snow

Snowy days

It´s been snowing for days and it´s so very pretty outside! Snowflakes big like butterflies, they keep on falling down hurriedly, with vigor, as though they had only one purpose in life. It´s windy and it´s ruthless outside and I feel like a polar explorer when I dare leave the house. I hadn´t realized how much I´d missed it, it reminds me of my mother country, the panic on the news and the closed schools. Yet I´m not a winter´s child, I prefer admiring it from under the blanket, with a cup of tea in my hand.  Staring at the snow safe and sound with the cat besides me, I can feel nostalgia slipping into my thoughts.

I´m going home in February and I´m as excited as ever. Every time I go back home it´s like taking a trip back in time. I don´t just go on a holiday, I go back to being 19. And it´s soaring. It´s not about age or accomplishments, it´s just that beginning, the promise of something bigger, I always wonder when I decided I got there. Don´t get me wrong, I´m pretty happy. The only thing I want is a baby and a picket fence, otherwise I´m good. I have it all. Just not the promise. I´m not 19 any more and the promise is gone. And I don´t know how to go home and not look for the time that passed…

Tallinn in Christmas clothes

We started this tradition last year, we got away from the city for a weekend to get some Christmas spirit. Our destination was Røros, a fairy tale-like small town in Middle Norway, 5 hours away by train, but miles and miles away from the city stress and everyday routine. To make it a tradition, we had to do the same this year, so we chose Tallinn, Estonia. And my God were we lucky to visit such a pretty town in winter! We were totally swept away by the colorful houses, the  Christmas market in the middle  of the old town, the churches and thick city walls and, last but not least- the cold! I´ve never been so cold in my life as I was for those three days, and I live in Norway! Good thing there´s such thing as mulled wine, caramelized almonds, elk soup à la middle ages (meaning without a spoon), sauerkraut, sausages and pork steak! In addition to that, we had a sauna and a jacuzzi at the hotel, as well as the possibility to book various treatments- I chose a facial, a massage, manicure and pedicure! 😉 There are a couple of stores with nice Estonian design, arts and crafts and delicatessen, so gifts were not difficult to find, either. And even though either of us is particularly fond of winter, we both love Christmas! So it was delightful to just walk around, check out the antique shops, pop in for a cocoa, update our instagram, walk a little more, take some pictures, have some lunch, take a nap, take a sauna, dinner, drinks and then more sleep. It´s so rejuvenating, we´ve already chosen next year´s destination-Viena! I hope you enjoy this ride with us!

_MG_5278

Continue reading →

Sam the samoyed

A friend of mine asked me to write an entry on Sam, the sweetest dog in the whole world, who came into our lives in February this year. I already showed you a couple of pictures with the biggest white fluff ever, but I guess he deserves a whole bunch more.

I grew up with cats at my grandma´s,  so I´ve always been a cat person. When I moved to a house with my parents in ´97 we got Jackie, a German Shepard puppy. He was adorable, he couldn´t even hold his ears straight when my dad brought him home. We were great buddies for a couple of years, but somehow he stopped liking me when I moved away. The first chance he got, I was home for a weekend, he bit me in the face. No permanent damage done, it was probably just a warning. And I still like dogs, I just have difficulties trusting big ones.

For a while- 9 years- we had two cats, but last year we had to put one of them to sleep due to kidney failure. It was awfully sad, both for us and for the other cat. Little by little, I started yearning for a puppy. We´d been talking about it for at least a couple of years, but we were always afraid we´re not sporty or disciplined enough. We agreed we should get a puppy when I´d be back from an extensive trial in Bergen and one day before the trial I was told it was off. So we started searching for puppies on the internet. We were interested in samoyed, chow chow or akita. Then we found Sam and it was love at first sight! He looked like a seal puppy, not at all like a dog, but he was the cutest thing we´d ever seen in our lives! And he´s been such a blessing. I´ve never met a more gentle being. He´s playful and sweet, friends with the cat and with everyone he meets. Introducing you to Sam the samoyed, aka Samululu!

Little Sam

Continue reading →