vegorätt, what a fail

Today it was finally premiere for the the first Swedish all vegetarian (ie vegan) cooking-show on TV, Vegorätt (rätt = right or dish in Swedish). And a lot of us were of course super-excited by this. 'Now all the deal-animal-eaters will finally see how easy, good and right it is to eat green!'

What happened was instead something incredibly embarrassing, parodical, soppy and far from inspiring, professional and playfully educational. We got *treated* with 30 minutes of a filmed Instagram-account (filter, backlight, coolness), hipsters doing yoga on a field with flags and eating acai-smoothies sitting on top of a haybale, adorning eachother with kale and berries in the hair, constantly emphazasing how HEALTHY and NUTRITIOUS everything was, giggle giggle etc etc etc.

I'm sure the two hosts/chefs - two Swedish food bloggers I've never heard of - are great and well-meaning gals, but seriously do they know how awful this is for the much needed vegetarian/vegan movement? Talk about backlash. 30 minutes of mockery that cemented every little, ridiculous prejudice dead-animal-eaters could possibly have about vegetarians. One could easily see such a show being sponsored by the meat lobby.

The funniest thing about this awful excuse of a vegetarian cooking show - which turned out to be a health nut, yoga show for people who looove raw-food - was the Twitter-feed with hashtag #vegorätt. People are angry. And rightly so.

Because after being subjected to the dead-animal-eating norm on and off TV for decades a really good and inspiring vegetarian/vegan cooking show was badly needed. Instead we got *treated* with prejudicial mockery and parody by Swedish public television Sveriges Television.

To fritter away such a golden, much awaited, opportunity about an important issue, for the planet, the health and not least the animals - shameful.

Not a happy bunny. Or happy bunnies.

You can watch the show on SVT-Play here

the disobliging swede

I've always known - based on mainly first hand experience but also talking with friends - though perhaps not put it into words because it's such a sad and unfortunate feature, the fact that Swedes in general are quite the selfish, self righteous and not least the disobliging sort.

In the age of social media they are always eager to see, be seen, share, like, retweet and do favours for the (for more often than not ungraspable reasons) "in crowd". And in the pre-social media age it was the same, minus the like, share and retweet. While not the least bit interested to do the same for others. No matter how like, share and retweet-worthy the not so in crowd people are. From ignoring at best to see through evasive manouvers and down right offensive reactions.

I am certainly not one of those, I'm always happy to share, like and retweet good stuff and interesting pieces from good people. If anything I avoid sharing, liking and retweeting stuff from the mysterious "in crowd" because a) more often than not it's not really interesting, well-written or share-worthy (to be honest) and b) a gazillion other people less discerning act like a sheeple and share, like and retweet it already.

And I'm not one to ask for favours often. I want to be capable of doing the things that need to be done myself. Figure things out, finding the information, then asking for feedback from a few trusted.

But on the odd occasion I do ask for a simple enough favour. And one would think since it's such a simple favour more people would take a few minutes to help.

Alas no, do not be surprised if a Swede doesn't acknowledge the question at all. Ignoring is the perfect answer to most everything.

Of course they in no way connect the behave towards others as you want others to behave towards you dots. That others should like, retweet, share and endorse is a given. But do not expect me to do the same.

This week this have become ever so clear. It's not the end of the world (obviously), but it's really dispiriting.

It has also become clear that non-Swedes are much more interesting to give positive feedback, like, share and retweet good things without a thought about the "in crowd" bit.

Swedes disobliging behaviour both on- and offline is a sad sad thing. Petulant, childish and selfish. Me-me-media, yes! Social, that means interacting, right? Not for me. Talk yes, listen shouldn't think so.

Yes I've been fortunate with the Swedish clients I've had so far, one might say they've been exception to a general Swedishness rude rule. But I really love working with clients in other countries, it's interesting and developing on whole other levels. I also find that overseas clients in general are better at saying "thank you" where Swedes take things for granted.

Yet another situation where I as a born and bred Swede find myself being a very round peg trying to fit in to an uncomfortably square and alien hole.

