Arla Sauna

After we introduced our Sunday opening hours Sunday Sauna at Arla quickly became a tradition of ours. There is no place I would rather be after a long week of work than at our next door neighbour public sauna Arla.

Arla has served and washed the people of Helsinki since the late 1920s and with the well-perserved deocr of the facilities all of your senses can experience the history of our city. The shower room and massive sauna stove are both rustic and beautiful as well as mildly creepy and, well historical, all at the same time. The ceiling of the sauna room is tainted black and all work-related thoughts vanish while you find different images, shapes and figures in the ceiling..

History aside, at the end of the day you always go home feeling cleaner, softer and more relaxed than you have since (in our case) the week before when we last visited :)

Arla is open wed-sunday, 14-21, Kaarlenkatu 15.

i made this

Tiina Palm's playful and colourful accessories have been added to our shop! Perched on our birdcage are several graceful bird earrings and necklaces from Tiina's I Made This Tender collection, which is described as follows;

"Tender jewelry is
pure handmade aesthetics
for gentle fingers and loving souls.
These delicate creatures with
a heart of metal
and exterior of feathers
need a little love & affection
so please treat them with
extra special care and respect
like you would treat a very dear friend."

Tiina has a blog full of inspiration, promoting all things positive (it really pulls you in.. in a good way! So much to discover) and several different collections under her I Made This label. You can see some great pictures of her Tender collection in this post, as well as some great pics of our cafe and the little birdies in this post! Visit; http://tiinapalm.com/

Shhh

psst. our little blog has been quiet lately...

but... it has not been quiet at the cafe.

and there is so much happening during the next few days and it was impossible to stay quiet here at the blog anylonger!

picture credits: Thomas Söderström

First let me tell you about something past... Ottilie. Ottilie, oh Ottilie! (time to stop the itlalics "whispering"!) What an amazing French duet! I could not believe my luck when they agreed to play at the café during their short stay in Finland. It was exhilarating to experience their talent in such an intimate space under candlelight. Do not forget their name, Ottilie, as they are now our official French houseband and I will let you know when they return to Finland early next year! Merci beaucoup! Ooh lala! Pupupidu!

picture credits Denis Vinokur

And next to the forth-coming... ! Kallio will be happening during the next few weeks as the annual Kallio Kipinöi festival kicks off this Friday. At the cafe our very own Katja will be hosting the opening of her art show which will be on display during the entire festival! Also on Friday there will be Niina Sillanpää performing as Hannibal at 19 (see pic) and a Kallio based acoustic cover band Tissit will entertain you at 20 (no pic unfortunately ;)).

On Sunday acoustic guitarists will play at Arla sauna and at the cafe and the following week on the 25th poets Kati Neuvonen and Anu Korvenniemi will perform via a dialog of poems. I have no idea what poem dialogging is but I'm sure it's something I don't want to miss!

Last but not least, we will be celebrating Villipuutarha's one year birthday this Wednesday so please stop by and celebrate with us!

ILOMIELI ekodesign

Adorable, beautiful, happy Ilomieli products have arrived in our shop! The brand creates clothes and accessories from recycled materials so almost every item is unique. We have purses, skirts, belts and handy wine glass 'identifiers' - but unfortunately no pictures - so drop by and check them out! Also take a look at their website: www.ilomieli.com

Philosophy and Socks

Tomorrow we will be hosting this Autumn's first philosphy cafe evening organised by The Finnish Adult Education Centre of the City of Helsinki. The event is open to everyone and it will be organised on Wednesdays on 16.9., 7.10., 4.11. and 2.12. at 18.30–20. Tervetuloa!

picture credits: Maarit Kytöharju

Last week Nina began to host Villipuutarha's knitting evenings, which have already been booked full! We cannot wait to see what different kinds of knits and projects emerge from these evenings!

LatteArt

Heikki makes some amazing latte art!

Soups have arrived!

Starting tomorrow we will be spoiling you with delicious vegetarian soups from 11-15 every weekday! Lunch time soup meals include a cup of our dark-roast coffee or tea, served with a piece of Petri Sirén's smoked salt dark chocolate - sounds quirky but it is exquisite. 

Later on in the week I will tell you more about our extremely talented new chef, stay tuned!