc. I'm not a big fan of rice, potatoes or pasta, and I usually eat rice only when I eat sushi or Asian food. I like rye bread, but since it doesn't taste the same in the US as it does in Finland, I don't have bread in my diet. I do have a sweet tooth, so I eat Goji berries, vanilla flavored Greek yogurt with raspberries, and Lärabars as treats. My guilty pleasure is organic chocolate covered almonds..soo tasty! I was introduced to lemon-flavored fiber soft chews, which taste like candy, but are actually (kind of) good for you as well as super fruit chews that have antioxidants. I also love smoothies and shakes, but I've lately started to give up on Jamba Juice or Robeks, since they have so much sugar. My new smoothie recipe is my chocolate-flavored protein shake (with 20g of protein in one scoop), almond milk, greek yogurt, ice and a spoonful of organic fresh peanut butter, and just use a blender to make it. It's the best! For drinks, of course a lot of water and green tea.

I buy most of the foods from Whole Foods and here's my usual "shopping list" for food:

The usual foods

I like to vary the greens and either eat a fresh salad, use veggies in an omelette or fry them on a pan or in the oven

I love the fact that you can get egg whites ready in a package in the US!

I could eat Edamame everyday..

I eat a lot of dairy and Fage Greek yogurt is my fav product, most similar to the Finnish "rahka"

I use raspberries and blackberries to mix with oatmeal or Greek yogurt

I take a small bags of almonds with me daily. An easy snack and fills you up for a while.

My "goodies"..Not so healthy, but better than processed foods! 

I could eat tuna everyday (the can kind), but since it's not good for you, I eat chicken too. Red meat I eat only when I go to a steakhouse.

A really good protein mix, fiber chews and antioxidant chews. 

Wii, Raisinets & Gossip

I found this picture of Olivia Palermo and I gotta say, I just love it. I love the animal print paired with the bright orange pants. What I also like is that the outfit isn't fitted and tight, I think the shirt with the loose pants are a perfect combo with the high heeled boots. I wish I owned those Tibi heavy wasted silk pants she's wearing. This would be a perfect outfit for the upcoming Spring, don't you think?

I've been so tired these past few days, since I've had to wake up at 5 every morning to go to work. Luckily, I still managed to go to my favourite class at our gym called Bodypump and then stop by at my friend Katariina's house where our night consisted of playing Wii, eating candy and gossiping. Here are a couple of pictures of my night:

pics http://www.starstyleinc.com/

My day as a makeup artist

Last night I saw my Finland girls and before leaving the house, we got a great idea to "make-over" one of us, Anette.. She's a naturally beautiful and sporty girl, who has never really used make-up or done a make-up by herself, so I did her make-up and showed her what to do. Ever since I saw the movie "Clueless", I've wanted to do make-overs to people.. so much fun! So finally had a chance to play make-up artist and give her some tips! I've did make-up before for my sister and some friends, but I surely am not a professional, lol. It was really fun! And we thought the end result was amazing too!

Natural look before any makeup or hair products

Another natural picture

I started with her foundation, I explained to her what I was doing while i was doing each step

Lotta did her hair; she added some products and flat ironed it all the way straight

I started by applying makeup powder, which can be used as foundation. I told her that you can use a concealer to cover up  "errors" in the skin, a brightening pen/highlighter to highlight certain parts of the face or a complexion enhancer. I also added powder to finish it off.

After the foundation and powder, I started with the eyes. I made the inner eye lid light and the outer lid darker. 

Here the eye shadow is done. I used beige, golden, light purple, and dark purple shades.

After that, it was time for the eye liner. I used a liquid eye liner to the upper lids and a pencil eye liner for the lower lids. 

I like quite a thick lining on my lids, but it really depends on the shape of your eyes.

 After that was done, I shaped her eye brows and used a brown shade to give them color.

Last but not least, I applied mascara on her upper lashes.

Then, I added pink blush on her cheeks and some lipgloss that was clear with a shade of pink.

And here is the end result of the makeup..beautiful!

Me setting her hair

This is the finished package. Makeup by me, hair and styling by Lotta.

Loving the look...ready for dinner!

My look was quite "basic": quick day make-up; shirt and jacket from H&M, pants from Zara,

Fun times!

Palak Paneer

Ever since we got back from India I've been craving Indian food like crazy. Palak paneer in particular, a popular Indian dish I ate pretty much every day we were there. I thought I'd attempt to make it at home. It turned out really well, not as spicy as I would've liked but still good. Here's the recipe, if anyone wants to try this simple, quick and delicious recipe at home:

All you need is:      
    
      4 servings

• 500g fresh spinach
• 250g Ingman tuorejuusto (to replace the Paneer - Indian "cottage cheese")
• 50g tomato puree
• 2 onions
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper

After boiling the spinach for about 5 minutes, blend it in a food processor. Meanwhile, cut the onion up and fry it with the garlic until golden brown. 

Take the onion away from the frying pan and fry the cheese in oil.

Add everything, including the spices together. Add in a cup of water. Let it cook for about 15 minutes.

End result.

As a side dish I made some oven-baked brussel sprouts (in balsamic vinegar), rice and plain yoghurt mixed with garlic and cucumber slices.

And let's not forget about dessert. My version of Cinnabons. Yum!

Today's outfit
Oversized knit Kappahl, Jeans Carlings, Wedges L.A. 

Today I decided to wear these heels I got from my sister for Christmas. I love them so much + they're really comfortable!

I also went to check out the sales at Kappahl and found this ring, necklace and the cardigan on sale!

During the winters in Finland, big knits are pretty much all I wear so this was a perfect find.