goodbye august

To be honest I'm glad to see you go. Since you've been a general disappointment. On a professional as well as personal level. Add to that on a weather as well as health level.

A prolonged cold leaving me feeling blah most of the month. A hot summer that was cut abruptly in early August and lots of rain (oh rain where were you in the heat of July?). Work related issues, friendship issues.

On the bright side - plenty of work, some rather decent food memories, a pair of shoes that turned out to be keepers and always sweet cat moments. Oh, and I did get my reading mojo back! And there was the annual flower picking, always soothing for the soul and my office window sill looks lovely again. For that I am grateful.

Still, overall far from the month I had hoped, worked and wished for.

So bye bye August, to be honest I can't say I'm glad to have met you. All your acting up on my behalf probably served a purpose, so far unknown, but it has made me sad and blue - unlike July - wistful and a tad weary. I need to refill the happy account asap. And I need to move forward, setting new goals. Because what may seem like a loss to me, is really much more a loss to those who chose to go another way. It's just the topsy turviness, the serendipity of it all that has gotten me out of balance.

I'm sure September will be a very fine month, I'm beginning work with something new and fab this week. I do hope for many days of Indian summer. There's the upcoming election which I have every faith will bring good changes. There's a great dinner planned with fellow yelpers. And by the end of the month I'm going to Gothenburg again, which is always a treat. And who knows how much awesomeness lies in between? It's a blank canvas of... anything amazing can happen!

Have a wonderful month of September,
may the magic be with you!

from prison to flower field

it's been a day of contrasts. yelp turns 10 this year apparently and the stockholm party was held at långholmen prison (now museum - hostel - hotel - restaurant). 

so from being marched to prison, to having a light 'lunch' - only 2 of the 6 things served at the buffet were suitable for vegetarians, the flavours were lovely but i'm glad i wasn't hungry - in happy company of fellow yelpers.

to flower picking at växplats nybyn, the day has been full. and colourful. 

and shoe changing. though accompanied by my wistful mind throughout. 

the silly littering season

Also known as election in Sweden-time. Gosh, I truly loath election campaign posters - above one not included in that hate though, it's the Animal Party's poster, it's darling and a much needed party in politics obviously. For all the innocent voices that can't make themselves heard.

But for the rest, here's my reasons for loath



a) the ridiculous amount of money (millions) spent on them could have gone to something decent and world improving. It's about high time politicians and public sector employees in charge treated public finances as if it were there their own personal money. This devil-may-care attitude with vast amounts of money is both maddening and scary.

b) you will not get anyone to change an opinion or vote for your party due to campaign posters. For that they will have to be extremly clever and unique. Which brings us to the next point... >

c) the slogans and copy is most often of embarrassingly low quality. Someone has gotten paid for coming up with all this stupidity. Someone has approved it. Facepalm.

d) not only a complete waste of money, it's also a waste of paper AND littering of a blatant, appalling kind. Every election the same thing happen - apparently campaign workers who eagerly put the rubbish up haven't got the energy or inclination to take them down and put them in a recycle bin.

e) this year (especially from the right wing parties) there's a spiteful and predjudical tendency of playing the blame game with atrocity propaganda. Also on said posters.

Ridiculous and laughable, there are indeed reasons for disgust of politicians. Hey stupid, I'm not the least bit interested in what you think the other phalanx MIGHT do, I'm only interested in what YOU can do better. Newsflash: There's a vast difference between mindless mudthrowing and the meeting of arguments with facts in a debate. Yes, the foolishness of politicians can indeed be ungraspable...

If possible I would vote for the party that doesn't have any campaign posters. As if.

Can't wait for the election to be over (September 14).
Can't wait for a new government to step in after 8 years of abusive leadership which has most effectively dismantled the welfare society turning Sweden into a cold, harsh, uncaring society to live in. Can't wait for a more environmental and gender equality progressive, animal and human friendly government to be installed.
Because that's desperately needed.
Whilst campaign posters are not.

summer cupcake with a view

Sitting in this armchair, at this cafe, with this view, having this soy latte accompanied by a summer muffin - also known as cupcake apparently, the frosting was strawberry and the muffin itself bursting with lovely cardamom and almond flakes - was a simple yet blissful and comforting moment in one of the last shivering days of summer.

The last shivering days of a month that has been an overall, mainly disappointing and sadly lousy month for a whole lot of reasons. Which makes me really blue, for a whole lot of reasons. Some times it is difficult to hold on to hope and convictions, no matter how truly, madly, deeply true they are.

