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Hello Shanon!
How was your Christmas? I really hope you had a wonderful time. I feel like this last week has consisted of at least ten days, last Monday just feels like it was so long ago :) My Christmas holiday started on Tuesday afternoon and I had two days to make the last preparations. I baked a huge batch of "lussekatter" (lucia cats), saffron buns shaped like cats (or actually 8's) and I also made "knäck" which is a sort of toffee made from cream, sugar and syrup that boils forever on the stove. I always love those days just before Christmas when the air is filled with expectations of what's to come.
We spent Christmas Eve (which is the big day over here) at Martin's sisters place. Almost his entire immediate family was there, so we were around 11 grownups and 4 children. We had a very nice time, eating lots and lots of Christmas food and relaxing in front of the fire, talking and eating nuts and marshmallow santa clauses. They live about a 30 minute drive from town and all along the road there was lots of snow and pretty red, snowcovered houses with fairy lights. I just know you'd love it if you saw it :) All in all it's been a very nice Christmas with lots of hanging out time with Martin's family, but also lots of time in the sofa with a cup of tea, a movie and my knitting. Now I'm looking forward to New Year's Eve when we're going to my mum's place. I'll see you in the new year! :)
xoxo
Moa
PS. My postcard this week is of our pretty amaryllis. Martin bought two for me but this is the only one that's bloomed so far. I like that it looks like a peppermint stick :)
Hello Moa and Merry Christmas!
Christmas week came and went so fast this year! Next year I vow to get my shopping done in November and I also vow to BUY my baked goods. I spent too many days searching for the right gifts and ruining never-attempted-before recipes, that all of a sudden "BAM!" it was Christmas. I did enjoy the crafting that I undertook, so I think I'll bring that forward into next year. I already have plans for Christmas stockings. I can't wait for that. =)
So, anyhow. Let's get to the lowdown of the week. On Wednesday we hung the pantry shelves in the almost completed laundry room. It's been fun to see that come together. Thursday we headed out of town and straight to a restaurant to spend time with two of my girlfriends that I've known since grade school and high school respectively. We may live a distance from each other, but our parents are still live in the same houses we grew up in, so when we go back to see them it's easy to see each other. They gave me lots of pregnancy advice. Priceless!
Christmas eve was spent at my parents (where I took the photo for my postcard) and we went to Christmas eve mass together, ate, opened presents, watched movies, and played games. The next day we pretty much repeated the same thing at Ben's parents, only this time minus the mass and add staying up until 2:30 in the morning catching up with his sister. =)
My postcard gives a hint of the icicles hanging from the roof of my parents house which you can see through the upstairs windows. It was such a winter fairyland looking out into the backyard. There was a branch sticking up from under all the heavy snow covering a bush, and 5 little fat brown birds perched on it. If only I would have caught that! But you can imagine how sweet it looked. ; )Til next week, and our very last postcard of this project. It's been a treat! See you then!
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
How are you doing over in Minnesota? Here in Sweden we're drowning in snow, all you read about in the news is that there is snow and chaos everywhere. Planes and trains don't go anywhere and there are cars in every ditch (at least if you read the newspapers!). I feel like I've hardly had time to notice the snow since I've been so busy. The weeks just before Christmas are always super busy when you're a teacher, but I'm glad the end of the semester is almost here. On Tuesday afternoon my holiday begins and I'm SOO looking forward to it :)
Other than work related stuff I haven't had time to do all that much. I got my hair cut for the first time in about 7 months, which felt great. I'm waiting for it to grow out so I've postponed going to the hairdresser but now it was way overdue. The funny thing is that when it was just cut it looked so long and I was so happy about it, but since it's been trimmed and gotten lighter my curls have become even curlier so now it looks very much shorter although my hairdresser hardly cut off anything from the length. Such is the curse of curly hair... As you can tell, not much of substance happened this week, since all I have to talk about is my haircut :)
I hope your Christmas will be cozy and warm and that you'll enjoy lots of fun times with family and friends! Merry Christmas! :)
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa!
Week 51 and the holiday crunch is on here. My to-do list every day seems to get larger instead of smaller. Things come up and things I need to do get pushed to the next day and the next day. It's so stressful! I still have half my Christmas shopping left! ARGH!
=)
But if you remember, I said awhile ago that I was working on a crafting project involving felt. (I think I mentioned it?) Well, I finally got it done this weekend. It uses 4 of these felt flowers. I've made so many that I have lots left over to use on something for myself, which was what I had planned for them in the first place. A wreath for our entry. I suppose I'll get on that after Christmas. ; )
Other than that, the other exciting news this week is that Ben and his dad put up the wall for our laundry room and I'm so excited! It's white beadboard and looks really fresh and clean. We picked out all the white shelving, and need to narrow down the tile for the floor. I really can't wait. I think it's a female thing, but I'm incredibly excited for a nice laundry room! (I don't think the guys get it. But then again, I don't get computer games/equipment, and big ugly tv stuff.)
Now on to week 52, and Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful week to look forward to, full of everything you hold dear. I'll see you soon with our 2nd to last postcards!
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
I hope you are well! I'm writing this postcard in the early morning hours with the tv on in the background. Today is the Lucia day in Sweden, it's a traditional thing that celebrates light. All over Sweden little girls dress up in white robes with glitter or candle wreaths in their hair (battery driven candles for the little ones and real candles for the older ones), the boys can either wear white robes and pointy white hats or be dressed as santa's helpers or gingerbread men. They then come into a dark room with candles in their hands and sing Christmas songs and special lucia songs. What was on tv right now was a very talented choir of grownups doing the same thing and it's very atmospheric and beautiful. If you google the word "Luciatåg" you'll see lots and lots of examples :)
This week I've started on the Christmas decorations, so now our apartment is much cozier :) We have big paper stars in the windows and glass ornaments in glass jars. The latter is a way for me to use them even though we don't have a Christmas tree. I would love to have a tree but we simply don't have any room in our apartment for something like that. We might, however, get a little Christmas juniper and decorate it as we've done for the two last years :) In my photo this week you can see a glimpse of one of our Advent candlesticks. This one comes from my grandfather and is from the 60's, I'm very fond of it as it reminds me of my grandfather. I just love all the lights during the Holiday season, it's much needed during these dark months - I say months as we always leave the more neutral Holiday decorations out until February or something :)
Have a great week!
xoxo
Moa
Hi Moa!
