Nordic Roadtrip

The Swede and I were in the car at 3:00 am on our way to Trondheim, Norway on Wednesday morning.  It was a 10 hour drive through some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot since I grew up in the mountains of western Montana.

We were heading to an AIK football match against Trondheim's team and, suffice it to say, it did not go well.

The incredible scenery on the way home cheered us up, though.

And we made some new friends.

I Kissed A Moose And I Liked It

I've said it before:  you can't resist this charm.

Norway Bound

We're off on a little roadtrip EARLY in the morning, so I'm going to bed now, at 8:45.  It's my ideal bedtime anyway, so that's not the point.  The point is that I don't have a real post for you today and might not for the next couple of days.  Just thought I'd warn you.  Go ahead and visit Sarianne or Dooce (one of my favorites) if you get lonely.  Peace out!

The Silver Lining

Boy, is it ever yucky out today.  The rain has been coming down non-stop, which would be fine if I could just stay inside and watch Mad Men, but I had to go out to get some groceries for dinner tonight.  Or did I just use that as an excuse to wear my galoshes, which I am deeply in love with?  I'll never tell.

And Five, Six, Seven, Eight

Ohmygoodness, how funny are girls?  I love them!  I AM them.  I'm pretty sure if you met me any day between 1987 and 1997 I was doing exactly what these girls are, choreographing a routine with my sister or my girlfriends.  And now I'm inspired to convince The Swede that we need to come up with an eight-count to our new favorite song from our new favorite show.

Twenty Hours With The Segerstens

In the short time we were in Söderköping this weekend, The Swede, Papa Swede and Sarianne cut a hole out of the wall for The Segersten Staircase Project 2010.

Pippi showed up...

...and challenged Magnus to a cage fight. 

And their garden put our little balcony paradise to shame.

With White Trim, Of Course

How convenient!  If you want to paint your house typical Swedish red, and of course you do, you needn't bother trying to figure out just which shade of red would be lagom because it's already been decided for you.  Red paint.  Just as simple as that. 

Take Your Business Elsewhere

We all know that working Swedes get a ton of vacation time, right?  And have I mentioned how much they love and appreciate summertime?  Well, what that translates to in July is a partial retail shutdown.  Many small businesses close there doors entirely for several weeks during the warmest part of summer and nobody thinks anything of it.  It seems a little counterintuitive since nice weather makes as least me feel like eating out and shopping more, but I don't hear anyone complaining.  And, ahem, this doesn't count as complaining.  It's just pure wonder.

Notice Anything Different?

Mom and I had our weekly Skype chat today and the topic of my blog came up.  She was uneasy about the new summer masthead photo.  "I knew it," I said.  "My butt looks super big."  "Well, no," she replied, "it's more that your head looks too small."  Well played, Mom.  So I did a little cropping.  And I changed the background and the layout a bit.  And I got rid of some of those crazy ads because with 57 cents made in nearly a year, this bad boy hasn't been quite the moneymaker I was hoping for.  And then I added a search function, which I love and hope you do too.  And then I looked at the finished product and my eyes hurt because it was too pink.  Pssht!  As if that were even possible! 

I Think You're Going to Enjoy This Too

And here is the follow-up.

I Think You're Going to Enjoy This

Sorry, I'm feeling lazy today and I've been meaning to share this for awhile, but wasn't able to embed the video.  Check the link, though.  You won't be sorry.

Coming To A Theater Near You

You know how, in America, movie theaters smell like popcorn?  And how, when the lights dim and everyone stops chatting, you can hear the sound of people chomping on the salty, buttery treat?  Well in Sweden, the theater smells and sounds like godis.  And it especially smells like the dreaded salt licorice.  Blech.  We, like many others, brought the bag that we had purchased at the grocery store in with us when we went to the movies on Friday, but you can buy it from bins in the theater lobby too.  We forgot about all things delicious when the movie started, though, because it was Inception, basically the best movie of all time and I wasn't able to use my mouth for anything other than hanging slack-jawed.

