A sky painted pink

Did you notice the American flag in the corner? I didn't see it myself when taking the photo.

Last night on my walk home from the grocery store with my baby, the sky treated us to another one of those amazing LA sunsets.

Bare faced

Another image of me from the "no makeup" shoot I did in Santa Monica last fall. Black&white or color? Which one do you prefer?

More celebrations

The birthday celebrations continued this weekend with a little dinner party with my California family members I'm lucky enough to have living over here. I baked my strawberry and cream cake, toasted with some champagne and got to open even more great gifts.

Hello Friday

My favorite homemade bruchettas and a glass of white wine seems like a good start to the weekend. Happy weekend everyone.

Happy! Some of my birthday gifts

If you know me well enough, you know I'm the biggest Dallas geek and JR. Ewing fan so when I yesterday received an autographed Larry Hagman photo, I got really happy of course! A memorabilia from the show or something from him, the greatest villain ever, is something I've always wanted to have.

And an autographed copy of this beautiful story by one of my favorite Swedish authors. I saw the TV series and have been wanting to get the book ever since.

A new top from the Missoni/Lindex collection moved into my wardrobe. (It's quite wrinkled here! Oops.) A pair of pants too. I liked so many pieces from this very collection and was lucky to get them too.

And that I love angels is no surprise either. In this cute little keepsake box I will put some pretty pieces of jewelry.

My absolute favorite model - Miss Kate Moss. This enormous coffee table book with the most gorgeous photographs has been on my wishlist for a long time.

My Birthday

It's my birthday today! I've gotten really celebrated and pampered ❤ I'll show my amazing birthday gifts tomorrow!

Lots of Sweden on the shelves

Enjoyed a late lunch there too.

I recently heard about another European/Scandinavian deli shop that sells lots of Swedish food and sweets. So of course I had to check it out. Otherwise I've been going to Olsson's on Pico or to IKEA. (But my biggest source of goodies from back home is Mom! ;) ) They had a large assortment of German Haribo candy, Swedish Marabou chocolates, knackebrod, cheese, nyponsoppa, O'boy and lots of other fun stuff. Quite pricy of course but great that it's there when cravings get too big. And when I'm getting homesick I can always come to places like these and just look at all my favorite foods and products.

Big in America

Wow, everything really is bigger over here. I should be used to it by now. I just sat down for a chai tea latte and thought I wanted something from the bakery too and went for a lemon cake. And it's like a whole lunch. Enormous! No wonder they gave me a knife and fork too.

Birthdays, birthdays..

Ice cream cake from Baskin Robins.

Yesterday I celebrated a birthday. Not mine but very soon it's MY turn to turn one year older. My birthday is only three days away. I love birthdays, just like if I were a kid, but getting older isn't the most fun of course. A part of me feels like I'm still in my 20's. Another part feels I've done a lot of things in my life and that reflects who I am today. And now I'm a mom so I guess it only makes sense to get even older and wiser :)

You are beautiful ❤

Venice, CA

A part of home

Of course it warms my heart a little bit when finding Swedish coffee at the grocery store. Over here Swedish coffee is known to be really good and strong.

Mirror, mirror..

Apparently we look ourselves in the mirror about 70 times a day. That's quite a lot. But it does make sense. Who doesn't throw a quick glance when passing a store window or in the bathroom mirror or just about every time there is a chance to see your reflection? I do. Unfortunately most of the times we are probably critical though, thinking we look tired or are having a bad hair day or inspect that giant zit that is about to come up.. Do YOU look yourself in the mirror often?

Yay!

70% off on favorite Christmas candy after Christmas :)

"Santa's coal" - gives you a black tongue and fingers but taste like blueberries.

Beautiful

This caught my eye when out walking with the stroller just now. Nature can be really beautiful.

Santa Barbara trip

A quick Sunday day trip to Santa Barbara. It's always nice getting a bit of change of scenery every now and then. Santa Barbara is such a beautiful place that I've been to much too seldom. With someone from back home living there now, I'm looking forward to exploring it more in the future.

Baking happiness

Strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

My new nice little cupcake baking forms. Aren't they cute? The baked goods look so much prettier and it makes baking even more fun. Ps. By the way, Sprinkles has opened at the Grove now...yay :)