Metrobloggen

...or maybe it was, but i just haven't found the energy and inspiration to update it. sorry about that. now summer is over, and i'm back at my old blog again, so go check that out if you want.

i'll leave you with some photos from a dark night last week. i felt like experimenting a little, and here is the outcome.

... i know, i said i was going to update this blog when we came back from arholma, but as it turned out, i was only home for an hour to re-pack my bag, and then found myself on a bus to the countryside again. i stayed at a friend's house in the middle of nowhere for a week, then went on to borrow my mum's house for a couple of days, then went back to my friend's for another week, and just made it back to town yesterday.

it’s been weeks of working on my tan, swimming in lakes, singing in the car, watching bad movies late at night and eating a small mountain of grilled meat. you know you are chilling properly when the biggest event of the day is buying an icecream... very relaxing i must say. i already want to go back.

i’m leaving the city for a long weekend at arholma in the stockholm archipelago, and it’s going to be so great! me and the kids and a bunch of old and new friends, the sea, sun, hacky-sack games, wine and barbecues...

i was going to bring the computer so i could keep you updated and show you the beautiful scenery, but now that i’m done packing there is just no room in the bags for my computer so i’ll just have to save the stories and pictures for when we get back, and give it to you on monday!

have a nice weekend everyone!

i’ve wanted a pair of martin margiela’s tabi shoes ever since i first saw them several years ago. but they are a bit out of my price range. today i spotted a pair on grey that stephanie had found on ebay, and that triggered me to google them to see if i could find something similar. i did. only better. what do you say about these? i can’t choose, i just know that i want them. and i know that i’m going to have them. one of the pairs at least, i don’t think i’ll have use for two unfortunately...

my absolute favorite bar in stockholm is called berlin. they make the meanest cocktails in the city, and have great food as well. the mocca pannacotta with passionfruit is to die for... but watch out for the blue cherries in your drink! they work better for playing with than eating.

(and yes, things actually were this blurry, it's not the cameras fault)

well, like everyone else, i've been sucked into facebook, so this blog will have to handle things on it's own for a while...

loving the new orla kiely collection. as always.

lef is this fab café that i visited a couple of times last week when i was in amsterdam. so, this is not in any way a hidden gem that i found browsing the backstreets, but rather a great little coffee house in the middle of the nine streets, one of the most tourist crowded areas in amsterdam. however, when i was there it wasn't crowded at all, as you can see from the pictures.

the staff is very friendly, their sandwiches are great, and they even serve special kid's sandwiches with a selection of jam, chocolate spread or peanut butter, sliced bananas and a sprinkle of smarties on top. i know my kids would love that! in stockholm it kind of feels like kids aren't welcome in most cafés, and i don't think anyone has ever thought about the possibility of a kid's menu in a café. i think i'm going to suggest that to some of my favourite hangouts.

i’m back in my own apartment now, which is a nice feeling. i always find it hard to completely relax when i’m staying somewhere else. don’t get me wrong, i love travelling, and i loved sia’s home, but i also like the feeling of coming home.

travelling on my own was an interesting experience. i had plenty of time to think, which means that i learned quite a lot about myself, who i am and what i want in life. some people go to india or thailand to find themselves, i went to amsterdam.
once i got over the overwhelming feeling of loneliness that hit me in the first couple of days, i was feeling pretty good about being on my own. i alone had to handle all the little problems that can occur when you are travelling. i alone had to make sure that my days were filled with good experiences, and keep my mood up when i got lost or bored. usually, i tend to lean on others a bit too much when it comes to those kinds of things. but now i’ve learned to handle it myself, and i will try to keep it that way in the future.

i learned a lot more on my trip, i guess i grew quite a bit, mentally that is. it was a good lesson in self-esteem, courage, independence and creativity. definitely worth the agony of being lonely.

i really love clouds, as patterns, not in the sky. i just found these amazing clothes, from finnish label hankala.

i would like to share two things that i’ve learned today.

1. don’t use mint shower gel "down there". it is very refreshing. a bit too refreshing actually.

2. when planning to ride your bike for a whole day, don’t wear jeans.

other than that, i had a lovely day in the sun, exploring the jordaan area a bit more, shopping at papabubble, eating moroccan food, having not used my map for the entire day and getting lots of flirty looks and comments from nice looking guys while wearing my new checkered dress.

yeah, i know, this is not what you are looking for in my blog. but these are the last ones, really. hey sis, check these out: universe on a t-shirt

i found their store, where they make all the t-shirts, and you can choose which print you want on whichever style and colour of shirt that you like. but they are kind of pricey, so it's not going to be a present... i might just buy the reversible green one with the cloud thingies for myself tomorrow. it's starting to grow on me, that design. but i will probably have another print on the inside, perhaps some origami stuff.

can you believe i got all this for under 50 euros? i love sales!

two of the pins are for my kids, one is for me. if you knew my sons, it would be very easy to guess who gets what... jools, can you tell?

it's this or "i heart amsterdam". your pick.

today i met the lovely danielle from the style files at a gorgeous little restaurant called proef. we had a very nice time, chatting away about life, vacations and blogging of course! proef is located in the westergasfabriek park, which also houses some other nice places like de bakkerswinkel and artolive.

i love the way they serve their food at proef, very low key and cute!

riding your bike here in amsterdam is pretty scary, but fun too, as you don’t have to be as polite as you do when bicycling in stockholm. everyone drives like total nuts, and today i had a little accident, involving me, floris’s bike, and a truck. it wasn’t too bad though, so don’t worry. actually, i was the one who run into him. i was riding between the truck and some parked bicycles, when the truck suddenly stopped. i didn’t. so i run into his side view mirror, since the space was too narrow for me to get through. he didn’t seem to care too much though, so i just cursed a little and went on.

other than that, i had a nice day at the foam museum, seeing some great exhibitions, and meeting merten, i guy i met on flickr. i’m going out for some drinks now, but i’ll show you some pictures of my day later.

look, i have a new haircut! i like it, alot. thanks for recommending rob peetoom to me sia! and floris, i kept the "bleeeugh" things in the back. :-)

the hair stylist was very nice, although not as nice as my old one who used to give me wine and chocolate... well, i guess i'll just have to go out and get my own wine. yes, that is what i'm going to do. right now actually.

i’m in amsterdam on vacation. i’ve been wanting to go here for the last ten years or something like that, but the timing has never been right. but now i’m finally here, and i love it! the city is fantastic, and i’m living in sia’s apartment which is sooo nice! i put some pictures of her gorgeous home on flickr, since i can’t seem to find any photo editing software on her computer, and the photos are too big to put in the blog.

on the journey i made a couple of weeks ago to the southern parts of sweden, i visited a friends summer house. we had a good time with lots of meat on the barbeque, board games, cider, and cuddling the crazy cornish rex kittens who greeted me by running up my legs and jumping on to my shoulders.

liivian talossa started a game, and tweetytwix at colorful ribbons translated it, so now we can all play it. come on, play along now!

if i would be an animal, i'd be a lemur.if i would be a tree, i'd be a cherry tree.
if i would be a car, i'd be a mini cooper.if i would be a fruit, i'd be a pineapple.if i would be a drink, i'd be a mojito.

the top sign says "you can write things with flower seeds on lawns and wait" and the bottom one says, well i don't know actually. please poop and hunt butterflies here?