134. One last change...

Hey everybody!

Before you ask: I know. I am just as surprised as you are, that I returned to my ex - Google Blogger. While I would never do that with real humans, there are reasons behind my move back here.

My relationship with Squarespace is all but evaporated. I love that site still. In actual fact, my reason to get Symphonicats back to Blogger was so I could continue to use the site like it was meant to be. Because I've come face to face with the fact that only half of my blog's themes are forged to fit Squarespace.

Cats? Not that much, to be completely honest. 

Lifestyle? That's more like it!

And Blogger, that still holds a warm place in my heart, is the purr-fect platform for blogging about other than lifestyle. That being said, it's a real friend of felines, and other animals. It's no coincidence that you see horse and riding themed blogs almost solely on Blogger! For those that want more challenge, more open doors and windows to pursue their dreams as a professional blogger, this site proves to be quite the challenge. The Google network is great, yes - but that's about it, really. Nobody outside the world of G-Plus is aware of a blog's existence... or is taking it seriously.

As much as I love Blogger, my very first blogging platforms that I also returned to after burning bridges with Wordpress, I cannot follow my dream as a solemn blogger here. Not as easily as with something like Squarespace in my reach.

So I came to the conclusion, that I, Daphnya Kobain, whom you also know as Pella, would split my blog in half.

One blog will be about cats, mine or otherwise.
The other will be about the life of... me, the blogger. Raw Pella content sprouting with lifestyle, games, art, things that I love other than furry felines.

If I had enough money, I would've stayed with both blogs on Squarespace. Money, and if I hadn't had built roots so deep with Blogger ever since I was a mere adolescent. It pains me to see the cat life separate from my own, but that was the one among the many grave decisions I had to do for the sake of my blog.

Why would I do that?

Because I care. I care so much for Symphonicats, and I care so much about You, the readers. And I respect myself these days so much that I care about how I feel about this blog. It gets messy and even stressful to always remember to include cat stuff, more so when the life in the cat house hasn't been interesting or remarkable at all. All those times when cat content has been left out or short, I feel guilty, stressed, disappointed, like I would've let you all down. Which is preposterous, really.

Everybody say this is my blog, my own little treasure and I can write here whatever I feel like. Cats or not. But it's still difficult for me to swallow the blog post with little to no cats between the paragraphs. Hence the split.

And even though I'll be working all my (wannabe-)pro things in my new blog, I haven't forgotten about this one. I will value Symphonicats as my little baby. My first, longest blog, that is super dear to me still. I will photograph cats whenever I feel like it, not feeling a routine here any longer, but working more freely with the cat content. I will be keeping Symphonicats on Instagram, so people that are there can still enjoy occasional cat photos, just like on the blog. Perhaps not as consistently, but enjoy it still.

My new blog that is going to be about the life of Pella is known as Pearls of Pella, which you can access here! 

And that is the one last change. Moving back to Blogger with Symphonicats, so that I can begin the blogging journey with Pearls of Pella. I stayed with Squarespace with half a heart, as my other half still belongs here. I'm not exactly divided between two halves; I am balancing them to suit my needs, my needs to entertain. To bring content unique to Symphonicats, and to Pearls of Pella.

I did it for You, my readers. I did it all with you in my mind. Otherwise I wouldn't be here writing this and planning to post things here already. ☺

There is still some work on the layout to be done here, but otherwise, I'm already prepared for not only the challenges two blogs are giving me, but also enjoying the heck out of it. It's like raising twin babies, in a way - you just can't love one without loving the other. Or, that's what I believe.

Alright, Pella will now go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day of work and excitement, surprises and delight. Especially when there are two blogs to care about!

Take care, you're all so very lovely! I'll see you soon!

Bye! ☺

PS. Did you notice the new posts I put here, those ending with "SS"? They're actually manually/free-handedly migrated from Squarespace as going via Wordpress was too much of a struggle. Not that copy-pasting it all here wasn't, LOL! (But I still enjoyed every bit of it. Trust me, it was well worth it ☺)

133. A not-so innocent kitty, after all! SS

Hiya!

Welcome back here! I hope you're all doing super! I had a day off today, hence a post coming so quickly after the previous one. It has been such a lovely day!

