Daily Jamie

Peebs

This morning I brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to work with me as my breakfast. I sat down in the kitchen with several of my colleagues and explained, when they asked, what I was eating. Now, I won't say they were disgusted, but they certainly didn't see the appeal and all agreed that peanut butter and jelly were an odd combination. This, of course, from members of a race who don't eat peanut butter and therefor don't understand its versatility. Too bad for them. At any rate, I decided to take it upon myself to open their eyes and went out at lunch to get the supplies for an afternoon PB&J fika. At ten to three I headed to the kitchen to make a bunch of sammies then cut them diagonally into triangles and arranged them cutely on a plate to make them even more appealing than only I already knew them to be. My colleagues were pleasantly surprised, I think, and several commented that they weren't nearly as sweet as they expected. I don't think I recruited any lifelong fans or anything and I'm pretty sure my boss was just being nice when he said he was going to make them at home, but hey, if I tried surströmming it's only fair.

Daily Jamie

To Every Window There Is A Season

Linda asked me a few weeks ago if I was going to switch to spring curtains. Swedes love to change their curtains with the seasons and I suppose, if you think about it, it's a pretty easy way to significantly change the ambiance of a room. At least, it was for my kitchen when I finally caved to Linda's peer pressure. I was in the market for a new set after Jamie used the old white ones as a napkin after too many spaghetti dinners, but didn't plan on getting springy ones specifically until I saw and fell in love with these. And they were on sale! Plus I had a coupon! SOLD! The kitchen was totally transformed into a springtime paradise, despite the fact that it's obviously still winter. 

Daily Jamie

February 24th

February 25th
Pardon the light, this one was obviously very last minute.

Ossian Turns One!

Today Ossian turned a year old! His folks hosted his birthday party yesterday and all three of us were thrilled to be part of the happy occasion. There were little boys running around everywhere and good food and lots of cake - even Funfetti!!! - and presents to be opened and wonderful, wonderful people to spend the afternoon with. And its amazing, you know, to get to see this little man grow and change. It really is a privilege and I look forward to seeing much, much more of it.

Daily Jamie

Just A Little Outing

Now that The Swede loves coffee, a fika at the nearest Wayne's Coffee at the outlet mall has become a regular weekend event in our family. I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been gradual. At first, we would walk around the outlets every couple of months and only I would pop in for a coffee, then we started getting a fika to go, all three of us, and walking around with our lattes and juice box. And lately, finally, we've actually been sitting down, taking our time enjoying a muffin or a scone. We hardly ever buy anything besides the fika at the outlets, but it's still a pretty fun way to kill a couple of weekend hours.

Daily Jamie

In The Morning

Sometimes Jamie wakes up before I do. He always wakes up before The Swede does. To be fair, I wake up at the crack of dawn because my morning routine rivals that of a pre-Oscars starlet. No, I'm sad to say that I don't wake up the perfect ten you see here on the pages of this weblog. At any rate, at some point during my primping, if he didn't happen to wake up before me, Jamie will make his presence known from within his room with a squawk or some good-natured chatter, depending on his mood. I'll open the door and find him standing in his crib, telling me which of his toys he wants to play with. And then he'll do just that for a few minutes while I fix my hair, sling plastic dinosours about and throw himself on top of stuffed animals and tear through books until he remembers that Papa is in the next room. That's when he flings open our bedroom door, waking The Swede with his enthusiasm and the bright light from the hallway. And in the moments that follow, which I know from experience aren't easy to appreciate, a groggy Swede plays in bed, half-asleep, with his son. And I, wide awake after an hour of preening, get to start my day with some of the dearest scenes of my life.

Daily Jamie

The Cousins

Elin and Julia have been talking for quite some time about wanted to pick Jamie up from school someday but, as you can imagine, the opportunities are few and far between. They're on their winter sport break from school this week, though, and staying with Mama and Papa Swede here in Kungsängen, so the timing was perfect for them to surprise their favorite cousin. I'm in charge of drop-offs so I didn't get to be there but The Swede told the sweet story of Jamie's double-take when he saw them and of the awesome hour of fun they had before they went back to their grandparents' for dinner. He cried hard when they left, which was hard, of course, but also makes me excited for summer cabin season when they'll get to see much more of one another. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Consider Me Entertained

I was home sick from work today (don't worry, Mom, it's just a cold) and slept all morning after I dropped Jamie off at school. When I woke up and slunk downstairs I had very low expectations for the daytime TV situation but was pleasantly surprised/thrilled to find that there were two episodes in a row of The Hills on. And not lame, last season, Kristin Cavallari episodes either; they were Jen-Bunny-kissed-Brody-at-her-birthday-party-and-LC-hasn't-felt-this-betrayed-by-a-best-friend-in-years, followed by Heidi-bailed-on-dinner-with-LC-to-go-to-Santa-Barbara-with-Spencer. Classics, that is. And then I discovered Downton Abbey and was whisked away by the first three episodes. So, yeah, it was a good day in television. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Bunch'O'Boys

I got some ultra-cozy cuddle time with two of my favorites at Erin's this afternoon. I picked up Ossian onto my lap and he was so sweet and soft and relaxed and then Jamie wanted to join the fun and who can say no to that face. I could have held those two like that for hours but you know, their attention spans aren't quite as developed as mine.

