Three colours: White

Blog Camp pressie from Spud.

Had decided not to play. But Jules and Spud inspired me. Colour me clean, crisp colourful white.

Cool parking assignments ouside a far too expensive furniture shop.

Onion flowers in the south.

Winged candle in cafe.

Grafitti, but also local surf/skate brand.

My angel wings.

Previously a car wash, now parking lot in town.

Engelmamma (angel mum) given to me by a dear friend.

Sacre Coeur

Lily

Moona Lisa

I Blog Therefore I Am

What do you dream about? The shop window is asking.  Are you able to answer? I'm not. Are these traditional dreams: Husband, children, house, dog? Personal dreams: Successfull career, being noticed? Material dreams: Money to travel, buy designer furniture? All of the above, please.

But when I cut down to the rough bits. The important bits. It's not so hard. I'm looking for balance. Equilibrium.

So what has this got to do with blogging, you ask. Well. In a lot of ways the equilibrium I strive for in life, I also strive for here. Mostly happy, fun bits. Some delicious, some colourful. Sometimes something sad. Like my life really.

Non bloggers often ask me what I blog about. And when I say I blog about life, then they don't get it. 'What is your theme?' they ask. Politics, feminism, food, mommy or fashion blog. 'None of the above', I answer to more confusion.

It's interesting to see how important it is for us to pigeon hole eachother. The need to place someone in some context. So we can decode, decifer and analyse. It's also so here in the blogosphere, the labelling goes on. And without sticking lables on ourselves, we still get consumed according to our contents.

I'm putting myself out there. Do you get it?

Housescapes

Home made lamp. I love the way it streaks the ceiling.

Housescapes packed with memories recent and far away. Can you guess my favourite colour?

Yummy jasmine tea from las weekends fika, and Little Mans colouring pencils.But there are also trinkets from Paris and Denmark .

Japanese dolls from Paris and Vancouver. Bento box from Copenhagen.

Sushi pillow from local designer in Vancouver.

A 200 grams tin of inner calmeness for emergency only from Danish Design Center. Bird candle from Rekjavik. 

My Snow in Eyelashes painting. A story of its own.

Little Mans first dictionary, Richard Scarry style. On retro table kindly donated by the inlaws.

Wunderbaum from Lebanon, sushi toy from Vancouver and vase from Grønlykke, Copenhagen.

Sunday Session

Home grown carrots and beetroots from my parents alotment.

Have had one of those beautiful varied weekends. Started already on thursday with a visit fom the east. Made food, kake, and got enthusiastic raves. From kids and adults alike. But lasagna and chocolate kake will do that.

Friday was one of those great days at work. A lot of stories flopping, but fun writing sessions about tomatoes and freewriting about being a huge klutz (I promise some day to spill all, oun intended). Made home made garlic mash and chicken fingers for tea. Raves fom the Men. Boy in bed, adult time on sofa. Bliss.

Chocolate kake from Thursday that lasted untill Sunday

Saturday started with a trip to the theatre. Kids theatre. So much fun to watch Little Mans reactions. Tea at one of our local thai places (Littel Man loves pad thai). And at night a party at my sis in laws house. So much fun. Beer, bubbly and captain morgan and coke. Yum. Not even that hung over this morning, only tired, and got to nap on the sofa (bliss #2) before cooking tea for the neighbours. Roast chook (thats Aussie for chicken) with loads of vegies, including beets and carrots above. Hit with kiddies and parents again. Next time at their house!

In addition to beets and caroots I added potato, kumera, parsnip, garlic rosemary and yummy organic olive oil.

The perfect mix weekend indeed. And loads of friendly company. And good food and wine.

Tomeito Tomahto

Just the joys of my job. Got to spend an hour taking photos of, eating, and talking about tomatoes. Little red sweet gem tomatoes. I love my job.

Little Man Life Lessons

I often wish I was a kid again. Those simple pleasures like being allowed to have the whole cinnamon bun, and eating it like it's the most amasing thing in the world.

I like to take lessons from Little Man. His ability to be completely in the moment is such a source of inspiration, and something I strive to do every day. His ability to notice details is uncanny, and he points the worlds wonders out to me every day.

