On Thursday & Friday I was working in Helsinki and had meetings with different people and institutions. I think it was really useful and also inspiring.
This week I got the first versions of documentation dvds from Acts of Clothing and BODY/HAIR performances. Both look good but I should find time & energy to work on the subtitles. It’s a job I would happily give to someone else. I also don’t know what to do with the full documentation of the Acts of Clothing as it is almost non-stop talking for almost an hour and half…
But during my short visit to Helsinki, I had a chance to visit some of my favourite restaurants and design shops as well as the Christmas market in Vanha where I found a very nice present for my son. I finally saw the new Lustwear shop on Bulevardi. It was great to meet Hammi, one of the designers & owners, as she was in the shop when I visited. They had a few just amazing coats which I didn’t even want to try as I seriously can’t buy anything like that at the moment. And if I try something just perfect on, there’s a chance that I lose the battle with myself and take out the credit card… So I bought just a little Christmas present for myself. The next day I run into Hammi and Maikku, the other designer & owner, in Stockman and we had a nice chat. I haven’t seen those ladies for some time now. It was great to see them and items from their new collection. I highly recommend.
I didn’t visit Minna Parikka’s shop or Asuna, but I quickly went into Helsinki10. I was happy to find products of No Bad Design in there as well as jewellery made out of old toys (I cannot remember the designer). I had almost forgotten that I have a No Bad Design bracelet! And my daughter has fallen in love with the toy jewellery so I have bought a piece for her for Christmas. The Ethic shop is Kuopio sells them. Before taking my train back home, I visited the Mac Store where I bought I few items I needed for my new Mac Book Pro and also decided to visit the Nanso shop. They had some nice example single pieces in very good price and I ended up buying a black & red Love Cats top and a dress  … But they were very cheap! 

On Friday I had a nostalgic latte in Café Entré in Kruunuhaka. So many times I’ve sat there before going to the ministry of education or the arts council of Finland. Then I had a lovely lunch in Mai Thai and bought take away sushi for the train journey back home. The train trip was really strange as opposite of me sat the most hysterical or ADHD woman that I’ve ever seen. For the whole four hours, she packed and unpacked, sat and stood up to search through her 8 or so bags, she constantly also changed her place to sit and had everything, literally everything packed in plastic bags including her lip balm! She was all hot and red on the face from all the hassle she just couldn’t stop. She seemed very nice and friendly but she was so restless that I would go crazy if I had to spend a day with a person like that. Tomorrow is hopefully my last day of working in the ANTI office this year. I’m really looking forward to that!

Johanna