While You Were Sleeping

The Swede has been bringing me along to the office now and then during the past couple of weeks.  There have been some major projects going on, yet most of the staff is out of the office on vacation so I have had the opportunity to lend a hand.  I've scanned labels, packaged products, painted, helped build a wall and done a little data entry all while enjoying the laid-back atmosphere of a Swedish business in July.  Though it wasn't as nonchalant as the Göteborg office, which is perpetually 15 minutes behind, or even the corporate headquarters in Cleveland where folks were literally snoozing.

Idle Paws

It's hard to imagine, I know, but the recent heat wave has made these two even less inclined to contribute to the household upkeep than before.

We'll Never Be Like Those From The City

Just a really chill song about our town.

More Snacks for Nelson

I felt like I should give you a little update because things have gotten even nicer out there since the last post.

The Usual

Something awkward happened.  I went in to pick up our order from our favorite pizza shop and the dude behind the counter remembered me.  "Two Sundbyberg Specials?"  Uh, yeah, that's us.  This isn't the first time this has happened to me.  The summer of 2000 my sister and I went to McDonald's every day after work and ordered two vanilla cones at the drive-through.  It sounds bad, I know, but I lost 10 pounds that summer so withhold your judgement.  So one day, after a couple weeks of this routine, we came to the window after placing our order and the girl handed us two vanilla cones that had a suspect, crispy frozen coating on the outside LIKE THEY HAD BEEN PREPARED AHEAD OF TIME and then placed in a freezer to wait for us to come by.  It's too bad when this happens because I'm sure that the staff is just trying to make you feel welcome but all it make me feel is that I can never go back again.  Perhaps I would feel differently if I was a regular at, I don't know, the vegetable store or something.

Leave The Grass Skirt At Home

Mama and Papa Swede's favorite restaurant, Golden Cave, had a pig-grilling party last night and they invited us to join them there along with six other family friends.  It was a Spanish-themed soiree, but I'm pretty sure roasting a pig over a fire is Hawaiian and therefore American, but whatever, Golden Cave.  Regardless of who deserves the credit, the porker was delish, the atmosphere was festive and even the rain didn't dampen the beautiful evening.   

Meet Sonic

Yesterday I didn't know what to blog about.  The Swede was like, "Um, hello?  The hedgehog."  And I was like, "Well, yeah, but what would I say?"  And he was like, "I'm 27 years old and today I saw my first hedgehog."  The Swede was full of good advice yesterday.  Additionally, upon the event of my first hedgehog sighting, he suggested, "you can pet it, but don't pet it backwards."

Three Hours to Balcony Bliss

Yesterday after The Swede got home from work and we ate dinner, we hopped into the car and zipped around town to get all of the stuff we've been talking about to pimp our balcony.  In less than two hours we selected wood floor planks, hanging and standing pots, soil, seeds and flowers from three different stores.  When we got everything home we laid the flooring, set up our table and chairs and planted everything within an hour and had the rest of the evening to enjoy our handiwork.  Even Cool Hand Luke came out to admire our skills.

Camping

One day, years from now, we'll remember July of 2010 and how it was so hot that we dragged the mattress out into the living room so that we could sleep closer to the open balcony door, and we'll laugh.  Heck, why wait.  Let's laugh now.

Kål Slaw Sammy

Lately I've been craving a BLT.  It's the ultimate summer food, in my mind, and boy is it ever summer.  I was thinking I'd make some coleslaw for the side but ended up just slapping it on the bun with the B and the T in place of the L.  Feel free to use my brilliant recipe.

Fun as Hell, One Might Say

Holy cow, was it hot today!  I would have been happy to stand in front of the open freezer door all day, but we had plans to meet the Segersten's at Gröna Lund and I'm glad we did because it was a blast.  But, as I said, it was hot.  It reminded me of this fantastic trip to the Cleveland zoo The Swede and I took with Mom and Ray on an incredibly hot day last summer, which was certainly fun but decidedly hellish at the same time.  Fast rides equal a nice breeze, though, and it was hilarious taking the rides with the kids.  Their enthusiasm and commentary kill me every time.

My bag of bones is getting a little old for the physical catastrophe that is the bumper cars, but The Swede is a real do-gooder.

This is a little more my speed.

In Case You Were Looking

We found all the Swedes at Ängsjö today.

SPF 50

It looks like fun, that stuff in mama's hand, right, Dylan?  Well in half a second when she starts slathering you with it you're going to hate it.  And you're going to squirm and try to get away from the experience like a greased-up piglet.  But take it.  Nobody likes baked baby. 

Sittin' On The Dock O' The Bay

Since I started the blog back in September, I'm pretty sure this is the first time you're seeing Mama and Papa Swede's lake-side summer cabin.  The Swede and I spent a lot of time here last summer, grilling with the family, watering the grass and enjoying meals by the great Lake Mälaren.  It's only about 15 minutes from where we live and even closer to The Swede's office, which should give you an idea of the incredible opportunities to enjoy nature that we have very close at hand here.  We took advantage today by having a picnic dinner on the dock. 

Girl Talk City

This is a sight I've seen quite a lot in the past week or so.  As you know, Petra and I have been helping her future in-laws with their cleaning business while they are on vacation.  Our commute is a little over an hour and the job usually takes between four and five, so our evenings together consist of nearly seven hours of non-stop girl talk.  Seriously, I've barely noticed it's work. 

This Bytes

Sadly this is not a trippy new screensaver.  This is the result of a split-second accident that will prevent any chance of recovering a single thing from my dear Dell.  Yes, I dropped it.  As far as I know, only the screen is broken, but you sure can't do anything to fix it if you can't see anything, can you?  So good-bye my friend and all of the photos, resumes, cover letters and grad school papers you held.  And thank goodness for the internet, which is holding the most important of those items securely for time and all eternity.

Models

I call this one "Summer Barbeque with Blue Steel."

Catch You Tomorrow

No real blog post today, folks.  I'm sorry, but I'm just having too much fun right now with my fiance to take a break.

Meet Cool Hand Luke

Yep, two blog posts today because I had to get this picture on the internet ASAP.  I literally giggle like a school girl ever time I look at this.  On the other side of the neighbor spectrum from the relentless smoker downstairs is World's Cutest Cat next door.  I feel a little like I'm cheating when I say that, but seriously!  Look at him... her... whatever, it doesn't matter since, sadly, our cats are fixed so neither of them could make dangerously cute offspring with little Cool Hand Luke here.  No, I've never talked to the human neighbor.  I named it myself, of course. 

The Life

Oh, you know, just fulfilling the summer reading requirements for my Swedish course.  In a bikini under the sun.

Bed of Roses

I would much rather live in the apartment over these rose bushes than over the unemployed chain-smoker stinking up the balcony below us.  I'm satisfied to pass by them on my walk, though.

Grande No Foam Skinny Vanilla Latte, Please

Please take a look at this sweet coffee maker!  It has FOURTEEN beverage options!  This is in one of the break rooms of the offices Petra and I have been cleaning and all of the other break rooms we've seen have similar models.  Even The Swede's office has a killer coffee machine, which leads me to believe that these Starbucks-rivaling apparatuses are a Swedish office staple.  Which means I need an office job even more than I thought.

Rock the Smock

I'm sure you're wondering the following:  did she get a job as a dentist?  Is her apartment so huge that she requires all of these accoutrements to keep house?  Where are her pants?  Well, the fact is I'm going to be helping out Petra with her cleaning job a few times in the next couple of weeks and I'm going to be wearing shorts ever so slightly shorter than the smock because said smock is quite warm when you're working like a dog changing the toilet paper rolls of Sweden's professionals.  Stay classy.

Romance

When I opened the front door this evening, The Swede was standing there with a bunch of roses and a pastry box.  First off, AW!  And second, I've always wanted something - anything - in a pastry box, but I thought they only existed in the movies.  This particular pastry box contains two leftover pieces of chocolate cake, the whole cake and the flowers being a gift to Mama Swede from one of her students that she couldn't keep because she and Papa Swede are going to Greece tomorrow.  Aw, neverthless.  Secondhand cake and roses are cake and roses in any case.

Boys Will Be Boys

It's incredible that I captured a photo where all of these guys' mouths are closed because I'm telling you, they were shouting up a storm every other moment.  The Swede and the Johansson brothers stopped by our apartment between two World Cup matches today and, per their usual, hollered the entire time. 

