Lyon, j'arrive!

Hours to go: 9,5!

I'm no longer counting the days but the hours. So weird and I'm not really sure if jumping on my suitcase would be in order. I've packed too much stuff, as always. But better safe than sorry!

I've spent my last day in Finland by packing, cleaning, swearing and meeting some friends.

This is what I wore today and I'm also going to wear the same outfit tomorrow because of my sudden lack of inspiration. Or maybe I have it too much because this ensemble looks really good to my eye and brings something new to my style. What do you think?

The vest is my mom's old and it was too big and baggy for me so I took it in a bit. I'm also wearing a self-customized polka dot bow brooch (I made it from a hair accessory of some kind), pearls are from KappAhl, the watch from Seppälä, the striped shirt from H&M and I'm wearing also my favourite black Cheap Monday jeans. I sewed them a bit today as well, I like my skinny jeans skinny! :)

So lots of self-customized clothing items today, very nice change for my eternal supply of H&M stuff. And refreshingly frenchy too!

I also got a Coca-Cola t-shirt in mail today. I collected it a couple of weeks ago. Sadly I don't have any time to sew it so it has to be left in Finland. I used to have almost the same kind of a Coke shirt but it seems to be lost now. Well, this looks better anyway!

I should get some sleep now, my dad will pick me up in less than 8 hours to take me to the airport and I still have to finish my packing and do the dishes.

Heikki the guinea pig was picked up by my dad this morning and I already miss him a whole lot! The photo is taken by my dear friend Sarkku. You can read about our pet meeting on Sweet Vanity :)

Happily ever fucking after

Days to go: 1

I'm going crazy any minute now. I still haven't packed or cleaned or taken out the trash or... could someone just please come and pack for me?

I still have to find some time tomorrow to buy all the rest of the needed things but here's what I purchased today:

It was about time I dyed my hair (roots) and I bought Live Color XXL Absolute Platinum, because I really like these Live colors and they already had the perfect shade I'm going for when I come back from France! I'm so stoked. New heat defence spray, shampoo and conditioner were needed too and these Tresemmé products have been proven good so I got them without thinking much.

I also needed a new dry shampoo and I got the one from Klippoteket. I haven't used this before but it's said to be good so I bought it.

I also found some time to go out for a coffee with my friends and this is what I wore. I found the lace layered top from my closet today (I turned it upside down to be better able to find the right clothes for France) that I haven't used before and I matched it with Cheap Monday jeans and a diamond necklace from JC.

This is what I've managed to pack so far :D Tomorrow is going to be one busy day, I'm telling you. All the stuff on the windowsill is coming too. The only thing in the pic not going is the Marshall amp :D

And here are the shoes I'm taking with me. There's still room for one pair but I don't know which ones to take: heels or flats? Any suggestions? Biker boots are in the suitcase already.

So that's it for today. I really hope I'll make it before Tuesday morning.

P.S. Don't I have the coolest suitcase ever? ;)

The Comedown

Days to go: 2

Oh dear, only a couple of days left! As I mentioned yesterday, we had my going away party last night at my old roommate's house.

This is what I wore:

Blah, I bought the dress from H&M a few weeks ago because it cost only 5€ on sale. It's 2 sizes too big for me so it makes me look a bit fat :D I was thinking about modifying the dress a bit but we'll see!

I really liked the combination of the blue and pink. I first thought that I would accessorize the dress with black details but I thought it was too boring so I went for the pink. How do you like it?

And here's the quite interesting array of bracelets that I wore. The Eiffel Tower bracelet is made by me from a pair of earrings and an old souvenir bracelet.

My friend had baked some awesome French themed stuff for the party. Notice the candy crush on top? ;)

And a white and blue blueberry cake, that was so yummy!

This is what I got from my friends as a going away present. French Vogue, horse tattoos (inside joke), Muumi tin box, some cards and a notebook where all my friends at the party wrote some random stuff :D

And finally, something I will miss very much while I'm away. He was laying on top of me and purring when I tried to sleep :)

P.S. How do you like these bigger pics?

Inspired by... Lyon

Days to go: 3

There aren't many days left for my departure and I'm nowhere near prepared! I haven't even started all the packing yet and my apartment here in Finland is such a big mess.

Anyway, I browsed through some pictures of Lyon on DeviantArt and this is what I got very much inspired by...

I already love all the bridges and narrow alleys. And my love for cities at night time goes without saying :)

Now I should get ready for my going away party. I bet it's going to be hard to say goodbye to all my awesome friends and beloved family.

P.S. Welcome all the new readers!

If you have any suggestions on what I could post about, please don't hesitate to tell me :)

France, je t'aime

Days to go: 4

Today I finally got the last ones of the needed papers and forms for France. I can tell you that renting a flat in France isn't the easiest thing to do! You need birth certificates and passport copies and blabla the list is endless! But I'm glad it's all taken care of now :)

So I thought I'd share some information about the city I'll be living in for the next 4 months or so. Here we go!

(map by me)

The city I'm going to be living in, Lyon, is located in the south of France, near the borders of Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Because of the great location, we're already planning on visiting the neighbouring countries, and I really hope I'll get to see them during my stay :) Paris is also a must-see location, because I've never been there.

Lyon is the 3rd biggest city in France with a population of around 500 000 people but combined with the urban areas the population gets to 1,8 million. It's not too small a city and I'm really glad that there's probably lots of stuff to do.

I'm also very excited that the river Rhône goes very close by our apartment :)

If you have anything to ask about my new hometown, please go ahead :) I'm probably going to make a better entry about the city when I've settled in.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who's shared their opinion on the banner. You can still do so in the previous post!

We finally made it!

DAYS TO GO: 5

I'm so stoked right now because we finally got our own apartment in France! It was about time, less than a week to go..

Anyway, this is my new blog during my stay in Lyon and I hope you wanna take part with me on this very exciting adventure by reading this as I'm going to try and update daily :) I'm going to be updating a bit also before my departure so you get to see how I'm getting prepared.. or the lack of preparation (more likely).

First question! Which banner do you prefer?

The one I currently have up...

Or the more frenchy one I made when I was bored.

Oh and you can comment on FINNISH, ENGLISH and FRENCH :) I'd also like to know why you are reading my blog :)