Wow! It was the quite the busy weekend (imagine that? hahaha) and so many people in town. I had a blast! Friday night after work I went Neon Bowling (Cosmic) at Ruusulankatu, Töölö with a group from work. It was so much fun that we are already booked again in early April. We had a good group with us, too and many that I haven't yet hung out with, to include, Minna, Vera, Helle, Mats, Katriina and myself. After an hour a fun we decided to head off for some good food at Mama Rosa (http://www.mammarosa.fi/page.php) and we all know how much I love me some food. This time it was a place I had never been and I got pizza with basil, tomato and mozz cheese. So yummy that I had to eat in hurry to make sure that I would make it to the airport for Makmann to arrive. I also tried Sangeria at Mama Rosa, which is Coke and Red Wine, but tasty I might add. It was Minna's idea...but def a good one!! Michelle Makmann was arriving from Sweden and my first visitor here. To my surprise the crew became larger as the weekend went on. I got to meet Tom James (who many people in Winter Park know who now works in Colorado) Mikko (who works with MTV3 and Päivi here in Finland, but also part of the GROW program in Sweden with Michelle) Megan Miller (who is the girl behind the new intranet, which by the way is hilarious!! and Miles (who works in New York with us at Bonnier Corporation) and then about a crew of 5 that were from Denmark....that I just have a hard time remembering their names, but all so very sweet and all part of Bonnier as well. So, there I was waiting at the airport as the clock ticked by and thinking...a familiar face is about to come out that sliding door and I could not wait to hear the adventures going on in Makmanns world over in Sweden. Although I had been following her blog, I still wanted to hear all about what she was going through and also what she thought of Helsinki. Of course, I knew she would love it here. We started the night by going back to my flat and showing her where I lived and also so she could drop her stuff off before we began her first night in Finland. Guess where I took her? If you have been following my blog then you will know that I took her to the infamous Mollys!! Hello? Where else...just kidding, but the good thing that she didn't know was that I had texted a few of my friends and also the peeps that I went bowling with and told them to meet us there.
It's funny how I was just thinking about the last time I was here at Roberts Coffee and drinking the same cap drink the first night I was here in Helsinki a month ago and boy how much I have done and learned in just this short amount of time...not only about the city, my job, the people and culture, but also about myself and the type of person I am and my strengths and weaknesses in everyday life. (Sorry that was just a random thought)
So we met some friends at Molly Mallones and tried Long Drink (Lonkero) cause its a Finn thing...then we had Fisu (totally tastes like Listerine to me...haha) High Five! Very Nice! I tried to buy and show the things the Finns do while Michelle was here so she got the true feeling of being Finnish. We even had blueberry pastry-like breakfast and candy from Fazer and I tried to take her to the places around town she would like. We even tried Salmari with my friends Mats and Minna. Stated best from the pink book...The Black Gold of Finland...A combo of Finlands most traditional spirit, Koskenkorva, and the most traditional candy, salmiakki (salty liquorice) You can't leave Finland without trying it! By the way the pink book I refer to all the time is by Tom Bulgaria and it's called A Book about Helsinki...it really is the best book ever!! So we ended up staying for a bit and I introduced Michellle to some friends of mine and then we met Tiki and decided to go to Redrum to see Top Billin' DJ that night, which was awesome because to see Top Billin' was perfect for a first night in Finland for Michelle. They opened for MIA and they tear it up!! Totally a fun night of dancing. On Saturday we woke up and took the train to the ski bus to Talma to go skiing and snowboarding. It was Tiki, Michelle and I and they only had one snowboard. Tiki had a class so she took the board and Michelle and I went for the skis. It was totally my first time. I have never went waterskiing so it was quite the trip. Michelle was a great teacher, though and after awhile I at least could fly down the slope. And by that I mean I went straight and then I would fall and it was so hard to get up after falling that I immediately became frustrated and tired. After skiing for awhile then we traded them in and went snowboarding. The girls were definately better than I could be and Michelle even went for the higher slope. Me...no way...I just stayed with the kids...but for the most part I had a wonderful time. Talma is