I thought this week's postcard would maybe be of Bub's crib that we picked up this week, but we didn't get around to putting it together. =) I also thought it might be of some Christmas shopping, a family dinner out, or from a theatre production we were suppose to see this weekend... BUT we had a huge snowstorm and were snowed in for two days!
Nearly 2 feet of snow fell in Minneapolis this weekend (mostly on Saturday, and was the 5th biggest snowfall on record for the city) and the wind blew the whole time, causing huge drifts of snow on the roads, sidewalks, and around our house. I attempted to take a shot out the front door while Ben was shoveling, but I couldn't get the door open! =)
I love snow days like this. It's fun to watch the snow totals climb safely from a warm blanket on the couch. It reminds me of being young and having school canceled. However the snow got so high it covered some our bushes that Ben put Christmas lights on. Poor little bushes! You wouldn't even know they were there! Haha
I didn't really know that the snow was coming, but fortunately, when I was shopping this week I picked up ingredients for Potato Leek Soup (with ham of course), and stuff to make caramels, so we had fun stuff to eat during the storm. On Sunday morning I also made French toast with raspberries. I got carried away putting berries on mine and got a stomach ache from the tartness. Who knew you could eat too many raspberries?! ; )
Happy week 50 Moa! 3 more postcards to go!
xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
I just realized that it's actually week 49 now! Time has flown so fast these last few months and I'm really behind in my mental calendar and I didn't realize until now that there are only a few postcards left. I just can't believe that we've done this for almost a year! It's been such a fun project to share with you :)
Well, over to my postcard for the week. My photo this week shows the paper star that hangs in the window of my sister's and her husband's apartment. We went to see them this weekend and it was so nice. They live about three hours away by car, which is too far away in my opinion but still manageable. We live almost at the coast and they live about 250 kilometres to the west, which is what we call the midland. Even though we live on about the same latitude the temperature dropped considerably the further to the west that we drove. In Umeå it was about -5C and when we arrived at their place it was about -23C (which is about -10F). All the trees were covered in a thick layer of sparkly frost and it was all just so beautiful.
On Saturday we had a very relaxing day and we made a nice little excursion to a nearby village. First we visited a second hand shop where I bought some vintage books with the coolest covers. I actually only considered the cover when I picked my books, I think I'll use them in some future project. They were really cheap too, a whole shopping bag full for only 10 Swedish crowns, which is about $1.50. After that we went to the most lovely place ever - and I didn't have my camera! Can you believe it, the one time I really wanted it I didn't have it. The place was a super pretty little coffee shop run by a very nice lady. She'd decorated the cafe in a gorgeous and airy Scandinavian country style and she had the most creative Christmas decorations. On the walls she had her own paintings, which were also for sale. All the delicious pastries were baked by her that same morning. I took some shots with Martin's mobile phone camera but that can't compare to shots taken with my camera so they really don't help much. We'll just have to go back there some other time and then I will most definitely bring my camera!
Hope you'll have a lovely week my friend!
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa!
I hope your week was wonderful! Week 49. Wow! Isn't it fun that the end of the project coincides with the holidays, so that our postcards can be very very festive? Almost like celebrating our project as well as Christmas, etc. as we come to the conclusion. Very cool.
I've been making lists of things I need to accomplish before March, as well as things I want to do and make for the holidays. This past week I picked up lots of good smelling candles, put ALL our decorations out- including my mercury glass pine trees, sparkly silver reindeer, nativity set (from my grandma), and every single decoration we have went on the tree. Last year we only put up a tree with lights. We didn't decorate it at all.
I've been marking recipes that I want to try and I've also started a craft project with felt. I'm hoping to make these wintery looking flowers, and I will probably put them on a bare wreath that we have. I also have other big ideas for them, but we'll have to see if I'm actually as crafty as I think I am. ; )
On Saturday we drove out to the country to my grandparents house, where my side of the family was having our Christmas party. (My grandparents leave for Arizona for the winter, so we have to do it earlier than normal, which I'm not really in favor of. I prefer to do it on the actual holiday, but I don't get a say. haha) I had planned on taking photos around the farm, but it was extremely cold. So I found a comfy chair to sit in and chat with my aunts and cousins all afternoon. Of course I did get up occasionally to fill my plate with food!
My postcard is from Sunday, however. While Ben and a friend of his were doing more work on our basement, the wife and I went out for lunch and shopping! We always have such a good time. What made it even better was that we went to Bachman's, which is a huge garden center, as well as a home decor store. So we explored thousands of ornaments and Christmas decorations, and just so many other fun things. Out in the greenhouse they had a Roadmaster bike displayed amongst the poinsettias. As soon as she pointed it out to me, I knew it would be my postcard to you!
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hi Shanon!
How are you doing? I hope your thanksgiving was lovely.
I really wish you could see what it looks like around here right now. It's been snowing like crazy here for a couple of days so right now everything is covered in fluffy, white snow (I know snow is said to be white but that isn't always the case... I'm thinking about dog pee, exhaust gas and other stuff that can discolour it!). In my photo this week you can't actually tell that there is that much snow but I just liked the warm tones in the background, they make me think of a Hawaiian sunrise somehow :) Anyways, I really like this weather, because it's getting me even more into a Christmas mood and that's where I'm longing to be right now :) I'm really having trouble imagining that Christmas is less than a month away, this fall has just flown by so incredibly fast! I started decorating a bit today, it is the first Sunday of Advent after all. Sometime this week when I feel up to it I'll go down to the basement and haul up our cardboard box full of Christmas stuff and do some real decorating. Since Martin won't be home he can't object to me putting up the vintage peach coloured Advent star (that he thinks is really ugly) in the window :)
Aside from thinking about Christmas I haven't really done that much this week. Martin got sick on Sunday night, right after we'd been to see the new Harry Potter movie. He got some sort of stomach flu that lasted for three days. Just when I thought that I was safe I got it too. I had been waiting outside for the bus in the freezing weather for about 10 minutes and I thought that was the reason why I was so cold when I got home. Then after a few hours when I laid in bed fully clothed with two duvet covers, and a blanket - plus I had a heater thing to warm me up and I was still so cold that my skin hurt, I kind of got that there was more to it than just being a bit chilled... But after a few days of misery I'm all good again :)
All the best to you!
xoxo
Moa
Hiya Moa!
