goodbye july 2013

Time to say goodbye to yet another rather wonderful summer month, I believe you held more moments of frustration than your sister June but your serendipity quota more than enough made up for that I think, in hindsight.

You have shown your sunny side a plenty, though lacked in the rain department but for these last few days. Overall you have given a great tan, relaxation and contemplation galore. Old views, new views, grand views and then this truly blissful view on your last day.

Oh thank you for being such a good companion for 31 days, dear July.

Now pretty please, whisper softly to your sister August that all good things come in three ~

summer circus nails

one of those perfectly delightful, small ways to perk up a day, circus nails.

i do believe it's my first set of them this summer - from left to right; opi kiss me on my tulips (from this set) - essie turquoise and caicos - essie fear and desire - opi you're such a buda-pest - opi the "it" color.

when her colleague complimented my shoes and dress (heart that) today i stumbled over a kindred circus nails spirit, of course i had to take a snap of that meet cute!



so, i ask you again, what's your favourite nailpolish colour this summer?

post-dog walking honesty

Five months now since we were forced to say farewell to little loaf.

Now and then I get to hang with the neighbourhood's dogs of various styles and personalities. The one I most enjoy spending time with is the pug.



Today there was a plan of taking two dogs (a dachshund and a yorkshire terrier) for a walk and taking loads of pictures of said dogs. Instead I found myself accidently amidst the neighbourhood's dog ladies, walking. And the photo op bit was not really what I had wanted.

And I realised something, that one downside of having a dog, walking a dog is that you're kind of expected to be friendly and chatty with other dog owners (at least when you live in a suburban residential area). With whom you most often nothing whatsoever in common but the dog in a leash-part.



Sure there are dog owners in this neighbourhood that only nods and always walk alone (bliss!), and I have to say that I managed to avoid too close a contact with other dog walkers in the past, just the way I want it. If you don't walk with friends you have much in common with a dog walk for me is the perfect way to get some fresh air, exercise, solitary time to clear one's mind and think - and chat with the dog.

Spending time with friendly dogs is always lovely, but to be honest I often think it's too bad there are dog owners attached to the dogs. And to be even more honest, small talk about stuff that either is incredibly boring (to me), annoying or plain offensive is just energy draining a plenty.



I don't much care about the role one often has to play when meeting people you only know superficially, where you don't immediately click, the social codes, the patience one has to show while explaining a certain life-style/job/view to people who obviously have not bothered to widen their horizons. Their ways and my ways just aren't compatible.

Oh I don't know perhaps I'm sometimes too quick to *judge*, maybe I'm aloof, but I'm more and more guided by my gut feeling, the energy I have/give I want to spend in ways that I feel are mutually rewarding. Thus the older I get, the less inclined I am to put myself in situations that are highly likely to be energy draining like that - since there are so many other situations much more rewarding, inspirational and de-lovely to put oneself in.



And I also got to think that at this stage in my life, the initially thought of structurizing life sans dog was the right one - I still have the application at the dog shelter active though, but I'm sure when the time is right, the stars aligned towards a new doggie it will happen - to be honest with the months gone by I've come to realise that it has been less stressful knowing that there isn't a little soul at home waiting for a regular walk, that can't be alone for too many hours, that demands a lot more attention and stimulation than the cats. Liberating somehow. Needless to say the little hole in my heart and all the lovely memories of the tyke extraordinaire will be with me forever. But at this time in life this is exactly how it should be, simple as that.

I will not be doing any more neighbourhood dog walking any time soon, but this last one did gave me more insights (or confirmations of what I already knew, just like yesterday), thus it wasn't all that bad really, I suppose. And of course, I got to meet the tiniest little cuteheart named Mossa (Moss).

what i learnt during the weekend that was

This summer so far has involved a lot of thinking about life, choices, paths, the whys and the whos, smaller and larger insights, thought processes and the always close at hand odd sort of restlessness - it might be the happy place thing trying to tell me something - and here follows some snippets of what I learnt during the weekend that was (no award winning insights more the confirming what I already knew but I'm not always clear about, neither to myself nor others. In some aspects I need to be more proactive with the "yes!" in others I need to be more firm with the "no!") -

~ to promote something which you feel passionate about (and embodies so much I think is important in life; health and tastiness, humour and vegetarian food, cleverness and ethical principles) is really lovely, inspiring and happiness instigating. I really truly, madly, deeply (without being crazy and weird) want more of that in my life.

Reading this article though rather made my heart sink. Even if I on some small level possibly maybe a tiny bit can see what led to the decision. Still it made me sad.

