FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE week 40 - a gratitude list

Me and Tea, our association's president, collecting food for homeless animals.

Mt T. and I went to see this exhibition of surrealist postcards from the early 20th century.
They had these "tinttamareski" (I don't know how they're called in english) things there
and of course we had to have a go :)

A necklace I'm making.  Beading makes me so happy.

Autumn!

the ticking of the Kit Cat clock, the scent of coffee and the playful look in the kitten's eyes,

Tiitta

FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE - week 37 a gratitude list

(these are SO late, I'm sorry for all who've been wondering where I am. I've been in the busy-land again)

This week was all about rehearsing for an upcoming Tribal Fusion show, making beadwork and arranging a happening with our Animal Welfare Association where about 20 cats were neutered and got microchips.

Dancing, dancing, dancing

I'm making headdresses for a Tribal Fusion show

Two kitties asleep, waiting to be neutered.
Cats sleep with their eyes open when they're sedated, it looks freaky

Dark chocolate kisses, 

Tiitta

FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE weeks 32, 33 and 34 - a gratitude list

Friday I'm in love is my gratitude list. Three weeks at a time, I can really only blame myself, but I try to blame it on the busy-ness I'm experiencing.

I'm thankful for..

• Roope, our baby kitty. We went to pick him up at the shelter a week ago. He is so brave and brisk! We kept him in the kitchen the first three days, and then let him to meet the other cats. 

Hexi tries really hard to see under the kitchen door who's this newcomer.

Roope takes a nap.

Roope and Hexi are already best buddies, playing and cuddling a lot. 

Tittis wasn't so sure of the kitten first, but she's loosening up as well.

•  Dance. I think I've gone to another level with my dancing. In September there's workshops by Manca Pavli (SVN)  and I'll be performing with Ane here: 

  

  https://www.facebook.com/events/579122412145370/?fref=ts
  

  and in October there's going to be this great show along with workshops by Deb Rubin: 

  

  https://www.facebook.com/events/686289851398683/?fref=ts
  

  And we'll have a candle dance performance with our AMCAB (American Cabaret Bellydance) group YIlan Cabilesi in November. So much wonderful dance related stuff happening this fall, makes Tiitta a very happy girl! I have two Tribal Fusion classes, one AMCAB class, one bellydance drill, stretch and tone class and one ballet class a week. Added to my 40 hours work week and quite employing volunteer work with the animal welfare organisation, it feels like I'm always going to dance practice.     I DON'T MIND! 

Painted toe nails, lemon beer and veil dances,

Tiitta

FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE week 27 and 28 - a gratitude list

Friday I'm in love is my gratitude list. Again, two weeks at a time, because of the holidays.


I'm grateful for.. 

• Kitties! In August a little kitten will come to live with us. He's still so young that he has to live with his foster mama cat (he's an orphan) at the shelter in Hartola. We haven't met him in person since it's a bit far away and we don't have a car. But we squee when we see his pictures. 

eeeeh look at that little nose! 

Hexi says a very relaxed "hi"

and Tittis takes it easy too

• Smoothies! I have a smoothie pretty much every morning, at least when I'm at home. My morning smoothie goes like this: 2 dl / 1 cup of plant milk (almond, oat, soy), 2 dl / 1 cup of frozen berries or fruit, some fresh baby spinach or frozen spinach, 1 Tbs ground flax seed, 1 Tbs chia seed, 1 banana. Mix it up in a blender and enjoy. Sometimes I also add 1 Tbs of peanut butter.
• Make-up! I know it might sound shallow but I looooove make-up. I don't think everybody should wear make-up and I don't think anything less of people who don't. For me, it's an extension of my style and I feel prettier and more "dapper" when I'm wearing make-up. I don't NEED it, I can go out without make-up but mostly I decide to wear it for the aforementioned reasons. I always choose cruelty-free, it goes first on the list when I'm choosing make-up. For me, it's even more important than the quality of the product. There are a lot of high quality make-up to choose within the cruelty-free range so that's not a problem. My favourite brands are Joe Blasco, Beauty Without Cruelty and NYX that I order online since they don't sell it in Finland. If you're interested in cruelty-free cosmetics, check out Animalian Eläinkokeettoman Kosmetiikan Lista (in finnish), BUAV or PETA. It can be a bit tricky to know what's cruelty-free and what's not since many brands claim they are, but checking from the lists you can be as sure as it's ever possible to sure about anything. 

Peace, love & hummus,

Tiitta

FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE week 21 - a gratitude list

Friday I'm in love is my weekly gratitude list.


I'm grateful for..

• Art. We went to see an exhibition called Firebird and Snow Maiden, classic Russian paintings about stories and fairy tales. I was especially impressed by paintings by Ivan Bilibin, who's art my fiancé has admired since his childhood. 

Ivan Bilibin; Vasilisa the beautiful

• Volunteer work. Our animal welfare association attended a huge festival in Helsinki called World Village. It was touching to see hundreds of different kinds of organisations and associations and the people who are willing to volunteer their precious time. And it was so interesting to see so many different causes that people do volunteer work for. We all have to choose our battles, I've chosen animal welfare, but it doesn't mean that I don't find human rights or nature conservation important (just to name a couple of causes). Luckily there are people who care.

The clippety-clop of ballet shoes, the taste of ginger and the scent of chinese insence, 

Tiitta