I killed two birds with one stone (brutal) and went for lunch with Mum in Tikkuri shopping centre, just to get a real meal, but also decided to dive into the closing sale of Tikkuri's Aleksi 13! For those who don't know, Aleksi 13 is a semi-high-end shop for women (despite the male name) where you go to if you aren't into pricey fashion, but still want something out of the ordinary. I've been there super rarely before, but this time, as all items were 30-70 percent off, I wanted to have a peek and see if they had anything that suited me.

And after a while of going between surveying clothes that were way too adult-y for me and gasping at the prices of the nicest of shoes, I found these:

These shoes are what I realise are that something in longing for something without being able to put a finger on it, without knowing what it actually was. I think these fit anywhere, but I especially cannot wait to wear them with boy-ish clothes, like my H&M shirt from the men's side of the store (shh!). From the brand O.i.s, these add a lot to a real bit more active, outdoor season of spring! ☺

Here's my outfit of the day, by the way! I wanted to actually look presentable by making an effort in looking nice in nice clothes:

And because I had so much time, I did my makeup thoroughly as well. This is my go-to spring makeup look, if I have the time in the mornings, that is. (If not, I just go for mascara and lipstick.)

The eyeshadow that actually isn't that visible is from Urban Decay's Naked 1 palette;

the liner is from both Maybelline's black eye pencil (to map out the wing, since I otherwise am miserable at winged eyeliner) and Lumene's Mystic liquid liner (to actually make the wing);

on the top lashes I've got Lumene's Nordic Noir Deep Impact Mascara and Maybelline's Great Lash on the bottom;

and some Bobbi Brown lipstick in Italian Rose.

I also got to play with my camera day, as a matter of fact! I was sitting on the sofa in the morning and saw a playful little tortoiseshell kitten named Emi, and decided to get in the game. The simple game turned out to be wilder than I ever would've thought, as she took my hand in hers and started biting and playing with them uncontrollably! Occasionally there were some licks on my ruptured hands, but mostly I was left with scratches and a new vision of our kind little kitty. I made a video of what happened, with some ferocious music to it (my current favourite kind of ferocious music) so you won't think I'm up to some make-believe!



However, when I got home, I saw the rampaging kitten sleeping with her big brother in my parents' bedroom like anything fierce had never happened...

My little sleepyhead! ♥

Now I'm feeling the energies of today fading into the state of memories, and tiredness is starting to take over my body. I guess it's time to put the kettle on, prepare my hot chocolate and jump in bed with the book I have had so little time to read. Luck in the Shadows, I'm coming for you babe!

Goodnight! Have a good one!

See you!

132. Cheers and snowflakes from Estonia! SS

Hello!

It's time to sit down and tell you about the trip to my homeland's southern cousin. You know how I love to travel, don't you? It might not show on every post or every month, but outside the keyboard-tapping and picture-snapping I actually spend almost all my time after school catching the bus, and I can go for hours travelling to a place and back again without it bothering me one bit. Every time my parents are off to somewhere by car, I have this grown habit to ask if I can join them. I love my time on planes and trains alike, yet I rarely have the chance to stop for a moment and think, why is it this way? Why do I like travelling so much, it's almost becoming a part of me?

And now that I can finally hold on and tell you about my trip to beautiful Estonia, I start to reflect and realise this more than ever before. I believe it's not becoming a part of me; it already is. Nobody would know, but I'm actually a very curious person at heart. The people from my past would never have even thought about it, but I imagine adventures that self-assurance allows me to walk through fully - and nowadays, when I blog and stroll and speak with ever-growing confidence, I take action and actually research these things I think about more. In one way or the other; I either open up the trustworthy (?) 'Net or, the more fun thing to do, I go out and explore. I discover and I make memories through and from the smallest things. I do what I can best, I wonder, I wonder to wander and wander to wonder. I research in a hidden way: I travel.

Every place I go to is always different from the other places, and always a changed place when I visit it again. Remember my trips to England (2015 & 2016)? They were both made with six months between, yet they were both like being to the country for the first time, two whole unique trips. Which they, in fact, were. I experience every trip, be it by bus or car, plane or boat, as an adventure, a way to feed my curious mind. My eyes see the sunlight and my soul is filled with joy: truly, travelling is the best way for me to learn and relax at the same time. And often I am accompanied with a phone with Spotify or downloaded music alike, which amplifies the feelings even more. Let me say this: music + travelling = what keeps me alive.

