happy new 2020, happy new decade

I have so many wishes and hoped for this shiny, brand new year. But most of all, may it be infinitely kinder, more compassionate, loving, caring, colourful and joyous than this past year (and decades before that). That is, until the human-induced climate emergency devours us all naturally. But before that, let's be kind. Go vegan. Spread love.

I mentioned a recap of 2019 last week. Well that ain't happening today. But I enjoy recaps of another year of growth, so someday soon it will.

My plans for New Year's Eve - binge watching my new favourite TV-series "a million little things" until I'm going to bed with a good book well before midnight. Bliss.

And for my personal hopes-and-wish-top-list for 2020 (apart from good health and happiness for myself and the people and furries I love as always) are still

1. Finding my true purpose.
2. (Which also holds) finding my meaningful new dream job (clock is ticking, time is too short to settle for less).



3. Finding my tribe, my kind of people.
4. Have more faith, worry less.
5. Have more energy, get more meaningful things done.
6. Feel more joy, less sadness.



Also, let 2020 be a year of more vegans rainbow-soaps for all! (More of these amazing handmade soaps in another post.)

May your new year treat you with kindness and joy, and may you treat the world with more of that too. Welcome 2020, let's be so very kind together!

have yourselves a green and kind little christmas

I hope your Christmas will be kind, plantbased, green and loving.



Next up, a little recap of 2019 and a lot of hopes and wishes for 2020, for a brand new decade. On top of my wishlist is that mankind finally wake up and start treating its fellow earthlings and poor mother Earth with all the love, compassion and deep respect they deserve.



For now, be kind and be light.

the universe has your back and other november snippets

November has been an incredibly dreary month, with only a few hours of sunlight. A long, dark, listless month leaving me exhausted and lacking in energy, no matter healthy eating, supplements and movement. I can't understand how anyone can be anything else than exhausted and uninspired during these circumstances. Our month of November ended with a lot of snow yesterday and a generous amount of sun today. Alas those hours of much needed natural vitamin D can't make up for a complete lack there of for one month. No matter how lovely it was.

This lack of energy obviously also means I've had and have very little inclination and inspiration to blog. It hasn't been an uneventful month, but at the same time, I can't say I've gotten any closer to my main goal of the year yet, as far as I know.

I have however read, and am reading, two books of Gabby Bernstein, not the latest one on being a super attractor, but "The Universe has Your Back" - which I found rather interesting, despite its icky praying all the time-ness - and now doing the "May Cause Miracles" 6 weeks kickstart to happiness. I can understand and embrace the importance of a shift in thinking, from fear based to love based, to move forward and attract your goals. But I can't relate to every chapter and I still find all that praying unpleasant and uncomfortable. That said, the book has really made me think a lot and its teachings can of course be adapted to both challenge and suit its reader's circumstances and needs. Week 3, here I come.



A short summary of my month of November (sans photos) -

• A lovely vegan afternoon tea at Sigtuna Stadshotell
• The second of Bric-a-Brac's annual second hand-clothes-selling for a good cause.
• A great breakfast seminar on the environmental and health benefits of remote work.
• A lovely facial at Dermalogica. And apparently my skin isn't nearly in as bad condition as I think. Let's see what the dermatologist says in a couple of weeks...
• Getting tickets for the Pet Shop Boys tour, in June next year, huzzah.
• A little afternoon tea at my local library (I got vegan treats) and sharing of our favourite British books.
• A proper vegan feast at one of my favourite bakeries, Bageri Passion, last Saturday. It was an absolutely fantastic initiative. It's such a rare thing that us vegans get such a display of high quality bread and pastries to chose from, I enjoyed everything I bought but my number one favourite was the Budapest roll which was totally magical. (photo from the event above)
• Another inspiring breakfast seminar on keeping and mending the things we already have, and not contribute to the vicious consumerism cycle (of which the awful Black Friday gimmick makes me sick, it's absolutely disgusting that it's not banned yet.) as it's one of the major reasons our planet is doomed. Talks and panels with people from NGOs, academia, authorities, companies and also politicians.
• Watching "Last Christmas" at the cinema, which turned out to be a nice bagatelle imho. But then nothing will ever be able to compete with "Love Actually"'s perfectness.
• Getting addicted to the Elf yourself-app. It's hilarious, and I can't stop watching or creating new ones.
• A writer's talk at the library with prominent feminist Ebba Witt-Brattström. She was brilliant.