All that said - it really really did have to be said - I'm very much looking forward to next week, because I have some great meetings planned for a much needed change. Of focus, scenery and people.

End of rant.

social media marketing for creative professionals

Today Prosit and I held an inspiration talk on social media marketing for creative sole traders (artists, actors, directors, art directors, singers, musicians, dancers and alike) at the Theatre union. It was really enjoyable and interesting, for me too. Lots of discussions and views on different social media channels, preconceptions and very varied opinions depending on age and profession. Seriously fun and developing. Got lovely feedback and it was a nice boost, plus I see room for future change, improvements and fine tuning.

I had great help from certain clever felines and small sized woollies of course. The Power Point presentation used I later compiled into a slide share - in Swedish only. It's a lot of information and a synoptic take on different social media channels which makes better sense combined with a talk and discussions obviously, but it might be inspirational without that too.



When I got home I thought a lot about how I myself can change my marketing and perhaps try new channels. By now it's obvious I'm no fan of Facebook, I may use it but not enthusiastically, I also do it as a part of social media management for clients but when it came to my own company page I created in March 2012 it wasn't published. Because I just couldn't be bothered with Facebook as a channel for my target groups and potential clients. And as long as my other channels work that's fine. I'm a firm believer you should use the social media channels you feel comfortable with and do best. And when you find clients and assignments that way it is a sign you do it right.

But today, after the vivid discussions about Facebook as a sometimes decent marketing channel for creative professionals I got curious and decided to go public with the Prosit Ord & Bild AB Facebook business page. But I don't see myself as being very active on it from here on, my three main channels are still LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Though I will try it out, see how far it organically reaches (no boosting or advertising, that's so not my cup of tea) and if it possibly will send any new and interesting clients my way.

To me there are no universal truths or foolproof marketing strategies when it comes to using social media channels. There are however good advice plus common sense that give you the best prerequisites to success. And as most things in life, what's considered success is of course up to you, your expectations and needs and not what any "experts" and others say or think.

Try it. Embrace it, even love it or discard it. Go with your gut feeling. And have fun. Things do work much better when you're having fun. That IS an universal truth.

use the right hashtag and great things happen

You know the annoying tweep or instagrammer who publishes his/her tweet or photo with a gazillion different hashtags? Please don't be that hashtag-overuser. But by all means chose your # carefully and great things can happen. Both on a personal and professional level. More of that at the end of this post.

Myself I use hashtags that is relevant for the picture or tweet in question, some are well worked in and used a lot by many - like #vegan #vegetarian #svpol (Swedish politics), #swgreen (Green issues in Sweden) #vegomiddag (veg dinner in Sweden), #vegolunch (veg lunch in Sweden), #tbt (Throw Back Thursday), #notd (nailpolish of the day), #boktips (book tips in Sweden) - others I find relevant, amusing or I use as a part of my own marketing -

like #welcometosweden (which long after I began using it also became the name of a Swedish TV-series...), #teaftw (for all tea lovers), #prositordochbild (workrelated obviously) and #prosittipsar (when I want to give useful tips on different great things like vegan food, healthy options, design, books, animal and environmental-friendly alternatives etc). 

Recently I arranged a really lovely #tweetup with likeminded vegetarians and vegans in Stockholm. Of course you could then use the hashtag #vegotweetup, but just so it was very clear it was OUR meetup and noone else's the # was #vegotweetup211 (January 21). And simple as that, anyone could follow the discussion and planning via Twitter by following the hashtag in question.

Yes we are definitely going to have a #vegotweetup again. The hashtag will then be a new one as soon as we've set the date.

If you're a newbie find that these two articles on the use of relevant hashtags and the nonos quite useful. With some silly elements and advice thrown in, so go with your gut feeling and common sense. I find that 1-3 hashtags is usually fine on Twitter, where as 5-10 can be acceptable on Instagram. More than that and it gets a bit...nauseating.

