farewell, beautiful may

This certainly is the prettiest of seasons, countless shades of green, a continous flow of new flowers, sweet scents and fresh starts. And as far as my office goes, from cowslips to lilies of the valley. From April to May.

What I bring with me from, yet another, lovely month is this -

:: that saying yes is most often the best thing to do. That by accepting an invitation on a rather short notice you're open to really, really, really good and unexpected things to happen.
:: there really IS such a thing as serendipity. And that makes my heart sing.
:: the generosity of some people can be really mindblowing. Truly. And when you meet such people they make you think about how important a feature that is, how inspiring and what can you do to pay it forward and pay it back.
:: how blessed I am to have met so many good people over the years, especially these past few years. And quite a few of them via Twitter.
:: I love Twitter. Such a great social channel on so many different levels. For so many purposes.
:: LinkedIn isn't half bad either.
:: that writing about states of confusion can be truly liberating and from that shift in thinking very good things can appear.
:: that you really should tell people about your dreams and what you want, it may feel silly, you may feel exposed and open to ridicule. But from being passionate and open you can get fantastic support and kindness when you least expect it.

And as always, the importance of beauty and inspiration. Unpretentious recycling and innocent sweetness in a bottle or two. Heart.



What things do you bring with you from beautiful May?

ginger joe

A couple of years ago I met Ginger Joe. Haven't had the pleasure since actually. When in Gothenburg apparently the pleasure was had again and what a nice one it was. With lots of ice, a great meal, brilliant company and dazzling conversation Joe was the perfect compliment.

If you haven't met Ginger Joe, he's a mustachioed, alcoholic ginger beer and rather a splendid chap to enjoy the company of on a warm summer evening.

diy bird feeder

Spotted this pretty darn fabulous diy birdfeeder at Alsta gardens last weekend. What a great way to use old pottery, ceramics, whatever beads you have lying around etc. Only your imagination is the limit to what can be created. I see bird feeders or bird baths, but I'm sure the creations can be used as hanging "baskets" for fruit, bathroom stuff or holders for all sorts of trinkets and treasures. Very inspirational, wouldn't you agree?



I do believe I need to raid the nearest thrift store for old plates and bowls asap. And I have lots of glass beads since my jewellery making days that I won't use for jewellery again - when I get my jewellery making mojo back, I'm thinking it might have gone on an extended holiday in company with my reading mojo - which would be lovely to use for these creations instead of chunky wooden ones.



A selection of previous birdfeeders in my garden are

~ the apple hook - a disappointment
~ the dotty one - pretty to look at
~ the red moomin house - bird success!
~ the white moomin house - success too!

find one fault fika and other short stories

This is not the front paw, this is the hind paw of one incredibly tiresome cat that has been removed from the kitchen table about a gazillion times. I may be persistent in matters that really matter, but today I was overpersistened by a purrsome cat. Beware of cat paws in your fika is a new warning sign in this residence, in case anyone fastidious with cat hair in food will come to visit. Which most probably will not happen until hell freezes over of course.



It is the times of lilacs. This stunning hedge was seen in Stockholm the other day. The colour is absolutely amazing. Somewhere between purple and pink. I don't think I've ever seen lilacs like this, superb. Nature is amazing.



This pretty way of serving water in jugs I spotted at a favourite cafe in Gothenburg last week. Similar to the strawberry water, but more pleasingly creative and artistic me thinks. Simple yet details that makes a lasting and sweet impression.



It has been known that books can be bought solely because of their mesmerizing covers, the same goes for teas apparently. Found this box on Åland the other week, it wasn't the name "Emotional Detox" that made me get it, promise, but the delightful design of the package. The tea itself is organic "ayurvedic herb and spice infusion with sweet hibiscus and mint" for a harmonious life. Not really my cup of tea (pun intended) flavourwise, but not too bad tasting.

And yes, there is always comfort in tea. And cats. And lilacs. And books. And what would we do without drinkable water?

pink vegan sandals

And they have arrived! The pink sandals I've been oogling for a while. And they're vegan, which of course makes them extra special. They have been thoroughly inspected as usual and of course the paw stamp of approval has been stamped with enthusiasm.



They're pretty gorgeous me thinks and seems very comfortable. Unfortunately the weather which has been high summer generous with temperatures up to +30C this past week has now decided that around +12 is quite enough thank you very much. Thus I don't see an inauguration anytime soon alas. Which of course gives me plenty of time to decide on the perfect nailpolish for little toe and friends.

The sandals are from El Naturalista (duh!) and this vegan model is named Sila (now I just wish they would make the Tesela and Dome models in vegan versions too...). I hope and think we'll be summer friends for a long long time, pink sandals and I.

