and she's back

So, Leslie is on her way back to Texas now. Well, she should've been there already except her flight back to the States was seriously delayed yesterday.
We got to the airport 2.5 hours early yesterday morning where we found out that Leslie's 12:25 flight would not be leaving until 19:00. That's like 5 hours, y'all!
So Leslie was put on the later flight which would mean that she would be getting back to the States super late in the night and would need to spend the night at an airport hotel. It was all figured out and she is currently en route back to Texas.
The surprise delay meant that we had a few more hours to hang out and in Copenhagen!
When Leslie came to Sweden she asked if we could take the train across to visit Copenhagen, but Copenhagen is just so expensive when you don't have a job (and even when you do), so I kept distracting her with the fun things one could do in Malmö- like the stinky city bus rides and episodes of 16 and Pregnant instead of indulging her in Copenhagen's big, glittery city excitement.
But yesterday we had a few hours of waiting around so we took the metro into the center of Copenhagen and walked all around. I was two days un-showered and was wearing incredibly bad walking shoes and even though Leslie had stowed her carryon at the airport, she still had a very heavy travel-purse since she was, well, traveling. But despite our bad shoes and heavy bags, we lumbered on through CPH and had a blast. It was great having a few more hours to hangout.
Finally, it was time to go back to the airport and I had to say a teary-eyed goodbye to Leslie.

Y'all, let me just say: it was so good having my best friend here.

what we've been up to

Today is Leslie's last full day in Sweden. And all of sudden there are like a million things to do. How could we forget to do all of these things during the last two weeks?
But we've been really busy.
We have:

• Shopped all around Malmö
• Bought and devoured the best chocolate in Malmö from Peter Beier
• We went to the beach and got a bit burnt. And we found a bone in the water!
• We saw a movie, ate too much candy, and then not enough sushi
• We went to the country and laughed with G's parents, picked red currants for a cake, tasted the first raspberries of the season, and ate freshly dug potatoes and beets.
• We drove to Stockholm and visited great friends.
• In Stockholm we toured the city in the cold and rain. Leslie had to buy a coat and scarf.
• We drank a pitcher of margaritas (just like in Texas!) and ate too much fast food and gas station food.
• We took a 10 hour road trip home from Stockholm where G and I visited his grandmother who is 99 and soon 100.

And now it is the last day and there is a lot left to fit in.

americans in sweden

Yesterday, at 5:00 am I woke up and made some coffee. I made six cups of coffee. I drank 1.5. Oops. But after showering and throwing my hair in a pony tail, I hopped on the bus and then the train to Copenhagen to pick up Leslie from the airport.
I got there an hour early- because you never know if the train will be late, if her plane would be early, etc etc. And there was a Starbucks at the airport. There are no Starbucks in Sweden- well, they just opened one at Arlanda airport in the international terminal. It doesn't really count. I got a grande latte. Um, those things are huge. Since when did grande become so so big? Maybe it's because everything is a bit smaller here. Like toothpaste and shampoo and I guess drinks- they are all what I now think of as "perfectly sized." But I remember thinking of them as tiny, itty bitty a year ago.
And the latte was utterly disgusting.

I got to a lot of people watching. A plane from Singapore landed before Leslie's and there were so many young women coming out from the plane to meet older, Scandinavian men. There must've been at least 20 individual meetings of cute, young girls in heels meeting old, old men in khaki pants.

After awhile, Leslie came out through the doors looking like she hadn't been on an 8 hour plane ride. Seriously, who dresses that cute and looks that put together after such a long day of traveling?
We went back to our apartment, breakfasted, and then we took naps. Only an hour. But we were both still exhausted after the nap (I had no good excuse other than waking up early), so after like 2 hours of walking around the town, we went back and took even longer naps.
G came home from work, we had dinner outside, drank rose wine, and later watched a fascinating episode of "Hoarders."
It is still a bit surreal that Leslie is here. In Sweden.  It's like, the best.

this week is a good week

It is rainy and cool here today. A big sigh of relief, finally. Maybe I should kick myself for that one, but seriously- it's been super hot here lately. With no AC. Many of the busses here do not have AC. A lot of the stores do not have AC. Our apartment does not have AC. And it's been so hot. It's been great, but also a bit exhausting- constantly sweating.
Yesterday was our first day back in town. G had to go to work and I played the part of yuppy housewife. I ran a bajillion errands and met my friend Jenny for coffee and the best gelato in town.
The heat continued well into the night and G woke up in the morning and opened our back patio door to let some cool air in. Our bedroom window only opens a bit (out of safety) but right now I feel like safety can take a backseat- I want cool air!
Thankfully it has been raining. So the air feels a bit more breathable.

My BFF leaves for Sweden tomorrow. She leaves pretty early in the morning and then arrives here (on Thursday) even earlier in the morning! I can't wait. She is here for two weeks and a lot of the trip is already planned to the very last second- I feel like we need more time to do everything!
I am absolutely thrilled- it will be so so so good to see not only my friend but someone from my home.

But now I have a list a mile long of things I want to do before she arrives and sine the rain has let up- it's time to wash those windows!

more summer

Sunday was the 4th of July and that evening we were invited to 4th of July BBQ. It is my second 4th here in Sweden and it was good to celebrate. Lately I've found myself pretty homesick for Texas. The weather has been so hot and so sunny here that super strong feelings of nostalgia keep hitting me like a tidal wave. 

So on the 4th we ate barbecue, the best chiptole sauce I've ever had, potato salad, homemade beer, and of course: watermelon.

 

We also found a secret smultron bush and G went crazy. He picked as many as he could find and strung them on a long piece of grass. He said it was in his Swedish nature.

My 4th of July fashion was an old t-shirt from the 1980s with a semi-truck on it and a pair of denim cutoffs. 

A few days after the 4th, we took a small mini-vacation up to Småland where G's cousins rented a summer cabin. You guys, I stayed in a real log cabin. I mean, it was a deluxe log cabin with a jacuzzi tub and actual floors (not dirt floors) but it was pretty legit.

Better yet, we had a great view. There was a bright blue pool, a lake (that looks faraway but was right down the hill). Off to the left was the wood fired hot tub (which we didn't use because it was too windy and bit a too cold). The landscaping was impeccable and right next to the woods.

And in the woods there were:

Blueberries! Just barely ripe and still a bit sour. But blueberries they were. And we picked as many as our hands could hold.