Johanna's blog

Haha, I had the BEST TIME OF LIFE! I went to queue there way too early (but I did got my Madonna t-shirt thanks to early queueing!), I almost passed out due the extremely hot weather, no clouds, sun shining, nearly +30 degrees and absolutely no possibilities for a shady place with in 1,5 kilometres (concert was in a harbour area) and I have very low tolerance for hot/sunny weather and that's why I hate being in the sun for a longer time. Gates were suppose to open at 17:30, so I was there at 14:00, which was just way too early. I waited there for an hour and after that decided that I have to find myself a cooler/shade place, so we walked (Jari was there waiting with me, he didn't have a ticket in though) to the nearest shop, bought some more drinks (water!) and we stayed there until 16:30 when I started to feel better again and decided to go back to the queue. Jari left back to the hotel and I went back to the line. Around 17:00 some of the folks were let in to the checking area and we thought "yay finally were getting in, only 30 minutes to go" but when the clock hit 18:00, the guards announced that Madonna's sound check is late and the gates won't open until 18:00. WTF?!!! was the first reaction. People were hot, thirsty, sweaty and we were all jammed in to one small place and sun was shining from a clear sky. I tried to crouch behind this tall guy who blocked the sun from shining directly to my face :P Few minutes after that, first girl passed out just few meters away from me. I was already feeling shaky and nearly passing out myself so that didn't help me at all! Some of the first aid people came to collect her and pretty quickly after that the gates were opened and people started running (how did they have the strength! I was beat!) towards the stage. I speed walked to the golden circle/a-area pretty quickly and got myself the perfect spot just few meters away from the end of the catwalk. Warm up act was Paul Oakenfold and he came on stage around 20:00. I chatted with these two nice young girls from Tampere, who were pondering where would be the perfect place to watch the concert and I told them to stay put as this was the perfect spot :) They were also nice enough to hold my space for me, as I went outside the golden circle to get some more water to drink, otherwise I would've been forced to go farther away from the catwalk when I got back. Paul Oakenfold came to the stage and so did some of Madonna's dancers, people got so excited when he played Darude's Sandstorm (Finnish dj/artist) and last song he played was Madonna's new song "Celebration". After Oakenfold left the stage, we had to wait a bit more before the "Sweet Machine" intro hit the screens and the crowd (85 000 of them!) went crazy! I'm not gonna analyse the entire show or song by song, I'll spare you from all of that cause I know how sick you must be already about me screaming Madonna! every day :D My absolute fave songs were Beat Goes On, Vogue, Like A Prayer, Into The Groove, Frozen and La Isla Bonita. She changed clothes 8 times in two hours and still managed to look like it was nothing but an easy late night run for her, and not breaking a sweat. As I screamed, cried, laughed, sang, jumped and danced through it. I was so happy to finally see her and I got around 300 photos and few short video clips which I will cherish forever. I was back at the hotel around 1:00 (am!) and had to took a shower, next morning my ankle and knee was busted, it still hurts but it was worth it and would do it again without hesitating. Obviously I couldn't go to the Helsinki Zoo on Friday cause I was so tired and legs were hurting, so we got the earlier train (7 hours, no air condition, still +30 degrees!) back home. So that was it. You can check out rest of the pics @ Flickr! and videos @ Youtube! Let me know what you think? :)

ETA: Will catch up on everybody's blogs, posts, tweets and other stuff TOMORROW, now it's 2am. and I'm watching Stargate SG-1 and then go to bed. Good night!

