pia's vegan power blend, god's disobedient rib, the job that wasn't meant to be and other non-foolish april stories

Hello again, there seem to have been a case of a slight blog hiatus. It's only the old "the more you have to write about the more of a struggle to get going there is".

And the more you'd want to really dive into each subject, the more overwhelming it seems. So I've decided to keep each step reasonably short - do I hear sniggers of disbelief?



Started my April by picking up my new cat frame glasses. That style has never fitted me, but I think the looked pretty cool when I tried them on. It's a new collection from Smarteyes called The New Femme Fatale, and this particular model is called Confidence. For those days when you need a little extra boost perhaps?

I remember when I first begun wearing glasses, late teens (but then I could still get away with not wearing them and see reasonably well if I squinted a bit. As I prefered to do, since glasses weren't really I back then). Then they were just terribly expensive, in fact I think one pair costed as much as my four pairs now set me back. And I still had to had my eyes checked regularly and new prescriptions, and the frames weren't of better quality, only more expensive.

Now there are a gazillion optician chains competing for us spectacle snakes's attention. Glasses are cool and have sneaked up as fashion accessories. For better or worse I suppose.



On April 1 I also inaugurated The Trousers. And I don't think I looked like an April Fool's joke. They were comfy and felt weird at the same time. Being a 99,5% wearer of dresses and skirts I guess that was a very normal reaction. But as the weather has been unseasonably cold - which I'm grateful for in these global warming of our times - they were also rather perfect. Hopefully there'll be some more days of wearing them before summer hits.

As is probably evident by now, my wardrobe is full of patterns, stripes, dots, flowers, birds... And as much as I love to mix and match colours and patterns, sometimes you just want one special pattern shine. Which, for me, is difficult. I don't even have one plain white T-shirt. True story, believe it or not.



So for months now I've been trying to add a few good quality basic neutrals and block colours. Which, for someone who is so in love with colours and patterns, is no mean feat.

But behold two gorgeous, happy pieces I think will serve me well for many years to come. The green blouse is the one from Marimekko I wrote about in the last post. It needed end incisions to fit me in more ways than one, so for the first time ever I decided to go to a tailor to have it done. Will pick it up tomorrow and I do hope it looks great.

The yellow knitted sweater (in cotton and linen) is from Bric-a-Brac. It's cosy and oversized and pretty much goes well with the same skirts as the green blouse. Now a white T-shirt, preferably V-neck, and I'm all set for having a gazillion combinations for summer.



And how about my little blue-eyed light? Well, I thought she was well on her way back to normal (normal for her, not any other cat,as she is a little odd character), the antibiotic for the not-sure-what-it-is-but-some-sort-of-bacteria-infection seem to had done its job, but she went back to not being herself again. Back to to vet, which obviously both annoys and worries me, it's not particularly fun to a) knowing something is not alright with her, but b) the vet not being able to determine, nor very strategic in ruling out things, what it can be and then charging me for it...

I thought the iron supplement for her initial anemia had worked, and it turned out she was once again slightly anemic. So back on that. So far some days are better than others. I'm glad she has a great appetite for wet food, not too keen on the usual dry food, and eats lots. But she also sleeps much more than usual and well, isn't her old self in general. I'm actually thinking it might be borrelia. It was a few years since I saw a tick on her, but then again the longterm effects of those nasties can take time. One day at a time. And patience I suppose.



I really hate early mornings. And not having to deal with rush hour behaviour on a regular basis is one of the huge benefits with running your own business mainly working at your home office. Nevertheless, breakfast seminars is clearly something I do reasonably often, and as I know they're more often than not rather enjoyable I keep attending. Despite every morning thinking"well, this seemed like a good idea at the time but now naaah...".

Thus I've been to three these last two weeks, very different, all good. One on service driven communication - great vegan breakfast -, one on Train holidays - poor vegan breakfast, it's not very sustainable with avocado and then the avocado not even being ripe... But it was a bookstore than arranged it and I suppose their main goal is to sell books, not paying attention to all those details like making the who event sustainable... -

(at which I got the book above. It's very inspirational, stories on train holidays within Scandinavia, through Europe, to Japan and Russia. And going on holidays by train instead of flying really has a HUGE impact on the environment. Still, it seems to be a long long way until it offers the same comfort and covenient booking system as flying does- And as long as governments and authorities still don't take their responsibility and make train travel the norm and not least maintain the railroads,I fear our need for travelling will continue to have an enormous impact on the planet...)

and then a seminar on making the most of your brand platform. With the best vegan breakfast by far. All vegan and very colourful. Simple as that. Just stop mollycoddling meat-eaters. It won't kill them eating plantbased, in fact quite the opposite.



In the end I didn't get the job I went through three interviews for. But really, the process was great, the feedback was brilliant. And the guy the choose in the end had a very different background than I, less creative, less social media and technical savvy, but more knowledgeable within this very specifical industry. And somehow they thought I would get bored quickly because the job wouldn't be challenging enough. But words like "had it been another company I would have chosen Pia for the job any day of the week!", I went happy and stronger from the process and that's fine, more than fine, by me.

In fact I thought the whole process was so different, professional and respectful, than most of the recruitment processes I've ever been involved in, that I wrote a piece about it on LinkedIn. Which seem to have stroke a cord within the recruitment and HR-industry. It's much nicer to tell a great story about people who know their job, than the frankly, gazillion times they don't. I could write a thesis about HR people and recruiters with zero respect for the candidates and as much professionalism as my thumb. Alas I can only write a small piece on the positive experience, but that is on the other hand much nicer to do. Dare to compliment.