Thank you November, you've been dark, glum, depressing, but also full of important lessons and inspiring moments and people.

Welcome December, can you please be lighter, brighter and kinder. than your predecessor? And remember that all I want for Christmas - except for politicians that finally rise to the occasion, take our devastating climate crisis seriously and a peaceful all vegan world of course - is finding my dream job and my kind of people. I'll be doing everything I can on my side, while I trust you to work the magic in your special way, m'kay? Many grateful, loving thank yous in advance.

the prettiest 55 year old

The reasons I rarely buy second hand clothes are that I'm rather particular when it comes to quality, design and fit. If the brand isn't well-known and already loved, the quality, design and attention to detail have to be outstanding. Also, if you're not a tiny size the supply tend to be considerably smaller. Plus really, it should be easy to wear and wash.

Something that ticked ALL these boxes appeared in a Facebook-group for buying-selling Marimekko the other month. (Clearly one of the rare positive things from Facebook.)

This dress. A shirt dress. With pockets. In a reasonable size. The most amazing thing though, is that it's made in 1964 in Helsinki and the only tiny visible wear and tear under one arm, after 55 years of wear and countless of washes. Obviously it screamed my name loud and clear. It moved in with me a couple of days ago, as a birthday gift for myself (today, hooray!).

A dress older than myself, in almost mint condition, with my name written all over it. A dress and a gift which obviously hasn't added to my carbon footprint. I absolutely adore it. And if it was possible to ONLY get fantastic vintage dresses like this one I would immediately go all in second hand. And what an amazing testament to the quality of the brand as well as the cotton back then. It's truly a gem of a dress, in every aspect. Another 55 stepping boldly into my life.





So what has this one year older, one year wiser, currently very redhead birthday gal been up to these past few weeks then? Well, alas nothing quite as spectacular as the hair colour.

A couple of art exhibitions that were both lovely; Edward Burne-Jones and the Pre-Raphaelites, the other Hilma af Klint & co, painting and spirituality.

A couple of events on sustainability; the work and projects done on the path of what MUST happen - a ban on single use plastic. And a sharing & circular economy meetup, this time on consumer goods (remember the super interesting one on sustainable fashion in August?). Both great in their own ways.

Had a very wonky video interview for a very interesting job (head of marketing in a foodwaste startup), but as there were 150 applicants I'm not counting on being one of the last few they call for the next step in the process. Have applied for a few other interesting positions. Currently doing some gigs in the meantime, while I'm STILL figuring out what my next step leading to the dream job shall be...

Currently reading "The Universe has your back" too. As I loved the talk between Marie Forleo and Gabby Bernstein on being a super attractor (which arrived in my inbox JUST when I needed it...).



But even if I firmly believe that what's meant to be will be etc, I find the book somewhat... very... American? I may concider myself spiritual, but obviously in an Atheist way, and all this praying is just... icky to me. But there are also things in the book I can relate to, so read on I will. And then on to "May cause miracles". And syncronicity, serendipity and not least The Flow ftw. Meditation, finally, is also on my immediate agenda.

Finally I did go through all that is needed to get an appointment at a skin specialist doctor in Sweden. Even if there has been a dramatic difference since I a) went fully vegan, and b) began using Dermalogica, and even more so after finding the exact products that work for my skin, I'm still not quite where I want to be. Plus I also want to get a medical opinion, which hopefully will be another crucial piece of the skin puzzle.

