Christmas Madness: Sudden Exam, Trip to Germany and Final Christmas Preperations

Gosh, this Christmas hasn't felt like Christmas at all. One of the reasons is that I've been so busy that I haven't been able to even think about Christmas before we got to Germany.

Originally I had planned to take this one exam in November but in the end I kept postponing it till I realized it was almost the end of the semester. However, I'm glad I was able to take the exam before the Christmas holiday because now I don't have worry about that and can concentrate on the homework I got. The exam was on the Dec 16th and after the exam we met with my sister in a hotel from which it is only half an hour to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. We decided to stay a night before our flight to Germany in a hotel since I happened to get one night for two for free and we had to wake up early.

Christmas decorations in Dresden Hauptbahnhof (central railway station)

Because of early flight we had to wake up around 4 am. I felt quite awake in the morning but as the day went on I got so sleepy I felt like I could have slept for few days. The hardest part of our journey to Freiberg (Saxony, Germany) was when we had to wait for roughly four hours in Frankfurt (am Main) airport to catch the flight to Dresden. After couple hours we simply couldn't figure out what to do since there wasn't that much to do in the airport. Somehow the four hours went by and we continued our journey to Dresden and so to Freiberg. Though I have learned German for 8-9 years back in school in a few years of university I've managed almost completely to forget the language. Luckily, most people seemed to speak at least a little bit English so that we were able to buy the train tickets to the Freiberg and arrived in our hotel safely.

     My friend had been studying as an exchange student in Freiberg and we knew she was coming back to Finland in the Dec 22nd so we had promised to "pick her up". So we had her as our "local" guide for the trip. It was so nice to see her after few months. I wish I hadn't been so tired after the long trip to Freiberg but it couldn't be helped. I am sure she knows how much I had missed her. (Love you!) 

     Anyway, on our first night in Freiberg we had a quick dinner with my friend. The food was so delicious!

First morning in Freiberg. The person in the picture is my younger sister.

View from our hotel window

There are so many things I could write about in here but I think it's for the best to keep this short. What surprised me the most was the genuine kindness we experienced in Germany. We would always get help, sometimes even before we asked for it. This one old man tried to give me some instructions on how to get around in Freiberg. Apparently, he saw me opening the map and there he was smiling and asking me where were we going. And of course in German. It was on the first day so I still had recalled basically none of the German lessons from school. I simply tried to say we are okay and thanks for the help though I understood nothing.
     In Finland it is really rare that someone is offering their help so I am used to asking for it. So in Germany sometimes I found it a bit annoying when people were simply trying to be polite and kind. Sorry, if glanced you badly. It was just I am not used to it.
     What I was really thankful for was that this one couple we met on a tour to Petrikirche kindly translated us all the things the guide was saying. Though I could understand a lot there were too many words I hadn't heard ever before.
     Since I haven't gone through all the pictures I took during our Germany trip I think it is better to leave this for now. I'll make another post as soon as I've got time to sort out all the pictures I took and explain things then. Sorry, it'll take some time since I'll be working and also studying but I'll try my best.

Strolling around in the old town of Dresden

More Christmas decorations in Dresden Hauptbahnhof

The Christmas preparations failed this year. Usually I am that type of person to prepare everything early so that there is no gift shopping stress just before the Christmas eve. Also usually, I help my mom to clean up the house and decorate it but this year I wasn't able to do it because of our trip to Germany. Even my mom said this Christmas was kind of a failure because she was feeling too sick.
    The weather in Finland has been really lacking this year when it comes to seasonal changes. Usually around this time of year it should be a bit frosty but even on the Christmas Day it was like it would normally be in October so... it was a bit disappointing.
     Despite the lack of Christmas spirit we managed to get the presents ready on time. The 23rd was a really crazy day. People were dropping by and leaving immediately. We were baking, cleaning, decorating, wrapping the final presents.... It felt like we were doing everything in one day for what we usually use an entire week. Even now I'm still a bit amazed how quickly Christmas was over.

Sorry for this messy post. I've tried to summarize my December which has been quite a hassle from the very start till the very end. There is a one post I'd like to get finished before the New Year's Eve but I am not sure if I can make it because I'll be working till 22pm Mon-Thu this week. So yeah, working on New Year's Eve! Hopefully next year is going to be a bit less of a hassle because I feel like I have done nothing right this year.

