IN SNIFF'S CHOOS

Vibeke Nielsen passed away the 5th of oct 2011

2011-10-06T09:52:00.000+02:00

Vibeke fight against cancer for 5 years but passed away this week. This blog will be in memorial to Vibeke.

My flat in Oslo has been put up for sale!

2011-08-23T19:53:00.003+02:00

Click on the subject link to see the ad. The showing will be this coming Sunday and Monday. I'm so excited about how many will come to have a look at it!

Update: Showing today and tomorrow afternoon. I'm soooo excited! They say the last weekend of August is the busiest weekend on the housing market all year - now I wonder how many will come to take a look at mine? ;)

Summer at sea in my hometown Arendal (South coast of Norway)

2011-08-04T19:51:00.000+02:00

Spending a lovely summer day at sea in the boat of my sister and her hubby.....from left to right: my sister, my friend Brita, who was visiting for the weekend, and me.

Hi all!

2011-06-15T09:02:00.003+02:00

(Photo by Joern Groenlund, Hjemmet)

I've had to take a break from blogging due to treatment for my illness. However, I really appreciate the comments and messages I've been getting from some of you showing that you're thinking of me. That's much needed encouragment, and it really warms my heart.

I recently did an interview with one of Norway's largest women's magazines. The story has yet to be printed due to me asking the journalist to wait, to be able to include the latest details on the continuing health saga. At the time of the interview they had a professional photographer take a lot of photos of me, and some of them turned out pretty good. I'm leaving you with a couple for now, and hope to be back soon to update you on my situation.

I hope you're all enjoying your summer (and winter of course, for those of you living down under).

Be back soon,
Vibeke :)

(Photo by Joern Groenlund, Hjemmet)

Goodbye, Poja (2007-2011)

2011-04-12T23:59:00.007+02:00

On Sunday, April 10th, I was supposed to get a visit from two of my little furry friends. I was so looking forward to seeing them again. However, in the morning, my friend Soso called, saying Poja had taken seriously ill that same day, and that she would have to bring her to the vet for a check-up right there and then. Sadly, Poja had a heart condition, and passed away at the vet's office. She just fell asleep, never waking up again. From happily playing when she got up in morning until she was dead it took about 2.5 hours. Suddenly sweet Poja, at nearly four years old, was no more.

My friends brought her into the woods yesterday to lay her to rest under a huge, old fir tree - a beautiful spot. We decorated the grave with fresh spring flowers. It was the nicest day of spring so far this year. It was 20C, the sun was shining, the heaven a shade of deep, dark blue and the birds were singing from the top of the trees. She looked so peaceful being put to rest for the last time, it was hard to fathom she was no longer with us, and that it all happened so incredibly quickly.

You will be remembered forever. RIP, Poja. Thanks for all the fun you've provided in my life. You'll be sorely missed.

Under treatment

2011-04-02T12:19:00.001+02:00

Not so trendy, this outfit...

Every day (Monday-Friday) for 30 days, I'm getting radiation. And once a week during those 6 weeks, I'm getting chemo, too. In order to save my hair they gave me a cold cap, as seen here. I was meant to wear it for 2.5-3 hours, but after half time I had to give up. It was like sticking your head in a deep freezer. Imagine doing that for 3 hours in a row! I just couldn't handle it any longer.

To comfort me, the docs have said I won't be losing all my hair, it will only become thinner for a while until the chemo treatment is finished. Anyhow, the treatment is making me very tired. So that's why I've been absent so much lately. But I want to let everyone know that I truly cherish your visits and comments on my blog. They make my day a little bit brighter. I will be back doing the rounds to visit your blogs, too, as soon as I feel up for it. Thank you, all of you! :)

Flowers...

2011-03-28T22:34:00.000+02:00

...from one of my doctors, no less! Wasn't that a lovely gesture?

I've been a little absent lately, I'm afraid. I just started treatment a week ago, and thus haven't had the time and energy to sort out the Paris photos. But I'm getting there, however slowly, so they'll be up here pretty soon.

The Paris trip

2011-03-09T20:14:00.000+01:00

The weather was beautiful and sunny. Our chosen hotel, The Westin Vendôme, was top notch and situated in a perfect location. And Paris was truly fantastic. I've got tons of photos to show you, I just haven't had the time to sort them all out yet. But stay tuned, and over the course of the next few days I'll share some of the many exciting experiences from our long weekend in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Greased lightnin' - blue version

2011-03-04T11:17:00.003+01:00

Finally I got my Christmas present from my my mum and her hubby. They had promised me a new vacuum cleaner for Christmas, I just had to find one I liked. It took a while until I found the perfect one. Earlier this week, while out shopping with my sister, I stumbled upon this tiny electic blue thing. I was so taken by the colour, I knew instantly I couldn't wait to go home and try it out. I'm playing Travolta's Greased lightnin' on the stereo while working my way trough my flat. Suddenly, vacuum cleaning is great fun!

Thanks, Mum and & Torkel! :)

But the shiny blue wonder isn't the only thing I've purchased this week. As I'm departing for Paris later today, leaving the ice and sludge hell that is Oslo, I needed new comfy shoes for strolling the streets of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Alas;

These suede bike style shoes from Vagabond will be perfect with my trusty old Burberry trench. Not that I don't plan on trying out some gorgeous shoes in Paris, too. So in order to not scare the shoe store staff with horrid winter feet, I went and had a pedicure. I chose blue for that also, only a turguoise shade called "Surfing":

It was just an experiment to choose that colour now, but it'll be great for summer when I get a tan. I bought the whole bottle! :)

In other news, I've just been diagnosed with cancer for the third time. I'm waiting for the test results to know if it's the old one that has recurred, or a new one. Treatment will start next week when I return, and the docs know exactly what it is. They gave me leave of absence from the hospital. "Paris will do you good", my oncologist said. I wholeheartedly agree! Thank heavens for sensible doctors! And also, thank you so much all of you for your supportive comments on my last post.

So, see you around - next up will be images from Paris. Have a great weekend everyone!

A room with a view

2011-02-23T18:42:00.002+01:00

From my room at the hospital yesterday. Full snowstorm outside:

At least I didn't have to venture out into the inferno. But the cold and grey rhymes with my existence right now. I was admitted on Monday morning. While at home for a few hours right now, I'm going back in later tonight. The message I got from the doctor was not good. Not at all. However, after tomorrow's consultations, I'm getting the weekend off, before I have to go back again on Monday morning.

A friend sent me this much nicer photo of sweet Sati, to cheer me up. Isn't she adorable?

Caving in

2011-02-17T22:12:00.109+01:00

I wanted light coloured nail polishes for spring. Pink ones. Nude ones. Certainly no more dark hues after wearing all this black and grey during winter. I was perfectly happy with still using last season's "it" polish from Chanel, the 505 Particuliére. I did not feel I needed the newest "must have". Not at all.

But then what happened? One blogger after the other featured gushing words and tempting images of the grey/green/black'ish Black Pearl. I tried so hard to resist. First I bought one pink. Then another, even lighter pink. Every time I went past the local beauty store, while desperate not to, I just had to look at the Chanel display to see if it was still sitting there. Deep down I was hoping it would be sold out before I had to throw in the towel.

But it didn't help. It was still available, every time I passed through the shop.

I'm not a weak person. All this subtle persuasion got the better of me.Yeah, that's it. I blame the blogging brainwashers.;)

PS. One coat makes it look grey. Two layers bring out the gorgeous green, almost holograpich, effect. Love it!

Postcard from Bali

2011-02-13T15:58:00.005+01:00

Fellow blogger M. of the lovely She Wore It Well blog has recently been on holiday in Asia, the lucky girl.

To me, part of the charm of travelling to the tropics goes something like: Sitting under a lush, green palm tree by a gorgeous turquoise pool, wearing a big floppy hat, elegant sunglasses and a breezy tunic, colourful cocktail in one hand, pen in the other while writing postcards to family and friends. [Insert lots of beautiful images of all of the mentioned things here].

Now, that's what I'd call relaxing in style. And in my imagination I can vividly picture her as the star of a fashion editorial depicting that scenario, when she wrote me this idyllic postcard from her vacation:

Thanks, M! Getting a beautiful postcard from someone's exotic holiday destination sure lights up a dark, freezing cold day in a dreary winter that never seems to end.

Renew Ikea furniture with Bemz

2011-02-08T21:09:00.007+01:00

Did your know that you can renew your Ikea furniture by getting new, washable covers from Swedish company Bemz? All you have to do is to know the name of the Ikea model and pick out your favorite fabric. No need for taking measurements or any boring stuff like that. Just order, remove the old cover and slip on the new. Simple as that!

Take the old Tomelilla armchair pictured above. I've had it since I bought it second-hand seven years ago. It's a tad big for my tiny apartment, but I decided to keep it for a while longer due to the facts that it's both very comfy and it's got wheels. It's easy to move over to the sofa area when I have guests. The original cover from Ikea was once white, but over the years it has become both yellowish and washed out. Time for a new one.

From Bemz you can order fabric samples for free:

They have a huge selection of fabrics, colours and patterns, both their own design and from other designers. As I have just bought a new sofa from Ikea, a Karlstad in a fabric called Korndal Medium Grey, I was looking for something to go with it:

(Photo by Ikea)

I was particularly taken with a fabric from Designer's Guild called Castellar Indigo, which has some grey in it:

However, upon seeing it on a photo from the Bemz blog, I realized I'd rather use that particular fabric for cushions than for a whole chair, as the chair needed something to make it look less conspicuous since it's so big:

So I went with white and silver grey vertical stripes. They're supposed to be slimming, right?

