goodbye july

Dear July,

you've been a fast and hot month. Perhaps not too fast but certainly too hot.

With highs and lows you've been an eventful month full of learning and new experiences. And oh the waiting game.

Heartfelt laughters and heartfelt tears. Good food, bad food and awesome food.

I'm looking forward to your sibling August, please bring less hot days and lots of laughters. More learning, great food, fresh experiences and oh, I would indeed be very grateful for delightful, exciting professional news. 

Because the waiting game is a silly li'l thing that lets perfectly perfect opportunities and days pass by when so so much could be accomplished, upon that we can agree, right? Right.

That is my humble and hopeful wish for August,

dear August, you wistful last month of summer.

Just to compare 2014 months so far -
Farewell January
Goodbye February
Farewell March
Farewell April
Farewell, beautiful May
Hey June
Sweet rejection

On the very last day of July we fed chickens. Followed by a seemingly very interesting, stimulating and clever conversation between the bobbaloos and the chatty chickens. Heart.

focus on happiness

Actually no, I didn't buy this T-shirt, but I really adore the print. Simple and oh so important. Here are five things that made me happy today;

Instead of the T-shirt above I got me a lovely, cool knitted linen sweater on sales with another fabulous statement - The heart is a compass. From the same line as the stay inspired T-shirt. It'll be perfect for cooler summer evenings and for many years to come. That made me happy, that one sweater was left, that it was in my size and that it looked good.



It rained today! Finally. And a great deal of water poured down. And the temperatures sank to very pleasing degrees. It was again possible to breath and think. Energy returned. It still rains. And hopefully it will be possible to actually get a decent night's sleep. Touch wood.



Not the least bit as good as the peach pomegranate one, but still this kombucha was refreshing and uplifting. Yup, I need to drink this more often.



Stockholm Pride week started today. There are rainbow flags and signs everywhere and somehow the city seems a bit kinder and more loving. Even the Oatly drinks packaging is rainbow coloured. Their packaging design is awesome any day, but rainbow coloured even more so.

And you know me, I just match. Even if most summer days are Impi dress days it was a slightly more befitting day today.



This made me happy. But then this makes me happy and grateful everyday. To be surrounded by gorgeous, loving, quirky cats. One of the best things in life. And I have that in abundance. Lucky, lucky, lucky me. Happiness indeed.

What made YOU happy today?

favourite breakfast and dessert in krakow - cafe camelot

My intention was to write a post about "my three favourite places for vegetarian food in krakow" or such, but I realised that it would indeed be a very long post. So I'll make three posts, one for breakfast (as in this one, which also happens to be the best place for dessert/treat and evening tea), one for lunch and one for dinner (both go equally well for one or the other).



Very, very close to our apartment on Florianska - the main shopping street in Krakow - was the delightful, bohemian Cafe Camelot situated. On a quiet side street, off the bustling main street and huge main square.





I'm glad we got to enjoy summer mornings and evenings outside there, but I'm sure the quirky, sweet interior would be wonderful to enjoy on autumn and winter days. Just my type of cafe, just the type of cafes they do so well, so very well in Poland (similar to the best cafe in the whole wide world Jozef K...).





But of course a cute cafe would be nothing without a really lovely menu that offers plenty of choices for vegetarians, right? Right. Camelot does that well. And look, the menu even holds the sweetest sketches of cats!



Their freshly squeezed fruit juices were awesome - one of those places that always served the food with fresh fruit - and the desserts wonderful. If there is such a thing as falling in love with a chocolate cake I might have done just that with the sticky, gooey one at Cafe Camelot...



One thing I really really miss in Stockholm - well Sweden in general - is the fact that there aren't any cafes opened late in the evenings, serving tea and tea drinks. Because pubs and wine-bars are far from always what you're looking for when rounding off an evening. I often find that tea is the best thing to round off most days actually. And if you want a tea drink, not only tea, they really do great tea drinks in Poland. (More of that in Sweden, please?)



