Daily Jamie

Short But Sweet

It only lasts a couple of weeks, but the lilacs blooming is one of the highlights of the year.

An Anniversary

Three years ago today this Swede asked me to marry him. Saying yes was the best thing I've ever done. 

Daily Jamie

He Was Right

It's my husband that likes the lawn, really. I've mentioned before, I'd be happy living in an apartment. We both, however, agree that it's nice for kids to have some of their own grass to play on. We both did and look - we turned out awesome. We are not awesome at yard work, though, and put it off as long as we can, despite The Swede's insisting that it's "cozy". Not cozy enough to actually perform yet this year, however.  Today I had had enough of dandelions and I made myself go out and cut the grass, trim the edges (which are more plentiful than I care to mention considering the size of our truly tiny plot of land), sweep the porch and walkway and stone pathways, and rake up the clippings. The whole time I was being bitten through my clothes by mosquitos and trying to come up with something sassy to say to my husband, who was out fishing, about how much cozier I am than he is even though every minute was awful. I'm competitive like that. But now I'm done and I'm inside blogging and drinking a glass of red, Jamie is upstairs in bed, having thankfully slept through all that weed-whacking, I'm scratching my numerous bug bites, and the knowledge of what I just accomplished is just about the coziest thing I can think of.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Kolmården In Instagrams

Daily Jamie

May 24th

May 25th

May 26th

May 27th



The First Annual Kolmården Weekend

Erin and I have been talking about getting our families together for a weekend away for a long, long time now, so when a free weekend presented itself (and happened to fall the day after her birthday) we jumped at the opportunity to book something. Since I had had such a great time at Kolmården's hotel during that mamma blogger event a few months ago and The Swede and I knew we loved the zoo, we agreed that it was the perfect place to stage our first family weekend together. And our instincts were right as it was AWESOME.

 As with the last time I was there, the petting zoo was the best part. Except for maybe the dolphin show, which was world class.

Or maybe it was the way those little boys ran around together, copying everything the other did.

No, wait, it had to be the gondola that took us on a half-hour trip over bears, lions, zebras, giraffs, and tons of other spectacular animals!

Okay, I've got it: the best part was getting to spend time with so many of my favorites, the opportunity for us to get to know Svante better, and for Erin and The Swede to learn why I love each of them so much.

Back Later

Sorry I've been away from the blog for a bit and for just popping in to report that I'm taking another day off. Back tomorrow, though, with a post about our awesome weekend. 

Daily Jamie

Sommarfest

Jamie's preschool had their summer party today and the theme was Astrid Lindgren, the author of Pippi Longstocking and a ton more children's literature that is very popular here. The kids and teachers dressed as characters from her books and had a whole day of fun. Jamie, along with most of the other boys, was Emil i Lonneberga. We parents got to join in at the end of the day for singing, Astrid Lindgren trivia, a small ceremony for the kids leaving for kindergarden in August, and a picnic. The ceremony made me cry, which is ridiculous and makes me so nervous for when it's my own kid's educational milestones, and the rest of it was just too adorable for words. So here are some pictures instead.

Daily Jamie

I can't believe he's mine.

Daily Jamie

The Business Cas Fashion Show

My dorkiness knows no bounds, I know. I've been toying with the idea of doing a outfit of the day (OOTD [this acronym is the extent of my fashion knowledge]) post or even series of posts for a while now and I'm still not sure it's a good idea. In fact, the more I write, the more certain I am of my own loserliness for even attempting such a thing. I am, that is, not fashionable. But sometimes I feel like I've put kind of a cute outfit together and since it happens more frequently when the weather is nice and I get to bust out a little leg... well, if there was ever a time, this is it. So here you have it, a couple of OOTDs, photographed ever-so-tastefully, selfie-style, in my office's gym. It is the only time I set foot in there. I assume my colleagues think I'm making an important private call since obviously I'm not going to work out in my cute outfits.

I got this dress during an online, pre-spring dress-shopping spree and love it despite the fact that it makes me look like a flight attendant. I like to tell myself that military-inspired is where it's at right now, though I'm really not sure that's the case and would even suggest that it certainly shouldn't be the case for people over thirty. Like, ahem, me.

This outfit was a purchase from last spring when I was on parental leave. Not really sure where I thought I was going. Oh, and look at my Swedish Hasbeen for H&M wooden shoes! I loooove them even though they make my feet weigh a hundred pounds each. Wait! Does walking in them count as a workout?!?!

Another aquisition during my recent online shopping spree, I thought this skirt would go with everything. It actually only goes with this white t-shirt and even that is debatable. I still love it 'cause it makes me feel like a lady.

This dress was a contender for Selah's wedding last summer. It's probably too dressy for my office. My colleagues are just going to have to learn to live with my whimsy, that's all there is to it.

And this old favorite, with my new favorite shoes. Linda said it looks like pajamas. How rude! Or wait, maybe just she said it looks as comfortable as pajamas, which is totally true and really the only reason I like it. Astute, Linda. Astute.  

So there you have it. What do you say, should we try this again another time? If you're not too  embarrassed for me, that is. 

Daily Jamie

Sorry, I couldn't decide. Both are so Jamie. Also, I apologize for the photo quality the past couple of days. Something is apparently up with my iPhone.  

Daily Jamie

We're Shepards

The whole family is at Molsta today to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, which has been totally overshadowed by this mamma sheep and her lambs. They showed up this afternoon and have been hanging out on the property for the past six hours. The kids are overjoyed and, honestly, so are the rest of us. And even better, their owners have just arrived with a sheepdog to bring the little lambies home. Should be a good show. Eurovision ought to be pretty exciting too.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

May 15th

May 16th

Nudes

This afternoon my boss and I took a trip over to the business supply shop to check out a cabinet we've been eyeing online. The dude that worked there led us upstairs to the display area and I'm pretty sure the word "yikes" escaped my lips as I rounded the corner and saw these creeps. And these are just the headless ones. The ones with faces (which, incidentally, were staring into my soul) were much worse. I mean, without a doubt, much too creepy to do a photo shoot with, that's for sure. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie