melt down perfection

After this past + month with temperatures that made a decent sleep impossible, add to that I struggled with sleeping for months before that too - which I usually love to do, waking up after a good night's rest feeling all perky and energetic is bliss. Strangely enough didn't have sleeping problems with when M had passed away, possibly my life's worst crisis, but my sleep wasn't affected. The body and mind work in mysterious ways... - it's easy to see that sleep deprivation must be an excellent torture method.

There have been some rain this past week. A couple of crazy heavy rainfalls, which were the heaviest I've ever experienced, rain falling both vertically and horisontally. You would expect the weather to become lighter, fresher after that, but insted the humidity was around 99% for days. Which made it feel even hotter than before, and the constant moist surface on skin made body lotions superfluous for sure. And make-up a waste since it just melted away.



These past couple of days have been slighty cooler, at long long last. And it has been easier to sleep. But of course getting back to feeling like myself will take time after these months. It will take many good nights sleeps to get the energy back, the brain to be its usual self, to feel less fragile and stressed.

There are a lot of good articles on sleep deprivation out there, and this one is just one with some hands on tips on how to catch up on lost sleep.

So many fingers and paws crossed for reasonable, cooler summer temperatures now. And great, restful sleeps.

One benefit of high humidity, which by no means trump the fact of all the awful cons of it, is that my hair looks great. Curly, wavy, full and bouncy, even when its dirty (which I kind of feel it is all the time, also thanks to the humidity). The only time ever my hair reacted like this was when I was in Dublin and rain and humidity was basically in the air all week. Well over 15 years ago that.



Another positive thing is that you get less self-concious about your perceived bodily flaws. They may exist only in your head, but they're still there being annoying and useless. In this heat and humidity you simply don't have the energy to spend on that uselessness. Every day is simplified and "How do I get through this day with least amount of effort and least amount of clothes without being in a bikini?" is the pervading focus.

And since every day is a good hair day that's not an issue to ponder with the few brain-cells still available either, hooray.



This past + week has been Stockholm Pride week too. I basically never participate in anything taking place in huge crowds - last year's Climate March being an exception, because when it's really serious even introverts turn up - but I still like to, in my small and colour nerdy way, acknowledge that love is love and what the world desperately need is more kindness. And vegans, which is naturally the epitome of kindness and compassion.

So I've had a couple of lovely, colourful lunches on town - the above photo is a delicious noodle salad with tofu and mango from one of my favourite vegan cafes, Mahalo. You can read about it in my Stockholm guide -, I've taken my little Sonnys on rainbow photo sessions, I've played rainbow with my shoes - which obviously always include snoopervisors that think the world always revolves around them - and I've painted circus nails, rainbow nails. Also I finally got myself a pretty tin of the awesome organic EarlGay tea from Johan & Nyström, which I've enjoyed for my breakfast all week.





And the final organic vegan food box dish this week got a rainbow coloured framing - it lacks in details because it took one tyke named Ztina about five seconds to ruffle and ruin the colourful papers with muddy paw prints, but I kind of like it anyway. And it's the thought behind it that matters, not any perceived perfection. Perfection in imperfection. The dish on display is spicy Saag aloo with potato, spinach and green peas. (Recipe in Swedish here.)

Now I'm looking forward August and a week with finally no more substitute buses for the commuter trains, revitalizing sleeps, awesome job news, some sweet Stockholm outings which is possible to actually enjoy since the weather has cooled down.

I will try to worry less and enjoy more. It won't be easy, it really won't, but just like this whole summer, a day at a time is feasible, right? Right.