Anyhow, till next time!
xxx

The Experimental Year of My Hair

I was browsing through my Instagram pictures and noticed how many times my hairstyle has changed within a year. It all started last year (2014) in August when after working for the whole summer I wanted to have some luxury in my life and decided on for a new hairstyle. I had had highlights many times before so I decided to try something totally new for me - the ombre hair color.

New haircut! Do you like it?

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 26. 11ta 2014 klo 3.10 PST

I really loved my long hair with the red ombre color but last spring I got an urge to cut my hair short. I have always been the type of person to grow their hair and then cut it short again and then start the growing again and so on... the circle simply continues.

Fresh from the shower. I love my new haircut! Oh, how much I missed having short hair 💕 #hairstyle #shorthair

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 29. 04ta 2015 klo 10.24 PDT

I loved my new short hair style but when the summer was coming to it's end I decided to do something I never had dared to do before though the thought had crossed my mind ever since I was a kid. How I would look like if I was blonde? And so I dyed my hair blonde and that probably has been the best decision in a while. It is hard to explain the feeling but I think everyone who has younger siblings with different hair color gets this. Though my younger siblings have had totally blonde hair the color nowadays is more like somewhere in between sandy blonde and brown. However, I have always been the only one with this dark, almost black, brown hair color.

I love my new blonde hair! My natural color has been dark brown ever since I was born so it's nice to try something completely different. #hairstyle #blonde

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 5. 08ta 2015 klo 1.51 PDT

From the very start of my blonde experiment I knew I wouldn't be able to have that hair for a long time since it costs a lot of many to color the roots again and again. And naturally it damages the hair. So I decided I would keep it only few months. I had my roots fixed once and also my hairdresser suggested trying the red color underneath my bangs.

Off to the first (and probably the only one I can make it) pre-Christmas party of the year. Very happy with my make up today. #makeup #prechristmas #party

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 14. 11ta 2015 klo 2.15 PST

Aaaand so I'm back to brown color now. My roots were starting to show too much so I decided dyeing my hair a bit darker to hide them. Well, the result was way more close to my own color than I expected. The color as supposed to be light brown and now I have clearly brown hair. I don't dislike the color but I would have liked to dry the lighter brown. That's what you get when you try to save money and dye the hair yourself.

So I dyed my hair yesterday. The color was much darker than I expected. Though I like this color too 😃 #hairdye #brunette

Kuva, jonka Minna (@howsminnadoing) julkaisi 26. 11ta 2015 klo 0.27 PST

This has been the year of hairstyle experiments. I am actually really curious. Which hairstyle suits me the best in your opinion? And are there any hairstyle experiment stories you would like to share in the comments.

   I was just about to write about my hair care routines and how I don't wear make up that often or do my hair. But then I thought I should save that for another post.

Well, thats all for this time. Should I really write more beauty and lifestyle posts? I don't know. Let me know if you are interested in those. 

xxx

October Highlights | Minna Blabbers

Oh my God! I can't even....

The October went by so fast I didn't even realize that we are already halfway through November. I have simply been so busy with school and work and then all the past time activities. Now I'm afraid tomorrow I'm going to wake up and realize it is already Christmas Day.

     Because I had so many things to do in October I thought I could write some of the best things that happened.

Cutting-down-the-sugar-diet

This started as a challenge on Facebook and I thought I might as well give it a try since I recently felt like I lived on sugar and carbohydrates. The point of the challenge was to avoid - for four weeks - any products with added sugar and eat products with only very little sugar. For example instead of eating normal yogurt I ate yogurt without added sugar or sweetened version.

     I recommend the diet for anyone because it made me realize how much sugar is added to food. Even dried fruits have added sugar. Though I still think they are much more healthier than sweets. And the yogurt with only the sugar from fruits it contained was actually really good once I got used to the taste since it didn't taste as sweet as I am used to when it is about yogurt.

