halloween

Happy Halloween! I hope you had a spooky day.
Today we woke up super early (well early for a Sunday) and went on a long walk to ICA Maxi where we bought "exotic food" like black rice, a pumpkin, and evaporated milk.
We made a lot of food including stir fry, pumpkin and chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin gnocchi.
We lit candles and watched: Edward Scissorhands, Hocus Pocus, Scream, and then It's the Great Pumplin, Charlie Brown. Oh and we drank apple cider and listened to the Monster Mash.
No trick or treaters but that's ok. Happy Halloween everybody.

wish lists and updates

It's been a deliriously good week, mainly rainy and hazy grey skies. But I haven't had much school AND I'm free next week as well. I will be bored but I'm also enjoying the sheer laziness of it all. Cups of tea and books, yes! Though I have basically a whole book IN SWEDISH I need to finish. And it's a real, adult book.

Last week we went to IKEA and bought a bunch of cozy things like a sheepskin and candles. We also bought a strand of Christmas lights to hang up on Buddy, our decorative pet deer. He is right above our bed. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I think it's really cozy during the darker months and totally glams up our bedroom.  (The light in the foreground is one we made last Christmas).

Other things I lust after for a cozy winter:
This George Jensen candle holder but maybe in gold.
More over the knee socks. I just bought a pair the other day.
Maybe this parka or another one like it.
I like this dress.
These pants.

And loads of other things: like really warm boots, a lace skirt, and several new pairs of black tights.

Oh and I'm also blogging HERE as well because I love food and I love cooking.

glass

We have our friends from Stockholm staying us for the weekend. It's been a fun, adventurous weekend. Today we went to the ice cream store. Sofia and I got Fall/Christmas flavored ice creams. I got saffron which tasted like lussekatter and peppermint which is my favorite.
Good, good weekend.

falling in love

We drove here on Friday. I was in awe. I stopped talking. I just tried to take it all in. I mean seriously, those colors. That lake.

Couldn't you just imagine looking out onto this view every day? The lake covered in snowy ice in the winter, the trees all bare. Or all of the green and gold of spring and summer? 

The story goes that a very rich Danish count (duke, lord, earl, something/someone) owns this land. He has a castle somewhere here. He does not want to sell any of it. So I'm going to have a hard time convincing him to let me build my dream cabin but where there is a will there is a way.

Happy Weekend!

We are in the country right now. G's parents live in the tiniest village. They have a pond, fall foliage, and a fire place. It's always cozy.

Right now the fire is going and I'm sitting across from it on an old armchair with a sheepskin. I'm thinking of finally purchasing a sheepskin this winter.

I forgot that I really do like this time of year. I really enjoy the fires, the warm cups of tea, the mittens, the scarves, and hats! I especially love the hats because I don't have to fix my hair everyday. And the boots.

My friend Sofia started knitting. I knitted a dark grey scarf a long time ago. It turned out terrible. I spent ages on it. Hours and days. Only to have it funnel at the end. But her scarf looks good. And now she's trying fingerless gloves. I love fingerless gloves and now I'm inspired to make my own pair. But first a scarf.

Today we will go for a walk in the forest. Tomorrow we will go to a dear friend's for dinner with other dear friends. And Sunday we will have brunch at one of our favorite places: Smak.
Happy Weekend!

seasons changing

It's chilly outside. Cold, crisp, perfect fall weather. We've had sunshine too. The leaves are changing. I'm wearing gloves and scarves but not in the frantic way I do in winter but in a much more relaxed way. I love autumn. I've been dreading winter so much I forgot that I love autumn.
We barely get an autumn in Texas. A few short weeks of weather that fluctuates between very hot and lukewarm. But this is truly autumn here in Sweden.

Last night we went to Lund for dinner with friends. They made us chili! It was a great night and a lot of fun. Our friend's couldn't have known that back in the day my mom used to make me chili on the first really cold night of the year. So it was just like this subtle reminder that home was still close even though it was also kind of far away.

Currently, I'm lying in our bed with the big down comforter pulled up around me. We keep our bedroom window cracked a bit so the mid-morning air is around me too. It's cold. But the bed is warm. It was a struggle to get out of bed for coffee and the laptop. But rewarding. This is one of my favorite feelings- lying in the warm bed with the cold air just outside of the protective covers.

I guess right now that I'm happy. We're back into the "groove" of life here and right now it is good. Before we left for New York I was really unhappy. Really, really, really. But right now things are good. I need to figure out how to keep them good. I need to get through the winter. It's never been a problem I had to face in Texas. In fact, it was always a season I looked forward to. But now I shudder. So I need a hobby.
Also, warm boots- what kind of boots would you suggest?

good day

Ok so school was fine today. The weather was beautiful and it was a good day. Made especially so by these guys:

back home

I meant to write a small post each day we were in NYC. I didn't do that.
Our phones didn't work there which meant that most of the time we didn't have internet. We had internet at the hotel but each night we were so exhausted that we just passed out. New York is a tiring city!
But now we are home, back to grey grey Sweden. New York was also grey for the majority of our trip so I'll refrain from complaining about the Swedish weather.

Our flight home was smooth and fast. But I experience such flying anxiety now that it was torture for me. I didn't sleep or eat at all on the plane. Ugh. Thankfully when we got home I had a four hour nap and a huge dinner.

G has a terrible sore throat yesterday and is still sleeping now.

I guess that tomorrow we'll start to get back into the groove of life here.

I'll post pictures of the trip later.