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Good morning,

Once a year I invite you for a Finnish meal on my blog. We had cake and breakfast and last year some Salmon Soup. High time for a warming drink.

When we enjoyed our honeymoon in Lapland we were often served a hot drink when sitting by the fire warming up after our outdoor adventures with huskies and reindeers.

As vegetation is scarce so far up north it doesn’t surprise that there isn’t a huge variety of juices, fruits and vegetables available. It is mirrored in the food and drink choices. So besides coffee – that is served religiously – you can drink Hot Cranberry Juice everywhere. And I mean everywhere…

For me this was somewhat of a light bolt moment. I mean sure I know of hot cider and shared my recipe here but for some reason I never really thought about heating up other juices. But I really took a liking to it. Now when I drink this it takes me right back to my honeymoon, the snow covered countryside, the crystal clear air, my cold cheeks and this deep felt happiness. Come join my be making yourself a pot!

Here is my personal version of this Finnish Hot Cranberry Juice –  Kuuma Karpalomehu

♥︎ 1/2 cup cranberry sirup (I used the one from here)
♥︎ 2-3 cups of water
♥︎ one bag of my homemade chai tea
♥︎ a slice of ginger

Bring water, ginger and chai tea to boil and let simmer for 30 min. Add sirup and let simmer for 5-10 min. The longer the sirup will cook the sweeter the concoction will get. I prefer spicy over sweet but adapt to your liking.

I will dream a bit more of my honeymoon, enjoy my fourth wedding anniversary and dream of more trips and vacations. And you stop by for dinner next year. I already know what I am serving.
Or please sooner I don’t mind!

Happy day to you,

Tobia

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Hey there,

I was inspired by San’s post and figured why not share my version of those answers.

Three foods I hate and refuse to eat.
Plain milk ( I cook/bake with it or drink in my coffee if I can’t change it but otherwise go away), pizza (once a year and then I realize, yep don’t like it much), Panna Cotta (no, just no)

Three foods I love and eat more of than I should.
ice cream, cake, salted butter

Three things/chores I avoid until absolutely necessary.
vacuuming (thanks to my little irobot it doesn’t feel too dirty but still he doesn’t get every spot), dusting (ah this dust in a city), changing bed sheets (I blame it on my small arm span, its a pain in the a***)

Three chores I always do.
bring out trash, put dishes in dish washer, decalcify my appliances

Three wardrobe staples.
tank tops, t-shirts, long sleeves

Three things I don’t spend money on.
hair cuts (only every 12-18 months), clothes (not really I hate shopping), public transport (I usually ride my bike everywhere)

Three things I do spend money on.
craft supplies, spa days, vacations

Three TV shows I frequently watch in reruns.
Gilmore Girls, Friends, … but to be honest I rather watch new ones

Three movies I love (that might surprise you).
Remember the Titans (but generally all kind of Sports movies), Tomorrow Never Dies (and all other James Bond movies), Harry Potter

Three genres I generally don’t read.
Newspapers, Horror, Biographies

Three things I’m looking forward to this year.
Hopefully a vacation/trip somewhere, family reunion in May, getting some things crossed of my to-do list

While writing those posts I remembered a time some 10 years or so ago. Back then we exchanged emails with those questionnaires. Anyone else do this? I saved them somewhere. It was like the new cooler thing than friendship books. Haha I must be getting old…

Anyway, if you pick this up leave a link so i can read along.

Happy Friday,

Tobia

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It is Sunday evening and I can proudly say – I did nothing this weekend.

A couple years ago – and even many days today – I would have feel like a total looser wasting my time away, having nothing accomplished.

I had big plans for this weekend. On Friday I didn’t finish up my to-do list. I “cheated” myself by saying I will just quickly finish it Saturday morning before Mr. ♥︎ would be awake. Then I wanted to drive to the recycling yard to finally get some chunk out of the craft lab and start on my most daunting project this year. Than I also wanted to finish sewing my sweater I started before Christmas. Well, and then there are all the household chores that pile up during the week.

When I went to bed on Friday night around midnight I received a message from my mom asking my sister and I if we would spontaneously are game for a spa day tomorrow. We were. So after sleeping in and leading the washer (ok I admit to reduce the guilty feeling) I went to pick them up and then we spent 12 hours in the spa. And we didn’t even hit the sauna that often because we just relaxed, slept, read and most of the times talked. It was so really nice and relaxing. When I came home I spent another couple ours slacking away on the couch visiting with Mr. ♥︎ before I went to bed. What a great Saturday.

And you know what. I just kept going on Sunday. I enjoyed a long coffee and watched all Instagram stories. We have breakfast and watched a movie “The Great Wall” which was pretty cool. I then played a few games, read a lot of blogs today and actually took the time to comment on many posts. I read in my Flow magazine and just sat next to Mr. ♥︎ surfing the day away, telling each other what we are reading and relaxing while some nice tunes were playing. And suddenly it is 7.30 pm and the day is gone. But you know what – it was wonderful. A great weekend and it felt like I actually spent more quality time with Mr. ♥︎ then just binge-watching the next best tv show.

And so without realizing it I actually managed to chalk some things on my New Years Resolutions list: beautify my relationships (visiting with my family, spending time with my Mr. ♥︎) and also beautify me because this whole weekend relaxed me immensely and contentment and happiness make me a kinder person.

So you might wonder why am I balling about all this? Well, I guess I want to let you know that it is ok to just step out of busy life and watch it go by. It will be there tomorrow and you can join in any time you feel like it But there is nothing wrong with not participating all the time. This was a really long road for me to lean and I have not mastered it. But today I have.

Happy Sunday,

Tobia

You are probably all busy with New Years Eve preparations and no one has time reading along. That is ok. This post is probably more to my entertainment than yours. But I don’t like to break the chain and so here is my recap of blogging for year five! And if you find this interesting I am happy (and if being a numbers nerd read about 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016).

For me year five is a big achievement on this blog. It has never been a source of income or has never been stated to be that one day. I always set out to blog to be more creative and engage with people in the internet. Did I achieve those things in 2017… maybe parts.

My biggest blogging achievement this year is no doubt my participation on NaBloPoMo and therefore my blogposts have almost doubled this year to a total of 48. Besides November (obviously) January was my strongest blogging month. My favorite article this year was my tribute to my grandparents while you loved this DIY one the most. The most comments got this post though. And your over all all-time favorite are moodboards, wreath ideas and cake pops.

Thank you for everyone stopping by and leaving a comment. I know we are all busy and coming to a blog and then writing something is taking a special effort. Special thanks to my most active commentators San and Rea. I made a conscious effort to leave three comments a day but after the first 5 months was a bit too busy to catch up on all my reading.

I have been hanging around a lot on Instagram (202) lately and also started a mere photography account (62), Pinterest (371) is always a nice way to spend some extra minutes hours so make sure to say hi. And is there anyone on Twitter (237) still? I used to love it so much but nothing happens there anymore… I switch my feedreader from bloglovin (43) to Feedly (10) and was wondering how do you read your blogs?

As a frequent reader you might know I am not to fond of this last day of the year and the ongoing celebrations that have more and more war zones resemblance than cozy fireworks. So I will hide in my nook and write up some resolutions for 2018. Stop by tomorrow to read my annual post.

Happy last day of 2017,

Tobia