Rules for hashtag marketing mastery

Best Instagram hashtags for different businesses

So what about my own experience with good stuff that comes from the right hashtag?

First of all, Instagram is for me personal, organisations or business accounts which tell personal stories or market with their own pictures only. I am fully and sadly aware that there are a whole lot of other accounts out there for other purposes. Myself I never enter any competitions on Instagram where you have to repost a picture that's not your own or shout out a company's name. I want to keep my account clean and my own. With my own photos only. And I don't see any point at all in posting quotes or cute animal pictures taken off the web -

which by the way is illegal if you haven't gotten the photographer/originator's approval. But you already knew that, right? Right. -

My Instagram account is me, myself, and I - or rather very few selfies and a whole lot of cats, vegan and vegetarian food, fika, design, colours, knitting, shoes, animals and pretty places. A miniature version of my blog.

Back to the hashtag business. When I got my new glasses I instagrammed the collage of four pictures and hashtagged it with #smarteyes (the optician and brand) and I noticed the smarteyes_official account liked the pictures, but didn't think much of it.

Then a few weeks later, last Friday, they left a comment on the picture which basically said "great looking! We would love to publish it alongside four other cool glasses-pictures that have been tagged with #smarteyes on Instagram. And for that you'll get a pair of glasses for free." Now that's a winwin as far as I'm concerned. Great and simple social media marketing which benefits all parties. And all because the right hashtag was used.

#prosittipsar - use the right hashtag on Twitter and Instagram and fun things happen!

randy the pig

This is a story of a little pet pig who wants to go home, but isn't allowed to due to a case of a bad bad animal shelter behaviour. Instead of me writing about the sad case of little Randy and his unfortunate current situation I will just implore you to read his story at this link (where you will also find additional information and a petition to sign).

I believe the story to be true, but you of course have to decide for yourself after reading his story from people who know him. From my own experience as a breeder of British Shorthair cats I know I'd be heartbroken if this happened to any of the kittens I'd sold. And a wee pig is most likely a more delicate creature than an often more resourceful cat.

So if you too want to bring Randy the pig home, you can also view his Facebook page and tweet about him with the hashtag #bringrandythepighome

my book box

In my 3000nd blog post - indeed! - I want you to meet my box of books. 

All to be read ones. And it's still only a fraction of the to be read ones that have a room there.

I'm so glad the reading mojo is back! Something that will obviously get more room again in blog from now on.

Literary detail of the day - I was retweeted by one of my favourite authors, Arne Dahl / Jan Arnald. I can now die happy. Or at least it made my Saturday. 

Now, back to the books. And the reading.

the nobel peace prize 2014

A year ago today I (re)tweeted this, a year later it came true. I think the Nobel Peace Prize laureates of 2014 are awe inspiring and well deserving of this recognition. If more people were so brave and dedicated to important causes like these two, what a fine world we would live in.

Congratulations to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai
and may all your good work to come lead to a more peaceful, kinder world.

secrets, classes and autumn shoes

To say that the month of September has gotten off with a flying start would be, if not an understatement, at least certainly true. On day two of autumn the following happies happened -

~ I got an extensive copywriting assignment from my regular client  - which I have been working with for a year now, which in itself does call for a celebration of sorts come to think of it... - more comprehensive than usual, so in order to complete it alongside other tasks I had to cancel the hairdresser appointment.

~ Something which usually makes me very disappointed. But you know what? I'm alright with it this time, because a) hair is in great condition b) I want hair to grow in length, which doesn't happen if I trim it as regularly as I do, I'll stick to good hairpaks instead for a while now c) due to sun bleaching those sad grays aren't really visible yet d) I've got scissors. I can trim bangs.

~ Got a really interesting and hopefully exciting proposition via LinkedIn. But mum's the word. Intriguing will have to do.

~ A pretty snazzy pair of autumn shoes arrived (El Naturalista, Colibri, two-tone maryjanes). Somehow there are always reasons to celebrate with shoes, go figure.

