Week 8

Hello Shanon!
I hope all is well with you! I'm good, although I've been feeling kind of tired lately. In two weeks it's time for the winter sports holiday however, so I'll have some time to read books and drink tea. This is one of the great things about being a teacher :) In old times I guess the meaning of this holiday was that the kids were supposed to be outside and go cross-country skiing, but these days they are mostly inside, playing computer games. Although I'm not one to talk because I spend a lot of my time in front of the computer monitor too, but I'm editing photos so that's totally different - right? :)
Another thing I want to do when I have some time off is to do some baking. I really like to bake, but I rarely have the energy for it when I'm working. The other day I did make some peppermint rock candy biscotti though, a new recipe that I found somewhere on the web and I actually used some of the peppermint canes that I had left from Christmas (not the ones that were hanging in our tree though!) :) The end result was so-so but I liked how the peppermint canes looked against the colourful packaging of the sugar, the baking soda and the vanilla sugar :)
I hope you'll have a great week Shanon! I can't believe we're already on week 8! :)
xoxo
Moa

Hiya Moa!
I hope your week was a good one. It was a weird week here. I don't know why I'm calling it "weird" other than I've usually known exactly what I wanted to write to you about, and this week I don't know what to say. That in itself is weird, right?! I spent the week working on a bunch of little projects involving thread and yarn, but they aren't exactly at a point where I know what I'm doing, so I didn't think they'd make a good postcard. We went out to eat a few times, and the food was definitely yummy AND pretty the first time, but I'm rotten at taking good foodie shots in dark restaurants, so no postcard there either. Geesh!
We went to a dinner theatre for Ben's company on Friday and considering that was a big event-- we did dress up afterall!-- I decided that it would be as good a postcard as any, so *ta-da!* I bring you the neon sign at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre! The musical itself was ok. I enjoy going to shows, so that was fun, but it was based on a movie that I really liked when I was young, so it couldn't really compete in my mind. ; ) Doesn't that make you think of how a movie is never as good as the book, if you really really loved the book?
Anyhow. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!
xoxo,
Shanon
p.s. Sorry for ANOTHER building/sign postcard. I'll try for something different next week! =)

Week 7

Hello Shanon!
This week's postcard has a romantic theme since it's Valentine's day today. In Sweden it's called "Alla hjärtans dag", which means something like The day of all hearts in English. I got a huge bouquet of gorgeous roses from my husband as a Valentine's gift. Not only do roses look great, smell good and make your home feel extra pretty - they're perfect to take photos of too! I've shot these poor flowers from every possible angle and against all kinds of backgrounds and light :) My motto is: shoot them while they're alive, which might sound a bit contradictive if you don't think about it from a photographer's point of view :)
To my enormous joy the light is really starting to return to this part of the world. For several days the sun has been shining into our apartment and that warm sunlight makes me happy every single day. It's just amazing how it fills every dark corner - not to mention how it exposes previously hidden dust collections, but that's another story...
I hope you'll have a great week!
xoxo
Moa

Hiya Moa!
I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday! Even though I was surprised with chocolates and tulips, I had already decided on my postcard for you because I had spent almost every day at the Pilney Building in St. Paul (which is right east of Minneapolis, across the Mississippi river, and is why we are known as the Twin Cities). It's strange how I normally shoot flowers, or close up details of fashion and home life, but when it comes to this postcard project I've already shot several buildings. I find it so crazy! But I suppose my daily life actually consists more of buildings, structures, and events, more then it revolves around flowers (but just wait until summer! haha) so it's been nice to document them.
I was in the Pilney Building so much last week because some of my photography was shown as part of a collective of artists. It was really fun to help set up my work, and to be there to mingle with shoppers and other vendors/artists/crafters. The Pilney Building was built in 1913 and the architecture is very Flatiron, like the famous Flatiron (or Fuller) Building in New York. Pilney was actually the name of the grocery store and butcher shop that was in the building for most of it's history. There are high stamped tin ceiling and it just has that full of life feeling inside, like the quality a grocery store has. Very homey and comforting. The feeling that reminds me of shopping for groceries with my mom when I was little, in small hometown grocery stores, not big chain places with very little soul.
I hope you are well and I look forward to another week of postcards with you!
xoxo,
Shanon

Week 6

Hello Shanon!
I snapped the photo for this week's postcard in a tiny tiny village called Olofsfors, which means Olof's whitewater (yes, I had to look up that last part). My dad was visiting over the day and we decided to take a little trip to this historical place. There used to be some sort of facility for working with iron there and in the old days many people worked there and I'm sure that the place was more buzzing than now. It was a beautiful day: the sun was shining and there was newly fallen, untouched snow everywhere. Still, there was something a bit sad about the place. I kept imagining how it must have been before, with lots of people going about their business - now we hardly saw a soul, except for the occasional car driving through the village. It just makes me a bit melancholic to imagine all the places around this country (and in other countries too, I'm sure) that are slowly being abandoned for the cities. It makes me want to move someplace outside of the town to a small cozy village where everyone knows everyone and you leave your door unlocked at all times (kind of like Stars Hollow now that I think about it), and then I want to live there forever to make sure that the place will remain alive. It might not be a completely rational thought, but that's how those tiny places make me feel.
The house in the photo was one that we walked by. And since this is a postcard from Sweden, the house must of course be red with white trims! :)
Hope you'll have a lovely week, my friend!
xoxo
Moa

Hello Moa!
And happy week six. =) It was a pleasant week here. Lots of pretty days of snow falling. This usually happens. I get to the point where I hate the snow, then come back full circle and love it again. I love the feeling of being inside a snow globe that has been gently shook. I like knowing that I don't have to weed a garden and I like not having the pressure of "I really should get out and enjoy this hot weather even though it's too hot and I don't want to get all sweaty." Yes, I talk to myself in my head like that. =)
This week the paperwhites that I bought as bulbs back in week three have been blooming. They are two feet tall in our kitchen window and making the whole house smell like flowers. Can you believe that Ben actually thinks that they stink? To me, they've made a world of difference, and are probably the reason why I can enjoy the snow falling outside again.
I also got my sewing machine out this week and made some bunting. It's yellow, and hanging in the window above the paperwhites. It's so cheery and happy. I've already made some more. I want to hang it everywhere because it makes me soul smile. Although, now looking at the yellow one in this postcard, it reminds me of slices of cheese! Haha Well, I suppose that's smile inducing too!
I hope your first week of February was lovely.
xoxo,
Shanon

Week 5

Hello girl!
I'm writing to you from a snow covered country. This last week we've had snow, snow storms, more snow and then some more storms :) Usually the snow isn't really a problem, but this Wednesday I could hardly get home from work because the car got stuck in all the snow. Luckily I had some great co-workers who helped me out. As I drove in to our parking lot I got stuck again and blocked the way for a neighbour who then also got stuck in the snow. Other neighbours followed and in the end we were five people who helped each other to shovel the snow (which blew right back due to the storm) and push the cars in the right directions. At first I was kind of annoyed at the whole situation but after a while I tried to see the fun in it. It was nice also to talk to some of the neighbours that I hadn't seen before. Usually we just say hello when we pass each other in the elevator, but now we got a chance to socialize (and work out!) a bit more :)
None of this has anything to do with tulips of course, except that they are my cure for cold winter days. The more snow that whirls around outside the window, the more I enjoy my spring-like and happy tulips :)
I hope you'll have a great week!
xoxo
Moa
Ps. Yesterday I saw a movie with Renee Zellweger that took place in a snowy little town in Minnesota, and then I thought of you :)

Hi there dear Moa!
This was a very hard week for my family. As you know, my brother and sister-in-law's baby died shortly after she was born. It was a cold week, with lots of sadness. At first I didn't know how I was going to go about doing this postcard to you. I also didn't know how much I would share here. But the thing is, it is life. The good and the bad, the wonderful and the devastating are all apart of life. I didn't know and still don't know where 2010 will lead, but the best I can do is look for the moments that are beautiful, that are kind, that are quiet, and that are happy. Even in the saddest times they can be found. Family is beautiful, hugs are kind, just standing together is quiet, and sharing a laugh is happy. Saturday was full of all of those things. And Saturday began with this gorgeous pattern of frost on the windows in my bedroom at my parents' house. Now I am wishing for peace and comfort to get everyone, especially my brother and sister-in-law, through their heartache.
Thank you my friend, for being apart of this project with me. I especially needed it this week.
XOXO,
Shanon