another year older, another year wiser - the 2018 edition

so, what did happen during my last week as a xx year old, followed by my first week as a xx year old, a year wiser?

:: i decided that when the purrfect dress wasn't meant to be, surely a sausage dog cardigan in organic cotton would be the perfect birthday gift to self instead? from palava (same source as the delightful budgie skirt). i spent a lot of time figuring out the best size (ordering online when you don't know a brand well is tricky, no matter careful measuring). talking to the customer service too.

decided to go up an extra 1-2 sizes, wanted it roomy. it arrived gorgeous but also way too big. so had to be returned (add hefty trackable postage) for another one smaller. opted for one size smaller, so i hope it'll be roomy, but not that oversized.

and as the swedish postal "service" is notoriously crappy it was quite the kerfuffle at the post office since it turned out they didn't have the means to print the waybill *insert rolling eyes* so i had to pop over to the library to pay for a print of it.

i can see it landed in england yesterday, so hopefully i'll get my new cardi later this week. fingers crossed it'll be a purrfect fit.

even if some think it's pure treason to dress in dog prints obviously.





:: watched the powerful documentary "the devil we know" the other week (still available on svt play in sweden) about teflon and C8. and how it has been poisoning the world since the 1940ies, and continue doing so because of greed alone. the company DuPont and its spin-off company Chemours certainly are the epitome of dirty, evil, greedy and powerful big business. i knew teflon was unhealthy, but had no idea about the extent of it, how basically noone can escape its consequenses.

just another proof that humans don't deserve this earth.

first thing i did next day was to buy a stainless steel frying pan (pots i already have). trying to figure out where i can get rid of the teflon pans in a sustainable way.

didn't feel very sensual (despite its name) buying the pan at ikea. but it has been great (and comes with a 25 year guarantee). noticed that at least 95% of the pots and pans at ikea are teflon coated though. and much cheaper that the few stainless steel ones.

so much cheap stuff that have been poisiing and littering our planet for decades. heartbreaking and infuriating.



:: "så mycket bättre" (so much better) is a swedish reality show with that has been aired for 9 years now. the premise is that 7 swedish artists meet up on gotland where they each have one day where the other artists interpret one song each from the hosting artist's repertoire.

admittedly i've never watched the series until now, not very interested in watching "the club of mutual admiration society"ish reality shows. plus none of the previous artists have been favourites of mine. but this year eric gadd participates. and i used to love his music, especially in the 80ies and 90ies.



and i adore linnea henriksson's version of his song, "the right way".

here's gadd's original version.



and albin lee meldau's version. his vibrato voice is so cool. a touch of antony and the johnsons.



:: on the bday, which was a wonderful, sunny and crisp october day, we visited millesgården, art museum and sculpture park (one of the true gems of stockholm you shouldn't miss), for the william morris exhibition. i didn't know that he besides being an amazingly talented artist, architect and designer also was a radical political activist. an overall very impressive, inspiring human being.







:: the museum visit was followed with a lovely vegan lunch at the new place VeganHouse. tasty butter bean and black rice burgers with fries and delicious chipotle mayo.



i did of course have the obligatory piece of plantbased cream cake later that week. (from bagar'n hornstull, my old childhoods.)



:: in my first week as a xx year old i visited my accountant for the second annual meeting. after a worrisome year - mainly thanks to the dodgy client and unreliable team mates, and myself for being to trusting of people that clearly had other motifs - i knew i'd already manage to save my business, with a last minute solution which i'm ever so very grateful for, but it was still a rather uncomfortable visit. but being greeted with a long bark of excitement, followed by a good lick and cuddle by the cuteheart office dog maya was the best kind of start.





turned out to be a lovely day. minus the 3 x 2 hours of public transportation to norrtälje. plus me forgetting to bring bread for the ducks and getting a good disgruntled quack by the city ducks of norrtälje.



:: then on world vegan day the arm was finally relieved of the plaster. rejoice!



i had expected the left arm to be thin and weak. instead it turned out to be thicker and the hand swollen, and weak. an ugly sight. and there'll be a lot of work with physiotherapy at home. the muscles are shorter, the broken, cured bones rigid and un-cooperative. i'm basically still the one-armed cat vomit slip woman. but i'm working on it. and it's such a relief to take a decent shower and not having to worry about getting the plaster wet.



:: world vegan day, a reminder that as long as we continue to eat the flesh of innocent beings the world will continue to be a violent place. meat eating is of course not only violent and unhealthy, but also one of the largest contributors to climate change. and yet it continues to be the elephant in the room that politicians and individuals alike refuse to seriously address.

make the connection, please.



:: the arm in freedom needs a lot of TLC, apart from physio, so i got it some handscrub and handcream at lush. and look, the amazing snow fairy scent is now available in body spray too. swoon.



:: and for world vegan day there was also a special price on fabulous, swedish, vegan haircare brand maria nila and as i've almost worked my way through all my old haircare products it was a perfect time to get some.

with the buying came the option of getting it delivered, included in price, instead of having to pick it up at the post office. and with the one hand issue i thought that would be good. turned out to be not merely a good, but a great solution. the company budbee home delivers between 5pm and 10pm, with an estimaated delivery time. after 5pm you get updates in real time and you can follow the driver's progress on a map on the phone. with moments of "oh no, you should have turned left there!".

how many of us haven't wasted days waiting for deliveries from the old, giant delivery companies that obviously don't really care about customer service "we'll be there sometime between 8 am and 5 pm"?



if budbee follows labour laws and has decent salaries - of which don't know, but start-ups can be notorious for not heeding to that... - i think they have a great and highly service-minded idea.

and as sharing is caring someone loved the box the products came in too.



dear november, if you could please continue to be just as great as you've started, i would be ever so grateful and happy.