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. 
Norway
Sunny day
A couple of days ago we had great weather and we enjoyed the afternoon by the beach. We couldn’t be bothered to take a boat and spend the entire day on an island, so Sørenga, a 15 minutes walk from home, sounded most appealing. With an ice-coffee in our hand and Sam in the lead, the world was a pretty awesome place to be. 
Continue reading
Crappy weather and lots of baking
Summertime. Except we´re in Norway. We´ve had a couple of nice days lately, but I´ve either been working or agonising on my cheek muscles problem. (I can barely open my mouth, which makes eating very unsatisfying. And no, it´s not my wisdom tooth, I´ve had it checked.) So I´ve been baking. It´s soothing and it feeds the people. And it makes me feel useful. 😉
My brother and his wife are coming over for a week and I can´t wait to show them around and let them be a part of our regular schedule, with Sammy walks and all. Also a dear childhood friend is visiting for a couple of days from France and since we haven´t seen each other in 15-16 years, it won’t be a day too soon! 😉 Next Saturday it´s V´s birthday and we´re throwing him a party! I´ve already thought about the food, making a couple of pies, a couple of salads and a couple of cakes. Booze and bubbles are nr. 1 on the list! Take a look at those pictures here and tell me what you think! 😉
Sour cherry cake
I´ve already shared this recipe with you on my Romanian blog, but since not all of you read Romanian and not all of you follow it, I thought I should post it here, too. 😉
A couple of days ago I picked a bowl of sour cherries straight from the tree and I felt like baking a cake, the type of summer cake that my childhood was filled of.
Continue reading
Café Sara
Yesterday afternoon we met with a couple of friends over a beer and some Mexican food. We´ve been regulars at Café Sara for more than 12 years now and it´s never disappointed us. The food is yummy, the prices- low and the atmosphere- perfect, whether you´re a broke student or a millionaire. It´s neither more, nor less than it pretends to be and that´s perhaps its recipe for success. A quick lunch, a late night dinner, a couple of beers in the backyard or simply a Friday evening with friends, with café Sara you´ve got it right! And you don´t see any slick stuck-up people as in the Western part of the city (we don´t care too much for them).
It´s a girl! <3
Five days ago we got a call from V´s sister, she´d given birth to a sweetheart of around 3 kg; mother and baby were both fine and we were welcome to call on them during the weekend! What a joy! We were so excited, we just needed to find the perfect present first! After entering a couple of children´s stores, outraged about the prices (I usually like to gift one-of -a-kind things, so I normally purchase kid´s things on sale), we finally spottet the cutest baby shoes we could think of. Aren´t they adorable?! Continue reading
Celebrating my husband´s success at Taco Republica
Yesterday my husband made his first satchel and I´m so immensely proud of him! He´s designing and making leather accessories by hand and although very talented, it´s been a tough ride. The Norwegian market is small and uptight and people are so rude, 90% of all mails he writes remain unanswered! This being said, we´re going to Berlin for the SEEK trade show! And we have high hopes! He´s already been contacted by a trade show in New York (they tried to persuade him to attend), an internet shop that wants to promote his products and a couple of private persons for smaller commissions. 😉 Yey!
So today we felt like celebrating his success and what better way to do it than with a beer and some tacos in the sun! In Scandinavia, you learn to make do with the weather you have and a sunny day is a festivity in itself! 
A Barbecue in the Park
Yesterday we had our first barbecue in the park and it made me jump with joy! You see, in my opinion, one of the best things about Norway is being able to make use of the city´s recreational spaces- parks, forrest, waterfront, you name it. You can have a picnic right in front of the Parliament building and work on your sun tan from the Opera house´s marble shores. Not like back home where you can´t even tread on grass or else you´ll get a fine! 😉 haha!
And since the weather was sunny and I didn´t feel inspired enough to cook, I suggested a salad and some baked veggies to go with grilled sausages and flat bread (we got some Lebanese bread, from the corner shop). So I packed a bag, told Sam we were going out, although it meant following me everywhere around the house, and started on the veggies.
House of my dreams
I´ve always dreamt of the whole shebang- a man and three kids, a cat and a dog and, last but not least, a house with a garden in the middle of the city! For now I can only check husband, cat and dog! And a pretty airy apartment not far from the city centre at all. 😉
However, we´re kind of outgrown the place and besides we crave some private space outside and this cute little beauty would give us just that! Don´t you just love it? I could easily envision myself living there. And it´s two minutes from The Food Court I´ve been talking so much about lately.. 😉
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! 😉
life in a bubble 