26 / 52 weeks

kai: lazy summer days

ett hem with laurie and graeme

stefan and i happily accepted the invite to dine with laurie and graeme for graeme's birthday celebration at ett hem; it will forever be a memorable evening.

located in a quiet residential neighbourhood, behind a brick walled gate, it is cozily tucked away.  once an old family home, it was been lovingly restored into a boutique hotel with attention to detail, beautiful inviting details.  designed by ilse crawford, whose love of textures is evident in the space.  it doesn't feel or look like a 'hotel' at all.  the name 'ett hem' says it all: at home. 

there's relaxed furniture, an honesty bar if you are lucky enough to stay at the boutique hotel, design books strewn about for perusing, a stack of board games too.  be warned, if you do stay here, you may never see stockholm because i can't imagine you'd want to leave this space.  we got to peek at the rooms, fabulous and so thoughtful!  they even have stutterheim raincoats in the foyer for their guests.  

we are so lucky that non-guests can dine at their restaurant; you can eat in the kitchen, in the conservatory, the dining room or out in the garden.  we chose the garden, it was a gorgeous night.  the food was amazing.  local and fresh, served on beautiful pottery.

the staff makes you feel so comfortable, like being welcomed into a friend's home. our waitress, caroline, was friendly and took such good care of us.  we chatted with the chef... yes, you can walk right into the kitchen and watch your food being prepared.  

we took our tea and dessert indoors, settling comfortably in the living room.  the chef baked a strawberry birthday cake, and guys, it was incredible with roasted white chocolate bits thrown in!  the space allows you to linger for as long as you like.  it was hard to go home, i think we all would have preferred to turn in upstairs. 

of course, being there with good friends made the experience all the more special.  laurie and i were giddy being in such a gorgeous environment.  i am going to miss her; she and her boys move to london today starting a new chapter in their expat lives.  i am so lucky to have met her, to have been a part of her stockholm story.  laurie has a generous heart, she's thoughtful and kind, an amazing mama - her two boys are evidence of that.  and she makes me laugh out loud.  i will miss you laurie, xoxo

thank you ett hem, you are so lovely.  i think we need a staycation or maybe move in permanently :) 

readers, do take a peek at the links for ett hem and ilse crawford, both have short 1-2 minute videos of the space, a must watch as my photos do not do it justice.

stockholm weekend pics, an evening stroll

a lazy weekend.  stefan arrived from his trip to montreal, canada midsummer eve's day and joined the festivities right from the airport (see midsummer post here).  with jetlag and a rainy saturday, being tucked away at home suited him, kai and i just fine although stefan and kai managed to get out in the evening to kick the soccer ball around.  that's the magic of scandinavian summer nights, with the sun setting after 10pm, they are light and long.  playing soccer at 9pm isn't a big deal.

on sunday we enjoyed another light night... a late dinner at an italian place, da luigi, which serves really, really good food.  i was pleasantly surprised with my pasta dish and would highly recommend it.  afterwards we walked to monteliusvägen for a stroll along its paths up on the soder cliffs.   there's views of riddarfjärden and lake mälaren, city hall and gamla stan too.

kai was in a funny mood, full of energy and giggles.  it was contagious and made for such a beautiful evening.

starting our third summer here, we are still surprised how light it is in the evening, it never really gets dark.  at home, we draw our black out curtains for a good night's sleep.

on our way to dinner, dropping by the trash bins to recycle the pizza box from the night before, but first the boys enjoyed playing pizza box frisbee :)

hope you had a lovely weekend too.

a swedish midsummer

midsummer was so incredibly fine in every way.  it begins with taking a walk in the forest to show laurie and graeme the view; across the water is our destination, nyckelviken herrgård.  continuing with our forest walk, we reach the festivities.  we join the dancing around the maypole which is a hoot... the songs are so silly - jumping around like a frog! - yet you cannot help but smile big at the joy around you.  

the rest of the afternoon and evening is spent at ximena and petter's home which has the best garden ever.  it's easy to forget we are just half hour from the city with so much greenery surrounding us.  we prepare a swedish midsummer meal with herring, salmon and potatoes; the kids love the cheese pie made with västerbotten; and a delish strawberry cake too.  for drinks?  there's gin & tonic, wine, and snaps too - the latter a swedish tradition accompanied by song... thanks petter for the serenade :) 

few things are dreamier on a midsummer's eve than sitting outdoors with a fire to keep you warm with a nice glass of wine in hand, conversation and laughs with good friends while the kiddos play.  so grateful.

thank you ximena and petter for such a lovely midsummer eve's day.  and thank you laurie for sharing some of your photos with me!

reunited with his papa, who just landed in stockholm from his work trip to montreal

 

  

love this one of the three boys... they were good sports for the minute laurie took the photo :)

happy midsummer everyone!