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

Haha, I had the BEST TIME OF LIFE! I went to queue there way too early (but I did got my Madonna t-shirt thanks to early queueing!), I almost passed out due the extremely hot weather, no clouds, sun shining, nearly +30 degrees and absolutely no possibilities for a shady place with in 1,5 kilometres (concert was in a harbour area) and I have very low tolerance for hot/sunny weather and that's why I hate being in the sun for a longer time. Gates were suppose to open at 17:30, so I was there at 14:00, which was just way too early. I waited there for an hour and after that decided that I have to find myself a cooler/shade place, so we walked (Jari was there waiting with me, he didn't have a ticket in though) to the nearest shop, bought some more drinks (water!) and we stayed there until 16:30 when I started to feel better again and decided to go back to the queue. Jari left back to the hotel and I went back to the line. Around 17:00 some of the folks were let in to the checking area and we thought "yay finally were getting in, only 30 minutes to go" but when the clock hit 18:00, the guards announced that Madonna's sound check is late and the gates won't open until 18:00. WTF?!!! was the first reaction. People were hot, thirsty, sweaty and we were all jammed in to one small place and sun was shining from a clear sky. I tried to crouch behind this tall guy who blocked the sun from shining directly to my face :P Few minutes after that, first girl passed out just few meters away from me. I was already feeling shaky and nearly passing out myself so that didn't help me at all! Some of the first aid people came to collect her and pretty quickly after that the gates were opened and people started running (how did they have the strength! I was beat!) towards the stage. I speed walked to the golden circle/a-area pretty quickly and got myself the perfect spot just few meters away from the end of the catwalk. Warm up act was Paul Oakenfold and he came on stage around 20:00. I chatted with these two nice young girls from Tampere, who were pondering where would be the perfect place to watch the concert and I told them to stay put as this was the perfect spot :) They were also nice enough to hold my space for me, as I went outside the golden circle to get some more water to drink, otherwise I would've been forced to go farther away from the catwalk when I got back. Paul Oakenfold came to the stage and so did some of Madonna's dancers, people got so excited when he played Darude's Sandstorm (Finnish dj/artist) and last song he played was Madonna's new song "Celebration". After Oakenfold left the stage, we had to wait a bit more before the "Sweet Machine" intro hit the screens and the crowd (85 000 of them!) went crazy! I'm not gonna analyse the entire show or song by song, I'll spare you from all of that cause I know how sick you must be already about me screaming Madonna! every day :D My absolute fave songs were Beat Goes On, Vogue, Like A Prayer, Into The Groove, Frozen and La Isla Bonita. She changed clothes 8 times in two hours and still managed to look like it was nothing but an easy late night run for her, and not breaking a sweat. As I screamed, cried, laughed, sang, jumped and danced through it. I was so happy to finally see her and I got around 300 photos and few short video clips which I will cherish forever. I was back at the hotel around 1:00 (am!) and had to took a shower, next morning my ankle and knee was busted, it still hurts but it was worth and would do it again without hesitating. Obviously I couldn't go to the Helsinki Zoo on Friday cause I was so tired and legs were hurting, so we got the earlier train (7 hours, no air condition, still +30 degrees!) back home. So that was it. You can check out rest of the pics @ Flickr! and videos @ Youtube! Let me know what you think? :)

ETA: Will catch up on everybody's blogs, posts, tweets and other stuff TOMORROW, now it's 2am. and I'm watching Stargate SG-1 and then go to bed. Good night!

