1st of advent

Time to dig out those biscuit cutters - first ginger bread biscuits of the year.

More snow

It has not stopped snowing all day think its time for some fun in the snow.

So Christmas has arrived

The traditional window display at NK and as usual Father Christmas was there as well!

Luckily there were many little helpers around to hand out ginger biscuits

big and small

because there was a long que to see Santa and he talked to every child for a long long time

but finally Lilly and Mina could hand over their wish lists

and get a big hug from Santa him slef.

Fathers day

Mum is selling the appartment block and is clearing out everything she has in the basement (where she also operates her antique store from) and going through old boxes I found my little brothers lego - I said Oh, I think Mina would really like that, but really I was thinking of Paul - Happy fathers day!

Halloween

A fantastic evening spent together with Minas favorite friend, Sally, Jossan and Andreas, Johan and Julie.

The first snow of the year

And the snow is here. his is early even for this part of Sweden. And not nice to drive in with summer tires!! We've been talking about changing to studded tires for days but just not got around to do it. The early snow is obviously causing some problems but at least the country doesn't come to a stand still. Mina has been to the doctor after having a reaction to the antibiotics she has been taking for her pneumonia. The doctor wasn't sure but it might even be chickenpox, poor little one, but I suppose its good to get it when you are little, apparently the younger you are the milder the symptoms.

Lilly's Birthday party

Minas best friend here in Sweden is also called Lilly, can be a bit confusing when we are talking about going to see Lilly.

Essential winter updates

If I had more money I would have liked to have done a proper wardrobe update but with a tight budget you can still do a few smart purches to transform your current wardrobe with some of the latest fashion accessories, or more importantly seasons must-haves that suits you. I didn't spend much on new clothes (a skirt, a dress and a shirt) I have some good outer wear from previous years that I still like and you can always make some good buys in the winter sale for boots and jackets and other expensive items.

What I did spend money on however was to get my old boots re-heeled, some buttons to mend a military jacket. The rest I spent on accessories and make up. This seasons nail vanish, new fish nets (that I wear all year round), a new foundation (from light to medium cover) and a good hand cream.

Proud winner of vision 2040

I have not been this excited in years, our team won the Uddevalla vision 2040. This could be the beginning of something good, maybe I could actually be part of changing Uddevalla to something better. Also well impressed with the chaos pilot that did a fantastic job getting all the contestants to achieve their very best. After an intensive day brainstorms and implementation my head was so mushed I couldn't even compose an email on the end of the first day. On day 2 me and Linda celebrated with a well deserved pint and talks about how to spend our 1000 kr prize money ; )

New hair do

Shall I go for a permed fringe?

Getting a bit bord now, have had the same haircut since before summer....

Towel nappies

I was quite impressed when I saw the range in Ica Maxi.

And not to mention my homemade cupcake : )

Kanelbullens dag

Like mother like daughter!

Peace Kitty

Its not easy going shopping with a 3 year old, especially not with one that already knows what she wants. There is no point buying clothes I want her to wear. If she doesn't like them at a first glance she will never wear them.

But at the end we found something that we could agree on and she rooks!

Gothenburg bookfair

I got some tickets from work for the bookfair but had not had time to go earlier in the week so it had to be Saturday..... not the best of days as this is when the rest of the public visits. (I didn't even make it upstairs to the graphic section.) However it worked out nicely as a family outing. Paul got to get some of his awaited SiFi novels and Mina truly enjoyed it. It was absolutely rammed with people and it took us a good hour once we got into central of Gothenburg, just to find a space in a nearby car park. I knew we should have taken the train (obviously didn't think of this until we were stuck in the traffic jam). We did an impressive pit stop tho in the only green space we passed on the way (Minas very well planed toilet visit), the car only move a few meters up the street.

After the bookfair we went to the Mac store to buy a new battery to my laptop (been working on a stationary laptop for far too long) was shocked at how much it was, electronics are so much more expensive in Sweden. Anyway now I don't have to be plugged into the main any more - and its worth any penny.

We rounded off our family outing with a trip to Andreas and Jossan for a homemade apple pie. Mina had chosen a book for Sally - Vem sover inte? by Stina Wirsén. Think Sally will become as big a fan as Mina after a little while whom herself chose a more daring title - Vem blöder?

Mina is not the only one who is a big fan - I love them too. You can read them over and over again without getting bored (compared to many other young children books) and they bring up topics that are relevant to small children is such a clever way.