A closer look:

From I made the order with Bemz and until I received my new cover it took about 3 weeks. Impressive, as they're sewn to order. And the total price, inclusive of shipping and taxes, was only a fraction of what it would have cost me to get a completely new chair. Isn't that just so neat?

It looks fab with the sofa, too. But as the refurbishing of my living room isn't completely finished yet, you'll have to wait for a little while longer until I can show you the whole "new" room. Hope it won't be too long!

Murder!

2011-02-03T23:20:00.004+01:00

Oh no.....! I got this idea that I would wash my whole teddy bear collection as they've been played with by many ferrets and got a bit dirty over time. They all survived, except for my precious koala, given to me by an Australian friend many, many years ago. A sad day, indeed.

Anyway - I might seem a little mature to still keep these toys, but hey, almost all of them are gifts from dear friends and loved ones on special occasions. What would you do? Do you hold on to old toys for the sake of the memories attached to them, or do you give them away to declutter your life?

Where did you get those shoes?

2011-01-29T01:12:00.005+01:00

The shop assistant in the Beverly Hills boutique didn't pay my H&M outfit a second's attention. My white silk blouse and breezy black and white floral georgette skirt was totally lost on her. I guess she could sniff out deginer items from a mile away. And she did. The one expensive thing about my outfit. Namely my shoes.

Which brand? Where did I get them? When? The questions kept coming. London, from the Prada store in Sloane St, I told her. Got them on a sale the previous autum, I said. Oh...isn't it typical, she sighed. It had to be European! We don't get any quite as beautiful shoes like those here.

My jaw dropped almost to the floor. With the endless selection of just about everything being available in the US, were we on the same planet? Had my visit to a whole floor of designer shoes in an upmarket department store a few days prior been just a hallucination? As my suitcase was full of new treasures, it simply couldn't be so.

I can't recall if I got anything from her store, though. But at least I still remember her for her very finely tuned nose for above average shoe quality. That really warmed this shoe-freak's heart.

Carrie'd away

2011-01-24T21:28:00.004+01:00

SATC. Heels as works of art. Shoe addiction at $400 a pair (at least according to Miranda). Etc. Etc.

No need to waste too many words here, I believe. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one who found her shoe soul mate in Carrie. For a while there, I was completely obsessed. I just had to get my hands on, or rather, feet in, some real SATC shoes.

So here they are, my very first pair of Manolo's. Bought from the designer's boutique during a summer holiday visit to London in the beginning of the noughties. A favourite every summer, with a suntan and one of my LWDs.

Dearly loved and well used. So much in fact, last summer one of the delicate, handmade straps broke. Considering how much affection I feel for what was to become the first pair of ~~hideously expensive~~ designer shoes in my possession, and how many pleasant summer memories are attached to them, the broken strap meant utter disaster. I would never, never be able to calmly throw these away like I would with a pair of $20 sandals from any of the high street chains. There had to be some way to fix it, even if one cobbler after the other just shook their heads, denying they had the tools and skills to fix such tiny things.

But then I got lucky. After practically begging on my knees, a repair guy in a leather goods store said he would try, even if he made no promises. But try he did. And it worked. Almost as good as before - cause from a distance this little "fix" won't be visible.

The turquoise treasures reminding me I actually got completely carried away by a TV show will live to see another summer.

How to lose your luggage fast

2011-01-21T02:32:00.014+01:00

(Photo by Jimmy Choo)

Hey, hey -what have we got here? As I was checking out the JC site for news on their spring collection, I came across this addtion to their ever growing selection of accessories - the "Terence" trolley. Now, I love me some spots and I certainly think this little bag is a real eye-catcher.

Immediately, I started daydreaming about going on my spring weekend trip. I could see myself - wearing a light trench, a lovely silk scarf, comfy ballerinas and some fab sunglasses, all while wheeling this little beauty casually behind me. Now, doesn't that sound like the epitome of style? Then reality set in, caused by a glance at the price tag: 3395 euros. Yes, you read that right, threethousandthreehundredandninetyfive euros! That would be the price of a small, used car!

And then another thought hit me - a fact I learnt way back when I started my working career in the travel business - the risk of losing your luggage increases significantly with valuable suitcases. The higher the value, the higher the risk of it mysterioulsy "disappearing" along the way. One brand which the rumours would have it was notoriously known for this, was a certain LV.

(Random photo from the net)

Now, say if you're Paris Hilton, or some other Hollywood A-lister or business tycoon, and frequently travel by private plane, you might not have to worry so much about the airline losing your prized possessions. (And also, in Ms Hilton's case, I'm not completely certain she would even notice if one of her bags should happen to be missing. But I'm digressing). Fact of the matter, I'm neither rich nor a celeb. And as such, I have to travel the way most of us "commons" do, being subject to strict security measures forcing me to check in and let go for a while of even the smallest cabin size trolley if the content includes ordinary sized necessities like perfumes, lotions and potions. Which in my case, it always does.

So, while daydreaming is free, the JC trolley is not. And even if I had been able to afford it, the risk of losing it and the hassle of missing luggage make my old and battered Samsonite seem like the sensible option. In comparison, it's not stylish at all. But then again, it's not especially attractive to anyone else. The look of it clearly advertises "this item's owner cannot afford a new suitcase and therefore the content of this crappy bag can't possibly be of much value either!" Apart from a detour on the way to New York, caused by the confusion in the aftermath of the Icelandic volcano eruption last spring, in the ten years I've had it, it's arrived promptly on the luggage conveyor belt after every trip. As long as it continues to do that, I think I'll stick with it. Till the wheels fall off.

Even if the JC bag is so much prettier.......*sigh*.

Crystal steal

2011-01-10T18:29:00.001+01:00

This morning I was just on my way to an appointment with my optician, which incidentally has their store in my local shopping centre. The location is practial, as it's easy to get to. On the other hand, as it is a fairly large shopping centre, it's difficult to resist the lure of all the stores, with their sales or displays of all things new for the coming season. However, with a lot of activites planned for spring I'm trying my best to be somewhat frugal.

So I hadn't planned on shopping anything more exciting than a litre of white paint for my living room. But then I came across a store that actually sold Villeroy & Boch crystal wine glasses at a discount of more than 50 %. I stopped dead in my tracks and rushed into the store. Almost hyperventilating, I ran to the counter: Do have more of those V & B glasses left? They had. So home I went, with 12 new designer glasses at a price which can only be classified as a real steal. I was so excited, I completely forgot the paint.

Cheers!

Villeroy & Boch Maxima Bordeaux and White Wine glasses

On your hands and feet

2011-01-10T02:41:00.005+01:00

Sydney Shop Girl is having a giveaway on her blog. Among some very covetable presents, she also features some cute little tubes of handcream.

As she got me thinking about handcream, I felt inspired to share a tip with you about some truly great products. As a total hand- and footcream addict, I believe I've tested a fair number of versions from different brands. Both cheap and rather expensive stuff. Between hundreds of beautiful looking products gracing the shelves in beauty stores, I've found my absolute favourite so far. It' from French skin care brand L'Occitane En Provence. The brand has stores all over the world, so it shouldn't be too hard getting hold of some if you want to try it.

Now what, you may ask, is it that makes these products so special?

Natural ingredients
Lovely, light fragrance
Non-oily, both creams absorbed immediately
Keeps moisture locked in and the skin soft and supple

And also the tube is a little different. Old fashioned metallic, instead of plastic. Me likes!

If you feel like trying your luck in SSG's giftshower, it's still not too late to enter the giveway - you can find it right here!

Good luck! Or rather, since I'm promoting French products (and going to Paris soon): Bonne Chance!

Cute overload

2011-01-08T01:36:00.000+01:00

Admittedly this is not one of my own photos, but I just have to show you these anyway.....

(Photo from The Daily Mail)

This Daily Mail story is about baby bats rescued from the flooded areas in Australia. See the whole thing with more photos here.

Dracula no longer sounds quite as scary as he used too!

What activities to pursue during a Snowmageddon?

2011-01-07T02:54:00.012+01:00

Twin teddy 1: Look at that humongous amount of snow that came overnight and today...Everything is white!

Twin teddy 2: Mum says enormous amounts are forecast for Saturday, too. She declined an invitation to a party as she didn't fancy going out at night in a snowstorm.

Twin 1: Oh..so what is she doing about the snow then?

Twin 2: She's escaping for a whole day tour of Ikea tomorrow. Substituting showelling with shopping.

Polar daredevil: What a chicken! There's no bad weather, only bad clothes. I've got a warm scarf to prove my point. I loooove snow. Bring it on!

Paris in spring

2011-01-03T02:04:00.000+01:00

(Photograph by Fred Derwal/Getty Images/Hemis.fr RM, via National Geographic)

A decision made on the spur of the moment....

Just yesterday evening I was marvelling at the gorgeous photos of Parisian scenes in several postings on the blog Carla Loves Photography. I've visited Paris once before, way back in the 90's. By seeing Carla's images I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to experience the beautiful city yet again.

Having coffee with my friend B. earlier today, I casually suggested to her that we should take advantage of a local airline's New Year's offer of cheap airfares, and go on a weekend trip somewhere. Like Paris, for instance...

B. loved the idea! Tickets for a trip in March were booked the minute I returned home. Paris in spring it is. Thank heavens for friends that aren't averse to quick decision-making!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T19:59:00.001+01:00

A few hours before we were treated to the latest trends in pyrotechnics, mother nature blessed Oslo with a lovely firework of her own.

As I had invited some friends over for New Year's Eve dinner and was busy wrestling pots and pans, unfortunately I had no time to go on a lenghty photo safari. But it was such a gorgeous sunset I just had to catch a snap of it anyway. A few seconds out on the terrace got me the image I wanted to share with you, as I wish you all a happy new year in 2011!