     As for snacks I ate mostly fruits or nuts instead of various snack bars or protein bars. Yep, I also left out all the protein bars and actually the nuts and fruits kept my hunger away for far more longer than the protein bars. Even now I'm trying to eat fresh fruits instead going for the advertised healthy rich in protein snack bars. Of course, I need protein also but those are not a magic food to make me loose weight.

     Anyhow, I was so surprised how quickly the four weeks went by and I actually followed the diet for the whole time with only one exception which was the food expo. And in fact, I lost 2 kg by only reducing the sugar which proves how many extra calories I have been eating before the diet. Very happy! :)

It is said that peeling the apple without breaking the peel
brings you good luck 

The Book/Food Expo in Helsinki

My sister came in town and wanted to go to the annual book expo in Helsinki. Going there has been our little tradition for few years now but this year we weren't sure if we were going to make it. However, we did. :)

     I'm not sure if it's because we have been there so many times now that it isn't that exciting to go there anymore. Or is that last couple years the theme of the expo hasn't been so appealing to us but yeah... Of course there are some special offers and so on but I felt like there was nothing out of the ordinary this year. Lots of books - that's all I can say.

    They arrange the food expo alongside the book expo and you can visit both with the same ticket. The best thing in the food expo is that you get the chance to try various dishes around the world and lots of new products of the Finnish companies. Last year we tried German dishes currywurst and bratwurst so this year we decided to go for fish and chips.

Found a stormtrooper patroling xD

Spotted also Peter-No-Tail! Sweet childhood mem

Guilty face... But I love gelato <3

Home Made Food and Friends

Though I was busy all the time I had time to cook my own food in a long long time. Though cooking doesn't take much time the problem was not having time to manage my fridge well so I basically lived on easy and ready to eat meals or ate back at my grandparents'/parents' place.

     I love to cook and try new things but sometimes I'm simply lazy. Here I have presented couple of my easy dishes. Simple flavors and the most work you need to do is to peel the veggies and cut them into small pieces. The chicken meat I buy is usually already seasoned/marinated so I just need put in preheated oven and let it cook there for about 15 minutes. Easy, right?

     What also made me happy was the coffee break with my friend. She is an exchange student and leaving Finland in December so I won't have too many opportunities to spend time with her. Having international friends is one of the greatest joys in my life but it can be sad sometimes because meeting them isn't easy.

Marinated chicken cooked in the oven with some broccoli
and salad with cottage cheese

Easy creamy vegetable soup with an boiled egg

Long chat with a friend in a cafe <3

Anyhow, this has been a small peak into my October. Hope you haven't been as busy, tired and stressed as I have been - though I have tried to make the most of the extra time I have had in hands.

Till next time!
xxx

Project Draw EXO: Baekhyun | Sketchbook

Hi y'all!

Finally I got the portrait of Baekhyun finished. Or rather my attempt to draw him since in the end the portrait doesn't look too much like him. If I ever have time and enthusiasm I'll try to draw him again rather than spending too much time on it now. It's just because I feel like for now this was the best I could do.

Here you can see the picture I used as a model for this portrait

My sister's comment on this drawing was that he looks like the mature version of Baekhyun. Well, most of the K-pop stars look so young. And I look so old.... Everyone is always surprised about my age. When I was in upper secondary school (similar to high school) some people thought that I was close to 30 years old. But anyway... let's leave it to that because otherwise I could write a whole another post about looking much much older than I actually am.

When I first started drawing Baekhyun I thought it was going well till I had finished sketching. Then I realized that my picture didn't look that much like him but didn't want to start all over again.

First of all my portrait looks like it could be drawing of an actual person. So I decided to keep on going and see if colors would fix some issues but in the end it doesn't look like Baekhyun. Well, I tried my best and here we are. No one's perfect.

Or of course you guys might think this is good drawing of Baekhyun. I simply cannot pass all the things that should be fixed to make it look more like him.

Anyhow, I have a question for all of you:
Do you like the picture in between the process or should I leave them out?
I am not sure whether they are a good thing to have in these posts or not so I thought I should ask for your opinion.

