Moment of relaxation

Hi everyone!

The first two days in the new workplace done and man there's a lot to learn. Too much information to intake! :D But so far everything has gone fine and I'm sure I'll learn all those different technical protocols and devices related to the work and all the different the cash desk functions. My job is to be a sales person and a warehouse worker in a whole sale shop for professional kitchens and restaurants. Mostly the company sells via deliveries straight to customers and we have to gather ready all the ordered items for different companies by the delivery time. We also ofc refill the shelves in the shop and arrange new products to the shelves, do inventory, be sales persons to the customers in the shop, keep everything in order in the shop etc.

I should do assignments I guess, but I already did some before going to work and after work I had school. Now I feel like no assignments anymore. 😏 :D Besides my head is so tired of trying to learn something new right now that I probably wouldn't actually even learn anything anymore if I tried! 😄

Time to relax a little bit. I mentioned already in one post of mine the Forever Living's Marine mask. I have it on my face and I'm having some sparking water with lemon.

This is very refreshing experience every time you use it! Just apply into rinsed face a layer and let it be 20-minutes! Simple, easy and good also for males. As Forever's products typically this as well has been made to match the needs of all the skin types and it gives your skin just what it needs! The Marine mask combines deep cleansing, toning, refreshing and deep moisturizing of the skin with cucumber extract, honey, aloe vera and sea minerals. A perfect all in one facial skin care product.

I just rinsed it off and my skin feels all clean and refreshed. I also applied a little bit of this luxurious serum into my skin for wanting to give some true pampering to my tired face! :D

This lovely soothing and excellent skin care providing serum earns its own post and I'll write more about it later on!

In this post I'm about to share a refreshing little bit kind of sweet and sour smoothie blend that always zests my day with it's fresh taste and excellent nutritional value.

For about one liter of this smoothie you'll need:

• 2-bananas
• 2-apples
• an avocado
• one lime, squeezed
• two handfuls of fresh spinach
• piece of fresh gincer
• a cup of frozen mango cubes
• a small handful of sea-buckthorn berries
• ice cubes & some protein powder

Blend in a powerful blender, enjoy the refreshing taste and this smoothie as a nutrition packed snack, or a breakfast smoothie (Ps. if you want it to be a bit sweeter, pineapple would do that perfectly!)

Recently I've gotten plenty of dm requests on instagram. I'm sorry, but I don't have much time or interest for dm conversations since I do have quite a busy life currently and a lot to do. The time I can spare to socializing I'll spend with my love, family and the closest friends of mine. I'm very thankful for all the appreciation though and I'm doing my best to be able to respond all the comments I'm getting to my gallery. Want to say thanks to all of you lovely people leaving me such lovely and encouraging comments!

Want to thank all of you for reading my writings here as well! :)
Now I'm still relaxing a while and then it's time to go to bed again so I can get my ass up early enough tomorrow to get everything done I need to get done, before I must go to work and after work to school again! :D

~Good night to you, or what ever time it's for you!~

♡-Tiina-♡

Busy Life

Hello!

Already Friday! The days just fly by when you have plenty to do! :D
I've tried to study as much as possible in addition to attending the classes at school during this week. Next week I'll start in my new job and have classes during evenings. The week after next one will be the exam week and for working the days and attending on the classes the evenings and having to take care of all the assignments to pass the courses I won't have much time for preparing to the exams I'll have. Two very busy weeks ahead and then finally it will be the summer break at school and I'll have just the work and rest of the time I can actually do what I want to :D

It was a stunning sunset tonight! 😍

When there's a lot going on in life we might easily get tired or stressed. So will our skin, if we are exposed to stress too long time, sleep too little, eat irregularly, make poor nutritional choices, drink too little water etc... I guess everyone who's even a little bit interested in taking good care of her (or his!) skin knows what's bad for our skin but not necessarily how to treat the mixed, oily, dry, tight or dull skin and what kind of products are good for it.
I'm not a cosmetologist, but I actually do have a degree of  make up artist & stylist. As I mentioned in my very first blog post in English, I've always been interested in cosmetics and skincare and thus I've educated myself a bit further into the world skincare products as well.

 I also mentioned in my first post that I've fallen in love especially with the products of Forever Living company. Why are these ones so superior then? Take any body or face lotion or skin care product you use: Dior, Lancôme, YSL, Lauder, Chanel, Lorèal, Nivea...Anything! And check out the ingredient list, I bet the first word on the list is aqua. Mostly all the cosmetics of the world is based on water and I'm not saying all of those products are lousy or bad, NO! Not at all necessarily, but water based cosmetics always treats only the outermost layer of our skin. Forever's cosmetics is based on aloe vera gel, prepared from hand picked organically and ecologically grown aloe vera. The gel is made with Forever's unique stabilization method keeping it as fresh and flawless as possible.
 What makes aloe special in skincare is that aloe's molecules will pass your skin layers and will be effective on the outermost layer of our skin and also deep inside our skin! Forever's products are also very affordable, considering they are luxurious quality and majority of the products are made to be suitable to all of the skin types. Ofc there are some products custom made for oily or especially dry skin as well! (:

No matter what your skin type is, it needs exfoliating for couple of times a week, if you wish to maintain an even skin tone, want the skin treatments you use to work effectively and the make up to be easy to apply and spread evenly on your skin. After exfoliating the dead cells of the outermost layer of your skin the skin gets refreshed, it breathes, feels even and also all the treatments and lotions, serums etc will absorb much better into your skin and work effectively on the "living" skin since the dead cells don't block their way. Each skin type will get better with regular exfoliating if you use a gentle and effective scrub.