Nature's own firework - Oslo 31.12.10 3.30pm

Roxy made me do it!

2010-12-30T04:51:00.004+01:00

Inspired by the great tip about an artist that Roxy put on her blog My Cup of Te, I just went right ahead and got one of those lovely prints from Janet Hill Studio's shop on Etsy. I intend to frame it in white, and put it up above my bed.

Fell in love immediately with this row of dancers' shoes. Also think the colors will be super with the rest of the room. What do you think of it?

(Image from the artist's webshop on Etsy)

PS. Dear mum. I did not break the bank by buying the painting at USD 1500. Only a print which cost USD 44. :)

Christmas snaps

2010-12-29T00:25:00.001+01:00

Wow! One whole week down south with my family went by so fast I really can't believe it's already over. But here I am - the Christmas tourist is back home again, having much enjoyed a wonderful time with family and friends - and my sister's terrific cooking.

Just a few images to hold on to that festive holiday feeling:

My brother in law had made ice candle holders:

Taken at dusk on Christmas Eve:

The front of the house. A little unsharp due to the lack of a tripod, but at least one can get an idea of how nice it looked:

The Christmas tree - no fugly pink here - my sis is a minimalist, decorations wise:

No minimalist tendencies when it comes to the number of presents, though. But, after all, we were 6 adults, 3 kids and a dog. ;)

I hope everybody had a lovely time celebrating Christmas!

Merry Fugmas!

2010-12-24T14:12:00.001+01:00

Lovely, no? Just had to show you this image which I took on a daytrip to Sweden last week. Neon pink plastic. I dare you to find something uglier! (Taken by cell phone camera, apologies about the lack of sharpness).

Anyway, I've been around to all the blogs I follow to say hello to everyone. That's a lot of blogs, so I hope I didn't miss anyone. But just to make certain, I wish you all a Merry- and beautiful - Christmas! ;)

Sneaking in a touch of colour

2010-12-20T21:50:00.001+01:00

Outside my flat there's a little entrance that I share with my next door neighbour. It used to be all white, which I found rather dull after seeing it every day for seven years. Now, technically, this room is part of the public areas in my building as it's an emergency exit through the loft, from one main entrance to another. However, on a daily basis my neighbour and I are the only ones who use it. So I asked her if she was ok with my adding a touch of color to it. As she had no problem with that, I just decided to go ahead and paint it without bothering to ask the board for permission. Since they're never here anyway, I'm pretty sure they're never gonna notice something has changed....;)

Previously:

Now: One wall is painted in a greyish blue called Gustavian Blue. At least it matches the ~~rather ugly~~ vinyl on the floor. (Why didn't they use some nice tiles instead? Surely it can't be that expensive for this tiny room?)

And since it's Christmas, I added a few ornaments to the usually empty jar that I've put out there just because there's no space for it inside the flat:

A bit more welcoming than just plain white, no?

Getting organized

2010-12-16T20:57:00.000+01:00

One of the reasons for the lack of updates on my blog lately is that I've been getting organized. It sure takes a long time to sort out all the stuff one's been collecting over the years! But however slowly, at least I'm on my way to a less messy life. And it feels wonderful!

While most of the time has been spent tidying up, I've also managed to finally get some lamps for my bedroom. But so far no pictures for the wall. Well, usually there's a sale after Christmas, right? ;)

Refurbished bedroom: Closet heaven

2010-11-25T12:59:00.007+01:00

So I finally did what I have dreamt of for a number of years. I tore down the old wall between the bedroom and the entrance hallway, and had it built up again further out, making the bedroom bigger and the hallway smaller. I also had a sliding door put up between the rooms. That gave me enough room to put in not just one, but two, sliding door closets. In my little flat, that's the maximum storage space I can possibly get!

This is what the old room looked like:

All white

Door from the hallway going into the room, taking up valuable space

Very little room to store clothes and stuff

And the new: The walls are painted with a color called White linen (a greyish light brown), and the closet doors are whitewashed wood, with the wood showing through in a color that matches the wall paint. (The wall is all one color, the light stripe is just reflection from the mirror.)

Sliding door closets to the left...

...and the right. I left a tiny little part of the old wall, where the fuse box is located. That way I didn't have to pay huge amounts to an electrician to move it - and I also got a little room for the necessary stuff that one really don't want to put on display:

A curtain that matches the paint was used to hide the content:

Details:

A cool sheep pillow that I bought from a local artist in Trondheim when visiting my mum last weekend...

...and a cute little orchid in a light blue pot:

The window is mirrored in one of the closet doors, making the most of the daylight:

And in the window hangs a little guardian angel that my mum bought from a local artist on a visit she made to Sweden - watching over my new heaven...;)

What's left is finding some white frames for hanging pictures above the bed, and a couple of lamps for the bed tables with shades that fits with the rest of the room. But that I think I'll have to leave for after Christmas. Next up...the hallway.

Plentynine something

2010-11-14T14:44:00.000+01:00

29....++++ ;)

So it's my birthday today...I guess I should make a little note of it here on my blog. While some people dread getting older, in my situation with two rounds of cancer I happily look forward to every new birthday I get to celebrate. Hurrah!

With that said I havent' been around here much lately. The refurbishing of my flat has taken so much longer than expected (isn't it always so?) and been so energy consuming that I simply haven't had the time. But I promise you soon there will be before and after pictures coming up when everything is ready, hopefully next week already.

A life too crowded

2010-10-22T18:52:00.004+02:00

HOLY COW!

So I'm refurbishing my flat, and as I was moving things out of my bedroom and hallway to leave room for the carpenters, I got a real shock! How on earth did I ever manage to stuff my tiny 1-bedroom apartment with all of this? I don't know. Seriously, I don't. And more importantly, do I really need it all? Really?

The answer is a definite no! I found things I never even knew I owned! Unused clothes, shoes and jewellery, along with cds I'm never gonna listen to, make-up I'm never gonna use (honestly, who needs 4 shades of blue nail polish when you never wear blue nail polish?) and - judging by their dusty covers - books I haven't even considered reading.

One thing's for certain - when the bedroom and hallway are done, I'll be more than a little particular when I put my stuff back in its place. I'm figuring I can easily get rid of nearly half of it and never miss a thing.

What I really, really need is to stop convincing myself that every time I see something nice on sale or something new and exciting in the store that I just have to have it! If you have a similar habit and have no intention of changing your ways anytime soon - look out for some very pretty, slightly preowned or NWT items coming up for sale on this site shortly! ;)

FUGG!

2010-10-08T01:48:00.001+02:00

My love affair with Jimmy Choo isn't exactly the world's best kept secret. But as with most relationships, this one too has it's ups and downs. These models from the Fall/Winter 10 collection even raised the non-existent hair on my back. Leopard spots, zebra stripes and studs? I'm sure they're comfy and all, but seriously?

Verdict: F-UGG-LY!

(All photos by Jimmy Choo.com)

Pinktober

2010-10-06T21:51:00.000+02:00

Hot accessory tip for October: A Pink Ribbon.

At the Farmer's Market 2010

2010-09-30T23:33:00.017+02:00

Matstreif !

YUM! That's what I thought when I saw the ad for the yearly fall food festival in Oslo. The idea of being able to sample delicious products from Norwegian farmers and sea food producers, for free, made my taste-buds immediately enter a state of high alert with excitement. Instantly, I called a few of my girlfriends - did they want to join me for a little appetizing experience? Oh, sure they did!

So downtown we went, to try out everything from homemade jam and cakes made from the farmers' own products, to the finest and most exclusive meat and fish Norwegian producers have to offer.

Having sampled our way through about one third of the more than a hundred stalls as an entrée, we eventually managed to settle for our main course among the innumerable dishes on offer. Not an easy task, really. I mean, if you just feel like a hamburger, wouldn't you have trouble too, having to choose between a beef burger, a reindeer burger, a veal burger, a deer burger or a moose burger (elgburger in local parlance)?:

For the occasion, yours truly decided to sport her newest addition to her evergrowing wardrobe - a pair of spotty jeans from HM's trend line Divided:

Judging from the photo, which was taken before we entered the festival area, I was obvioulsy looking forward to it. I was not disappointed. Let's just say there's a fairly good chance I'll be joining the lines at next year's event, too. :)

Drive in restaurant - Southern Norwegian style

2010-09-19T20:44:00.005+02:00

Just park your vehicle right here...

....and walk straight in:

Visiting my sis and family in my hometown Arendal, on the southern coast of Norway, July 2010. Clockwise from left: My sister's friend, my sis, sister's friend's hubby, my BIL, my youngest nephew and me.

Obviously, none of us had any complaints about the walking distance from the boat! :)

The September Issue...

2010-09-12T19:16:00.007+02:00

...of this particular blog is a little belated, I'm afraid. Bloggers everywhere are long past this month's fashion magazine issues and busy commenting on NY Fashion week, already looking forward to next summer's trends. I, on the other hand, am left here wondering whether there'll be a next summer for me at all.

Turns out my new doctors no longer think I've got a completely new and curable type of cancer, but rather that I was misdiagnosed back in 2007, and in fact had a way more aggressive and rare type of cancer than I was treated for. A cancer that now has recurred and spread. While it's been more than a month since I had the last surgery, the tests aren't finished just yet. Apparently, it takes a while for them to be able to conclude with certainity.

In the meantime I've just been so exhausted from everything hospital wise, I needed a blogcation. From the comments on previous posts I see there are awards, challenges and other things that needed replies from me. A response I just lacked the energy to give. I'm sure I've missed out on a lot of interesting or important events going on in your lives that you have been blogging about, and it's going to take me a while to be able to catch up. I'll give it a try, though.

