the highs and lows of february update

Dear potential clients and companies, please do not get in touch asking about my availability and fees and think I'll be so happy to be asked I'll work for free. The right approach would be to actually a) know your own budget and b) do research the market fees. And by all means never ever get back and say things like "unfortunately we have a very limited budget and we've talked this through and we feel this is something a student can do." That is just utterly offensive, disrespectful and unprofessional.

Freelancing business owners and consultants actually do their jobs as a their living. Free-lancing doesn't mean we work for free, I'm sorry that you've misunderstood that. We have more or less experience within our fields, but we're all professionals and that's what you pay for. So go ahead and let a student do it, and you'll get the result you pay (or not) for. And you know, that besides me never wanting to work with you, that I'll never ever recommend you as a client to someone else, right?

And after all these years, no, firmly no, I am a not a serf just because I decided to go my own way and offering my experience and services via my own business instead of being employed.



Now, that's the most annoying thing that happened last week out of the way - and forever available in writing on the internetz. Here's a close-up glimpse of the gorgeous sheep dress I mentioned in the last post, from Palava. It makes me happy.



Zigne has reluctantly paw approved it, but she still thinks it's such weirdness of all weirdnesses that amongst all the animal prints they've designed there are still no cats visible anywhere. She has even let Palava know about that blatant disrespect for the best animal in the whole wide world.



I'm also happy to report that I managed to make the cold a reasonably short one, with all that ginger, citrus and spices, and it was gone within less than a week. Grateful I am.

I've had the new Marimekko coat out for s spin a few times, and I'm doing my very best to look past its lint-and-cat-hair-magnetic-properties. Apart from that annoying trait it's both practical and cute, and a source for compliments apparently. Which is always nice.



On the subject of compliments. I bought some fragrant necesseties at the Body Shop outlet last week - the Moringa body butter is one of my favourite skincare products ever, sad to hear they'll discontinue the extra large jars - and when I had to give my personal number to the cashier she just exclaimed "I must say you really don't look your age!". Upon which I answered, well thank you so much, it must be for all the fabulous skincare products I use.

Which obviously isn't the whole truth. Thank you genes too. And even if noone can stay completely away from heartache, sorrow and pain in life - and noone should, since it's through them we grow into better, more compassionate people - but most of us can at least take care of ourselves, inside out, eat well and stay away from harmful, toxic substances (and situations) that we are aware of.

Swedes usually make a big deal of having to show their identity card at the Systembolaget, to prove they're over 20 years old. As I never shop at Systembolaget - ie I rarely drink alcohol - that has never happened to me. But really, I'd much rather get a skincare professional in a beauty shop saying I look much younger than my age than a cashier selling alcohol.



I also went to the optician last week, and decided on a couple of new glasses so I could finally have sunglass clip-ons. Unfortunately the pair I tried on a while back was sold out at the moment - and here's I thinking I'm so unique, when half of Stockholm apparently chose the same frames, bah - so I chose others. But hopefully these frames will be back in stock soon.

After finding my beloved dotty glasses in 2011 I've never looked back at contact lenses again. I've sadly never found anything similar in frames as those, but I have enjoyed most of my glasses a lot anyway. It's difficult to imagine myself without glasses, they're so much me, a style statement I suppose.

But when the optician asked if I wanted to try on lenses to make it easier to chose frames I said yes. It was such a weird situation, to be able to see so well and not having to watch the world through spectacles. Unfortunately, despite what the Body Shop cashier said, the age apparently show when I wear lenses, I get long-sighted and can't read and write properly close up. Photos and photo editing is just a blur. Thus I'd need reading glasses to have contact lenses. Which was a bit of a shocker actually. Who knew it would be so much easier to just wear glasses?

Still thinking of having a box of lenses available anyway, to wear with all my old sunglasses I never can wear these days (since I'm blind as a bat without my glasses/prescription sunglasses).



Have also had my first lovely semla of the year - from Bagar'n Hornstull, a bakery that have a lot of vegan buns and pastries. The funny thing is that the bakery, situated close to the underground station Hornstull, was around even before I was born. My family lived in that neighbourhood when I was a kid and I remember we shopped breads and buns there even then. 



And I got to meet the army of cuteness and kindness. Pug Baron and labrador Mynta. We could all sleep safely if that was the only army around.





