adieu september ~

One of the sweetest song verses I know is "Keep your heart open, your eyes shut tight, what will be will be..." - I do try and keep both heart and eyes open (but when I wish for something special I tend to keep them eyes shut tight), though when things doesn't go my way, right here, right now I know that what will be will be. Because they are meant to.

That feeling, that belief does make it easier to take setbacks. And of course, the working towards the goal/s will continue, cross-fertilisation and serendipity oh how I heart you. (Yes I do make an effort with the happy place thing, I owe that to myself and the world around me...)

Today was the day we said goodbye to September, another month that just said swoosh. I think that, alongside the previous summer months, you will be remembered as an overall rather fine month indeed. So thank you, and could you please whisper in the ear of October to continue on this lovely path of goodness?

I ended the month in style, with getting tickets for upcoming TEDxStockholm events, the first warm up now on Thursday Oct 3 already and the main one is on October 21 - I'm sure me and my fellow happy muse will be inspired in new ways.

Adieu September,
hallo October,
what will be will indeed be ~


-- The sweet song verse is from You and I, part II by Fleetwood Mac

sunday deception and such

some lessons learnt today, on the last sunday of september.

~ that all is not always what it seems. that some companies, organisations and pr-agencies think decieving and lying is a  good and successful way to build meaningful and long-term relations with customers and users. i am, as usual, dumbstruck at the stupidity and lack of respect.

in this particular case it's about the restaurant dill sthlm in fact being an anagram for lidl (yes really), read more about it in my original post from a few days back (incl rather unpleasant comments, in swedish, from an employee...).

~ confirmation that i really should keep questioning things, not be easily charmed and trust the gut feeling. (the latter still being a bit of a problem since my old keep analyze and question myself-trait is not an easy one to ignore...)

~ that not having a daily dose of sun and/or warmth makes for a tired mind and body. no matter how sparkling in red, orange and yellow this season is.

~ a big fat confirmation that re-checking details is a good thing, that even people whose job it is to check other people's work can make mistakes. and that a good memory for details is never ever a bad thing.

~ that a 50% sale and only my size left on a pair of great and quirky looking tall boots must be a sign that a pre-birthday gift is called for.

~ that cats who think empty food bowls during nights is a bad bad thing have refined their behaviour into knocking, yes knocking not scratching, on bedroom doors for a refill. yes it's rather an eerie experience. but i'm also quite pleased to be sharing home with such clever, silly little furballs.

what sunday lessons did you learn today?

shoe per diem last september week 2013

Trying to make the most of each day shoewise since you never know when you actually need to succumb to wearing socks. Me I'm still adamantly refusing, just wearing leggings makes me feel restrained and uncomfortable. I don't think I've ever felt this unhappy about summer being over. Hopefully I will somehow feel different and content with autumn when October arrives, it is after all my month.

But for now, I hold on, a little bit to summer and bare legged days. Shoes worn during the last week of September 2013.



El Naturalista two-strap Tesela red maryjanes



the heart slippers from Birkenstock (working at home shoes)


El Naturalista Tesela winered oxfords - and wearing nylons wasn't at all pleasant, but weather called for



ART granny square boots - and yes a rather fab blue hue on nails, Orly Witch's blue (which soMeone says is a very obvious colour for me, hrmf...)



El Naturalista Tesela purple short boots



El Naturalista Dome pink/winered maryjanes

It was good week that went. On many levels. Not only because of the fab shoes worn.



PS Someone asked me recently how I avoid blisters with all the walking I do and mostly without socks. I have to say that once upon a time I had a terrible problem with blisters appearing all the time. But somehow that changed gradually when I began wearing El Naturalista (and I'm not even paid for saying this!) and ART shoes, somehow they've been mostly good for feet also in the blister-department. Even when the shoes are new. With exceptions. Now and then I do get the odd blister still. I put on a patch and change shoes for a while. Just this past summer I find that a patch containing aloe vera is a really good thing for a sore foot with blister.

How do you combat blisters? DS

stay inspired t-shirt

Why not continue on the grey, organic, Swedish design theme?

