Yesterday was such a lovely day and we sure made the best of it. Since V had a day off, too, we decided we should have a city day. And what better way to be urban than walking around with our fluffy polar bear? 😉
Samoyed
Spring
Spring is coming at last and it feels so good! I brought a couple of peach blossom branches home today and the white cuties bloomed, so the apartment looks festive and warm. Sammy boy is enjoying his walks, mostly with his pops, since I´ve had a major flu for some days now. He keeps finding gloves and stuff and is ever so happy to carry them around in his mouth.
Work is steadier now and I guess I´m relieved, although I´ve been enjoying my lazy couple of months, too. But now it´s a good time to be busy, the weather makes is easier to get out of the house and just savor a cup of coffee in the sun. Finding an outfit to wear is also more pleasing when you don´t have to think about being warm all the time. 😉 I´ll be sure to post a couple of pictures about that later on this week.
I hope you have a great week! I´m slowly recovering and looking forward to salmon sashimi with white rice and cucumber salad, although I have absolutely no taste or smell whatsoever. 😉
Let me tell you about my weekend
Long time, no see. Hope you´ve missed me. 😉 This weekend was exhausting, I swear!
On Friday we went to a party in town and I was confronted with my lack of social skills- I don´t dance, I´m not good at mingling (unless I´m drunk or I know everybody there), I don´t hear very well when the music is loud and I´m terrible with strangers. Hahaha! So after trying to look cool and glam and a citizen of the world for an hour and a half, I suddenly felt the urge to go home to my couch and Twin Peaks. 😉 Bahaha! And that would have been fine, had I not forgotten my keys and spoilt V´s party, too. 😉 Tough luck.
Thursday off
I had a couple of days in court outside Oslo, meaning I was away from home for 10-11 hours, and now I´m beat. Although that used to be my daily routine, I reckon I´m getting too old for that. 😉 Today I only want to take Sam for a longer walk, make myself a spinach salad with chicken and parmesan and read a book by the fireplace. Hoping it´s the winter blues, I long for lighter days and more sunshine. Here are some pictures from our latest “adventures”.
Saturday
Yesterday I was out for a stroll in the neighborhood with Sam. We stopped by Reprise, my favorite second hand shop in Oslo, where I found a gorgeous cashmere shawl from UK and chatted with the owner about reviving our street. We then crossed the icy park without falling (actually Sam did, but I was lucky not to), heading to Kampen, a quaint area with small and colorful wooden houses, where we bought a birthday card in a pretty flower shop. Further up the street, I had cauliflower soup at Lille Kampen, while Sam waited patiently outside, since dogs are not allowed in eateries in Norway. It was dusk time and the colors were so pretty I almost failed to notice the cold. We should do this more often, we told ourselves.
Family Gathering for Christmas
On the third day of Christmas we were invited to a family gathering at Våler, where Vuong´s sister recently moved with her husband and child. Although the Trans are Buddhists, they do find a day around Christmas to get together, eat good food and do some catching up. And yesterday was that day. 🙂
Since interethnic marriages are not very common in Norwegian-Vietnamese communities, that´s given us some heart-ache along the years. In the end we all had to admit we were stuck with each other and make the best of it. So now we meet once in a while and smooth things over for the sake of our nephew, who is one gorgeous and lovable little guy!
Today we went for a walk in the woods and had the best time ever! Sammy was super happy and so was Benjamin, who slid like a pro! After taking in the fresh air and the amazing landscape, we felt our cheeks flush with blood and our feet ache with cold. So we went in for cakes and coffee. Take a look!
Christmas Day
I hope you had a lovely Christmas Eve and that Santa was good to all of you out there. We had an amazing day, ate a lot of wonderful food and got cuddles galore from our pets. We had a walk after our nap and although “only” minus 5, it was freezing cold out there! Luckily we could slide on a frozen lake for a bit of fun and Sammy was in heaven!
For dinner we had lobster mayo (and no, I didn´t kill the poor thing myself, it came already boiled!), duck breast with Brussel sprouts, orange sauce, my famous mashed potatoes and a quick chocolate mousse for desert. We never got around to the desert, way too stuffed by then! I´ll be sure to post a couple of posts on Christmas food the coming days.
It´s officially Christmas
Although I didn´t work a day last week and only a couple of hours this morning, today is my first official holiday. I can finally unwind, do the rest of the preparations and start enjoying myself. Vuong bought the tree and set it up yesterday, we were able to find one of the decoration boxes (out of two), I managed to make some cookies and will bake some more today. I also bought the last gifts and will make some chutney and sugar coated almonds as go-to gifts. 😉
It snowed a tiny bit yesterday and although it turned the sidewalks slippery, it also means the ground is not entirely bare. 😉 White Christmas this year, too! A couple of trips to the woods with Sam are mandatory and so is ice-skating in the city center, if it´s open for renting skates.
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with our friends Franck and Marion and his kids. We had a lavish brunch of yummy pancakes, scrambled eggs, ham and all the cheese and marmalades you could think of, followed by the gift-opening session where Sam gets to tear the paper once the wrapping comes off. 😉 It was a lot of fun and we felt like being with our second family. What else would you call very good friends, if not family?:-) On our way back, we had a stroll in the Sankthanshaugen park with Sam and it was delightful! All the pretty lights, the snow and the majestic buildings, plus people playing with their children and dogs in the snow..
In the evening I saw “Boyhood” with a friend at the cinema. What a fantastic movie! I´ll write a review soon, but you need to see it if you have the chance! Afterwards we had a chat over a couple of beers and a yummy pizza at Hell´s Kitchen, absolutely recommended.;-)
I hope you enjoy my pictures and that they bring you in the mood for Christmas. 😉
Røros II
We´re off to Oslo in just 2 hours and while waiting in the lounge for the time to pass with coffee and biscuits (we´ve already had a walk and it´s freezing cold out there!), I thought I´d let you know what we´ve been up to these days. We had so many plans, we´d do things right this time (meaning going dog sledging and maybe cross country skiing), but then we remembered we had Sam with us, that the temperatures were really low and that this was a holiday, after all. And what I love about holidays is that I can do what I feel like and not what´s expected of me, not even by my own self. Rest, eat when I´m hungry, sleep when I´m tired, take a walk, go shopping for local produce, have a glass of wine, cuddle with Sam, read a book.
Røros
We´re in Røros with Sam for a Christmas getaway and it´s a winter wonderland! The weather is perfect-wind-still and lots of snow, though a bit cold for our taste (-27 C yesterday and only -16 today). 😉 Eating lots of good food and drinking local beer or mulled wine, exploring the area on foot (had to buy wool underwear today!) and shopping for small gifts. Yesterday we were lucky enough to even attend a Christmas concert in church. Today we have rain deer on the menu!;-) 
life in a bubble 