If you want to read about and see a few pictures from the Frankie's Innocent Picnic event we held here in Stockholm yesterday you can do so here. I will blog a few words and show some snaps later (my friend C did an awesome job as official photographer, so I didn't bring the DSLR with me, besides I wouldn't have had the time).


~ heat just isn't doing it for me. I feel tired, bloated, sticky, brain is mushy and thinking is like I'd imagine wading through syrup would be, can't sleep, feeling gnarly and say stupid things I wouldn't do otherwise. No, not complaining about the weather, just establishing a personal fact. (As I'm writing this the rain falls, the air seems easier to breath and such a bliss for nature, I do hope we'll get a reasonable amount of the water from above this upcoming week.)


~ as much as I love taking photos, photography and talented photographers just as much I utterly, completely and wholeheartedly loath people taking photos of me. It's about 20 years since I felt natural and at ease in front of a camera, I most always do not in any way recognize the person caught on camera by others which apparently is suppose to be me.

Practising faces, gestures and angles with an iPhone is great, but I never end up having any use of the things I know works when I'm faced with someone else wanting to take my picture. It's just awkward and I so hate the situation. It is strange that one can feel comfortable and at ease with oneself and one's body and skin as a being but feeling so stressed and awful about the concept of having one's picture taken. I am not being coguette about it, I don't need any flattering remarks, yes, it may be irrational, it may be a luxuary problem, but still I simply abhor it. I will still detest ending up on snaps I have no control over, images I don't recognize myself in.

I'm happy I chose to put a picture of me on my business cards, but that's an image I can live with (once in a while that happens when I'm in control) and people seem to like it. Other than that I will from now on have to say "no" to photos, unless I'm in control of the outcome obviously. Because it's a situation I find so very icky and completely uncomfortable in the nastiest of ways. (I'm still amazed at how nice the identity card picture turned out and how simply appalling the passport photo is...)


~ hedgehogs can be really nasty towards eachother. I knew that, I've seen it before, but today two of them bullied the littlest one and it wasn't a nice thing at all. Although it made for a rather cute picture and we made sure they went separate ways. I'll save the picture for later, because really, we can't have four hedgehog posts in one week...


~ spending a hot summer day on a sun bed in the shade staring up on a blue blue sky, watching the clouds floating, listening to music and letting the mind wander is really a most perfect way to spend a good few hours.


What did you learn during your weekend that was?

prickly cuteness

ain't this one of the cutest sights ever?!

a little hedgehog heinie and the most intriguingly adorable feet.

see, it's not only one, or two, but at least three hedgies turning up regularly here now. and oh my do they eat! eat, sleep, eat, stroll around garden (with followers), eat, sleep and so forth. and since it's apparently so exhausting to eat the littlest one simply crash like this in the flower bed too.

needless to say i feel chosen, blessed and a lot of love being able to witness this regularly.

this makes 3,5 hedgehog posts this week, just because they are totally worth it. long live prickly cuteness!

have a fabulously innocent weekend

Preparing to spend my Stockholm Saturday doing a job involving the above Innocent fabulousness - which obviously makes me a rather happy bunny indeed... - if I could I would invite you all to the event, because I think know it will be totally awesome!

In fact if you happen to be in Stockholm tomorrow July 27 (from noon - 2 pm) and interested in taking part in a lovely, unpretentious child friendly picnic you're welcome to send me an email (address can be found at my profile page) and I might be able to find you a spot.

If not, I hope your weekend will be filled with sunshine,
laughter and fabulous drinks wherever you are!

height is the new size and other lessons learnt in budapest

Here follow some interesting things I learnt in Budapest;



1. That it's apparently important to (some) men to be a few centimetres taller, that one can become that in a "very discreet and natural way" (with special shoes) and that one in doing that can get the attention of a dumb looking posing, pouting model. Height is the new size.

I have to say that a) spending time with a dumb looking posing, pouting model sounds utterly boring and unsatisfactory imho, but I guess someone who would actually pay to get ridiculous heightening shoes like that doesn't have much in ways of a brilliant brain anyway.

b) as a tall woman I have to admit that yes height is rather important (shallow as it may seem), but that, as most always, a great mind, a lovely personality and brilliant conversations trumps pretty much everything.



2. Rosewater lemonade is surprisingly lovely, refreshing and somewhat enchanting to drink.



3. Too many (semi)naked humans can be overwhelming and scary for small sized woollies (also known as bobbaloos). To be honest, I'm very much inclined to concur with the bobbaloos on this. (That said it was a grand bath and wonderful architecture, got some great pictures of the outdoors baths and its guests in Budapest I will share later.)