Now, here in Oslo fall has definitely arrived. My summer wardrobe is on it's way back into winter storage, and my fall wardrobe has gradually taken over my closet. All seasons have their charm, this one too. However, I can't seem to shake the feeling of melancholy when I see my summer flowers hanging on for dear life, blooming one last time before it's all gone.

I'm going to miss summer.

The Croatian holiday, Part two (Hvar and Split)

2010-08-18T14:58:00.012+02:00

Part one of my Croatian holiday, about Dubrovnik and Korcula, can be found here. This post starts with our arrival in the island of Hvar. However, I've already covered the beautiful city beach in Hvar here, my tongue in cheek take at Hvar street style here and an extraordinay evening in Split here. So, now for the rest:

From top of the Hvar city centre, looking up at the old fortress

Hvar Harbour

Korcula was a quiet, litte island seemingly full of backpackers, sailors and a handful of other tourists. Hvar, in comparison, while being nowhere near as commercialized as some of the other Mediterranean hot spots, clearly held an attraction with a larger number of tourists, some of them of the very affluent kind. The vessels moored in the harbour sometimes gave the impression that this island is the millionaires' playground, as witnessed by some of the yachts:

Huge, some of them even with their own uniformed security staff

"Mine is bigger than yours....ha ha"

Sailing boats for charter

The hill in the backgound of the harour is where we rented an apartment

There were more shops here, larger hotels and the nightlife more action filled. Apparently, Hvar is supposed to be the Croatian island with the highest number of sun days. Also, it only takes an hour to get here by catamaran from the city of Split, which with it's international airport and huge ferry terminal serves as a feeding point for a large number of visitors to Croatia's attractions.

As soon as we had found a place to stay, we started out by doing what we did in the other places, namely finding the closest beach:

B. with the everpresent floating mattress

The huge hotel situated above the public beach. They had their own pools, so the beach wasn't crowded...

...there was more than enough space for me to happily float about

Every afternoon when returning from the beach, we would sit down in the piazza in the middle of the city centre, having our traditional "after beach" small beers while engaging in some people watching as they walked along the harbour, across the busy piazza, or were just running their errands or "walking" their dogs...

...while just enjoying our surroundings...

At times we also made it into some of the small charming stores or stalls in the narrow streets:

I didn't really buy a lot, but one little souvenir was too cute to pass by:

After several days at the beach, I felt the need for some action. So two of us left Hvar and the hill that we stayed on behind for the day...

and booked a sailing trip to the island of Vis and the blue (or was it green?) grotto with a company called Hvar Adventures:

The skipper talking to some of our fellow sailors

B. enjoying the elements - only the sound of the wind and the waves

While I enjoyed chatting to the skipper...

...and the view of the grotto:

Afterwards it was time for lunch and a swim:

Whaaaat? No floating mattresses on board? I actually have to do the work myself? Scandalous!

On our last night in Hvar, we all went out for a "farewell" dinner. The others chose to stay behind for the rest of the holiday, and only B. and I would be going to Split. We also had some beer:

One metre, to be exact! (No, I did not drink it all by myself even if I look pretty happy)

The morning after, we had to leave at around 7 AM to catch the catamaran onwards. The normally busy piazza was like a totally different world at that hour:

Ah...here's our (space) ship coming to take us away on new adventures

Split

Coming up later...

The Italian encounter

2010-08-18T04:43:00.012+02:00

(Random image from the net.)

Ain't it funny how sometimes completely coincidental happenings can turn into some of the most memorable experiences?

Last week, my friend Hege and I agreed to spend the lovely sunny and warm Saturday evening on my terrace, just to relax, chat and have a few glasses of wine.

(Daytime - My photo)

What it looked like that night (sorry about the camera shake, but dropped the flash in order to catch the natural light)

While planning for the evening, I decided to ask the other girls to come around, too. It ended up being five of us, enjoying drinks and snacks, and just generally having a good time. So much in fact, that at around 1 AM in the morning we were in the mood for going out and decided to continue the party at a pub in a nearby area called Grünerloekka, popular for it's atmosphere and nightlife.

Incidentally, one of my friends speaks Italian, and through her we met a large group of Italian guys at the pub. Funnily enough, of all cities in Europe, they had chosen Oslo as the venue for the bachelor party for one of them. Funny because bachelor parties usually involve consuming at least a few beers, and Norway, due to the extremely high taxes on alcohol, is commonly known for its' exorbitant prices on all alcoholic beverages compared to ~~almost~~ anywhere else in the world. However, these were well travelled men and had already visited a number of other European cities, so Oslo was chosen as few, if any, of them had been here before.

The combination of wine drinking Norwegian girls and beer swinging Italian men seemed to be a very good one. We got on so well that after the pub closed, we all went back to continue the party and have a night meal in my place. With the weather last weekend being among the best all through the summer, even at that late hour it was still warm enough to sit outside on the terrace. It's just a small one, so it had already seemed full with the five of us earlier in the evening. Somehow, though, we managed to fit in more than twice as many people, excluding the one guy who was so exhausted that even with all the noise the lot of us made, he fell asleep on my couch.

My guests didn't leave till about 6.30 on Sunday morning. Later that afternoon, surprisingly, as I would have thought all of them would have been completely exhausted by then, one of the Italians called me and generously invited me to join them while sightseeing around Oslo. I met them again at the tiger statue in front of the Oslo Central station.

Quote from wikipedia: "The city was once referred to as Tigerstaden (City of tigers) by the author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson around 1870, due to his perception of the city as a cold and dangerous place. This name has over the years achieved an almost official status, to the extent the 1000 year jubilee was celebrated by a row of tiger sculptures around the City Hall." (Random image from the net.)

In the warm and sunny afternoon, we decided to visit the famous Vigeland Sculpture Park, one of the most popular attractions in Oslo with tourists and locals alike. According to the official information from the Vigeland museum: "...(T)heme of the entire park: Man's journey from cradle to grave, through happiness and grief, through fantasy, hope and wishes of eternity." There are more than 200 sculptures in the park, all of them created by the artist Gustav Vigeland, who donated all of his work to the city.

The park seen from the air. The main entrance is a bit further out of the image at the far left, above the public pool. The distance from the main gate to the last statue symbolizing the wheel of life at the far right is 850 metres. The fountain is located in the middle, while the Monolith is on the granite plateau a bit right of the centre. (Random image from the net.)

Sinnataggen (the angry boy) - the most famous sculpture, located on the bridge across the pond (Photo from the Vigeland Museum)

The large fountain with the Rose Garden in the middle of the park (Random image from the net.)

The Monolith - 17.3 metres tall, made of a single block of granite (Random image from the net.)

The wheel of life - at the end of the park (Random image from the net.)

After spending several hours in the park, including chillin' in the grass by the bank of the pond with some cold drinks, we spent the rest of the evening first enjoying dinner at The Broker pub in the popular shopping area of Majorstuen, located in the Frogner borough of Oslo, before continuing our walk through the city to the Royal Palace and it's surrounding park. The Palace is at the end of Oslo's main street Karl Johan, and the destination of the Children's Parade on our National Day on May 17th, to celebrate our Constitution that we got on that date in 1814. On every National Day, the Royal family waves to all the children and other spectactors from the balcony.

(My photo)

The parade leading up along Karl Johan towards the Palace on May 17th (photo from aftenposten.no)

Then we continued further down along Karl Johan on to the Stortinget (the Parliament building, random photo from the net).

Since this was pretty late in the evening, the building was closed to visitors, but it is possible to visit it if making an appointment in advance. Through the windows at the second floor we could barely see some of the main hall, but from a previous visit early this spring, here are a few photos that I took inside it:

The main hall where politicians gather to vote on laws.

The painting in the background depicts the statesmen that wrote our Constitution in 1814. Above it is our national symbol, the lion with the sword and the crown.

The view from the Parliament, with the Karl Johan to the right, the Palace in the background, and the round roof of our National Theatre barely visible behind the trees to the left.

Having greatly enjoyed my glorious day with my newfound Italian friends, and guided them through parts of Oslo and our Norwegian history, we concluded our evening by walking Karl Johan all the way down, taking in the views of parts of Oslo's nightlife along the way, and saying goodbye back at the Central station.

I'm rather ashamed to admit that while visiting a huge number of much more far away corners on the globe, I've never been to Italy before. But now that I know someone from there, and with the possibility of seeing some of them again and possibly share an equally pleasant time again sometime in the future, I guess I'll have to put Italy on my travel wish list fairly soon.

This all started out just by a friend suggesting drinks on my terrace. Who would have thought? You never know your luck!

Furry greetings in my guest book

2010-08-13T20:27:00.010+02:00

From Sati (3)....

...and Poja (3).

While mum and dad cruised away in the Mediterranean, they left us with this weird babysitter that was waaaaay too strict and did not let us do absolutely everything we wanted to. For instance:

She would not trust our flying squirrel skills and let us jump off the terrace. I mean, come on, it's only five floors down...

...and she would only let us climb halfway up the bookshelf...

...even if she knew we would have so much fun going all the way to the top!

What a boring old fart!

And then she would force us to exercise outside EVERY DAY!

Over there? What do you mean over there? That's friggin' halfway across the park!

Hmmmm....only if you carry me up the stairs afterwards. All five floors, or no deal!

No wonder we sometimes were dead tired...

I'm not gonna make it all the way to my bed, this plastic bag will have to do....

But, ok then, it really wasn't all that bad...

We got to fight with her large collection of ugly teddy bears...

...and mess up her kitchen drawers real good

And she did have a lot of patience when we found something really interesting to do...

...like testing out the ostrich kind of life style...

...or spending endless amounts of time playing hide and seek...

...or even wanted to take a roll in the soil in the janitor's freshly planted beds of flowers in the backyard:

But the coolest thing though, was when we put up our most sorry faces to show her that the grass would be so much greener on the other side of the terrace door...

