little halloween cupcakes

To be honest (and repeating myself) I'n not really a fan of cupcakes. Too sweet in general and I hate frosting - much prefer a tasty fruit or chocolate muffin.

But I tasted these adorable miniature cupcakes at an event last week, with Halloween topping, and I thought they were smashing.

Needless to say (for the above reasons) I don't frequent Cupcake Stockholm (cupcakesthlm.se) that often, but I decided now was the time.

Perfect bobbaloo treats! My favourite by far from these is the chocolate almond paste with chocolate ganache (one plain and one with a skull in the pic).

And the fact that they are miniatures is fab. I'm not much for oversized pastry - unless it's very easy to cut in pieces for several to share. Even the regular sized ones at this bakery are quite small. And they aren't overly sweet (only in looks).

This one is the (only) vegan cupcake they have. Of course I had to try it. Chocolate - espresso with cookie crumbs. Alas I found it a bit dry and the frosting far to buttery. 

But perhaps that was because I didn't squint enough or used my olfactory senses properly when I ate it? I should obviously follow the lead of the cats more often for a more satisfying life and eating experiences.

Even when it comes to tiny cupcakes.

Happy halloween ~

spectre

Überstylish and quite entertaining (in a *rather* violent way of course), Daniel Craig is pretty yummy (his posture and walk, wowsa) and the sceneries are gorgeous.

I would say it's an action worth 4 of 5 stars. And if I was to rate the 4 DC Bond-movies this is my number 3, Casino Royale 1, Skyfall 2 and awful Quantum of solace obviously 4.

Bit too violent for the bobs though, they only got to see the intro.

teekanne rooibos vanilla tea

This rooibos vanilla tea (Fairtrade and organic) from German Teekanne is so very lovely. Jampacked with a comforting vanilla flavour. Not sure if it's available in Sweden alas, so I treasure every bag.

Just get it if you find it, you will not be disappointed!

autumn circus nails

It's been ages since I did the circus nails thing, so the other week it was about high time for an autumn version. 

From left to right:

Essie Snap happy

OPI The IT colour

Essie Chocolate cakes

Essie Vested invested

OPI Big apple red

Unfortunately most of the colours chipped after only a day (apart from the IT colour, it never chipped). Especially Chocolate cakes is of really poor quality, it has chipped pretty much instantly (yes nails are clean and I use a top coat). 

It's interesting how a brand like Essie (which I never buy anymore, due to their shady business with animal testing, only using up the rather *hrm* extensive collection I already have), known to be of good quality sometimes have specific colours that are of really poor quality. My experience has been the same with some of OPI's colours.

What's your favourite nailpolish brand? And why?

a wall of diy mosaic

In the toilet at the pizzeria Dammstugan The Pond Cottage), situated at Wenngarn castle (where we picked sunflowers and met adorable pigs), they have a pretty fabulous wall. 

A mosaic wall made of old, crushed plates and porcelain items. Happy and inspirational, a great way to upcycle old pottery. And of course even if the impact is greater with a large wall this will be a fine kind of DIY on smaller objects too.

friends not food

Remember the precious trio of pigs at Wenngarn castle I met when we picked sunflowers a while ago?

Today we rekindled. They had a new, smaller pen, but unlike the other, in the sun. I guess they have an indoor dwelling during the colder time of the year.

I really do hope with every fibre of my body that they get pampered and live to an old age. But I have serious doubts. They are probably seen as things to entertain the visiting kids during the summer months and when winter comes they're only seen as food. 

It breaks my heart how anyone on two legs can consider it acceptable to eat these sentient, smart, funny, precious beings. 

We fed them apples which they loved. Adorable and excited behaviour very similar to a dog (so much like Little Loaf). 

Friends always. Food never.

happy birthday to me 2015

A year has passed. With highs and lows. For my new year, and my constant quest to be a wiser, happier person, I'm going to concentrate on:

:: the above wise words, 

:: care for my health and wellbeing, 

:: conquer the world with Prosit,

:: be kinder.