I also bought a wicked colour-in book for christmas.

Yes its true, I have already started to plan for christmas.

Election day

Mina and I are off to vote

and for a trip to the playground.

And then a very colorful Sunday roast with purple cauliflower.

Day out on the town

Today didn't quite turn out the way I had planned.

In my head, me and Mina were gonna shoot of early to the library, borrow some new books, download a film and hung out but by the time we got out, had dropped Paul off at my office to fix the Volvo, half the day had gone.

My new found, the second hand store Lady gala (which I had been longing to check out all week) shut early, before 2pm. I had time for just a quick tease. Now I have to wait all weekend and who knows if I get the time to run down in my lunch break during the week. Grrr.

The library shut at 2pm - rush in, grab a couple of books and get chucked out!

Then we did spend some lovely time in the playground in the warm autumn sun reading the new books before playing hide and seek.

Fika at Leja's cafe - No green tea with out any fruit, No read tea without fruit, so a glass of milk for Mina and a bottle of elder-flowered flavored sparkling water for me. This detox thing is starting to drive me crazy!!!

Quite a cool cafe just a shame there is no pulse.

What´s wrong with this town!

Half the places shut at 2pm and the rest by 4 on a SATURDAY. I suppose the shop nearest to Kampenhof (the bus terminal might stay open to five, WoHo....).

And so is the old volvo! I cant wait to get rid of it, stolen blikers, snapped handbrake cable and a broken horn, just a few things that needs to be sorted before we can put it up for sale.

And not to talk about the other one, who is just waiting to be picked up and taken to the scrap yard. I received the new registration documents last week so hopefully we can get rid of it next week.

The Uddevalla romance is long gone and I think I am suffering from a summer come down and junk abstinence.

No refined food for 6 days. No snacking, no fruit, caffeine, no fast food or sugar of any kind. Best I´ve done in a long time - its been hard.

I cant take it no more, I need some stimulant!

A bar of 70% fair trade chocolate saved the evening.

However we're gonna stick to the none refined diet and I'll do another detox of 2 weeks in the beginning of October and then I'll do it for 2 weeks (I will prepare a bit better next time, both mentally and stocking up the cupboard with better ingredients).

Tomorrow its election day and I have almost decided what party I´m gonna vote for, at least I am certain of what side.

But I have a few more questions to get answered before I tick my boxes.

Last nights debate was insightful, even tho it was a bit difficult to follow as Mina refused to go to bed.

I like to know my stuff, otherwise what´s the point to vote if you don´t know what you are voting for. Last time I voted I was 18 years old - a lot have happened and a lot has changed for me personally and in politics. But one thing is sure, living in a different country and have been part of a different culture for such a long time has definitely left its marks.

Detox week

Day 1

Today is the first day of my detox week, and I have not been very organized.

I am no beginner. Back in my holistic days I used to do this on regular basis. Everything from full moon fasts to Ayurvedic 50 day detox. But now its so much harder.

For one, I don't seam to have the self control I used to have and secondly its impossible to be selfish when you have a family. What you need these days is preparation and planning.

However this type of detox I am doing is quite humane and shouldn't be too hard to follow but the start wasn't too good.

Before I got to work this morning I rushed into the supermarket to pick up some yoghurt and a grapefruit for my breakfast. Ate it during the Monday meeting, then for lunch I picked up a vegetarian salad from Cactus that i wolfed down cos my lunch break was somewhat a little late (I was both hungry and stressed). Only had a handful of nuts for snack.

And when it came to dinner-time Mina had decided not to go to bed so I dint get to sit down until 8.30pm, and then in front of 24.

So to summerize my first day, I did stick to smaller portions (apart from dinner, but it was a healthy lentil salad so not too bad). I didn't snack (apart from nuts), I didn't have any fruit. But I did eat while working, watching telly and didn't slow down before, during or after eating.

So on a scale from 1-5 I'll give myself a 2.

Lets see if I can do any better tomorrow.

Cleaning Sunday

We're doing a pretty good job of sticking to our rota we made about a month ago (Paul is way better at it then I am but then he gets to show off that and tell me off which make him feel good and I really don't mind a bit of earache). I have moaned at him for so long about housework I don't mind being nagged at, makes me open my eyes and be a bit more considerate of how he must have felt doing a full time job, being the household earner. Now its my turn, but I really hope one of his many projects will pay off soon, it would be nice to have a bigger buffer. However its so much better then when we lived in London, at least now we don't have to count our pennies every week to work out what we could afford to eat.