Picked this lovely little piece up today, a grey T-shirt from Swedish company Marc O'Polo with an illustration from some famous blogger I've never heard of (until now) - I totally lack interest in famous bloggers, it-people, so called celebrities and such...

Organic cotton in fabulous, comfy quality with unusual texture. And I think the print is really sweet. I have no problems staying inspired myself, but perhaps wearing it, showing it, can serve as a great reminder for others standing in front of me? It will look great with a nice skirt and a jacket or cardigan.



Happy weekend one and all,
stay warm and cosy,
stay inspired!

pap ipad cover

Since working and using gadgets is so much more inspirational and fun with quirky and pleasing accessories Prosit felt it necessary to get this awesome in all its simplicity protective iPad sleeve for the little green friend.

From Swedish company P.A.P, which is a leather goods company (not working with recycled leather unfortunately) with a range of very pleasing to the eye, clean lines, handcrafted handbags and accessories with lovely little details, like the brass button.



I know it may come as a surprise I didn't go for something bright and colourful, but grey is actually a non-colour I find rather pleasing at times - and besides, the woolly sleeves and covers don't come in bright colours (alas). The leather ones do, but since they aren't sadly made of recycled leather they weren't an option. The applegreen and bright yellow ones are awesome colours though.



Apart from the design (there's something so irresistable with the envelope shape I think, closing and opening it is like hiding or receiving a special gift somehow) the best thing about this iPad cover though is the fact that the material is a blend of wool, recycled plastic and PET-bottles - the P.A.P customer service still haven't gotten back to me on the % of recycled vs new material. It's also weather-proofed and said to made to last for many many years to come.



I also adore the simple no-fuss packaging. And of course the brass button with the simple string closure. And the snuggly grey hue, the rugged surface of the recycled mix material.

eating out - the latymer at dill sthlm

There are reasons why I in general don't fancy fine dining. Imho the food is often more hyped, pretentious and pretty to look at than it is flavour and texture carousing, mind-blowingly enjoyable to eat. Not to mention over-priced. I'd rather go on a trip or get more shoes than pay a hefty price for a fine dining experience to be honest. My best, most awesome meals have so far been prepared and cooked by people skilled at seasoning using good produce. And for a reasonable price, often more than reasonable priced actually.



That said, I think it could indeed be a delightful experience to have dinner at the pop-up restaurant Dill Sthlm hosted by British Michelin star chef Michael Wignall, The Latymer during a few weeks this autumn. I was lucky enough to be one of the eight chosen Yelpers to have dinner there this evening.



The restaurant is situated in old industrial premises which have been lovely and simply done up in a both rough and romantic way creating a lovely ambiance. Huge windows overlooking a road with heavy traffic and the Saltsjöbanan train rails, two portaloos being the only facilities - which made for a rather interesting experience using them when the train ran by just behind your back. As well as putting one of the dampers on the evening, because you couldn't wash your hands with water and soap after using the facility. Neither nice nor classy.


the tiniest imaginable starter (for two!) consisted of seaweed/dill crisp and something cheese (i know, i didn't pay a lot of attention to all ingredients...), okey but a bit too salty

Greeted with champagne and a duet playing classical tunes, which was indeed a nice start to the evening we'd all been looking forward to a lot. Unfortunately though the food didn't at all live up to our expectations and neither did the service, with exceptions of course.



The best memories I take with me from the evening is the great company of people that made me laugh a lot, the ambiance and the absurdity of a lot of things placed before us, during the 10 courses molecular gastronomy tasting menu (yes you could choose a vegetarian one!).


the watermelon - pretty nice, the texture of the dehydrated watermelon was awesome

the beetroot - the nicest one of the 'main' courses, but just the thought of someone turning the skin of boiled milk into 'milk crisp' was actually one of the most laugh-instigating things of the evening, seriously, come on...

the tomato - too fruity and sweet for my tastebuds and an onion that hadn't been peeled properly

the leek - also rather nice (but served in a silly bowl)

the parsnip - rather nice, but again too heavy on the salt

the cheese - i do not like blue cheese, but it was rather good with the apple, the jelly blob was nasty though (dimmed lights, crappier snap)

the exotic egg - the crappiest snap was of the nastiest of the dishes, the first dessert, apart from the tiny pain perdu i think the flavour and texture of the 'egg' was revolting actually

the chuao - now we're talking pure and utter tastebud delight! full of wonderful flavours and textures that complimented eachother sweetly

the apple - also this dessert, the very last dish, was superb, lovely flavours and textures

Apart from what I thought of the dishes themselves, here are a few more negative impressions I have of the evening. Yes I do expect more from a restaurant claiming to be fancy.