Unfortunately a little snag appeared, it turned out the doctor couldn't examine my skin with me wearing makeup though. So I had to get a new appointment in December. You might think I was stupid to not realising that myself, but well, I thought the examination would be more high-tech than that and I would have appreciated that information beforehand. Ah well, live and learn, at least I'm finally within reach of getting an answer to something that has been such a big part of my life for too many years now, and even more so these past few years since M's passing.

Apart from welcoming the prettiest 55 year old to my home, I had a super-nice pedicure yesterday, today I'll have a cosy day in the city running errands, having a special fika, buying vegan pastry to take home and enjoy during the weekend. And next Saturday I've booked a vegan afternoon tea which I'm looking forward to so very much. As November 1 also is the anniversary of when I removed the cast last year, I suppose you can see that occasion as a celebration of that too, rather than a birthday thing.

Thank you so far, October, for the good, the bad and the in between, I'm grateful for the lessons, but now I'm truly ready (again, still) for the truly great stuff. Oh how I would appreciate that. Truly.

goodbye september, hello october 2019

I wish my one month silence in blog was due to fantastic and dreamy news, but alas September turned out to be a pretty sh*tty month.

The fun and inspiring things I've also done were overshadowed by the fact that The Job that was truly dreamy on paper, with a great interview and some anxious yet rare I-know-this-is-mine-feeling waiting turned out to be a really disappointing process. Simply a short "we chose someone else" without any explanation to the whys (which is standard procedure in Sweden, at least when you're one of the few they chose from, in these case three persons). So I asked, with no reply. Which says a lot about the company culture.

As I mentioned, the ad was basically a carbon copy to what I'm looking for and what I'm offering. The position was as head of communication in a company working with sustainable innovation. It screamed my name. Didn't get it. Was truly disappointed, since every job I've applied for since I decided this is what I must focus on now have been good enough, but not great. This was great, on paper. The reality was another story.

And even if I had good advance information which gave some warning signals, I also know different personalities react to different things and I prefer to talk to people and experience things myself. Turned out the information I got was spot on, alas. And the ad most certainly didn't convey the truth of the company.

What I learnt though, is that THIS is just the position and kind of company I must pursue. However that might be easier said than done since I've never seen an ad, or heard of a similar company/position, before. So many boxes were ticked, on paper. The reality was something very different.

And after getting the news I honestly felt so low, that only the thought of picking myself up, focus, feeling inspired enough to continue looking, got be exhausted. I don't want to feel this jaded, but right now that's how it is.

But the hilarious, endearing incident that happened before the interview still makes me giggle. I bought a coffee (in my KeepCup to go of course) and the barista was extra chatty. And somehow I ended up telling him I was on my way to an interview and bought coffee for extra oumph. He just stared at me and spontaneously said "But you don't need any extra oumph, you're full of oumph already!". I laughed and thanked him for both compliment and coffee. Even if, despite my built-in oumph, I obviously didn't impress at the interview - or who knows, it might have been too much of a good thing.

The illusive search continues.

On the last day of September I began a new little web project gig, with people I trust and like a lot- This will be fun and hopefully just as enjoyable as work and collaborations should be. And not least, as things currently are, good to focus on nice work matters instead of dwelling over things that weren't meant to be. And seriously, I'm too good at what I do to dwell on what I possibly were deemed to lack at the interview. The company was clearly not worth my time, energy or work. And that's that.

Even if this search process is incredibly draining, and I do wish there would be more positive lessons learnt instead of the opposite.

On the positive September side, in a few words -

Västerås day trip. Turned out that the train ride there from my home took less than one hour, the equivalent of how long it takes to get into Stockholm city. It's nice to live in the outermost suburbs, Sweden seems closer than just Stockholm somehow. Spent the day there, on one of the last few warm and sunny Indian summer days. Walking around the city, which is much nicer than I remembered from the plethora of cat shows I've attended years ago. A lovely museum visit with an exhibition called Age Rich, about old age, all the experiences and wisdom we as a society don't care much about. As youth is celebrated and ageism rules. It was a soul soothing day on so many levels.