located in Sipoo, 30min drive from Helsinki. They have the world's most famous 5500cm high mountain. This snowboard park has been named as one of the world's best. And there is a free bus shuttle service that operate from Kerava train station to Talma every day and FREE is always nice. After Talma we came back to Helsinki to shower up and get ready for dinner at Villia Thai. There I met Mikko and Tom and also one of Mikko's friends...and then the three of us girls. We had such a great time, too! Afterward Mikko took us to two places called A21 and Ahjo (both very very nice places of Helsinki) and I toally felt the royal treatment - like a princess. It was great! I danced the night away. Sunday brought on touring around the city with Michelle and seeing the many faces of Helsinki. By this I literally mean 'faces' on the buildings and after chatting with Tiki about it she mentioned that I need to start exploring and really looking around the many buildings because they are ALL over. I think I will make my own segment of the many faces here because Tiki said I would be amazed of how many there actually are. That to me sounds like a fun trip around the city! Right? I know already Michelle found five! And they are hilarious! So after exploring for a bit...I took a spill...what I call ice booting part 2. gone bad. Before I was making a joke of the subject because I didn't hurt myself but now I fell so bad that I was bleeding and as much as I tried to pretend it didn't hurt with my face planted on the sidewalk..its Wednesday and I can still feel it. Next after trying to find the only store in town open...we decided to hit the café for brunch. I still cannot believe how different the city is on Sundays. Shops are closed, town is quiet and no one is out on the streets. But we managed to hit up Café Ekberg. Cafe Ekberg has been around since 1932 when it used to be a place for the fine upper class ladies...and of course still is, haha. We had a great meal and then decided to hit up the Ateneum Art Museum. This was the museum I went to before with the black and white Japanese photography. But this time they had a new exhibit called Kalevala. Stated very nicely by the brochure...it is a celebration of the 160 years of the Kalevala, which the Ateneum Art Museum presents the most extensive show of Kalevala art seen in decades. The display features more than 200 works from almost sixty artists, all inspired by the Finnish national epic. The historical part of the exhibition is built around different themes, with rooms displaying the artists' views of Väinämöinen, Kullervo and Aino as well as the birth of the world and the river of Tuonela. We had a nice time checking out all the art and I had a great time seeing a whole new exhibit! Afterward we met up with Tiki for some coffee at Erottaja. I spoke about this place before, but I love the atmosphere so we had to show Makmann what it was all about. Afterward we hit up Tori (this was the place with the best meatballs in town that Tuomas introduced me to and also in the pink book) Here we met up with Tom, Megan, Miles and the many peeps from Denmark. It was a great time discussing with everyone what they do and hearing all their stories with Bonnier. Also makes me want to go to Copenhagen now!! Maybe that will be after Sweden this weekend. We will see. Afterward we all had to say our goodbyes and hope that we meet again someday. Maybe over Swedish meatballs. I know I know knock it off with all the meatball talk...but don't knock it if you haven't tried them. So good! My next trip is this weekend to meet back up with Michelle and Mikko and see what Stockholm is all about. Today we have our monthly meeting at Bonnier Publications and we find out whats next and our performance on everything. We will speak about how we are rocking and rolling with our Olivia website. It's funny to think back how a month ago I was presenting what I do for the company back home and I barely knew anyone here. But now I realize how everyone makes me feel so welcome that I really feel like it's been longer. I can tell already the weather is changing. The morning are a bit lighter and it stays lighter longer. Bring it on!!

MTV3 Studio that Päivi took last Thursday

Neon Bowling in Helsinki: Minna and Katriina, Mats and Helle, Vera and Minna, Katriina and I, Helle and I, Neon Bowling where Mats totally beat all of us with the high score!!, my rad shoes, Me and Vera, Minna and I




Michelle in Helsinki Finland, Talma Ski Resort Saturday...Check out the sun shining through the train window...AWESOME!! Then Sunday Ice Booting Gone BAD!!

Flowers Jarmo brought to me cause he feels bad about me not having cable or internet, but he didn't have to...but I do really love them!! Jarmo is the landlord for the apartment and how pretty are these?? Yellow, too! Brightened up my day!