Today was also one of the many many family gathering / birthday parties which take up a large part of our free time. And it always seams to be on Sunday afternoons! Maybe I've gone and become more British than I thought but why can't parties be held on a Saturday? or is it that the most immediately family, which consist of 18 people, only are around on Sundays?

It is always a bad day for us as F1 (which is the only sport that Paul follows, thank god) always seam to fall on the same time as these f***ing parties.

So the question always comes up - Do I have to go? and I always answer - Yes you do! which is never a good start for a day of formal fun.

Don't get me wrong these parties are very nice and with good food etc etc and I used to be very jealous that I couldn't attend when I was living abroad but now they seam to be every other week!! And when we left today (which took just over 1 hour, leaving that is) I found out that we had another 2 coming up before xmas - that is one a month from Aug right up to xmas!

I am so glad I have decided to quit my saturday job at Smögen (seams like I have found some clients in town, much better) cos I just would not have enough time to do anything with my family or let alone myself.

Moan moan moan....

Another topic that came up over dessert was why I missed London. I couldn't help getting frustrated that my mum and sister didn't get where I was coming from so me and Paul had a long discussion about it in the car on our way home and then it came to me, they wouldn't understand cos they had never seeked out what it would be like living in a different place, not longed to be part of something bigger, they were perfectly happy living in a small town for the rest of their lives.

There is nothing wrong with that and at times I even envy them for not being so pertinacious as I am. But of course they don't understand where I am coming from, and they never will.

What surprised me tho was my mums reaction to my disappointment of my romanic view of Sweden. If she was in my shoes, she wouldn't stay for a second longer then she needed to. It almost sounded like she couldn't wait for me to move away again - No, I know that is not true, but maybe she too finds it a bit strange to have her daughter on her doorstep. I mean, 12 year is a long time....

However it felt good talking about it and I got some rally good tips on how to bring some of our British traditions into our Uddevalla life. The butcher on Södra Drottninggatan Wattson and Olsson and apparently there is an eastern supermarket near by. It is also worth checking out Dalaberg and their local shops (which is just up the road from us). With this new search engine I found quite a few ecological farms that sells both cuts of meet and vegs, maybe worth doing a trip once a month picking up some meet. Bet both Paul and Mina would love that.

It feels weird, I am doing what I used to do in England, searching out people and places that reminds me of home and a culture that I miss and I never thought it would be the British.

Mina is doing her part in our new cleaning routine - microfiber cloths are just the best invention!

The pizza marathon

Tomorrow is It's (Erik)birthday bash, in Ljungskile, Pizzeria Bella Mare who does awesome pizzas. It is a good call to get all the immediately family members (18 to be exact) to meet at the pizzeria, it is getting rather crowded to bring everyone home.

Anyway as the food on the menu is Pizza we thought we give it a go to get Mina to eat some. What if she gets to make shapes and then make mini pizzas herself - would she dare to try one then?

N0!

But at least we had fun making them!

Mina fell asleep on the sofa while we were watching old episodes of Top Gear, (when Hammond had short hair and mascara so they must have been old but just as hilarious), waiting for Xfactor to start.

Minas home made pizzas. They look really good don't they?

Friday night in

Paul's turn for an afterwork ( I had one last week and ended up on an after party at my neighbor and didn't come home until 4am so I am not expecting him any time soon) and even when he is not here to cook for me he makes sure I get fed (I was lucky coz there were no bread or cereal in ;-) Mina and I had a girls night in dancing the night away (wearing ear muffles)

Mina and I had a girls night in dancing the night away (wearing earmuffs)

Perfect Skin for CHEAP!

One of my favorite make up artist blogs. Great tip from Kandee on how to get a flawless face and great contour with drugstore products.

Cats and teddy bears

Teddy bear camouflaging - useful for indoor cats only!

Autumn picknick

Its definitely getting colder, especially in the mornings and I have spotted both red and yellow leafs. Will this be our last picknick? better make the most of it.

Still in a T

Plastic slide = Electric hair

No more dummies

This must be Mina's happiest day, she has got her very first bike! A hard price to pay - no more dummies, thats the only way to get your hands on a bike I had said.

And she did it! I am a very proud mum. She payed with all her dummies and after she had handed over her dummies to the cashier she realized what she had done and burst out in tears, it was heartbreaking. But an ice cream later and a bike to build she soon forgot all about the dummies (until nighttime).

From this sad...

to this happy!