Day 30 – My Love

You have heard it before, you may not really believe it, but sometimes, when you least expect it, the unexpected happens. You are in a place, maybe unusual to your habits, out of what may be your usual comfort zone, expecting absolutely nothing (as usual) and having given up on the dream of LOVE....or at least given up on the kind of love you once used to dream of (...and maybe even had before life came along with its sometimes painful reality showers?). Maybe you are even at an all time low, thinking happiness is just not in the stars for you, already trying to figure out your "back-up plan" for this "what-if" scenario as surely, no one could possibly ever love you for YOU? Well, believe it or not, but these were the circumstances under which I met My Love......


I will surely not share all the details with you here, but nor will I lie ;) The first meeting itself was not under any kind of fairytale circumstances, but so far, the ever after has been. 

He is a truly fantastic and positive person with a sparkling personality and energy! He is amazingly kind and considerate, but also knows when the limit is reached. He is clever and fun to be around and he inspires me in the "I-wanna-write-a-song-and-join-Greenpeace-kind-of-way!! He is loyal to the ones he love, keeps his promises and pays attention to the little things that make every day life magic.
He makes me laugh out loud, believes in me, respects me, always supports me and pushes me forward. He makes me want to be a better person, one that can compromise. He makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, someone who is special, at least to him, and he makes me believe in the future, in love and in "happily-ever-after". He makes my heart sing ♥


xox

Day 29 – My dreams & ambitions

I want to let go of residual sadness, stubbornly lingering on from the past, weighing me down, limiting me and I want to be a better person from it.

I want to move constantly forward, to keep evolving, to discover new things, to love, to learn, to travel, to laugh, to dance, to feel, to cry, to keep dreaming. I want to achieve my current dreams and dream up new ones while celebrating the success of the ones achieved. I want to be a part of helping people I love achieving their dreams. I want to remain curious and to be less afraid. I want to inspire and be inspired. 
The only ambitions I have where the goal is to stay still are to stay in love and to rather remain a little bit naive than becoming hopelessly cynical.


My dreams & ambitions are simple: I want to LIVE.


xox

Day 28 – This is what I miss

I don't really miss anything big in my life. Honestly! I am very happy with my life and I have never felt more content. Hence, this post will be focused on the small things that I miss while being away from my home country, Sweden.....besides the obvious, BIG things such as friends and family.


I miss.....
- The sea
- Färska räkor
- Space (we are only a little more than 9 million Swedes on an area of 449,964 km2/
173,745 sq miles)
- Winters that are so cold that the white, fluffy snow stays for months
- Smågodis
- Summers that are warm, but don't make you sweat without effort
- "Make-your-own-salad-bars" for lunch
- Julmust
- Stockholm
- Frozen lakes that I can ice skate on (safely ;)))
- Sugar-free, flavoured, sparkling mineral waters 
- My favourite chocolate shop (I know, who knew this was possible living in the Mecca of chocolate, right?)
- Being able to go to the cinema and watch movies, subtitled, in their original language
- Store opening hours that suit a late worker
- Brända mandlar (burned almonds)
- Easily finding healthy AND yummy vegetarian food in restaurants
- Great shopping


xox

Day 27 – My favourite place

I think the best way to demonstrate this theme is in pictures ;))
So, in no specific order - here goes:

The Stockholm/Roslagen Archipelago

Strömsholm

In the arms of Chris 

(I don't care if it sounds cheesy, it's nevertheless true ;))

xox

Day 26 – I swear! It's a true story!

I used to work for the mafia. 


One of my first jobs was in telemarketing. I worked for this company for a little more than 6 months, selling washing detergents and other home cleaning products..
One day, we came into the office to start working but none of the phones were working. We waited and waited and a few hours later the lights went out.
Naturally, we asked the boss what was going on and he calmly explained there had been some minor mishap with the payment of bills that month and that we could all go home for the day.


On the 25'th the same month, the salary that you, rightly so, take for granted will appear on your account every month didn't. We asked the boss again who gave the same kind of story as before but this time, we were quite a few who didn't, as naively, buy into it.