This is all for now! I'll try to write an update about what I've been up to recently since I've been way too busy to even think about writing new posts.
Till next time!
xxx

Project Draw EXO: Lay | Sketchbook

If you've been reading my blog thoroughly you know that there have been some issues in my life that had me be not able to focus on anything. Thus, even this drawing project of mine got postponed last month...
     Anyhow, let me represent you my September's EXO memeber - Lay. This is the third portrait after a long hiatus of not drawing anything and yet I feel like I've improved so much. First of all, drawing Lay has been the easiest so far. I'm not saying that Xiumin and Suho were any harder to draw. I simply mean that it is easier for me now to draw faces than it was at first when I started. Maybe next year I'll do draw this again challenge to see just how much better I've gotten.

EXO's Lay.
Here you can see the picture I used as model for this.

I've often been told that I have gift for drawing and that they are jealous of that gift, However, I don't think I'm any better than others. It's just that I've been into drawing ever since I was a toddler and for that reason I've practiced it for so long. I sincerely believe that anyone can learn to draw well if they practice enough. You only need to remember to joy every improvement you notice because if you compare yourself to others it will surely upset you. Even to this day I still get upset when I compare my drawings to those who are way much better than me. But I get over with as soon as I pick up the pen and start drawing again.
    Ugh, I could write a whole another post on this subject so I think it's better if I stop here. ^^'

Back to Lay! I didn't do any practice sketches for his portrait. I just kept drawing and drawing and I'm happy how it turned out though there are some mistakes: like his eyes are too close to another, his lips are not the right shape, etc. Yet, I'm happy with. At least for now... Maybe I'll start hating it after some time but then I just need to draw him again and see if there's any improvement. :)

This time I started from the nose and build up the rest of the face around it.

At this point I noticed I drew his eyes too close each other  but didn't want to
start a new sketch so decided to leave it like this.

I got the sketching ready. Especially at this point I was doubting whether
it would look like Lay.

So this was supposed to be September's portrait. Oops! I really shoudln't schedule myself because I'm never able to manage according to it. Oh well... Who cares.

    Anyhow, till next time!

Sometimes Nothing Goes As Planned

Had a massive headache on Thursday :(
Painkiller, beanie&warm clothes combined with one hour nap is the
best cure for me.

I was supposed to post a new EXO portrait today but the last two weeks... Aah, it's been such a mess. I haven't gotten anything done. The only thing I've managed to do is to go to work. Schoolwork, house work and everything else has been left undone. I simply haven't been able to concentrate at all.

It all started when suddenly my dad had to go to the hospital and now I've been down with flue for the whole week. I'm still feeling a bit ill but a lot better compared to last Tuesday when this flue started. The worst thing is the headaches I've been having. They start out of blue and keep bothering me for the rest of the day. Taking painkillers doesn't help.

     I hate when these things happen. I'm the type of person to plan my weeks ahead and if something suddenly changes the plans so that I can't get done the things I had originally planned to do... I really hate it. Or maybe I actually hate myself because I easily start these procrastination circles. If I suddenly need to postpone something I start postponing it again and again and vola! The procrastination takes the best of me.

     It is really stressful to fix things and get back on track. Even now I'm constantly worrying whether I everything done though I've been postponing it for two weeks. And yet I feel like doing nothing. Sometimes I really hate myself. But then again life is life and it's not like this is the end of it. I know things will eventually work out if I don't give up.

     Today I wanted to write this post to release some of stress so that I will be able to do my best starting tomorrow. Since today is Sunday I should let it all go for now and focus on relaxing in order get better. Long time ago I promised myself that Sundays are for relaxation and I must not do anything related to school or work. If you are feeling stressful all the time I recommend you try this "one stress-free day a week" thing because that's been working for me for. It is something a senior of mine taught me and very thankful for that.

One of my favorite English proverbs is "When life gives you lemons, make a lemonade". These past two weeks have proven that when life gives you lemons you really should make a lemonade. Life is too short to stress all the time. I probably got sick because of worrying too much anyway. But can't help it! That's just the way I am.

