Walk Through Tallinn

Isn't it funny, how there are some places on this very planet, where you can return over and over again, and never get bored? Tallinn, for me, is one of those places. Recently, I held on to one summer tradition of my mom and I by traveling over the Gulf of Finland to Tallinn. Me, my mom and my best friend Vilma hopped on board to a cruiser and traveled to a destination which for me and my mom was very familiar, but for Vilma totally new. That's what I love about this city. It doesn't really matter whether you've been there hundred times or you're just seeing it for the first time, you can still enjoy the trip equally much on both times. 

On this post I'm doing the basic city introduction through some pictures I've taken. If you'd like to get a little closer look, don't forget to visit my Youtube-channel (Isabella Marianne) to find a little Tallinn video post. 

Oh, these french fries... Trust me, I've tasted many and these go straight to the top. It felt appropriate for me to also taste what kind of fish they have on board, we were on a ship after all. And it definitely satisfied my fish obsession. 

The funniest little thing happened! We were just casually chatting on the deck when a cute little ladybug landed on Vilma's shoulder. What a charming coincidence!

Now, the city itself was so covered with flowers, it felt more summery than summer itself. I could just feel the vacation vibes all over my body and mind. Especially when I had Vilma with me, who happened to look like a real summer queen with her high-wasted shorts and cute hat.

Those buildings and alleys... I could have wandered there all day long. 

It was like traveling back in time, to the Medieval Ages. There was literally knights, maidens and even a horse carriage! 

We came across this incredible boulevard full of flower boutiques. It was like finding the other end of the rainbow, the treasure everyone has been searching for since they were five years old. It can't even be described.

Then, it was time for shopping. Again, we could have spent the entire day in this shopping center. In a way it was a good thing we only had less than two hours, because if we would have had more, we probably would have returned home very poor. 

Okay, so the ice cream. I didn't get to taste the ice cream my mom and Vilma chose, but I didn't mind. See, I had already found my own little paradise. One thing you should most certainly know about me: I am having a very deep and meaningful long-distance relationship with frozen yogurt. It's extremely heartbreaking for me, because they don't sell fro-yo in Finland. Or maybe they do, but in very very few places. And that's why, every time I get to visit Tallinn, I need to fill my huge fro-yo need with a cup of the good stuff. This time, my mind blew away when the nice lady at the fro-yo shop said they have a WATERMELON flavor. (Watermelon being another one of my passionate lovers.) So, here's what I stuffed my face with: natural and watermelon flavored fro-yo with fresh strawberries and coconut shreds. It felt like someone had turned me into a fro-yo serving and this was it.

I did also hear a lot of positive comments about the ice cream the others was eating, so even if you weren't into ice cream, no worries, they've got to-die-for ice cream as well. 

Getting very zen at the deck. I'm not kidding, I actually felt more free than ever, having to do with all the beautiful sea surrounding me. Sea, for me, is the key to peace and freedom, and that is why it meant more anything for me, to just stand up there, breath in the sea air and listen to the sound of the waves.

xoxo

Isabella ♡

Summer brunch in the rain

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer so far. I actually got out of school only few days ago, meaning I still face a lot of those moments when I think: "I should really do some school stuff... But wait, I don't have any school stuff! Hurray!"
So, yeah. I get a lot of these so called "waves" of relieve and each one gets me a little bit closer to understanding the fact that it is, in fact, summer.

Last Sunday me and one of my favorite persons in the whole wide world decided to celebrate the beginning of our summer vacay by setting up a little cozy brunch. We sat on the balcony for a long time just eating and talking. 

Our favorite combo was born when my friend asked me to close my eyes and open my mouth. She surprised with a strawberry, dipped into Nutella. I know right?! Friendship goals AND food goals. Eventually we ended up adding Nutella everywhere and started to do these crazy combinations of Nutella, yogurt, peanut butter, coconut shreds, cinnamon and berries. It got a little crazy, I admit, but the combos were so good that I don't even feel sorry, nor should I.

Maybe the most exciting and magical moment of our little brunch was when it - totally out of the blue - started to rain. It was the most amazing moment. Us two, sitting at my balcony, eating Nutella strawberries and looking at the rain. Coming from the rain watering all the plants many meters below us, the most incredibly fresh sent scattered all over.