Was reminded that today was the day we were forced to say the final farewell to beloved Little Loaf. An exceptional little character. And since my every attempt so far to welcome a new doggie to this house have been unsuccessful, perhaps he was the one and only woof for me. Well, what's meant to be will be, but you can't help but wonder...



As you might have noticed by the pictures already, the snow and ice have basically melted already and very quickly. Spring is very much in the air, which is quite scary on these latitudes. Much too soon, as in 1-2 months too soon. As much as one usually looks forward to spring and the absence of dark evenings, ice and snow, after last year's horrific hot and exhausting, and all the wild fires, summer I'm seriously afraid of how things will look this year. Climate change moves faster than ever, and the growth is exponential.

And with that in mind everyone should be afraid, seriously worried, demand change and not least change themselves. Yet, so little is done - apart from the amazing school strikes #fridaysforfuture started by the inspirational, smart Greta of course - it is truly heartbreaking.



Then clever copywriting and advertising like this makes me happy. "Have the balls to make the world a better place" by Swedish Stockholm-based vegan family company Vegme - that makes excellent plantbased protein for the present and the future.



A pun is never wrong, in my opinion. And even better when it's actually a tasty pun that can save many innocent lives.



Talking about tasty food that saves lives, I finally attended a much talked about vegan brunch yesterday at the Radisson Blu Royal Park Hotel in Stockholm, suburb Solna. It was great, with a few kinks, and I was really impressed about all that was offered, the inventiveness and ambition of the weekly plantbased event.

I'll share more views and photos of the food in a post of its own - which it certainly deserves! - later this week. For now - a post-vegan-brunch-coma-wefie, with my friend aka Sporty Spice in animal rights garment "Always on the side of the animals" and me in Marimekko, but no less on the side of the animals.



And, February dearie, more goody goody goodness my way, m'kay?
A plethora of gratitude in advance.

goodbye april 2018

If I was to summarize April in three words only, for me personally, it would be - emotional, sleep deprivation and sunshine.

I most certainly look forward to May being a month where the great things that sprouted in April will have a gloriously happy flourishing. Add more great things to happen. And obviously that The Mess that has brought so much anger, worry, disappointment, and yes sorrow, will be sorted in a positive way. That Karma will bring everyone involved just what they deserve. Simple as that. Not too much to ask for, right? Right.

So, to summarize this last week of April;



An unexpectedly lovely movie, much better than the book I read in 2009 - surprised it took them so long to turn it into a movie -, even if one of the loveliest characters is a pig farmer and there is a roasted pig situation. But it was a beautiful movie, every film frame a picture postcard perfection, a Downton Abbey reunion(4 actors) and cute, stylish costumes. Highly recommend.



An unexpected job interview. The startup looking for that "rockstar copywriter" that contacted me two weeks ago. It was a nice enough interview. I prefer to be neutral if I am a great fit for them or they a great fit for me. Sometimes it's obviously a 'yes please' or a 'no thanks' feeling after an interview. In this case it can go either way. Let's see. I trust the process.



A sweet box of new tea. I'm not a fan of green tea - it's so delicate and tricky to brew correctly to be drinkable - but I couldn't resist the name "Fredagsmys" (a very Swedish concept, translated "Friday coziness"), it smelled delicious and it's quite lovely, fruity to drink, when you get it right.



Two great seminars - one on "Mind the gender gap" on how to work with gender equality in the workplace. Very enlightening, both theoretically and practically. It was a breakfast seminar and the little fly in the ointment would be the fact they didn't offer a vegan option, despite I had asked for one.



The other one an interesting talk from one of the founders of the Swedish banking app Tink - I remain healthy sceptical about most things involving having your financial details ready and available to be hacked, but that's just me... It was a good talk and the vegan lunch was great.



It is the cherry blossom trees in bloom time of the year. Which always makes me happy. I do plan a revisit early next week when they've blossomed into that truly magic pink, soft light.





For the first time I had a really good laugh about the weirdness of the keywords for which one can be found on LinkedIn. I've always found it curiously entertaining that everyone but I seem to be found by strange and irrelevant keywords. Now I know better.
A) My name may be Pia but I have absolutely no knowledge of PIA (and I can’t blog about it). B) I do appreciate that LinkedIn sees me as some omnicompetent source of How-to. I'm unlimited indeed.

Even if I alas never heard back about that amazing communicator position in a well-known international environmental organisation, I guess they went with someone else, however inconceivable as that might be. But Ms Sustainability 2018 comes in many shapes and forms. It's important to move on from disappointments, which always is easier when you make a point of cultivating resilience.