Anyhow, remember to sometimes just let things go and relax! You'll see the things from a completely different view after having a small break. Till next time!

xoxo

Mini Holiday to Joensuu, My Birthday and Sleepless Nights

My preparations for a long train trip :) 

Two weeks ago I went to see my sister in Joensuu. It was my first time going there and now I'm so jealous of my sister who gets to live there and enjoy the beautiful scenery everyday. Even though Joensuu (on Finnish scale) is a big city it didn't feel like it at all while walking around. Which would be perfect for me since I'm not a city girl. I prefer smaller towns where the traffic isn't so heavy and people don't seem to be busy 24/7.

But anyway I got there on Thursday afternoon and we went to meet our great aunt that also lives in there. It was my first time meeting her and yet she seemed so happy having me as her guest which made me feel a bit ashamed of myself. I am the type of person who doesn't bother to keep in contact with others. All my friends know this already but...I really should learn to visit my relatives more often. It's not like I don't like gatherings and everything. I just feel like it'll be a bother if I go for a visit or even just call to chat with them.

I could have not asked for better weather to take a walk

The colors! <3

It doesn't even look like its' autumn

Water is like a mirror :)

Anyhow, on Friday we were supposed to go see the "night life" of Joensuu but we both were feeling under the weather so we stayed home watching Into The Woods. The movie was alright but I guess I was expecting something else... I think it was lacking something,...I'm not sure what but something seemed to be missing.

In Finland we have this "Pizza Friday" thing (in Finnish Pizza Perjantai)
So naturally we decided on pizza for dinner ;)

This year my birthday just went by. I mean the Tuesday is not the best day to celebrate one's birthday because everyone is busy with work/studies.
     I just kept doing everything else except schoolwork which probably was the worst decision. I've been postponing several things and it's been quite stressful me. Even the weather turned all gloomy like it is usually during the September in Finland.
     There are some projects I simply need to get done but it's up to me when I decide to start working on them and that's probably the worst thing that can happen to me. I always keep procrastinating till the last minute - even though I know it will definitely not help.
     In addition to that I can't deal with the stress because I really can't see it coming. But when I think about most of people are like that.
    It's going to be stressful year but it hopefully is worth it. If everything goes well next year I'll be going to South Korea as an exchange student. I'm already SO excited but at the same time I'm really worried about whether everything's going to work out or not. All I can do now is to study hard and get good grades and go through the application process for the university's exchange program.


Last week, however, was the worst in a long time. Like any other Monday I went to my Korean class and after that to study in the library. Nothing out of ordinary happened until afternoon when I went to my parents house. As soon as I got in my dad told that we needed to leave asap to the hospital for some further checkups the local doctors weren't able to conduct in the polyclinic.
    Originally, the tests were ordered just to make sure there wasn't anything serious going on with my dad who had been complaining that his arm wasn't working properly. But the reason behind all that turned out to be that my dad had had a small stroke. In the worst case my dad would have been dead for more than a week by now and this thought has been lingering my mind ever since Monday. All the sleepless nights have subsided for now that my dad's back at home but I'll definitely won't be able to stop worrying.

Sorry to bother you with these worries but I had to write my thoughts down. Next time I'll write about something cheerful. ^^'

TraconX | Cosplay

Last weekend I went to TraconX with my sister. For those who don't know what Tracon is: It is a annual roleplay and anime convention held in Tampere Hall , Tampere, Finland. For more information you can check the English description here.

I kinda forgot to take a proper picture of Tampere Hall but instead I took
 these from the park right next to it ^^'

This was my second time attending Tracon. Sadly, like last year ,this year also we weren't able to be there for the whole weekend so we ended up buying tickets only for Saturday. I wish we would have been able to be there also on Sunday since all the interesting programm (at leats for us) was on Sunday. For example, it would have been great to have been able to go watch Eat Your Kimchi on stage.

     However, we still had lots of fun though we didn't attend any workshops or lectures. Despite the weather being cloudy and a bit rainy for whole day we were able to enjoy outdoors for the most of the day and see many interesting costumes.

My sister as Sly Cooper from the Sly Cooper game series

Me as Carmelita Montoya Fox from the Sly Cooper game series

Of course we had to take a picture together :)
My camera was balanced on a bench and we used timer so it's not as good as it could be.