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

Haha, I had the BEST TIME OF LIFE! I went to queue there way too early (but I did got my Madonna t-shirt thanks to early queueing!), I almost passed out due the extremely hot weather, no clouds, sun shining, nearly +30 degrees and absolutely no possibilities for a shady place with in 1,5 kilometres (concert was in a harbour area) and I have very low tolerance for hot/sunny weather and that's why I hate being in the sun for a longer time. Gates were suppose to open at 17:30, so I was there at 14:00, which was just way too early. I waited there for an hour and after that decided that I have to find myself a cooler/shade place, so we walked (Jari was there waiting with me, he didn't have a ticket in though) to the nearest shop, bought some more drinks (water!) and we stayed there until 16:30 when I started to feel better again and decided to go back to the queue. Jari left back to the hotel and I went back to the line. Around 17:00 some of the folks were let in to the checking area and we thought "yay finally were getting in, only 30 minutes to go" but when the clock hit 18:00, the guards announced that Madonna's sound check is late and the gates won't open until 18:00. WTF?!!! was the first reaction. People were hot, thirsty, sweaty and we were all jammed in to one small place and sun was shining from a clear sky. I tried to crouch behind this tall guy who blocked the sun from shining directly to my face :P Few minutes after that, first girl passed out just few meters away from me. I was already feeling shaky and nearly passing out myself so that didn't help me at all! Some of the first aid people came to collect her and pretty quickly after that the gates were opened and people started running (how did they have the strength! I was beat!) towards the stage. I speed walked to the golden circle/a-area pretty quickly and got myself the perfect spot just few meters away from the end of the catwalk. Warm up act was Paul Oakenfold and he came on stage around 20:00. I chatted with these two nice young girls from Tampere, who were pondering where would be the perfect place to watch the concert and I told them to stay put as this was the perfect spot :) They were also nice enough to hold my space for me, as I went outside the golden circle to get some more water to drink, otherwise I would've been forced to go farther away from the catwalk when I got back. Paul Oakenfold came to the stage and so did some of Madonna's dancers, people got so excited when he played Darude's Sandstorm (Finnish dj/artist) and last song he played was Madonna's new song "Celebration". After Oakenfold left the stage, we had to wait a bit more before the "Sweet Machine" intro hit the screens and the crowd (85 000 of them!) went crazy! I'm not gonna analyse the entire show or song by song, I'll spare you from all of that cause I know how sick you must be already about me screaming Madonna! every day :D My absolute fave songs were Beat Goes On, Vogue, Like A Prayer, Into The Groove, Frozen and La Isla Bonita. She changed clothes 8 times in two hours and still managed to look like it was nothing but an easy late night run for her, and not breaking a sweat. As I screamed, cried, laughed, sang, jumped and danced through it. I was so happy to finally see her and I got around 300 photos and few short video clips which I will cherish forever. I was back at the hotel around 1:00 (am!) and had to took a shower, next morning my ankle and knee was busted, it still hurts but it was worth and would do it again without hesitating. Obviously I couldn't go to the Helsinki Zoo on Friday cause I was so tired and legs were hurting, so we got the earlier train (7 hours, no air condition, still +30 degrees!) back home. So that was it. You can check out rest of the pics @ Flickr! and videos @ Youtube! Let me know what you think? :)

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

I can't believe it, only 5 days until I see my number one idol Madonna! I've been a fan of hers since the day I knew what music is. I've been waiting for this for the past 20 years and I just can't believe it until I'm actually there (front row, must get to front row! I have the golden circle ticket!) and see her with my own eyes. I hope my feet or my camera won't let me down. It's a long 9-10 hour wait (and not forgetting how insanely expensive the trip to Helsinki will be, especially when I don't have a permanent job) but it's so going to be worth it. This is once in a lifetime chance!! *fangrrl squee*

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

I used "Je ne comprends pas" a quite a lot of times last week so hence the title. My mom's French friends from Marmande, Southern France visited last week (long story short, my mom used to live a while in Southern France when she was young and there's still few friends she's kept in touch with), of course it was just a DAY BEFORE my mom and little sister were leaving to Paris, France! There was some sort of misconception cause we thought they'd come in August, but last week they phoned my mom just saying "hey were in Piteå, Sweden now and will be there in Oulu tomorrow" so it was a bit of surprise but seeing them even a short time was nice. Last time we saw them was exactly 13 years ago! I remember because it was exactly 1 year after my grandmother died and now it's been 13 years (tomorrow). Oh and my French isn't good at all, I remember few phrases, I understand a lot more than I can speak (had my last French courses 12 years ago) but luckily my little sister was home and was able to interpret. I wish I could've gone to Paris as well, especially after hearing that Shifaa would've been there too!!! But since I couldn't afford the ticket and I don't want my mom to pay everything, I decided to stay home.

