goodbye may, hello june

I-meeting someone on social media. 

Talking about intercultural collaborations. 

IRL-meeting and brainstorming like crazy.

Yes, that's what my last day of May 2015 was all about.

May, you were a great month. June, you will be awesome.

my 8000th instagram photo

Behold my 8000th picture on Instagram. And befittingly enough the little illustration has a quote on shoes that's spot on me:

There are an ungraspable amount of choices in life. So sometimes I have to take them both...

Next station, 9000.

Number 5000 - summer feeling Stockholm

Number 6000 - vegetarian food at a favourite restaurant and bobbaloos

Number 7000 - where is that post?

i heart you prosit sisters

A whole lot of Heart x Two.

may day åland 2015

Just a lovely day at the Åland islands. Mindfullness was the keyword. And colours. Always.

interstellar the movie

It was a long long time since this happen. This in this case being blown away by a movie. Especially a movie which isn't your typical action filled sci-fi movie (not that it lacks action, just but not the usual action oe has seen a gazillion boring times) but something incredibly moving, thoughtprovoking and plausable.

But I've been just that today, blown away. By "Interstellar", which I had barely heard of. And oh no 2 hours plus 40 something minutes, this will be tiresome.

But after 15 minutes or so I was mesmerized and intrigued. And bawling my eyes out the last 15 minutes.

See it, it will be 169 minutes well spent. And you will get a lot of brain, heart and tear-duct exercise while doing it.

the disobliging swede

I've always known - based on mainly first hand experience but also talking with friends - though perhaps not put it into words because it's such a sad and unfortunate feature, the fact that Swedes in general are quite the selfish, self righteous and not least the disobliging sort.

In the age of social media they are always eager to see, be seen, share, like, retweet and do favours for the (for more often than not ungraspable reasons) "in crowd". And in the pre-social media age it was the same, minus the like, share and retweet. While not the least bit interested to do the same for others. No matter how like, share and retweet-worthy the not so in crowd people are. From ignoring at best to see through evasive manouvers and down right offensive reactions.

I am certainly not one of those, I'm always happy to share, like and retweet good stuff and interesting pieces from good people. If anything I avoid sharing, liking and retweeting stuff from the mysterious "in crowd" because a) more often than not it's not really interesting, well-written or share-worthy (to be honest) and b) a gazillion other people less discerning act like a sheeple and share, like and retweet it already.

And I'm not one to ask for favours often. I want to be capable of doing the things that need to be done myself. Figure things out, finding the information, then asking for feedback from a few trusted.

But on the odd occasion I do ask for a simple enough favour. And one would think since it's such a simple favour more people would take a few minutes to help.

Alas no, do not be surprised if a Swede doesn't acknowledge the question at all. Ignoring is the perfect answer to most everything.

Of course they in no way connect the behave towards others as you want others to behave towards you dots. That others should like, retweet, share and endorse is a given. But do not expect me to do the same.

This week this have become ever so clear. It's not the end of the world (obviously), but it's really dispiriting.

It has also become clear that non-Swedes are much more interesting to give positive feedback, like, share and retweet good things without a thought about the "in crowd" bit.

Swedes disobliging behaviour both on- and offline is a sad sad thing. Petulant, childish and selfish. Me-me-media, yes! Social, that means interacting, right? Not for me. Talk yes, listen shouldn't think so.

Yes I've been fortunate with the Swedish clients I've had so far, one might say they've been exception to a general Swedishness rude rule. But I really love working with clients in other countries, it's interesting and developing on whole other levels. I also find that overseas clients in general are better at saying "thank you" where Swedes take things for granted.

Yet another situation where I as a born and bred Swede find myself being a very round peg trying to fit in to an uncomfortably square and alien hole.

All that said - it really really did have to be said - I'm very much looking forward to next week, because I have some great meetings planned for a much needed change. Of focus, scenery and people.

End of rant.

the sun apple

The solar bird lights and the sun lamp has now been joined by the solar apple. And with only a few hours of cloud and rain it lit up this beautifully already. I think it's lovely.



In awaiting the time and money to install a proper solar panel on my roof this kind of solar power will have to do. And it lights up my life in other ways, in a way that a solar panel will never do.



Just like the bird lights and the sun,
the solar power apple is from IKEA.

the face

this face. 

the tiny tongue.

so much fluffy love.

the hedgehog cushion

all set for hedgehog season 2015. hopefully this year's hedgehogs are up for learning to play the keyboard, as instructed by this snazzy cushion.

mixed emotions about keyboard playing hedgehogs from the felines me thinks. although the prospect of skateboarding bulldogs would have been even worse i suspect...

the cushions you didn't know you needed from ikea, of all places.

the annual toy car road trip 2015

today was the day of the annual toy car outing with a couple i only see once a year (which remind me of that post about friends for different occasions i wrote a few years ago 'insert link').

every other year they get to plan the trip and chose the destination the other we do. this year was their's and we got to see a

really cool senior apartment complex. not my cup of tea for various reasons, too modern and soulless being two, but i can see the appeal and positive sides for some.

we popped by an italian delicacy market. which focused too much on body oarts of dead animals unfortunately. but i got three interesting egg free pastas. 

had a really lovely lunch (this carrot and white cabbage salad - divine. this sourdough bread - delightful.) at an unexpected place we'd never gound on our own.

nice asparagus soup, but a bit too creamy and heavy for me. the toasted garlic/herb bread though - heavenly.

this huge wall in the restaurant made of real books and stuff and spraypainted in white. so inspirational!

i learnt that my passion for artisan, small-scale production is bigger that my uninterest in alcohol. the visit of this liqueur, punsch and whisky distillery was fascinating and lovely. and they have a MEAN alcohol-free spicy apple glögg (mulled wine).

however the bobbaloos were less than impressed: too few food breaks in general, no small sized things of wonder and worst of all, no fika!

like a boss with a fancy for colours

This must come as a surprise, I know. That I would stoop so low as to buy training shoes instead of something proper and real from El Naturalista or ART. But fear not, a new pair of lovely summer sandals have been invested in a while ago too.

