Daily Jamie

Halloween, The Thing

Excellent news from Sweden! Halloween has officially become a THING! I had a feeling this was going to be a big year since parties, costumes, and decorations have really been catching on so I stocked up on candy just in case. And get this: we've gotten more trick-or-treaters tonight than I ever have in my adult life, my having lived in a sketchy, three-story walk-up on the border of Cleveland's ghettoest ghetto notwithstanding. Needless to say, I'm thrilled. And get THIS as well: in Sweden, not only do you not have to x-ray your kids' candy, but people actually give out unwrapped candy. For now, anyway. Halloween has only just become a THING. Oh, and here. I couldn't resist. Two years ago today Jamie had no idea what candy was and was a much less enthusiastic (albeit equally cute) person because of it. 

Daily Jamie

Alarmism

Several years ago I made a choice to stop reading or watching the news. I cannot emphasize how much better my quality of life is for it. Part of the reason I stopped paying attention to the news is because I got the feeling the American media was exaggerating certain events and issues to scare me and worse, just to scare me as there was never anything I could do about it. I avoid the news here for the most part as well, but sometimes you can't help being bombarded by the fear-mongering in the line at the grocery store. It's just that here it's of a different variety, namely, weather. The past few days we've been seeing warnings about the storm Simone and the chaos she would bring, including a recommendation to stay home early in the week. We haven't experienced any chaos whatsoever here in Stockholm, but further south in Söderköping they ought to have headed the warnings. Simone took poor Julia and Elin's trampoline. 

  

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

October 26th

October 27th

Runny Noses All Around

We've been planning for months to go back to Kolmården this weekend, but the threat of a family-wide cold had been looming all week. The Swede had been well, but I had felt sick for the past few days and Jamie's nose is pretty much always somewhere on the runniness spectrum between September and May so anything could happen. Yesterday, though, we were all more or less a-okay and spent the day at the hotel swimming, messing around in the play room, watching Curious George in the kids' theater, and eating good food, and planned to spend Sunday inside the zoo. By evening, though, we felt something a'comin' and all fell asleep by eight o'clock. And today we are sick. We were very sad to do it, but we scrapped the zoo plan and headed home to recoup so that we, hopefully, won't have to miss any work or school this week. Nevertheless, we had a fun little trip and an excellent Saturday. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Dinner Date

Last time I hung out with Petra was about a month ago and we were at her house with her two boys and my Jamie running around all over the place, seemingly trying to keep us from conversing. We eventually gave up and promised to meet up some evening and enjoy a child-free dinner. Last night we made good on that promise. I picked her up right after work and we promptly got lost and ended up at a totally different place than planned, but the food was good and it was empty enough that we could laugh till our bellies ached. Which we did. 

Daily Jamie

Time to start thinking about a big boy bed.

Daily Jamie

Monsters

The Swede picked up a couple of new winter hats for Jamie from Mama Swede today and I have to say they are my favorite yet. Please look at the Halloween one! It's so stinking cute! You'd better believe he'll be wearing that one till long after the thirty-first. Until it gets colder, that is, and he can switch it out for the fleece-lined monster truck one that got a big "WHOA" of approval from the toddler in question. Thanks, Farmor!!!

Daily Jamie

October 19th

October 20th

Other People's Kids

My mother- and sister-in-law are both early childhood educators and insist that small children are much better behaved when they are away from their parents. I hadn't had the chance to test this and had to take their word for it. Until yesterday, that is, when I brought Jamie over to Erin and Svante's so we could hang with Ossian while they went out on a date. Now, Ossian is already incredibly well-behaved so I wasn't expecting any trouble, but I have to admit I was a little uncertain about how bedtime would play out. Erin had explained that, much like Jamie these days, Ossian mixes up his routine pretty much every night and gave me a couple of examples, but nothing could have prepared me for what actually went down. At twenty-to-eight, when I asked Ossian nonchalantly if he wanted to go to bed, the kid dropped his toys, walked to his room, crawled into bed and went. to. sleep. It was pretty amazing and totally dependent upon the fact that I wasn't his one of his folks, that much was clear. Jambo, meanwhile, stayed up until eleven, about halfway through the car-ride home. So Sarianne and Mama Swede were right. If you want respect from a toddler, it's going to have to be somebody else's.  

Daily Jamie

Kickin' It With The Homies

We were at a birthday party at Gurra and Gunilla's this evening and even though we only see their extended families a couple times a year, most of them feel very familiar. They're warm and friendly people and we look forward to these parties when we get to catch up with their lives. Jamie, too, feels very comfortable with them and often disappears into the crowd for awhile without mamma and pappa. Tonight he sussed out the vibe and ensconced himself appropriately at the young peoples' table. 

