april / 2019

kai: always with his music 

stockholm weekend pics, stefan's birthday weekend!

it was stefan's birthday weekend with celebrations starting on friday night. we dined at matbaren, a bistro inside the lovely grand hotel. the restaurant is gorgeous and the food was really good but the portions were way too small so order lots!  

once finished, we realized that it was too early to head home so we bought tickets online to see captain marvel. on the way, we rented a scooter and took turns riding it through the city although kai rode it mostly :)

on saturday, we went for a run as a family, stopped by the saluhall to pick up ingredients for stefan's birthday dinner, and stocked up on chocolates and candy for easter.

instead of easter baskets, the swedes use tin or paper marché eggs that they fill with candy. and the easter bunny doesn't leave them, just the parents :) we brought the eggs with us to norway (travelogue post hopefully up soon!).

for stefan's birthday dinner, he wanted a typical swedish spread (usually served for easter, christmas and midsummer). so, we picked up pickled herring, our favourite is the curry one, potatoes and anchovies to make janssons temptation, crisp bread and smoked salmon too. 

for tonight though, stefan made the indonesian meatballs, these ones were spicier than the last batch he made and i prefer them much more.

during stefan's actual birthday, on sunday, he wanted a lazy day and that's what he got :) 

he opened a few gifts, ate a cheesy egg pie courtesy of kai, played an epic game of memoir '44 with kai, and he ended the day with a very swedish birthday dinner.

stefan and kai highly recommend how to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you, they thought it was hilarious. and the boys already cooked from the fallout official cookbook, recipes featured in a video-game they play. good gifts kai! 

he also received a hammock so he can nap comfortably when we are out and about in the swedish woods. the coveted cast iron pan was also unwrapped. stefan often accuses kai and i for taking his pens so we bought him a pen (made in sweden) that can't get lost!

oh, and i made the birthday cake! it wasn't very pretty to photograph even with the sprinkles on top but the sticky toffee cake was delicious, if i can say so myself :)

hurra means hurray in sweden but without the 'y'

hope you had a lovely weekend too!

stockholm weekend pics, april and the arrival of spring

it's finally outside time! and everyone else thought the same thing because when we biked up to hornstulls marknad it was SO crowded that we thought about turning around. we stayed though, patiently waited in line for our food from indian street foods and bun bun then found ourselves a spot to enjoy it all. there was ice cream sandwiches too :)

it's been ages since we had french toast so kai and i were super happy when stefan surprised us. of course, it was served with canadian maple syrup + bananas, i love bananas on pancakes and french toast.

stefan and i bought bikes! he's been bugging me to replace mine for years but i've resisted for a nostalgic reason. it's the bike i bought when i was pregnant with kai so some lovely memories are attached to it. stefan was right though, the new bike rides so smooth, less cumbersome too. i've been pretty much biking monday to friday. thank you stefan, i LOVE my bike. 

as is tradition around sweden, feathers attached to branches are found both indoors and out. i've latched on to this tradition, filling a vase with bunches of twigs covered in muted coloured feathers. while its orgins were religious based, these days the feathers are a place holder until the blooms return.

we watched bumblebee... such a feel good movie. we really enjoyed it.

stefan and i had a date night at nya carnegie bryggeriet, our neighbourhood gastropub. the menu is a small one and no matter what we choose, it's always so good. their champagne beer was pretty good too. 

  

  

  

feathers on branches and a new bike :)

hope you had a lovely weekend too!

stockholm weekend pics, march

winter doesn't want to end. snow falls here and there. then there is the rain and grey skies.

breakfast date at stockholm brunch club. so good, i love breakfast!

we had patricia and family over for dinner. stefan cooked an indonesian feast with 3 curries - rendang, chicken and meatballs. my favourite was the rendang curry, i couldn't stop eating it! there was a too die for peanut sauce too, beans and boiled potatoes were dipped into that one, delish! just remembering it has me craving indonesian all over again.

i started to run! doing intervals, nice and slow.

pic from my run

i baked almond butter cookies, twice. they are a favourite in my house which does please me since i'm not much of a baker. and guess what, the recipe uses chickpea brine!

we hoped to visit the newly opened national museum. it had been under renovation since we moved to stockholm. after taking the boat across and fika-ing at kavalleriet we discovered the looooong lineup and abandoned our plans. instead, we strolled through gamla stan before heading home.

i am catching up with this blog of mine, new york city and toronto (part 1 and part 2) photos are live and dolomites coming soon :)

kai and stefan went to see godsmack in concert... kai absolutely loved it.

out and about on södermalm with beautiful friends, ximena and family, strolling, visiting shops and of course fika-ing. oh, and the weekend before, there was a birthday celebration with this group too :)

our summer vacation is booked... holland, athens and then to limnos. fingers crossed i can get a trip to vancouver in early june.

watched the dirt, about motley crue. it was raunchy and awesome.

these signs still make me laugh

and there was plenty of time to be cozy at home too. hope you had a lovely march.