Vegan cooking class. Yes, it was finally time and it was lovely, unpretentious and the food turned out great. There were 15 of us and I was definitely the most experienced in vegan cooking. But I still learnt some tricks and tips. Well spent evening.

14th Blogoversary. September 8. Missed it completely. But there you are, happy blogoversary dear blog, thank you for being my little personal public room to share, sort and rant still.

Broken arm anniversary. September 18. A year ago I had a broken arm and life was a new kind of rough. But I got myself through that too. Some days the arm and wrist feels pretty normal. Others it can be a bit sore. But well, even if'll never be 100% as it was before the unfortunate cat related accident, I'm still ever so grateful I said a firm no to an operation, with all the risks that would have entailed and of course no guarantees for a 100% outcome.

Downton Abbey movie premiere. It was a nice couple of hours spent on Friday the 13th. But you might as well wait for the DVD or streaming.

Inspiration lunch on Digital behaviours. Those lunches at a Stockholm book store including a delicious vegan salad are most always a great thing. This time the authors were very entertaining as well.

World Clean-up Day. This was a more infuriating that good event. The organisation Håll Sverige Rent (Keep Sweden Clean) really made an engaging mark during my childhood. Kids and grown-ups alike in general back then, knew how to throw trash in bins and keep the streets and nature clean. Schools and companies were involved in regular campaigns. Now the NGO is doing a really crappy job with visibility and marketing.

My mum and I were out for 3-4 hours, filled 6-8 bags with trash, in an area that wasn't that large. Noone else out and about picked trash and noone we talked to knew that it was World Clean-up Day. Imagine if everyone that attended the Climate Marches also picked up a bag of litter, that would make a huge difference.

In the end we were too tired to pick up more trash, the absolute majority being cigarette butts - idiot smokers are obviously careless, selfish idiots on so many levels - but I felt so ashamed walking past all the littering. I'm not the one littering, but feeling so ashamed of how the human race have polluted our one and only planet and continue doing so by being ignorant and stupid.

Reading. Finished 5 books in September. And begun reading 3 more. So grateful I at least haven't lost my reading mojo amidst the lack of mojo in other areas of my life currently.

Decided to start my October with a new hair colour. This time I went with Bright Red, from Maria Nila. I can see it'll be very visible in daylight. Unfortunately I got a bit too much of the colour on my forehead and on my ears too. That'll be an interesting new look for me.

September, writing things down I realise you held some great stuff too, but the early days disappointment has still been covering you like a big, wet, suffocating blanket. So thank you for the good days, but really, I'm very glad to say bye bye.

Dear, October, darling birthday month, can you pretty pretty please bring 31 days of happiness and at least a few of immense joy!? So much gratitude in advance.

farewell august, welcome september 2019

Let's try something new. As I fear my computer is getting worse - I should probably be grateful it has worked reasonably well, but quite slow, after its crash in May - I'll post this blog-post little by little, update it slowly today and tomorrow. Slow blogging and no instant gratification. So please, stop reading now and welcome back. New little "chapters" will be added continuously over the weekend.



August has been a lovely month in general. And the weather wonderful, as the rest of our Swedish summer this year. I would lie if I said I wasn't afraid it will only get worse from here on, so many scary tipping points all over the world this year. But for now, I'm grateful for our amazing summer, and I've savoured every possible detail from it.



Rounded the month off with a special outing. Visiting the Kvistaberg Observatory, located in the neighbouring suburb but rarely opened to the public. This weekend there's the annual Art Run in the municipality were local artists of very varied talent level get to show their pieces at various places. And the observatory (owned and operated by Uppsala University) is opened for viewings too.



Despite extremely poor information and communication regarding how to get there with public transport (because as usual everyone is suppose to to have access to or wanting to go by car...) and its opening hours, we managed to get there and after waiting for over one hour (alongside a bunch of other visitors) someone turned up and gave a half-hearted talk. But it was cool to finally see the place. There are three observatories and telescopes on the premises, but we only got see the youngest, which too has been discontinued alas.