~ It's impossible to read or notice everything in your Twitter-feed, but sometimes you happen to take a glance at it at the right time and see something that makes you want to know more. This evening I did that. I saw someone recommend an online class in storytelling to make a difference. Today was the last day to sign up, tomorrow the class starts. Turned out it was free, which is pretty amazing. So I after reading all the information I signed up. I don't see myself as a very spontaneous type, so I'm a bit shocked and pleased about my behaviour right now. I had planned to take a class of some sort this autumn, but I couldn't figure out exactly on what. I'm glad I stumbled over this because it feels so right.

September dear, more of this please. Gratitude and peace.

farewell, beautiful may

This certainly is the prettiest of seasons, countless shades of green, a continous flow of new flowers, sweet scents and fresh starts. And as far as my office goes, from cowslips to lilies of the valley. From April to May.

What I bring with me from, yet another, lovely month is this -

:: that saying yes is most often the best thing to do. That by accepting an invitation on a rather short notice you're open to really, really, really good and unexpected things to happen.
:: there really IS such a thing as serendipity. And that makes my heart sing.
:: the generosity of some people can be really mindblowing. Truly. And when you meet such people they make you think about how important a feature that is, how inspiring and what can you do to pay it forward and pay it back.
:: how blessed I am to have met so many good people over the years, especially these past few years. And quite a few of them via Twitter.
:: I love Twitter. Such a great social channel on so many different levels. For so many purposes.
:: LinkedIn isn't half bad either.
:: that writing about states of confusion can be truly liberating and from that shift in thinking very good things can appear.
:: that you really should tell people about your dreams and what you want, it may feel silly, you may feel exposed and open to ridicule. But from being passionate and open you can get fantastic support and kindness when you least expect it.

And as always, the importance of beauty and inspiration. Unpretentious recycling and innocent sweetness in a bottle or two. Heart.



What things do you bring with you from beautiful May?

meet cute on world laughter day

Who knew there was such a thing as the World Laughter Day? Not me at least. And yes, befitting indeed regarding yesterday's blog post about love and magic, I do agree with Elephant's Child that more laughter is also something the world is in dire need of.

Myself I laugh a lot in general, because there are indeed lot of amusing and laughable things to be seen, heard, experienced plus clever people around. In a bleak world there are still many things of beauty, love and laughter to be grateful about, it's important to enjoy them. Laughter is good for the health, body and mind.

Here are three incidents I rejoiced over today. Of very different kinds. From smile to giggle to laughter.



Me and my shoe per diem met a spout with a special pout.



Did my annual taxes and invented the word and hashtag "deklarationsbakelse" on Twitter and Instagram. It means that when you've done your taxes you deserve a pastry ie declarationpastry. It's mindboggling that noone has come up with the word before! (Me neither, but better late than never.) Life needs both words and action so I did the right thing and had a nice lunch incl one of my favourite pastries, banana cream.



And then my home and garden got a pug visit. The fella who is always happy to see the cats and if he could sing he'd sing "Like to get to know you well, so we could be friends forever"...



And the cats would swiftly reply "Shouldn't think so buddy!". I got the pictures to prove it.

What made you laugh today?

the day i caused a literary rumpus in russia

Little did I know my brief and horrific experience in the fitting room today - when once again the pretty universal truth confirmed that trousers is not for me. Tried on a pair of carpenter's trousers, lovely applegreen colour, looked absolutely ridiculous on my person. Like in a spitting image of an oversized Karlsson on the roof - would cause such a runckus in Russia.

Twitter set me straight, right away.

I'm sorry, it was my fault! But how was I suppose to know that the fitting room held spy cameras?

The story about the future of Karlsson in Russia - in English

Karlssons framtid i Ryssland - på svenska

how creative people behave, part II

I blogged How creative people behave, part I two weeks ago, it's about time I wrote part II. Based on the second great article on the subject - 10 creative rituals you should steal. This post is about my personal views on the 10 things mentioned.

1. Take quarterly vacations - would love to, if it was financially possible. I don't think it is for very many of us. But I think the "get off the grid" and relax always is a good thing to do regularly. Staycations with that aim are the not so rich people's version.

