Double Grey

Regular grey and gloomy (and chilly) Saturday on the 11th of August when I and E. were rushing back home after a prompt fancy fair and grocery trip to Põltsamaa town. But there should always be time for a few outfit snaps and so those photos were born.

However, E.'s father and sister were already waiting for us and we had to accelerate. By the way, I'm assorting my clothes' collection once again and together with E.'s sister E. (yeah, they have entirely 3 E.-s in their family) we hatch a plan to go and sell all of our unnecessary goodies at a local flea market sometime in the beginning of September. Nevertheless we're not quite sure yet and as a matter of fact I haven't even put an end to the cleaning and assorting affair yet. But we need to make up our minds in a little while since the flea market will be held as early as on the 8th of September.

blouse - thrifted (and possibly vintage) Soili Tuote; jeans - thrifted Nudie Jeans; belt - thrifted Charles Jourdan*; DIY sandals - Tamaris; earrings - Oriflame; sunnies - Emporio Armani.

* I was honored to locate that Charles Jourdan belt from a local thrift store and I thought I would share some fascinating facts with you:

- Charles Jourdan (1883-1976) was a French fashion designer known best for his designs of women's shoes starting in 1919.
- In the 1930s, Jourdan was the first shoe designer to place advertisements in the high-end fashion magazines which helped to identify his name as a haute couture house.
- Jourdan and his sons opened their first boutique in Paris in 1957. They were granted a license to design and manufacture shoes under the Christian Dior brand in 1959 and in more recent years have also created designs under the Pierre Cardin label.

Charles Jourdan fall-winter 2012 collection contains some of the most amazing shoes ever. I'm also going to share a collage of my favourites and it's too bad they don't sell those in Estonia because I would really love to be a proud owner of at least one splendid pair.

Actually I and my mom also came up with a plan to drive to Valmiera in Latvia (it's about 50 km from the border of Estonia and almost 190 km from my hometown). Mainly because of our urge to visit a shopping centre called Valleta which for one thing includes a Cubus store and quite a few desirable items inside that store (check out my collage of the Cubus goodies that have caught my eye the most!). But in addition to shopping we are also interested in sightseeing, for example discovering St Simon Church, Valmiera Castle Ruins and Fortification, Old Town and so forth.

There is an enormous pile of plans but we'll see how it turns out eventually. Of course I'm very excited about everything and there is actually something else that I'm not telling you right now but it has to be awesome! And to be precise, there are at least two exciting news to come..

Last but not least, not a long time ago I rewarded myself with the notorious Fifty Shades trilogy box by E. L. James, consisting of Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. Haven't started reading yet but I will as soon as I can. By the way, do you have experiences with any of those three books? If yes, what kind of impression did it leave on you? Definitely let me know and conjointly I hope you like the halfway monochrome photos.

The magic of peninsulas

To tell the truth, it feels kinda pleasant to be behind schedule when it comes to my recent blog posts. It allows me to reminisce about the few beautiful summer days we have spent this year. And most of those days have been all about breezy trips across Estonia. Therefore, here comes a trip to Northern Estonia on the 5th of August together with E., my mom and my dad.

We started from Viinistu village that is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland on the Pärispea (means "Realhead" in direct translation to English) Peninsula. Good-looking little Viinistu has a population of 148 (as of 1 January 2012) and was first mentioned in 1372 as Wynest. And our goal there? To eat, of course. Viinistu Restaurant served us delicious meals. Others had hot dishes but I truly enjoyed my healthy salad (that was the actual name of the dish and it consisted of juniper cheese, cucumber, tomato, ham, ice salad and flavourless yogurt dressing). As a matter of fact this is another dish I would love to prepare at home.

So, after finishing up we moved forward and our next stop was astonishing Purekkari Cape which is the northernmost place of mainland Estonia. To be precise we stayed at a camping site near the cape, at a cozy paradise beach. Conjointly it was my very first time to run across jellyfishes in Estonian wild nature. There were large quantities of those cute and special figures floating in the sea, so it was quite exciting to manoeuvre between them. Later on I ran into a few more handsome insects, whereby one of them evidently fancied my leg.

Before having home in our minds we still had to see the memorial of the naval battle on top of the Juminda Peninsula. By the way, Juminda village has a tiny population of 35 as of 1 January 2012 and it was first mentioned in 1290 as Jumentake. In the Middle Ages it was inhabited by the Swedes.

One of the deadliest naval battles in the world took place near the Juminda Peninsula in August 1941. Around 52 ships were drowned with up to 25 000 people on board.
The memorial consists of empty mines since those approximately 52 ships were stopped and destroyed by a 32 km long strip of mines and bombing from both earth and sky by cannons and planes.

jacket - Amisu; shirt - thrifted Silkwear; belt - thrifted; DIY denim shorts - thrifted Pepe Jeans London; brooch - thrifted (if I remember correctly); DIY sandals - Tamaris; sunnies - Emporio Armani; headband - Seppälä.