I hope your week was great and that your weekend was as relaxing as mine. =)
Since it was a holiday weekend here in the U.S., we took advantage of the time and got out of town! First there was a birthday party Wednesday night, then lots of eating Thursday (Thanksgiving) at Ben's grandparents, and a little shopping and lots of laying around under blankets on the couch watching college sports the rest of the time. I should add at Ben's grandparents, besides eating, we also watched home movies from when Ben was a baby, up until he was around 7. It was crazy to think that that's all to come again. =)
I think my favorite part of the time away was simply being out of our messy house. Every day I have "clean/organize house" on my to-do list, but so much of the mess is just displaced things from our basement renovation, that I really have to just ignore it all the best I can. But having so much "in the wrong place" gives me crazy anxiety. I hate having big messes. So, it was relief not to see it all weekend!
My postcard is the all the traffic trying to get out of the cities on Wednesday. We meant to leave sooner, but I'm pretty slow and unorganized these days. Haha
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
I hope all is well over at your place. As usual I can barely remember what I actually did during the week :) One thing that I do remember is picking up our new teapot at the post office. Martin discovered that the old one was broken a couple of weeks ago and that actually made me a bit sad, since I've had it for quite a long time and it feels like an old friend. That might sound a bit ridiculous, but since I love drinking tea I have so many pleasant memories connected to it :) The old one was from the Danish brand Bodum and I wanted to buy the same brand again. After much mulling over the different models we picked this pretty, round one called Assam.
On Saturday night we had Martin's sister, her husband and their little boy over for dinner and a movie. We made a delicious taco-pizza and laughed at how their 1-year old ate his little pizza pieces. He actually had the plate on top of his head at one point :) A lot of my friends have little babies these days and it's so much fun to be able to play and cuddle with them. I can't wait to see what your little baby will look like and how he will be :)
Take care!
xoxo
Moa
Happy Week 47 Moa!
I thought I'd share a little gold goodness with you for the week. On Tuesday, before my prenatal yoga class, I stopped at Micheal's (which is a huge craft store here) and indulged in on-sale Holiday decorations. I bought a long strand of this glittered vine and affixed it to a wreath that I also picked up there. I nabbed some huge pine cones, along with a silver reindeer and some other Christmas-y things but I figure I can have this wreath up because the gold and the leaves can also celebrate Thanksgiving. ; )
I took some shots of the making of the wreath for Words To Shoot By, a photo blog that I'm apart of, but I took this extra shot for you because this is the prettiest part-- all the glittery shine! =)
As I'm writing this postcard to you, Ben is putting up our Christmas lights on all the trees and bushes in our front yard. (He's not in a good mood about it, but it's a really nice day out, considering how cold it's been, that I did some nagging, knowing that he'll appreciate getting it done now and not when his hands would freeze in a few weeks!)
I'll have to try not to turn them on until AFTER Thanksgiving. That's a big thing here. People can get quite irritated when Christmas decorations are up before Thanksgiving. But I think Thanksgiving should be earlier. It's usually so cold and dreary here, that we need to look forward to holiday fun asap. It goes so fast the way it is.
Hope you are well and have lots of holiday decorating to look forward to too!
xoxo,
Shanon
Hi Shanon!
How has your week been? I've had one of those fly-by-before-you-notice-it weeks, where things kind of blend into a blur in hindsight. I do remember two things though.
The first is that I bought a pink bicycle helmet. Now this might not seem like such a big deal, but it is to me. I wore a bicycle helmet when I was a kid and up until I was about 12 years old. This was later than everyone else in my class and so it was a bit of a childhood trauma as you can understand :) Now, however, I'm getting older, wiser (I hope) and less bothered about being cool - at least that's what I tell myself :) - I decided that it was time to be a safer cyclist and use a helmet. I won't start wearing it until spring though, because I decided not to use my bike this winter since it's such a stressful thing to bike on slippery ice but I'll let you know how it feels the first time I use it in public :)
The second thing is that Martin and I went to a relax facility on Friday evening. We'd gotten a gift certificate to this place when we got married, but it's not until now that we actually came around to using it :) It was a very pleasant experience I have to say. We sat in a bubble pool, testing out all the different types of water massage that the jet streams gave, eating candy, exotic fruits and potato crisps and drinking some bubbly strawberry drinks. It felt quite decadent I have to say :)
My photo this week is of a pretty wreath that I bought last weekend. I plan on putting it up on our front door, but I haven't gotten around to that yet. I have to hammer a nail into the door first and you know how much work that is - not :D
Take care and I'll see you in week 48!
xoxo
Moa
Hi Moa!
Ta-da! We had our first snowfall on Saturday! It was very warm and nice leading up to it. Like "no coat" warm. And then late Friday night it started snowing. It was the really heavy and wet kind of snow that weighs down tree branches and is hard to shovel.
I found it nice and actually pretty that it was snowing. I had an craft fair on Saturday morning, so we had to load up the jeep during the snow (Well, Ben did it alone to be honest. I didn't want any part of that!) and on the drive over to the lake, where the craft fair was being held, I wished I could have spent some time shooting all the trees. But no such luck.
Funny story, after the show, while I was waiting at the curb for Ben to pick me up, a huge chunk of snow fell out of the tree I was standing under and smacked me in the arm. I thought someone threw a snowball at me! I was shocked! Hahaha With the weight of the snow, you could have probably knocked someone out during a snowball fight. Geesh, no thanks. =)
So, yes, it's finally here. Big sweaters, and winter white goodness. (I think I heard it might all melt this week, but it was the largest snowfall on that date in history for us. Very cool. I'm looking forward to more!)
Hope you are equally well, and that no trees have thrown snowballs at you lately.
; )
xoxo,
Shanon
Hi Shanon!
I hope your week was good and that you're finally getting rid of that cold!
My week was filled with fun things. My pupils had their autumn holiday this week, which means that I worked three days with other teacher stuff and had two days off. One of the days when I came home from work I smelled the sweet smell of freshly baked cinnamon buns when I came out of the elevator on our floor. I immediately decided that we should bake some too, so we made lots of delicious cinnamon buns and vanilla buns. They're sort of the same thing, you just make different fillings :) Now we have to stop ourselves from eating them everyday, or we'll be out of them soon! :)
One of my free days I had a visit from a dear friend of mine that also had the day off. We drank tea, ate mozzarella pizza for lunch and watched all four episodes of the BBC version of Jane Austen's Emma that came last year (I think). We both love romantic period drama so it was the perfect day as you can imagine :) I really love hanging out with a friend during the day, it's so cozy.
Take care!
xoxo
Moa
Hello there Moa!
I hope you enjoyed a nice week. It was well above average for temps here, so I've been happy about not wearing a coat or mittens most days. (Now that I think about it, since I still have my cold, maybe I should be wearing that stuff regardless! haha)
This weekend Ben's parents came to help us with our basement remodeling construction. Well, Ben's dad helped him. I don't have any part in that. I'm not allowed to even be down there half the time, which is fine by me! =) Ben's mom and I did some shopping instead. I got to scourer Anthropologie's sales racks, because I had a return to make there. I actually found a sweater I'd been hoping for. It was the last one. Score! We looked at furniture, had some lunch, and went to a giant baby store full of baby clothes, cribs, strollers, etc. It's a tiny bit overwhelming the amount of things this little person will need. But maybe that's just a pressure you feel, and you don't have to get everything that's out there. I'll try not to anyway.
My postcard is a of a handful of 3-6 month old shirts for him. I've been told everyone wants to buy you the teeny tiny clothes, so I jumped ahead to the 3-6 month stage. ; )
We also spent a lot of time during the day looking for a dishwasher and talking to cabinet designers about the part of the kitchen we need to redo to fit in said dishwasher. It was all very tiring and by the next morning I was completely knocked out from being on my feet all day, and my lovely cold turned into a nice big headache as well. I swear, one of these weeks I promise to stop complaining about all my ailments! =)
So on Sunday, I was forced to nap on the couch while Ben's mom did me a huge favor and finished cleaning up my gardens. If I wasn't so stuffed up, I'd breath a huge sigh of relief that it is all taken care of.
See you next week!
xoxo,
Shanon
p.s. Can you believe we are already a week into NOVEMBER?!? Did this year fly by? I can't wait to see your postcards for December. I hope that I end on a string of high notes for you. =)
Hello my friend!
I hope your week has been good. I've been at home from work this week too, but I'm starting to feel a bit better now so I took a little trip to town one of the days. I figured a good way to pamper myself was to freshen up my wardrobe a bit :) I bought two pairs of boots and some new shirt-tunics - which you can see in the photo, but I'm guessing you understand that :). I absolutely love shirt-tunics (I don't know if that's actually the right term for it but it's the best I could come up with), they're so comfortable and very practical. I love that they can be dressed up and dressed down as well. Today I wore one of them with black tights, my new pretty leather boots and a long pearl necklace and I felt very snazzy.
Another day this week I had a friend and her little baby boy over for a visit during the day, it was so lovely and cozy. We took a walk in the brisk weather and bought some mozzarella pizza that we had for lunch. While her son slept we drank coffee and chatted all afternoon. It was nice when he was awake too. I fed him banana slices and sniffed his hair, there's nothing like that sweet baby smell. I can imagine that you long for when you'll get to do that on your baby :)
Take care and have a great week Shanon!
xoxo
Moa
Hi Moa!
I hope you had a pleasant week. =)
This week I bought a big bag of Halloween candy and proclaimed that it was not for trick or treaters, but all for me! =) Well, I did share with Ben, but only the pieces that I didn't like. ; ) Is there any better way to share? Haha I think I nearly lived on Rollos for the week. Rollos are an American chocolate candy full of caramel.... Yuuuuuuuum!
I also finished up a book about two of Henry VIII's wives, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. It was historical fiction, and pretty entertaining. All the jewels and gowns... but the fear of death at every turn. I think I'd pass on the chance at power! =)
We had our first hard frost, so one morning I attempted to capture it for you. Now the last of my zinnias and snap dragons are gone, but for a brief moment they had a sugary look to them.
And now I'm reminded of Halloween candy again...
=)
xoxo,
Shanon
Hello there!
I hope you're doing well! I've been really tired and have actually been at home this week, taking care of myself. I've been drinking lots and lots of tea and watched many movies, including some period drama movies that I've never had the time to see before. You know I'm a real Jane Austen-fan and I love period drama - I have many of the movies and mini-series that have been made. However I bought some other period dramas several months ago that I didn't know much about. I spent 5 hours watching a mini-series that ended up being both tragic and a bit boring. That made me promise myself to stick to watching the Austen-movies and mini-series that I have at home, then I know what I'm getting :) Martin always teases me for watching old stuff over and over again rather than seeing new movies. For me it's about the comfort of seeing something that I know will end well. I really dislike movies that end tragically and that just ends up making you feel sad and discomforted :)
I also took some walks this week. The weather has been really nice from time to time and we've also had our first snow this week which has been really cozy. This was from the day before the snow came so there were still some leaves visible. I just loved the warm sunlight here, it's something to remember once the winter comes :)
Have a happy week 43!
xoxo
Moa
Hello friend,
I hope you had a wonderful and cozy week!
My week was stressful because we had some prenatal tests come back worrisome. It threw us into a panic, but I will cut to the chase and say that all ended well and things are great. =) I said all along that it was probably only the first time of a lifetime of moments that this kid will cause us to be stressed, worried, and scared, only for things to turn out okay. Because that's what we do right? We worry our parents sick, while we go about life, finding our way. =)
We also got to see him this week! Yup, a HIM, a BOY! (But you already know that, since I couldn't keep it to myself and have already announced it. haha) It's funny, I kind of thought it was a girl, and one of my friends even remarked that she hadn't given any thought to it being anything other than a girl. We both were faked out! But on the plus side, his birthday will fall during March Madness, which you might remember is a big college basketball thing around our house, so he may enjoy that a little more than a girlie girl would. ; )
So, anyways. My postcard is from some gourds I picked up when we went grocery shopping this weekend. That is a treat, because usually a do it by myself, but Ben came with this time. And I'm just noticing that there are three of them. Three. Soon we'll be that many. That's kinda cool.
=)
xoxo,
Shanon
Hi Shanon!
How has your week been? I was home sick from work a couple of days so I've mainly been taking it really easy. I watched a lot of movies and knitted some, which is a nice way to fill out the time when you're not well enough to leave your house.
This week's postcard shows some of the yarn I bought last time I visited our local yarn shop. These three yarn balls are so gorgeous (the photo really doesn't do the colours justice) and incredibly soft. It's a cashmere merino silk yarn and I'm going to use these for a pair of striped fingerless mittens that I'm going to begin knitting after I'm done with my present project which is a hat. I'm so excited, I think they'll be perfect for warming my fingers while I'm reading, knitting or reading blogs during the cold winter :)
Take care and I'll see you in week 43!
xoxo
Moa
Hiya Moa!
I hope things are well with you across the ocean. =)
This past week I was still trying to shake off my cold, and things got better toward the end of the week. Of course I still have the sniffles now, but I'm not going to aim high-- I'll just assume that part might just stay with me all winter.
On Thursday I had a doctor's appointment and Ben got off work early to come with me. He didn't need to, it was just a short blood test, but it was nice to have an afternoon "date" in the middle of the week. We did a little shopping afterward, mostly just perusing an art supplies store and the furniture and home good store called West Elm, which is where I got this owl. At first I was excited and said it was for the baby's room, but now it looks so good on the mantle, that the baby might have to fight me for it. ; )
The owl trend might be nothing new, but I'm so drawn to it lately. There is something kind, and wise, and warm about an owl. And this one is particularly sweet, don't you think?
Can't wait to see your postcard!
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hi Shanon!
I hope you've had a great week. Mine has been kind of relaxed. Martin was away for a couple of days, so I got a flash-back to my days as a single woman :) I ate pizza two nights in a row and snuggled up under the blanket with tea and candy a lot. So actually things weren't that much different from when Martin is at home, except he has better character than me so we eat healthier food when he's at home :)
This weekend my sister and her husband came to visit us. It was the first time we saw them since August, so it was really nice. My sister and I planned a lot of knitting projects, she's a pro so I'm picking up many useful tips. Right now I'm starting on a hat that will be so cute, I can't wait until it's finished. Anway, we had a great time just relaxing, watching movies and playing Mah-Jong. One thing I love about having guests staying over are the long breakfasts. We ate lots of different yummy things and I finally got a good excuse to use the cute egg cups that we usually never bother with :)
Hope you'll have a great week 41 (Only 12 postcards left now, I can hardly believe it! I'm going to miss this so much when we're done).
xoxo
Moa
Hiya Moa!
My postcard comes from early last week. It's from where we had our a dinner date. On Monday, Ben and I celebrated the 16 year anniversary of the day we met. We went to different high schools, and we met one night after a volleyball game. I don't remember if he's school won or mine. I'm guessing his! His cousin was on their team and she was really good.
We met after the game in the hallway, where all the teenagers were hanging out on their way to the bus or to their cars. Some of my friends knew some of his friends, but at the time I don't think I really knew that. I just lost track of where my friends went, so I turned around and asked him, and made him help me go look! (He also offered to share some of his candy from the concession stand with me. THAT was the clincher! Haha)
I don't know why I was so adventurous and outgoing that night?! I remember getting ready after school before going to the game, and having the feeling that something was going to happen, that it was going to be a big night and something would change my life. If only those "psychic" feelings continued! Maybe I'd have won the lottery by now and be rich! Haha
So anyhow. We always celebrate the anniversary of that day. It's probably more important to me than the day we got married. It was the magic day that our paths crossed. It wasn't a day planned out or decided upon. It was just a day when something special happened. It reminds me of being young and hopeful, and up for anything.
=)
xoxo,
Shanon
Hey there Shanon!
I'm still amazed at your piece of happy news from last week :) I just wanted to say congratulations once again!
The best part of this week was when my mom, her husband and their two cute dogs visited us. They actually surprised me a bit too, because they were supposed to arrive on Friday night but on Thursday night the doorbell rang and there they were. Paranoid as I am I never open the door without looking through the peephole and at first I didn't recognize them, because mom had put on a hat and had the hood of the jacket on. I wondered to myself if it was someone that wanted to sell something, but then my brain clicked into place and I realized who they were :)
We had a lovely time, relaxing and hanging out. They were really tired after working the entire week with cleaning out their summer house that has been sold. My grandpa built that summer house in the 1950's and we've spent a lot of time there during the years but we all live too far away to take care of it properly now. It's kind of sad to think that we don't have it in the family any more, but these kind of melancholic separations are a part of life I guess. My mom kindly gave me some old cups that have been there since way back and that I'm kind of attached to. I'll never use them for drinking coffee but I'll keep them as treasured memories.
I hope you'll have a great week!
xoxo
Moa
Hi dear Moa!
Can you believe that it is week 40? I had to double check. With 13 weeks left (yup, I had to count them, cause I assumed it would automatically be 12), I'm already looking forward to looking back on the year. I've thanked you a dozen times, and I'll thank you a dozen time more for doing this with me. =)
My favorite part of this week was the beginning of the blankets of leaves on the streets and sidewalks. The trees haven't even completely turned, but every day there are more and more leaves to step through, and I love it. In fact, one day, a single red maple leave made it's way all the way up to our top step, and when I opened the door and saw it, I actually said "Oh! Hello!" out loud. I'm quite dorky that way. ; )
This past weekend Ben had a friend and his dad come over to help tear down the walls and ceiling (and tear up the floor) of our basement, because we are redoing it. I felt like a nervous cat listening to all that work under my feet! I tried to keep busy by cooking for them and by heading out to buy tulip bulbs. I meant to plant them, but instead watched some Project Runway, and some other design shows, with my feet propped up. My hormones were working over-drive and anything remotely sad on tv brought on the waterworks! It's almost laughable how quick I can cry these days, and what triggers it. =) Awwwh, pregnancy. ; )
Happy week 40 to you my friend!
xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
How are things over at your end of the globe? :) Over here things are getting more and more autumn-like. We have had rain most of the week but the weekend has been great. Yesterday I visited a friend and we took a lovely long walk alongside a nearby lake. I've only recently discovered that little road by the lake and I'm definitely going to take more walks there as it is so pretty. There are several small cottages along the road and many of them are so picturesque, albeit a bit shabby. I really regretted not bringing my camera yesterday!
Today I had a super relaxed and very nice day. Martin followed his aunt and uncle to pick some funnel chanterelles in the woods but I decided to stay at home. Besides doing some work I knitted half a hat, ate candy and watched Gilmore Girls. Can it get more perfect?
I'm wishing you a great week!
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa!
I'm having a hard time remembering what happened this last week. But what's new about that! =)
It did rain and rain, and actually parts of Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin had pretty severe flooding, which is too bad. It's not very common to have fall flooding, that usually happens in the spring, when all the snow is melting into the rivers. You probably know something about that, since we live in somewhat similar climates?
On Saturday Ben's parents came to visit and we went to the grand opening of an art house that is showing some of my photography. It's really a gorgeous little house, wonderful atmosphere, with really great pieces everywhere your eye lands. I think you'd love to see it!
Also, this weekend we decided to surprise our families (Ben's on Saturday before the art house, and mine on Sunday when we had them over for lunch) that I'm actually three months pregnant! It was so hard to finally break the news. Haha I enjoyed having a special secret to myself. It felt weird that I was so nervous to tell people, but I just was, and I talked to a friend that I've known since we were little, and she said she had felt the same way. So, I'm not abnormal! =)
So, there's my news. Pretty crazy huh?! It might also explain why I've not been as good about getting our postcards up bright and early Monday morning. I've been incredible tired and nauseous, but it's starting to get a little better. I wondered when we started this project, if I'd be writing this postcard to you this year. And the day is actually here.
I'm so glad I can share it with my lovely Swedish friend.
xoxo,
Shanon
Howdy girl!
Sunday evening is here and it's been a busy weekend. Yesterday we celebrated Martin's 30th birthday (a couple of days in advance) with a big party at his parents' house. We had a little over 40 guests and lots and lots of food, chocolate cake and guacamole :) Since a lot of our friends have had babies lately we had about five little ones that were crawling around the floor and there were just people everywhere. Martin got a lot of thoughtful gifts and I think the sweetest one was from a guy we know. He had baked two kinds of bread and also some cookies as a gift. One of those breads were a kind that we had gushed about when we ate it at his place over a year ago. I thought it was such a fun and thoughtful gift! Don't you agree that a homemade gift like that feels extra nice to get? :) The photo this week were of some bean packages that we had to leave at the kitchen table since our fridge was so full of all the food for the party :) I really like the design and the colours.
Today we were at another party for a friend who's celebrating his birthday the day before Martin. We ate good food and played with some more babies :) Another thing we did today was that we voted. Today is the big voting day for the Swedish parliament and it'll be very exciting to see the results. We're going to have some more of that homemade bread, tea and maybe some leftover guacamole :)
Have a super week my friend!
xoxo
Moa
Hi Dear Moa!
This week was once again, chilly, and wonderfully fall. I spent some time walking through a garden center (my favorite one actually) and it was peaceful, like a hidden park. The sun came out and it got warmer than I expected. I had considered bring fingerless gloves, but I definitely didn't need them. I think I'm getting ahead of myself with this "chilly" weather.
After checking out all the ornamental bushes that I'm considering putting in one of our flowerbeds (because I think it really needs height and visual interest in the winter... and also, shhhh, don't tell, but I want something less high maintenance!) I headed over to Trader Joe's to get ingredients for upside down mushroom tartlets. Unfortunately, the didn't have 1/2 of the things I needed. (And here's another secret, I rarely EVER go there. But it seems like such a staple in American blogland, that I thought it would be fun to tell you about it.) I left with a few things, plus this candy bar, because the wrapper was pretty! Nice shopping skills, right? =)
I have to laugh, because this story does not have a happy ending. After a LONG day of cleaning out our basement, I made the tarts, and they did not turn out. I think people down the block could hear me cursing Martha Stewart! But Ben, being the good (or I should say "starving") husband, scrapped them out of the pan and ate all 12 of them! They really did smell delicious, but they were not pretty, and if I'm going to go through all that, they better be pretty! =)
See you next week Moa!
xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
How has your week been? This has been another intense week for me. I really hope things will calm down at work because right now I don't have much time or energy for other things.
This week I was at a flower shop to buy some flowers for a person at work. I saw these pretty autumn vegetables (or whatever they are) and couldn't resist buying them. I really like the odd shapes and colours, they cheer up our kitchen table with their presence! :)
Yesterday I took a little trip downtown to buy some yarn, since I'm starting a little knitting project. It's a wide, rectangular shawl that I'm knitting in a black alpaca yarn so it's very soft and cozy. The pattern is a bit unusual since you knit the shawl on the diagonal, in the beginning it's only three stitches and then you increase. My knitting-skills are kind of rusty, but luckily I can call my knitting-crazy sister when I need help :) I think it's going to be very relaxing to focus on the knitting and clear my mind from thoughts about work and other things that can sometimes etch themselves onto my brain. And in the end I'll have a lovely long shawl that I can wrap around myself, which I'm sure will make the long winter more enjoyable :)
See you in week 38!
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa!