We were surprised by the fact how many wanted to take our picture. We knew Sly Cooper cosplay would be popular but it still surprised us. Especially my sister's Sly Cooper costume had lots of positive comments. Of course, cosplaying is not about making a popular costume but getting attention makes you always feel a bit special. Now we have to come up even better costumes next time we cosplay together. :P
     Naturally our costumes are nothing compared to those that we saw in the World Cosplay Summit 2016 Preliminaries. (Nowadays the Finnish representative for the WCS is chosen in the preliminaries held in Tracon) All the contestants were amazing and we totally agreed with the judges. Here you can find some pictures from the competition. (They also include some photos of pair and costume design competitions.) The winner - Otoyomegatari pair - took my breath away. The costumes were so detailed and accurate...WOW!

But yeah...That's what I've been up to lately. I'd be more than glad to hear about your cosplay stories and convention experiences.
Anyhow, till next time!
xxx

Project Draw EXO: Suho | Sketchbook

Sorry everyone!

I got it finished on Tuesday (just one day late) but didn't have any time to write the post. I posted it on Instagram (@howsminnadoing) and on Tumblr. (@minnakosartdiary) yesterday. But without further explaining here you have my drawing of EXO's Suho.

Model picture I used for this portrait

Though there are small mistakes in his face I am quite proud of myself. I really love the hair. I tried to draw it a bit differently from how I usually draw the human hair and it went well. It's so sad how taking a picture or scanning it ruins the colors. I assure you the actual drawing looks a bit more natural than this photo of it.

This was the first quick sketch of him. The silhouette is quite close but I went and ruined it so I had to start again. :P

I also made some practice sketches for the eyes. I seriously don't know why I have to do several sketches before I get it right. But it is my style.

Because Suho has quite pale skin in the picture I used as model I tried to apply color to his face as little as possible.

Final part was the hair. I really loved drawing it. There were so many shades and it was bit different from the usual. I mean I normally avoid drawing hairstyles like this but this time I wanted to challenge myself and luckily it turned out well.

Hope you like this series since I'm little by little starting to enjoy it. Maybe next time I'll be able to actually finish the drawing by the end of this month.
Anyway, let's see what I'm up to in the next post :)
xxx

What Did You Do Last Summer? | Back To School

Here in Finland most schools started the fall semester last week. However, unlike schools universities start later in the beginning of September. So, I'll be working till the end of August.

Nevertheless, seeing all those elementary kids on my work reminded of me of my school years and the first thing that occurred into my mind was the question you had to answer every single year

- What did you do last summer?

     This question was probably one of my worst nightmares when it was about school. Don't get me wrong. I had fun spending time with my friends and family. But once you start writing everything on paper it seems kinda boring.

     We didn't go to an amusement park, visit the zoo or abroad - not even for a mini holiday. Instead every year we would go to our summer cottage and spend there one to three weeks. My dad would teach us to row a boat and fish. If it was a heat wave we would spend the entire day swimming in the lake.

     I did enjoy myself and I know that for some kids even going to a summer cottage would have something special but for me it sounded so boring since we did every summer. Now that I am all-grown-up and a university student I have economical responsibilities, especially since I don't live at my parents anymore. So-o, all my summers are spent working to earn money to save up to be able survive till next summer (in other words to be able to pay the rents alongside enjoying some small luxuries like going out with friends once in while).

I guess what I meant to say is that cherish the time you get because once you become and independent adult there is no going back. It is the sad truth about growing up. It doesn't matter whether how have you spent your holiday as long as you have got nice and happy memories. Some of my best memories are related to my parents' summer cottage though I didn't know how to appreciate all that back when I was a child.

    What did you do last summer? I would be more than glad to hear your stories.

But this is for now. Next time will probably be a new EXO drawing.

Let's Get Started! Project Draw EXO: Xiumin | Sketchbook

Roughly two weeks ago I made an announcement I would start a project to get me motivated to start drawing again. Well, it has not been that successful. If you take a peek to my instagram @howsminnadoing you can find there couple rather new drawings. However, after drawing those my interest into drawing went completely down again. Still few years ago I was drawing on a daily basis. After school I would spend most of my time drawing...

But in the end I got the Xiumin picture finished today and I'm so proud of myself. Despite the fact I couldn't do within the time limit I had set up.

