shopping

A family weekend in Vienna

We´re back from a lovely weekend in Vienna with my family and had so much fun they should have made a movie about us. A “telenovela”, to be more specific, because we´re so refreshingly crazy the whole bunch of us! 😉 At times I felt I was starring in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, it was THAT cliche! I had been looking forward to the trip for a while and at the same time I was a bit nervous- three generations under the same roof,  need I say more?! Many personalities, to put it mildly- a 2 years old toddler who screams when she doesn´t get what she wants, a brother who´s reluctant to new experiences, a father who likes to call the shots, but unfortunately, so do I.  You can only imagine. 😉

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Gift Ideas for Him

What about a camera strap from EAM? The designer is no one other than my husband, his products are hand-crafted in Norway and made to last. For an exclusive Scandinavian look for the modern gentleman, go for simplicity and support a local business! You can find this and other amazing articles on: Essentialarticles

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Copenhagen part II

Yesterday it rained all day and my depressive state of mind would have prevented me from doing anything at all had I not been on a city break and had a frisky husband and friends. 😉 We started with a cup of latte and some tea buns typical for the Copenhagen area, took our umbrellas with us and made our way to Østerbro gade for a walk and, hopefully, some shopping. 😉 We entered several cool shops- toy stores, Norman Copenhagen´s design haven, a French brocante so overpriced not even I could justify buying anything there and some vintage stores. After buying a soft white bunny for my niece, I was left breathless when we entered Second, a luxury vintage store like the ones I can only dream of in Norway! Moreover, they had a gorgeous pair of burgundy stiletto heels from Stella McCartney in my size! I was sold! I also found a lovely knitted jacket with silk lining and managed to bargain for a nail polish as a free bonus!;-)

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Copenhagen part I

We arrived on Thursday at around 9 pm at our friends´ amazing apartment in Østerbro and were welcome with bubbles, Danish roast beef, sesame broccoli salad, remulade (a sort of mayo with pickles inside), to mention some of the goodies. We chatted and toasted and pet their dog until we girls collapsed at around 1, but the guys carried on until 4 am. There was the joy of seeing each other again, all those nooks in the apartment that had to be discovered, you name it.

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Paris

I´m in Paris and although there´s probably a special kind of sin not to be outside exploring, but inside writing on my blog, I needed to rest my feet at some point, so here we go! Besides, I just shared a bottle of Crémant with Vuong and our host, Tanguy and now I´m perking up with some coffee in bed. Taking into consideration all the amount of walking we´ve done these last 4 days, one would need to be Cat Woman not to need a short break. 😉

Oh, Paris, my heart is bursting out with love for this city! It´s my 7th time here, I think, but I never get enough of it! I usually like a city better the second or third time around anyhow, since I don´t feel the need to do all that sightseeing (that I seldom enjoy anyway). Luckily, we have a one museum per holiday policy, neither of us being especially keen on spending precious time indoors staring at the dead when we can admire the living. So this trip has been great so far. We had lots of time to walk about and admire the city´s heavily draped silhouettes, then sit down for a drink or a bite now and then. Whatever street we crossed, the smell from the corner fruit store would tickle our nostrils. We glared at Parisians, had a glimpse at art galleries, did some shopping- clothes, a scented candle or a brocante treasure. A cup of champagne was mandatory every day and so was something sweet to nibble on.

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Drowsy days

It´s been so hot in Oslo it´s been difficult to do anything at all, really. Whenever I´ve worked I´ve done so early, but the way back has been an ordeal! I kept feeling I´d collapse before I´ll ever get home. And I find it hard to believe it, since it´s never been this hot this long in all the years I´ve been living here. So I keep pushing myself to do all the things I´d normally do at 25 degrees, but to no avail.