At Cafe Camelot I had both a raspberry vodka one - not for the faint hearted I discovered - and a raspberry juice one. You pour your the alcohol/juice into the cup of hot tea and voilá a perfect tea drink!



One of the best moments spent in Krakow were at Cafe Camelot. Thank you for the delightful breakfasts and those long, dark, warm summer evenings, the people spotting opportunities and the gooey chocolate cake. I hope we'll meet again, some day...

three prosit peas in a pod

Just another case of same same but different.





Or a case of like cat like owner. And sometimes there's just no time to compose oneself, then this is what happens. True story, just another evening in casa de Pia, two oddities on a sofa.



Three Prosit peas in a pod. Or three oddballs and one garden gargoyle.

to be overwhelmed with dog joy and other important snippets

From the daily weather cat, to the strawberry cake weather report to the daily weather hedgehog, slowly, slowly slightly cooler weather. What can I say, it's easy to be a bit obsessive with weather when you never seem to get a proper night's sleep due to the heat...


:: Today I'm contemplating the fact that a year ago today I was part of a really lovely event revolving around something I'm very passionate about. Truly madly deeply I worked wished wanted for that to evolve into something substantial, long-term, beneficial and profitable for everyone involved. Still waiting for that to happen.


:: This might be one of the the most endearing articles and movie clips I've seen in a long long time - Dog faints being overwhelmed with joy after being reunited with her owner. Tissues close at hand because you will both cry and laugh seeing this (and you might need earplugs too, because the excited dog's whimpering is loud).


:: I love these sort of projects, like the London Wildlife Trust. Sadly not something you see in Sweden/Stockholm, where (city) life seems to be about building more roads to accomodate even more cars and tearing down the old to build something new but far from always something better. Rarely do we hear something about preservation, eco-friendliness and caring for the city co-dwellers. As usual every other being should only co-exist if it can do so without inconvenience for the human specie. So many humans seem so utterly silly and ungraspably stupid, like from another planet of pure selfishness and ignorance.


:: Also cats can wait and long to be reunited with their humans, but they mostly do so in a moer dignified way - 30 melancholic cats wait for their humans to return


:: I may not be a fan of IKEA, but this collaboration with animal shelters in order to get people to adopt rescue dogs is so so so much awesome! I hope it'll spread to more stores all over the world.


:: Feed the vending machine with plastic bottles for recycling, feed stray dogs - another great initiative for dogs. Although, just like in Athens, my heart aches for those dogs without a home. All because of humans irresponsible behaviour. Again.


:: This is certainly a powerful campaign by the WWF regarding the heartbreaking rising numbers of poaching of endangered species - Stop one, stop them all. In 2014 the world really is still full of heartless and stupid people.


:: And while we're at the subject great campaigns that make you think, take a look at these brilliant ads that actually have something important to say.




Some days, for a brief moment, it's actually possible for two hedgehogs to share one food bowl. One might then think that humans, with a much larger brain that's said to be able to grasp much more complex questions and reasonings, would be able to live a more peaceful, compassionate, kind and insightful life. Most days I thoroughly question that capability.

the summer cake metaphor

Had dinner at a classic, posh Stockholm restaurant (celebrating a family member who turned 90) today. From a vegetarian point of view it was hugely disappointing - read all about it in a Yelp-review - the lack of care and knowledge when it comes to ingredients in this day and age, especially at such an expensive place... jeez. 

Afterwards we had strawberry cream cake at some of the dinner guests' home - and that was really nice at least, enjoyed in a shady spot in the garden with cool breezes. And for some reason all the remains of the cake now rests in my fridge. I said yes to a piece, I got the whole cake (but of course I will share!). 

Though I'm thinking that would be a really really really great metaphor for my professional life from now on; I'd be most happy with a perfect, generous piece of cake but I wouldn't mind getting the whole cake. I know I'll make an awesome job with it. 

And since sharing is caring, edible cake will be served regularly, not only metaphorical.

having a heatwave and kombucha

When you thought the temperatures wouldn't rise, they did. Hottest day so far in Stockholm, at least +34C.



