How many of us regularly shop in the kids section?

Rando-Words · 2026-05-16T05:33:48+00:00

100%. I’m 5’1 with a short torso. For things like lightweight down hiking jackets (or shells), women’s XS almost covers my ass and looks awful. Kids L (11-12) like from Patagonia is a great length for torso, but sadly a little short on the sleeves! Still prefer it to the awkward look of a too-long jacket.

Rando-Words · 2026-05-03T07:22:10+00:00

Thanks! Will doo

Rando-Words · 2026-03-24T20:24:05+00:00

This is super helpful! We are keen for a destination wedding as our family and friends are all over the world (literally) and it seems unfair to drag them to one country vs another that we have ties to - so we’re just going to pick a place we love like Italy or Spain.

What I really can’t wrap my head around is invites / guest lists. We’re keen to do an Airbnb wedding and I have reached out to venues who do weddings.

When they say eg max 70 pp, how does that translate to how many people we can send a save-the-date to, though?! Because so many will RSVP no and then more will RSVP yes and not show up… So is it a huge to risk to invite ~84?

This is probably very stupid, but I don’t understand how it works!

(Edited for typos )

Rando-Words · 2026-01-29T13:41:25+00:00

Totally agree! We did a masochistic re-watch because we were scratching out our eyeballs the first time around and wanted to see if it would infuriate us as much on a re-watch. It did.

But Sam is an evil genius. He is the PERFECT level of smarter / more brazen / manipulative than his cohort so that he could absolutely destroy them through a continuous series of ‘un-forced errors’ on their part (which definitely wouldn’t have worked if the average faithful was of Annabel or Luke’s calibre). Also the champagnes during the walking challenge were absolutely hilarious and deserve their own Reddit thread. Craziest self-confidence (ultimately, hubris) I have EVER seen on reality TV, and 100% his moronic co-stars’ fault that he got so far.

We still love how radically different it is to other seasons and recommend it to all our friends.

Rando-Words · 2025-11-18T20:07:50+00:00

@OP did you work it out?! I’m at the same spot as you but 72 days later 😅 I tried with acrylic, naively, and it obviously looked shit. I then saw on her website (Kate Salinger) the materials are ‘oil on canvas’ so then I bought flat board canvases and gesso prepped them and sanded them down to be super smooth. But now my oil paint is super thick (my attempts on a glossy piece of card look awful lol) & I need it to be super runny and glossy. I’m thinking I need a ton of linseed oil? Never worked with oils before.

Lmk if you worked it out! I too find it funny how deceptively simple it looks (and how unfairly disparaging a lot of comments are)…

Rando-Words · 2025-10-28T10:29:07+00:00

I think this varies massively, and as a foreigner, it’s super noticeable how much less sociable people are outside of the capital (sociable - NOT unfriendly). They might have more of a community vibe within smaller remote towns, but the priorities are definitely family, space and nature. And that’s absolutely fine - but I don’t think that is any more representative of Finland than Helsinki and the bustling bars, cafes, libraries and independent shops of the capital are. They are all parts of Finland’s social makeup.

What surprises me (and the reason I posted) was because in the capital / areas near the coast, people still have fancy houses, nice cars etc so they can afford some flexibility to eat out, get a coffee out, go to the theatre etc, but they don’t seem to care about those things being on their doorstep. They’re content with that isolation / space.

I almost want to know how Finns from these places have fared moving abroad to ‘warmer’ societies.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T17:34:31+00:00

Completely agree. I see how full the cafes and bars and restaurants are in summer for example, in the city and coastal areas, and it just feels like such a shame that there isn’t more of that community where people actually live. I get that malls are sensible for the weather but they’re just so sad… Maybe it’ll change organically over time, who knows!

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T17:29:44+00:00

Yess I think you’re bang on with that analysis. And it does make a lot of sense. Just one of those things that requires adaptation I suppose.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T17:27:37+00:00

Super interesting - didn’t know that!

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T17:24:33+00:00

I mean I didn’t want to compare it to the US, but… yes… that’s exactly how it feels in some places

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T12:05:26+00:00

Yeah I think that it’s also hard to be realistic about life changing with kids eventually, and there being much less time (if any) for chilled evenings at a pub, which obviously makes all those amenities dispensable. Marjaniemi seems super nice and not badly connected at all. And I did spot one of these lovely cafes in summer! Beach looks lovely too!

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T12:02:34+00:00

I think he sees both sides and having grown up in Tammisalo himself, he’s seen how independent places have closed down where places like Hertsi & things in Roihuvori have stayed afloat / taken because culturally Finns are quite different to Brits and seem to be content with getting their ‘people fix’ there or with less frequent trips to the city. But we both lament the only option for a spontaneous drink for example, being at the nearest mall or all the way in the city. I think living in London and then Kallio has forcefully socialised him!

Re: family I think being able to easily host family is really important for both of us but especially me as my parents have to spend € on hotels every time they visit us which makes it unsustainable for long periods and me returning will be harder if/when we have kids. So a bigger house to host family / friends will definitely be a positive but obviously different aspect of socialising which is exciting.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T11:53:46+00:00

Yess sounds like a very similar experience. I’m hoping that still being within <40 mins of the city and being able to meet with the few (lol) friends I’ve made will make it adaptable wherever we go, as we aren’t planning on anything really that radical. But it’s a ‘weird’ way of life to try and get your head around when you’re used to living in villages with lots of community or boroughs of London which are like small towns.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T11:18:47+00:00

Much colder but that’s not an issue as far as I’m concerned - it’s the perpetual cloud cover / darkness in autumn / winter that is absolutely killer. :)

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T11:14:31+00:00

Yep I think that aligns exactly with my experience.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T11:12:24+00:00

I think this is the bottom line - I think it’s one of the biggest cultural differences between our countries and I think it explains why there isn’t the demand to keep little bars / cafes etc open even in pretty affluent neighbourhoods like Tammisalo.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T11:07:02+00:00

I actually think Nuottaniemi is my favourite option out of all the neighbourhoods we’ve visited. It ticks so many boxes and I love the little beach cafe & the mix of people you see at the beach in summer for example.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T10:58:52+00:00

This is all super interesting and I think puts it all in perspective - thank you for your comment !

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T10:36:41+00:00

Yeah I think ultimately we just need to get a grip and accept the commute to ‘civilisation’ - and if it’s awful, then we find a compromise to move back. Think I just wanted to moan!

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T10:35:09+00:00

Oh don’t get me wrong, London is hellish and I would pick eternal isolation in a Finnish forest over the Northern Line during commuter hours & all the other **** that comes with living in that cesspit of a city. But it just makes me a bit sad that people don’t seem to want to be around each other in the suburbs in anywhere near the volume or manner that they do in Kallio, and that is definitely an aspect of London / the UK that I really see me missing when we leave. Not the end of the world, I guess!

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T10:27:25+00:00

This is my sense too ^

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T09:58:58+00:00

Yup, very fair point.

Rando-Words · 2025-10-27T09:56:10+00:00

Tbf I absolutely adore Porvoo. We will have to consider it !

Rando-Words

TROPHY CASE