EXO's Xiumin
Here's the link to the picture I mostly used as a reference -> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5OBiorCQAA3mWs.jpg

The finished drawing looks nothing like first sketches I drew of Xiumin. They are so horrible that I don't want to share them with you at least for now. I did around 5 sketches before this.

Once I get the facial details done it gets easier. Few times I have been told that I have a weird habit of starting from them eyes but that is the way I have always drawn. However, I would say my favourite and also the most annoying part is the hair. It takes so much time and effort draw the hair but once I'm done I feel so proud of myself.

I'm not that good when it comes to coloring. I am always afraid I ruin the picture with the wrong choice of colors. Recently I've got more courage to actually use the colors and not be afraid of ruining the picture with too much contrast though I still got a lot to learn.

Here are the few stages to show how I like to draw. Feel free to give me tips how to improve myself and let me know if you want to learn about more of my style to draw.

     I have an art blog on Tumblr. ( http://minnakosartdiary.tumblr.com/ ) where you can see some of my previous works and also this picture once I get it posted there. 

Thatt's all for now! Next up is Suho and hopefully it will be ready by the end of August!

xxx

Visiting Stockholm and EXO Hype

Last week was my only week of a holiday that I had this summer so it was a nice way to start it by making a quick trip to Stockholm.

Originally, I thought about naming this post Första Gången i Stockhålm because as a Finnish person I had to learn Swedish back in middle school. Some call this education policy "pakkoruotsi" ("compulsory Swedish") because everyone in Finland has to learn both Finnish and Swedish as they are the two official languages here. However, some people don't see it as a bad thing to learn multiple languages when on the other hand some are rather against the teaching of Swedish as a compulsory subject in schools. Anyhow, I'm not here to get you bored with this matter but to tell you about my first time visiting Stockholm.

     Sometimes I have felt like I am really out of the Finnish society because there are some things that, stereotypically, Finnish people usually do and going on a cruise to Stockholm with your family is one of those things. Most of the people I know have at least once been on a cruise with their family as they still were back in elementary or middle school. It should supposedly be your first time going abroad. Though I'm not disappointed that my first trip to abroad was to England.

     Now that I've traveled by both plane and ship I am not too sure which I prefer. I must admit it is nice to be able to go around the cruise ship and do various things like enjoy the view from the deck or do some shopping but after you've tried everything it's not that much of difference to sitting in the airplane. Especially I found the trip on the ship back to Finland quite boring. But it is just my opinion.

     Stockholm was amazing. I don't have any words to describe it. Some tourists claim that Helsinki is one the most beautiful cities they have ever seen but in my opinion Stockholm beats Helsinki. All the beautiful historical buildings in the old town! And you can see the sea almost all the time since the city is spread across 14 islands. I wish we had got more time in our hands to explore the city. I going to visit Stockholm again and stay for few nights instead of wandering around only for few hours.

My first proper sketch of Xiumin I managed to make today.
I usually make 3-5 sketches before I'm happy.

After the trip I had multiple plans for my holiday but I ended up spending it at home by doing nothing expect watching TV and playing video games.The heatwave struck Finland for few days and it was nice but also not so good because I really handle the temperatures over 25 degrees of Celcius. I get extremely tired and my body hurts plus I get easily headaches. So that's how I ended up watching way too much TV.

     Since the last year I have been listening to various k-pop songs to try getting used to listening Korean outside the classroom in order to improve my Korean skills. However, lately I have been more and more into the Korean boy band EXO. I watched few old episodes of them visiting some variety shows. I couldn't help falling for the members. (I'm becoming a teenager again!^^').

     Thanks to EXO's handsome members I got a sudden inspiration to start a bigger drawing project to both return my motivation for drawing and also improve my drawing skills. It has already been a couple years that I haven't drawn that much. I used to draw on a daily basis but now I draw something around two times a year and that's making me sad. So, my plan is to draw all the members within a year. My intention is to draw one member each month. This month will be Xiumin since he currently is the oldest one based on the information I found. I'll make a post about the finished drawing by the end of the month so be waiting for that. 