But instead I got to see Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince with Minna. Spoilers ahead so skip this chapter if you don't want to read anything about it yet. I have to say, that even though lot of people were rebelling last year after this movie was pushed to July I was definitely planning to see it as soon I could. I know some of you are over the fact that movies are nothing like the books but still it annoys me beyond anything that the directors & writers take the liberty to modify everything like that. Mostly I was disappointed that there was no funeral for Dumbledore, it kinda gave the impression that "so he died who cares" and Harry's grief/crying over Dumbledore seemed more like tummy ache than real pain, sorrow & grief. And why didn't they tell who the hell was that girl who fell in love with Ron! I couldn't remember her name at all! I had to check the book after the movie. Narcissa visiting Snape didn't feel like she was really pleading for Draco's life, it was more like booking an appointment for hairdresser or something. So much had been altered, so much had been left out. It felt again as if we were running through from one act to another, I'm pretty sure if you hadn't read the book, you would've been pretty much "wtf?" for the most of the time. But still, I was very happy to see the movie and Snape especially.. I honestly can't wait to see the last two movies, even if it's goodbye to most of the characters and the Harry Potter saga. Spoilers ends here!

At the moment I'm home alone, Jari left with Pepe to his parents summer cottage (his 4 week summer vacation started this week) and since it's just not my thing (no matter how much pleading involved) I decided to stay at home. I packed 5 of our rugs to the car so he could hopefully wash them there.. it's one task I don't like doing either, even though I like cleaning otherwise :P So it's just me, my laptop, Stargate SG-1, season 6 box and bunch of The Real Housewives of OC episodes (I know! crazy!) today at least. If the raining stops tomorrow, I'll head out to the city and try not to spend all of my money there, I just need more hair care products and new comb cause my hair is now too short for hair brush :P

I'll leave you with this interesting test.. musical was a bit of surprise but anything else I (guess) pretty much agree with.

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

I used "Je ne comprends pas" a quite a lot of times last week so hence the title. My mom's French friends from Marmande, Southern France visited last week (long story short, my mom used to live a while in Southern France when she was young and there's still few friends she's kept in touch with), of course it was just a DAY BEFORE my mom and little sister were leaving to Paris, France! There was some sort of misconception cause we thought they'd come in August, but last week they phoned my mom just saying "hey were in Piteå, Sweden now and will be there in Oulu tomorrow" so it was a bit of surprise but seeing them even a short time was nice. Last time we saw them was exactly 13 years ago! I remember because it was exactly 1 year after my grandmother died and now it's been 13 years (tomorrow). Oh and my French isn't good at all, I remember few phrases, I understand a lot more than I can speak (had my last French courses 12 years ago) but luckily my little sister was home and was able to interpret. I wish I could've gone to Paris as well, especially after hearing that Shifaa would've been there too!!! But since I couldn't afford the ticket and I don't want my mom to pay everything, I decided to stay home.

But instead I got to see Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince with Minna. Spoilers ahead so skip this chapter if you don't want to read anything about it yet. I have to say, that even though lot of people were rebelling last year after this movie was pushed to July I was definitely planning to see it as soon I could. I know some of you are over the fact that movies are nothing like the books but still it annoys me beyond anything that the directors & writers take the liberty to modify everything like that. Mostly I was disappointed that there was no funeral for Dumbledore, it kinda gave the impression that "so he died who cares" and Harry's grief/crying over Dumbledore seemed more like tummy ache than real pain, sorrow & grief. And why didn't they tell who the hell was that girl who fell in love with Ron! I couldn't remember her name at all! I had to check the book after the movie. Narcissa visiting Snape didn't feel like she was really pleading for Draco's life, it was more like booking an appointment for hairdresser or something. So much had been altered, so much had been left out. It felt again as if we were running through from one act to another, I'm pretty sure if you hadn't read the book, you would've been pretty much "wtf?" for the most of the time. But still, I was very happy to see the movie and Snape especially.. I honestly can't wait to see the last two movies, even if it's goodbye to most of the characters and the Harry Potter saga. Spoilers ends here!

