5 things...

I've been working from home for over 3 months now. I had an office setup already in place for working my freelance jobs so the transition was fairly easy. I have developed a new daily routine that keeps me focused on my work as well as allowing me to have regular breaks and take time for myself. Here's how a typical weekday for me looks... 6.45am: Wake up. Shortly before lockdown started, we got a black Labrador from Finland called Vauhti. We traveled to London to collect him from Heathrow having our original plan to collect him by boat/car. He usually wakes us up at 6.45am every day, tail wagging, waiting for his walk. I sometimes take him to a nearby park where he can have a good run and it gives us a chance to get some exercise and enjoy nature. My favourite route is to go to a local reservoir which is more secluded and I get to walk along a river. I've never been particularly outdoorsy, but since we got Vauhti, I spent much of my day outside and have grown to love it. L...

Last year I enrolled to the Manchester Suomi school and started to learn Finnish twice a month. The class was mainly filed with English people with Finnish partners. I'd picked up one or two phrases from my partner and his family but still struggled with the language. I decided to try a new way of learning. Using post-it notes and a sharpie, I decided to label everyday household items to try and learn a few words around the house. So far, so good. I'm getting there and starting to remember words. I'm going to change the words every few weeks and try and expand my Finnish as much as possible. We're heading over to Helsinki in a week's time so hopefully I'll get to practice some of the words and phrases I've learnt.

On my last trip to Stockholm this summer I bought myself a Design Letters note pad with a big 'R' on the cover. Made by Danish design company, Design Letters, they have captured the Scandinavian design style with monochrome bold letters but have added in a sense of fun. https://designletters.dk