~ Yes I know, it seems like this will be a week of pink and green theme, I didn't plan it, it just happened. Like often really awesome things do. 

green and pink

The outcome of the elections to the European Parliament was of course in parts absolutely heartbreaking showing a scary, blatant lack of knowledge in history. But just as I've stopped reading the newpapers and watching the news in order to have good energy to do good deeds I choose to concentrate on the in parts amazing results.

Because a) the Swedish Green Party (Miljöpartiet) is now the second largest party as far as Sweden in EP (3 seats) is concerned. And b) the Swedish Feminist Party (F!) had a great result and will get one seat in the EP. Pretty mindblowing. I cheered a lot and cried a bit over those results. So there are indeed good forces out there too, wanting to create a more compassionate, kinder, greener, more sustainable and equal society. Well done you!

And today I sported a green and pink look, which of course wasn't very laboursome since pink and green is my favourite colour combo anyway. Just embracing my not so secret and not so inner colour nerd.



PS All of the + 50 % who didn't vote, whatever were you thinking?! DS
PPS You know that feminism is only common sense, that it's all about equal rights for all genders and a better, kinder society for everyone, right? Right. DS
PPS And both the German and the Dutch Animal Party got seats in the EP too. Just how wonderful is that! DS

5 articles that will make your online and offline life better

~ Everyone is totally winging it, all the time - loved this and as the article said "This realisation is alarming at first, but it's ultimately deeply reassuring." Good to remember at those times when we feel we're faking it, when we question if we really are good at what we're doing, everyone else seems so professional and on top of everything. All. the. time. Guess what, everyone else thinks you are!

~ Why salaries shouldn't be a secret - seems like the last tabboo, the salary. I believe the lovely thing called transparency is great regarding this too. For so many reasons which the article sums up really well. One being incompetence shouldn't be rewarded of course.

~ If you want to write rude emails here are 9 things you should do - I think most of the things makes common sense, not to do of course. What do you think?

~ 3 ways to get out of a bad mood - a good read for getting out of a funk. And let me add the advice of writing to get what's bothering you out of the system. I have to say that when I finally decided to write down my feelings about this confusing part of my last year it turned out to be cathartic. Easier to move on and tweak your strategy for whatever goal you have in life and work, write, write, write.

~ What do you want from your online presence? - this easy read article gives you simple and straightforward advice.

It still baffles me that so many people are clueless and careless about what they publish online. Everything you say and do reflects on the person you are, both in private and public. Guess what, a basic rule is that everything you write online should be just as easy to say and do offline with the person/s in front of you. Stupid, ignorant things have a tendency to spread like wildfire online. To care for your personal brand should be rather essential really. Do good things, write good stuff and by all means think things through before you hit the publish button. Don't do anything in the heat of the moment. It will most probably come back and bite you in your personal brand heine sooner or later.

PS Always remember to see your target audience - målgrupp sing., målgrupper plur. in Swedish - as a cat, can you explain what you're doing to a cat and make them give you paws up then you're on the right track to success. Don't worry about the language issue you might experience with a feline, I'm sure they understand much more than you think. DS

to body butter or not

Only a few years ago I was not a fan of body butters, I thought they were too sticky, gooey and left an uncomfortable oily surface on skin. But with age comes not only wisdom in abundance but also very dry skin alas. Thus now I love a great jar of sweet scented body butter.

My favourites are probably the ones from Body Shop and the two favourite scents are mango and moringa. And now strawberry. The blueberry and raspberry doesn't smell of neither berry imo, so I won't get those again. And then I have a sweet pea jar I haven't used as yet.

When I asked around on Twitter and Instagram which favourite scents of body butter people had I learnt that apparently there are so many more that I hadn't even seen in the shops. Like lemon, chocolate and coconut. How lovely me thinks!

Do you enjoy body butters?
If so, any favourite scent (or brand)?

goodbye gothenburg

you have been welcoming, sun and fun filled, generous, inspiring and intense, thank you for that.

i will now spend the weekend sorting thoughts, information, ideas and notes. and sleeping.

goodnight gothenburg

Twenty hours ago I woke up in Stockholm, after an eventful work day full of information (and some quite quite quite unexpected such) I'm now falling asleep in Gothenburg.

It has been a grand day, both from a work as well as a personal point of view. I'm certain tomorrow will be another great day in this wonderful west coast city.

Twenty five hours from now I will hopefully fall asleep in Stockholm again. 

Goodnight Gothenburg.

don't forget to vote!

I did my EU-voting today. Dithered  between three parties. With three agendas that are very important to me and for a better world for us all; the environment, equality and animal rights.

In the end I chose one of the three (obviously) and made a well-informed decision with the help from small sized woollies of course.

I may not be a supporter of the EU, far from, but I do believe it's important to cast a vote for what you believe in. If you don't you can't really complain about the institutation as such.

