The orchid and the snow

I love orchids, and this one has been making me think about warm, tropical islands where orchids grow wild, while New York is waiting yet more snow, or an ice storm...

Pitfall of Fashion

Do you want to be known for your fashions or for your opinions? That is a very relevant question to ask, especially when it comes to public figures with lots of expectations, such as Michelle Obama. There has been lots of criticism that Mrs. Obama wore an Alexander McQueen gown to the recent state dinner, instead of opting to wear an American designer gown, such as an Oscar DeLaRenta (who's been complaining the most). I, as most everyone else, am a big fan of Michelle, and the style she has made famous. But as an intelligent, high profile woman you want to be known at least as much for your achievements and opinions, as for your fashions. In Michelle's case, the fashions are beginning to overshadow the opinions, and she is in the danger of becoming, at least in my mind, what is described in the financial industry as an "empty suit". Someone who looks the part, but doesn't offer much. I still have faith in her abilities and I hope that she will step up her efforts to discuss issues that are important to American families.

Just Can't Wait

for tomorrow that is.. There is an auction with a black Hermes Kelly bag on the block. Will it stay within my budget? Please keep your fingers crossed!

A Winter Treat

New York was hit by a blizzard (once again!) and I had some extra time to nurture my inner Martha Stewart... Tried a new recipe and it came out mmm-mmm-goood!

This pumpkin-banana sweet bread is yummy and so easy to make.

And here she is....

Our new precious!

So 2009 or still stylish?

While on maternity leave I hardly wore a watch, or if I did, it was a smaller size watch for ease and also for being careful not to scratch the baby with my watch or with any other jewellery for that matter. But now that I went back to work I started wearing my Michael Kors watch again. It feels so huge on my wrist and the question is, is it too big? I guess the style pendulum is swinging towards smaller everything, watches, bags, even jewellery although rings still seem to be pretty huge...

Love that Prada

Is anyone else seeing the "marimekkoishness" of the Prada spring collection? I love looking at these clothes, they are so vibrant, full of life and smell like summer. 

The 48 Laws of Power

I have been reading the 48 Laws of Power on my iPad as an e-book. Although I find the laws of power fascinating, the book is really weird in that it almost single-mindedly speaks of power as something that can only be attained unethically by cunning, lying, deceit and cheating. I absolutely do not believe in that mindset. I believe that you can obtain power by being nice, fair, smart, hard working, and by having a good self esteem, i.e. recognizing your value, and not letting others take advantage of you. You can use other people on your rise to the top as long as it is mutually beneficial.

On another note, I sure hope that the quality of this book is not indicative of e-books in general. It is full of typos and the text is chopped in strange places. Other than that, I have been enjoying reading on my iPad and am not missing the actual book paging experience that much. Will definitely continue reading on the iPad and saving trees.

Style Advice Books

Here' the deal: Ines de la Fressange is coming out with a new style book. I have read a few books in this genre (Rachel Zoe, Nina Garcia, Tim Gunn)  and have never been very much impressed. After thumbing them in the book store, I went to the library and ordered them from there, and was happy I did. None of the books made me want to own them. But I have very high expectations for Ines' book. And not only because her style is such classicly and beatifully French and Chic, but because I saw a sneak peak into the book at the DisneyRollerGirl blog and it shows the outfits on both Ines and her daugher Nine. Two takes on the same items, styled age appropriately, and so not matronly, my eternal fear and pet peeve when it comes to aging and fashion. Here, finally, may be a style advice book that I want to own. Can't wait to have it in a book store near me.

3D Came Home

What is it with men and technology? When anything new comes out they are like kids in a candy store, excited and happy. I guess it's a little bit like I feel when the a new Prada or Marc Jacobs collection comes out... Anyway, mu husband is hugely into technology and has to be the first to try new stuff. He has been talking about getting a 3D tv for a while now, and I have been trying to stall. I am not into 3D at all. I hate having to wear the glasses, and the whole concept of stuff leaping out of the screen just does not appeal to me. I am perfectly happy to keep my distance from whatever it is I am watching and not feel like I am "in there". Well, my stalling tactics were not all that successful, as there is now a 65 inch humongous monstrosity of a 3D tv sitting in our family room. It will move to the basement once the on-going basement renovation is finished, and we can set up a movie theater in there. I guess I am going to give the thing a benefit of a doubt until I can make up my mind after seeing a few 3D movies on it.