And when that's the case it's also hard to be open to other paths and opportunities. As well as seeing the good things that have happened too. Right now, at this moment in time, blue is the colour. That too will change, this too shall pass. And there will be rainbows and silver linings, there will be pink roses and probably unicorns too.

the stockholm quiz

A pretty nifty book (in Swedish only) which is in fact a quiz on Stockholm, by photographer Jeppe Wikström. "Stockholmstestet, 2500 frågor för dig som har koll på stan" - The Stockholm test, 2500 questions for you who knows the city. Or rather think you know the city, because there are plenty of tricky questions about things I have no idea about. After reading/quizzing one does know more though. Good for the all-round knowledge in other words, always a great bonus!

The book makes for a good quiz-night, or rather many evenings, with friends. It has a little built-in and very noisy counter that you can use if you play on your own, with a friend or in two teams. But it's perfectly fine to just read the questions and skip the noise of course.

A book much appreciated by cats too. Obviously.

colourful bird clothespins

It's a well-known fact that Sisyphean tasks are much easier to perform with fun tools and great products involved. In the case of doing laundry I'm now well chuffed to report that I have a bunch of very sweet bird clothespins from fabulous, colourful Danish interior design and accessories company Rice to spice the laundry thing up. I've been oogling them for years but never gotten around to the purchasing. Now I obviously have. At last. And they make me smile. Like colours and sweet things always do.

Which is all the more important when you have to face those routine there's-no-escape Sisyphean challenges.

the prettiest of beans

Got these pretty beans from my sister who grows plenty of vegetables at her country cottage. I have yet to taste them, but I'm thinking a salad with wild-rice and other colourful vegetables would be perfect for them to play a part of. I'm sure they'll taste great, how could they not?



Especially after having been thoroughly inspected by another pair of pretty sister beans (bet you haven't heard about my purrfect inspectors with a special license to paw before, huh?).

Somehow nature and animals have a habit of always coming up with new fine things and never disappoint.

why movies are better watched at home

What begin as "let's go to the movies and watch 'The trip to Italy'" ended with a weekend of movies on DVD/TV. Because when it rains it pours and with not being in the best of moods at the moment I prefer doing movies at home, in sofa, with snacks and as many cups of tea as I want. And toilet breaks. And cats present.



So from snacks inspecting - you know the rule, if you eat plenty of carrots you can eat any snacks of choice, right? Right -



to leg warming - why have only one clever leg warmer when you can have two? - and



your own private human tummy kneading servant - the perfect way to excercise the snacks away I've heard - 

'American Hustle' - good actors, makeup and costumes but all that cleavage galore as well as entrapment completely blown out of proportions and a lifestyle that really doesn't interest me it was just a blah movie as far as I'm concerned. Only 2 of 5 thumbs up.

'Prisoners' - oh the greyness, the completely depressing settings and mileus plus one of those plots where you see how everything is connected well before the characters makes for a rather annoying experience. Another 2 of 5 thumbs.

'Blue Jasmine' - haven't watched it yet actually, but this I'm so looking forward too watch. Will update post with my views then.



And of course, one always need a special are-you-awake-still inspector so you don't miss the impawtant bits of the movies.

You simply do not get any of this if you head to a cinema salon. Why movies are better watched at home. In general.

last chance saloon

I hereby proudly admit to having finished a brick of a book in a couple of weeks. So so many years since that happened. Too many years. The reading  mojo might indeed be back.

The book in question was neither Pessl nor Rowling, because those two do not get me in a good mood for a decent night's sleep. But read through they'll be, one of these days.

No the book I finished was one of the gazillions I pick up in thrift stores regularly, to read or to leave for Bookcrossing. Seemed like a light read, haven't read a book by Marian Keyes in ages. Outgrown that kind of chiclit perhaps. Plus I remember weight obsession always played a rather substantial part of her stories and that's something I find hugely irritating. And a vast amount of alcohol being consumed, equally annoying. But hey, why not give it a go, maybe it wasn't so bad?

Admittedly I was about to put it away after some chapters due to that weight obsession showing its ugly head, and all the drinking, taking the fun out of the reading. But somewhere along the way I was drawn into the story just the same.

And the more I read, the more I saw features from myself in the two main characters, Katherine and Tara. Mild features, yet features I'm not very proud of. Features that would do well being improved on. So I couldn't stop reading. And smiling and even laughing on the odd page. 

It was an enjoyable read, even if it had been even better with less weight issues and alcohol naturally, a little dose of Keyes now and then will be alright. I think I already have a bunch of thrift books of hers to get my easy read fix.