And on Friday I applied for another job I would absolutely love to get. As Brand Manager for a fabulous, delicious Swedish vegan food brand. So, I would appreciated more fingers, toes and paws crossed now. From the internetz and Universe.



Oh, darling May, can you be utterly kind and awesome, please?
Less worry, more sleep, more laughters, beautiful news
and sweet surprises of the very best kind.
I would be ever so grateful, dear May, I really would.

my cosmo geek week, part II

As a creative I need to replenish inspiration, energy and joy regularly to feel and perform as best as possible. Luckily I'm pretty easily inspired by little things around me - as well as unfortunately easily caught by the Weltschmerz notion, given the world situation in general and people's ungraspable and un-compassionate behaviours. Though always grateful for my "grounded in happiness" personality - but sometimes you need something with extra oomph.

Such as a museum visit, a great conversation or a long walk in pretty surroundings. Given the icy streets these past couple of months (!) there hasn't been a lot of walking alas, but museums are great. Especially when you get to experience so many lovely, inspired works of art that your heart kind of overflows by awness.

Granted I rarely get a lot of that when visiting the annual spring art salon (since 1921) at museum Liljevalchs. I just find the level of quality and originality of the chosen art pieces to be crazy varied, more than half of them seems like silly nursery style jokes. Also this year the quality level varied a lot, but I saw more lovely pieces than I'd ever done before.

As I wrote in my part I post, my number one favourite was, which I obviously can relate to on a very profound level, "Kerstin shall save all the animals" by Kristina Nilsdotter (her mother is the model). But some other favourites were these -


German philosophers with cats by Gabriel Jonsson


Rabbit with carrot by Simon Fergin - crocheted with recycled T-shirts


The bulldog Rolf by Mari Juslin - partly made with old nylon stockings


Explorers by Olof Astrup Hällqvist


Breath in - breath out, a year with yoga by Stefan Bennedahl - 365 clay figures in yoga positions


Parts of them by Therese Isabelle Olsson


The Introvert House by Sofia Runarsdotter (photography)


Snow leopard, ghost of the mountain by Emelie Bäcklin - sculpture in faux fur


The Pig mother by Mathias Lyngman


Academy member by Monika Eriksson - I think its the spitting image of Allyce Beasley, but it's suppose to be Sara Danius, the permament secretary of the Swedish Academy.

 
Fir tree by Leif Engström


Sculptures by Mari Pårup


I wish I was beautiful as a swan, could fly and wear red high heels by Vanja Jonebring Arnell


Station 9 (paper babies) by Bea Szenfeld (Swedish fashion designer who is also vegan)


A cherry kissing herself by Kristina Brandeus Kirkkopelto



All this creativity and quirkiness, such happiness!

:: Which brings me to another cause of happiness of mine. Namely these little tykes, Sonny Angels. Inspired by the American Kewpie doll this Japanese collector's doll is a wee cherub, an angel boy - with all his little bits on full cheeky display for some reason. I wonder why it isn't a gender neutral doll or at least half of them boys half girls - with quirky headgear and sometimes upper body clothes (like Donald Duck). It is said to bring good luck, comfort, protection and happiness. I can certainly vouch for the latter at least.

Just like the darling bobbaloos they are lovely little photo props. Though since they're made of not wool but plastic - which is a material I usually shy away from as an environmentalist, but... - they can jump into liquids and food and be easily cleaned afterwards. Plus they don't need to travel in a special hard case, but a soft pouch will do. 

The last time I welcomed new arrivals to the Scandinavian bobbaloo settlement I alas had to pay a hefty postal and customs fee, which granted was really unfortunate after all these years of uncomplicated delight. Many of my bobs have been through a lot of adventures over the years and are *a bit* shabby, so they have been retired from most commitments. And the talented maker Kit doesn't seem to be making new bobs anymore. Thus obsession of fondness for little happy, colourful beings have been shifted to these angelic guys.

I got my first one about four years ago, a carrot headgear (of course). Followed by cherry blossom (naturally) and morning glory. Then I won an Instagram competion (like I do, now and then) a year ago. And I suppose that was the start of my obsession of fondness for them. A perfect treat for yourself when you've accomplished something great. Or need a comfort treat for that matter.