Anyway, till next time! :)

xxx

Totally Exhausted and Midsummer "Celebrations"

Summer nights in Finland. It's barely ever dark this time of year. I posted this about three weeks ago on Instagram. It was around 10:30pm

I'm not too sure what has been bothering me recently but I have been so tired on a daily basis for these few weeks now.

Nothing has worked for me at work and because my job is physically rather demanding so I am dead tired once we call it a day. However, even on the weekends I have no energy to do anything else except staying home watching TV, for example. I used to do various things on my free time like reading books, drawing, painting or knitting. Even playing video games feels too bothersome.
     I wish I had the energy to make it most of my spare time but apparently it's spent on staring TV or computer screen and thinking how much I have wasted time on doing nothing. I'm trying my best to see my friends and exercise but even that doesn't get my spirits up or make me feel more energized.
     Whatever the reason behind this lack of energy, I hope it is nothing serious because I do already have enough things to worry about including my grandparents who are getting more and more sick and recently the other was diagnosed with Alzheimer. It is such a nasty illness making it so hard for the people close to the patient.
     Or maybe it's just because I haven't spent a proper holiday in a long time. Luckily, this year I am going to have a one week holiday. Yay!

This one was posted one week later. It was also around 10:30pm. Such a big difference.

It was Midsummer Eve last Friday and I had a morning shift despite the fact that it is a common holiday in Finland. Typical Midsummer Eve celebrations in Finland include a huge amount of alcohol, barbecue, group of friends/relatives, bonfire (if possible) and staying awake till dawn.
     First of all, I had to wake up at 5am to get to work on time so though I took rather long nap after work I was way too tired to stay awake till next morning. Second of all, the weather was bad - it was chilly and rainy all day long. So I was a good girl and had only few drinks before going to bed at 1am.
     However, yesterday night we went a bit overboard with my sister. We had were having fun watching movies and without realizing it gulped down maybe a bit too many drinks. We both are the type not to drink much but sometimes it ends up like yesterday.
     But yeah, most Finnish celebrations include lots and lots of alcohol which is quite sad when you think about it. It is almost like no here knows how to have fun without getting wasted and many social occasions expect you to behave like everyone else and so... the cycle is finished.


Do you celebrate the Midsummer? And I would really like to know what kind of things you do to celebrate it? I'm just curious. :)

Till next time!
xxx

Marianne Cookies | First Baking with Minna!

Hello to everyone!

I love baking and so thought I could share with you some of the recipes I like. Let's start with something I recently baked - Marianne Cookies. I don't now where my sister found this recipe originally but whoever created it, thank you.

     These cookies are named Marianne Cookies since one of the ingredients is a Finnish candy called marianne (producer Fazer). It is basically dark chocolate bites covered with peppermint candy so instead of using crushed mariannes you could try mixing crushed dark chocolate and crushed peppermints. Now, let's get started!

Marianne candy for those who might not know these

The ingredients you will need:

• 300g  margarine
• 3 dl caster sugar
• 2 1/4 dl brown sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla sugar
• 3 eggs
• 4 1/2 dl plain flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 dl crushed mariannes (or crushed dark chocolate and peppermints)

1. Preparations

I usually start baking by gathering all of the ingredients on my kitchen table so that I won't forget anything. :)
     If you haven't bought already crushed mariannes I recommend you start of crushing them, for example in a reclosable plastic bag with a hammer. #girlybakingtimewiththehammer Naturally, be careful with the hammer.

Next you can already mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and vanilla sugar or do it later.

     Then preheat the oven to 225ºC.

2. Making the dough
First, mix the margarine and caster sugar. Once properly mixed add the eggs one by one mixing them properly in. Then add the brown sugar and mix thoroughly.

Next mix rest of the ingredients, except the marianne cursh, in a separate bowl if you didn't do it earlier. Then combine the mixtures and mix thoroughly. Finally add the marianne crush and mix it into the dough.

3. Baking
Take out a baking tray and cover it with parchment paper. Put 4-6 small lumps of dough on the tray. The cookies will spread so take that into account. Bake the cookies in the oven for about 7-10 minutes.

Let the cookies cool down and enjoy! :)
(Sorry, I kinda forgot to take the final "serving suggestion" picture.) If you have any questions about the recipe feel free to ask.

Anyway, till next time! 
xxx