So to all you Europeans, remember to vote, your voice matters and so does your vote!

a sad state of confusion

Once upon a time someone contacted me regarding something I blogged and was really passionate about. As life would have it lots of things (ie life itself) came between the something and I. So before it could be further pursued one and a half year went by. But of course I was a better I 1,5 years down the line and when things are meant to happen they do.

So I contacted the someone about the something again. And was remembered by the someone over the something. Now as a creative business owner full of ideas still being passionate about the something I was clearly in a different position than I'd been before.

It's now been pretty much another one and a half year since. And without going in to any details I have to say that this has been one of the most bizarre situations I've been through, both from a professional and personal point of view.

And given recent information it has become even more bizarre. I can't even tell you how completely bafflingly remarkable it is, I feel like a question AND exclamation mark. And to be quite honest, I feel deceived.

Had it been any other something I would not have put up with the confusing, irrational behaviour of the someone. Because the time and energy, good great ideas and focus, problem solving and good will put into it has (so far) not at all led to the great things they ought to have. I've put both my professional rumour on the line and my time. I do not appreciate having done that for nothing, that was supposed to have been something.

• I just wish more people could be action instead of talk.
• I also wish that people didn't say they have the authority to do something,
  when in the end they don't. 
• Being honest and transparent is always attractive.
• I wish people could just say what they want instead of pussyfooting around.
• Mind-reading is rather annoying and most of us are not very good at it.
• I wish people could just be straight and say yes (preferably yes!) or no and not maybe.
• Don't insinuate something and then not follow through without any explanations.
• Don't mess up and say you're sorry when in the end it seems like the messiness followed by the sorry is something of a routine. 
• Sorry, it happened because of... and how do we solve this or how can I make it up to you, are much nicer ways of acting.
• Simply no replying to perfectly professional emails and texts about professional matters initiated by you isn't very... professional. What's up with that?

Everything you do, everything you say is something that either helps or set your personal brand back. It's a fine line between goodwill and badwill. To be professional, friendly, honest, personal (without being private) and prestigeless shouldn't be that difficult, imho.

What makes me frustrated and annoyed also makes me sad. Because somehow I feel that beneath all this incomprehensible messiness there is also this trust (yes it's the same someone and the something), a firm handshake, a steady eye and a great smile that bode well.

As I'm a believer of the "things happen when they are meant to" and "everything is connected" I know there's a meaning to all this. Right now I just feel a bit hapless about it, because this clearly had so much potential in so many ways. Instead it became a state of confusion, mixed messages, fuzziness, inaccurate and repressed information. When it really needn't have been.

Let's have lunch or talk about it over coffee, shall we?

what's in a salad?

I'm grateful for having grown up in a home where vegetables and salads were a big part of pretty much every meal. Perhaps not the snazzy, inventive kinds of salads in those days, but lots of veggies just the same.

Meals with no veggies feels utterly weird and unsatisfying to me. Actually people who don't devour vegetables seem utterly weird and unsatisfying to me. 

At a cafe on Åland the pies are always served with this lovely, crunchy salad. Everytime I say "must do this at home!", so far I haven't. But at least I took a proper picture of it this time, thus I know it holds - lettuce, red cabbage, crunchy lentils (not over-cooked), black beans, radish, raw courgette, cauliflowers, carrot, paprika, tomato and parsley. No dressing, just clean flavours as nature intended.

Soon I will make my own version.

What's your favourite little side salad?
Is it served at a restaurant/cafe or do you make it yourself?
Do tell, I'd love to get some inspiration!

may day stockholm

Oh, the bliss and heart that is early summer Stockholm. A city that certainly has its flaws, but no lack in beauty.



Another day well spent, this time with talking, lunching, laughing, walking, listening, dining. One of those special days when you have conversations with someone who actually is capable of listening, thinking and talking. A dialogue day compared to a monologue one.

A day to be grateful about. Beautiful in so many ways.

may day åland

A day well spent on Åland. Good for the soul, resting for the mind. Easy on the eye. And as a vegetarian you never need to worry about leaving the island hungry. Behold a wee Åland cavalcade de la snaps.

may the magic

... and you make me feel like dancing

have the loveliest of may weekends 

one and all ~

to party like a witch

Once upon a time (about 15 years ago or so) I threw a party in my bathroom. It was a brand new, renovated bathroom and I was *very* happy about the finish and look. It was all pink and it was lovely in every detail.

As it was around Halloween I partied like a witch and given I apparently didn't have my usual hate-the-camera-face I must have been ecstatic.

I'm a very different me now compared to then. Some parts of the then-me I wouldn't mind getting back, but mostly I'm a much better me-version these days.

But one thing I really miss, all these years later, is that gorgeous, pink, tiled bathroom. Oh I wish I could bewitch it here right now. Sadly my witch powers are lacking though (despite what the picture tells).