Regretfully history always tends to be hard. Of course you can't change the past but you can slightly change the future and seize every day, so think about it and appreciate everything and everyone you already have.

We spent an awesome day together and had lots of fun as a bonus. And I already miss the sea like crazy which is why I definitely enjoy all the summery photos and I hope you do the same. Feel free to share your thoughts about sea and the end of summer.. as a matter of fact about everything you want to talk about because I always love hearing from you!

Living life to the fullest

If you have seen my last blog post, you are probably aware of the fact I and E. went to the movies just enough time ago. Writing a film review after such a long-lasting break was quite meaningful because I used to do it all the time when life wasn't as eventful and hasty as it presently is. I was absolutely crazy about films!

Anyhow, our cinema visit took place on the afternoon of the 4th of August since the forenoon passed at my grandparents' place. The foundation of their veranda had to be made as soon as possible and naturally we helped.

dress - thrifted Satsu London; sandals - MICHAEL Michael Kors; bag - Ted Baker; necklace - Fornarina; 

sunnies - Emporio Armani; earrings - H&M.

So, before watching Step Up Revolution we had a good time in The Botanical Garden of the University of Tartu. Their ducks are the sweetest and also the bravest I have ever seen. As a matter of fact it's safe to say the botanical garden is the most beautiful sight in my former hometown Tartu. If you're interested, you can browse my old botanical garden posts here, here and here.

However, our day didn't end in the cinema hall. Instead we headed to Kapriis which is a café in the old town of Tartu in the Town Hall Square. Their food is incredibly delicious and delicate and clearly we must return soon because even thinking about the chicken salad I ate makes me drool. By the way, while we were enjoying our time there I ordered cold beer. And when I was feasting with my divine cheesecake I suddenly started reminding how we got there...

The answer: I drove there! And now I was drinking beer which was pleasant, of course but at the same time contained alcohol obviously. Luckily E. thought he was driving (actually his car was at home instead) and didn't even order meat in wine sauce. Therefore he simply drove my car and I could think about my memory issues which was really comical whereas things like that don't just happen to me. So, it was an extraordinary night, what else?

Anyway, I'm going to let you enjoy the photos. I hope you like them and everything else and as usual, be sure to tell me what you think.

Step Up Revolution (2012)

One step can change your world.

I wrote my previous film review on the 15th of January, seven full-length months ago which is not a good result at all. Perhaps this field will improve when autumn and winter show up because I do have heaps of films waiting for me and my attention.

Anyhow, let's focus on the current movie, Step Up Revolution that I and E. saw in cinema in 2D. Step Up Revolution (also known as Step Up 4: Miami Heat) is an American 3D dance film produced by Step Up 3D director Jon M. Chu and directed by Scott Speer.
The fourth installment in the Step Up film series stars Kathryn McCormick from the sixth season of So You Think You Can Dance and Ryan Guzman who by the way made his film debut here.

Now, the plot: Emily Anderson (McCormick), the daughter of a wealthy businessman (Peter Gallagher), arrives in Miami with ambitions of becoming a professional dancer. Yet she soon falls in love with Sean (Guzman), a young guy who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs*. The crew, called the MOB, desires to win a contest for a major sponsorship opportunity. But Emily's dad threatens to destroy the MOB's historic neighborhood and the entire community and build a large hotel, in the process displacing thousands of people. Now Emily must band together with Sean and the MOB to turn their performance art into protest or risk losing homes and jobs of many people.

I just read and reminded my review of Step Up 3D and I clearly loved that film and everything about it (Estonians can browse it - it's here). Therefore I'm qualified to declare that the fourth installment in the Step Up film series was alright but unfortunately nothing special (it's probably the curse of the sequels...). The acting part was quite weak and I didn't enjoy seeing Emily and Sean as a couple since they were just too phony and strained. Sean was giggling like a little girl and it was annoying, at least when it comes to my opinion. But hey, I did love the fierce comeback of Robert "Moose" Alexander III (played by Adam Sevani) who is such an amazing dancer and great character!

Altogether I enjoyed the dancing part and the mobs the most which is quite logical actually since it is a dance film after all. And I also enjoyed all the music because I used to be the biggest hip hop, rap and r'n'b fan. Now I'm more versatile but those three are still pleasant. So, here are some of my favourites from the soundtrack (click on the song name to listen):
- The Cinematic Orchestra "To Build a Home";
- Skylar Grey "Dance Without You (Ricky Luna Remix)";
- Travis Barker feat. Yelawolf, Twista, Busta Rhymes & Lil Jon "Let's Go (Ricky Luna Remix)".

In conclusion I don't regret watching Step Up Revolution because the powerful dance scenes and the bass-spiced sounds are the best when you experience those through the big screen! And if I start with a sequel I must proceed with it for sure! 6,5/10

* According to Wikipedia a flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression.