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Last minute gifts

Are you ready? I know I am. Still haven’t decorated much, I’ve been busy working, baking and agonising about things. I did venture into the storage room yesterday (finally!) and I managed to put up my Xmas stars and a couple of other light chains. So pretty! And while munching on my first batch of candied almonds (not my best one so far), Sam on the floor admiring the lights, I felt a tickling in my gut, no, I’m far from being pregnant, it’s the Xmas joy I used to feel before. It used to sneak up on me already in November, last year I never got any, but this year it seems “better late than never” works just fine. 😉

Today I bought the amaryllis flowers and the booze and this evening I’m hosting an ever so small Romanian party, just 4 friends, some mulled wine and a pizza.

So I thought I’d give you a couple of tips on super-duper gifts, although I’ll have to say, for your own sanity, I hope you’re not that behind. haha! 😉 Found Ricky Gervais’ fb. entry so funny: “I’m out Christmas shopping, where do I find the will to live?” Haha!

For your boyfriend, this espresso stovetop from Freud is a true jewellery.be3cb779dc0ca46d2038c743873b067a Continue reading →

December

Hi, peeps! What’s up? I’m dead tired after working alone yesterday, whisper interpreting for many hours on end is the worst and my throat is still sore. So I called it a day off, took Sammy to the woods and now I’m planning to dose off on the couch for an hour or so. 😉Skjermbilde 2016-12-01 12.13.19.png Continue reading →

Advent

 

As I was laying in my bf’s bath tub a couple of days ago, it struck me that in a couple of months’ time (not even that!) Christmas will be here and with it the whole shebang and I’m just not ready for it. I’m still broke and I still haven’t got any any closer to selling my apartment and it kills me to be in such a mess and, most of all, not knowing when it’ll end.

But hey, I survived this year, so I’m probably going to make it to next year, too. 😉 Meanwhile, I reminisce how everything used to be so good at Christmas time. I remember my first Christmas as a host and how happy I was to be putting together the menu- a crisscross of Eastern and North European cuisine, then all the years after when I’d bake cookies for work and make Christmas chutney and Lemon curd as go-to-gifts and felt like Christmas was the best time of the year.molleux-au-chocolat

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I’m opening an Airbnb

I´ve been talking about it for ages, postponing all the time due to lack of time, inconsistency as well as a generally over furnished apartment and life. But now it´s happening! I need to order a bed, some curtains and a small coffee table, give the room a fresh coat of paint and tidy up a bit and I´m there! In a couple of weeks’ time I hope to be on the site.

I haven´t taken any pictures of my home recently, but if you´ve read my blog you´ll know I like mid-century design with a splash of colour. I promise fresh smelling bed sheets, flowers on the bedside table, lots of coffee and a giant pancake breakfast-although I´ve never been a morning person- haha!

Meanwhile I´m getting some inspiration here and there.

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Decorate with plants

How are you today? Monday and Tuesday went by like a dream and I thought I should pop by for a couple of words. 😉 I´ve just come home from a walk with Sam and had dinner with V and a friend, my man´s famous homemade pizza- delicious. I need to post the recipe soon! 😉

I´m drinking some tea and have just started on a book in Norwegian- The Hopeful by Nicolai Houm, so funny! Otherwise life is pretty good, aside from the fact that my energy level is on an all time low, so I need to nap like babies. :-/ Thinking of waiting for spring for a couple more weeks and if it doesn´t improve, change my medication. 😉

Meanwhile, thought I should introduce you to some healing plant trends from Pinterest. Anytime I need a small change, I buy a plant. It works for me!  Continue reading →

Living room update

Money can´t buy you happiness, that´s a fact. They can´t buy you style, you either got it or you don´t. They can´t even buy you a decent couch,  you need a trained eye to pick the right one. 😉 We found the perfect couch on the internet yesterday and now it´s ours! So here I am, bragging about my trained eye! 😉 haha! Take a look!

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Christmas Eve

This year we´re celebrating Christmas in the family, meaning the two of us and our pets. We haven´t actually stayed at home without working or being invited at some other people´s house before, so this is a new experience, but what a lovely one! We woke up early enough and spent a couple of hours drinking coffee, doing nothing and just dragging ourselves around the house (my most favorite activity!). Then V went out to walk Sammy and bought the last ingredients for the orange sauce we´ll make for the duck breast this evening. Meanwhile I set the table, lit the candles, boiled some eggs and took out the Prosecco bottle from the fridge. We dug in, I suggested he opened his present, so he could wear it around and feel comfortable, he loved it and so we toasted for a better year next year. After drinking a bottle of prosecco and a couple of weissbier, watching old Disney cartoons and petting Beo, V and Sam had a nap, while I edited some pictures.(NERD!) I can feel sleep on my eyelashes now, my time to take a nap. I wish you a merry merry Christmas!;-)

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Christmas mood

Today was a good day. After a busy weekend of waking up early every day, today I could finally take it easy. I had a couple of work assignments, but other than that I mainly slept and enjoyed myself. It´s mid November already and I feel Christmas is right around the corner. This year I´m not going to overdo anything, I promised myself I´ll have realistic expectations of both myself and the others. My plans are to ease into the Christmas mood by mid December and have lots of energy for Christmas parties and the likes. With that in mind, I started reading a magazine and listen to Nat King Cole singing about the Yuletide season. 😉

I feel lighter these days, I managed to give away pretty much clothing I wasn´t wearing anymore and the bedroom is finally up for an update, hopefully in January. We need reading lamps but being both very particular, it takes ages to decide upon anything, really. Today I was browsing through some web shops and felt so happy when I saw  this one from Restart Milano! It´s just perfect! The slim lines, the golden touch, I was sold! And the fact that it´s simply called Wall Lamp Long makes it even more alluring. Anything that beautiful was made to last, I figure.;-) In Norway you can purchase it at Bolina, but I´m sure you can find it in an cool designer store near your home, too.

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Apartment with personality

The most important thing for me while decorating an apartment is taking my time. This is our 4th apartment in 11 years and the second one we bought. (In Norway you buy, reside a while, improve/renovate and sell. Then you buy bigger, nicer, and so on, until you hopefully land the property of your dreams, at least within your financial range.) I studied for a long time and now it´s my husband turn to break through as a designer, meaning we´ve been living on a tight or semi-tight  budget for many years. At the same time, both of us have a strong need to surround ourselves with beautiful things, so we don´t want to compromise too much when it comes to quality. We bought too many crappy Ikea things that broke and ended up in the trash, so now it´s either design, vintage or inherited stuff. My recipe for an original interior is as such: you need a couple of beautiful and sturdy pieces of furniture, like a leather recliner, a dining table and chairs, a coffee table and a sideboard, a couple of artsy pictures and lots of fond memories (shells and sand or small candle holders and figurines). Throw in a beautiful kelim rug and a couple of gracious pets! Voilà!;-)

The rest you can get along the way, from flea markets, discount stores or second hand designer shops. 😉 We haven´t been able to keep the same couch since the cats have scratched it or it has turned soggy, but next year´s treat is a big, comfy designer couch from Andreas Engesvik!

What do you think?

 

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