Did some errands, had a lovely meet up, sought a shady spot for fika and conversation.



The ice tea was really fab and refreshing. The cake, too sweet. Which was a bit surprising as it was said to be a polenta GI-cake (the GI-bit I couldn't care less about, but all the nuts on top looked lovely), but the glazing was really too much.



Someone wanted ice-cream, I wanted a cold drink. And this was a really great discovery, a Swedish kombucha, from a Stockholm based micro-brewery. Peach and pomegranate flavour, another refreshing meet cute of the day.

And it made me think a lot about the fact that you can make your own kombucha and even if I'm no great fan of home brewing as such (it seems a bit messy to me) it's a beverage with many health benefits I'm very curious about and instead of paying a hefty price for bottles why not experiment with making one's own. After the summer, after the heatwaves, I think I'll do just that.



Also, on this very hot day I, befittingly, met George Clooney. At least I think I did. It might have been my mushy summer brain playing tricks on me. Or was it the kombucha? Well, if so, that would certainly be another reason for making your own me thinks.

the daily weather cat

We're having a heatwave. Just like last summer. (And strangely enough a year exactly on this day...). And I'm sure noone will complain about this when Scandinavian winter comes. And the weather is as the weather is, not much one can do about it, just accept. Well, except that this isn't normal and very likely an effect of global warming and pretty much all down to exactly that, what we humans do.

That aside, because it's just too hot to go all intellectual and analyzing right now, I'm thinking that a daily weather cat is a fun thing (via the InstaWeather app) Instead of complaining about the weather, what does a cat do to beat the heat. Besides being awfully cute no matter weather conditions of course.



Upside down always works.



Or simply find the perfect cool-ish spot in the shade.



Myself I relish a good fresh juice when it's hot. Too bad the cleaning of the juicer suddenly feels terribly laboursome. Otherwise I would gulp down pints of it every day right now.

I guess +30C doesn't sound that hot, to some, but when you look at a thermometer in the sun and see +46C I'm thinking it might be at least a bit hotter than 30 degrees, here and there.

Summer is a lovely time of the year, it really is. But I'm quite happy with temperatures around +25C. And breezes. And being able to sleep in a cool bedroom. And not feeling all sticky and uncomfortable about five minutes after taking a shower. Plus energy and inspiration, where have thou gone?

I am however very grateful for not being covered in thick fur when a heat wave strucks.

the chestnut girl and the hamster on a scooter

I bought three things in Krakow I treasure a bit more than the rest of the bunch (teas and skincare). And they are 1) the Little My handbag of course.

2) This adorable handpainted on ceramics brooch, called Chestnut girl. I'm not a great user of brooches, I have a little collection but I rarely remember to wear them. But this one was truly delightful and with a little "acorn" (one of my favourite shapes) dangling on it too of course I had to buy it. There were about six different girl motifs in different colours and in the end I chose this one. It was only when I got home that I saw on the back of the brooch that it was called Chestnut girl - which perfectly fits my hair and me being an October child. Bought in a tiny artisan shop called Galeria Manu Ciao in the inspirational, charming olds Jewish quarters of Krakow.

 

3) A T-shirt with a happy hamster. In a helmet. On a scooter. It may be ridiculous, mass-produced, and cheap but it's also such a happiness instigating silly little wearable thing. Possibly one of the best T-shirts I've ever owned. Happy hamster driving a scooter, I think there may be a law that says that every wardrobe should have one. And if there isn't it should be. Wouldn't you agree?

close encounter of the red velvet cupcake kind

One of these days I'm going to blog about my three favourite places to eat in Krakow, now is not the day. Instead I'm going to share the simple fact that I had my first red velvet cupcake in Krakow. And it was lovely.

I'm not a fan of cupcakes, I do not appreciate the overly sweet frosting or topping, but I prefer a robust muffin with fruit/nuts. Thus I very rarely have cupcakes. But the concept of a red velvet cupcake has always sounded legendary, luxurious, delicious and irresistable - but difficult to come by in Stockholm.