This weekend we drove out to the country for some family stuff. There is so much more gold in the landscape these days from the fields heading towards harvest. We drove past apple orchards which made me crazy-- I wanted to stop and shoot! Or at least stop and eat! Haha
I'm so happy that fall is here. Hot Septembers are no good. I even got to do my favorite thing in the world on Sunday. *sigh* I got to take a nap outside. Heaven. I used to find cozy places on the farm when I was little, where I'd read, daydream, and inevitably take a nap. There's nothing like it. If only it could have lasted longer! I think I could have slept all afternoon.
The funny thing about it was that while I was under an old quilt snoozing, Ben and his family were a few feet away, swimming in the pool for the last time, because soon his parents will empty it and call an end to pool season. Fortunately they weren't rowdy, so it didn't interrupt my sweet dreams. =)
I hope fall is treating you equally as well!
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
I hope you're week has been good. Mine has been crazy intense once again. Not only did I have a major cold, I was also planning and going on a little trip with the kids from my school. We went to a lovely place about half an hour outside of town. It was a place by a beautiful lake, I was completely amazed when I arrived and took in the views. We were there for about 24 hours and a lot of the time was filled with activities but I managed to sneak in a little time down on the pier by the lake. The sun was shining, the air was clear and fresh and the water was lapping - it was just wonderful. I so enjoyed sitting there just relaxing and enjoying the nature. There is just something so calming about water... I took this shot with a little compact camera that belongs to the school that I carried around in my pocket the entire time :)
Martin and I have fixed some things around the apartment too. We finally picked up the new livingroom lamp that we ordered a couple of weeks ago and it looks so good in place. We also put up some picture rails that we bought last week, where we're putting our wedding photos. Since we have several concrete walls in our apartment it's always a bother when we want to put something on the wall. We had to borrow a hammer-drill from a friend to fix the hook for the lamp and the holes for the picture rails. That's why I'm happy that we finally got our act together and did it, it's so easy to postpone things like that :) I can't wait until it's all done, then I'll put away some junk around here and snap a shot to show you :)
Take care my friend!
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa!
Welcome to September! =)
I was so happy to see cooler weather this week. The hot August days took a toll on me and I was longing for cool weather. The first overcast cool day made me so happy. It's pretty odd to say, but I don't care. I'm excited to wear sweaters and boots, and bundle up under blankets. (Not that we are THERE yet.) I'm also looking forward to the leaves changing and American football. Mmmm... the crispness of it all. Fall is so special.
This week I headed to the garden center for chrysanthemums and sale perennials. I left having spent more than I planned, but very happy with it all! =) Two big pots of orange mums sit flanking our door, and two smaller pots of blackish purple petunias (that were on sale) make me think of Halloween. I know it's a tad early, but I couldn't help myself! (They'll probably be dead by then, but it's still fun.)
I got some other things that I already have in the garden, but wanted more of, including red cone flower, reddish/purple stemmed salvia, and some yellow lilies. I also placed an online order for some more irises, in colors that I don't have. I love irises, and they come in a million different color ways. It's dangerous! =)
So, the week was about gardening and cooler weather. Two of my faves.
See you next week!
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hi there Shanon!
Happy week 35! You know, I just can't believe we're almost in September, that is just amazing to me. I think time just flies by faster and faster for each passing year! A year now is like those lovely long summer vacations when you were a kid :)
This week as been an incredibly intense one and it raced by at an incredible speed. The kids came back to school on Monday and that means "business as usual" and very much to do. I've worked late the entire week, feeling very stressed out. Since I work at a very small school the teachers have to do things that are done by administrative personell at bigger schools, but usually things get a bit more mellow when we head into the third or fourth week so I'll just have to hang on until then. I also managed, for the third year in a row, to get a cold one week after the kids started. I had a sore throat on Friday and this weekend I've mainly been lying in the sofa, watching movies. I also have to admit that I'm prone to complaining when I'm ill, which my husband teases me for. I guess that's actually a good thing, having someone that (in a humorous way) will remind you of your shortcomings, it makes you aware of them so they don't take over too much :)
Since this week has been low on time and inspiration and since I was ill once I had some free time I didn't really know what to shoot at first. Then, at Saturday afternoon, I spotted some truly beautiful light coming in through the balcony door. I also spotted my new jeans hanging on the clotheshorse (I looked that word up, so I hope it's the correct one!) after I washed them and I decided to combine the two elements by dragging the clotheshorse to the balcony door. The result was a photo of my new jeans :) I personally really like the way denim looks close up, the structure of the fabric and the different tones. Maybe I was also inspired by having just watched the lastest episode of Project Runway :)
Anyway, I hope you have a lovely week!
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa and Happy Week 35!
I've been thinking about you and how school is starting around the world. It makes me sort of miss the nervous excitement of heading back to school when I was young. All the new clothes, new crayons/pens/erasers, new book-bag, and often new hairstyle. =) And how by the end of the year I'd be so attached to my classroom and teacher that I'd cry on the last day, not wanting to move on. Do you have any of those? Cry babies, like me? Hehe
This week we walked to the falls with some friends and ate sea food at the restaurant there, called SeaSalt. I had a delicious craw roll. Everything about it was perfection, and I'm not just talking the craw roll, but the ice tea, the weather, the sound of the falls, and the live music playing while we sat out on the patio.
By the end we were walking home in the dark. (There was a long line waiting to order!) But that was comforting, in it's own way, walking home in the darkness. Then we sat around our fire-pit in the backyard and laughed at the dumb things we all say to entertain each other. =)
I forgot my camera on our walk to eat, but I did pick these zinnias the next day, and they do a great job representing the colors in my food. So there you go! It may not be a sandwich full of craw fish, but even if it's not as delicious, it's probably prettier. ; )
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hello there Shanon!
I hope your week has been good. My week has been pretty intense, since I started working on Monday. I've been pretty wiped out during the evenings, just hanging out at home and relaxing. I have done some fun things though, two of which are shopping-related. On Wednesday we went to buy a new lamp for the livingroom. We got a really nice one the Christmas before last, but there was a problem with it so we returned it. We ended up ordering a really cool lamp that's kind of a huge purple lampshade hanging from the ceiling. I can't wait until it arrives!