2. Regularly hold retrospectives - super important I think. Not only if you work in a group or on projects. As a small business owner you need to do it with yourself regularly, what went well, what went less well, why and how can I improve things for next time. And remember to treat yourself to something special when you've done something really good.

3. Write every day - duh. Absolutely essential for your creativity and well-being! You work so much things, issues, problems through that way. Everything, really, becomes clear with putting the pen to the paper or, as most of us do, tapping the keyboard. You'll find your clarity. And the best thing is that the more you write the more you want to write and the more ideas you get. Heart.

4. Meet interesting people-fund - I can only concur. Going to events where interesting people talk (like TEDx and such) and be inspired. Do lunch with interesting people regularly. Twitter is actually a great source for that. Suggest lunch or coffee and find that most people are delighted to meet up and they're often just as great in irl as online. If you find mindless and forced mingling awkward and unappealing, find a business speeddating event in your area. You never ever know what great things those meetups might lead to... Things rarely happen overnight, but keep you eyes and mind open for people and opportunities and they WILL appear, I'm sure.

5. Surround yourself with inspiring things - well of course! The importance of beauty and inspiration. Creating mood boards is a simple way to do it.

6. Take a nap every day - I never do. Because I know I will not be able to sleep at night that way. And I never really feel like a nap, I'm either wide awake or ready to sleep for many hours, there's no in between for me. To be honest I did take naps daily when I worked at really horrible workplaces, because I was so tired to the bone. It never did any good for me, my creativity, productivity or well-being and I will forever associate the need for daily naps with bad work environment.

7. Envision what you will be remembered for - I find this to be a really good advice! It's another way to set goals, visualize and put your dreams into words. I find that I talk a lot about my dreams and goals these days (have far from always been very clear with that), but I'm not as good on writing them down. Will do that now.

8. Brainstorm in the cafe - spot on! The article mention "bar" and not cafe, but I totally believe in the inspirational and creative buzz you get in a good cafe. I don't do bars. But cafes are some of my happy places.

9. Get out and about - to clear your mind and be inspired when the ideas run dry, take a walk, change the scenery, do people watching, try something new, it's energizing and good for both mind and body.

10. "Morphological synthetis" - hadn't heard about the concept before, but reading about it it makes good sense. Good advice on a creative mindtool.


What did you think about the article?
Are there things there you already practice?
Did you get some good advice to
boost your creativity?

when yelp stockholm turns two

Time flies, it's now two years already since Yelp was launched in Stockholm. And I was there from the start, being a city scout was my first assignment for Prosit. It was a lovely first assignment and I learnt a lot, had lots of fun both then and since.



From Yelp Scout to Yelp Elite I've had the opportunity to meet great people, been to fun events (like tropical party, ice cream tasting, Day Spa, Nobis breakfast, Dill, movie night and not to mention played a part in a lovely one myself.) and I still, a year later hold the Queen of Stockholm title.

It started with a tweet, I got an assignment, two years later it's been a great ride and definitely continue to be so.



Today we had a celebratory lunch at gastro pub The Flying Elk (my vegetarian option was broccoli & chips, pretty good but the type of food that, to be honest, is too greasy to agree with me, gastro or not), a selected few of the Yelp Elite. It was awesome, unpretentious and loads of fun. Including a great organic cider.

Happy 2 years birthday,
dear Yelp Stockholm,
and many more to come!!

about.me

Not sure why I (about a year ago) decided to join the about.me site. One of those "it's free, why not try it" things I guess. A year later I have to admit I'm still far from sure what the purpose is. And when I ask around people either don't know what it is or have the same attitude towards it as I have. Noone I've talked with has it as a part of their social media strategy.

So why do I still have my about.me page? Well, mainly because

• I thoroughly enjoy that you can create a really cool tiled background with your Instagram photos. Thus I update it regularly. (It looks especially awesome on an iPad.)
• I also enjoy the idea of a supersized, dynamic online business card (of sorts). I shy away from having a really long bio, because noone really care to read that through anyway. Via selected apps I link to Twitter, Blogger, LinkedIn, Flickr and Instagram instead, if anyone would like to know more.