Sometimes the music is not available. Sometimes just travelling does that, connecting myself with my true self. Just like the majority of my time in Estonia! How I love that small country, and how delighted I am in being able to share the story with you! ☺

Every tale of travel begins with how it all began, and that's exactly what I'm about to do. We were travelling from Wednesday morning to late Thursday evening, with 4 hours on board a boat in total - 2 hours each direction. My oldest younger brother stayed home to take care of the animals and the house (or maybe just so he could play computer games with our gamer cousin) and that's where the accident regarding an energy drink and my laptop happened. But I digress, he was not with us but we didn't let that bother us. The whole family were awoken early on Wednesday morning and the part of us that were travelling went on a taxi to Helsinki port where our boat would depart.

While the boys (my Dad and my two youngest brothers) decided to go for a Burger King round for lunch on the boat, Mum insisted we would try something more sophisticated and healthy. There were a lot to choose from, and we went for the nearest from our seats in the lobby. Before you ask, yes, I had my camera with me: it was just that I didn't realise to take a picture of my food like so many others do! I guess I'm still a newbie when it comes to common social media skills...

The boat itself was one of the newborn in the world. It was a boat of new design, with a super large shopping area that ranged from sweets to makeup, alcohol to clothes, and everything in between. I was highly interested in the beauty part of the area, because there they had makeup and cosmetics not found on land, and for the wallet-hugging part, it was less expensive! And from there I found this beauty: the perfect summertime perfume I could only dream of, Elizabeth Arden's scent in Green Tea Nectarine Blossom - and oh yes, it smells heavenly! ☺

I realised to dig into my bag for my camera when we all returned to our seats, and my brothers had bought us all our own Mini-Oreo jars, kind souls they are! The trip went by super fast, as I said it only took only 2 hours to get to Tallinn.

When we arrived we decided not to take a taxi but to walk to where we would stay at. The wind was blowing in our faces, cold from the ocean, but after about fifteen minutes or so, we got to the hotel. And it was no ordinary hotel, it was a spa and conference hotel, and the exact one where we had been before, in 2014! The wind by the sea was chilling, so we came to the conclusion that we all needed to bathe in the swimming pools after making ourselves at home in our rooms. The rooms were divided between boys and girls, so Mum and I had a whole room to ourselves, with a view to a pool we hadn't been able to try out when we had stayed at the same hotel earlier. The pool started inside with unbelievably warm water and continued outside, which was a nice twist considering it was mid-winter! I tried out the pool many times, climbing on the platform where it snowed and could feel the crisp, cold weather on my steaming skin. Another incredible experience!

Here are some pictures of our room, before I made a mess while unpacking my clutter!

(I have two things to say about this one: look at the artistic edit on Lightroom that I finally got, and also I want to make a public apology for the people in the picture, that make me feel like a tiny creepy paparazzi...)

The most precious cargo - my Lynn Flewelling baby along with a mini drawing kit with my current sketchbook ☺

We spent several hours splashing in the pool and trying out the oh-so-many saunas, my favourite being one where you could lie down and enjoy the heat. One thing I remember clearly of that sauna was that it was relaxing my muscles and melting the stress away, and the ceiling was filled with tiny lights as stars in a night's sky, and it was just so wonderful I had a hard time staying awake! The pools that I fancied the most were the hot tubs (there were not one, but two of those!) and the pool that was divided into a super warm interior and refreshingly and healthily cool pool, in other words the one that was partially outside and partially inside.

And the time in the pools went by even better: Mum bought me a non-alcoholic drink that made me feel most sophisticated and adult-y. Which sounds slightly on the crazier side, I mean, what pool is directly connected to a bar, with drinks, smoothies and milkshakes you can enjoy directly from the tub, in the tub? And you guessed right, it sure was a pleasant experience!