It's nice to do something special, have a little outing, feed the mind and soul something extra, on the very last day of a month. I think I need to make a little habit of it. Say farewell and thank you to the month that was.



Had secretly hoped that I would finish more than 5 books (which was my monthly goal again) in August, but there have been so much other stuff occupying my life and mind, that didn't happen. But five I did, and as I've written about my long battle with lost reading mojo that's more than good enough anyway.



And as I was preparing for a hygge moment finishing that last and fifth book in this glorious caturday, I suddenly realised that my old, rarely used coffee press can indeed be used for rooibos tea too. Which means I can prepare a pot of tea and drink it in one of my smaller, pretty mugs instead of always relying on the large ones. Might seem both trivial and obvious, but apparently not for me. A nice little insight to get on the very last day of summer.



Looks like my planned, let's-try-something-new-and-add-little-chapters-to-the-existing-blog-post-idea during one weekend didn't quite worked. Have too much backlog regarding the photos and feeling tired after quite a busy, but really good, week.

So, to keep it shorter than intended and save things for another post, perhaps?

Here goes short -

:: Had an intention to use more shoes with higher heels regularly. But as comfy as they are, I chose to rekindle with them on a day when I though we'd walk reasonably little just to walk softly into another heel height. Turned out to be one of those days this summer when we walked for hours. It kind of put me and my calfs off the idea of more heels in my life.

:: Went to see an exhibition on women's vote in Sweden, it's 100 years old now. Only 100 years. And still there such a long way to go for true equal rights, even in Sweden. What women and girls suffer through all over the world in less democratic countries even today, no wonder the whole planet is in such peril. The lack of women's rights, human rights as well as animal rights are closely connected with climate change and a disregard for sustainability issues, as everything is connected. Of which we are reminded every single day, yet sadly so little, by comparison, is done to change that.

:: Have had some really lovely encounters with vegan pizza, burgers, sticky chocolate cake, chocolate mousse pastry and truly magical pralines. And I've bought some great artisan bread from various (new to me) hipster bakeries. Which is a category that has truly blossomed in Sweden these past, I'd say, 10 years. But I'm not complaining, great bread should be easy to find. I really really don't like massproduced supermarket bread with all its unhealthy additives. Everything is better when carefully and skillfully produced in smaller quantities, with fewer and healthier ingredients.



:: I had another encounter with a jar of Maria Nila colour refresh, this time in the colour Cherry Red. And it worked great with my grombre, just like the Pink Pop I tried in April. So it looks like blues and purples don't work at all for me, but red hues do. It's really difficult to get the nuance to look right in a photo, but this will give you an idea.



And after a couple of washes (it's suppose to last 5-10 washes I believe) it looks like this. But nb, the main thing of this photo is that I woke up like this. It was such a surprisingly good curly and totally effortless hair day. Which is a rare rare RARE thing.

:: I've also done my first little dabble with genealogy. Only got 3 generations back on both mum and dad's side, it's so easy to get sidetracked... But I'm looking forward to do some more digging. And there are so many resources online these days, and in Sweden several authorities offer services for free.

:: Attended a super interesting panel discussion on Can fashion be sustainable and circular economy. It was just so inspiring and though provoking and I learnt a lot of things I had no idea about. Even if I still find it so incredibly ... distasteful when they invite companies such as H&M and other fast fashion brands to discuss sustainability and how dedicated they've apparently become to that lately, despite still making dirty money polluting the environment with massproduced crap made by factory workers that aren't fairly paid. It's just such completely embarrassing greenwashing. The moderator did a great job though, not shying away from difficult questions, like they usually do.



And last (now that I omitted things that made August into a lovely last month of summer), but far from least - I have an interview booked for this week. For a position that's honestly quite the dream job. The interesting thing is that I kind of slipped in on a benevolent banana skin through the back door via recent meetings. It just feels so very right, in every aspect. Like the job ad pretty much being a carbon copy of what I said I was looking for and offering in my recent LinkedIn article.