I've also found that

• Their customer service is really friendly and swift, when there's a glitch or question.
• People tend to view other people's pages quite a lot, much more than they give compliments about them. Although you do get compliments regularly, far from always from people you feel you can compliment in return. So a "thank you!" and then a pass it forward to someone's page/photo/bio you enjoy is my way to deal with that.
• To use tags on your page (a maximum of 10) is a great way to find likeminded people. 
• You get added to weird collections like "Viewed", "People I thanked", "People who glanced at me" and I have no idea why one would even bother with that... 
• But you also get added to nice collections like "Creative people", "Amazing people" (oh my!), "Interesting people", "Compassion for all life" (how sweet is that?!) and of course "Twitter friends".
• I've only made a collection of "Twitter friends" - obviously I don't really see about.me as a networking site for me per se. Perhaps that will change.

How about you, do you have an about.me page?
Is it a part of your social media strategy?
If so, how and have you had good use of it
from a business point of view?

vegan liquorice pannacotta

I've been meaning to try this simple and fab vegetarian pannacotta recipe I tried last year but making it vegan instead (ie not using cow-cream, but plant-cream instead). And now I've finally I gotten around to it. Wasn't sure if I should use soy cream or oats cream, but after asking about best substitute on Twitter I went for oats cream (from Oatly, called iMat - inFood, I think it might be sold udner the names Bio Cuisine or Hafer Cuisine. If the brand isn't sold in your country I'm sure you can find something equally good).

And I'm happy to say that it turned out just lovely. Only 13% fat compared to cow-cream's 40% it makes for a delightful, airy and creamy dessert.

v e g a n   l i q u o r i c e   p a n n a c o t t a
3 servings

0,75 dl jelly sugar (gelésocker)
3 dl iMat (oats cream from Oatly)
1,5 - 2 tbsp liquorice powder

whip the ingredients together in a pot. slowly let to a boil. boil for 30 seconds then pour into small serving pots/glasses. put into fridge for 1-2 hours before serving.

I've served this with both raspberry sauce and passionfruit, both are very nice compliments. Thinking pomegranate would be good too.

mynewsday stockholm 2013

For the third year the Swedish company MyNewsdesk (a website for PR and brand management) hosted an event about just that, communication.

It was a day jampacked with inspiration as well as unfortunate yawn inducing lowpoints, and the in between. And once again, as too often, just because you are good within your field, really clever and awesome at your work, unfortunately that doesn't mean you're a great and engaging speaker with that special ability to convey your message in a pleasing and entertaining way (sans too much specialist language) that makes people feel inspired and wanting to learn more.

My three favourite speakers of the Mynewsday, with different messages wrapped up in a personal way were these;



Catarina Clöwe, who held a very heartfelt and fun talk about her creative personal ad looking for love as a gay woman. Which got a massive effect in social media and media - and yes she did find true love through her creativity.



Mats Adamczak, from Åland, who spoke about storytelling, engagement, stickiness - too much interesting information to process though, so I'm glad he has a slideshare to share online.



Renata Chlumska, who spoke very passionately about her adventures around the world and goal targeting - I am very sceptical about adrenaline junkies and people who feel the need to put themselves in danger to reach such goals (especially when they have children). But her attitude was very contagious and I'm a firm believer in focusing on goals, working towards them. She held a great pep talk!

I'm very pleased I got the new iPhone to work in time for the event, but juggling the camera (and editing, you can not post iPhone pictures without editing first, you just can't...) and three different Twitter-accounts simultaneously plus listen and process (new) information... it wasn't easy, but I made it (reasonably well)! It was a great day (minus some hickups) and also an exhausting day. But most of all, very inspiring and idea inducing in different ways. And you can't have too much of inspiring days and inspirational people, right? Right.

