Hen

Sweden is adding a gender neutral word to the dictionary.  It's "hen" which means he or she, and could be used for either.  So instead of saying "he likes it", you would basically be saying "it likes it", or "it gave birth" or whatever.  Perfect for describing transgender people, or someone like Pat from Saturday Night Live but I predict not otherwise to be used often in day to day speech.  Read more here.  It appears to be moving Sweden in a more gender neutral direction.  Do you agree?  It is an interesting concept but I predict difficult to implement. 

Bathroom re-do redux

I've written about wanting to re-do our "master bath" (ha, ha) before.  See the post here and here for my original dream bath.  I liked the original vanity, concrete look and rustic mirrors --

Well we've come a way since then and I'm embarrassed to say that it doesn't look much like I anticipated!  First of all, there's the issue of storage.  I picked out a cute little vanity but when it came right down to it we really needed those drawers.  So, so much for a marble top, the extra cost for a larger piece means that for now we have to make do with an enamel topped vanity.  The concrete probably ain't happening either but here's how: concrete - if you are so inclined.

Next we hit an impasse with the mirror and the lights.  I had thought to use a more creative approach but once again practicality intervened and we went with a more common but brighter option for lighting the little space.  Also, the old mirror had to go.  So now what we have is the Ellenbee Vanity with the Portfolio Vanity Bar, a basic solution.  I really need to add a speck of something special to what is now a Lowe's basic bath and I just found something cool that think just might solve my problem! Voila! Vinyl tile.

Can you believe it?  This cool looking tile at www.ruugs.se might just be the ticket to jazzing up the space.  It's too expensive to tile ($1,000 estimate for a little, bitty room!) but I think this vinyl floor at 249 krones per 300 cm (about 9.8 feet) could be about right, I'm estimating about 747 Swedish krones for the floor which is a tidy little sum of $89.  Cool huh?  But now what about that shipping? ;-)

http://inredningsvis.se/marockansk-inredning-marrakech-kakel/

At any rate, here's a new inspiration shot for this idea via "Inredningsvis.se", a lovely site full of good ideas. It is translated into English too.  Now our bathroom will never look this good but these floors are worth a try.  I'll let you know what I find out.

Stockholm Fashion Week...

... has just ended (5/19 - 5/22/2015) but there was a general consensus, if not among the designers at least the attendees on what to wear next winter in Sweden.  Elle provides a brief synopsis here:
http://www.elle.com/fashion/g7934/secrets-of-swedish-style/

The 7 secrets involve khaki jackets, cream, leather pants (!) and minimalism.  Not a big secret if you ask me!  Most of all I'm liking the lug soled boots - perfect for cobblestone alleyways.

Yeah! Heroes Won!!

The reigning hero, Måns Zelmerlöv, came back to Sweden after a victorious night at the Eurovision contest on Saturday!! 

Malmö waits for Måns Zelmerlöv

My cousin (with thousands more) waited and took this shot on Stortorget in Malmö, Sweden.  I've been a fan since the get-go, see my post here where I rated the Swedish contestants and chose him as my #1.  So exciting for Sweden, they've really got this Eurovision thing nailed!  Sweden has won 5 times - 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012 and this year 2015! facts here

Check out this live video from him winning the 60th annual Eurovision contest.  It starts with a recap of his winning on Saturday in Austria and then shows the Lundapåg (Lund boy) coming home to celebrate! Plus a nice choral verson of "Hero"  http://www.svtplay.se/video/2960966/hyllning-till-mans

The show is in Swedish but I think the crowd and screaming girls translates pretty easily.  (One of the questions is how he doesn't seem to sweat.  Ha, ha)  The man is a hero for life in Sweden now.  This is something I've written about before, it's taken pretty seriously as you can see from the crowds. Heja Sweden!  :-)  And one more time, here's a link to the song, "Heroes":

Lindström thank you very much! And Måns Z!

Happy Memorial Day weekend kick-off everyone!  An extra day off here in the States, and we sure can use it. I hope that you have a wonderful Friday.  I'm all set to watch the Eurovision Semi Finals from 3 - 5:00 (Eastern Standard time) today on SVT,play.  Handsome hubby linked up the laptop and I think all I have to do is hit play (hope so). ;-) Here's the line up for the second semifinal:

• Azerbaijan
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Israel
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Malta

• Montenegro
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• San Marino
• Slovenia
• Sweden
• Switzerland

All the countries are clickable in the list above so you can hear the songs.  And here's the link: Semi #2.  Heja Sverige och Måns (the Swedish singer of Heroes, our Eurovision song).

Speaking of Sweden, love those Minnesotan descendants who made sure to keep the ö in the o! Check it out here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/us/lindstrom-minnesota-umlaut-scandinavian-roots-governor-dayton.html?smid=fb-share  In Lindstöm they know that the ö makes a diff, but some people don't know that ä, å, and ö are actually letters with their own sounds and not just put there to look fancy and "Swedishy" like Häagen-Dazs®.  Actually I have no idea how that would sound but it does taste good.  Have a great däåög!  :-)

man candy - aka Måns Zelmerlöv (See all the umlauts folks?) 

Crafty

Hej!  Looking over my "intro" I realized that I had promised you crafts of the Scandinavian persuasion.  Well, being stuck in a 9 - 5 has severely limited by time to craft but it needn't be that way for you!  I hope that you are so inspired by "Hildas Hem" latest post that you rush out and visit a flea market to get the things that you need for this nifty lamp.  We're looking for some little white lights for our outdoor space.  Maybe I'll even try doing something like this cool hanging lamp too, using the bulbs in bottles and my kitchen tools that I also hardly get around to using now as well.  (Let's just say we had hot dogs for dinner.)  Here's the make your own lamp link and for those of you who have tons of time, a hot dog recipe that I hope tastes like Sweden!

from Hilda's Hem

Scooby dooby do! Shaggy is in...

Um no!

Not this either...

But this... 

Shaggy is in, and I like it.  Do you?  http://www.brit.co/shag-haircuts/.  Hard to find a good haircut sometimes for these super straight Swedish locks. Every miss by the stylist is totally noticeable.  I remember having a bob cut back in the day at one of those cheapo hair salons and she left a big hunk hanging by my ear.  I had to take out my nail scissors and finish the job myself when I got home!  I also remember cutting my hair on a whim in Stockholm right before meeting an old friend for drinks (Lena, minns du?)  That seems rather foolish but at the time I figured who better would know how to cut Swedish hair than a Swede, and it did come out pretty nice.  

Here's my friend who I hope to see again this summer, skål!

Skål Lena!  (2012)