I'm actually very excited (as illustrated by Ågot), so dear Internetz, kindly send fabulously good vibes and positive thoughts that the meeting will be great, that we will click and match irl just as perfectly as on paper.



Thank you from the bottom of my grateful heart, August, for being such a wonderful month. I'm sad to see you go, and with you a beautiful long summer. But you have made a lasting impact on my life, that's so very special of you.

And dear, September, you have a lot to live up to in the footsteps of your predecessor, but I'm sure you have all amazing things within your 30 days, right? Right. Welcome, welcome, welcome.

the things i do while i'm looking for my new dream job

Stockholm Pride has been. And apart from the love is love, kindness and equality vibe that's in teh air during that week, I always enjoy taking rainbow coloured pictures near water. This year we were at magical Millesgården for a really sweet exhibition with illustrator Lena Andersson's adorable drawings and work. A perfect place for a little rainbow gang to pose.



The exhibition is on until September 22 and well worth a visit.



Car-pooled to the retrieval plant the other week. It was such a bliss to finally get rid of years of broken old stuff that's too heavy to take on the bus. I should make this a regular thing. Not that I got that much heavy stuff to get rid off currently. But a good cleanse of stuff in general is liberating.



The cats were less than happy though, since I threw away one of their favourite chairs (nasty old thing). These were the scenes after I had pulled it apart, making it ready for throwing away. As if there would never again be a better place to lie on.



The season for cherries seem to get shorter by the year, but I have enjoyed the reasonably priced ones I've seen. Ah, cherries, on my top three of best fruit and berries in the whole wide world, alongside raspberries and pineapple. Closely followed my mango.



I was so excited when I saw that Fjällräven had turned their beloved Kånken into a little messenger bag (the big one made in collaboration with Acne last year has alas leather details). For those days when your dress doesn't have pockets (which is such drawback, I know, but still it happens) and your good with a smaller bag or wear it with the Kånken to have your most essentials close at hand. (The pretty red bag from Matt & Nat is of another style, for other days and occasions...).



Granted I thought it would be the same size as the Kånken Mini, but as you can se the Kånken Sling is much smaller. I deliberated if it was a keeper or not, but I decided it was. Even if it isn't big enough to fit both umbrella, sunglasses, a big wallet (I need to downside to a mini one) and all the extras I usually carry in my backpack. And a keepcup is definitely out of the question. So either you have it for very special occasions, with the backpack or with a cotton tote bag.



One interesting sighting of this summer - which has been so so much better than last year, thank goodness for that, at least a little grace from global warming effects - is that there have been so much butterflies, as well as (too many) mosquitos and flies. And since the mosquitos lovez me... But at least, touch wood, the tics have been very few and far apart. And last week I got my final TBE-shot, so now I'm fully vaccinated, hooray.

It was a petty costly affair though, and given the devastating consequences of getting TBE, it's very strange indeed that the usual Swedish health care doesn't cover these costs too. There are so many more unnecessary things it covers, it's baffling.



Remember the sunglass clip-ons I got for one of my new glasses back in February? Well, for some reason, somewhere, I must have misplaced them recently and I can't find them (yet, as the search is still on). So I thought I might pop by the optician and ask if I could buy a new pair. A simple plastic design, as they were included in the very reasonable price for my glasses I couldn't imagine a replacement pair would be very expensive. Boy, was I wrong, the price would be 1/3 of what my glasses cost. Thanks but no thanks. Seriously.

So I'll keep on looking for my misplaced ones, and really, just a quick google search I find the equivalent much more reasonably priced. There are many things worth paying for, while others are just ridiculously overpriced.



I posted a list of 12 (old and new) books I recommend for summer (or year around really) reading on LinkedIn the other week. On which these two appears, the above book is by much loved Swedish artist, painter, feminist, body activist Stina Wollter (I attended a writer's talk with her in June and it was amazing). Only in Swedish, obviously, so far, but I highly recommend you read it.



And the first book in the trilogy by Sylvain Neuvel, "Sleeping Giants" had me mesmerized. Can't wait to read the other two.



