Petit Bateau brings French charm and design to children’s clothing. Their range is typically colourful, but still a bit subdued so that the clothes do not jump on your face.

The clothes are usually quite expensive — especially when compared to GAP Kids or such — and thus the outlet in Central Valley is worth visiting to grab the stuff with heavy discounts. We ended up buying three products with less than $40. Usually that amount would maybe give you one (or just half an) item. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on the available offers and sale periods.

www.petit-bateau.com, 822 Grapevine Court, Central Valley, NY, USA, +1 845 928 8850

My younger sister’s and our families have a mutually beneficial agreement that the boys spend one night every other month with their cousins. This month it was Aapo’s and Niilo’s turn to go to Järvenpää, to meet Onni, Eino, and the rest of the family there. I drove them to Järvenpää yesterday after lunch, and Sanna picked them up today, again after lunch.

For me and Sanna, this was a hassle-free weekend. We spent it by going from shop to shop in Helsinki downtown. Stockmann was having crazy days, so we ended up buying some stuff there, and then generally just store-hopped. Nobody got tired or cranky, and there was enough time to browse through the whole selection, and not just some parts before rushing to hush someone.

We paid a visit to an excellent sushi restaurant (Umeshu) in Töölö, and spent the night watching 2001 A Space Odyssey from DVD. This morning we could wake up whenever we felt so, and read the morning newspaper without interruptions. I could even code a little while Sanna was driving to and fro.

The weekend was nice, but it was also pleasant to spend time with the children. While Sanna and Aapo were watching movies — Up — I and Niilo cooked a magnificent dinner: duck, potatoes sauteed in duck grease, carrots cooked in butter, and peppermint chocolate fondant. It was surprisingly easy to cook while Niilo was toying around the kitchen. Although besides cooking I had to build a Brio train track, and help Niilo out countless times with the trains that didn’t stay on the tracks.

And being able to update Nomadig.com was sort of icing on the cake… If money would buy more of these weekends, I would not hesitate to spend it.

If you have issues with stinky or too warm feet, Geox might be the answer for you. The Italian shoe company has invented a shoe that has a breathable sole. There are, in fact, small holes at the bottom of the shoe, and still your feet does not get wet in them. The principle is simple: Moisture goes out, but water does not go in — due to unidirectional membrane inside the shoe.

Geox produces a wide variety of shoes, all with the same kind of sole. Their outlet in Woodbury Commons has a good selection of shoes with discount prices. We usually end up buying their children shoes, as they are good for the feet (as discussed earlier), and they have excellent designs that children love.

www.geox.com, 684 Bluebird Court, Central Valley, NY, USA, +1 845 928 5260

If you are fond of British fashion design, subdues colours, and a specific tartan motif, Burberry might be a good choice for you. Originally established for making overcoats, and then continued with delivering trenchcoats (that were named by trenches they were used in) to British military during World War I. Nowadays they are crème de la crème of British couture.

The airy and very not-outlet-like store has a good selection of clothing for both genders, some shoes and a decent selection of bags. Scarves can be recommended from the selection of accessories. Everything is heavily discounted compared to the high street prices, but they may still be considered expensive compared to the rest of the outlets in the area.

www.burberry.com, 269 Red Apple Court, suite 269, Central Valley, NY, USA, +1 845 928 4500

Autumn has finally caught us here in Finland. The past month was extremely good weather-wise, as temperature was way above the averages and there were virtually no rain. This month, however, has been surprisingly cold, and the forecast is bleak — a lot of rain in the following days.

This sudden change has a couple consequences. Firstly, getting boys out of the door takes at least double the usual time, as you need to don quite a lot of weatherproof clothing to keep them warm and dry. This is really counterproductive especially during already busy mornings, when I try to get them to the kindergarten as fast as possible to avoid the traffic jams between home and office.

Secondly, I’ve started to dream on booking a trip to somewhere warm. This won’t probably happen, as both I and Sanna have been really busy during the past weeks, and it would be nice to save some money for a while. On the other hand, airlines have been pushing quite aggressive offers lately, so we might just take advantage of one of them.

Noah’s New York Bagels is a combined bakery shop and café among Fillmore Street boutiques. It is a good place to sit down for a while and replenish your energy reservoir while hopping from store to store.

Their selection in breads and other baked stuff is amazing. Further, they are a full-blown café with all specialty coffees, juices, and soft drinks that you need to accompany your light meal. A good selection of cookies and other sweet items are available, too.

As always, the service is cheerful. The café is a bit noisy, and there is a constant stream of people grabbing some take away items, so don’t expect peace and quietness.

Noah’s New York Bagels, 2213 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA, USA, +1 415 441 5396

The restaurant of The French Culinary Institute L´Ecole is located near the high-end shopping paradise of SoHo in southern Manhattan. The restaurant has way classier aura compared to the other joints in the vicinity — white table clothes make a huge difference.

The service is excellent, way better than in France usually, and the food is okay. Honestly, I’ve expected a bit better fare due to the surroundings in the dining hall, but the food was a bit bland for my taste. It was also more American than I thought — more of American view of French food than authentic French food, which I was kind of expecting, as I was in The French Culinary Institute.

We visited the restaurant during lunch hours and got a good deal from the lunch menu. It is more expensive during dinner time, but then the whole menu is available.

www.frenchculinary.com/lecole, 462 Broadway, New York, NY, USA, +1 212 219 3300