Über-chums

You know when you’re introduced to a new person, and after just a few minutes of talking you’re thinking ‘Gosh, feels like I’ve known her/him forever!’. Anyway, that’s what it was like first time I met Charlotta, a girl that just like me was totally new at ICOM/IKEA. We quickly developed a special kinship, and when she a year later moved up to Stockholm a part of me was heartbroken. That was three years ago and during that time we’ve done our best to keep in touch. This weekend she came down for a visit and as always I’m struck by how awesome and fun she is, and how rare and beautiful certain friendships can be.

A picture from a summer party four years back. And look Charlotta, neither of us have aged at all! 😉

Ok, so I didn’t skip or run, but still

I’m short and hate wearing heels. Yet every year I end up looking for shoes with a little bit of height, telling myself they’ll be comfy. I purchase a pair, give them a try, end up in pain, and then toss them into the fail-pile.

These babies have been living in my closet for two years not, without me spending so much as an hour in them.

So today I felt it was time to push through the pain and wear them to work. And guess what? They were quite agreeable. Wooden clogs – who knew?

Summer so far

I got a new bike that’s become the apple of my eye:

It has (if only temporarily) transformed me into an outdoorsy person. For instance, one weekend we spent an entire day biking around Österlen:

It inluded fika at Olof Viktors…:

… And ended with dinner at Bryggeriet in Ystad:

(Ystad was charming as ever – who can resist a town that names one of their streets ‘Trickster-alley’?):

Last weekend was Midsummer. We celebrated in the countryside with some friends and food:

Four more weeks of work and then it’s time for two weeks of vacation 🙂

Hey look, my thumb is green!

(Actually, since he’s the one watering them every morning after breakfast, I should confess that it’s The Rodge who’s responsible for making this miracle to happen).

Slacking Off, Island Style

I remember the day my mom turned 40 as if it were yesterday. Needless to say, it almost felt surreal when she turned 60 this Easter. To celebrate the event we decided to find a nice place where we could salute her properly. After much research, we settled for Playa Ingles, Canary Islands. We found a resort that prohibited people under the age of 18. And on the 5th of May off we went.

The resort tuned out to be surprisingly nice; with large, modern rooms overlooking the pool, complete facilities supplying us with a restaurant/bar, a gym, a Spa – even a grocery store.

Unlike most Swedes, I’d never been to the Canary Islands, and it turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise. Most of the time we spent at the resort, perhaps taking a walk to the “shopping center” close by, splurging on espressos and tax-free cosmetics. One of the days we rented a car and went driving in the mountains, enjoying the view and all the small picturesque villages along the way. The only thing reminiscent of the Island’s glory days was how people behaved in the sun, i.e. no fear of Melanoma. Around the pool the air would be heavy of coconut oil and cigarette smoke – a blend of fragrances I haven’t been familiar with in decades.

We stayed for a full week and honestly I’d be happy to do so again. When Roger and I travel we usually spend most of our time walking and exploring. But once in a while it can be nice to lounge about in the shade, experience the delights of a midday Siesta, and forget all about following an itinerary.

Starting over (and hoping I can stick to it)

It’s been almost six months since I wrote my last post. Back then, I though I’d keep this blog going although I was back in Sweden. Then work began. After a six month hiatus, it turned out to be a bit of a shock. Suddenly, weekends were all about meeting friends, working out and doing laundry. Updating a blog sled further and further down on my list of priorities.

Obviously, I’m writing this is because I’ve reconsidered.

First, I’m back in the roll of things at work and feel like, ‘Why yes, why shouldn’t I use some of those precious commuter hours writing posts?'(Uhm, suppose I can sleep once I’m dead).
Second, many of my friends and family live abroad. Now yet another one is leaving the country. Having a blog is a great way to keep people in the loop. Besides, this is how we live today – like citizens of the world – changing continents like nomads.
And third, I miss documenting snippets from day-to-day life.

So without further ado. Some Iphone images capturing the high-lights of these past 6 months, starting with the Easter vacation that The Rodge and I took to London.
Hello cuteness:

Besides my husband, I found myself enamoured with Margret Howell:

It was unbelievably hot during the entire weekend, and as always I had only packed black denim and long-sleeved blouse thingies:

We visited the Borough Street Market, and it was seriously lövly:

We alos went by the V&A, where I got to check out Yohji Yamamoto up close:

Afterwards we went into the courtyard…

… where I got to admire some of the distinguished English gentlemen that surrounds the city:

Next post, Canary Islands!

A white x-mas

We’ve been home for almost a week now. With all this snow – and it keeps on coming – the contrast from CA couldn’t be bigger.

I must say, it feels surprisingly good to be back. We landed on Saturday and got picked up at the airport by dad and AC. They surprised us by having decorated our apartment with a tree and filled our fridge with all kinds of food and x-mas goodies. A very sweet welcoming indeed.

Since then it’s been a pretty hectic week of running errands, catching up with much-missed friends and trying to get rid of this insane jet-lag (which I’m still struggling to shake).

Today is x-mas and I can’t wait to spend the entire day stuffing myself on fake “julskinka” and hanging out with my family. Merry x-mas everyone!

Grinning through the tears

It’s been an emotional week with a lot of ups and downs. On Friday we board the plane back to Sweden. I’m homesick, yet I’m gonna miss this place like crazy.

As of today, we have no TV or internet, and all our meals are eaten from brown cardboard boxes over at Whole Foods.

We spent Sunday night packing. Guess what? Two people can accumulate a lot of stuff in five month. No surprise there.

Ok, feel myself tearing up now (again). Gonna stop typing and run to the pharmacy. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living here amongst these notoriously optimistic people, it’s that no matter how shitty you feel, it’s better to just smile brightly and keep looking straight ahead.

Sip, sip… (then say something clever about “body” and “aroma”)

It’s the classic underdog anecdote. Up until the mid seventies, Californian wines didn’t have much of a reputation. However, that all changed with the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting Competition. In this blind tasting, Californian wines rated best in the category for both reds and whites, putting Californian Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons on the map.

This Saturday, we decided to go taste some of these delicious grapes ourselves. Dea’s dad was here visiting from Denmark, and going up to Napa seemed like the perfect way to experience the beauty of Northern California.

We started at a place called Luna:

(Roger got to show off his fashion-skills):

After leaving Luna, we made an accidental turn onto a random vineyard. It wasn’t at all as posh as the previous place (in fact, someone said it resembled a meth-lab, but I won’t mention any names…). But thanks to James we decided to give it a go. Well, good thing we did, because this place turned out to be quite a gem.

The man serving us was a genuine born- and raised Californian hippie. Please note his jewelry:

Neither of us were any experts, but we all agreed it was the best wine we’d ever tasted.

The tasting room held a lot of interesting memorabilia:

After about an hour – and several purchased bottles later – we reluctantly went back to our cars:

We drove to a third winery, and now one of the chauffeurs was showing signs that he should lay low…:

The weather was crummy, but it was beautiful anyway:

Dinner was spent at a terrific place in the town of Napa. I didn’t bring my camera, but I’ve asked James and Dea to send me some of their pics.

Anyway. On Sunday, we spent most of the day driving around. We did visit some nice places though:

And then after lunch, we were all so exhausted that we just drove back home. Thanks for a great weekend you guys!

Going through our stash…

… it’s hard to imagine my diet used to be all about dairy. Now I wonder what Vanessa and Amy will say when I unwrap my breakfast burrito on the 6:48 train…