10 swoon worthy gifts for mother's day (or an upcoming 23rd wedding anniversary, hint hint)

pic from flowery

1. a weekly home delivery bouquet... a friend loves her subscription.

pic from scandinavian walls

2. poster of frida kahlo, love the colours.

pic from svenskt tenn

3. love the contrasting silver elephant candle holder on its gold plate. we are accumulating quite the collection of candle holders, as one does when living in darkness most of the year!

pic from flattered

4.  i know it's april but, right now, in stockholm, we are revisiting winter. it's been cold and snowing! would love these boots.

pic from klee larson website

5. painting by vancouver artist klee larson, swooning over the pinks and blues! her whole family is creative and they own a lovely corner café called le marché st. george.

pic from svenskt tenn

6. can never have enough pretty little vases. 

pic from desenio

7. this forest photograph is serene, it would be a reminder to take a breath and slowly exhale.

pic from svenskt tenn

8. a cute teapot to match the cute mugs i was gifted for my birthday... i drink copious amounts of tea in a single day.

pic from cappelen dimyr

9. i have been coveting this rug for awhile... saving my pennies.

pic from gustavsbergs porslins fabrik

10. lisa larson's black cat has been patiently waiting for me to bring it home, since i first arrived in sweden.

happy may everyone!

march weekend pics: cats, art, and ricotta

a year into the pandemic and i think we are all feeling the way loki (above) looks. that's his grumpy face.

other than a belated anniversary spa weekend away (pics coming soon), we didn't do very much. i made ricotta from scratch, super easy! reread joan didion's blue nights. took alot of cat pics.

we also spent an evening at kai's school to view his graduating class' art exhibition. i am so happy with how it all turned out for him. he was super happy that two of his teachers asked to keep a couple of his art pieces. so nice, right? i have included some of his pieces here and if you would like to take a peek at his photographs, click here.

ready for tummy rubs

hope you had a more exciting march! although, cats, art and ricotta were very nice too.

stockholm weekend pics: connecting with nature

working on an art project about nature, we joined kai out in the woods where he captured his handmade models blending in with the environment. his pictures turned out really well :)

more and more, especially during this pandemic, we need nature to unwind and refill our energy. i think we breathe more deeply, it's definitely good for the body and soothes the soul. being outside makes us stronger and better to cope with the stresses of these days.

in cheryl strayed's "wild", she speaks of curing what ails us by putting ourselves in the way of beauty. i love this and couldn't agree more.

hope you are getting out in nature too! and speaking of nature, here are some links to our august nature getaways... 

a weekend away on the island of grinda

a weekend away on the island of väddö

oh, and i shouldn't forget our own little hidden gem, sicklasjön lake, just a walk down the forest path

and, i guess, i will add the post around södermalm because really, the water is just a street away

on a side note, i am caught up to the end of august on my blog posts, unto september when we celebrated kai's 17th birthday. stay tuned :)

travelogue: the ellery beach club in lidingö

ellery beach house is a retro-inspired hotel and beach club that opened in september 2020. located on the island of lidingö, it's rural landscape feels far away from the city yet just a 30 minute drive from home. it takes full advantage of it's picturesque setting of nature and water, close to the archipelago. 

the hotel actually reminds me of the desert oasis vibe of palm springs with it's cool interior feeling and atmosphere... think clashing prints, velvet and rattan materials. 

it has four heated swimming pools, two saunas, cabanas, and paddle courts (a mixture of tennis and squash) plus indoor games area with shuffle board and pool. we made the most of the swimming pools both on the day of arrival and again the morning we reluctantly left. a special mention to their bathrobes... the softest that will ever embrace you!

of its two restaurants, we ate at palmer's restaurant which serves delicious mediterranean flavours from israel, greece, and lebanon. lots of small dishes to share. after we devoured everything, i wanted to eat it all again, so good! sitting high up with views of the water, you could (almost) imagine you were on holiday on a greek island.

just a hop and skip away, before we checked in to the ellery, we had lunch at elfviks gård where i happily ate fish soup. in sweden, they always get their fish soup just right. we perfused the farm shops too, gorgeous flower shop, refurn vintage shop, and the dairy store. went for a walk around the grounds visiting the animals and then towards the ellery along the water.

the day of our depature, we stopped by millesgården, the home of artists carl milles and his wife olga milles. carl was a sculptor and millesgården today is a museum with an extensive sculpture park of his pieces. inside the art gallery you can find their antique collection and art exhibitions. on this day, the exhibition was showcasing vivienne westwood's fashion designs. it had been many years since i visited and was happy to come with stefan, to swoon over the sculptures.

loving our weekends away so much, we booked a getaway for stefan's birthday to the steam hotel, ellery's sister hotel, for april. stay tuned!