Last week I was inspired by pic A to do an even shorter blunt cut. But the result turned out like pic B. And all of you Swedes who grew up with the TV-show Hedvig & Helge know what I mean, the rest of you have to google. The cut was also a bit shorter than I had planned, as I was trying to multitask by talking on the phone at the same time. Yes, true story.



However, after a wash and slight styling it didn't look too bad. And the funniest thing of it all is that after years of being super-reluctant to cut my hair short, and having been pretty sad when I let my hairdresser cut it shorter than usual, is that I basically don't miss it at all. And I can still make a tiny ponytail, if I should so wish.



And I got myself five little jars with the vegan Maria Nila colour refresh. As I am curious if any of them is as great, or as crappy, as the pink resp blue colours I've tried before, I only went for small jars instead of the bigger bottles of the previous two.

I tried the Lavender one the other day, but alas it added only a very faint hint of colour to my sun-bleached grombre hair. But it was a nice nourishing hair pak at least. Fingers crossed the next colour will be as great as the Pink Pop.



Realised it's really quite easy to use public transport to get from here to Sigtuna. It doesn't have to be more time-consuming than 1 hour and 20 minutes from door to door (and if you didn't have waiting time between train and buses it would be even shorter). So I had a little fne outing with little mum last week, with fika at Tant Brun and a stroll around town. I'm looking forward to the fact that it will now be a no biggie to get there for the annual Christmas fair.

More on Sigtuna and its history as the oldest town in Sweden, in this old blog post.



On my above visit to Millesgården I was smitten by this handmade glass ring with coloured water. It wasn't easy to chose colour but in the end I went for a pink + pink one. It's such a nice summer statement ring. From Pylones.



After weeks of deliberation I also decided to get myself this amazing pre-autumn classic shirt dress. It haz pockets. Obviously from Marimekko with its Unikko pattern. (I admit to a slight addiction.) And isn't the pale pink-beige colour combination adorable? It will look great both on cooler summer days with a tan, as well as colourful stockings and cardigans come autumn and winter. For many years.



I've also become a sponsor to this beautiful boy named Benjamin. A young bull at Swedish animal sanctuary Gotlands Djurfristad. May he live a long and happy life there with his friends. As opposed to all the billions of his species that are needlessly oppressed, abused and killed for food we don't need.



And that was a few things I've done lately while I'm still looking for my dream job - and now there's even a reversed job ad up as an article on LinkedIn on that. And if you care to like, share or do something other positive and amazing to spread the word on my quest, that would needlessly to say be much appreciated. Onwards and upwards.

Now I'm looking forward to the vegan cooking class this week, that will be so much fun I'm sure!

goodbye july, hello august 2019

July 2019 - the month I finished not only my goal of 5 books, but 8. Hooray. Plus am a few chapters into even more books. And yes again, the more I read the less I write obviously.

That said. Apart from books what has the last few weeks of July been like than? For the most part very hot, debilitatingly, depressingly so. But at last the temperature dropped drastically yesterday - with unusually low temperatures for the season instead, which are also climate change caused of course. But at least you can breath. And sleep.



I got a general letter from my Dr Dentist thanking me for the years as is patient, but he is now going to retire and his practice is sold to another dentist. It was quite a shock, didn't realise he'd reach that age, he doesn't look like it. But I suppose, since I have been seeing him since I was a kid, it's no surprise... I will now have to look for a new dentist for my annual checkups, and as his skills was the only reason I did those 2 hours single trip commute to the other side of town I will have to try and find one much closer to home, from recommendations.

Finding good doctors and dentists (and not least veterinarians) you trust is no mean feat. I guess I've been spoilt really, with my dentist.



On the subject of doctors, I accompanied my mother to the hospital for a check-up last week and read this article in one of their magazines in the waiting room. About more and more Swedes going vegetarian and vegan. It was illustrated by one of the most powerful images I've ever seen. It is this simple, with one hand you choose life, health, the planet, the other one is just needless pain and suffering for innocent beings, and for the planet we all share.