But first, afternoon tea at a castle!

cinnamon buns de luxe

Bought these absolutely hummoungus cinnamon buns at Älskade Tider yesterday and I'm happy to report they not only look fantastic but have a taste and texture that match. Simply cinnamon bun de luxe.

eating out - älskade traditioner

Today I spent my morning in a lovely place - a newish cafe in Stockholm called Älskade Traditioner (Precious Traditions) - in lovely company - my old school friend with whom I rekindled a couple of years ago - pre-birthday celebrating with a vegetarian brunch. Her birthday is on the 24th, mine on the 25th, we hadn't seen eachother in ages and instead on just going to one of the usual spots I decided to find something new and special.

I was recommended Älskade Traditioner via Yelp, it sounded really good and I have to say it was love at first sight! Übercute interior á la 1950ies diner, very hipster, very Stockholm Söder (but in a good, unpretentious, service-minded and friendly way).

The food selection is lovely, specialize in wraffles (food and waffle in one, savoury or sweet) but we opted for the 'small' breakfast (tea or coffee - juice or yoghurt or smoothie - sandwich). Turned out they used oat milk with berries for their smoothie so I changed my mind from juice to smoothie and then we got a half half instead, a smaller glass of each. Sweet.

The sandwich was absolutely delicious and so much more than your average breakfast cheese sandwich - a generous amount of salad, pickled onion and cucumber, mustard and cheese on a freshly baked rye bread.

The tiny little blueberry cookie was lacking a decent amount of sugar, but the bobs enjoyed it all the same. They have, for obvious reasons, a special fondness for smallsized food.

Yup, even the toilet was adorable. (I want that waste bin!)

It was so lovely to catch up with my friend - not to mention discussing the pros and cons of running your own freelancer business. A good reminder that you are not alone when it comes to annoying, weird and wonderful clients. - and hopefully it won't be as long until the next time.

And I can't wait to visit Älskade Traditioner again, wraffles anyone?

autumn shoe per diem

Autumn, and especially October, is such a gorgeous, colourful time of the year.

And yes, I do my best to match my shoe per diem in colours to the natural awesomeness of nature. Variety is the spice of life. Also in shoes and colours.

two organic braintree sweaters

Just two organic sweaters hanging out.

I first saw the woodland print sweater from Braintree Clothing to the left on Instagram and I thought it was lovely. But then I bought the equally organic mushroom sweater and it felt silly to contemplate another grey with print one.

However, obviously that hesitation didn't last that long. I bought it from their webshop and decided to get the hemp/organic cotton stripe from the sales section too. They are both lovely, I expected the animal print one to be chunkier in fabric and roomier in model than it fact is, but it's still lovely. As is the stripey hemp one, gorgeous feel of the fabric!

Call me a happy LOHAS.

the october books

Meet the latest little book batch - as if I needed one some might say. But I had just finished my last book in the Sunday Philosophy Club-book series, remembered how much I love it (but never finished it at the time due to the lost reading mojo) I decided to get the rest of the series. Which turned out to be the very reasonable number of only three.

And even if the predictable, weight-obsessing chiclit genre isn't my cup of tea in general, I really enjoyed an old Jenny Colgan book recently (freebie from a magazine in 2002). Laughed a lot over the clever writing. So I got this one too, just to see if I would enjoy any of her newer books. As it happens this one has just been translated into Swedish, I know the publisher, but I'm usually not interested in reading English books in Swedish so I went for the original version.

And then the bittersweet little book about Edward the hamster. I think I have to really braze myself before I read it...

Currently I am however reading Marian Keyes latest, bought it to get it signed at that lovely breakfast last week, alongside a couple of other old ones. But I'm quite smitten by "The woman who stole my life", it's quite delightful.

It has indeed been a good reading autumn so far

vegetable balls from ikea

In general I stand by my view of not being a fan of IKEA. But I'm also aware of the fact that they've come up with many cool and useful sustainability initiatives and projects these past few years. Of which I'm certainly a great fan.

One of them is the launching of these climate smart vegan veggie balls, which they both serve in their restaurants and sell frozen in big bags.

I only tried them yesterday and I thought they were quite nice, if lacking a bit in seasoning. But definitely something I will buy again! They've also a little freebie recipe brochure which is full of interesting and mouthwatering green, climate friendly recipes and ways you can use the veggie balls. And the pictures are gorgeous - much like the IKEA bake-book.