So, that was our way of starting summer. I would love to know what you did on your first day of summer. Comment below this post and lemme know! We ended up spending the rest of the day watching our new fave Netflix-program, Scream. It was exactly the relaxation I needed after a long, hectic spring.

xoxo

Isabella

Amazing eggplant pizza!

Happy First of June everyone! This spring was filled with ups and downs, as me and my best friend realized yesterday while saying goodbye to May and stuffing our mouths with illegally delicious ice cream. When I was waiting for my bus to get home, I started to wonder what I would eat when I eventually arrived home. I made a little list in my head of all the things we had in our refrigerator and as it happens, one of those things was eggplant.
I started to wonder. What could I do with a half of an eggplant? Miniature, but very much to-die-for vegetarian pizzas? Um, yes please!
So, I started to google ideas and recipes and came up with this mouth-watering eggplant pizza recipe. It is ridiculously easy, quick and very customizable!

You will need...

• eggplant (you can choose the amount of eggplant according to how many people you are serving, but for instance, I only used a half of an eggplant to make 8 small pizzas)
• oil and spices
• tomato puree
• topping of your choice (I went with cherry tomatoes, paprika and grated cheese)

First things first, preheat your oven to 200 C (about 390 F). We are getting started by chopping our eggplant in to slices (about 1cm) and laying them on to a lined baking tray. You can either chop them into circular shapes by cutting horizontally from the center, or you can make bigger pizzas and cut from the tip to the stem, vertically. Your choice! Next we are spreading some olive oil and spices (as basic as salt and pepper) and putting them into the oven for about 10-15 minutes. 



After softening our eggplant slices in the oven, we are allowed to get very creative. Imagine your favorite pizza toppings and add them here! I went with basics and added cherry tomatoes, paprika and grated cheese and finished everything with some dried basil on top (though I added the basil after taking them from the oven). But seriously, if you feel like this is too simple for you, feel free to try cool flavor combinations. It is your pizza after all!
Last but not least, let's bake our mini pizzas in the oven for five more minutes. And guess what? We are done!

And there you go, perfect mini eggplant pizzas. They are so much healthier and lighter than flour based pizza and just as delicious (if even better). Give it a go, invite your friends over and have a wonderful night with incredible food and absolutely no shame or bad conscience. It doesn't get better than this. For my opinion, a perfect way to start summer.

xoxo

Isabella

7 days, 7 breakfasts

Oh, mornings... My favorite part of the day. Why? Well, let me tell you.
Every morning when we wake up, it's like a new chance. What happened yesterday doesn't count, it is a new day, a fresh start. The sun is slowly rising and the city is little by little waking up. The soft sleepiness fills the air and we feel energized after a good night sleep (obviously depending on did we actually get the good night sleep or did it go just a little too late last night...). Everything is new and exciting, and no one can know what will happen today. It feels like a beginning of a brand new adventure.
But for my opinion, the best thing about mornings is the breakfast. See, I'm one of those people who never misses the first meal of the day. I just love putting effort to my early snacks, because I know that they're doing a good cause. Eating a good, nutritious breakfast will help you stay energized and on a good mood throughout the day.

Today I'm sharing some lovely breakfast ideas for each day of the week. All of these treats are extremely customizable, so feel free to have fun with these and throw in what ever you like!


Monday: start the week right

This breakfast has everything and it's filled with vitamins. A blueberry-raspberry smoothie and toasted veggie bread, topped with avocado, dried cowberries and a dash of black pepper. A perfect energy boost for the entire week!


Tuesday: fruits & berries to keep you going

This breakfast, again, is a mixture of many things. Turkish yogurt topped with frozen blueberries, plum and this adorable mini banana! As I said in the beginning, all of these ideas are super customizable, so if you don't like what you see, take the liberty to switch these fruits and berries into the ones you like! Turkish yogurt is very natural, so it goes with absolutely everything. 


Wednesday (remember to wear pink): food in a flash



As the week keeps going further, we get more and more tired (at least I do). In the earliest morning, you may not have the energy or time to start creating something very special and complicated for breakfast, and that's why I decided to add the good old homemade granola into the stew. Some unseasoned yogurt and granola on top. Recipe for the granola can be found here: http://isabellamarianne.blogspot.fi/2016/04/the-granola-to-die-for.html


Thursday: something fresh for today

Not much more to go! When the weekend is getting closer and closer, we all could use a fresh burst from the nature, to give us energy and inspiration to deal with couple more days. Keyword: fruit salad! Put together all the fruits that you love and enjoy! Today, I went with pink grapefruit, apple, banana and plum.