And first brick novel in ages, for me, hey that says something! Welcome mojo ~

indoors outdoors feline triptych

Should I stay or should I go, indoors or outdoors, that is the question du jour.

Outdoors one might have to share bench with sister red and that just would not do.

And indoors are you.

on happiness, meaningfulness and colours

Five articles with readworthy content. All revolving around happiness, meaningfulness and hope. All of which I think most of us can related to in one way or another. And of course learn and be inspired from.

:: Stop worrying so much and engage, real trumps perfect - in work and life both I'd say

:: There's more to life than happiness - not sure I agree with the conclusions in this article, I find them a tad strained somehow. For me happiness AND meaningfulness should go hand in hand. But I suppose that's what most of us strive for, and while working on that I do not see a problem with appreciating things and experiences in our everyday life that makes us happy. Inlcuding the silly, possibly superficial matters. Which the next articles talks more about...

:: Engage with life and happiness will follow - there's a difference between short-lived and long-term happiness, how to achieve one or the other

:: 11 ways young people have influenced the climate debate - so much hope here...

:: 9 things successful people will not do - or rather how emotionally intelligent people act and react

And yes, bonus information du jour - the importance of colour matching your food. Good food and good colours, that's certainly ALWAYS something to be happy about.

leonard and the donut tower

When you're a small sized woolly it's a big big world. And a plate with donuts become an edible version of the Leaning tower in Pisa - or in this case, the Leaning tower at Pia's - and rather magical.

With bobbaloos in da house having a fika, having a donut, is never ever just eating something to satisfy a sweet tooth, it's a whole magical experience. If you allow yourself to see it from a bobbaloo point of view. Which I promise is very good for the heart, that is the seeing not the bobbaloo amount of donut eating.

And on the subject of bobbaloos, vegetarian food and sweet things, I hope you haven't forgotten that you can actually get a whole fabulous little book about small sized woollies and their eating adventures? Get your copy of 'food and drink with bobbaloos - vegetarian delights for small sized woollies' right here!

PS Best enjoyed with a cup of tea and something for the sweet tooth DS

organic hand cream etc

I, or rather my hands, enjoy a good hand lotion. But admittedly most likely I don't use it as often as I should for best caring soft result. On the other hand, equally likely, I probably use it more often than people in general.

These two bottles of hand cream and hand & nail cream with arnica I got as a gift a while back. Used it a couple of times, it's quite enjoyable and the scent is lovely. Organic ingredients and paraben free. I'm sure it'll be a good hand companion come the cold, dry winter months. Never been a fan of Yves Rocher in general, which I suspect has not so much to do with the quality of the products but more of what I've felt over the years is the brand's frumpiness. Would you agree or disagree on that opinion?

Talking about skincare and winter skin I've come to realise during the summer months that the Kiehl's skin rescuer (updated blog post now) that really didn't work for my dry winter face has been really wonderful to my summer face. And perfect as a base to the bare minerals original foundation which has been such a hit. Different seasons and different weathers apparently call for different skin regimes, something that hasn't been obvious to me, until now.

How's your relationship with hand creams?
Do you have a favourite?
And do your skin calls for different skin regimes depending on season/weather?
If so, what's your favourite summer resp winter product?

spread joy with fabulous colours and happy patterns

Three years ago I bought the fantastic strawberry shirt. Which initially brought not only me but the people I met a lot of joy. It was a truly happiness instigating kind of shirt.

At least until it turned out the soft, stretchy cotton jersey fabric went inelastic after following the washing instructions. I know, I could should have made a complaint in the shop but I didn't. Instead I wore it very rarely, because it was simply too uncomfortable and restraining. Which was a pity since it's a beautiful happy garment that screams "flaunt me!".

So as much as it pained me I recently decided to sell it, preferably to someone considerably smaller than me so the shirt could flow like a tunic instead of a tight fitting shirt. It now lives with and is worn by the pug named Malte's owner and (according to my mum) she looks lovely in it. The strawberry shirt/tunic was worn to a birthday party recently which both children and grown-ups attended and everyone loved it. The grown-ups thought it was lovely and the children were borderline exstatic. Especially one little disabled girl who was completely mesmerized by the pretty, colourful strawberry and clouds piece.

This made me well chuffed to hear. As much as I miss having it in my wardrobe I'm not exactly lacking in the clothes to wear department, ahem. And hearing about it making both wearer and others that joyful, well it even makes me a bit teary eyed.