The affordable (in Europe around 20€) and effective, but gentle Forever's aloe scrub is my favorite. Jojoba microspheres exfoliate the skin and moisturize it effectively with aloe vera simultaneously. Just wash the face with water, dry it a bit with a towel and apply the scrub all over your face except around the eyes. Keep rubbing until the scrub forms white dots on your skin. The white dots are your dead skin cells the scrub has gotten off your skin. Rinse off with comfortably warm water and feel the refreshment that you achieved with the effort of about 3-minutes! (Ps. You can use this for the whole body as well!)

After the scrub apply a treatment product, which is suitable for your skin type and your skin feels great! (: If you haven't tried this before I'm warmly recommending to give it a try!

I'm going to take my make up off and do a scrub with this right now. It's getting late here in Finland and it's soon the bed time! Now it's time for me and my skin to relax.

~Happy weekend to everyone!~

♡-Tiina-♡

Turning over a new leaf!

Hello!

Long time, no post! :D

Spring is finally here! Although we still have much colder weather than we normally should. We had one day + 17'Cs, then the next + 11'Cs and now for this week the weather forecast tells the temperature is about to stay below + 10 'Cs mostly for the whole week and there will even be a little frost on some nights! :/ (which is unusual on MAY in Southern-Finland!).

A lot has happened during this week I haven't written a post. As confusing it was at the moment of receiving that phone call...it's still amazing and confusing me! :D
I actually got the job I went for a job interview 1,5-weeks ago. I won of 6 applicants who were interviewed for the job. I didn't believe I would be the one to get the job by the experience I have gotten of applying for a job during this one year I've been officially unemployed. The job I got is a part time job and nothing special, but it's a beginning and I'm seeing it as a great opportunity! I'm so happy and relieved I'm no longer unemployed and it's a big company I'm going to work at. If everything goes well (And I'm for sure going to do my best to excel in the job!) my one year contract might even continue and I guess there are possibilities to proceed forward into a better position eventually. Let's see! At least I will have excellent opportunities of networking with people in the big community. Most importantly now I really can turn  over a new leaf in my life officially! I finally got a job in business and no going back to miscellaneous kitchen and restaurant gigs anymore!

Another big thing currently is that my own old computer eventually broke down for good and for a while I didn't have a computer at all, so that's also why I haven't written a post. Now I have a laptop my friend lent me until my new computer which arrived me inoperative (after waiting for it for almost a month!) will come back from the overhaul and they have hopefully fixed it, so I'll finally have my new computer I've now waited for over a month.

It's been quite busy with school. Plenty of assignments for the end of the courses is approaching and classes 4-evenings a week. The computer mess has caused some stress and a lot of work during the past week. I wouldn't have believed I'll ever do dumpster diving, but apparently anything can happen. xD :D When the new computer components finally came on last Tuesday we unpacked it all immediately and took the card board boxes and the cushions to the dumpster for living in a small apartment and we thought that we won't need those...but the next day when the computer was gathered ready of the components, everything was set and it was time to install the operating system it appeared that we can't make the computer functioning and we must send it to the overhaul via post. 😞 So I had to go dumpster diving to find the card board boxes we threw away. Had to pack the damn thing again, buy some cushions and take it to the post office. Hopefully it's not going to take another 3,5 weeks until I'll have it back and it's actually operational.
The weekend was spent in the company of friends and the loved ones and I studied a lot!

Now it's a new week and this one started with a delicious chocolate smoothie! 😋

Chocolate smoothie

For this goodness packed with super good nutritional value you'll need for a portion of little under one liter:

• 2-bananas
• 2-apples
• 1-orange, squeezed
• 1,5 dl (0,75 cups) frozen raspberries
• 1,5 dl (0,75 cups) frozen mango cubes
• about 5 tablespoons of raw cacao powder
• avocado
• plant based protein powder & ice cubes

Did you know that about 10% of the weight of raw cacao powder is antioxidants?
The cacao beans are full of antioxidants, good fat, carbohydrates, protein, minerals like calcium, magnesium, sulfur, copper, iron, zinc and potassium. There is also oleic acid which is a heart-healthy essential monounsaturated fat, fiber and vitamins E, B2, B1, B5, B3 and B9.

Cacao beans have very high nutritional value and many nutrients that can offer multiple health benefits to us.