If you hadn't the opportunity to be at the event yourself, you can find it online next week here.



PS But really, the day would have been even more inspiring if people (including the audience) hadn't insisted on wearing the boring black 'colour' so much (and, in the case of the day, I don't care if it's the 'company colour' accents of red just isn't enough). Colour, people, colour is always true inspirational awesomeness! DS

good conversations

To sum up this rather awesome day;

~ talking galore
~ walking galore
~ riding the train galore
~ inspiration and thinking galore
~ sunshine and too many soy lattes

I adore meaningful meetings, good conversations, exchanging of ideas, laughters and glimmers of recognition. Being on the same page but still different individuals, different backgrounds, experiences, lifes, sharing views while complementing eachother's strengths and weaknesses. Thank you LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram for the people I met today.

Greens shoes were worn, one might say they are the perfect Prosit shoes.

five hours on a friday

My weekend kicked off in the loveliest of ways - today I had yet another one of those awesome meetings of likeminded fabulous people I seem to have had a grand string of recently (which only goes to confirm the happy place thing).

This time it was with a childhood friend, C. Last time we met was 15 years ago at a school reunion (which was a pretty bizarre thing and not something I'm the least bit interested in ever doing again) and the reason for getting in contact again was such a happy coincidence;

Two years ago my mother spotted her on TV when C, who's a talented photographer, had published a photo-book about the Swedish hiphop scene, from then to now. Since C was one of very few people from school days I would enjoy reconnect with -

oh I remember school fondly, it was a happy time, but when leaving school I was one of the few that was interested in moving on, getting out of the suburb, studying, growing, suddenly everything that connected us just because we started school together 9 years earlier wasn't there anymore, we had grown apart completely. And that reunion many years later just confirmed all that, either people hadn't grown up all or they had grown into little ol' men and grumpy women, married with children and 9-5 jobs. It was so far from where I was, the only thing that reunion established was I was very grateful for being me and where I was in life -

I googled and found her blog, left a comment and congratulated her to the book release. She was delighted to hear from me and we later connected on Facebook and Twitter etc. It was on Instagram she noticed all my fabulous vegetarian meals (I'm obviously on a constant mission to enlighten people on where to get great vegetarian/vegan food) and suggested we'd meet up for lunch. A few months later we finally met up today and had that fabulous vegetarian meal at one of my favourite vegetarian restaurants in Stockholm, Martins Gröna (Martin's Green).

Meeting old childhood friends or other people you haven't met for many years can be so awkward, weird and uncomfortable - granted if they are fellow vegetarians the risk of awkwardness must be concidered below average of course. But C and I just hit it off right from the start, the conversation was natural, we had so incredibly much in common, our attitude towards life, living, the world, people, work. It was in fact pretty amazing the things we discovered about eachother. So so so much fun, enlightening and engaging, inspiring - five hours later we said goodbye with many exciting ideas swirling in respective brain.

And once again, it feels amazing and weird how many wonderful people and matters that have come my way recently. People meet when they are meant to, things happen when they are meant to. Which by no means mean that you can sit back, relax and wait for people and things to drop in your lap, of course you have to make an effort, get ready, go after what you want and above all be open to things, people, opportunities. Because it may not happen today, tomorrow, next week, not even this year, but one day that business card you exhanged a couple of years ago will lead to something.

When stars align, when the time is right.

on may 1st 2013

there was sunshine, cold winds, castle spotting, a decent lunch (the bobbaloos were more interested in sticky chocolate cake, they ate most of it. really), a bit of walking and



oh m(a)y, the purchase of that yellow handbag (thoroughly inspected and paw approved of course) and pansies, pretty pretty pansies.

(and apparently i've been 4 years on twitter, go figure)

how was your first day of may?

to potter with pottery

i'm going to spend my weekend with doing just that, trying to vamp the lids of a bit of pottery - them bobs are eager to get started, i'm sure they'll be a great help -

and also with twitterjunta.

thus i'm hoping for a relaxingly creative weekend. for me, for you, for one and all!