...the sucker fell for it every time!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

When mum and dad came to get us again, we showed our appreciation for all the soil cleaning work she had to put up with by restraining ourselves from going for her tempting soft leather Jimmy Choos, and only left our greetings in her cheap $2 flip flops. Aren't we just the most considerate guests ever?!

Ooops....I did it again

2010-08-10T19:34:00.001+02:00

Just a few weeks ago, I commented on several other blogs that under no circumstances would I ever dream of buying clothes for fall in the midst of summer.

Now, back in January I was all over myself about Diesel's prefall collection. Just a little pic to remind you:

And while running an errand in the shopping area where their store is located, I figured there would be no harm in going in just to have a look around....

Ok, so I confess. I had one of my many lapses of willpower when leaving with these...

...and the pants too...

At least I didn't buy the jacket. Probably because it still hadn't arrived in store.

The Croatian holiday

2010-07-31T22:15:00.081+02:00

Earlier this summer, when my long time buddy L. invited me to join him and a couple of his friends on vacation in Croatia, I jumped at the chance of going someplace new. My friend B. felt the same way, so she joined in as well. On July 2nd, we boarded our flight, more than a little ready to escape the dreary Norwegian summer weather in search for warmer and sunnier pastures. After visiting Dubrovnik, we took the ferry along the coast for a scenic ride, visiting the beautiful islands of Korcula and Hvar before ending up in Split and returning home from there on July 13th. These are my holiday memories:

Dubrovnik

The old town in early morning light (~7AM)

The road into the town center: steep, narrow and one-way only, but lined with colorful flowers and medieval sights

Our hotel for the first night was a tiny, family-run pension, close to the gates of Dubrovnik's old town. Although quite basic it was cheap, clean and the location was excellent. It's called Kortizija, and the homepage is here. L. had bought a bottle of bubbly and some fresh fruit which he had put in our room as a surprise - a pretty nice way of being met on our first day there, don't you think?

Lunch in one of the numerous restaurants in the old town

The city beach

Enjoying life at the city beach, the background's not too shabby either

The five star Excelsior hotel, where we spent the other two nights in Dubrovnik

B. and L. admiring a lovely, old stone house and it's impressive garden

Medieval buildings and streets in the old town

By the famous Onofrio's fountain from the 15th century

While the buildings might be medieval, the shops are modern enough - the girls trying out Havaianas in one of the numerous stores in the old town

The five of us all dressed up for dinner in one of the posh restaurants by the old town's waterfront

My absolute favorite spot in Dubronvik: The Buza Bar

Buza means "hole" in Croatian - and the entrance is just a hole in the city's fortress walls

Situated on top of the cliffs outside the wall...

...the view of the endless horizon is stunning, especially at sunset

At the other side of the old town is the Dubrovnik Harbour

Quite the number of lovely old houses here too

This is where the ferries to the islands leave from...so goodbye for now Dubrovnik, and welcome...

...beautiful scenery on the four hour ferry ride to Korcula...

via a short stop at the city of Sobra on the island of Mljet, where the ancient greek god of Odysseus is said to have spent several years of his life....

and passing the city of Orebic on the mainland on the way.

Korcula

Arriving at the island of Korcula, with it's tiny fortress by the harbour, we almost felt like we had come to a miniature version of Dubrovnik. Not just much smaller, but more quiet too. While there being a number of tourists on the island, partly due to it's popularity as a safe overnight haven for sailors, clearly this idyllic gem is nowhere near being as commercialized as many of the other Croatian islands. The harbour was tiny and quiet, the number of shops and pubs limited and the larger hotels scattered and few. There were a good number of dining restaurants on the inside of the fortress walls though, as visible here by the green umbrellas behind the trees:

Life here was really quiet and relaxing, and the little Korcula city beach, situated right in the middle of town, was all pebbles, just like the one, albeit larger, in Dubrovnik:

My favourite beach activity - floating around in the calm water

We had booked accomodation in a private house before we arrived, and the friendly owner came down the hill from where he lived to collect us all in his car. The accomodation was quite basic, but at least it was cheap, 100 HRK (~USD18) per person per night. As we were there for two nights only, we chose to stay in where we were, even if it was lacking much needed air condition.

However, while walking from our place at the top of the hill to the centre of town, halfway down I found a large house with the most beautiful flower garden, with air conditioned two storey sea view apartments for rent at only the double of what we had paid for a small room. Had we stayed for longer, I would have instantly moved. The place unfortunately doesn't have a web site as of yet, but it's called the Villa Farac. Local phone numbers are 020-711-825 and cell: 091-542-9040. If I'm ever going back to Korcula, looking for fantastic value for money accomodation, I'll definitely be trying to book a room at that place.

Our first day there was spent in the city and on the city beach. The second day, three of us decided to follow the advice of the personell at the tourist agency and visit a supposedly wonderful beach called Lumbarda. One can get there by bus, but also by taxi boat, which is a much nicer way of travelling the distance of 7 km when the temperature rises above 30 C.

L. and B. sitting in the shade in the taxi boat waiting to be taken to Lumbarda from Korcula city

While the three of us were the first ones to enter the boat, we soon got company by a group of Maltese pensioners from a large cruise ship. They were taking the taxi boat just for sightseeing, and were obviously in a very jolly mood, as they were all singing and cheering all the way. I've visited Malta twice, but I never did get the impression that a couple of stiff drinks was a regular feature on Maltese breakfast menus. Maybe it's different when they're on holiday? ;)

The 15 minute walk from the taxi boat terminal out to the actual beach was scenic experience:

Local fishermen's small boats dotted in the harbour of Lumbarda town

Crystal clear, calm sea set against a backdrop of dramatic mountains on the mainland peninsula

Tiny geckos, which we don't have in Norway, all over the stone walls on the way to the beach

And then, the view from the rooftop of the only restaurant at Lumbarda beach:

Gorgeous!

The beach in itself, however, was kind of a disappointment to us. We had expected a more lively place, and with the pebbles that we favored instead of the sand that would stick to us all over, and that was way too hot to walk on barefoot:

We had brought our beloved floating devices though, so we did have a great time in the water as always, here represented by my friend L.:

Due to it being so hot that day, in the afternoon we retreated back into the shade of the trees in the restaurant close to the taxi boat terminal. A lovely place, with the best sandwiches we ever experienced during the whole holiday:

Right below the restaurant was another, quite small beach. This one was pebbly and with a very cool beach bar. We all agreed that had we stayed for longer, we would have chosen this one the next time:

After two days at Korcula, we had to get up extremely early the next morning. The little less than two hours express catamaran ride to the island of Hvar left at 6 AM to cater to the working locals commuting between the islands. I would have loved to stay an extra day at Korcula, though. If it's wild nightlife and action you're after, this island is definitely not the right place. But for tranquility, relaxation and beauty, it's simply fantastic.

Hvar and Split

To be continued in The Croatian holiday, Part two here.

Soap bubbles

2010-07-20T03:55:00.011+02:00

"Are you here for the match?"

A voice behind me caused me to throw a glance over my shoulder. A friendly face with a compelling smile met my stare. Our eyes locked. Uncertain if this handsome stranger had been speaking to me, asking him if he was there with the same intentions as us - watching the bronze final in the soccer championship - was the first silence breaker I could think of.

Previously that day, my friend B. and I had left our other friends behind at Hvar Island, and gone to Split for the last three nights of our holiday. Now we were firmly placed in comfy chairs in front of the flat screen at an open air café along the city's Marmontova parade street, our regular small beers in hand, ready to enjoy the game.

It didn't take long to establish that the stranger wasn't there for the match. He, along with his friends, had come from the same island as us that very same day and were only staying in Split that night as a layover before catching their flight back home from holiday the next morning. He had just gone out for a beer on his own as he didn't like the crappy hotel they had chosen for the night, he told me. So, are you a hotel snob then, I asked him. Yes, he said. I couldn't help laughing. My unhappiness with slumming it on the islands we had visited, staying in cheap accomodation with few facilites, was the main reason B. and I had parted with the others and ended up in Split for as long as three nights. Who would have thought I'd meet my hotel snob soulmate by chance just by picking that particular one of the huge number of bars and cafés that were showing the match?

He lived in a European city, but came from another continent. As it happened, he was from a country I had visited and knew quite well, and our conversation revolved around that. Half an hour later, having finished his beer, he left, saying he had to go back to his friends at the hotel. We said our goodbyes. Somehow, however, my intuition told me I hadn't seen the last of him.

Sometime during the first half, he was back. I wasn't surprised at all. He now took a seat at our table. As B. had caught a bit of a holiday cold she was kind of tired and very quiet, and I was more than happy with finding someone to talk to. We really hit it off. When the match finally ended my newfound friend and I had long since lost track of the score. B. wanted to call it a night and left us on our own. So did eventually all the other guests at the café. A little past midnight, the two of us were the last ones left, alone in the dark with the candle at our table as the only light.

By that time, our conversation had reached a very personal and intimate level. He knew I was struggling with cancer for the second time. And I had come to find out that his seemingly placid exterior was disguising a soul in complete turmoil, torn between his ambitions and the desire to continue the great career he had built up during his years in Europe, and the feeling of duty to and love of his family, who had called on him to come back to his home country. The dice was already cast, and he was leaving Europe in a few short weeks. Tears welled up in his eyes as he told me. Clearly he was hurting inside, having to leave a city he loved, all his friends and a position he was very proud of having achieved through education and hard work.

The last waitress at work came over to us, telling us she was closing for the night. She had changed out of her uniform, and was dressed in a sexy little black dress and heels. We commented on her goodlooking appearance, and she told us she was going out, clubbing. Clubbing? None of us had given that a single thought. However, not wanting to part ways just yet, it suddenly seemed like a great idea. So we headed for the taxi rank, and told the driver we wanted to be taken to a nightclub. He measured us up, then said he knew just the right place for us to go.

