stockholm weekend pics: puzzles, a birthday, and cats

we celebrated stefan's birthday with a spa weekend away. we loved our time at the ellery beach club so much that we visited their sister hotel in västerås (pics to come soon). on our return, we had birthday cake (pic below), made by cecelia, our young friend who we think will be a famous baker one day. she knows stefan well... the five is a chocolate cake with rose water cream and the 4 is a caramel cake with coffee. both were lovingly decorated with berries and macaroons which she made. both were delish. thank you cecelia! (insert heart emoji here)

we completed our third puzzle... a little cottage by the lake in the countryside. can't wait to travel again!

we have been watching massimo bottura's masterclass and stefan made his 'fish in a package' enclosed with olives, cherry tomatoes, and capers. simple yet so much flavour. i love his energy, passion, and italian hand gestures. give it a watch.

while the light in the city finally makes it feel like spring around here, it is still quite cold, wrapping myself in a chunky scarf as i bike to work wishing i hadn't packed away my winter coat. or, that i could have stayed in bed for awhile longer, just like ylva (last pic).

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.

september / 2020

kai: loki doesn't leave kai's side when he is schooling online. very cute.

stockholm weekend pics: september at home

september has been quiet.

like ylva, in the pics below, i stretch and snack :) perhaps more snacking than stretching!

instead of sourdough bread, i have been trying to perfect artichokes. the stuffed ones didn't turn out quite like my mom's but the plain ones, an ode to simplicity, were just perfect. kai and i enjoyed dipping the leaves into aioli (stefan is not a fan). 

and, we have been supporting our local restaurants, the new italian pizza place is a win! 

i wonder, do the cats enjoy the boys being home? ylva, for certain, loves her mornings with stefan, when she gets lots of attention and treats. loki seems annoyed most of the time these days... maybe it's old age.

hope you have had a nice and relaxing september. it can be hard and we aren't all so lucky so i try to appreciate these basics.

stockholm weekend pics, kattcafé

kai and i have been wanting to visit the java whiskers kattcafé for some time and this weekend we made it happen.

firstly, what a great concept, offering another channel for cat adoptions, educating and promoting relationships with cats. 

when we first entered, we ordered our fika and the barista told us about the required etiquette while in the cafe to ensure the cats are happy and relaxed (i.e. no waking up sleeping cats, no loud or disruptive behaviour, no picking up the cats). after sanitizing our hands and taking off our shoes (a very swedish thing to do), we entered the cafe.

getting cozy in the living room like space with cats about to play with, we were happy customers. there were two cats in particular that we were smitten with (as seen in the photos) and we schemed how we could adopt one while stefan was away. none of our schemes worked well in our favour. so instead, we stayed a bit longer than our allotted one hour, it was hard to leave.

there are numerous hiding places around the cafe and the cats are taken out for scheduled naps too, all to ensure they have time to themselves and therefore relaxed and stress-free.

even if you are not looking to adopt, spend some fun and relaxing time with cats and the fika is pretty delish too so definitely worth a try.

oh, and i've read that watching cat videos online gives a boost in our mood and reduces negative emotions, so i imagine this effect must be more powerful in real life. 

hmmm, how do we convince stefan we need a third cat?