Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Midsummer

Hello there!

It is time to update this blog for a change! Last weekend we celebrated midsummer here in Finland and as every year we had this big fire situation going on! It was also one of the rare occasions that I got three days off from work so I got to enjoy some peace and quite at our summer cottage. Without saying anything else I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

 
Karoliina

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

¡Ya veremos qué pasa!

Hello there!

A few days ago after a series of problems I finally got to send my papers to the University of Barcelona and in about three weeks from now I will know if I got in or not!

It is amazing though how complicated the whole process was and I still think that there is something wrong with the application. I must admit that my mom's help came in quite handy as I had no idea of how to do this but let's hope that everything is correct!

This is very exciting but I think that I still  haven't realized of how big this would be for me if I got accepted. It would mean that I would move to Barcelona for three or four years which isn't bad at all! But even if I don't get in (which is big possibility) my plan B would be to have another gap year. No matter what the result is I am happy and I know that I will continue to be happy! :)

A year ago I would have been totally stressed out about this but I am glad that I am not too worried about it as much as I thought I was going to be. Stress is not on option for me anymore! The level of stress I used to have was that high up that you couldn't even see where it ended! I even lost half of my hair because of the stress so you people out there...don't stress! Easy to say that but hard to control it.

I am focusing now on the things I can do and I seriously need to start knitting those shocks I was talking about on my previous post!
The sun is still shining in Finland even at 10 o'clock at night or probably even later than that! 

I feel like an old woman when I listen to this song but I love it!
 
xoxo
 
Karoliina

Friday, June 14, 2013

Mission: Keep myself busy

Hello there!

I can't believe that I haven't written anything on this blog for such a long time. I can't say that I have been extremely busy but I needed some time on my own.

I think coming back to Finland was harder than I thought in the beginning. Now that I have had some time to figure out things and think of my life here I am not going to complain about anything anymore. Work isn't so bad after all and I get to see my friends and family here which is good! I am going to use my time the best way possible. I already lent some books from the library and I think I am going to start knitting another pair of socks just to get ready for the winter :D mmm...maybe I will knit two pairs if I am fast enough! I also started playing the flute again and I am happy about that because I had forgotten my flute somewhere for ages...hupsy!

Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as I thought...I actually enjoy more and more being here. I just needed some time on my own to calm down.

So the solution to my problem is to look ahead and keep myself busy!


 
Karoliina


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Settling down

Hey!

These past few weeks I have given up on blogging a bit but I will try to keep this thing updated! Lot's of things have happened these past few days that I have been in Finland ( or actually not so many now that I think about it).

First of all my first day here was quite terrible to be honest. Tears were just falling down my cheeks and I had this terrible feeling of  " OH MY GOD THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD!". I guess I am going back to my drama queen habbits...not good!! The worst thing for me is getting used to the idea of being in one place for three and a half months. It's not a week or two, it's 14 bloody weeks!! After traveling from one place to another, staying in one place feels like an impossible task. I feel like a bird in a cage. Okay, I am exaggerating again hupsy!

Even though things are going very well for me I still find it difficult to be here. I am half Finnish but I don't feel this connection to this country anyhow. I have to force myself to be happy here and that takes a lot of energy. Sometimes I wish I was just from one country but then I wouldn't be the person I am now. Thanks to Finland I got to spend an awesome gap year and I have a job now to be thankful for so I think about the positive side. I can't salsa dance here but I can go to the library...mah, that does sound boring!

I am pulling myself back together little by little and getting used to the way of life here. Besides the future is still open heheeeee. Tomorrow I am going to do the application for the University of Barcelona AAAAA! This is exciting and scary but this is what I want and I need to get away from both Finland and Greece and start my own life. If I don't get accepted this year then maybe next year, right? There is no harm on trying at least.

There are many exciting chapters to come! grrrr



 
xoxo
Karoliina

Friday, May 31, 2013

Finlandia here we come!

Hello there!

Here is a post before heading back to Finland tomorrow! I am complitely unorganized and for the first time I feel like I have forgotten how to pack! I used to be an expert on packing and now I have no idea what to take with me. We are talking about 3 and a half months here and the weather in Finland can change really fast from hot to cold, ugh! Maybe I will leave my boots here...hopefully it doesn't snow at least :P

These past few days here in Greece have been really exciting and exhausting at the same time. I made an event on couch surfing to meet up with people and last Tuesday 15-18 people showed up at the meeting! I was surprised of the amount of people that actually came! It was a great evening with funny jokes, good food and lots of tsipouro! We had fun the Greek way heh ;)

It's amazing how fast this year has past by! No more gap years from now on ( or actually we don't know about that for sure ) but as all good things end it's good for me to get a rythm back and to do something usefull for a change. It is hard thoug because I can't stop thinking of all the cool places I could visit! My mind is still traveling around but it's probably time to settle down and get some MONEY! hehe

Now I really need to pack...