Driving along in the middle of the night in a strange city, we had no idea where we were going. Eventually we ended up outside a very posh looking entrance, with doormen clad in black suits and a line of beautifully dressed locals and tourists alike. When we entered, we went through an indoor bar, only to come out on a huge outdoor terrace with several seating groups and bars. Crystal chandeliers were hanging from their ceilings, and soap bubble machines blew beautiful bubbles that came floating down from over their roofs. The place was called Hemingway.

Spending the warm, tropical night with this man who now no longer felt like a stranger, feeling the breeze from the Adriatic sea, sipping pink Champagne and eagerly chasing the soap bubbles that came across the dance floor, I had this feeling that I was just dreaming. What had started out as an ordinary day had turned into something almost surreal. Like being inside a gigantic soap bubble ourselves. And in some ways, maybe we were...

As night turned to day, we caught a taxi back to our respective hotels - saying goodbye again. This time for good. I was so tired I didn't think much of it when I saw his car drive away. I only hoped he would still have time to catch his flight.

It was only later the next night I came to realize how much I missed his company. B. and I had sided with Spain and watched them go on to win the championship. We followed all the Spanish supporters from the café which we had chosen to see the match to a quayside disco where the music was all Spanish pop hits. It was lively and great fun to be part of their celebration. We also ended up finding some other tourists to talk to. When the disco closed and it would be time to go on to a club, however, I decided I would follow B., still struggling with her cold, back to the hotel. I could have gone on with the others. I knew for certain though, it would never be the same as the magical night I had experienced the previous evening.

Even if I had wanted to hold on to it for just a little longer, the soap bubble was well and truly burst.

(Photos by photographer Richard Heeks, via blog DamnCoolPics)

Hvar Island fashion

2010-07-14T19:16:00.000+02:00

While enjoying our regular "after beach" small beer in the centre of Hvar harbour, we spotted these four friends strolling by, doing some afternoon shopping. Obviously, they were all into stripes. :)

Today's outfit (July 2nd - 13th)

2010-07-14T01:00:00.003+02:00

Sunscreen? Check
Bikini? Check
Floating device? Check

From the beach in Hvar Island, Croatia, sometime during mentioned dates. More travel updates coming. But this sure was one gorgeous beach...

Note to my followers

2010-06-29T22:13:00.003+02:00

Hi all!

Sorry for the lack of updates the last few weeks and the lack of comments on all your wonderful blogs.

The lump on my tummy that I previously mentioned in another post turned out to be a metastasis of a rare type of bone cancer called a chondrosarcoma. It has nothing to do with my previous breast cancer, it's an entirely different disease alltogether. Sarcomas of different kinds only affect about a 150 people in Norway every year. I've spent the last few weeks going through various consultations and tests, and now I'm waiting for the results of them. This type of cancer is only curable by surgery, chemo and radiation don't work on it. If it has spread too much, there's nothing they can do. I'll get the final conclusion by the end of this week.

I've been so tired that I simply have lacked the energy to update my blog, but I'll try and get around to it shortly.

Ferrets on vacation

2010-06-07T22:27:00.006+02:00

Hi! We're Manson (5), Lemmy (3) and Mia (4).

This past week we've had the pleasure of going to Sniffmom's flat on vacation while mum and dad have been away on business. It's the third time we've come to stay, and previous pictures of our antics around the flat can be found here. (For some reason only pictures found on page 2 and 3 in that thread will enlarge when clicked on.)

Semi Expat in Oz wants to know what we're like, having around as pets. Also, Cute dog Olive has dished out the Versatile Blogger award to our host.

On behalf of our host we thank you for the award. Since one of the requirements of accepting the award is to share seven things about oneself, we thought that would be a great way of accomodating the request for knowledge about us and our furry relatives.

1) We're something like a mix of a dog, a cat and a human baby. We can be potty trained like cats, taught to walk outside on a leash like dogs, and even if we sleep a lot (up to 20 hrs a day),

we're very social and playful when we're awake. We loooooooooove digging in soil. If you leave your 20 potted plants within our reach, we'll be extremely proud to show you how fast we can dig them up. ALL of them!

2) We greatly enjoy playing hide and seek in all kinds of bags. Your Chanel purse will do us nicely. However, we're not that picky, so a simple plastic bag will suffice, too:

and we also do carpets, so you should mind where you put you're feet if you're not certain where we are:

We often like stealing things and hiding them too. We might prefer the insoles of your shoes or your socks. But it can even be your towels, if only we can get to them:

3) Sometimes we're used by farmers to hunt down and kill rodents. We've also been used to stretch electrial cables in pipes underneat the ground or the water. That's because we're tunnel specialists. There's simply nothing more fun than to explore tunnels - of any kind:

4) We prefer living together with one or more furry friends, and even if there's only one of us alone around the home we need company, attention, games and activity not to become depressed.

Lemmy: Hmm..it's lonely out there on the floor on my own. Think I need some company.

Aahh..much better!

Sometimes, we do like to be left completely alone, though:

Mia: He was almost suffocating me!

Let me out of here! Please, please...

Now we're talking! Spare hiding places are just soooo great!

5) While we do like to have a couple of hiding places to move to when we're tired or want to sleep, we're not suited to live our lives locked up in a small cage, only being allowed to come out for half an hour or so every day. We need room to run around freely to stay happy, healty and fit. Wherever we're living though, the place has to be absolutely secure so that we can't hurt ourselves. We have bad eyesight, especially in daylight, and we lack the balance of cats. We have a great sense of smell and hearing, though. But our main feature is that we're curious, and we'll check out absolutely everything and every hole we can get into:

6) Most of us are very sweet and never bite, or only do so if someone really scares us. Just as we can be trained to use a sand litter box, we can be trained not to bite. However, some of us do occasionally test our teeth if you tempt us enough:

Manson really, really liked the taste of the foot cream combined with some skin.

7) If it's cold or rainy, you don't have to take us out. But we do enjoy fresh air every now and then:

Oooh..the smell of flowers and sound of birds...

Yawn....Isn't she done with the camera yet?

Now, that's it from us. Hope you enjoyed seeing our vacation pictures!

Greetings from

Lemmy,

Mia,

& Manson

Happy birthday, sis!

2010-06-06T19:44:00.000+02:00

Today's my sister's birthday! Congrats!

Here we are in our national costumes (in Norwegian it's called bunad) a couple of weeks back, at my nephew's confirmation.

Bunads are different in colors and design depending on what part of the country they are from. Ours are from northern Norway, where my mother's family comes from. Our late grandma made them for us when we were still teenagers. My green one is the inland version, while my sister has the coast version. These types of garments are used especially during our National Day on May 17th, and on big occasions like weddings, confirmations and other grand gala events.

"Well, hello there lover!"

2010-06-05T20:45:00.002+02:00

Meet Pablo:

From Jimmy Choo's Pre Fall 10 collection, which can be seen in all its awesomeness here. Swoooooon!

(Photos by Jimmy Choo).

Hot pink comfort

2010-06-02T22:33:00.004+02:00

Filled with anticipation I ventured out today to try the pedicure treatment at a new beauty salon located on the top floor of one of the most exclusive department stores in Oslo. I see a pedicurist regularly, but she wasn't available until the end of next week, and then I'm out of town. So when I got an appointment for today at that new salon, I jumped at the possibilitiy of getting my feet done while also trying someplace new.

Disappointment is too weak a word for what I experienced. I will not go into the rather gross details of what transpired. Let's just say that after the first 15 minutes of the 60 minute treatment I felt just as dirty as one would if applying only perfume without showering after running a marathon. A few minutes later, I just couldn't take it anymore. I got up and left. I offered to pay for parts of the treatment, but I guess since I was so utterly shocked and appalled I was shaking, they let me leave without charging me anything.

Shopping is therapy, right? So to comfort myself I went and bought a new Chanel nail polish. It's called Splendeur (no. 217) and is a hot pink/dark fuchsia shade. They still had the bubblegum pink shade that is part of Chanel's much coveted summer collection, as pictured here:

(Photo by The Nailphile)

I think that color is pretty cool, and I was seriously considering getting that one. However, as my feet get so tan in the summer they almost look dirty, I felt I needed something with a little extra oomph:

I was lucky enough to get a new appointment with my regular pedicurist next Tuesday, so I will get my feet expertly done before going away that weekend. But as we speak, I'm doing the home version right now so I can put my new nail polish to good use.

One of the three little furry friends I'm babysitting this week inspecting the results of my efforts.

Straw for summer

2010-06-01T23:26:00.001+02:00

It's June 1st. Summer has officially begun. With the beautiful weather that started yesterday and is supposed to last all week, I was inspired to go out and get something new for my summer wardrobe. I came home with two straw hats from the men's department at H&M and a new bag from Mexx. Straw = summer.

NY Day 4/5 - Typical tourist activities

2010-05-30T20:54:00.002+02:00

Taking a break halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge

Breakfast on the go: Sis checking out the selection at a sandwich store

Day four, with our luggage in place, we finally decided it was time for some sightseeing. My sister wanted to visit the Norwegian Seamen's Church, located in Midtown East. Since it was a Sunday, there was a service. Because of all the people stranded by the ash cloud, we were told there were a lot more visitors than usual. Here's my sis outside the rather unpretentious church:

The American and the Norwegian flags side by side

And a little lipstick is needed before entering the service at King Olav the 5th's Church, as it's called:

"Do I look presentable now?"