Friday (more like Friyay!): getting ready for the weekend

Friday is the last day of hard work and the first day of fun. So, celebrate by putting a little more effort into your breakfast. Toast topped with peanut butter and banana slices, Turkish yogurt (I know, I'm obsessed) with plum cubes and last but not least, orange juice. Very filling, very delicious.


Saturday: something simple, something chill

We all have plans for Saturday and nobody want's to spend the whole day in the breakfast table. So, I prepared something quick, but very very good: mango flavored Turkish yogurt (Okay, I'll consider rehab), blueberries topped with cinnamon and granola topped with shredded coconut. For my drink, I chose something that could rinse off all the stress from the week: stress-releaving green tea. Yums!

Sunday: the perfect brunch

Sunday. The day for resting, chilling with the people you love and eating well. The perfect

way to start the day is a long brunch with your friends or family (or both!). My fave is definitely pancakes or waffles and obviously, endless amount of topping choices. Here I have two versions of the classic waffles: the healthy and the not so healthy. Both to die for and super delish! 

So, those were some of the things I like to stuff my face with in the mornings. Although it's good to remember that there is still soooo many wonderful breakfast ideas out there from omelettes to smoothie bowls, that I didn't include to this post.

If you liked the overall breakfast/morning theme, give this post a thumbsie upsies so I'll be sure to make more of these. Also, comment your favorite breakfast down below!

xoxo

Isabella

A day in Stockholm (Throwback)

Today I'm taking you back in time, to January, when me and my best friend spent a day in Stockholm. It was a cold day, but the sun lit our way for the entire time. If you'd like to see a little collage video that I did on my Youtube-channel about this trip, I will link it to the end of the post.

First stop: Old Town aka Gamla Stan

If you're ever planning to visit Stockholm, do not miss this! The Old Town is filled with small alleys, cute cafes and beautiful old buildings, which take your breath away. There is a certain feeling in this kind of place, something you can't quite explain. Calmness and coziness. Something you just need to experience yourself to fully understand.

We wandered and wandered on the little streets, bought postcards and took endless amount of pictures. What I love about Stockholm is that everything is near to each other. We never really planned where we were going, we just found everything by accident. That's what made it so exciting. A new, strange city, enough time and a love for adventure.

Next stop: Stockholm Center

Me, the ultimate Christmas lover, couldn't feel more happy about the still remaining holiday decorations which hanged right above the shopping boulevards. 

Yeah, this candy store actually exists. 

Can we just take a moment to appreciate and marvel the incredible architecture that lies within this city. I mean, I could have watched those buildings for the rest of the day.

Okay, so one of our biggest missions was to find the perfect coffee house, for enjoying a cup of hot cocoa. It was harder then we thought. And not because there wouldn't have been enough cafes in this city, because I assure you, there was. But I guess we were just really determined to find the perfect place with the perfect hot cocoa, that we got a little demanding. Eventually, we did find the perfect place with the perfect hot cocoa. This one.

I've always had a weird passion for whipped cream. So, when I go to cafes, I always expect to have the best whipped cream in town, or nothing. And this cafe served that first one.
If you ever travel to any big city, make sure to have a breathing break. Whether you're in a huge, pompous city like New York, or in a bit smaller one, like Stockholm, it's never a bad idea to just rest your feet and chill before you go on. Visiting this mall, called Galleri, was that break for us. And it was surely needed.

We spent the rest of the day shopping. Neither of us felt like going crazy with clothes or waste a lot of time in line to the register, so instead, we just enjoyed everything else and left the shopping to the minimal. Obviously we did visit some stores and do some good finds, but we realized from the beginning that spending money wasn't why we came here. So, after buying our souvenirs and something nice for ourselves too, we decided to end the day there.

Visiting this city was one of my best experiences from 2016 (so far) and I recommend it to all of y'all. Cities like this have loads to offer and you can get so much out of them even with a limited time. 

My favorite thing about Stockholm was the fact that you never knew what you would find behind each corner. Every street was a new experience, every building had a story to tell and even the people in this city, had warm and kind hearts. And what I loved the most, were the moments when we got lost. See, when you are lost, you never know what to find.

See my Stockholm video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdZEqhO5dXY

xoxo
Isabella 🌼