Have you tried the veggie balls?
What did you think?

off limits for humans vs off limits for felines

These two. They don't care much about what humans say about off limits, climbing trees, fences and such. Adorable but at times rather annoying too. Wish they didn't suffer from selective hearing.

Like father like daughter.

peace love organic vegan candy

This little cute bag holds not only vegan candy (winegum stylee) but tasty such. And organic. It's a mix of raspberry hearts and liquorice. And of a perfect little size when you hear the sweet tooth calling. 

From Swedish brand Ekorrens ekologiska (= The Squirrel's organic), which has other candy too but this mix is by far the best.

meet cute: marian keyes and gudrun sjödén

Despite the fact that I had to rise way early at 5.30 already and take the train in morning rush hour - two of my absolute pet peeves I'm so grateful I can avoid most days as my own boss - I had a delightful morning in the company of this lovely lady, author Marian Keyes. 

Of course I was not alone in the Gudrun Sjödén shop for this breakfast talk. It was jampacked with mostly female fans in various ages.

We were also treated to a nice organic, vegetarian breakfast pre-talk. 

To be honest I'm not a great fan of her books (chiclit and all, even if it certainly is better than most things in the genre), but I have read some and I have even more in the bookshelf (thrifted), and enjoyed a few - if not the last one I read... 

That said I think it was such a lovely initiative by designer Gudrun Sjödén and I got a couple of the free and limited tickets. And as soon as Marian Keyes opened her mouth - and I saw her gorgeous shoes! Look I even managed to snap me a special shoe per diem moment - I think she was darling. And hilarious. She talked a lot about her love for Sweden, in the most entertaining way, and of course her penmanship. And a lot more - apparently there's an Irish saying 'why settle for 1 word when 20 will do'. Or maybe that's a Keyes saying.

When Gudrun herself - who according to Keyes 'makes clothes for women who actually eat food' (which is possibly THE best description of a design I've ever heard) - surprised is with a visit, Marian got super-excited and was totally starstrucked. Meet cute alert.

Yes it was a really lovely morning with lots of laughter. And for once I did managed to get a couple of books signed, since the queue to do so wasn't too long. I just wish I had asked where she got her gorgeous blue shoes.

The very colour coordinated Ms Keyes - in Gudrun clothes - will be a guest at the Skavlan talk show this evening - which I never watch because I can't stand the host, but this evening I obviously have to - and yes, she loves the name Pia.

And then I will continue to read her latest book 'The woman who stole my life'.

meet the winner of a snazzy instagram competition

One of my favourite shops in Stockholm held a competition on Instagram recently, the mission was to take a photo (or more) of their clothes with or without yourself in them. I really enjoy competitions were you actually have to produce something yourself, and I hate the uninventive, brainless "share this and tag your friends"-kind of social media competitions. But as much as I enjoy the first one I rarely enter them. For me it really has to be something special and easy to relate to. Like this one.

I have to admit I instantly thought of at least two scenarios, but as we all now three is a number that is magic. As are colours and cats. Which, surprisingly enough, isn't necessarily a recipe for a win.

Still, I was true to myself as well as the brief and stuck to that. Entered three pictures I was pleased about - and obviously had pawsome help from the felines who got all excited in various degrees.

Today the winners would be revealed at 5 pm. In the shop, on Instagram and on Facebook.

(not one of the photos I entered, but taken at the same time as that one)

5.01 pm I scrolled my Instagram feed and saw my picture and yes, huzzah I won first prize! Apart from a nice gift card, discount on a garment of choice the pictures will be on display in the shop.

What a lovely lovely icing on the cake - of a day that was overall quite a sweet one in itself - and a pre-birthday gift.

Now I think I have to go and treat the quadruples to some special food and kisses, because really, I couldn't have done it without them. Below the winning photo (and no, miraculously no stockings were harmed in the taking of this photo).

keep it colourful and keep it simple

Ordered some colourful, autumnal mini-cards from MOO for a client's little marketing campaign. Working from the usual motto: Keep it simple and keep it colourful.

I only chose 5 different motifs this time, which is very unlike me I suppose. But I'm sure it'll be no less effective for this particular purpose.

And the Prosit quality department has, like so many times before and then some, done a great quality inspection job.