"glad midsommar?"

I have lived in Oslo for almost 13 years now, but this is the first year I really miss celebrating "midsommar" with my family and friends back home. In a state of utter bitterness and moderate midsummer depression, I wrote this poem. I've called it "glad midsommar?".

En midsommarkväll utan snaps, utan sill,

Utan solen som skiner, potäter i dill,

I ett land utan stång, utan gul-blåa fanor,

Vad tar man sig till, utan dessa små vanor?

Ett tips är att låtsas, att fredagen denna,

Är långt ifrån festlig, ja faktisk erkänna,

Att Norrmännen inte har koll på nånting,

Det enda de kan är ju oljeborring!

Men bitter och sur för ju inte till gott,

Jag väljer ju glädje, jag mår faktiskt topp!

Jag tar mig en tur till de östlige strök,

Där vinet ju flödar, i spanskt tapas-kök!

Ni finner mig böjd över mustigt rött vin,

aioli, chorizo, iberico-svin,

i loppet av kvällen är midsommar glömt,

och festen jag missat är nästan som drömt.

Illums store sommersalg!

The Danish design store Illums Bolighus is starting their summer sale today! I love this store located across three floors at House of Oslo in Vika! No matter what you are looking for, they've got it!

My favourite buy from Illums Bolighus this year are the adorable Mugtails! I've got three of them on my kitchen table, and they are fantastic as tea light holders, but you can also use them as cups! The choice is yours!




The Fawn is the tallest mug, and the one that gives the brightest light when used at as tea light holder




The rabbit has the cutest tail ever!



The squirrel mug is perfect for that double espresso in the morning!

Plant some herbs in your mugtail cat! The contrast between the green and the white is beautiful!

Wednesday Top 5 Home Edition (or stuff I love in my home)

Good Morning World!

The sun is shining, the weather is hot (tra la la la la) ! Today's blog post is going to be a Wednesday Top 5 Home Edition which is a fancy way of telling you that I wanna show you my 5 favourite things in my home right now.

1. The Olive Tree
On place numero uno, I present thee with my new, fresh, lovely and amazingly fantastic OLIVE TREE!

It was a birthday gift from some friends, and I initially thought I'd place it outside on the balcony. However, after having bought it a new terracotta pot at Norrgavel and placed it in my kitchen, I just couldn't bare moving it outside! So now it's a domestic, in-house olive tree, and I love it! (it's got tiny tiny little olives now, but when they're big enough, we'll have a harvest feast and invite ya'll for tapas!)

2. Origami Birds
These are my homemade origami birds which are not difficult at all to make, and all you need is paper, a little bit of patience, and a large glass of wine (for yourself that is). I bought my paper at Panduro (http://www.panduro.no/) in Karl Johans Gate (there's also a Panduro in Torshov).

3. A miniature Croissant Magnet
I bought this mini pastry in Sicily a couple of weeks ago, and I really like it. It looks so real! For every country I visit, I always buy a magnet souvenir, but this is by far the best! Isn't it sweet, and doesn't it look yummy? I am thinking of putting up the rest of the magnets as well, but I'm not sure where...suggestions?

4. The box that looks like a book!
This is a great way of hiding whatever you want to hide, but do so in a stylish and colourful way (I've got TV remotes in it cause they're soo ugly!!). I bought this one in a small shop in Vasastan in Gothenburg (Sweden for ya'll foreigners), but I have managed to "relocate" it at House Doctor, a Danish retailer. To my surprise and utter joy, I also found it at Detaljer at Grønland Basar where they have at least 2 other kinds of boxes. Løp og kjøp!

5. Violets!

An last but not least, numero five: my beautiful violets. These little guys just keep growing bigger and bigger, I think they really dig the Norwegian outdoor-climate! They're planted in an old kitchen-sink which we kept after having renovated our kitchen, you like it?