We made quite a fuss and involved the unions and the newspapers and a month later we found out that we had been working for a shell company, used by "Uppsala maffian".


There was a big trial and the salary, remained absent for another 4 or 5 months awaiting bankruptcy declaration.


This is making a very long story short, but there were also some less pleasant threats involved as we did discover some things along the way we weren't supposed to know (curious as we were, we also did some investigating of our own). What I can say is that we were really  naive and in more ways than one. I mean, seriously, the boss once came to our office wearing electronic tagging....you'd think that this would raise some suspicion?! Well it didn't....just some curiosity ;)) Hahahahaaaa!  Also, we should have of course known better than to "investigate" mafia activity on our own. 


Oh well.......at least this makes me one experience richer.


xox

Day 25 – My fears

- Loosing loved ones
- Being lonely (not being alone)
- Fundamentalist/extremist religious beliefs
- Snakes
- Being fooled
- Stage freight 
- Rejection
- The "trendy superficialness" of the world and the lengths people go to just for the sake of "beauty"!
- That the above point seem to make humans more and more stupid
- That we are destroying our planet
- Heights


 xox

Day 24 – This makes me cry

- Saying goodbye to friends and family when going back to Switzerland
- Animal cruelty
- Lumbago
- When someone I love is in pain
- A broken heart
- Breaking someone else's heart
- Tragedies 
- Heartfelt compliments
- Stomach flu
- Beautiful music (especially lyrics)
- Weddings, when I feel the bride and groom are just perfect for each other
- Funerals
- When I'm so angry that I can not find any words
- The movie "Grave of the fireflies" (watch it!!!)
- Some memories (good and bad)
- The news
- Moments where I realize I'm not as tough as I would like to be
- All kinds of evil
- Sad movies and books, but also happy ones ;)
- When someone does something beautiful, from the heart, just for you....


xox

Day 23 – This makes me feel good

In random order......
- Love and being loved
- Kindness
- Chris
- Family
- Being surrounded by good people
- Sunshine
- Friends
- Playing football (soccer)
- Picnics in the green
- Helping people
- Cupcakes
- Going home
- Soft, big flaked snowfall
- Hugs & Kisses
- Falling, colourful leafs
- Photography
- Giving gifts
- Watching great movies
- Dreaming about the future
- Laughter
- Comments on my blog posts
- Inspire and being inspired
- Singing
- Good food
- The smell of fresh freshly cut grass
- Attending weddings
- Swedish coffee
- Good lyrics
- Shopping
- The sound and smell of the sea
- Donating to charity
- Hot chocolate
- Creating things
- Romance
- Fresh, sun-warm strawberries
- Starbucks soy lattes (especially Caramel and Toffee nut ;))
- Falling stars
- Birthdays (including birthday surprises)
- Poetry
- Multi-coloured sprinkles
- Playing with children
- Sitting in front of the fireplace
- Rainbows
- Music
- Doing a good job
- Discovering new places, things or flavours
- The feeling of someone wanting your company
- Midsummer
- Champagne & good, red wines
- Exercise
- Chocolate
- Listening to storms from inside
- Being a good people manager
- Christmas
- Walks through the forest
- Playing in the snow
- The feeling of having influenced someone or something in a positive way
- Travelling on my free time


xox

Day 22 – This upsets me

- Evil
- Injustice
- Cruelty towards animals
- Sexism
- Abuse of religion and power
- People driving too slow
- Parking fines
- Someone skipping the line
- Bad service
- People taking credit for others people's hard work
- Bad manners
- Lies

- Media distortion

- Personal failure

- People who patronise me
- The music from Jamiroquai and Shakira (nothing personal....just can't stand the sound....it is something about their voices.)
- Narrow-mindedness


xox

Day 21 – A photo of me taken more than 10 years ago

Again....you'll have to excuse me! This is a picture taken of a picture =((
Also, I don't have so many pictures to chose from here in Switzerland.


xox

Day 20 – Confessions of a shop-a-holic

"Hello! My name is Linda and I'm a shop-a-holic!"
I have already told you that I am a jeans girl........well, to elaborate on that I am hereby admitting, or confessing if you will, that I may have taken that shopping a TAD too far.
I am absolutely, utterly addicted to branded jeans, especially True Religion and 7 For All Mankind, and can literally not stop buying new ones!! The quality and the fit is AMAZING and some of them are as cosy as, what I refer to as, my cosy pants ;)


I know some of you might be judging me by now, thinking this is an unnecessarily expensive and ridiculous hang-up, but before you do (or while you are doing it), think about this: Most of us have passions. Some of us spend major amounts of our earnings on cars, others for bikes, watches, jewellery some others on food...or skiing and other sports...well my passion is shopping so I spend some of my money on jeans.


Here are some favourites out of my "little collection":

So there you go..... I have some other shopping addictions as well, but none quite as bad as this one ;)


xox

Day 19 – My regrets

Probably the easiest post for me to write. The reason? Well I have no regrets. 

It doesn't mean that I don't wish I would have sometimes acted or done things differently.

Everything doesn't necessarily happen for a reason, but once it has happened, there is nothing we can do to turn back time, we can only do our best to ensure we do not repeat the same mistakes again and most importantly, learn from them.

Every mistake I have made has been imperative in making me who I am today.

Every mistake I have made has made me a stronger person.

Every mistake I have made is, somehow, a right in the present.

xox

Day 18 – Memories of a birthday

I love birthdays!! Always did and always will..... It's not about the gifts (and not even about the cake ;)).....it's about the suspense and all the people, taking their precious time to celebrate you on YOUR day. I can't help it.... I'm a sucker for birthdays and not only my own - but also celebrating the birthday of the people I love.


Now I could have chosen many good birthday memories (after all, I have 31 birthday's to choose from, all though I can only remember 27 ;)), but I will choose the one from last year.


My amazing friend Aryan came here to visit me, which was the best birthday gift I could have ever imagined! We gossiped and baked cupcakes and in the evening I had a small party at my place with just some of my closest friends from here.
We ate the cupcakes and had quite a few drinks and decided to go out in Schaffhausen and "shake this place up a bit". Well....mission accomplished and I it was as much fun in one eve I've ever had I think!! Instead of writing the details - I will share some photos.

Oh what a day/eve/night!
Thank you Aryan, Milly, Simon, Emma and Anja for making this birthday unforgettable! ....or as we called it then "Awesome! Legendary!" =))


xox

Day 17 – My dreams

I dream of....
- Living a happy life! A simple but a charmed life with lots of love, laughter and fun!
- Building a family with the man I love.
- One day having a house, close to a lake or the sea, with a big grill and with lots of space for kids to play.
- Decorating that house.
- Silent days sitting on the porch, having a cup of coffee with my love, his arm around my shoulders, feet bare with the sun warming them.
- Writing a book one day.
- One day liking what I see staring back at me from the mirror.
- Designing my own dresses.
- Having a less stressful job one day.
- A planet free of pollution.
- Being loved.....unconditionally.
- Travelling to all kinds of places on environmental friendly fuel.
- Being great at something....just not sure what.
- Writing my own songs.
- Diving.
- Happily ever after....


xox

Day 16 – Friends from the past

While growing up, I had many friends with whom I have now lost all or most connections. The most common reason is moving away, but another one is also growing apart.
Thankfully, these days, we have social online tools such as Facebook to make it easier to stay in touch.


This post will be dedicated to two of my friends from the past, from my teenage years to be precise, with whom I've had soooooo much fun!

Linda & Marie
When I was, I think 12 or 13, I had a thing for sleeping in a tent! I found it EXCITING and I loved the feeling of being close to nature. One day, another friend, Anna, and me decided to do something a little out of the ordinary and put up the tent at the small, local football field. Here we had found an additional pro that we could combine it with - socializing and more importantly at this age, stare at boys.
A little later in that eve, a blond girl called Marie came by and I had never before met anyone like her. She was so much fun!
We started to hang out and she introduced me to her long time friend, Linda.
Now we were a trio and we stayed strong and inseparable throughout the (somewhat crazy) teenage years.
We were riding horses together, partying, dancing, laughing, gossiping, swimming and just enjoying each others companies. We also survived quite some rivalry (I specifically remember an incident involving a toothbrush and an aquarium!! Ha ha ha! ;))!
During this time, I also met Madde (who I wrote about in a previous post) so she was also part of our little group.

Linda and I moved in together, at the age of 20, with another girl called Johanna. We had a flat in a small, Stockholm suburb and had, quite honestly, one of the most fun years ever! We also drifted apart, but I know she is happy, which she really deserves!! I really miss our heart-to-hearts and I always felt I lost a great friend. We were very close.
Marie and I lost touch around the age of 19. We sort of grew apart and lived in "different worlds". She was incredibly talented already then (she was ALWAYS singing ;)) and just a few years ago, she won the Swedish version of "American Idol". Very well deserved and I voted for her like crazy! Here is one of her, MANY, outstanding performances:



Life is funny in this way, because from all the people I have known, I have gained something, learned a lot and in some cases also lost something. No one passes by unnoticed or without adding something valuable or teaching us some kind of life lesson. These two lovely ladies contributed greatly to my adolescence and I have so many memories from this time that I hold dear.....all thanks to them.


xox

Day 15 – A favourite memory

A childhood memory ♥
The school bus stops, like every day, at the start of the little gravel road, leading up to our house, dropping me off. I walk the distance, roughly 300m's, up to our house, EXCITED - because I know that on the porch of our neighbours house (my grandmother and grandfathers house), my beloved grandmother will be waiting for me, waving to me with the coffee pot in one hand and a bag of her home made cinnamon buns in the other hand, asking me if I want to come in for a "Fika". As always, I accept and enjoy our daily, almost hour long session of chatting, laughing, drinking coffee, eating cinnamon buns, playing piano, solving cross-word puzzles or just reading some novels together.
I treasure these memories more than words can say and not many days go by that I do not give them a thought.......a thought that always make me smile, but also makes me miss her so much that it hurts.

A grown-up memory ♥
I had been telling myself "This is not a good idea! He might be a gorgeous, nice and down to earth man, but you want to move back to Sweden soon and you should not get involved with anyone right now!". Still I decided to call my mom and my friend Aryan for some adult and objective advise on the matter, expecting them to tell me "Clever girl! Don't go!"....but instead they tell me "What do you have to loose?! Go! Have fun!" and so I accepted the dinner invitation I was planning to kindly decline.
I went to the dinner, still very unsure if this was the right decision, wondering if I should make up an excuse and turn back home.... "I don't need any more complication in my life!", I thought. Arriving at his place, I am greeted by his irresistible smile and a dinner table that is set in an impressive manner to say the least (just so you know, I'm not that easy to impress...and this guy was a bachelor!) and he has made us a vegetarian (V E G E T A R I A N ♥) thai curry that tastes divine..... We have an incredible evening of conversation, laughter, tension and romance and in a moment, in this very moment, I realize that I have found, what seems to be the perfect man for me! I am sold..... Off the market.... A gonner....or whatever else you'd call it!!
You know, I'm no longer as naive as I used to be, but so far - I believe this has the potential of becoming one of my best decisions ever (you can expect to hear more about him on day 30 ;))!


Wow! Just realized that I'm already half way through!! Time flies ;)

xox

Day 14 – In my handbag

Oh my..... I never realised how much a handbag actually fits until now, nor did I ever think I was going to publish what is inside my handbag! ...anyway, the good news for me is that this little "exercise" made me find a taxi receipt that I have yet to claim back =))

In my handbag, I found:
- Blackberry
- Gym key
- Some notes from someone very special ;)
- A business card with my next appointment at the hairdresser
- Home keys
- Earrings 
- A watch pendant necklace
- A cupcake shaped bag filled with my Lactrase pills (for lactose intolerance)
- Eye drops for contact lenses
- Victoria's Secret Hand sanitizer (a MUST have ;))
- Medicine
- Kleenex
- Taxi receipt
- Lipgloss x 4
- Rosebud salve (the best lip balm EVER!)
- Chewing gum
- Passcard for work
- A book
- Wallet

So now the cat's out of the bag ;))
xox

Day 13 – Photo(s) from my childhood

Oh wow.....trying to find pics from my childhood in digital format after moving to Switzerland turned out to be quite the challenge!! Hence a day late.