Today I headed to a store nearby to check out the fall fashion. I always feel like I need some new, fun clothes to appreciate the arrival of fall. That way I can trick myself into forgetting that I'm sad that summer is taking its leave. I found lots of nice things in the store, almost more than I could carry to the dressing room. In the end I bought like two pairs of pants, a skirt and some tops. Now I can't wait for it to get a bit cooler so I can start bundle up :)
My postcard this week is of a pretty little thing I bought in Stockholm last week. I found it in a store that was basically my idea of heaven, lots of fun colourful things :) I'm not exactly sure what we're going to use it for yet (but that hasn't stopped anyone from buying something, right?). It can either be for salt or sugar or something else that (preferably) starts with an "s" and that you can sprinkle :)
Happy week 34!
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa!
I hope your August has been going great!
This week my sister flew in from San Diego for a visit. We went out for sushi-- but of course I picked a place I'd never been to before and we drove around for ages looking for it! Then we went to a Twins game (The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team. The "Twins" stands for the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, that are separated by the Mississippi river.) in their new stadium, which was great. The food was good too!
A few days later we hung out at the lake. My favorite place is laying at the end of the dock, with my feet in the water, looking up at the clouds. My dad said he wants to put a bench in down there, but if it interferes with my laying around, then I'm opposed to it! =P
The next day I shot my cousin's high school graduation pics. I've actually never done such a thing, so I was nervous, but I did a lot of planning, scouting, etc. and she was a pro! It would be hard to mess up any shot that included her blue eyes and perfect smile. ; )
How is it that August is almost over? So crazy.
Xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
I hope you've had a great week! Mine has been fun but very intense, it involved travelling over 2100 kilometres (which is over 1300 miles). We left on Wednesday morning and drove to my mom's and her husband's place. It wasn't in the original plan to go there, but it was very nice all the same. She lives about 560 kilometres (350 miles) sout of us, which means that the weather was much warmer than here. The downside to living in the north of Sweden is that summer starts later and ends faster than in the south, I'd say the difference is a couple of weeks both in the beginning and the end which makes a big difference. Anyway, we left a kind of cool Umeå and arrived in the evening to a warm and pleasant Falun. We ate pizza in their greenhouse and talked about how much they had done in their garden make-over since we left them after our last visit, and it was all very cozy.
The day after that we left for Stockholm. On the way there I saw a traffic sign that informed us about an upcoming resting place called "The dala horse". I knew I had to check that one out so I made Martin head off the freeway and as I suspected there was an enormous dala horse on the resting place. I actually googled it just now, and this one is apparently the worlds largest dala horse - it's 13 metres high! I felt like a real tourist when I snapped shots of it, but I thought I had to show it to you :) We did lots more this week like going shopping in extremely hot weather and go to my cousins wedding (plus riding in the car a lot), but I'll tell you more about that another time :)
Take care!
xoxo
Moa
Hello lovely Moa!
My postcard is going to be short and sweet this week. My weekend dufflebag. =)
We drove out of town to see our new nephew, Jacob. Ben's sister had her second baby, a son, so clearly we needed to check him out! Hehe
On our way back home, even though it was super windy, we decided to stop at the lake to see my family. Even windy days are good at the lake! =) The waves were crashing over the dock and so we stayed inside and played a few quick hands of cards. Of course we took off once I was winning. Hah!
Lots of hugs to you!
xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
I had the exact same feeling as last week when I was sitting down to write this postcard: what on earth have I been doing this week?! After thinking about it I've been able to recall a few things, but somehow the days have just flown into eachother :)
After a few days of rainy weather we had some sunshine on Thursday and we decided to hit the beach. We drove off to a beach that is about a 30 minute drive away from our home. Last time we went there the whole place was covered in a thick fog when we arrived and we had to turn the car around and go someplace else (losing lots of valuable tanning/bathing time!). This time we had been there for an hour or two when the exact same thing happened. I got very annoyed and decided never to go back to this particular beach, even though it was a very cozy place. On the way home we stopped at a lake, but it just wasn't warm enough to be a perfect beach-day so we went home instead.
I'm beginning to feel that there won't be anymore lazy days at the beach this summer. I always feel a bit melancholy at the end of summer when the weather gets a bit cooler and school and work starts up again. I always want to hang on to the feelings and the memories of those warm, sunny days when you're free and can do whatever you feel like. Some people love the freshness of everything starting up and being new, but I'm more prone to wanting to freeze time at its best :) I try to motivate myself by thinking about the cozy aspects of autumn, like lighting candles and taking long walks among yellow and orange forests but I haven't managed to feel motivated yet... :) One thing that I've already gotten some use for, due to the cooler nights, is the quilt that you can see on my postcard. We bought it earlier this summer in a little boutique in the town where my mom lives. I had seen that exact quilt many months ago here in Umeå, but only a full size one for a bed, and fell completely in love with it. They were going to order the smaller one, but when it came it was the wrong one. After searching through every interior decorating store that I've passed, plus the ones online I had almost given up hope when I suddenly stumbled upon it and you can imagine the happiness I felt! :) That pretty quilt is the one thing that can make me feel that the slow approach of autumn isn't so horrible... :)
I wish you a happy week 32!
xoxo
Moa
Hello Moa!
I hope the first week of August treated you well!
When summer rolls into it's last month, it lights a fire under me to get certain things done while there's still time. This week I drove up north to visit a friend that I've known since 1st grade. It was very spur of the moment-- I think I gave her two days notice!
I think we talked NONSTOP. =)
We went out to eat at a place neither of us had been before and indulged in cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon among other things at a place in Duluth called the Zeitgeist Arts Cafe. The next day we headed back into town for lunch at a familiar place called Sara's Table (but back in the day, it was a market and butcher called Taryn's) and had all kinds of good treats including an apricot chicken salad sandwich and sweet potato fries. Yum!
Before the short visit came to an end we made a trip through a vintage shop where I picked up this handkerchief. I passed up a typewriter, a milk bottle, and a big metal fan. I figured there will come a day for those things. A simple hankie would do. =)
It was a wonderful time and on my way home I was overcome with happiness. It pays to take advantage of these last weeks of summer and do something out of the ordinary!
xoxo,
Shanon
Hello Shanon!
Hello Moa and Merry Christmas!