Karoliina

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Pink strawberry cake

Hello there!

It was about time to bake a cake again! My mom had her birthday yesterday ( happy birthday once again to my lovely mom!) so a pink cake it is! The decoration is quite similar to the one I made a while ago (click here ).


Now comes the fascinating part of how to make this pink cake!
For the base I used this recipe (tried many but this one has been the best so far!): http://www.kinuskikissa.fi/sienikakkupohja?hakusivu=1

Base:


3 ½  dl flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
5 eggs
2 ½   dl sugar
1 1/4   dl boiling water

  • Mix the dry ingredients ( flour and baking powder)
  • In a big bowl foam the sugar with the eggs
  • In small (15-20) batches add the boiling water into the foam
  • Sieve the flour into the mixture
  • Pour the mixture into the baking tin and leave it in the over for 30 min on 200 degrees.
  • Let it cool down for 5 minutes before turning the cake upside down
  • Cut in three slices

Filling:

100gr cream cheese
250ml whipping cream
1 dl powdered sugar
750 gr strawberries

Whip the cream and add the cream cheese. Keep mixing it till it gets even and add the powdered sugar.

Now comes the "fun part" of putting the cake together!
 Start by adding one layer of cake and wetting it with milk. I use a lot of milk because I hate it when a cake isn't moist enough. I used about 4-5 dl of milk but it depends on the size of the cake as well...you might need more if the cake is bigger.
Add the sliced strawberries on top
Apply a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture
Keep doing the same thing by putting another layer of cake, strawberries and cream. Remember to wet the cake with milk! Important rule so your cake doesn't end up being all dry and shitty (hupsy!)
Leave your cake for a few hours in the fridge before decorating. ( I left it overnight and decorated it the next day) 
 
For the decoration I used a marshmallow fondant.
 
120gr marshmallows
5-8 dl powdered sugar
2 spoons of water
red food coloring
 
1. Sieve about 4 dl of powdered suger in a bowl
2. In another bowl add the marshmallows and the water
3. Melt the marshmallows in the microwave by mixing them every 30 seconds for two minutes.
4. Add the food coloring ( a drop or two should be enough)
5. Add the melted marshmallows into the bowl with the icing sugar and stir it.
6. Knead the fondant mixture like a bread dough
7. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Add more sugar if necessary, but stop adding sugar once it is smooth
 
Add a bit of powdered sugar on the surface before rolling out the fondant
Carefully apply the fondant over the cake and cut the edges
 I used about 400 ml of whipped cream which I colored with red food coloring to do the cream piping.
Also around the cake I put a thin layer of cream which I smoothed out with a spatula
 
A wavy cream piping technique.
Not so complicated as it might look.
Add some nonpareil pearls and marzipan roses ín the centre and your cake is ready! ;)
 
 
Karoliina

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The story comes to an end

Hello loves!

Now that my gap year is basically over lets talk about the final impressions of all this craziness, shall we?

The most popular questions that people have been asking me lately are  a) Have I met any man on my trips? and b) Have I learned anything this past year?. People definitely are curious of my love life eh? Well, I think it would be better to jump the first question and go straight to the next one! To be honest I have been wondering the same thing...have I honestly learned anything this last year?

Let's go back to 2012 (don't worry I will try to make it short). Before leaving to Barcelona in October I was panicking sooo much that I couldn't even enjoy the fact that I was going to fulfill my dream of going to Spain. It was scary and I had difficult times like feeling lonely and bad luck with my apartment. Now I realize how good all these things were to help me grow up and take responsibility. Besides, when bad things happen I have this in mind...
A friend of mine sent this to me on facebook! I think it suits me perfectly haha
 
If I can give a piece of advice to people is to stay calm! What's the point of panicking about everything beforehand anyways? Bad things will happen wether you like it or not, but on the other hand many good things happen as well, but as human beings we tend not to appreciate all those good moments in life.
So whenever a bad moment strikes just breathe in and out and say "This is not the end of the world!". Life would be a lot more simple if we weren't such drama queens! I am saying this because I used to be the queen of all the drama queens (seriously...)! I dont know what kind of miracle has happened nowdays but I am a lot more relaxed than I used to be.
 
Don't think though that I have always been a brave person. It took a lot of courage to travel on my own around Italy and Spain. Before going to Italy my father was begging me not to go and he was scaring me with all these stories that I would get killed by some Italian mafia guy. Fortunately that didn't happen! I am not saying that it was all the time fun traveling on my own but I met really awesome people on the way and whenever I felt lonely at least I learned to enjoy myself! If I had been scared to even try to travel on my own I would have missed all these great experiences. I might  have no money left but I am rich in other ways :)
 
So here I am still alive of all that traveling and the final impression of this last year has been definitely positive!! This gap year has come to an end but I am looking forward to a bright future :)
 
 
xoxo
 
Karoliina