In the end I managed to find a kind of scrapbook that my mom made for me as a gift for my 30th birthday and the only solution was taking pictures of those pictures....with my Blackberry......so apologies for the quality (for me, this is a good thing ;))!

xox

Day 12 – Favourite wardrobe items

My favourite shoes and bags

From left to right:
1 (top pic). Wellies from Hunter in Fuchsia colour. I ADORE these!!!
2 (bottom pic). Heeled sandals from Belle shoes.
3 (top pic). Mulberry Bayswater. Such a classic (and it also fits my work laptop ;))!!
4 (bottom pic). Zebra ballerinas from Vagabond.
5. My favourite heeled ballerinas from Prada.
6. I loved these black leather ballerinas with a little metal studded bow! Bought in NY beginning of this year.
7 (top picture). My most used handbag at the moment from Michael Kors.
8. Also a classic! This black leather bag is from Burberry and is really beautiful. Definitely a favourite! I love this one because it is very discrete and has plenty of compartments that makes it also very practical.
9. A little purple bag/purse from Michael Kors with gold studs that I bought in NY. Soooo cute!
10. Amazing shoes to wear with jeans!! These are italian flats with teeny tiny silver coloured studs/pearls and I think they are really cool =))
11. A fantastic little black, heart-shaped party bag from Top Shop! Very used by now ;)


My favourite tops

From left to right, top to bottom:
1. A favourite "going out" top. Black with sequins from Velvet.
2. I think this brown floral blouse from Marc Jacobs is so adorable. Quite frequently worn.
3. One of my best buys this year! Bought at Urban Outfitters in NY.
4. This petrol coloured silk blouse comes from Bruuns Bazaar.
5. A cosy, long, grey, knitted sweater from Zara. Keeps me warm during winter ;)
6. This is my brand new white jacket from Bik Bok.
7. A great blouse from Patterson J. Kincaid.
8. Another silk blouse from Bruunz Bazaar! A very classic piece that I'm sure will be used for many years to come.....
9. A fabulous blouse/tunic bought at Forever 21 in NY this February.
10. My newest winter favourite - a wrap-around cardigan from Sandwich.
11. I'm amazed I managed to find this little gem at H&M this summer!! Adorable!
12. I love me some leopard patterns! This top comes from Saint Tropez.
13. One of my favourite things to wear right now are flannel shirts. This one comes from Vila.
14. This lace top comes from the brand "Flying tomatoes" and I love it.
15. Some colour is also needed.... This top is from Diesel.


My favourite bottoms
I am am an absolute JEANS GIRL and that's by far my favourite thing to wear every day.
Hence, most of my favourite bottom pieces are jeans ;)

From left to right:
1. Straight leg jeans from 7 for all mankind with a copper coloured chains on the pockets 
2. My absolutely ridiculously worn out True Religion Johnny Big T's. Amazingly comfy and the fit and quality of True Religion jeans is unbeatable.
3 (bottom pic). Squin from H&M in a black, shiny wash. The perfect pant for....well....almost any occasion!
4 (top pic). Again True Religion, but these are Billy's with a gold chained pockets.
5. Again, absolutely amazingly comfortable True Religion Stella's (slim fit) Super T.


My favourite dresses

From left to right:
1. Probably the best dress buy I ever made!! This is from a brand called "Hoss" and was bought at NK in Stockholm.
2. Such a classic black dress, bought from an online second hand shop called "Mint and Vintage". My treasure ;)
3. This floral dress is from Betsey Johnson and it has an amazing fit! If it wasn't for the fact it would feel boring, this is the dress I'd wear for most weddings ;)))
4. Am loving this brand new dress (surprisingly) from Bik Bok!! This one and me will be going together to our annual company Christmas party.


My favourite outerwear
For sure, this coat from Marc Jacobs is my favourite and one of the first things I would grab (in terms of material things) in case of a fire ;))

....and last but certainly not least, to the left - my favourite winter hat from William Sharpe in black cashmere with a cherry made of Swarowski crystals! Isn't it adorable? =)

xox