At the moment I'm home alone, Jari left with Pepe to his parents summer cottage (his 4 week summer vacation started this week) and since it's just not my thing (no matter how much pleading involved) I decided to stay at home. I packed 5 of our rugs to the car so he could hopefully was them there.. it's one task I don't like doing either, even though I like cleaning otherwise :P So it's just me, my laptop, Stargate SG-1, season 6 box and bunch of The Real Housewives of OC episodes (I know! crazy!) today at least. If the raining stops tomorrow, I'll head out to the city and try not to spend all of my money there, I just need more hair care products and new comb cause my hair is now too short for hair brush :P

I'll leave you with this interesting test.. musical was a bit of surprise but anything else I (guess) pretty much agree with.

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

I used "Je ne comprends pas" a quite a lot of times last week so hence the title. My mom's French friends from Marmande, Southern France visited last week (long story short, my mom used to live a while in Southern France when she was young and there's still few friends she's kept in touch with), of course it was just a DAY BEFORE my mom and little sister were leaving to Paris, France! There was some sort of misconception cause we thought they'd come in August, but last week they phoned my mom just saying "hey were in Piteå, Sweden now and will be there in Oulu tomorrow" so it was a bit of surprise but seeing them even a short time was nice. Last time we saw them was exactly 13 years ago! I remember because it was exactly 1 year after my grandmother died and now it's been 13 years (tomorrow). Oh and my French isn't good at all, I remember few phrases, I understand a lot more than I can speak (had my last French courses 12 years ago) but luckily my little sister was home and was able to interpret. I wish I could've gone to Paris as well, especially after hearing that Shifaa would've been there too!!! But since I couldn't afford the ticket and I don't want my mom to pay everything, I decided to stay home.

But instead I got to see Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince with Minna. Spoilers ahead so skip this chapter if you don't want to read anything about it yet. I have to say, that even though lot of people were rebelling last year after this movie was pushed to July I was definitely planning to see it as soon I could. I know some of you are over the fact that movies are nothing like the books but still it annoys me beyond anything that the directors & writers take the liberty to modify everything like that. Mostly I was disappointed that there was no funeral for Dumbledore, it kinda gave the impression that "so he died who cares" and Harry's grief/crying over Dumbledore seemed more like tummy ache than real pain, sorrow & grief. And why didn't they tell who the hell was that girl who fell in love with Ron! I couldn't remember her name at all! I had to check the book after the movie. Narcissa visiting Snape didn't feel like she was really pleading for Draco's life, it was more like booking an appointment for hairdresser or something. So much had been altered, so much had been left out. It felt again as if we were running through from one act to another, I'm pretty sure if you hadn't read the book, you would've been pretty much "wtf?" for the most of the time. But still, I was very happy to see the movie and Snape especially.. I honestly can't wait to see the last two movies, even if it's goodbye to most of the characters and the Harry Potter saga. Spoilers ends here!

At the moment I'm home alone, Jari left with Pepe to his parents summer cottage (his 4 week summer vacation started this week) and since it's just not my thing (no matter how much pleading involved) I decided to stay at home. I packed 5 of our rugs to the car so he could hopefully was them there.. it's one task I don't like doing either, even though I like cleaning otherwise :P So it's just me, my laptop, Stargate SG-1, season 6 box and bunch of The Real Housewives of OC episodes (I know! crazy!) today at least. If the raining stops tomorrow, I'll head out to the city and try not to spend all of my money there, I just need more hair care products and new comb cause my hair is now too short for hair brush :P

I'll leave you with this interesting test.. musical was a bit of surprise but anything else I (guess) pretty much agree with.

