These things that inspire and please me.

One thing you should know about me... I specialise in a very specific type of security.
I'm just kidding, but really, you should know one thing about me, if you didn't already;

I love figure skating.

If I could BE a sports, I'd probably be figure skating. It's just so beautiful, elegant and inspirational, and I enjoy watching it.

For the first time ever I finally managed to go and SEE championships live.
My friend, and teammate, Annika flew all the way from Finland to accompany me to the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield.
Because we are (poor) students we couldn't go to see the whole thing, but we did buy tickets for all the days that felt the most important for us: Men and Ladies' free programmes (Saturday), and Gala (Sunday). On top of that I went to see Men's short programme and Pairs' free programme on Thursday.

It was amazing. I took a massive amount of photos (when I say massive, I mean over 15GB, but I haven't deleted all the bad ones yet), and I will be spamming some of those here. NOW.

Let me start with the top 3 of men, because I probably won't comment that much on their costumes and make-up x)

Evgeni Plushenko
Photo by yours truly.

This man. Is amazing. He's been on ice since the beginning of time and is still going strong.
Watching him on YouTube and TV is one thing, but seeing him on ice was just a completely new experience.
He also won gold in EC.

Artur Gachinski
Photo by yours truly.

Gachinski is a new face for me. It was the first time I saw him on ice (I seriously can't remember him from other competitions), but he was VERY good. He also shares the same coach, Alexei Mishin, with Plushenko, so that might explain why they are both so good :D Mishin also coached one of my ultimate favourites, Alexei Yagudin, who is also extremely good.
Gachinski won silver in EC.

Florent Amodio
Photo by yours truly.

I love Amodio to bits. It was love at first sight, the first time I saw him skate.
He is charismatic, talented and just so cute. There are some pictures of him and Stéphane Lambiel, who I also adore SO much, that cheer me up always.
Seeing him on ice was a big fangirl moment for me. Annika could prove that.
He won bronze in EC.

Amodio is so small compared to Plushenko and Gachinski :3
Photo by yours truly.

Another fangirl moment was when I got to talk to Kevin van der Perren who sadly enough had to withdraw from free programme because of an injury.
He is an amazing skater and meeting him was a big highlight of my trip. I hope to see him on ice again, despite his injury.

Now, let me get to the winning ladies... I'm gonna provide you with photos of the front and back of their costumes.

Carolina Kostner
Photo by yours truly.

I still don't know whether I like that costume or not :'D
It was VERY sparkly, camera couldn't really capture just HOW sparkly it was under the intelligent lights.
The most disturbing thing though is the fact that the costume covers the skates only partly. I prefer it when they cover the skates completely, or don't cover at all x)
Kostner's technique is always good. She didn't seem to make many mistakes in the championships, and both of her free programme was very, very good.
She won gold in EC.

Kiira Korpi
Photo by yours truly.

Kiira. Kiira, Kiira, Kiira.
She is just so beautiful that I can't help but adore her.
Usually her costumes are colourful, funky and short, so I was kinda surprised to see something like this :D It's pretty and elegant though, so I am not complaining!
I was very tempted to ask for a photo with her when she was close to us, but I chickened out. I regret it now.
She won silver in EC.

Elene Gedevanishvili
Photo by yours truly.

So tiny and cute :3 And what about that costume, huh? PRETTYYY.
It had a big ribbon on the back, but because of the bright lights it blended into the costume in the photo. I so want that as a dress! Maybe a bit longer though x)
Her programme was also amazing and her Gala performance was beautiful. She became one of my favourite female skaters after I saw her live.
She won bronze in EC.

The winning ladies.
Photo by yours truly.

Now I want to show couple costumes from the Gala that I really liked.

Maxine Yu
Photo by yours truly.

Apparently this girl is only 15 years, but she was already pretty, darn amazing. She performed at the Gala as she was obviously too young to enter the championships.
And that costume... it would make a beautiful bridesmaid or wedding dress if it was longer.
Imagine that dress, but longer, strapless, and with silver flowers.
Ah, I wouldn't mind wearing that at all.

Back of the costume had flowers as well.
Photo by yours truly.

Thanks to this costume I'm thinking about wedding dress designs again xD

Body envy. I has it.
Photo by yours truly.

Now this is what I meant with Korpi's colourful and funky costumes :D
Granted, this is from Gala so she was free to wear nearly whatever she wanted.
This costume fit the song perfectly, and Korpi looks so good with that hair and make-up in that costume.

Last but not least, I will leave you another picture of Korpi.

Pretty.
Photo by yours truly.

Well, blog ya later and stay human!
(Btw, I love spell check. People should use it more often.)