Our dinner plans were as simple an idea and as difficult to carry out as going to eat outside. It took a longer while to find a restaurant, and on top of it, there was a blizzard greeting us right when we stepped through the door. No matter, because I had my camera, and until we found a warm, cosy place to eat, I snapped pictures all the way there. And so the country showed me its warm, welcoming side: the feelings were as comfortable as every feeling associated with soul prosperity. To be honest, I was the one that minded the snowstorm the least, just for this reason. I've picked my favourite shots below, and if you wonder what I ate, it was hot smoked salmon with chips, a very delicious meal. Yum!

Oh, and hey look, I was for once properly dressed for the weather!

And when we came back, I got another non-alcoholic drink, this time from a bar on the ground floor of the hotel. I have a hard time remembering what it contained, but I'd say ginger ale and strawberries were part of the mix. It tasted as good as it appears on the pictures!

The next day we ate at a breakfast buffet at the hotel, before running to swimming in the pools again. After splashing for yet another several hours we decided to take a look around Tallinn, when it was not 10 p.m. and dark! Dad stayed somewhere to have a conference through Skype, so Mum and us kids went to have a look at Neitsitorn, a place we visited the last time we were in Tallinn. Name meaning "the maiden's tower", it was filled with a whole lot of medieval things and scary stairs.

We also ate there, us three, and this time I took a picture of my meal, which was duck pasta with red wine sauce. I would never have guessed how well red wine (and duck!?) goes with pasta, but I have to say, it was not the least disappointing a meal!

Dad found us outside the tower and took my brothers to have a look at sights elsewhere, while Mum insisted on going to Viru with me, a shopping centre we weren't able to even look at the last time we were there.

First we went to River Island, a store not found back in Finland, where I got two chokers (!!!) and a camouflage patterned jacket. The weather has been suitable now that the sun warms the land, and my jacket has been my go-to thing for the past days. It's quite edgy and masculine, but still has that hint of a feminine softness, and so it will fit anywhere with anything, in my non-professional wannabe-fashionable way:

I certainly need to improve my skills at body selfies...

And the chokers are something I wear almost every day!

I was completely blown away by the amount of cosmetics and makeup in just one place - one large, large place! Here are the things I got from that part of the shopping centre:

A palette not found even in the busiest makeup stores in Finland...

...and my first beauty sponge/blender!

Oh, and we also stopped by several souvenir shops earlier, where I bought the small, medieval and elegant mirror below. Truth be told, every shop had its own "specialisation" so there was something for every one of us, and this one was crying to me to be picked up!

Before we went back to the boat we all wanted to go somewhere to sit down. It was too early to go to the boat anyway, so we could enjoy our coffee (hot chocolate for my brothers) in all peace. You can tell from the soft look of the pictures it was a cosy, comfy little coffee shop we ended up at!

And on the boat we went to the same dinner location - after shopping some more cosmetics! At the same market where I had found my perfume I decided to buy the Kiehl's cleansing gel I had looked at before...

...a cleansing Konjak sponge I had never even heard of before but wanted to try out, and because it was suggested to me...

...and this box filled with hair conditioner. To spoil my hair!

It's been a few weeks since the trip, and I still value every moment of it. Estonia is much like Finland, yet so different. It feels like a trip and it feels like home, all at the same time. The print of the snowflakes didn't stay on my coat from across the Gulf of Finland, but the sensations, stories, laughter and memories are in my heart to stay - just like they are here, in my blog, for you!

April's just a few days away, and so is the exam week. I have a day off tomorrow, and I can't wait to do something fun that day! For April in general I feel there is a sense of spring and sunshine in the air, a renewing feeling of a fresh start. I'm going to absorb all that energy into writing as often as I can, sharing with you the life of Elsa, Bimbo and Emi, and keeping you updated with my own life as well.

After all, it's cats and lifestyle!

I'm so happy I could share this trip with you, I hope you enjoyed! And hopefully, the next post will be coming soon! (Swoon!)

I'll see you next time!

131. Sweet, sweet spring! (Long time no see!) SS

It's time to be joyful: spring is finally here! Time to dust and grab your leather jacket from the rack, leaving the winter coat there instead, and watch the world awaken!

This jacket was purchased a few years ago from Only - it still fits and is in superb condition! Picture taken on my phone and edited in VSCO Camera ☺

Hello everybody!