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

I used "Je ne comprends pas" a quite a lot of times last week so hence the title. My mom's French friends from Marmande, Southern France visited last week (long story short, my mom used to live a while in Southern France when she was young and there's still few friends she's kept in touch with), of course it was just a DAY BEFORE my mom and little sister were leaving to Paris, France! There was some sort of misconception cause we thought they'd come in August, but last week they phoned my mom just saying "hey were in Piteå, Sweden now and will be there in Oulu tomorrow" so it was a bit of surprise but seeing them even a short time was nice. Last time we saw them was exactly 13 years ago! I remember because it was exactly 1 year after my grandmother died and now it's been 13 years (tomorrow). Oh and my French isn't good at all, I remember few phrases, I understand a lot more than I can speak (had my last French courses 12 years ago) but luckily my little sister was home and was able to interpret. I wish I could've gone to Paris as well, especially after hearing that Shifaa would've been there too!!! But since I couldn't afford the ticket and I don't want my mom to pay everything, I decided to stay home.

But instead I got to see Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince with Minna. Spoilers ahead so skip this chapter if you don't want to read anything about it yet. I have to say, that even though lot of people were rebelling last year after this movie was pushed to July I was definitely planning to see it as soon I could. I know some of you are over the fact that movies are nothing like the books but still it annoys me beyond anything that the directors & writers take the liberty to modify everything like that. Mostly I was disappointed that there was no funeral for Dumbledore, it kinda gave the impression that "so he died who cares" and Harry's grief/crying over Dumbledore seemed more like tummy ache than real pain, sorrow & grief. And why didn't they tell who the hell was that girl who fell in love with Ron! I couldn't remember her name at all! I had to check the book after the movie. Narcissa visiting Snape didn't feel like she was really pleading for Draco's life, it was more like booking an appointment for hairdresser or something. So much had been altered, so much had been left out. It felt again as if we were running through from one act to another, I'm pretty sure if you hadn't read the book, you would've been pretty much "wtf?" for the most of the time. But still, I was very happy to see the movie and Snape especially.. I honestly can't wait to see the last two movies, even if it's goodbye to most of the characters and the Harry Potter saga. Spoilers ends here!

At the moment I'm home alone, Jari left with Pepe to his parents summer cottage (his 4 week summer vacation started this week) and since it's just not my thing (no matter how much pleading involved) I decided to stay at home. I packed 5 of our rugs to the car so he could hopefully was them there.. it's one task I don't like doing either, even though I like cleaning otherwise :P So it's just me, my laptop, Stargate SG-1, season 6 box and bunch of The Real Housewives of OC episodes (I know! crazy!) today at least. If the raining stops tomorrow, I'll head out to the city and try not to spend all of my money there, I just need more hair care products and new comb cause my hair is now too short for hair brush :P

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

I guess you can say I'm feeling a bit better now. I've even managed to continue a few website projects on my to do list, also I added myself to this Finnish freelancer-directory which would hopefully bring me more website work. And I cracked open that 100€ Google Ads gift card I received! Only 3 days and 15 euros already gone. July is always incredibly quiet job wise, but it's just so frustrating sometimes and being sick for two weeks doesn't help that feeling at all. Though I managed to watch 80% of Stargate SG-1 season 6! But now I'm much better, only a mild dry annoying cough left, but I'm gonna fight this one out as soon as possible. I haven't been able to go for my usual walks either and I feel so sloppy & just ugh. I did go and buy myself new pair of pink sport sandals! Last time (just before I got sick) we took our walk and I had my usual trainers on, my feet were so damn hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. I'm still searching for suitable capri trousers to go along with those sandals.

On Friday we took a trip to Haparanda, Sweden (me, my mom & her (annoying) boyfriend who came unannounced, I would have not wanted him to come) and I had to get up insanely early. I'm used to my bed at 1-2 am (sometimes even 3 am.) and up at 9-10 am. but this time I had to wake up 5.45, so Jari could drive me to my mom's around 6.30am, before he went to work. It took a bit too much time for me to get ready and Jari wasn't happy about it, especially when he had to pick up my little sister after work and drove her to her work (50 kilometres to get there and another 50 km to get back). I still had to wait for my mom to get ready, but we were ready to go around 8 am. I didn't have a lot of money with me (due a few surprise bills thank you very much) so I didn't buy anything at Ikea but tossed around 20 euros to the grocery stores there. Yes we have to drive ~150 kilometres to the grocery store in Sweden, cause there's just so many goodies we've used to have and which we don't get in Finland (Ramlösa <3). As long as I can remember, we've visited Haparanda once or twice year, when I was a little girl and my grandmother was still alive, I can remember that we went there (our family & my grandparents) to buy sugar & butter & some other stuff cause it was just much cheaper there.

And oh my god, I can't believe it. Less than A MONTH and I get to see MADONNA live!!! Eeeeep! I just won't believe it until I'm actually there and I can see her with my own eyes. So much can happen before it, remembering MJ especially :( That was such a tragic. I grew up listening to his songs, I've always been a fan of him and I just couldn't hold back the tears when I heard he was dead. His memorial was another hard thing to watch, but now he can finally be at peace. But I'll be going to Helsinki no matter what, we've already booked a hotel and were also planning to visit Korkeasaari Zoo anyway. How has your summer been so far?

And OMG! So booking tickets to see HP this week!!

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.

I guess you can say I'm feeling a bit better now. I've even managed to continue a few website projects on my to do list, also I added myself to this Finnish freelancer-directory which would hopefully bring me more website work. And I cracked open that 100€ Google Ads gift card I received! Only 3 days and 15 euros already gone. July is always incredibly quiet job wise, but it's just so frustrating sometimes and being sick for two weeks doesn't help that feeling at all. But now I'm much better, only a mild dry annoying cough left, but I'm gonna fight this one out as soon as possible. I haven't been able to go for my usual walks either and I feel so sloppy & just ugh. I did go and buy myself new pair of pink sport sandals! Last time (just before I got sick) we took our walk and I had my usual trainers on, my feet were so damn hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. I'm still searching for suitable capri trousers to go along with those sandals.

On Friday we took a trip to Haparanda, Sweden (me, my mom & her (annoying) boyfriend who came unannounced, I would have not wanted him to come) and I had to get up insanely early. I'm used to my bed at 1-2 am (sometimes even 3 am.) and up at 9-10 am. but this time I had to wake up 5.45, so Jari could drive me to my mom's around 6.30am, before he went to work. It took a bit too much time for me to get ready and Jari wasn't happy about it, especially when he had to pick up my little sister after work and drove her to her work (50 kilometres to get there and another 50 km to get back). I still had to wait for my mom to get ready, but we were ready to go around 8 am. I didn't have a lot of money with me (due a few surprise bills thank you very much) so I didn't buy anything at Ikea but tossed around 20 euros to the grocery stores there. Yes we have to drive ~150 kilometres to the grocery store in Sweden, cause there's just so many goodies we've used to have and which we don't get in Finland (Ramlösa <3). As long as I can remember, we've visited Haparanda once or twice year, when I was a little girl and my grandmother was still alive, I can remember that we went there (our family & my grandparents) to buy sugar & butter & some other stuff cause it was just much cheaper there.

And oh my god, I can't believe it. Less than A MONTH and I get to see MADONNA live!!! Eeeeep! I just won't believe it until I'm actually there and I can see her with my own eyes. So much can happen before it, remembering MJ especially :( That was such a tragic. I grew up listening to his songs, I've always been a fan of him and I just couldn't hold back the tears when I heard he was dead. His memorial was another hard thing to watch, but now he can finally be at peace. But I'll be going to Helsinki no matter what, we've already booked a hotel and were also planning to visit Korkeasaari Zoo anyway. How has your summer been so far?

And OMG! So booking tickets to see HP this week!!

Originally published at Northern Star. You can comment here or there.