I really loved being a kid. I felt so safe. So self confident. That everyone should look at me, listen to what I had to say, and to take me seriously was a given. I miss that confidence, and when now and then I get a glimpse of it again, I try to think about what gave me that feeling. The people? The situation? The country?

Fact is I'm a lot more secure in situations where people don't know me, than the other way around. And I crave to be thrown into  new situations, simultaniously craving safety. Confused? I was untill I saw it in my own offspring. Fact is that I want the same feeling of freedon, the feeling that the world is open to me, but keeping safety close by. When I was a kid, safety was my parents. As an adult my safety comes in various forms. Like behind a book/paper/mag. Behind a camera lens (Canon, of course). Clutching a glass of wine.

And as much as I want to be (and am) spontanious I do need my safety nets. And every day, like Little Man, I try to learn something new, do something different. Pushing my safety boundaries a little further. My rule of thumb is, if I feel anxious about it, I should try it. It's got me here. And most of the time I like it here.

I want cinnamon buns now. And a trip to Japan.

Shag - Marry - Kill

Picture from here

I'm playing Julochkas game. It's fun. I write up a list of celebrities, and tell you if I'd shag, marry or kill them, Wanna play? Copy the list, or make your own. And tell me and Julochka about it.

1. Dave Grohl- shag, (he is my rock star sex god)
2. Bruce Willis - shag (since Die Hard)
3. Any of the Desperate Housewives - kill
4. Lily Allen - shag (ooooh, total girl crush)
5. Dawn Porter - shag (same reason, they totally look like eachother)
6. The Aussie-guy in ER -shag, then marry (he is sooo sweet)
7. Matt Damon - marry
8. Ben Affleck - kill
9. Eminem - kill (seems like a women hater)
10. Haruki Murakami - marry (like Julochka)
11. Kanye West - shag, maybe marry (oh so talented)
12. Anthony Kiedis - shag (another god)
13. Chandler in Friends - marry
14. Chris Martin - marry (say no more)
15. Any Beastie Boy - shag, shag, shag, marry, marry, marry.
16. George Bush - kill
17. Mahmoud Amedinijad - kill
18. Bono - kill
19. Shakira - totally shag (to the sound of her new single She Wolf 'awooo')
20. Hank Moody in Californication- shag, shag and shag again

Make (mostly) love, not war.

My First Love

That's me in the yellow. Oscar is on my right in white. Isn't he a Swedish god?

Inspired by Keely, at The Un Mom, I've decided to do a boyfriends greatests hits. (And Big Man, if you're reading, you are number one.)

My first love has to be Oscar, from Sweden.

The from Sweden bit is important, cause this is the kind of summer camp love they made TV-movies out of in the 80's and we now can enjoy on sunday mornings.

It's 1989. I'm 11, and dreaming of that romantic love I've seen in the movies. The ideal men (or should I say boys) in my mind were 'Elliot' from 'ET' , Sean Astin in 'The Goonies', Corey Haim in The Lost Boys' and Atreyu in The Neverending Story. I used to make myself dream about them at night. Writing notes on yellow post its and sticking them to my bed for some dream inspriration.

But then. I'm off to Brazil with CISV (Childrens International Summer Villages). A month in camp with 48 other 11 year olds from 12 different countries. I knew I was in with a chance of finding someone to replace the movie boys currently stalking my dreams.

And there he was. Beautiful Oscar from Sweden. Tall, tanned, and I went for the kill. Fortunately love at that age has got just as much to do with talking someone into a relationship. I talked. We hooked up.

Now. We were in no way the only couple in the camp, but thanks to winning the kissing competition a few times, and me sneaking into his bed one night we got established as one of the offical couples at camp. We even got 'married'.

(Here I have to digress. When I retold the story to my girlfriends back in Norway I conveniently left out that the rings were made of tin foil, and that it was a mass wedding. It's about keeping the romantic illusion. I had learnt that even at the ripe age of 11).

After a month in Tween Love Heaven it was time to go back home. Without Oscar. I cried. And cried. And cried a bit more.

The next month I kept on pining for my boy untill the fateful letter arrived. The didn't want to be my 'kille' (boy) anymore. The distance was too far. I was heartbroken, playing the role of the pining girlfriend had been my thing. Now all I had was the memory.

I still have that memory. And a blurry picture of me next to Oscar from Sweden. My first love.