Some of these nutrients unfortunately get reduced or even destroyed when they undergo heating process and are combined with milk and sugar to make chocolate. Hence, eating raw, unprocessed cacao beans (ergo raw unprocessed cacao powder, or cacao nibs) offer the best nutritional value and health benefits of the cacao beans combined with the delicious taste of chocolate! There are many ways of using raw cacao powder in raw delicacies and one very practical and easy way is to make a smoothie containing raw cacao powder. (: If you like chocolate, you'll love that smoothie recipe! In addition to benefits of raw cacao there are plenty of nutrients in the berries, fruits and avocado as well and a protein powder is an easy way to add some protein as well into a smoothie!

Today for it's Monday and a new week I'll do some skincare! The next post will be about my today's skin treatment (: 

Now it's time for me to eat something and get ready for school!

~Have a nice week!~

♡-Tiina-♡

Meatballs!

Hi everyone!

Luckily our weather in Finland got a little better for the May Day celebration!
In Finland the last day April is a celebration day since the offices and shops are mostly closed on the first of May and most of the people of Finland celebrate the May Day (we call it Vappu) as the fete of the labor forces...And it's also sort of the celebration of the spring finally arriving to this damn cold northern country. :D
During the May Day celebration we spend time with the family, friends and the loved ones, unwind! Even perhaps take a little bit of sparkling wine or champagne as well. :)

Unfortunately the weather is still damn cold compared to what it should be at this time of the year usually. Maybe at some point of May we will finally have those beautiful light green new leaves on the trees everywhere, the green grass and the blossoming of everything!

To me that moment of the year is absolutely my favorite for it's just something magical when suddenly there is so much sunshine, it's light almost around the clock it's warm out there and everything awakens after the long cold dark and grey wintertime.

On Sunday I made us (me and my love) some meatballs, sweet potato wedges, a spicy salsa and a fresh and crunchy salad. All grain free, also dairy free actually and this portion is containing a good amount of nutrition!

Meatballs, sweet potato wedges, spicy salsa & crunchy salad

You'll need for 2-3 portions:

• low fat minced meat 400 g
• one onion
• two large eggs

• two sweet potatoes
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• white wine winegar

• one mild fresh chili/some conserved jalapeños
• a big clove of garlic
• fresh basil
• tomatoes/cherry tomatoes about 500 g
• about 100 g tomato puree 
• 1,5dl (0,75 cups) sweet chili sauce

• a few leaves of some crunchy salad
• about 100 g corn
• about 70 g kidney beans
• some scallion
• one stem of celery
• about 100 g cucumber

as spices for meatballs for example: mustard U like, honey, salt, black pepper, white pepper, paprika powder, chive and little chili powder.

Preparation (takes about 45-minutes)

1. Begin with the meatballs. Put the minced meat into a spacious bowl, break two eggs into it, dice the onion into small dices and toss it into the bowl. Put there about 3-tablespoons of mustard and 1,5 tablespoons of honey. Add the amounts you like the rest of the spices to bowl (it doesn't have to be exactly those spices, use what U like! That's just what I put there this time :)) Mix well and leave the meatball "dough" for a while 

2. Heat the oven to about 180 C's. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop 'em into wedges. Put the wedges into a bowl. Drop some olive oil into the bowl, a little white wine vinegar, some salt and pepper. Mix well and check the taste!

3. Now make the meatballs ready into the baking trey with high sides and put the sweet potato wedges sparsely into another baking tray. Put both into the oven!

4. The meatballs and the sweet potato wedges cook about 25-minutes n now U have time to make the salsa & the salad! Chop tomatoes or cherry tomatoes into small dices, until U have about 4 dl's (2 cups) of diced tomatoes. Place the dices into a bowl. Put into the same bowl the tomato puree, sweet chili sauce and chop the garlic clove n some fresh basil into the bowl. If you don't want this to be very hot, use the mild chili n mostly remove the seeds of it. If you like spicy and hot, chop a few conserved jalapeño pieces into the salsa, or leave the seeds mostly on to the chili, when U chop it into the salsa. Add a pinch of salt, mix well and check the taste! Add spices or alter the amount of components, if needed.

The salsa goes great with any meat or barbecued treats!
You can also replace the basil with fresh cilantro, or add some fresh paprika into the salsa

-Check if the meatballs are already cooked, when they have been in the oven for about 20-minutes! The meatballs will get dry, if they are overcooked. If the meatballs are already done take 'em out, but leave the sweet potatoes to the oven still for a while, when you prepare the salad. (If the meatballs are not yet done, or if the sweet potatoes and the meatballs seem ready, just turn off the oven n leave both there during making the salad!)

5. Chop about 4-leaves of some crunchy salad into a colander, chop the cucumber into dices, celery & scallion into thin slices and toss all into the colander. Rinse and trickle the salad. Put into a salad bowl. Defrost some corn in the colander under warm water (that won't take long and the corn stays juicy!). Add the corn and the beans into the salad.

~Everything is ready!~

ps. As always all the amounts are approximately, since my cooking works quite a lot based on experience and instinct so I rarely measure anything.  

Cooking rarely is an exact science! ;) 

I'm always doing my best to give as comprehensible and easy to follow instructions as possible, but if there is something U don't understand, can't figure out or want to know more, just ask me! (:

Now it's the bedtime for me!

~Good night to U, or what ever time it's for U~

♡-Tiina-♡