I vant to suck your blood, but give me chocolate instead and I'll be good. Lonely vampire lady will be stuck with lots of Nerds and other gross candies unless someone comes by soon! Lots of neighborhood kids would be ideal. They are so sweet and yummy ;-)
Happy Halloween!
Halloween on the T, love this picture by my friend in Boston
Hello Swedes and fellow Scandinavian design enthusiasts, today I want to try to give you an overview of traditional Swedish design and by this I mean setting the way back machine to the 1800's and before. We all are familiar with the modern Scandinavian style which was so popular in the 1960's and still has many enthusiasts today. While that's all very good and lovely, especially for the hipsters, by heart beats faster for the Gustavian era which was influenced by the French style It's basically a "bastardization" of French Rococco which makes it so charming and country and earnest in its approach. Here are some lovely pieces that exemplify this style:
FYI, they are all available as of today at the Metropol auction site so if you want to get me an early Christmas present this would be a good place to look! Tina's XMAS present :-) I especially like the two green clad chairs from the 1900's which are currently going for only 500 Swedish krones and is 700 krones less than the auctioner's estimate. 500 krones is about $69. Can you believe it?
So if you are in the market for some beautiful chairs (and own a container) this would be a good time to snatch some up! At any rate back to our lesson, see how curly and round the shapes are? This again is reminiscent of the French style that the Swedes, and in particular King Gustav III loved to emulate. Read more here if you wish for some history on this beautiful style and the background behind it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_art And for those of you hungry for more there's a you-tube video with additional information above.
This time of year can be stunning in this neck of the woods. Did you know if we were going to call it by it's true name "fall" would most likely be called "get off me" season? Wind doesn't gently nudge the leaves from the trees, they forcibly throw them off once the season is over and they don't need to create more food. Harsh but as the days grow colder and shorter it's necessary. So as we accumulate things -- blankets, coats, warm mittens and more -- the trees get rid of them and survive without. Interesting, but I think a trip to Mexico would be a lot more fun. Just saying. ;-)
OK, loving this description of the Swedish word lagom from Mental Floss...
Ruth Sanderson
16. Lagom (Swedish) Maybe Goldilocks was Swedish? This slippery little word is hard to define, but means something like, “Not too much, and not too little, but juuuuust right.”
This word is interesting too. Hopefully I won't need it any time soon, as death by bacon could be another to put it: :-)
1. Kummerspeck (German) Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon. Check out this and other interesting words at wonderful-foreign-words-we-could-use-english.
Mmmm bacon, it's looking pretty good right about now... gotta run and resist at the gym before getting myself into trouble. Have a great Wednesday!
Friday night handsome hubby and I saw the best concert - "Fleetwood Mac" was awesome! What a range of amazing songs with each member of the band playing a beautiful and unique roll. Their voices mesh so well on harmony and the instrumentation is tight - it really it a classic and enduring group. Glad that Christine McVie is back too! Here's what the Boston Herald thought http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/music_news/2014/10/songbird_christine_mcvie_completes_fleetwood_mac_classic. Everyone in Boston seemed to love them and the feeling appeared to be mutual. Don't stop thinking about tomorrow.... & enjoy this beautiful weekend!
This song is a big fav of mine at the moment. It's called "Rooftop". Can you believe that she is only 17? She started singing at age 10 and was a winner of "Talang" the Swedish verions on Got Talent in 2008. Since then, Zara has been working hard at her career and high-school. This song "Uncover" from 2013 was a big hit. The girl is talented and beautiful, but there are many other Swedish megastars in the making, for example First Aid (see my blog post here First Aid). This link will lead you to the five best songs of September as decided by the Local. http://www.thelocal.se/20140929/five-swedish-songs-of-the-month. Enjoy!
Ragnar Lodbrock (Travis Fimmel) legendary Norse ruler and hero. See "Vikings" on History Channel
Nordstjernan just sent out this very fine photo of Ragnar, so happy namesday man! (Did I mention that I like Vikings?) Having a name for every day of the year is an old tradition in Sweden, and one that used to trump birthdays. Below I copied some of the text that explains the celebration. It's a nice tradition, and a nice photograph. ;-) I haven't heard of the Ragnar Relay Series but I guess it's a real bear. Also for a laugh read on for the names of his many sons. This link from Wikipedia made me smile. Have a Happy Ragnar day!
The name Ragnar is celebrated on October 1, according to the Swedish “namsdag” calendar. It’s a masculine name with old Norse origin, meaning "warrior" or “strong army.” Ragnar was a legendary hero of early 9th century Scandinavia. In Sweden a “namnsdag” is celebrated like a little birthday, but in the U.S., it may inspire another kind of celebration. In 2004, it inspired some American runners who wanted to build their strength and together experience an outdoor adventure. They wanted to make testing limits a team sport; and the Ragnar Relay Series was born. Ten years later, the victories are growing in strength and numbers as Ragnar runners join overnight team relays in various places across the United States throughout the year as part of the largest overnight relay series in the nation. Famous men named Ragnar: Ragnar Bohlin, director of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus Ragnar Skanåker, Olympic and world-class pistol shooter Ragnar Persenius, bishop of Uppsala Diocese Ragnar Lodbrok, legendary Norse ruler and hero, now of popular video games and the 2013 historical drama series “Vikings”. From http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/traditions/6638/
I vant to suck your blood, but give me chocolate instead and I'll be good. Lonely vampire lady will be stuck with lots of Nerds and other gross candies unless someone comes by soon! Lots of neighborhood kids would be ideal. They are so sweet and yummy ;-) 
Hello Swedes and fellow Scandinavian design enthusiasts, today I want to try to give you an overview of traditional Swedish design and by this I mean setting the way back machine to the 1800's and before. We all are familiar with the modern Scandinavian style which was so popular in the 1960's and still has many enthusiasts today. While that's all very good and lovely, especially for the hipsters, by heart beats faster for the Gustavian era which was influenced by the French style It's basically a "bastardization" of French Rococco which makes it so charming and country and earnest in its approach. Here are some lovely pieces that exemplify this style:
So if you are in the market for some beautiful chairs (and own a container) this would be a good time to snatch some up! At any rate back to our lesson, see how curly and round the shapes are? This again is reminiscent of the French style that the Swedes, and in particular King Gustav III loved to emulate. Read more here if you wish for some history on this beautiful style and the background behind it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_art And for those of you hungry for more there's a you-tube video with additional information above.