Daily Jamie

Sweden Delivers

I'm sure I've mentioned that Sweden is the world's third biggest exporter of pop music after the US and England. I mean, really. I still swell with pride, though, when I find out that someone we've been listening to over here has gone big stateside. The latest, Avicii (pronounced Aveechee, in case you're as ignorant as I was), is as ubiquitous on the Cleveland radio stations as the Stockholm ones, or so I learned while I was there in September. I didn't hear this single till I got back in Sweden, though, so I'm going to pretend I'm rocking your world right now by introducing a totally new and amazing song into your life.

Daily Jamie

October 15th

October 16th

Daily Jamie

Today's picture was too poorly-lit to post so here are two from yesterday.
You shouldn't have to suffer because of my poor photography skills.

Crunch

Yesterday was the most gorgeous fall day. It was t-shirt weather and Jamie was finally feeling better so we emerged from the sofa into the sunshine and discovered many, many colors, that a pumpkin is the perfect canvas, and that running through a crispy pile of leaves is pure joy. 

Daily Jamie

The Skeleton In The Closet

Ugh. This disaster is our laundry room/utility closet. It's unnerving. It's my dirty little secret and it's just off the kitchen, only somewhat hidden behind a door that needs to be kept partially open so that the cats can access their food and water. I finally decided this morning that enough was enough, hit up the home improvement store, and installed some shelving. My soul feels much, much better.

 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

October 9th

October 10th

A Favorite Among Favorites

Jamie has been home sick all week and with The Swede on a business trip, I've been at home with him the past three days. Jamie has just been lying around watching Disney Junior and since I can only take so much Dr. McStuffins I've made it through almost three full seasons of Sex and the City. I've seen the entire series maybe five, six times so I feel confident picking out my absolute favorite scene and here it is. I don't think you have to be familiar with the series to appreciate how lovely this is.

Daily Jamie

The Office

Jamie had a fever and couldn't go to school for the second day in a row so I stayed home with him today. He didn't seem to be feeling too badly and was in a playful and cuddly mood all day long, making it a really nice day for the two of us. He must have gotten bored with me, though, because as soon as his papa walked in the door Jamie was all over him for the rest of the evening. The Swede still had some work to do and set up shop in the living room and Jamie even insisted on being a part of that. 

Daily Jamie

October 6th
Steamy after our first swim class.

October 7th
Mama finally found a pumpkin!

His Papa's Passion

It is appropriate that The Swede is so tall because we, his wife and child, look up to him in so many ways. I'm in constant awe of his passion for the things he cares about, for example. I like to consider myself a pretty enthusiastic person, but this man's intensity is so beyond anything I've ever experienced in myself that I can't help but be jealous of the trait now and then. Mostly, though, I admire it, and him, and hope that Jamie also becomes someone who learns all he can about the things that interest him, tries anything that excites him, and lets the world amaze him.

Daily Jamie

October 4th

October 5th

Nothin' Like A Little Experimentin'

We're at the cabin this weekend, but attendance is pretty low. It's actually just us and Papa Swede and since he and my husband had to get some work done, Erin and I planned to take the boys to the nearby Tom Tits Experiment to explore and discover. We had taken them there last winter and they enjoyed it then, but were even more into all the different science experiments and things to play with today. Erin and I hadn't had a chance to talk one-on-one in a long time and we didn't get much of that done today either, chasing these little dudes all over the place, but it was still fun for all four of us. 

Daily Jamie

The Business Cas Fashion Show Featuring Selah

Today I am more than pleased to present Selah, my guest business cas fashion model with six adorable and inspiring looks, in her own words! 

Favorite new pants for the fall (Target!). Andy picked them out and loves when I wear them with these menswear inspired loafers.

A pretty boring outfit, to be honest. but I like this necklace a lot. And I recently found this sweater in a box, so it feels new to me.

My new favorite dress. I wish you could see the subtle blue print on this dress, but you can't, so here's the link to the dress at Nordstrom. Side note - selfies are really hard to take. I think I actually got worse at taking them the more I tried.

My newest menswear-inspired outfit. Andy also really likes this one - he shined my shoes for me and gave me the blue laces to spice up the oxfords. I want to wear this camel-colored blazer every day, but honestly, it's not cool enough in Nashville for it yet.

The last truly summery outfit of 2013. This outfit was planned based 50% on my hot pink lipstick, 50% on my leopard belt.

Casual Friday attire. I don't normally wear yellow, but for some reason I really like this sweater with its subtle sparkle.