Daily Jamie

The Latest Mini

Sarianne and Mama Swede's clothing company, Mini, is churning out some awesome stuff these days and Jamie has recently scored a lot of super cute samples. You've seen a lot of their hats and shirts in the Daily Jamie but I wanted to share some of the new ones because I'm especially smitten with some of their latest fabrics. Jamie loves picking out the animals on the jungle outfit and has just learned the Swedish word for cars so that green one is popular around here. But they're ALL so fun, right? Can't wait to see what they come up with next. Check out their Facebook page, Mini- mössor och annat fint, because, honestly, their girl clothes are even more adorable.

Daily Jamie

Wally

My husband, I tell you! I only have to mention something once, once-and-a-half, and he gets it. I saw this iPhone wallet in the Apple store several months ago and fell in love but it is definitely the kind of thing I would never get for myself nor expect someone else to get for me so it was stashed away in the back of my mind, a dream never to be fulfilled. And then my Valentine sweetly surprised me with it yesterday. He's a catch for so many other reasons that this gorgeous wristlet with room for my phone and bank card and drivers license and cash and Subway coupons doesn't even touch, but it's still VERY exciting to get a fabulous gift sometimes, am I right?

Daily Jamie

Valentines

Howie = How I Met Your Mother

My husband had a very, very nice gift for me and one for Jamie too, to celebrate Valentine's Day. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, but meanwhile, I thought I'd show you the card I sent to him via email. That's all he got, but it's the thought that counts, right? And as proof of that sentiment, please note the email Valentine Selah sent to me. I mean, I really felt her love for me when I received this.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Modern Family

The Swede was home sick today but still picked up Jamie from school an hour before I got home, which gave them both time to get a couple of things done around the house. When I walked in the door at five o'clock, at the end of a long day on the job, The Swede was slaving over a delicious dinner and Jamie was just finishing up the floors. I could get used to this.

Daily Jamie

Lull

You've no doubt noticed that I've been a little bit out of the blogging groove lately. Posts have been more sporadic than I'd like and are often lackluster, in my opinion anyway. It's the dead of winter, what can I say? I'm feeling less than inspired. I'm going to start tweaking the look of the blog in the next couple of days, though, and hopefully afterward I'll feel refreshed and motivated. Hang in there in the meantime, k?

Daily Jamie

February 9th

February 10th

Four Thousand Words On This Weekend

Daily Jamie

USA Clothes

Julia turned five years old last week and since we're going to Söderköping this weekend to celebrate, we were happy to receive a wish list via The Molsta Group. The list read as follows: sparklers (the firework, that is), plastic flowers, tattoos (I assume she means temporary ones), a Santa hat, a belt, USA clothes, and a bouquet of tulips. The choice was clear. Unless, of course, she meant pleated dockers and a cowboy hat, in which case we obviously failed miserably. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Illustratin'

This Adobe Illustrator course I've been at for the past two days was pretty intense. Typically, I enjoy spending some time outside the office if for nothing else than for the mix-it-up factor, but after this I can't wait for some humdrum.

The Sleepiest Family

Whoa, Nelly, what a day! The Swede was up all night watching the Super Bowl, my mind got fried at a course in the city, and Jamie was so tired and cranky by the time I got home that we had to actually force a bath for the first time ever. It was rough and I didn't even get a picture of him today! Hopefully we'll be running smoothly again tomorrow.

Big Fun Day / Daily Jamie

The Swede woke up at the crack of dawn to go sit on the lake for four hours in the freezing cold and occasionally dip his uncovered hands into a hole in the ice to pull out a near-frozen fish. Glam. Jamie and I decided to offer some moral support and drove to over to the competition but, despite the cold, one of us melted down before we made it to the shore. We agreed that the play land might be a more comfortable option.

We had lunch there and went wild for several hours then hopped back in the car and made our way to the grocery store. Jamie was a really good boy while I was shopping so he got to ride to race car before we headed home, just in time to spend some time with a very worn-out Swede before bed.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Follow That Bird requires intense concentration.