The Home Stretch: Tallinn + Helsinki

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Streets of Tallin
The last three days of our trip were spent in Tallinn and Helsinki.  Originally we have planned to spend two days in Tallinn and two days in Helsinki.  However, that did not happen and I’m kind of glad (we decided to spend an extra day in Riga).

Buildings of Tallinn

First of all, I must say – shopping in Tallinn is so cheap!  A complete night and day price wise from Helsinki.  Helsinki was extremely expensive..but why? My guesses people get paid more there?  If you  know the answer to this, please be kind and enlighten me and others who might be reading this.  Another weird observation from Helsinki is that the stores are kind of boring? I don’t mean the mall, the mall was fun… I meant the grocery type stores.  There was nothing unique… Like in Stockholm, Paris, Riga, and Tallinn we found all kind of candy and little knick knacks particular to that country/city.  Also, the stores in Helsinki seemed modest– the magazine stand had nothing that a child could not see (no Cosmopolitan type magazines).  Interesting! I liked that!

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RIGA, MY HOMETOWN

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IMG_3964
Back in 2005, when I was 15, I moved from Riga to United States. I was able to go back to visit when I was 19 and last August, ten years after initially leaving Riga, I had an amazing opportunity to visit again… this time with a companion- my husband! I cannot express enough how meaningful it was for me to be able to show him where I grew up, where I went to school, my favorite yummies that I am unable to get here in United States… I was able to share with him my home…home, I miss everyday.  Now every time I say,- “oh in Riga…” he knows exactly what I mean.  So here is a little “recap” of our time in Riga, Latvia so you can get a glimpse of what home was for me.

We flew into Riga at 11 pm and were fortunate enough to be picked up from the airport by my friend’s aunt (Mila).  When we arrived at my friend’s (Noeminj) house, we were sweetly welcomed by her family, and spent another hour catching up and drinking hot tea with cookies and such.  

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Paris, Mon Amor…

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Paris Day 1
After the two day trip to Stockholm (and all the crazy adventures of it), Frederick and I were on a plane to PARIS!  I was so excited to finally be able to go to the city of my dreams!! Out of all the places I have been, I can honestly say that Paris is my favorite.  It just has so much charm– cute little shops, BAKERIES, cafés, breathtaking architecture… I suddenly wished that I could live here… speak French, get espressos, and chat away my day wearing nothing but black.  

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Venice of the North: Stockholm

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FullSizeRender 34
The day after our wedding, Frederick and I were on our way to start the best trip of our lives- the HONEYMOON! Through out two weeks, we visited Stockholm, Paris, Riga, Tallinn, and Helsinki! Did I mention that we only brought our backpacks? Not those huge backpacking ones, but the ones you could manage to take as a personal item (carry ons between European countries cost a fortune– in some instances more than the ticket itself).

After 16 hours, we were in a beautiful city of Stockholm. 

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Adventures of Gross Reservoir

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GrossReservoir
A few weeks ago at work, one of my coworkers and I were talking about hikes close to Boulder, CO.  She mentioned a couple but the one that intrigued me the most was the Gross Reservoir.  So weeks later (after hiking the Flatirons and the Boulder Falls) it was time to check out the reservoir.

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50 Shades of Blonde

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50 Shades of Blonde
FRIDAY (a week ago) I was watching my favorite youtube channels (Evelina, IAMKARENO, Classisinternal, Mimi Ikonn, and Nikki DeRoest) and came across this awesome video about going blonde/pastel hair by IAMKARENO. Instantly, I was fired up with the idea of going blonde… and before I knew it – I was calling Zinke Knoebel Hair Studio to make an appointment. Now, when I have an idea – I want it now, I do not want to wait…  I requested my hair stylist and the time she was available was at 6 pm that day… I called at 9 am.  IT WAS THE LONGEST WAIT EVER! For the next 9 hours, I was bugging Frederick (my fiancé) with: “Should I do it?” and “Will it look good?”  This was a big step for me as my wedding is coming up soon and I did not want to end up with fried hair or even worse- no hair… haha I mean that might have been fun too… lol

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Apple Sharlotka

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Apple Sharlotka
Hi guys!! So these past few weeks have been insane!! I’m so excited to be finally done with this semester of Interior Design school!! I was taking a few studio classes and a couple of writing classes… whew- honestly the hardest semester that I had so far! However, hardest does not mean the least fun… it was like the best semester as well!! I have been able to gain knowledge in residential design and learn more about architectural perspectives…I will be posting another blog with all the work from this semester and will talk about what the project involved and etc. DID I MENTION THAT I MADE ALL A’s this semester? I do not know what it is, but since ever I met Frederick (my fiancé) I gained some sort of motivation of making all A’s and it has been great!! 

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Two souls, one heart

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The best thing ever happened to me a little over a year ago.

I met my soulmate, my other half, my best friend, my everything…

I often think about how my life completely turned around upon moving to Colorado last year. Like when I look back I just sit there in awe, probably with my jaw dropped and my eyes all in deep thought…But I’m serious life is a crazy thing and takes you to places where you have never thought you would be or expected it any time soon…

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