It also makes me think about the fact that so many too many people wear black and overall boring, unobtrusive colours, anti-colours - example of the kind of people I feel I'm living in a parallell universe to. When in fact that never make anyone happy, neither the wearer nor the people crossing its path. Spreading light and happiness in an unpretentious everyday way can be so simple, wear something colourful and smashing. And possibly with a fabulous pattern.

With the strawberry shirt now off to a new home I can at least be very very grateful for a grand kind of carrot cardigan to wear.

So what are you going to wear tomorrow?

have a cup of tea served with wisdom

However did we find wisdom in life before teabags came with wise words? Two good things in one. To be honest though, when it comes to this organic tea from Shoti Maa called (brace yourself) 'Emotional detox' it was the pretty packaging (and not the name, mind you) that called my name. But it turned out to sadly be one of those times when the content isn't nearly as good as the packaging promises.

Not my cup of tea flavourwise. But I enjoy a bit of wisdom now and then - so here are the latest two quotes from my tea -

"Do first what is necessary, then what is possible. And then suddenly you manage the impossible."

"Your feeling at night is the fruit of the flower of the day"

Yes they're both a bit sappy. And clichés, still they ring a certain bell (like many clichés do). Wouldn't mind having them as guiding lights for the week to come actually. So much that need to happen now. And then I'm not only talking about saying bye bye to a certain persistent cold (seriously, enough now). Definitely more of 'well hello there awesome things, can I give you a hug?!'. Let the tea guide you.

the secret smile of a cat

One of a gazillion reasons to love cats - their hidden smiles.

Another reason - they're a constant source to smiles.

how many bobbaloos fit in a biodegradable bamboo cup?

Don't need any more cups or plates or glasses or bowls, my kitchen cupboards are overflowing (despite having cleansed them, and hopefully made charity shops happy). Still getting them as photo props now and then is of course essential. Or if something is really special, interesting and new, then a purchase is made.

Like if you find a cup made from bamboo, which's biodegradable and pleasing to the eye. This one I picked up at a museum shop recently. Enjoyed its caffe latte-cup design, colour and obviously material. From Danish company Nordal

Doubt I'll be having any hot drinks in it though, too small for my liking of tea cups, but the biodegradability intrigues me and it'll look great as a vase.

So how many bobbaloos does the cup have room for? Care to guess?

the colourful life of prosit

One thing I most adamantly practise everyday at work is the importance of surrounding yourself with beauty and inspiration. And that really doesn't have to be anything flash and grand - and living in a house that is very much more chaos than grandness overall, that's not even possible. But at least the office is a calm haven. And I need both - because the beauty is most often found in the details. Of course. But not obvious to everyone.

So today, on a day when I'm still in the claws of the cold - really, how much snot does one head contain? And is there no limit to the amount of coughs in one day? Plus, how long of a holiday have Mr Scent and Ms Taste decided to take? Not to mention, earblockage due to swollen membranes what is that good for? - but still needed to get work done, I enjoyed the small things of prettiness and colour. Like

• a large glass of fresh ginger and carrot juice ie orange in pink
• the fact that a new project system I'll be working with has a very pink name
• that I found some pink paperclips in my pink office that are heartshaped
• that when I was to sit down in my very pink, favourite garden chair to drink my juice and read the user guide for the new project system with a very pink name a prosit sister (red in genetics but orange/ginger to the eye) came to my aid. Because clearly you can never have too many helping paws
• nor too much pink or orange in your life
• or heart shaped matters
  

the shoes are keepers and other fine things du jour

A week later I've decided that the shoes I discarded as cheap bling looking and not at all for me are indeed rather fine anyway. Because a) in another light they're not as shiny metallic as I first thought b) they're not bling in a tacky, tasteless (animal printsy) i wanna grab a millionaire bling but more of a summer fun dash of a bling like c) look lovely with a tan d) just as comfortable, cute and kind looking as their red siblings e) little miss redhead agrees. Ie they're keepers. Inaugurated today and de-lovely.





A week later I also painted both toe- and fingernails in the same monochrome but perky colour (Essie Turquoise & Caicos) and left the house for the first time since the cold struck. Far from fully recovered, but still back on the life track one might say.



And it was for a dinner date and fika with my bestie fellow happy muse. Lovely dinner, lovely talking, lovely fika. Well hello there best soy latte in the whole wide world at favourite cafe it's been a very long time no see or drink!



The cooler weather, the being out in public again, the food, the coffee and most of all the company and the conversation left me really inspired and invigorated. A day of very fine things that made me most happy.