4. To spell the name "Pia" is apparently super difficult for staff at Starbuck's, but to pronounce it is easy peasy. Also noticable is that to drink soy latte regularly (like once a day on holiday) can cause unwanted wind related issues.



5. Important messages to all men can be written in a very pleasant way.



6. The scariest of statues on the eeriest (but beautiful) of cemeteries is much less scary in the summertime. Though albeit doable still far from easy breezy and pleasant. (However this grand cemetery, of which I will write and show more later, is such an absolute must visit when in Budapest though!)



7. There's nothing quite like snatching a pretzel in the morning. At least not when you are very small and totally adorable.



8. Hungarian really offers a plethora of unfortunate brand names from a Swedish point of view. And with that a lot of giggles and laughs. (You have to google this one.)



9. When sore feet are in desperate need for blister relief you can always rely on Swedish plasters. And that aloe vera is THE thing for most everything. And that the number with three sixes can hold good things too.



10. Last but not least; icecream and sorbets should never be served in any other way than the rose way. Really.

random wednesday thoughts

With an (over)active brain and imagination I find that regularly posts of random thoughts help. So today will be such a random day of this and that and then some. Here goes.

~ The feeling of being able to breath and sleep 'cause the summer temperatures where more reasonable than in Budapest, well let's just say that today was not such a day. But I won't nag about the weather, because I hate when people need to complain about that, those people who are clearly not happy unless they have something to complain about, all the time and apparently the weather is an easy target. No matter weather. I refuse to be like that. But my head does feel a bit mushy. And the garden and nature would love quite a bit of rain, it all looks so dry now, weather it's really hot or not, rain would be lovely in the evenings. Warm and plentiful summer rains.

I'm sure I'll miss these hot summer days when winter strikes, when you need to wear layer upon layers of clothes again. So I will not nag. Not a lot. Just that bit about the mushy brain.

~ On one of summer's hottest days I obviously had to inaugurate the latest pair of oxfords. Because why wait until autumn falls upon us? I have to say I absolutely adored them. Not only delightfully quirky and stylish (and pink!) but also incredibly comfy. I remember old blog posts saying I had no idea why shoes seemed to be so appealing to many women - let's just say that was my opinion before I had the uttermost pleasure to know El Naturalista and ART. Because they just keep screaming my name. Me and my happy feet are glad there are regular sales and so forth.


~ Pretty much ever since Budapest I keep having these weird serendipitous moments. Little strange coincidences and odd things coming my way. Quite possibly they began before that, but I notice them more and more. Not really sure what to make of them, yet, but I am smitten. And they make me smile a lot. So it's a good thing despite leaving me slightly clueless.

I'm also experiencing a strange, but perhaps not all unpleasant, kind of restlessness. Which I'm also not sure what to do with. Maybe it's something I have to save for after summer, even if I'm eager to go for the elusive whatever thing now. So I'm trying my best to relax, being summerish and carefree (with varied results with a brain that can't stop thinking. Too much.) - and, granted, looking forward to great projects after summer.


~ Hedgehog 2013 has now become two hedgehogs 2013 - good food a plenty can do that. I love that my garden is a small suburban zoo with not only cats but frogs, birds and hedgies too.


~ Found this fabulous article on Facebook today - thank you, Pärlbesatt, for the tip! - 12 habits of happy, healthy people who don't give a sh*t about your inner peace. Great and enjoyable, go forth and read!

follow the hedgehog

 
hedgehog visits usually take place during evenings. this morning however i noticed the prickly chap (gender unknown) was trying to get in to our garden from the neighbour's garden. carefully watched by the furry bunch. i was so intrigued how s/he'd make that happen since it's fenced and there's just no hole big enough to let a rotund prickly one get through.

turned out s/he just flatted himself and slid under the fence in a totally impossible way. i was gobsmacked and so were the cats 'how did that come in here?!' - hedgie then went straight for the bowl in the lilacs hedge where s/he munched away and then went on a stroll in the garden.

it was such a delightful morning scene.
and i'm so happy i managed to snap this of the 'follow the hedgehog' moment.
the light turned out to be magic.
just as the moment.
a truly blessed morning.

the perfect souvenir

You can't always be so lucky as to find something as brilliant as a nailpolish with the same name as your travel destination, but this time I did - needless to say it was a must. The "You're such a Buda-Pest!", from OPI's Euro Centrale spring collection 2013, in a pale, creamy lavender hue came home with me. Great colour with a tan, not sure it'll be very good on pale winter hands. I painted two coats and I feel it would benefit from a third one (as pale colours often do). But a sweet and dreamy colour just the same. And the perfect souvenir me thinks!