Later on we met up with our cousin to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Caught in a windy moment here:

After crossing the bridge, we hailed a cab from the Brooklyn side of the brigde and went to Williamsburg. The guidebook was over itself about how fantastic that area is supposed to be. While that might be so during nighttime, going out to the many clubs or bars, it certainly wasn't much fun during a cold and windy Sunday afternoon. Our very quick retreat back to Manhattan was unanimous.

That night I had made a reservation for the four of us at the Tao Restaurant, after reading a blogpost about it by fellow blogger She Wore It Well from Melbourne, Australia. Now, that was a success seen from my point of view. I loved the busy atmosphere of the place, the interior design and the food. Having been tempted by a picture SWIW had posted, of the Giant Fortune cookie dessert, I could hardly wait to try it for myself:

Inside one side: White chocolate mousse. Inside the other: Milk chocolate mousse. One serving was big enough for four. One word to describe it: Fantastic!

On our day of returning home, we spent the last few hours checking out some of the stores on the Upper West Side, around the area where we were staying. Sis made certain she did not forget any necessities before leaving:

All stocked up

I made it into a Gap store and found three pairs of shorts for summer. One pair of beige linen shorts, and two pairs of a model they called boyfriend shorts, one white and one army green:

They should all go really well with my love of everything khaki or army green colored, like this top and jacket which I got from H&M when I returned home:

Or this tank from last year's Diesel collection with an army green bra underneath:

The only sad thing is, with all this stress I've experienced lately my weight has dropped several kilos. While they fit perfectly in the store a month ago, wearing a pair of shorts today for the first time this summer I found now they're a bit on the big side.

Oh well, I guess that gives me an excuse to have a lot of ice cream when the sun starts heating things up.

Balenciaga open toe ankle boots

2010-05-28T21:14:00.003+02:00

(Photo from Browns)

As worn by Charlotte Gainsbourg at a photo call at the Cannes Film Festival (right image). Love everything about that outfit, and the shoes - OH LA LA! If only I had £795 to spare (and not too many shoes already..., eh..never mind that, can there ever be too many shoes, really?).

(Photo from Fabsugar)

Under my umbrella

2010-05-22T03:20:00.012+02:00

Well, that's where I've spent most of my time this week, anyway.

Since returning back to Oslo on Tuesday after spending the weekend and our National Day (Constitution Day) on May 17th at my sister's place in Southern Norway, the weather has been gorgeous and very warm. Perfect for outdoor activites (read: keeping cool in the shade of my parasol). To quote one of my favorite songs by Kid Rock: I've been sittin' here wasting time - drinkin', smokin', tryin' to free my mind....

(Terrace slippers - great for lounging around)

These past few weeks since returning from New York have been quite the ordeal. It all started last summer, really. A tiny pea sized lump on my tummy caused me to worry enough to have the Cancer Centre change my scheduled routine check-up from October to August. Nothing wrong was found. It grew, and was taken out by a local surgeon in November. By January it was back, twice the size. It was removed once again by the same surgeon. At the February check-up the Cancer Centre found no reason to worry. Again, the tests showed nothing wrong. By the beginning of March the lump exploded in size. My GP thought it better to have the Cancer Centre take a closer look and asked them to give me a new appointment Almost two months later I finally got a response - from the head of the department of plastic surgery! He flat out refused giving me a new appointment to have the lump removed and examined. Like he thought I was a lunatic hypocondriac or something. In the meantime, the lump had grown even more.

That's when I decided to invest in getting a check-up at a private hospital. Unfortunately, they don't have a department for treating cancer, and since that's what they're thinking the lump might be, they sent a rather strongly worded referral back to the public hospital, asking to have it removed within one to two weeks. Even if it turns out to be benign, it must be removed shortly, they said, otherwise the surgeon won't be able to close the opening in the skin as it it will be too big to pull together. A week later I was called in for a consultation, which consisted of a surgeon taking a superficial look at it, and telling me he would waitlist me for a surgery. Then - nothing. No word from the hospital. When my GP called the surgery coordinator yesterday, he claimed my papers must have been misplaced as he had not received them, so no surgery was scheduled. I don't know what my GP said to him, but at least she could give me the good news that I'm going for a CT-scan on Tuesday and surgery next Friday.

The fight for being treated, the worry and the waiting has caused complete exhaustion on my part, thus no blogging. But for all that have been so kind and left encouraging and comforting comments here; Thank you!

For LouBoo and the challenge of a Grumpy Meme, I guess I'm so grumpy about the arrogance of some of the doctors at the public hospital I can think of little else at the moment to go grrrrr! about. When fighting for one's health and maybe even life against a couple of bastards in white coats, everything else turns pale in comparison. But otherwise, all kinds of injustice and cruelty towards humans and animals usually trigger my temperament to the extent of explosion.

For Soul Princess and the challenge of discussing one's blogging habits, blogging isn't really that big a part of my life. Originally I started blogging just to discuss clothes, shoes and make-up with a friend living in the US and anyone else possibly interested, but somehow my blog has turned into more of the "everything else" part than fashion and beauty, it seems. At least for the moment. What I really enjoy about it though, is the contact with other bloggers, all the inspiration I get from them and also the feedback, both from bloggers and my family and friends.

And for Holly Wolf and your comment to this post - yes, that is cousin Denise. And if she's your cousin too, it must mean we're somehow related - and I can't place you. Now, that has me really intrigued...or wait - do you happen to live in San Diego? :)

Well, that's it for now. I'm done with the "drinking and smoking" for today. Tomorrow I'll be doing more of the waisting time bit - in gardening centres. There's still a few more flowers needed by the "early morning sun/afternoon shade wall" here, I believe.

At least until the climbing Flammentanz rose in the corner (which were about 5 cm (2 inches) tall when I planted it a month ago) grows a bit further and becomes more like this:

(Random photo from the net)

Into the swing of things

2010-05-08T22:54:00.003+02:00

A gorgeous spring afternoon in Oslo today. Hard to believe it was only 4 days since we had 3 inches of snow!

While playing along with my friend's kids in their backyard, I just couldn't help myself getting a little carried away. After being reassured the kids' swings were certified for "elephants", I tapped into my inner childish spirit and had a go at it. Must be at least ten years since I last did this:

My friend's daughter and her pal had fun too, after "auntie" brought along things that are usually totally off-limits:

Wearing: Volcom T-shirt, Levi's jeans, Converse Allstars and Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Health related causes put brakes on blogging

2010-05-05T01:37:00.008+02:00

There are many posts and comments on other's blogs waiting to be published from my side. One reason for my absence during the better part of a week, has been a) I've been out of town to celebrate my stephbrother's 40th, my father's 75th and my nephew's confirmation - parties three days in a row have taken their toll.

The other reason is b) exhaustion from arguing with doctors. I rarely comment on political or medical things on my blog, which I strive to keep limited to more ~~important~~ interesting things in life, like fashion, shoes, Chanel nail polish and furry friends. In this case I'm making a rare exception to that rule, as there is also this small, but very energy consuming case of an undiagnosed tumor growing on my tummy. I'ts taken me a hell of a lot of work, more than half a dozen phonecalls to doctors and hospital VIP's to get an appointment, but I'm finally off to see a private doctor tomorrow. Paying for their services is the final solution, with the Norwegian public health system cynically exploiting the possibilities that some patients might (hopefully to them) die while being waitlisted. One less troublesome and expensive cancer patient in the queue seems to be their goal.

Thank you all for all the nice comments you write on my blog. I'll be back with updates on New York, lousy shampoos, National Norwegian costumes and a bloody snowstorm killing my freshly planted terrace spring flowers (on MAY 4TH GODDAMNIT!) later on.

(Oslo, noontime, May 4th 2010. Picture by vg.no)

Cheers!

NY Day 3 - Old auntie buys teenage stuff in Soho...

2010-04-27T23:26:00.005+02:00

...for herself!

We ventured down to Chinatown and Soho, leisurely strolling around and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the area for most of the day. As our luggage had finally arrived, my sis could start looking in earnest for stuff for her three boys, with auntie tagging along into every other Quicksilver, Billabong, Volcom, DC, Yellow Rat and whatnot store on our way. I ended up getting a turquoise tee from Volcom. I kind of figured this fresh color would make me feel more energized when going to the gym. And, as according to my nephews this really is one hot brand, maybe a little more cool, too. Haha...

We had lunch in a street corner restaurant which name I can't remember. Pretty sad, as they had the best and most crispy fries I have ever eaten! Photographed here with a nosy person just managing to get in the picture:

At the end of the day, we made our last browsing stop in Bloomingdale's. Thanks to my inclination for trying out almost every beauty product I see featured in fashion magazines, I convinced myself into buying, at a fairly high cost, what turned out to be the worst evah! shampoo/conditioner. I'll be dissecting that, and other beauty stuff I got, in a separate post.

My sis however, got herself some really great sunglasses there. The day before, while we were waiting for our nails to dry at the beauty salon, she had spotted a woman in there with some gorgeous shades on top of her head. Sis asked her: What brand are your glasses? And before the owner had even had time to open her mouth, I burst out: Tom Ford Jennifer! And when she found them the next day in Bloomingdale's, they came home with her:

(Photo by Bag Borrow or Steal)

She's in good company now, my dear sis:

(Random image from the net)

Diesel Dippy Oouns maxi dress

2010-04-27T01:11:00.001+02:00

Reading a blogpost about maxi dresses from blog BonBon Rose Girls, I recalled seeing the most gorgeous maxi dress in the local Diesel store a couple of days ago. Just thought I would show you:

The back:

It looks even better in person than in the photos, which don't do the vivid colors enough justice. The fabric is a mixture of cotton and silk. It's called "Dippy Oouns", and comes in pink and black versions, too. I think I stood there drooling over it for ten minutes straight. If I'm getting only one maxi dress this summer, this one is on top of my wish list for sure.