How was your day?

10 inspirational articles and a meet cute

Time to give you a bunch of for different reasons read-worthy articles (old and new). And since only words and links are rather boring, the spice and bonus du jour; today's meet cute pug vs brit. The topics are from one end to the other, from the deep and truly troublesome to the light and silly. Because that's how my brain works.



:: 10 habits of people who follow their dreams - inspirational, go forth and catch your dream!

:: When humans started to make art their personalities got gentler (this is when testosterone was reduced...)

:: 8 ways climate change is making the world a more dangerous place - heartbreaking and yet too many turn a blind eye, make crazy daily choices, living in a way that makes it more dangerous every day... 

:: Fabulous Moby tells it like it is - Why I'm vegan

:: Not a fan per se of selfies, but sometimes one just has to and why not make it a good snap instead of a ridiculous, boring duckfaced one? Some creative, clever tips can be found here

:: And while talking about selfies - The battle over a monkey's selfie. Common sense here should (obviously) be that a monkey trust should be set up.

:: 6 thinkers whose depressing ideas will make you feel happier - well at least in a better mood and with your philosophy cap on

:: What happens when young and old swap clothes - awesomeness

:: Just for the fun of it - 18 reasons you should date a vegetarian

:: 22 lifestyle changes that'll instantly improve your life - simple things and there is something for everyone here

favourite dinner in krakow - pod norenami

From favourite breakfast (and dessert) to favourite lunch it's now time for dinner in Krakow. At an Asian restaurant called Pod Norenami. Which in fact was a place I learnt of from a business contact - yes, even on holiday Prosit books meetings it seems - who took me there on lunch one day.



It may seem obvious, in this day and age, but it hasn't always been and far from every one take that into account but I find that it's always a good good thing to be very up front with your vegetarianism when it comes to meetings which involves food. Because a) it's a statement that says a lot about a person's values and b) to of course avoid the ridiculous situation of ending up at a restaurant where there are no decent vegetarian/vegan options.



So this was pretty much the first thing I was very clear about when he suggested lunch, 'it must have good vegetarian options, other that that I'm flexible'. So when we walked to the restaurant he told me that the place served mainly vegetarian food, but also meat for those who wanted, that it was a restaurant that got very good reviews, also from other well-known chefs, and was very popular.



When the sign and the menu clearly said vegetarian and vegan restaurant and the dishes on the menu said "chicken" and "beef" with quotations marks it's very clear to me that it's not real chicken or animal beef. But my company insisted that to make sure I didn't get any unwanted ingredients I'd better ask.



Needless to say I was right and he was shocked. Admittedly that made me laugh. A lot. Sorry, but I just couldn't help it. And I'm thinking that's a great sign that the vegan and vegetarian food served is of good quality, so good in itself that it can "fool" a sceptic meat-eater whose not used to quotation marks of such meaning.



And how was the food then? Well, the menu is super extensive and contains sushi too (vegan of course) so it's tricky to choose (and also one might question the quality of each dish when there are so many dishes...) but for lunch I chose the pad thai. Which was really nice, though to be honest not as good as the Wagamama one.



The lunch was a very pleasant one - thank you so much for taking me to lunch there! - and the restaurant intrigued me so much we had to go back for dinner another day. Then we had starters which were cucumber seaweed salad (again, not as good as the goma wakame salad at Wagamama) and two kinds of tofu with sauces. Really nice flavours from all.



M had vegan beef in "oyster" sauce (which he said tasted just like kebab meat, I have no idea about that, to be it just tasted good) while I had vegan chicken and broccoli in garlic sauce. Very nice, although not much of garlic flavour. Both dishes so large and packed with protein the rice was completely unnecessary and we felt very full after the meal.



There was a crispy side salad which was really lovely and flavourful too. The service friendly albeit a bit on the slow side. The prices very affordable, the quality very good obviously. generous portions and generous opening hours. The interior lovely, Asian inspired but with a quirky twist. Not to mention a totally fabulous dragon in the window! (The city Krakow is said to have been founded by Krak after he had slayed a dragon.)



Too little time, too many places to eat so sadly there wasn't an opportunity to return. But some day I hopefully will, because Krakow is a city well worth return visits and exploring. And not only for the great places to eat for vegetarians and vegans.



Pod Norenami
ulica Krupnicza 6
Old Town, Kraków
Poland
Mon - Wed 10 am - 10 pm
Thu - Sun 10 am - 11 pm