Christmas in Norway is entirely destined to family. Whereas in Romania you´re expected to be at home during the day, but can choose go out for a drink with friends in the evening, in Norway, most places are closed and the city turns into a ghost town. It´s literally like in Oliver Twist, you can walk around peeping inside people´s apartments and see them dining and feasting and you´ll feel like the loneliest person alive. 
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A candle-lit get-together
Yesterday we invited some friends over for a cosy dinner, to laugh away a dark November Sunday. I made boeuf bourguignon and served it with with red wine, French baguette and butter, in my grandma´s china. Now that´s big for me, since I normally can´t even remember to buy napkins, so everybody´s used to gifting me that every once in a while, or else I present them for a big fat roll of toilet paper. 😉 So there was a festive atmosphere, candle light, “magic bubble water” (we finally got ourselves one of these bubbly water machines), wine and beef stew. Throw in a couple of loud friends, a lovable crew the lot of them, Sam at our feet and Beo stealing our seat as soon as it was left unattended for 5 seconds, and you´ve got the perfect recipe for a long night with lots of fun!
Matstreif
Saturday we had a food festival in town- Matstreif. I had a coffee date with a couple of friends, but I was running late since I couldn´t take Sam with me (he tends to get a bit annoyed around big crowds) and so I ended up checking out the happening on my own. The amount of people was insane! The moment I climbed down from the bus I felt like taking one in the opposite direction straight away. But I was there with a purpose- I wanted some cheese, a new cook book and a svele (the fantastic Norwegian pancake!), so I couldn´t leave until I´d got what I´d come for. 😉 
Another week has gone by
Long time, no see. I was busy with my guests, who left on Wednesday afternoon, then worked long hours on Thursday and then summer came back to Norway, so I had to make sure I enjoyed it properly! 😉 Actually summer came back on Wednesday, so we´ve been frantic about staying outside in the sun, drinking ice coffee and white wine, going to the beach and so on. 
August
August has been awesome so far! The weather is pretty on and off and makes me long for Greek beaches and cloudless skies, but our social life has been amazing. My brother is visiting with his wife, yesterday was V´s birthday and the rest of the crew is back from holidays. Later on this month a friend is coming over with her boyfriend for a short holiday and at the end of the month- my mom and auntie will be visiting us, too. 
Sunday in Oslo
Last Sunday we both had a day off and thought it´d be nice to spend it outdoors since the weather Gods were on our side. 😉 We decided we should take a stroll along the Aker river with Sammy, so he could run freely and take a dip here and there. There´s nothing like a bath in the river to cool off this happy dog of ours. We were heading towards the Food Court- Mathallen, but then we saw Nedre Foss Gård, a restaurant I´d just tried a couple of days before and that appealed to us now, as well. The court yard was pretty and summery, all “dressed up” in orange. 😉 The service was great and so was the food!
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Fiddling about
I was out of town for 3 days for work and I can´t even begin to tell you how good it is to be home again! Hotel life is smooth enough if you have someone to share it with, but when you have to eat alone two days in a row and watch silly series on TV because you decided to be “generous” with your significant other and leave the Mac at home, not so much… 😉
On my way home I got to pick some wild flowers and they light up the whole house! 😉 I also might have bought a pair of high heels sandals, although the budget didn´t allow it. 😉 Oops!
Oslo life
This week has been quite uneventful for my part- I started working on Tuesday, did some laundry and some spring cleaning in between, took a couple of longer walks with Sammy, “stole” some lilac branches from the park every other day and went to a dinner party yesterday.
Norway is still giving summer a thought, keeping us “en suspense” for now and I find it hard to dress, always ending up on the wrong side of the scale, either too cold for my outfit, or too hot. Layering is the solution, I just need to learn how to do it properly! 😉
Sweet freelance life
Second Easter day was spent “en famille”. My father came from Romania yesterday and we had a nice breakfast with lots of lovely coffee and cozonac, our traditional holiday cake. I was lucky not to have anything on my agenda and had sort of decided not to work, but when nobody required my services, I was even happier I didn´t have to turn anybody down.
It was a fresh and sunny day and I had a long walk with Sam. I let him run free and chase the geese by the lake, then we went all the way to the marina to enjoy the view. Later on I had coffee with a friend and her 2 months daughter, in our neighborhood coffeeshop. 😉 On my way home again I picked up some fresh tulips and a bottle of wine. V is making shrimps with leeks in a tomato sauce, served with white rice for dinner, then we´re out to have a beer with a friend of ours.
Weekend
Although we´re celebrating orthodox Easter this weekend, the Norwegian Easter break is over and our friends are back from Nice. So we got together over dinner and wine at our place to start the weekend right. Sammy was very happy to see them both and was all over the place with joy! 😉 And so were we! They came with stories of the Mediterranean, of 20 degrees in the shade and of antique markets. We have to go there together!
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life in a bubble 