~ The waiters really should ask whether you want the meat/fish menu or the vegetarian one, you as a guest shouldn't have to ask for it.
~ When you've established you do indeed want the vegetarian menu it shouldn't take three courses before the waiters remember that simple fact.
~ When you ask about the ingredients and their origin the waiters really should be able to answer and not only say 'the egg comes from a hen'.
~ The waiters should be attentive and refill your water glass regularly without you having to wave at them for some time.
~ Some of the waiters were really nice and friendly, some did have a bit of an attitude problem actually.
~ As someone neither interested in nor fond of alcohol I think dinner is best enjoyed with water as beverage, I do prefer ice water before carbonated water. It is a nice gesture to let the guest choose and not impose one of them only. And the quality of the carbonated water was not good, there was a stale tang.
~ And yes, as it turned out, having to pay a simply ridiculous price for a decanter of (not good) water, is just... simply ridiculous.
~ Also, paying good money for a hyped meal of this kind (and yes I am well aware of the fact that a meal at the 'real' restaurant would indeed cost much more, still cheap it was not) strange as may seem, it is indeed nice to leave the restaurant satisfied and pleasantly full. We did not.
~ The guests who paid for the wine package got quite a generous, recurrent serving of wine, which did feel a bit absurd given the size of the portions... Perhaps the idea was to fill the diners with plenty of alcohol so they wouldn't taste or be critical of the hyped food?
~ Also, both the price of the taste menu and the wine package had been bumped up, without advanced noticed.

Apparently, it takes a lot more to charm me and my tastebuds completely than something hyped and Michelin-starred. A pleasant overall experience, Dill Sthlm, even if the food in general didn't at all live up to my expectations it was an eye-opening and fascinating evening on many other levels.

EDIT 13.09.29 - Apparently the Dill Sthlm experience was a PR-coup by the rather infamous German discount supermarket-chain Lidl. They've hired the Michelin-chef to prepare food from their groceries, to make people see that you can prepare great food from their stock quality doesn't count.

And once again some ridiculous PR-firm has made a mess of things, this is not the way to build customer relations and credability for a brand. Not to mention the reputation of the Michelin chef, if one had a wish to some day visit the Latymer that wish has certainly evaporated after this experience. I hope the money he was paid made up for a poor decision reputation-wise.

It doesn't get better with, yet another, communication manager being quoted to say "This has never really been a secret, we would have told if anyone asked. But noone asked." Surprise, on the evening in question we DID ASK where the name Dill came from and the waiter told us "It's because it's the same simple word in both Swedish and English". Clearly they'd either deceived the staff too or instructed the staff with that answer in order to deceive the guests. 

Let's just say I'm very pleased I was not one of those who naively praised the hyped food. And that I (we) did pick up on several negative impressions during the evening.

The only thing I buy at Lidl is kitty litter, will continue to do so. And somehow that is indeed a perfect symbol for what I think of Lidl and their business idea. And ridiculous PR-coups.

red brogue oxfords slippers

Spotted these in a window display when I strolled in Gothenburg.

You might remember I wrote about the Swedish Docksta design last year when I first spotted the lovely quirkiness of the brogue oxfords they'd come up with. (I also have a pretty pair, no oxfords though, of my own.)

But as I neither have the need of indoors office shoes for long working hours nor unhappy with the plethora of El Naturalista and ART (kind to my feet, the world and happiness instigating) shoes I already have they don't call my name (believe it or not!).

But granted, seeing they now also come in red I did get a bit of heart flutter seeing them...

september stockholm

From one day to the other autumn came - suddenly a distinct chill in the air, the tweed jacket wasn't too much (alas), no bare legs for the first time in four months (alas) and the heat pump is on (alas). As pretty as the season is colourwise I am so so missing the absolutely stunningly wonderful summer we've had. And I hate having to put on lots of clothes again, as much as I usually love layering I long for the simplicity of summer dressing. I miss the sundress and the need of only a simple cardigan.