Nuart Again

More Nuart. Love this wall. The paintings floating on a big grey sky. It's so cool the way it fits in with the skips. (Don't think the Nuart gang decorated them). Check out their blog here.

Mr. Giant.

I find rabbits like this one all over town.

I love the Big Red Rubbish Monster.

Autumn Colours

Soft light. Rusty colours.

Nature is taking its course.

A Lazy Sunday

My parents picked up Little Man for a fun day fishing crabs and playing with hens. So Big Man and I got to have a lazy morning/afternoon  for ourselves. We lay around on the sofa (wow), we went for a drive and discovered some more street art (will post pics soon), and we got to spend a slow hour in a cafe. Ice cold coke. Crunchy salad. Delicious cappuccino.

Oooh, and I got a tin of jasmine tea from Kusmi. Will make myself a cup as soon as Little Man is tucked up in bed.

Singing my Life With her Words

My life was sung for me last night.

I started listening to Lisa Ekdahl in 1994. She was 23, I was 17, and her music, her wisom, hit me right in the heart. Since then she's followed me trough my life. She followed me to Australia. She followed me to the UK. And she followed me back home to Norway again.

So hearing her sing for the first time last night was like a journey trough my life. Every song took me back to a moment of heartache, a moment of bliss... most of all they took me back to lying on my bed. Headphones on. Analysing my life. Imagening my future.

Her music is melancholic and optimistic. Her lyrics are full of the life lessons she's had, and she's shared those lessons with me. Listening to her sing is like watching myself in the mirror. Retracing my lines, and thinking about a life already lived, but also about a life not yet lived.

So there, in that dark concert hall. My life was sung. My past described. And she reminded me that life is there. Right in front of my nose. Waiting to be lived. Loved. Learned.

I'm still floating on this pink knowing cloud.

Transitions

I think we are experiencing the last warm breaths of summer. Today has been a beautiful day, but I still feel a tinge of purple melancholy. The weekend is supposed to be warm. But the nights are cool and damp. And the darkness is slowly coming earlier and earlier. I have to stop myself from thinking about it being really dark in December, and enjoying the mildness and light now. And light candles.

Still there is something really beautiful about natures senior days. The frilly edge of a flower. The reflection of the sun in a puddle. The softness of warm winter coats coming out of their summer hiding.

So I'm getting out my candles. My lanterns. And I'm going to light up those grey days. Make food. drink wine. And wait.

For the light.

Birthday Season

In my family Autumn is Birthday Season. My niece Em starts it off today. Happy birthday girlie. Hope you are having a really good one at school and all. These monkeys are for you.


Love you.
Big hugs.

xxx

A Good Day at Work

Is a day when I spontaniously have to go to the beach and take pictures of eight year olds surfing.

• To wade in the luke warm (yes!) North Sea.
• To feel sand between my toes.
• To get wet leggings, and a wet bum from getting too excited taking pictures in the surf.
• To feel the sun warm, and have to take my cardigan off.
• To talk with excited kids, and an even more excited teacher.
• To feel like I want to learn surfing. Properly.
• To blast the radio on the perfectly long trip home.
• To sing along, and drive fast.
• To share the pictures of the excited kids with collegues.

... and to spend the rest of the day, bare foot. Sand not gone yet.

Kindie Kitchen

Oh, I feel so inspired. I'm in the parent-group in Little Mans kindie, and last night I got to go to one of the planning meetings of Økoløft - Organic lift. His and six other kindergardens want to eat as much organic food as possible. Already they have beautiful organic bread from Godt Brød (translated: good bread), and they get a big box of organic fruits and vegetables every monday from Håpet (translated: hope).

The cordial was from the local organic farm Ullandhaug Økologiske Gård. Elderflower, and delicious.

The sandwitches were of course from Godt Brød. Mine was filled with organic chicken and pesto. Yum!

And that pear....

Need I say more. What can be more inspiring than to eat delicious food, and share it with your children.

Manholes (for Jelica)

It started with this manhole cover in Copenhagen. Engraved with Hans Christian Andersen and the Tin Soldier. "Even manhole covers in Denmark are beautiful", Jelica exclaimed, and saw it as a sign of an economically prosperous nation.

So I came home, and looked down and saw this...

and this....

and this.

I'm sure there are more.

To be continued...