So back to, if not square one, at least another square than I had planned to be on April 1st. Still looking for the perfect job, and my kind of people. I KNOW it's out there, that they are out there. Though in what shape and form remains unknown still. For now I'm tinkering on a reversed job-ad for LinkedIn that I want to have up and running this week.



My mum's birthday is coming up during Easter - and this Wednesday, three years ago M passed away and his birthday would have been on the 19, but instead his funeral was on the 20th, so that might be the reason my mood is swinging from high to low currently... - and I really want to make Easter happy again this year. Let's make Easter great again.

I'm getting her a blue Kånken, which was the first colour she had when I was a child, and we're having vegan brunch. The problem with the blue Kånken though, is that it now comes in almost a gazillion versions. It took me a long time to chose, and far from sure I made the perfect choice I thought we could go back and possibly swap it for another before her birthday so I showed it to her the other day. And as cute as it may be, we will indeed swap it for another type this week.



At my boring bus stop there's a large flower bed that last year was full of purple crocuses in spring that then turned into red tulips. It's just gorgeous and so mood lifting. And no photo can make it justice, but here's a glimpse of the gorgeousness anyway.

I've just finished reading the BulletJournal-book, it took a while since it needs one's full attention. It was great, I could relate to a lot of things, others less. But the main thing is that now I'm ready to start getting real with my own BuJo, and adapt it to my own need and wants and plans. And it will not be an embellished version, I like to keep it simple and effective (hopefully).



The littlest one, Ågot, turned 7 last week. It's hard to believe since she definitely looks like a kitten still. And seven years, how much that have happened during those years..., since she was born with her brothers and I thought she was a boy too.



Theatre isn't usually my cup of cultural tea, it's just too theatrical and I much prefers movies or great TV-series. But when the Royal Dramatic Theatre, which can only be described as a stronghold for patriarchy and too many #metoo stories, had a play called "Guds olydiga revben" (God's disobedient rib), the bible read from a feminist view, which mixed actors and the impressive acrobats from Cirkus Cirkör, one kind of had to go.



So very glad I did. It was magical. Upsetting - since reading the bible from a woman's point of view will never be anything but upsetting obviously - funny, sad and inspiring. So different from anything else I've seen. Cried, laughed and got angry. Unfortunately taking photos was strictly forbidden since it could pose a life danger for the acrobats, but the old interior was a beauty too.

The playhouse is currently also under extra scrutiny from the Arbetsmiljöverket (the Work Environment Administration authority), since there have been too many cries for help from women working there that have been silenced for many many years. There have been several female managers over the years, but it feels like the work culture is so infected that nothing has been done against numerous assaults on female staff by male actors (the so called geniuses).

The last straw was probably a very moving and upsetting Swedish documentary about the much loved singer and actress Josefin Nilsson, who died much too young some years ago, apparently due to aftereffects from years of mentally and physically abuse by one of those "male geniuses" lauded employed by Dramaten. The documentary is still shown at SVT Play (only in Sweden, but I'm sure you can find the story itself in English).

Conclusion, one might live under the illusion that Sweden is a gender equal country (even if the Swedish Academy debacle showed it isn't), but even if it's much better than many other countries, there is still a too long way to go. Humans in general, and in this case, men in particular, should know better in 2019. Much better. So. much. better.



After the play we went to Wagamama, which I used to frequent quite often some years ago. Now not so much, but I always love the food when I do go there. Even if I most always end up with the vegan yasai pad thai and carrot-ginger juice, despite the vegan menu being much extended these days. This time we shared a bowl of edamame, which never disappoints in its simplicity. Unfortunately we ended up so full from the food that neither had room for dessert. Alas. As a great dessert is literally the cherry on the sundae.



But after my annual dentist check-up - which got all thumbs up and the third year in a row without cavities, huzzah! - I did have a gloriously lovely vegan lunch salad which did leave room, just, for dessert. And oh what a dessert it was. Creamy, smooth mango mousse with crumbs and fresh blueberries. So much flavour and very moreish. Very much deserved for being a good dental hygiene girl.



It didn't manage to keep this a short and sweet post, your sniggering was on point. But now, oh now, last but definitely not least, ta-da, behold the very special Pia muesli!



After my one year consumption of mymuesli-prize in 2016 I was rather tired of muesli in general and mymuesli in particular. Go figure. And then the Stockholm store moved to a remote suburb, and later was shut down altogether. So ordering online is the only option. And if you don't want to pay a hefty shipping fee you need to more tubs than you'd necessarily want here and now. Most of my old favourite mueslis have been discontinued alas, plus the completely vegan (no honey) mueslis aren't all that tasty to be honest, but for overnight oats.

But I've found that their porridge oats are pretty great for making just overnight oats. And I noticed their Easter muesli is all vegan this year. So I placed an order a while back. And for the very first time mixed my own mueslis. Which you can name and chose tube design for too. And write a description for.



Which I obviously had to do. I've only tried one of my own blends so far, sprinkled on a lovely overnightoats made from the mymuesli turmeric-orange porridge oats. Perfect crunch and flavour, so pleased to say I did good.

And no, I haven't forgotten I did promise a post of various suggestions for lovely, simple vegan overnightoats. It'll come when you least expect it.



April, you have been just as capricious as one has come to expect with age and a reasonable amount of wisdom, there have already been both tears and laughters, worry and stress, but also inspiration and gratitude, spring flowers and bird song. But can you please, pretty please, be just kind, benevolent and joyous from now on? Many grateful thanks in advance.