soft snowflakes falling

It has been a gorgeous snowy day in Stockholm today. With mild winter temperatures, but lots of fluffy snow. The best of both worlds. Not counting that despite all the whiteness it has been pretty dark due to heavy clouds. And such heaviness in weather makes me tired, my head fuzzy and my mind sad - once again I really really do wish humans could go into hibernation too...



All that despite excellent oat latte, go figure.

In the InstaWeather app I found an adorable effect that created a lovely snowfall. Published on Instagram, but apparently it is far from that easy to import and publish said little film on other sites. So I'll leave you with the "movie" turned picture here and with the words "imagine big, soft, snowflakes slowly falling in a very quiet world". I hope you can see it...

Or, you can click the picture below and see the wee movie on Flickr.

feline tips on how to keep warm in winter

With all the white stuff outdoors it's really tricky to keep properly warm, even if you're naturally clad in fur. So once the paws of a pampered family member have touched that ungraspable cold, white thing

you really have to find the best and quickest ways to get your body heat back. Here are a few useful tips according to felines:

First: don't do this.

Instead: do this. When the humans think it's to cold to only rely on the heat pump they turn on the radiators, you must the immediately claim your place on the windowsill just above said radiators. Be quick, there will be a queue, and preferably do not leave your post as others will snatch it quicker than you can regurgitate a furball.

Second: do not try this either.

Instead: do this. If you get tired of your initial radiator posing, just lie on your back and streeetch as much as possible to occupy as much windowsill area as possible. Because obviously, less room for others, more heat for you.

Third: again, please do not do this.

But if you are an information challenged feline and still do that, you can always sit beside human of choice and look adorable, cold and sad and you will son find yourself in this position. And warm.

yelp review of the day

Yesterday my Yelp-review of lovely cafe Älskade Traditioner ( = Beloved Traditions) - which I blogged about here - became ROTD ie Review of the Day. 

I've had a few of them before but what made it extra fun this time was that the cafe was thrilled when they saw a glimpse of it on Yelp's Instagram and copied my whole review and published it on their own Instagram account. So it got a bit of extra buzz.

It really is such a perfect kind of cafe, so fun all around. And waffles.

stockholm winter wonderland

When snow finally came the cold came promptly shortly after and we've *enjoyed* around -15C the first week of 2016. Of course it's appropriate weather for these latitudes this time of the year, but darn this is cold! 

To be honest I think that with the global warming we've become weaklings who get all whiny when temperatures drop below zero. I never complained about cold and snow when I was a kid, we relished being out for hours playing in the snow. Coming inside all wet and frozen but so happy.

Whilst now I can obviously fully enjoy the beauty and crispy air of a winter wonderland, though I'm quite grateful to get inside to snuggle.

But indeed, Stockholm and its selected suburbs are pretty gorgeous right now, wouldn't you agree?

my personal goals in 2016

The other days I wrote about my business goals for 2016. Today there'll be the a few words on the personal goals - which could grow into a very long list actually. And that made me think that hey, I got things pretty sorted business wise, I even struggled a bit to come up with 5 of them. But still open to new adventures for growth and inspiration of course! -

My 5 personal goals for 2016 -

• Get back to doing yoga at least 3 times per week
• Meditate for at least 10 minutes every day - I have begun, downloaded an app for it and will explore other ways that suit me.
• Finish one old knitting project every month - too many half finished yarn projects lying around... And yarn/patterns for new ones. I'm just so bad at finishing the projects, but great at starting new ones...
• Travel alone abroad - which of course will be the Schwarzwald trip.
• Give at least 1 compliment to a stranger every week

And here are some bonus things to the 5 goals-list -

• Sign up for a mentor/friend-programme for people new in Sweden - done. But the good news are that there are apparently so many people doing that that there are no slots for interviews/matching until late March/April. And of course for me it's very important that the new friend person I match with one day is vegetarian/vegan and non-religious. Let's see how that goes. 
• Try 1 new recipe per week
• 1 facial + 1 hair pak per week
• Get rid of that darn runny nose
• Give at least 1 bag of things per month to charity shops - I've already done a big box plus 6 bags, so I'm well ahead. Yes, I feel a cleansing year coming!

How about you, do you have any personal 

(or professional) goals for this new year?

the yelp stockholm gold elite 2016

Time flies. It's now 5 years already since Yelp was launched in Stockholm, Sweden. My first client. It's been a fun and interesting ride.

5 years Yelp Elite apparently means you get an extra gold badge to your profile. We are a very small gold Elite group in Stockholm, 14 of us I think, so looking forward to extra special, small events with a golden lining (suitable for vegans and vegetarians who aren't keen on alcoholic beverages, at least a fair amount of the times...) Such fun!

my business goals 2016

Last year someone tweeted 5 business and 5 personal goals of the year to come. I thought it was such a great (and simple) idea I took a screen print for inspiration this year. When I re-read the goals of that tweeter I found that they were really too vague for my liking. I always find that the best goals should be clear, reasonable and measurable. Especially so if you run your own business!

And not fuzzy, if well-meaning, ones like "go outside my comfort zone" and "cook more". Be more specific, what specifically can you do to go outside your comfort zone (I'm guessing swimming with sharks is not necessarily THE thing to opt for) and why not try (at least) 1 new recipe per week?

So here are my 5 professional goals for 2016 -

• get 3 new clients - at least 3 and for both long and short term projects
• take an online course - I have my eyes set on two specific topics that will benefit me and clients, but I have yet to research where and when
• invoice for an average of X amount of money each month - X being a certain non-disclosure sum, which most certainly isn't my long-term goal one but still a neat sum
• hold 4 talks - at least 4 and most likely on social media related topics
• be better at follow up with people/potential clients - a slightly vague goal, I know, but I'm well-aware on how I've failed at this previously so I do know how to not do so from here on

There, I've cared enough to share, surely they will come and surely this will happen! 

Interested in hiring me as a freelancer for communication, copywriting, transcreation and social media management? Please get in touch here - and yes, I do work with both Swedish and foreign clients.

sunday mood

As far as I'm concerned the work-year of 2016 doesn't really start until after twelwth night ie next week. So I'm in no particular hurry to get up out of this position.

But I do have a couple of nice lunches booked for the week. And a (much needed) hairdresser's appointment. Looking forward to that. And more kitty cuddles.

Happy first week of the new year, everybuddy!

first circus nails 2016

True to my goal of 'more circus nails in 2016' these are my last of last year AND my first of this one. 

A bit colour subdued (and season befitting) but still quirky, professional but also out-of-the-box-free-thinking. Well that's at least the look I was aiming for.

From left to right:

Essie - In stitches

Essie - Sew psyched (yes, my mood of the year!)

Essie - Island hopping

Models OWN - Speckled own Swan

Essie - Bordeaux

Next time I'll browse the nail polish collection and create circus nails with polishes that have inspirational mood setting names. That should be fun.

the grüner smoothie

A few years back I kick-started the new year in what I thought was a brilliant way: a long, brisk winter walk (at Djurgården). Turned out that we miscalculated the distance and bridges so what was suppose to be one hour turned into three hours. My muscles were so sore the rest of the week and to be quite honest it rather put me off the idea of regular, brisk walks routine.

This year I started in a kinder, tastier way: a feast on a green smoothie I picked up at Unverpackt in Berlin last summer. Kale, mango and spinach. I've also stocked up  on kale and other greens and I plan to get back on the regular smoothie-and-juice-track. 

And be a better, diligent yoga practioner that doesn't overdo her brisk walkings.