OK, guys, enjoy this lovely Wednesday. Talk to you soon!

desire to inspire

For all of you out there who love interior design, homes and gardens, check out the inspirational http://www.desiretoinspire.net/

Have you found YOUR favourite?

I reccomend trying the "lables"-button, you can choose from (what feels like) a million different categories. I choose the Swedish one since I feel particulary Swedish today, and here's a little taste of magic - fantastic mix between minimalistic, colourful and stylish design!

love you

Guys, you've gotta check out www.hazelbee.co.uk

Can't stop laughing!! 

The Rooster and Holstee Manifesto

One of the clearest memories I have from my childhood is the rooster poster dad placed on our fridge one morning. It was a very happy rooster waking up on the top of a house with the sun shining on his face.  Alongside that happy rooster face came a list of  "mantras" to be repeated every morning when waking up. I've been seraching for that poster for a while now, but I cant't fint it anywhere. I do remember his wise words though...(Säg till dig själv varje morgon...). Try repeating them yourself when you wake up, I promise they'll get you're ass right out of bed :)

Today is going to be a good day!

(Det här blir en fin dag!)

I am capable of more than I think!

(Jag klarar av mer än jag tror!)

Worrying does not make things better!

(Ingenting blir bättre för att man oroar sig!)

You can never do more than your best!

(Man kan aldrig göra mer än sitt bästa!)

There always something to be happy about!

(Alltid finns det något att glädja sig åt!)

I feel fantastic!

(Jag känner mig i utmärkt form!)

Today, I am going to make someone happy!

(Idag skall jag göra någon glad!)

There's no point in pouting!

(Det är ingen idé att deppa!)

My life is wonderful!

 (Livet är härligt!)

Had I been a decent drawer, I would have drawn you a picture of this happy-go-lucky rooster, but I really suck at is so I wont :) Instead, I present you with the Holstee Manifesto which pretty much conveys the same message, but in a different (and more stylish) way. It hangs on one of the walls in my house and you can buy a copy of it yourself at http://shop.holstee.com/.

This poster make me happy and grateful. Everyday.

The Birth of A BlogAboutNothinG

So, this is my first blog post EVER! And I so wanted it to be extraordinary special, witty and smart. But the truth is, I am not extraordinary in any way. Well OK, if you ask my mom and dad, or perhaps my siblings and my hunkachunk of a husband, they might object to that...

But the real, and I mean REAL truth is...I am just an ordinary special, witty and smart person. Having said that, i feel you deserve an explanation...

I am not particularly gifted (although I gladly perform my one-man a Capella in the hallways where I live, where the acoustics are fantastic and I sound fabulous!!) but not not a total nut either. I don't look like a bag of smashed crabs (have you ever seen one? I have...it's horrendous) but without makeup I sure do look like a surprised codfish...I never rinse my vegetables and fruits before eating them, and probably never will either. I drink too much coffee and often find my self suffering from self-induced caffeine anxiety. 

I don't particularly like to talk on the phone and usually I don't pick up because I feel it's a bad time to talk. However, after having hung up on the poor bastard trying to get hold of me, I usually pick up the phone and return the call (as if a two minute delay magically makes it a super time to chat). I am kind though, but not kind in a Mahatma Gandhi-kind of way. I do offer old and pregnant people my seat on the bus (just as the "how to behave on the bus"-sign asks you too), but on the other hand, I always gorge when free food samples are offered at the super market, I sometimes use my female charm (i.e. winking my codfish eyelashes) to get what I want and I frequently pretend to be an altruistic person, although I'm really not.

That being said. This is a blog about nothing, and everything at once. I'm gonna let you in on my good and bad times, my ideas, hopes, thoughts and dreams, my success and failures. My goal is not to be famous, nor to be rich. What i want to do is make you laugh, I want to make you think and wonder, I want to inspire you to dream, and most important, I want you to feel just as (ordinary) special as i do :)

So, to start of, here's one of my favorite comic strips. For more of these lovely fools, visit http://www.savagechickens.com/

See you when I see you!