Sonny Angels come in 9 regular series, with 12 dolls in each. 4 animal series, 1 vegetable series, 1 fruit, 1 marine, 1 flower and the latest one, sweets. Plus they have different special series now and then, like chocolate, Ladurée, Happy birthday, Easter, Halloween, Valentine, Christmas. In every series there are additional secret Sonnys that are more 'valuable' and very hard to find. The angels are supposed to be bought in blindpack in every series. Which means you never know what you pay for ie can get the exact same one again and again and again... 

I've been lucky enough to find and bought most of mine as display figures, which is great. I have some series full and have been even more lucky to get my hands on a few secret Sonnys. I still can't believe I found the very illusive secret unicorn. Still waiting for my smashing good luck and fortunate events to come knocking big time though.

Until that happens I enjoy the company of these wee angels, the inspiration and simple everyday joy they bring. Which help keep me healthily silly, young at heart and in mind.



:: Refilling my travel card last week I ended up doing that with a very chatty ticket collector. Who exclaimed "What a funky jacket you have! Where is it from? My wife would love it! She shops a lot at Gudrun Sjödén." I really hope one wouldn't mistake my fabulous happy Marimekko Pienipioni coat for a Sjödén coat. As grateful and happy as I am for my Schwarzwald trip, I obviously do enjoy the odd garment from her now and then, I also have issues with the brand concerning a lot of other things. Not least her recent appalling views on women's financial status in society, lack of insight in power structures and feminism, link to article in Swedish.

Still, grateful for the unexpected, kind compliment, as always.



:: Three years ago I got a second set of the irresistable Happy lights. It took until last week for me to assemble it. Oh, procrastination. I was so pleased to finally get it done. Tured out though that alas a) the colours of the pretty balls, in colours I had so carefully chosen, weren't at all the same colours lit up as unlit. Too red and warm for my liking, b) the danger of them becoming irresistable kitty toys is imminent. Have survived one night, I sincerely hope that is how it will stay.



:: It took 2 years until I got a buddy match via the Kompis Sverige integration project. And then it took us a couple of months to have our first meetup. But now we've had one, my new friend and I. A long vegan lunch and fika accompanied by a lot of talking. At one of my favourite cafes, Älskade Traditioner. My new friend is a vegetarian teacher from China. Our conversation involved many of my favourite topics, like vegan food, religion vs kindness, philosophy, culture, education, love, books and languages. 

Looking forward to meeting her again, think it'll be a museum visit on the agenda next time. If the weather hasn't picked up, allowing outdoors activities. It'll be great to follow her progress in Swedish too, given we only talk in English for now, easier that way.

:: Rounding off part II of my cosmo geek week post with being immensely grateful that all my latest proteges in my coaching gig have now started their respective internship at different companies. All that hard work put in + companies genuinly interested in helping = the warm and fuzzy feeling again. I'm sure they will have great 12 weeks internships, looking forward to meeting them all again in early June. 

Having finished the major part of this gig I am now open for new gigs and jobs again. As I said I will be braver this year and open to other opportunities than I've concider before, without losing the importance of being true to myself, I've actually applied for some interesting full-time jobs too. Hopefully and fingers crossed I'll at least get a couple of interviews from that. It's about high time I find my kind of people now too. Really.

I also firmly believe that there are a lot of companies out there in dire need of a Chief Happiness Officer who also take introverts' needs seriously. Do get in touch, I'm here to help!

love goals

This post will not be about vegan food. Nor about colourful outfits. It was after all not a promise, just a suggestion. And there's always time for it in another post. Human behaviour is much more interesting to contemplate, wouldn't you agree? Thus this post will be a reflection on love. In general.

Have you seen the TV-commercial with a football player scoring a goal and then suddenly getting mezmerised by a cheering man in the audience, so mesmerized he paves his way through the crowd up on to the stand and there passionately kisses him? I think it's an ad for a Swedish pay-TV company but Google has not been my friend here so I can't alas find a link to it. Anyway, I find the ad amazing and heartwarming. Because the storytelling so cleverly incorporates

a) The kind of passionate, unexpected kiss most of us humans (who have watched too many romantic movies) secretly (or not so secretly) wish for.
b) It's breaking the norms in a grand way. It wouldn't have been nearly as good if it had been a (stereotypically beautiful) man and woman involved.
c) Showing love and kindness instead of the violence and hate we've seen too much of at football games this last decade.

I would go as far as to say it's my new favourite commercial after the wind turbines one.

EDIT: I found it! "We gather all kinds of passion at Canal Digital."