My poor tired and sore feet, after walking mile upon mile on hot concrete streets in Budapest last week, got pampered with bath, scrub, lotion and massage yesterday. They were very grateful and today they too got spruced in colours. One of my favourite green colours "Grass slipper" from Sally Hansen and a lovely teal also picked up in Budapest from Maybelline - just now I realise both brands, like Essie, lack compassion and good sense and apparently test on animals, so obviously I will not buy neither again. My very bad... - I enjoy the colours very much. Semi-circus nails stylee.

Which nailcolours are your favourites for summer?

hedgehog 2013

like most always when we're away during summer the first hedgehog appears, so it also this year.

behold hedgehog 2013, not a wee chap this time. i do hope s/he bring friends to munch too!

the welcome committee

cooler summer weather.

two pair of de-lovely shoes (oops i did it again).

the comfort of furry cuddles.

perfection.

bye budapest

it has been nice, very nice to see you again. granted you've been a bit hot and exhausting, but you've also offered grand views, sights and architecture, lots of vitamin D, fabulous vegan and vegetarian food and drinks which have made my heart sing. many adorable dogs and serendipitous moments. and the magic of rose sorbet.

you also gave me lots of opportunities to think about life, love and choices. i know i complained a tad about your temperatures yesterday, but i somehow think that hot weather can release the thinking process, the mind and body in unexpected ways. so thank you for that too. we'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but i know we will. 

melting in budapest

... could also be the main theme of this trip. 

sure we've had heatwaves in sweden these past few years with temperatures well over +30C, i've been to scorching hot european summer cities (berlin, hamburg, athens), but i still don't seem to get this heat thing. that such hot summer weather is what it usually is in southern europe. (or is it global warming?)

as a delicate northern being (well) i don't do very well in heat. i simply soldier on, i don't grump a lot (unless someone ask me to do something crazy active), but my brain feels all mushy, i don't want to deal with complicated matters, i feel rather emotional. and my physical reaction to heat is melting, slowly, steadily i melt.

it has been well over +30C all week here in budapest. mornings are lovely, sweet tempered and perfect, a few hours later not so much - how do people get any work done in such heated circumstances?! - followed again by lovely evenings.

you know it's hot when you gulp down +5 litres of varied fluids a day and you only have to pee once that day (without feeling bloated).

it has been a trip with many highlights and serendipity moments, but my oh so tired, sore feet will be oh so happy to land on swedish soil in a few days again. the rest of my body and mind will be grateful for (hopefully) more reasonable summer temperatures.

now drinks please.

love at the airport

this pink sign was the first thing that met the eye at budapest airport. i loved its simple sentiment about a kiss.

the rest of airport didn't exactly ooze 'love actually' feeling. apart from this little scruffy fella. who patiently and curiously waited for a special someone to arrive. upon her arrival he was delighted, excited and love was certainly in the air.

i wish he had been waiting for me.

prosit in budapest

one thing i love about finally having my own business is that i'm never really detached from my work, my so called free time and my work-time are always interlaced. i've kind of always lived under the illusion that such a state is a bad thing, that work and free time should be well defined and separated in order to make the most of life somehow.

now i realise, depending on your job situation of course, that is so far from the only truth about job vs leisure time. if your job gives you joy, a flow of creativity and inspiration i believe it's fabulous to simply erase the lines between business and pleasure. the interaction, the flow, the one matter can/will lead to another matter, that you're never really off work, but always relaxed enough to see opportunities and get ideas. of which some are doable, others may not be but still always great ways to keep the brain curious and active.

the pretty much first thing i did when i got  to budapest, which is something i'd never had done 'back then', was to give the taxi driver my business card (after he'd asked what i worked with and was intrigued when i told him). because who knows when, why and who may need one's services?

just this evening we took a wrong turn walking back to the apartment and found ourselves outside a closed antique shop. in the window was a pretty awful figurine depicting a frisky brunette swinging a beer mug. something i'd obviously never ever ever concider buying. at a closer figurine look a serendipitous moment occured though - the base of the figurine was inscripted with 'Prosit' (similar to cheers in German). and suddenly the figurine was simply covetable in all its madness. 

my prosit would never offer swinging beer mugs services, ride a barrel or drape herself ridiculous in red fabric only. but the unfeigned joy and spirited nature the figurine oozes is quite appealing. 

i may go back to the antique shop tomorrow just to have a look at the price of the prosit statuette.

yes there is a reason for serendipity being one of my favourite words.