Daily Jamie

August 15th

August 16th

Love All Over These Walls (Plus A Giveaway!!!)

Poor little Jambo was home today with a fever and it was very sad to see him so wiped out, but it did allow me to be home to sign for this canvas print of an Instagram I took of Jamie on his second birthday. I hung it up right away on a narrow section of wall in the living room where our family photos had been and then moved all of them into our hallway. I rather like the new location as they are much more noticeable now. 

Incidentally, the company I ordered the print from, Canvas Pop, sent me a thirty dollar gift card and I'd like to give it to one of you. The twelve inch by twelve inch print I got was about fifty bucks, so the gift card is obviously of some value. I couldn't be more pleased with my order and recommend Canvas Pop highly. If you'd like a chance to win the card, leave a comment, any comment, and I'll pick a winner at random next Friday.

Daily Jamie

King Of The Day

Since Jamie turned two during the summer, when he and most of his classmates were on vacation, they celebrated his birthday today at preschool. There was a big picture of him on the wall along with some balloons right when you walked into the door of the school, plus they sang to him while he stood up on a pedestal. Best of all, though, was the crown he got to decorate and wear. Most kids take theirs off right away, apparently, but Jambo left his on all day long. Then, when I picked him up and took him to the car, he caught his reflection in the car window and flipped! The reminder of his royal headwear had him overjoyed. It's eight o'clock now and he hasn't taken it off all evening. Bedtime should be interesting. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

The Business Cas Fashion Show

I was so excited to start dressing up for work again that I got a whole fashion show worth of outfits in a little over a week. Now, without further ado, let me just talk a little about my clothes.

I got this dress at the Gap while I was in Cleveland. It was sixty bucks originally and I got it for twelve! It's flowy and wonderful and the colors make me happy. I'm glad I decided to wear it on Monday, sqeezing out my last wear of the year, because by Friday it was too cold and too late.

This outfit made me feel uncharacteristically professional, maybe because it's not often that I wear pants that aren't jeans. Also, my husband told me, like, three times that I looked beautiful that day so this one's a keeper.

This outfit, however, was deemed to be weird by the hubby, but he's Swedish so what does he know about fashion? Yeeeeeah, it's probably weird. But dear, sweet denim button-down, if I'd have known how much I was going to love you I would have bought you years ago! Thank you for making this dress work appropriate.

I thought I was too old for grey jeans until I saw another thirty-year-old, only-slightly-more-stylish blogger modelling them. I ran out and got my own and paired them here with this polka dot H&M tee, which I typically treat as a neutral and wear with outlandishly mismatched bottoms. I took it easy on this day and just wore outlandishly mismatched leopard pumps. Did you know leopard is also a neutral? 

  

Look! It's that same top only ACTUALLY neutral! What a perfect opportunity to bust out my fuschia wedges!

Daily Jamie

August 10th

August 11th

All The Young Dudes

What are the odds that two wonderful North American friends, Erin and Shaena, who are also married to Swedes would also have sons all within a couple of years of one another? Okay, maybe it's not that crazy, but getting them all together for a Sunday afternoon grill fest sure is.

Daily Jamie

Swimming With The Big Fish

Today I'm guest-blogging about my favorite trend and my most recent Etsy.com finds at Sarianne's blog. Meanwhile my Swedish street cred is at an all-time high. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Just imagine what it's like to wake up to this sweet sight.

Late Summer Evenings

Being in the office all day kept us from realizing that it's still totally summer. We took an impromptu walk along the lake and through the woods tonight after dinner and I tell you what, it was hot. Even at seven in the evening, all the small beaches and docks along the way were occupied by families swimming and sunning and picnicking. We talked about it on the way home, how it felt to be at work again when the weather was still so nice, and decided that we had squeezed the most out of our vacation so it was AOK. Anyway, we still have the evenings. 

Daily Jamie

August 5th

August 6th

I'd Have Been Glowing Too

Ladies and gentlemen, Linda has made it. She surprised her husband and kids yesterday with the brand new Kia Cee'd that she researched, test drove, and purchased all by herself. And I am in awe. The car is fabulous to be sure, but the really impressive thing, to me, is that she did all of that on her own. While she drove us to the mall on the new car's premier lunch break I realized that the reason I was so dazzled by the whole thing was that, despite all of the other grown-up things I've done in the past decade, I have never chosen or bought my own vehicle. (Please know that I realize that this makes me incredibly privileged.) It seems like a huge decision, one that I doubt I am bold enough to make on my own. And for that reason, today at least, Linda is my biggest idol.

Daily Jamie

The Rest Of Our Vacation In Instagrams

Tomorrow we go back to work, back to preschool, after over five weeks of vacation and leftover parental leave. I'm feeling pretty good about it. We got a lot of good relaxation and adventures in and I'm refreshed and ready to start what feels a lot like a new term at school. Here's to a smooth transition back into our routine!

Daily Jamie

August 2nd

August 3rd

For Your Saturday

I'm a little bit obsessed with mojitos right now, which is to say that it's the only thing I truly enjoy drinking whenever I'm out, which is precisely hardly ever. Because I'm lazy above all else, I have tried canned and even boxed "mojitos" at home, always to be sorely disappointed. I decided not to be quite so lazy yesterday and hunted down a simple recipe and the ingredients for my own homemade mojito (that was not at all difficult to make) and was rewarded with a refreshing success that I can absolutely recommend.

Daily Jamie

July 30th

July 31st

August 1st

Göta Canal On The M/S Wasa Lejon

As promised, here comes a batch of photos from our day on the Göta Canal! The trip was my thirtieth birthday gift from Mama and Papa Swede, who apparently know me well. The eight-hour voyage covered only about twelve miles because most of it was spent climbing, well, liquid steps.

In case you don't know how it works, the boat floats forward on the canal till it reaches a lock. The boat enters the lock through a set of open doors, which then close just behind the boat and then the set of doors in front of the boat open, letting in a ton of water that raises the boat to a new level so that it can continue moving forward at the higher level. 

We saw some really pretty countryside and a lot of super cute properties right on the shore.

We had a delicious lunch and drinks onboard with the rest of the passengers, all of whom were retirees. Just to give you an idea of the kind of stuff I'm into.

There wasn't very much traffic on the canal except for another tour boat and a few German and Swedish sailboats. All of the signs on the boat and along the shore were in Swedish, English, and German, so I guess we know which demographics especially enjoy the canal.

For the most part it was a lovely day, but there was a half-hour period when it rained HARD. The sun continued to shine, though, and it was actually very cozy.

Oh, and one of the best parts of the trip and surely the most entertaining was all the folks along the shore who were biking or walking or just sitting and watching the boats go by. Everyone was uncharacteristically friendly and waved at us as we passed by. Or as they passed us, as the case may be. It was not a fast boat.

Mostly, it was really just wonderful to spend the whole day alone with The Swede. I appreciate those moments when we are together outside of the house so much and getting to have this awesome experience with him was even better than I could have imagined.