The Tiger Mother

There is a huge public debate raging in New York about parenting styles. A few days ago Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Why Asian Mothers are Superior", an excerpt of an upcoming book that chronicles the very extreme Chinese parenting style of an American born Chinese mother, Amy Chua, or the "tiger mother". She advocates a very strict style that has been a norm in high aspiration, high achievement Chinese families. She eschews play dates, sleep overs, creative hobbies such as participating in school plays, team sports, camps, basically anything, it seems, that makes childhood fun. She obviously does not believe that children can learn valuable lessons via play, or that they need any unstructured downtime. No video games, tv, or anything other than academic drilling and piano or violin lessons and endless practice. I happened to read the article and was flabbergasted, mostly because she is so sure that her style is, well, superior.

I guess there are as many parenting styles as there are parents. The good thing about the "tiger mother" debate is that it is making people think about parenting. Being a good parent is such a huge and complex responsibility that nobody can be perfect. Parenting is wrought with guilt, and sometimes regret, but mostly it is a rewarding and wonderful job. I believe in balancing demands with fun. I love seeing my kids learn while having fun, as they did yesterday when we visited the Long Island Children's Museum (which, by the way, is a fantastic place). Life is very stressful, even for kids, and I am a big believer in downtime and having unstructrured time. Some kids get bored in a minute, but not mine because they have learned to play. If a kid never has time to just be, they don't have time to learn to play creatively and use their mind and imagination to come up with activities, plays and games. Balance is the key, though. Some kids have nothing but time and end up in trouble, or never experience achievements that can only come when you conquer and learn something that was hard at the beginning. Of course a good parent has to also teach kids the value of hard work and not quitting immediately when the going gets tough, or something feels difficult. But if a kid is consistently not into some hobby, and clearly will not be very good at it, whatever it is, it is ok in my mind to move on and try something else.

However good it is to analyze your own parenting style and think about how you can improve as a parent, I hope this debate does not bring back the age old "mommy wars" between working and stay-at-home mothers. I am so sick of that discussion. It has been proven that there is no one perfect recipe for well adjusted, happy children who will lead rich and successful lives.

The Arc Lamp

After a short hiatus we are back in the interior decorating mode. The house is totally functioning, and looks fine, but definitely requires fine tuning here and there. We have played around with the furniture changing the order a few times. Looks like the sectional is now staying put here in the living room. The living room needs a few finishing touches, one of which is this arc lamp. I love the way it looks with the mirror table, and it is just perfectly retro and modern at the same time.

My Favorite Things..

To borrow a little from Oprah (or Mary Poppins as it may be), here are two of my new favorite things... My glasses, without which I could not survive, and I absolutely love. I got these Tiffany frames last fall (and they came in the cutest Tiffany blue box). Another new favorite thing is the stainless steel Aalto serving platter that was just the perfect pick for me from someone I did not even know all that well at the time. I know things are not supposed to make you happy, but I can't help myself..these things just do make me happy.

Snow Day

Yay! It is a snow day in Long Island today. The kids are happy that schools are closed and parents are happy they can work from home :-)   Everyone gets a little unexpected break and some time together. The outside world looks like a fairytale winter wonderland with icicles and all.

Protection and Proper Use of Assets

This week I was asked to read and sign my company's code of ethics. The long text contained the header "Protection and Proper Use of Assets" which made me think that we all should have a personal code of ethics and borrow this important thought to resolve to protect our mind and body from all the external garbage we encounter. Another worthwile heading: Respect for the Individual.

About Having it All

So, about having it all. Is it really possible? Given the extreme shortness of American maternity leaves, I went back to work a week ago on Monday. The first week was tough, but made easier by the fact that I am doing this for the third time now and know what to expect. Dealing with guilt, sadness, and at the same time feeling competent and fulfilled by my professional life and proud of my achievements. And I do have to say, work sometimes does feel like a vacation compared to staying home with three kids. Regardless of all that, I did cry last night at the thought of having to leave my precious little one home. It is not easy being a working mom and it is not easy (or even possible) to have it all...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Long Island!