Who'd knew I'd stumble over one in Krakow of all places. Can't say that the cafe/bakery itself, Cupcake Corner Bakery, was very charming to sit down for a sugar dose in. But the cupcakes - thank goodness for reasonable sized ones and not supersized! - were adorable and very tasty (as far as cupcakes go). If they had had soy milk for latte I'm sure the red velvet experience would have been even nicer. For me. The bobbaloo thoroughly enjoyed the overall experience in every detail. It's not every day you have a close encounter with a perfect bobbaloo sized cupcake of the red velvet kind.

Where do you stand when it comes to cupcakes?
Love or hate? Why or why not?
If love, which is your favourite?
And what do you think of the red velvet?

oh the waiting game

This week I was suppose to start a new rather exciting copywriting project -

sadly not the one I was/am really passionate about, but very interesting just the same. And to be honest, as it is such a curious and serendipitious thing I do suspect that for reasons I can't tell, they're connected in some way. Because I don't believe that *coincidences* like this just happen, for no reason and without connection -

but as things look now it seems like the project won't start until mid August. Oh this waiting game, in different shapes and sizes! I truly feel I've been playing it for too long now. Waiting for other people to come to the right place and mind in time, the not being able to influence the decision-making-stage, just waiting for others to...

About high time something fabulastic happened on a professional level, because seriously, hard work, determination, skills and a passionate attitude with a dash of creative madness should pay off. Period.

Until the Universe, which works in mysterious ways as we all well know, see it fit to let those dreams to come true, well I'll keep working on less exciting but billable stuff and at least have time to enjoy the summer and the weather. So I'm not complaining as such, although anticlimax, it's such a nuisance. What is it good for, absolutely nothing.

always serve with fresh fruit

One (of many) things I loved about Krakow was that it seemed a somewhat common thing to be served fresh fruit and berries with your drinks, food and desserts. So from breakfast to evening drinks, you could always enjoy a handful of fresh summer fruit.

I could get use to that. At least I can do it at home, the fresh juice du jour might need fruitful company. Lunch, dinner and tea too. I wish I had my own blueberry and raspberry shrubs, sadly they don't seem to enjoy my (lack of) care. So I will stick with apples, melons, peaches and such.

A simple, nice and oh so tasty idea I took with me from Krakow. Thank you.

welcome minxy and jeffers

To be honest it's been about 1,5 years since bobs moved to the great Scandinavian settlement. A shocker, I know. Ungraspable really.

About high time for new blood. Say 'hi' to the two fresh on the block ones, stripey Minxy and dotty Jeffers. Let the fun begin for new small sized woollies! And their adorable heinies.

meet the little my handbag

When I've collected my thoughts, feelings and photos I'll write some posts on favourite places in Krakow, general impressions, Auschwitz and human behaviour and such. I will also need a couple of good nights' sleep and foot pampering. Because in my world going on holiday certainly don't mean rest and relaxation.

This post will be about the best purchase made in Krakow - a handmade shoulder bag with Little My. Leather yes, which, if not shoes and recycled, I've stopped buying. This is a one-off piece made from recycled bits. Roomy enough to fit a laptop and lots of stuff. I think it's delightful and quirky. Feel free to be green with envy.

Spotted by chance in a tiny shop just across the street from our apartment on Florianska. There were two and this is the one I didn't choose. 

Perhaps it's still left, if you happen to long for dometing special and Moominish. The shop's name is Hand Made, situated on Florianska 20, Krakow, Poland. 

When autumn comes - some glorious months from now - I and Little My will have great times together I'm sure.

walk see cry krakow

Today we spent some heartbreaking, exhausting hours at Auschwitz - and just like the visit to Robben Island I can't stop crying or thinking about the senselessness. I will write and show more in a later post - and with a long bus ride there wasn't much else done. But so be it, it was a must visit. It should be a must visit for EVERYONE.

it was good to get soul soothing things done and seen today too. like good tea, great food, lovely cafes and the sweetness of animals.

good night, krakow ~