I've been away for a longer time than I ever had intended, because of a small tragedy in my life: My computer, my beloved, treasured laptop, got in a bath with an energy drink my brother had drunk, and got a brutal death sentence on that instance. It took a while to get a new one, but now I'm typing with what appears (as the vendors of Gigantti expressed it) a copy of the laptop I had before - only on the next level, with upgraded processors, and as a girl who loves games, I just couldn't be happier!

Don't worry, I will share you every bit of my trip to Estonia... Right after getting over the grief of losing every cat photo I ever had saved on my two former laptops. Yes, the energy drink was a vile one - it destroyed the computer and nothing was saved. All my father and I managed to do was to migrate my files where my much older computer (which last breathing day was on a July day in 2014, when my white HP took over for a couple of years) had saved them, meaning that any updates to my stories, the whole Symphonicats folder, and all the schoolwork, is gone. So are the cat pictures. Baby Emi cries.

But during these dark times an old friend has awakened from their hibernation. I'm talking about spring! The sun is definitely shining these days, and watching the snow melt every passing day a little bit more is one of the things I observe with interest. And my room gets its spring vibe, too! The new look does so good to my soul ☺ I have promised to myself that when my YouTube channel is up, I'll do a room tour just for you to see it!

Because of the reason I've been so inactive here, there will be a whole lot of content that I wish to share with you. But I've come to the conclusion that instead of writing all the bits and pieces in one post, I will separate the topics and try to get as much said over time. That being said, some posts are much more cat-oriented, and the clutter of the everyday life of Pella is going to be put in individual posts! I'm getting all organised this time, and I really wish I could accomplish this divided task. It would literally mean the world to me ☺

Let's begin!

So I actually spent Friday night with my grandmother, from my father's side, setting up this laptop for blogging (and gaming), drinking Kane's and eating croissants with lemon curd put inside while listening to stories my grandma told. I bought a handful of snacks and drinks, two of them being my traditional every Friday's Kane's soda (I bought two but left the other at home, for Saturday, the "sweets day").. I also bought this Starbucks travel-sized Caffe Latte, which I hardly believe was genuine judging by the look on the price tag. But it was tasty anyway! I have a few pictures of where I drank that coffee (aesthetic still life of moments before I started packing) and how I drank it (less aesthetic). I still need to set up Photoshop so I can start editing my photos again, but until then, these are all unedited and purely lens-filtered-without-an-actual-filter ☺

I also bought two bars of chocolate, one Geisha (my all-time favourite!) and one Fazerina (which I don't usually have, but because of the discount I chose to buy it as well - I was not disappointed!).

And when I figured out how to use a teakettle that dated back to the 90's, I could enjoy one of my current favourite teas as much as I liked - this one is Pukka's tea in the flavour Vanilla Chai! I have had it before at home - I in fact brought the whole package with me so I could enjoy some mild but delicious herb water - but a little rediscovering never hurt anybody ☺

My Friday evening went by installing different programs on my laptop, getting it ready for blogging again. Yesterday I continued to carry out those tasks, installing stuff such as Dropbox, some WoW servers, and the last bits of The Sims 3. My grandmother made us some coffee in the morning, just for the taste rather than the caffeine as I had woken up at 7:45, completely awake. The instant coffee she made was super mild, maybe because it originated from Brazil, and to make it even tastier, she added a secret ingredient. You'll never guess it - she poured a teeny tiny bit of juice concentrate there! But I have to say, it really was super tasty, believe it or not! A whole new buddy for my taste buds ☺

I am a huge fan of red lips so I was extremely delighted to rediscover my Rimmel London liquid "lip colour" from my makeup collection! It stayed on super well, even as I ate - so well in fact that it was a struggle to wash it off! This one had no label left so I have no idea which colour this is in, sorry!

In the posts coming up I will show you some incredibility, such as the immense beauty of a winter-time Estonia and a cuddly little Queen. I'll also try to do something with the design of this blog before that, to welcome spring into it!

Oh, and if you have noticed that every post ends with a song or musical piece, a symphonic metal song (from Within Temptation mostly), then I have news for you: this is going to change. It will change to all genres of any song that I have been listening to lately, be it soul, metal, instrumental or other. So you'll see a lot more variation in the ending songs because I really do listen to almost anything. Some might be from many, many posts back, but I still wish to share my love for music and those songs with You, my readers. Hope you enjoy!

Have a happy Sunday, I'll see you soon!