This is the first ever real snowman the kids built all by themselves - isn't it great?

I am a sucker for new year's resolutions - so of course I made them again this year... I made the usual ones of losing weight (baby weight has got to go!), sleeping more, trying to find time to exercise, really being there for the kids and spending quality time with them and not just "being" there.

My style resolution is to care less about fashions, more about style and to keep honing in on my own personal style.

2011 will be a great year, we will reap the rewards of the work done in 2010. The best is yet to come!

All I want for Christmas is...

To quote Mariah Carey's sugary christmas song: All I want for Christmas is You...and to add my own twist to it: All I want for Christmas is You without the cell phone on your ear!

There are of course many benefits of owning your own business, as my husband does, and working from home a lot of the time, but there are also some annoying side effects, such as the constant ring of the cell phone.. Most days it starts at 8 am and ends at around 9 pm. It always rings for sure when he's sitting down to eat dinner, having a conversation with me, helping kids with their baths, homework, etc.

So far I have been getting what I want for Christmas.. My husband's phone has been off the whole weekend and it has been great! I am keeping my fingers crossed that it'll stay off the next two weeks!

Jet lag and freezing temperatures + the Christmas present

For some reason, even though I have made the journey a hundred times, the jet lag always comes as a shock when I travel to my native Finland from New York. This time there is also the weather to give you a little jolt - it is -20 Celsius outside!! I am not a stylish traveler, I always admire those who can travel looking beautifully put together and looking fresh. I look harried, nervous and tired...and want to be comfortable over style. I am always afraid that my flights will be late, canceled or that I have to spend a lot of time waiting at the airport. I wore my Uggs (and boy was I glad I did when I stepped out in Helsinki), my full length Michael Kors down coat (perfect pick that too), skinny jeans and a cashmere cardigan.

When traveling my biggest joy is watching people, studying their styles, comparing styles between countries.. I usually also spot someone famous, this time it was a Finnish ex president and international peace negotiator Martti Ahtisaari.

I am also finding my early Christmas gift is absolutely fabulous when traveling and it has garnered surprisingly much interest - the iPad, on which I am typing this blog entry. The iPad is so much more stylish than a laptop and so light to carry. I am turning out to be a big big fan!

Damn Strike

Finnair strike, that is! Finnair happens to be the only airline that flies directly from New York to Helsinki. Direct flights are absolutely essential when flying with an infant and a two year old - and because of the strike there are no direct flights to Helsinki now. I was supposed to fly with the smaller girls on Monday, then on Wednesday.. The strike has extended longer than anybody thought that it would, and there is no end in sight. In principle I am always sympathetic to the workers, in this case the Finnair stewardesses, and I am furious and mad as hell at the Finnair bosses for letting the strike continue so long. Finnair is bleeding money as the strike continues and the workers are not getting paid. Where is the sense of that??? Both sides are giving inflammatory comments to press, the stewardess union blaming Finnair of lying to the media and the bosses saying that they will fire everyone and outsource the whole crew. Not a good sign for a speedy solution. I will keep my fingers crossed anyway and hoping to fly via London on Thursday, regardless of the added inconvenience of the connection (I may need some major retail therapy once this nightmare is over...).

Culinary delights

Foodwise this has been a great week! Yesterday I had dinner at a legendary Wall Street eatery, Harry's at Hanover Square. Harry's Wednesday special is Beef Wellington, which has been served there every Wednesday for decades, and is phenomenal. Unfortunately I did not know this as we were ordering, so I ordered a Kobe beef burger (which was absolutely fabulous in it's own right). However, a couple Wall Street old timers ordered the Beef Wellington and I got to try it...and all I can say is WOW - I have never tasted beef that tender! This dish is definitely worth making the trip to Harry's again on a Wednesday!

Then today I had a chance to have lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Tribeca Grill. I am a fearless eater and love trying new foods. I love seafood and when I noticed an interesting dish on the menu I had to try: red Wine BraIsed Octopus Carpaccio with shaved heart of palm and jalopeno vinaigrette. It was lovely! The octopus was not chewy or tough or crunchy, but just melted in your mouth...perfection!

Thanksgiving and giving thanks

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and this year I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. I was with my favorite people who traveled from far away to be with us. My turkey was the best ever thanks to brining, and I finally fine tuned my stuffing recipe to perfection. This year I also have so much to be grateful for. It is scientifically proven that giving thanks makes you a happier person and who doesn't want to be happier? I decided to come up with at least three things every day that I will give thanks for before I go to sleep at night. They have to be specific things, attached to the current day or week somehow, not just overall things such as kids, family, health etc. These specific things will make you appreciate your life more and thus giving thanks will lead to more happiness. Today I am thankful for having spent time with my lovely cousin visiting from London, and I am thankful that even though she left today, I will see her again within a few weeks! I am also thankful that I found the perfect cashmere cardigan sweater from Saks Fifth Avenue - it is the perfect gray color with beautiful rhinestone and rosette adornment that makes it very festive and perfect for the holiday season.

Life with a new Baby II

Busy Busy Busy!! That's what life with a new baby is like, especially when you already have two kids.. My husband is a real hands on dad, I have an au pair to help, and I still have no time for me.. I don't know how those moms do it who don't have that help! Maybe they have family around, which I don't. I have not been able to blog at all, partly because of the baby and partly because of a health condition that has been making my life a bit difficult. But there is a time for everything and right now it is the time of the baby, the family, and being 100% mom.

The cutest sewing machine ever

Eight years ago on this day, we found out what unconditional love means when my first daughter was born. Today she is a little fashionista, very into clothes and making outfits. She has been asking for her own sewing machine for a while, and is very eager to learn to sew. I spent a lot of time looking for a sewing machine that would be kid-friendly, cute enough for a little girl, but not a toy so that she could actually learn to sew with it. I finally found the Hello Kitty sewing machine from Janome. It is smaller size, light to carry and adorable in minty green color, but it is a real sewing machine with all basic stitches. Our first learning project will be bedding for the American Girl doll bed. Easy enough with straight lines, and we can make really cute stuff with pop-out colors. I am almost as excited as my daughter. It has been way too long since I've had my hands on a sewing project - after all, I used to sew almost all my clothes myself when I was a teenager and dreamed of being a clothing designer... I can't wait to create something beautiful again!

Life with a New Baby

Life with a new baby is full of surprises. There is no routine - you follow the baby's needs and internal clock. Time seems to slow down, days and nights may blur and you are sleep deprived, shower deprived, food deprived, while your body is still recovering from the birthing experience and adjusting to nursing. The first few weeks are hard, and the only way you get through, is because you love that little amazing human being so much. You cannot stop smelling her beautiful baby scent, and looking at her tiny hands and feet. You get so happy when she looks you in the eyes and follows your movements when you change her. You could look at her for hours, and do.. Nothing this wonderful comes easy! 

Love at First Sight

On October 2nd I gave birth to the most beautiful little baby girl in the world. As with my other daughters, it was love at first sight! Babies are so precious and such a wonder to behold. The little one is healthy, and looked very mature even right after the birth as she came in five days after her due date and had that extra time to grow and develop. She has a full head of dark hair, and looked just like big sisters.. Many people joked that we are copying the genes from one daughter to the next. But I know better - she is her own little wonderful person and we are so lucky and blessed to have this child.

Baby Memories

My new baby hasn't been born yet, but as we are eagerly awaiting her, we have been looking at big sisters' baby memories. This is baby number two at five weeks...

Ispiration Board - Orchid

I am always inspired by flowers. This orchid from my living room is fabulous and has been in full bloom for a long time now. It lifts my spirit...

Yo baby! What's taking so long?

My due date came and went, and baby is still happily swimming in the uterus.. What old viwes tricks are out there to get the delivery going? I am starting to get a bit inpatient now, and so are the people around me...

More black and white style inspiration

As mentioned before, I am happy that black and white was so present at the spring 2011 shows. I will definitely adopt this trend. Here is some more black and white style inspiration.

Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta

Carolina Herrera

Richard Nicoll

Jason Wu

Michael Kors