But the (too early) Stockholm autumn sunsets are stunning and enjoyable.

Now there'll be six months of darker, shorter days, I'm sure there'll be many awesome days and great things happening during those months, but still I wish for the impossible, a clock turned back to summer and lighter, warmer, simpler days. And the tan to never fade away.

fresh vegetables

The fresh loot from the allotment garden market nearby. Doesn't it look marvellous?!



Carrots, beetroots and crazy sized courgettes.



Plus a tiny bottle of homemade marigold salve.



With the obligatory inspecting by paw inspectors - two of my favourite redheads caught in one photo.



Where do you usually get you usually buy your fresh veggies?

panda and bunny earrings

i swear i just stepped into this gothenburg kawaii-shop to see if there was anything bobbalooastic that could possibly be appropriate to get for small sized woollies.

instead these earrings screamed to be bought. clearly you never get too old for panda balancing on a ball and supersized black rabbits with pink ears earrings.

pretty perky, quirky, silly and fab if you ask me.

thank you, gothenburg ~

It has indeed been an awesome week well spent. I'm so pleased I finally made the decision to go to Gothenburg - a city I haven't been to for about 6 or so years I think and when I was there I never really walked around or use the tram - and book a lot of great work-related meetings with inspirational people.

I'm quite smitten by the city, its overall more laidback and friendly attitude compared to the often pretentious and always stressful feeling in Stockholm.

The city showed me sun, rain, picturesque districts and modern districts, fab trams and reckless bikers, great vegetarian meals, not so great vegetarian meals, cosy cafes and wonderful fika. I even got to go to an unexpected premiere of a play.

But most of all I (and Prosit) loved all the special people I got to meet, professional, personal, lovely and inspiring in different ways and fields of work (even if they all in some way worked with communication and words of course). Wow, wow, wow. And wow. Home with me I got lots of exciting things of various kinds.

These past few days also held too much coffee (soy latte), not enough sleep, not enough food, huge dark circles under my eyes and a strange husky voice from (too) much talking - but all that are indeed small prices to pay for such fabulously spiritizing days. Treasured days.

Thank you, Gothenburg,
we'll meet again, I'm sure ~

all the pretty apples of autumn

When you get awesome apples like these from a neighbour's tree I guess you have to admit it actually is autumn. One of the pretty perks of autumn.

As I'm writing this the rain is absolutely pouring down outside, which is one of the less attractive things about autumn, it usually is darn rainy and dull. But with one of the most amazing summers ever just behind us I guess there's not much need for whining, though granted, a spot of regular sunshine makes for a lighter mind.

What's the best thing/s and the worst things/s about autumn according to you?

Off to bed now, with a super-early morning (which I no doubt will regret when the alarm goes off), a train-ride (which I am pretty excited about as I rarely ride by train if commuter-trains don't count) and a three-days business/pleasure trip. Meetings booked, plans made and a bit of lovely time just for myself exploring a city I haven't been to for many years. I'm sure it'll be great fun and rewarding in many ways, but the strangest thing is that just this evening I realised this week has already been and gone in my mind and I'm already looking forward to next week when I have more great things booked. Well, tomorrow morning, the train-ride and a new environment will most likely get me back on track (no pun intended).

As I'm planning to have a fabulous week
I wish you the same ~

positions impossible

This weekend I've spent time with my little fuzzy bosom buddy again - this time s/he was saved from the paws of cats - s/he seemed a bit bottom heavy and sluggish, I guess it is the twilight time of a bumblebee's life this time of the year. So after spending some quantity as well as quality time together, for sprucing her/himself up and resting, I put her/him down amongst all the pretty clematis flowers. I do hope s/he got to indulge in nourishment and that her/his remaining days will be some lovely ones. Non cat-interrupted.





Because, seriously, them silly kitties do know how to entertain themselves, with themselves, extremly well. As the daily dose of positions impossible clearly shows.

Let's make this week positively pawesome,
let's make all positions impossible possible!