My First Midsommar

Yesterday being Midsommarafton, The Swede and I made our way to our friend Dan's parents' house out in the coutry to spend the day and night with their family, Dan's girlfriend Emilie and their friends Anna and Håkan.  We arrived around noon and started the party with Emilie's punch then moved on to a traditional lunch of, you guessed it, meatballs, sausages, potatoes and no less than nine varieties of fish.  I'm not exaggerating about the fish.  During the meal we sang songs that The Swede had prepared before doing shots of snaps, all while sitting in the shade of a tent that typically protects Midsommar revelers from rain. 

Yesterday was perfectly beautiful, though.  Not a cloud in the sky for most of the day and warm enough, even, for a dip in the nearby lake later in the afternoon.  We spent fourteen hours outside, dancing and grilling and laughing, and spent the night in the old workers' quarters of this 16th century farm.   It was an incredible day and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Obviously I Love My Life

I hadn't seen Yasmin in over four weeks, which was just too, too long.  We met at the top of the subway entrance at Åhléns City this hot afternoon and walked over to a Chinese restaurant.  We grabbed a couple of outdoor seats and had to switch tables after a few minutes because it was too hot in the sun.  Golly, I never thought I'd see that day come.  We sat there for a long time and caught up on the last month, then took a walk through Gamla Stan and along the harbor, past the palace and through Kungsträdgården and ended our afternoon on the benches at Sergels Torg watching the fountain and the hundreds of people with their purple Systembolaget bags heading home to gear up for Midsommarafton tomorrow.

Dropping In

My friends Charles and John from Christ Church back in Cleveland are the kings of cruising.  They've been on 54 cruises now but this is the first time they've visited Scandanavia.  As soon as they knew the date and time of their docking in Stockholm, Charles and John got in touch with me and another Christ Church alum who lives here to meet up with them.  Our time together was too short, as their ship left for Helsinki just a couple of hours after we met up, but it was wonderful to see their familiar faces.

Beach Season Blessing

Good to know this is just around the corner.  All that delicious American fast food did a number on my otherwise slammin' bikini bod.  Heh.

Getting the Job Done

Last time we went shopping and needed to buy handsoap, I just reached for the cheapest option.  "Oh, no," said The Swede.  "We're not putting any ugly bottle of soap on our bathroom sink just to save a few kronor.  We need something exclusive."  At the time we selected the swankiest-looking soap in the store and I've been on the lookout for its replacement as the liquid levels dwindle.  That's right.  Just because he put a ring on it doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing everything in my power to keep him happy.  And I think this fits the bill.

Once Upon a Time

Much fuss has been made this year over Crown Princess Victoria's summer wedding to her prince, Daniel Westling, and today was finally THE day.  Stepping out onto the street from our apartment building, it could have been any other day.  Once we entered the subway, however, it became clear that folks were out and about.  More folks than usual.  Way more.  And they had Swedish flags and plastic crowns and a few little girls were dressed as brides.  The Swede and I met up with his folks at Kungsträdgården and walked through the estimated 500,000 people to find a good viewing spot along the royal parade route on Strandvägen.  We stood there for a couple of hours, watching the different military branches parade by before forming a human barrier and listening to a marching band play ABBA.  And then the clouds literally parted for the newlywed Prince and Princess as they passed, beaming, in a horse-drawn carriage.  Basically, I spent my day in a fairytale.

The Dramatics Begin

Have you heard there's a World Cup on?  Because Sweden didn't qualify, The Swede is cheering for the US (duh) but still watching as many of the other games as possible (double duh).  At any rate, I expect to see many more scenes like this in the coming weeks.

Whoa, Now!

We went over to Mama and Papa Swede's for some grilling this evening for the first time since we've been back in Sweden.  We toasted our engagement then set free some butterflies that Mama Swede and Elin have been incubating.  I love this photo of everyone's reaction when this particular butterfly took off from The Swede's finger.

The Cure for Jet Lag

What to fix for dinner when you haven't slept for more than three straight hours in three straight days?  Chips and dip.  It also served the important function of bringing us back into our zone.  Pair it with The Biggest Loser and it's starting to feel like home again.

The End of a 36-Hour Day

Well, the bags are unpacked, the closets are now filled with new American clothes, the cats are exploring the apartment like they've never seen it before and it's bedtime but too light out to sleep.  We're back in Sweden.