Dec 1st so time to set up the Christmas tree

i was in helsinki for some work stuff and xmas parties and enjoyed myself. then i come home and the washing machine is breaking on me, making really loud weird sounds. not the first time. also occasionally it stops with an error code thats useless. it always recovers and life continues but with the dryer also not working properly (it was fixed once and the engineer said they are not really worth fixing several times and correctly estimated that it will happen again) i decided i'll put black friday offers to good use and get a new one. this washing machine has served us exactly 5 years. its unfortunate theyre not built to last and that fixing it turns eventually more expensive. i realise one of the causes for poor life expectancy is that its a washer dryer combo, theyre apparently notoriously crap - but we just dont have the space for both. and i have really wanted a bloody dryer all of my life so i had to have this when we finally got our own home 5 years ago.

at the company christmas party there were 2 activity options; bowling or sound bowl relaxation. which i think is also commonly referred to as 'sound bowl therapy', which i would say is inaccurate - it has no healing properties. however chilling down in the dark listening to relaxing sounds IS relaxing. i enjoyed it.

in helsinki i went to see vagina monologues at the local theatre in kallio with Elina. Elina because she is a theatre professional by trade. i feel a bit more cultured now. she had bought Alepa's Kallio socks for me and doctor as a gift - super thoughtful;  

 

before helsinki i made makaroonilaatikko as Ada visited me. i used real mince meat instead of the vegan replacement, didn't want to risk it. was super good even if i say so myself.

christmas party nails.

 

this talk by Esther Perel and Dan Savage is great - i really like both of them in general.

listening to some oldies goldies;
cat stevens/yusuf: morning has broken
bruce springsteen: the river
leevi & the leavings: jos helsinki on kaunis