The reason for these trainers is simply that I've been meaning to start my days with a power walk for a long time now but I haven't gotten around to getting a decent pair shoes for this purpose. I'm so not a trainers person (obviously), it's a jungle of brands, models and prices out there, I have no inclination at all to try my way around boring sporty shoe shops and I'm certainly not going to pay a hefty price for something as dull as training shoes.

But then I got a newsletter with 'sales on trainers' recently and this colour popped. At a very decent price and from the various reviews it seemed like a good shoe. And vegan at that. My first impression was that they are so LIGHT! I'm used to the sturdiness and quality of El Naturalista so this was a surprise. Other than that the model is nice but I decided I need to return this pair and go up 0,5 in size. Love the colour too. Ideally I wanted a pink/orange pair but just as long as they're in bright, fun colours I'm happy. And comfortable obviously. Hopefully the new pair will arrive tomorrow already so I can take them for a power walking spin this weekend.

Though enough about the shoes already! Do you see the pink awesomeness I'm holding? A fabulous pink stapler is something I've looked for for the office for quite some time now. In vain. Either there are no pink or they have a crazy price tag. This one wasn't exactly cheap, but a reasonable price for a quality piece in pink.



Retro classic from Rapid in Strawberry pink - and if I didn't know better I could have sworn it grew out of my office wall! It simply takes the word matching to completely new heights. Awesome, essential office supplies are the best.

And good shoes.

The best boss in the whole wide world totally agrees with that. I'm so grateful and glad I can call her my boss.

the joy of cauliflower rice

some months ago i discovered the brilliance of pre-packed cauliflower rice. boil it for a couple of minutes, a dollop of butter, salt and pepper, serve with a vegan schnitzel or burger for example. quick, simple, healthy and über-tasty. fast food as it should be.

next step would obviously be to whizz a cauliflower in the food processor myself. but for now i'm just pleased this is available for a quick fix and minimal effort.

what's your favourite, healthy fast food?

colourful life lessons for breakfast, noon and evening

A very early morning called for a soy latte to go. In the keepcup of course. The reason for getting up at 5.30 (crazy!) was a breakfast seminar about a so called reputation resume - which turned out to be great and if you didn't know it by now, the CV is dead, long live your reputation!

I also learnt that if you leave home at 6.30 you go slightly pre-rush hour and commuting isn't such a hassle then. Plus you can saunter, enjoy the weather, views and your coffee and still arrive well in time.



My goal was to find a couple of matching flower pots for the two new geraniums. I wanted a two smaller, white and painted ones. Unfortunately the only white one left was being used in the window decoration, but I got a reasonable earthy discount for both that one and the blue one I had to chose instead.

I was reminded of the fact that things don't always turn out the way you expect or want them too, but that can be a blessing in disguise. The now three pots with their respective geraniums look awesome on the office windowsill. I doubt three white/decorated ones would have looked better.



My first ever taste of Dunkin Donuts donuts will also be my last. They may be übercute looking, but the taste was way to sweet and I really do not like frosting. At all. Just like I'm not a cupcake person I'm clearly not a donut person.

But the meet cute also confirmed that I obviously have a bobbaloo to match anything and everything. Still, there is always room for more.

the prosit office cat at your service

The pink Prosit office, the awesome place of work with its happy lights window is a familiar sight by now.

It is also a place where cats are strictly forbidden. Something which usually works really well given the closed door.

The other day however, this was the sight that met me.



'Welcome to your office, obviously I'm a given feature. The perfect source of inspiration. Adding a touch of glamour. And hair.'

In an unimaginable way Ztina had managed to open the office door. Taking her rightful place in the cosy thinking chair. Waiting to be discovered and appreciated. Her priceless expression of blatant obviousness. The nuisance mixed with complete lovableness.

She certainly made sure I got it.



But really, things will not change. The Prosit office is still an off limits-area for four paws. You may be a Prosit sister, but you'll have to work you're magic on the other side of this office door. And that's that, little miss Furry Cuteness.

blissful garden and geraniums

The weekend that was did not only hold suburban pink cherry blossom trees and the King's meadow lily field of 2015 it was also time for the first visit this season to one of my happy places Växplats Nybyn.



Where we enjoyed their vegan and awesome as usual take on cinnamon buns/rolls. And bought some flowers. Because even if my experience of geraniums isn't that great and I'm no fan of their strong scent I think they look lovely and I wish I had a better hand with flowers. And I did by one recently (the geranium of 2015, Violino) which looks rather alone on my office window sill.



So I got two more for company. Hopefully I will be able to keep them alive this time. And in regular bloom. For a long long time to come.

the 2015 king's meadow lily field

It seems like there haven't been a proper post about the king's meadow lily field since 2010 -



2011 was a huge disappointment,
2012 was only briefly mentioned,
2013 the visited was never blogged
and 2014 we sadly missed it completely -







I love how this year we timed it so the field was not only full of fritillaria (kungsängslilja in Swedish which translates into king's meadow lily), but also cowslips, wood anemones , dandelions and other tiny flowers.

I think the bobbaloos of choice were a bit overwhelmed about it all. Magic and nature can do that.