130. Travelling again! + Small post-surgery update SS

Heya!

This post is going to be of the short type, as I have a very busy evening ahead after a super hectic morning. I hope I won't need to write these small updates often, as I'd like to focus on the main content and head theme of this blog (as tumbled as they are...). But today I just needed to have you all aware that after this bizarre day, I'm going to travel with my family again, for two days.

To Tallinn, Estonia!

I haven't been to inland Estonia more than once, and that one time was during summer 2014. I fell in love with the Old Town (as it was the only place we explored), it was so supremely beautiful! The food was amazing, and the sunlit, golden streets and the friendly people made it to my dearest memories, along with a can of free Coca Cola where I put my Neitsitorn stickers, and some souvenirs I still want to add to my room! Now we're going back, to the same spa hotel as back then, and hopefully silly things of the funny type will happen, just as back then!

There is only one thing concerning my ability to travel. I went to the doctor today, to show her my infection that is supposed to have healed long ago. Turns out, it still festers and recently it was super painful, so painful that I couldn't take a shower to wash the area. The doctor told me the surgery probably didn't go that well, in fact, it had gone all wrong.

They took a bacteria sample and sent it to the laboratories, while I was just in shock. I got a couple antibiotics to help the wound and the scar tissue to heal, but it looks like I'll need another surgery, as antibiotics are no miracle-doers for me. They just give me a terrible stomach ache, which is a hard price to pay if they don't even work. We'll have to see if the wound closes and the festering stops, but if not, I'll be having one more turn at Jorv hospital.

Nevertheless, I don't give negativity a chance but instead focus on the good sides of today - and the days to come! I'll of course be bringing me my Olympus SLR to snap some pictures with, to tell you a story through pictures from the beautiful city! Oh, and the items I bought are also going to do their part in telling how the trip went! ☺

I'll get back to planning and packing, and getting ready for the gym my Mum and I are hitting in the evening. But first, coffee! ☺

Talk to you later! Take care lovelies! ♥

See you!

129. To make a winter day sunnier! SS

Hi!

It's the first 'official' day of the winter holidays of 2017! After so many things happening, from my depression to Wanhat (which is on my list of posts to make!) I think I - like we all! - deserve a week to breathe and rest. My family's got plans, big and small, which fits perfectly to my return into blogging! I will try my best to keep you up to date, as I am to do now! ☺

I woke up quite early - 4 a.m. so to say... I went downstairs to play my beloved World of Warcraft with my beloved Bimbo that decided to accompany me on the sofa. I was wrapped in a wonderful blanket I got from Ikea about half a year ago, a blanket which Bimbo cannot resist. It was difficult to see him in the dark, but the loud purring he let out told me the essentials, that he was a happy kitty! ☺

After falling asleep for a while and waking up again, I felt that this day was going to be amazing. Even though I slipped on the ice outside while taking Ella for her morning walk, I had a feeling this day would be the great start of a great winter holiday. Today I went to see La La Land with my cousin Aukku to Helsinki, a movie I know only from the commercials that show on the TV. I haven't been watching romantic comedies in ages, let alone musicals, but this was a wonderful surprise! I really enjoyed the movie, it made my heart bounce in the rate of dreams and hopes the story told about! The only thing I thought was against my heart was that it should've ended where the happy bit ended too! Otherwise, if you don't mind the length of a movie being of the longer side, then I recommend it warmly!

Later we went to Kamppi, and on our way out of the cinemas I decided to take a few pictures of the city around. I have developed this habit to take photos of my surroundings (or even selfies) when a day has been good, and today was that day! So here is a few photos of the ordinary Helsinki weather around 6 o'clock!

I also wanted to try out the Jungle Juice Bar for the first time ever, a super spontaneous but good decision! My pick for my first drink was one called Strawberry Fields, which contained strawberries, apples and oranges, and I definitely want to taste out the rest of the list - especially, now that I'm on my way to get healthy, I want to give their super smoothies a try!

Tomorrow is a nice, new day, full of things to do. Although those things are all regarding health, I look forward to the day regardless! I wish to wake up early to get my blood elf on WoW into the high-level areas I've wanted to go to for a long time - early in the morning with a cup of steaming hot coffee!

I'll see you all soon!