Went on a day trip to university town Uppsala with little mum. Some years back they extended the commuter train lines to Arlanda airport and the Uppsala, making it much easier to get there, but also much less charming than taking a proper train. The commuter train ticket prices are ridiculously high for those extra miles though, so even if it's a nice little trip it's pretty costly I'd say.

Anyway, we arrived early and began to slowly saunter to the city centre. An hour after our arrival I tripped on those darn cobblestone streets and fell slap-bang on knees and hands. The first thing I cried was "oh no, hope the phone didn't break!" - when it would have been worse if I re-broke my hand obviously. It was pretty painful, if not much blood and I felt both dizzy and nauseous for about an hour afterwards and had to rest on a bench. Luckily it passed and we continued up to the cathedral, had a vegan nicecream and continued with walking around town.



This is me after the incident, with the nicecream in sight. I may have several super-powers, but the least pleasant one is my inclination to trip, slip and fall when least expected. Even if it, touch wood, doesn't happen often, it happens regularly. And the amount of scars on my knees tell a long story. And obviously the tale of two broken arms, one in my twenties (the cat bathing incident) and the other one last year (the cat vomit incident).

I was pretty sore for about a week, partly still is, my right hand and my left knee took most of the beating. And I had seriously huge bruises. Still am a bit tender, but it feels a bit better everyday, thankfully. It could have been so much worse.



We visited a really lovely tea shop - with cat tea, Uppsala is the hometown of the famous author of the children's books about Pelle Svanslös, Pelle No Tail - and had a great vegan buffet late lunch before it was time to head back home. I so enjoy these unpretentious day trips, with no particular musts and shoulds, just a bit of sightseeing and something great to eat in towns you've been to before. Hopefully there'll be time for a few more day trips in August.



In August I'm also attending a vegan cooking class. It's not that I don't cook a lot already, obviously, but I thought it would be fun to mingle a bit, get new contacts and pick up new tricks and ideas. The evening will take place at a small vegan restaurant that mainly focus on raw food and catering.



Remember the job interview that was re-schedule for August? Got an email last week saying the position was filled now. In the middle of the holiday season. When they said they couldn't do interviews until the second week of August. If it had been at another time of the year I could've understand that when they found a good match they stopped all interviews. But not at this time, high summer, that's just blatant unprofessional behaviour. And that's just what I told them.

So incredibly tired of all these unprofessional, incompetent recruitment companies and clueless HR departments. But I guess this learning experience, as jaded as it's getting me, is simply a part on my quest for the Dream Job with my kind of people. Onwards and upwards.



I got myself a stylish rain poncho. A garment which probably only Marimekko and the Unikko pattern would entice me to do. But then the heavy rains stopped and I haven't used it yet. But I was so tired about getting soaked despite umbrella, when it was windy and heavy rain fell. So hopefully this will be a very good thing come rain next.



Last week I welcomed Mr/s Hedgehog 2019. A fairly big one and so far just one. Love how the cats are still happy and curious to see them. If my memory serves me right this is the 12th year I'm honoured to host the Hedgehog DropInn in my garden.



Of the eight July books read, I think this one was the most powerful. In all its simplicity. "Scener från hjärtat" (Scenes from the heart) is written by the family Ernman - Thunberg (yes, Greta Thunberg, her mother world-famous opera singer Malena Ernman, her father and sister). It's absolutely heartwrenching about a family in crisis, a wrecked social system and not least a world that's burning on the brink of collaps, but very few react and act accordingly. For me it was highly relatable. And for those who still think Greta isn't capable of all the amazing, inspiring things she does herself, but a puppet on a string, that's clearly and simply not true. The book should be obligatory reading for everyone.



Thank you, July, for every lessons learnt, the good, the bad and everything between. Good people, good food, good books and cat cuddles galore.

Welcome, August. I'm so excited to see you, beautiful, wistful, last month of summer. Please bring good news, good health and fine things, and not least, it is about high time for that much awaited, hard worked for, Dream Job now, don't you agree?