You know the "I want someone to look at me like..." memes? My number one favourite is still Joe Biden looking at Barack Obama. In fact I've put that on my list of life goals. And until that happens I will continue to be a not so crazy cat lady. (Well, I will always be a not so crazy cat lady, because the company of cats rock, but you get the drift.)

There's been a lovely interview series on Swedish television recently called "En kärlekshistoria" (A lovestory) about famous Swedish creative couples who both live and work together. They've been together for 7-30 years (so their ages range from 35 to 80) and the interviews obviously revolve around how they've made their relationships work so well.

I didn't think I would enjoy the series as much as I did, and surely none of the other episodes after the first one (Camilla Thulin is my kindred spirit) would be nearly as good? But you know what, they've all been great in their very own way. I've loved the stories, the ups and downs most couples have shared. And not least the wisdom. Heartwarming. And all the oneliners, eye-openers that make you think, a fine thing indeed. The series is still available on SVT Play (in Swedish, in Sweden of course) so if you haven't had the time to watch it yet I recommend you do.

As far as myself go I did have a really good talk over dinner with that trusted friend the other day. And it was again both heartwarming and reaffirming of the conclusion I'd come to myself, the obvious way to act (or non-act) when things are complicated and not as straight forward as pink, vegan meringues. Which is keeping it simple, trust the gut and the process. Not forcing things, what is meant to be will be. That now embraced notion has served me well all this year, I'm done with being impatient. - Although I still believe impatience is what drives change and growth. Still, a time and place for everything... And I gave myself a promise last year which I'm not about to break. It's a simple question of pride.

Then we laughed a lot too - about that list of what we look for in an ideal partner we've all had at some point or other (and if you say you haven't I say you're a liar). The list that doesn't mean a thing (or at least not very much, your basic values are still the same) when the right one appears. (In fact you might even get moments of realising, why on earth didn't I know this was just what I needed and wanted?) And about the importance of intellectual challenge, humour and laughter. Friends like that are worth their weight in gold.

Later that evening my mother said
- Can I say something without you getting angry?
- Sure.
- *Insert a sentence that turned me into 50 shades of red*

She is clearly so much more insightful than I give her credit for sometimes - yes we should start a YouTube channel pod... Darling little mum.

Today she said something else that made me think a lot about my own behaviour of just being strong and comfortable in myself. I know she's right. And as unfortunate as it might be in some aspects it's also not something that I'm the least bit interested in changing at this reputable age reached. And most of all, if I tried to I wouldn't be true to myself. Which is so very important. And I'd much rather be myself than a unicorn actually. And it isn't a bad thing at all, but it's really interesting that it took all these years to get it. Hello, Eureka moment, I've been a bit clueless. For a very long time.

And after all these love related ramblings I'll leave you with a really sweet movie tip "What if?" - hipster alert high but also with a very clever dialogue, humour and lots of cuteness. Watched it again last weekend. This weekend I've heard it's going to rain lots and lots, so I think a caturday well spent would be watching and laughing at "Bridget Jones's Diary" for the umpteenth time. Accompanied by many cups of tea, snacks and cats. And possibly reminiscing on how close I was to that praiseworthy wet shirt of Mr Darcy a few months ago. As one does now and then.

as close as i'll ever get to colin firth in a wet shirt

One of my favourite castles in the whole wide world, Skokloster, currently has an exhibition called 'Jane Austens värld' (Jane Austen's world), with original clothes from 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Emma', with focus on women's roles in society back then (late 18th - early 19th century). And as much as I adore the television and movie adaptions of Austen's books, oh my am I grateful I live here and now...

The guided tour was really good but I have to say that this particular piece was the highlight of the exhibition. For all of you who, like me, swooned over a certain someone in a certain scene in 'Pride and Prejudice' - you know why.

After the tour we could play dress-up and try on regency clothes, for some reason it wasn't a popular feature for the visitors in my group. But I decided to try on some hats at least. With an ever present Colin Firth.

It was the wonkiest mirror ever which made me in an A-line dress look even wonkier and as much as I love playing dress-up it's not much fun when you just look weird and there's noone around to laugh with, but a stern Colin. - Oh why couldn't you have smiled just a little bit during our brief moments together?

All in all a lovely day though. You can't go wrong with castle + waffles + tiny dog company. And a close encounter with Mr Darcy's once very wet shirt.

PS On August 19 they apparently host a Jane Austen ball at the castle, tickets sold out, but it does sounds pretty fabulous, wouldn't you agree? DS