In a country with the highest top model per capita ratio in the world, where the Prime Minister is mostly known for his brightly colored socks and the President is never seen without a bowtie, nothing surprises me anymore – at least fashion-wise. This being said, everything was different when I first moved to Estonia. All I knew before coming here was that 50% of Estonia is covered in trees. Nobody ever mentioned an obsession with bowties.

So I was quite confused when I started school last September and saw a couple of people wearing bowties every single day. Was there a secret uniform I didn’t know of? Frankly, I didn’t care. All I wanted to know was exactly where these amazingly stylish pieces came from. Why they are so special, you ask? They are wooden - because when in Estonia, you should take advantage of all the trees – and oh-so pretty.

Well, it turned out that one of my fellow Student Council members and friend, Kristjan Oro, is the source of this amazingness. About a year ago he co-founded his own company – ŠIKK – with his best friend, Ats Jõgi, dedicated to crafting wooden bowties in all sorts of shapes. After six months of rummaging through his magic box of bowties over and over again and giving everybody the same present for Christmas – you guessed it, ŠIKK bowties – it was long overdue to sit down with Kristjan and talk about his startup journey, the biggest struggles of being an entrepreneur and his plans for the future.
Photo: ŠIKK
The two major things I learned during our extremely serious chat were these: When in business with your best friend of eight years, yell at each other every now and again. Helps you clear the air. And stay sane. And friends, for that matter. It seems to work for Kristjan and Ats. After a year of yelling at each other, they are still best friends. They even like to spend their free time together – if they have any. Which leads me to the second thing Kristjan taught me, this being how to manage your time and simultaneously not to get completely confused by to-do lists. (Something I really need to work on.) I quite like his system: A to do list classified from A – if you don’t do this immediately, you’re fucked to D – tell somebody else to do it.

But all jokes aside, I am sure that these two have a bright future ahead. I am not just saying this because Kristjan is my friend. I truly believe it. Because their bowties are just too cool not to love them. And because the personal touch the products come with is amazing in this impersonal world. And because in just one year, they managed to be featured in the Estonian Song Contest and the Estonian version of “Got Talent”, thus making ŠIKK bowties something that is worn by stars. Next challenge: The President.

For everybody who really wants one of these unique accessories now, it is your lucky week. ŠIKK will be launching their brand new online store in the next couple of days and they are shipping anywhere in this world. But you should be quick; I am planning to fill up my suitcase with them. Can’t guarantee there will be any left when I’m done shopping.

Show them the flying floordrobe love and check out ŠIKK's Facebook page and its Instagram account to see more pretty photos of the bowties and to be up to date on the exciting new product that will be launched very soon!

Photo: www.facebook.com/sikkdesign/
Have a great week, everybody!

xx, Kathi

BJÖRN Espresso BAR
Address: Maakri 28, 10145 Tallinn
Cappuccino: €2
Best thing on the menu: ALL the coffee

CASH ONLY!

 Find them on Facebook (here)
One of the horrible moments after moving out of your parents’ house – that amazing wonderland of clean laundry and full fridges – is waking up in the morning, realizing you haven’t been to the store in too long and no matter how long you stare at the fridge, it won’t magically fill up. This happens to me approximately five times a week. Let’s just say I am not the biggest fan of going to the grocery store. Too far away. Too much of a hassle. And the store is located in the mall’s basement, which means stairs. No thank you.

So, whenever I open my fridge and face the ugly truth of its emptiness, there is one thing that freaks me out in particular. No milk. Which means black coffee. Which means the day is off to a rocky start. Coffee is the one thing that makes me get up in the morning. And yes, I own more than one bag with some kind of coffee quote on it, given to me by friends who know me too well. But while I just need that delicious stuff in whatever form in the morning, I am a coffee snob. Without milk in it it’s just not the same. And I am not happy.

On mornings like this I have three options:
  • Just suck it up and drink it black – this is the option I go for at the end of the month, for obvious reasons.
  • Stop by the kiosk around the corner, get two cappuccinos instead of one because it’s cheaper – thanks for supporting my addiction, R-Kiosk – and get yelled at by the kiosk lady because I still don’t understand this language they call Estonian. My preferred option when I’m late for class. Not going to say this happens a lot, but, you know…
  • And my favorite one: Spend a couple of hours at Björn’s, because it is just too cozy to leave earlier than necessary and enjoy the best and most stylish coffee in town.

BJÖRN Espresso BAR is a fabulous new café that was opened only two months ago in the cutest little wooden house a little outside of Tallinn’s Old Town. The little grey house with the red window frames looks way out of place, surrounded by office buildings and schools, which makes it incredibly exciting to enter it. Walking through those bright red doors feels like entering a different world. All of a sudden the stress of the day is gone and you are now part of the cosy, relaxed world of amazing coffee, delicious pastries, fluffy cushions, cosy fireplaces, and chilled people. I am not kidding. It really feels like that.

Conveniently, Björn’s is really close to my university which solved my horrible problem of having to drink burnt cafeteria coffee all day long. The coffee is out of this world, the variety of beans changing constantly and the staff is crazy friendly - and they know everything about coffee - heeeeaven! I always feel very fancy when I’m there. And amazingly, the coffee is still cheap. All of these things explain why I may have spent a lot of time there lately. I just realized this last week, when I walked in and Kalle, one of the owners, looked at me with a knowing expression, saying: “Big cappucino as always?”


For now, Björn’s is definitely one of Tallinn’s best kept secrets, but to be honest, I can’t imagine it to be a secret for long. If you ever find yourself in Tallinn, I really urge you to give this place a try. It is more than worth the walk out of the Old Town. Less crowded & commercialized than the coffee shops in the center. Oh and tourists? Nowhere to be seen. So, what are you waiting for?

xx Kathi

Photos taken in: Tallinn, Estonia
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