Yesterday I had to tend to my accountancy and since I don´t get internet from the garden I boiled inside. Today was a bit better, I had to translate some documents and I could do it in the garden with Sam, but no beach for this cutie!:-/

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Lazy days

Oh, how I missed these lazy days of July, thought they´d never come! I´m working a couple of hours every day, a little more in between, leaving me plenty of time to nap, read, walk my Sammy and make all those fresh summer dishes that´ll turn my body into a 20 year old´s all over again. 😉 Haha! Not to mention how nice it is to have my husband around, have a walk in the warm summer evening and rediscover the neighborhood we moved to almost 3 years ago.

I usually stay in Norway in July since I adore the summer pace, the possibility to go straight to the beach from work or whatever errands you need to run before Norway shuts down in the general staff holiday. There are sales everywhere and the city is warm with beer and joy, people strip down and wiggle their toes, oh it´s an entirely different town! The weather seems to be getting better and better, so tomorrow we´re going to watch the World Cup in the park, beer and burgers parked in front of us. Saturday we´re off to the beach, if the weather allows and the beach makes both me and Sam besides ourselves with joy.

Today we´re having shrimps mayo and later we´ll probably have a walk to Sørenga and sip some Prosecco on the new marina. Hope your July is just as awesome! xxx, Alina

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I love Paris in the fall

We´re going to Paris for a week in September! Weee! There´s a trade show my husband is attending and I get to toggle along. I´m soo looking forward to it! All the croisants and the eclairs we can eat, walk till we drop, shop at the best fashion boutiques, attend a jazz concert and drink wine all night! Besides, I need to go to some antique markets this time, plus meet a couple of friends. Ai, ai, ai, la vie en rose!

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Then we take Berlin

I´m just back from a trip to Berlin and boy  was it  invigorating! I love that city, there´s no doubt in my mind that it has everything you could ever want from a metropole, except for the sea, perhaps. I´d settle for that anytime!

I was in Berlin for a conference; in a way it was the excuse I needed to allow myself 4 days off.  The conference about community interpreting was intense and inspiring, although I found out mostly what I already knew, that the world is compromising more and more for the sake of saving a penny and that availability precedes quality.

However, that didn´t stop me from having a good time. We did some shopping, we dined French, Asian and Italian. We walked till our feet hurt, stopped for a beer and then walked some more. I´m not very much into German cuisine, except for the curry wurste and the pretzel, which I had my share of this time, too.

On Sunday we went to the Mauerpark for the flea market, but since it was Memorial Day there was no market.  What else to do than eat some organic pizza and have more coffee? We then walked all the way to Mitte through Prenzlauer Berg with its colorful  buildings, shops and falafel stores. Berlin was chilly and grey and yet not distressing at all. They´d just started Christmas decorating and somehow I felt I was a couple of weeks early.

Yesterday we wrapped up by cake and coffee at KADEWE, the amazing shopping center of West Berlin, where you find whatever you could ever dream of from exclusive handcrafted bags to chocolate truffles and eclairs. We had amazing eclairs and bought some small gifts and magazines, I am now the proud owner of the latest CEREAL edition! Later on we visited the Bauhaus Museum and found yet some more inspiration in the clean lines and visionary buildings. I am currently on my couch in my pjs and life has never been as sweet.

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Mondays for a career woman

I´m getting used to those leisure Mondays, I´m thinking of making them a permanent solution. It´s such a good day to breathe! Fridays are not the same at all, you just feel you´re jumpstarting the weekend. Mondays however are an extension of the weekend, you get to do whatever it was you didn´t have time to during those two days that pass way too fast.

Long story short, my day started in court where I interpreted with a friend of mine for 2,5 hours and, due to a cause unrelated to the interpreters, the proceedings had to be postponed. Meaning coffee with my colleague, waxing and massage! Isn´t it just wonderful when you make a little time for yourself? I don´t have kids, so I don´t know how the others manage through the week, but I get so worked up in my daily life I almost get depressed if I don´t have a little timeout at a beautician´s or in a shop. 😉

I then bough a magazine and came home to enjoy some time with the pets. Beo slept leaning on to me and I planned dinner. Onion stew a la grandma, with chicken and dill. Recipe and picture in my next post! Yummy Mondays!

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