(Photos by Diesel)

Ferret baby interprets Munch

2010-04-24T01:12:00.001+02:00

Edvard Munch's famous "Scream" (random image from the net)

(Photo from blog Alaya and Co)

Choo shopping - Day 2

2010-04-23T13:47:00.002+02:00

Day two started off with me frantically checking our lost luggage reference number, only to find no one still knew where in the world it happened to be. As we were going out with our hosts later that evening, I had to forego my planned SATC sightseeing tour and go shopping for something a bit dressy to wear instead.

In my missing bag was an outfit consisting of a pair of nice pants, a dressy blazer and a pair of black patent heels:

I figured my best bet would be to look for something similar, and being the shoe buff that I am, I headed for the shoe store before anything else. Getting the shoes first is a bit backwards, isn't it? (That's yours truly in a nutshell!) Well, I found out the expensive way and had to rectify that, as you shall see. But first - I walked leisurely from Colombus Circle along Central Park over to 5th Ave, enjoying the New York atmosphere. My destination? Yep, that's right!

Once inside, I spied pair after pair of fantastic heels. I had such a hard time leaving it at drooling over them while instructing myself to look for something that would be useful at other times than just when I'm sitting on my butt in a restaurant. After all, I have more stillettos than I have use for in my closet already. Since my good walking shoes were still in my suitcase, I opted for flats that could double as going out shoes that evening:

Now, these really are sensible shoes, as opposed to a lot of the other stuff I tend to get. The insoles are padded all the way, making it feel like walking on cushions, while the rubber sole makes them very soft and flexible:

I put them on, decided they would do me very nicely, and happily left the store wearing them while my old shoes were stashed away in the box. Btw, shopping there was a fantastic experience. No snobbish shop attendants. They sat down with you in the comfy chairs while you were trying on shoes and chatted away about everything. They made me feel like I was the most important customer ever, and I just didn't want to leave. Way to sell! And as for the shoes - I wore them for hours the first day and from morning to night the next time I used them - and no blisters or hurting feet at all!

With the shoes seemingly under control, a jacket was next on my list. What a nightmare! Try finding a nice blazer in the endless shopping mecca that is New York when you haven't got any idea at all what style or color you're looking for. The only thing I could think of was that I want to be able to wear it during summer. After visiting store after store along 5th Ave, I eventually ended up at the Diesel flagship store. My time was running out and I desperately pleaded for help with one of the staff. And wouldn't you know it? She brought me a jacket from the Diesel Black Gold collection that catered completely to my love of khaki colors and natural fabrics. I didn't think twice!

Some nice detaling on the back:

These photos were taken back home, so it's a bit crumpled from coming straight out of the suitcase, but it's called Baader jacket and can be seen on Diesel's online store here.

But when I got it, I decided I didn't want to use it with the flats after all. So I ventured into Saks - and red soles heaven:

But seriously, at the back of my mind, I knew I had seen the ones I really wanted for summer already, in another store. Yep, that would be here:

When I came in the second time, the shop assistant at the till laughed and called out to her colleague: Hey, you customer is back again! And I got to sit down once again for a friendly chat, while trying on my pair of choice:

Perfect with the jacket! And I'm sending the bill for these to the airline! That's the least they can do for causing me all this stress and my missing the much wanted SATC tour, don't you think?

Later that afternoon, the three of us went for a manipedi at my cousin's local salon to really look the part when going out:

They had those huge chairs in which you can get a back massage while having your feet done. Such a nice way of getting a bit of relaxation after a gruelling shopping marathon.

My sis made a fantastic steal that day, too. She got the gorgeous printed silk tunic she was wearing here from Michael Kors at only TEN DOLLARS!

That evening, we went to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre to see a very modern version of Hair. When the show finished, they invited the audience up on the stage to dance with the cast. While I preferred to just watch the spectacle, more than a hundred people took the opportunity to dance on a Broadway stage. Pity they didn't allow us to take any photos of it. Leaving the theatre I got myself a little souvernir:

Peace and love, folks! :)

Sunrise over New York - Day 1

2010-04-22T18:57:00.004+02:00

Even if the trip over from Norway to New York the day before had been fairly stressful with a 7 hr late arrival, I woke up early enough to catch the sunrise over Central Park and the surrounding area. The above picture was my first view on this trip of New York by day, as we had arrived at our cousin's home a little after midnight. A little later the same part of lower Central Park across to 5th Ave looked like this;

while my other bedroom window gave me a nice view in the morning haze, across the park over to the Upper East Side. As the trees back home still haven't started sprouting, seeing all that green put me in a super mood:

A little recap of what happened: I met my sister in Copenhagen for our onwards flight, which was cancelled due to a problem with one of the motors. My sister posed in front of the "villain" aircraft:

I did, too, however while I'm somewhat underexposed at least my trusty old (and crumpled) Burberry trench is showing, along with the mechanics working to fix the motor in the background:

Since we were rerouted via London Heathrow, we had time for some quick shopping there before boarding our flight with Continental Airlines. I got some snacks for our onwards journey, including a couple of very ingenious minibottles of white wine:

It comes with a plastic wineglass as a cork. Ain't that neat? Perfect for picnics! I wish we had those in Norway, too. My sister drank her's on the way across the Atlantic, but a mighty sour flight attendant spied mine sitting on my tray even before I had got around to open it, and sternly told me he did not appreciate passengers having any BYO picnics onboard his plane. Pay up for drinks from the bar when they eventually get around to serving you, or die of thirst.

Well, at least we got to compare Continental and SAS. If you can live with extremely small intercontinental planes with bad, hot air, no legroom at all and don't mind sharing the two toilets with 200 others, but love watching films and TV, Continental is your airline. The selection of entertainment on board was excellent. More than 40 movies and TV-shows to choose from, many of them brand new. If you can live with far fewer movie choices, but prefer more legroom and shorter queues for the toilets due to there being many more, and can stand ~~cold, fresh~~ freezing air (they do have plenty of blankets though), SAS is the better alternative. I highly recommend insuring your luggage, though. Haha...

After breakfast our cousin drove us up to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, giving us an interesting guiding of the area we passed through on the way. It's about an hour north of Manhattan, and there are more than 200 stores in every price category, so it's the perfect place for every bargain savvy fashionista. The shops are all in small wooden houses, it's like a tiny, little village with small streets, benches, trees and flowers. There are shuttle buses from Manhattan and back all through the day every day, so even if one doesn't have a car it's easy to get there. I'll be certain to leave enough room in my itinerary on my next visit to NY to go there once again, it was soooo worth it.

Me, our cousin and my sis. Me wearing the same outfit I left home in a day earlier, apart from my new $1.99 white tank that I got in the middle of the night from a 24hr pharmacy. My sis and our cousin have both got the hair and skin genes from the maternal side of the family, while I got mine from the paternal side. It shows, doesn't it?

My first stop was the Levi's outlet store, to get new pants. It was huge, with a marvellous selection. I ended up getting 5 pairs for the same price as I paid for the one pair of boyfriends jeans I got at home a month earlier.

One pair of white denim capris, one pair of straight leg dark wash, one pair of grey skinny jeans and one blue denim boot cut. I also got another pair of boyfriend jeans with a slightly darker color that my first ones, which I was wearing when I took this picture. While they all fit when I bought them, it'll be interesting to try them on again now, as it feels like a couple of kilos have mysteriously (well, maybe not, considering all the running around) disappeared from my hips since I left home.

I also made a few other stops, getting among other things a pair of Ray Ban aviator sunlgasses at 25% off, a velour track pant from Juicy Couture at 30% off and half an outfit from Converse at a cost less than half of what I pay for a pair of those same shoes back here:

We arrived up there at noon, and didn't leave until they closed at 9 pm, after enjoying a dinner at the Italian restaurant Positano:

Starting to get a bit tired there, I think. But I was certainly not the only one who went wild in the stores. When we arrived back home, my cousin's hubby just couldn't believe his eyes when he saw our combined haul:

Bet he was mighty glad he had to go to his office and couldn't come with us. :D

The cheap shoes and the not so cheap new lens

2010-04-20T23:17:00.001+02:00

A little while back I wrote this post about being inspired by other bloggers. In it I mentioned a blogpost by someone else that caused me to crave a better quality lens for my camera, a 50 mm f 1.4. It lets in so much light is makes flash virtually superfluous. Unfortunately, due to the need for shopping something to wear while my bag was missing I didn't get around to buy it on my first day in New York as I had wanted.

Eventually I got it though, from the B & H Superstore located close to the US Postal Office and Madison Square Garden. The store is huge and stock everything photo- and videobuffs can possibly desire, but the size of the store and the number of customers in there made it seem like complete and utter madness. Judging from these test photos though, it certainly was worth it. It blurs out the background very nicely, and but for the worst conditions I can drop the horrible flash.

While shopping in Soho, my sis spied a pair of 20-bucks shoes that caused instant love on my behalf. They're so cute. To try out my new toy I took a few shots of them in low lightning indoors without using flash.

Safely home

2010-04-20T11:35:00.001+02:00

Quick update:

Two lucky sisters got on the plane from New York last night, local time. We were originally scheduled to fly New York to Copenhagen-Oslo (me) and Copenhagen-Kristiansand (my sister lives in the South of Norway). Copenhagen is still closed though, but the flight was diverted to Oslo. I was not unhappy! Haha...

I've just arrived home and my sister is on the express bus from Oslo to Arendal (her hometown) as all domestic flights to the South and the West in Norway are cancelled at the moment. The latests news is that Oslo might be closed again at 2 pm as there are more ash clounds lingering above the North Sea and the western coast of Norway that might blow our way.

What a mess! I've never seen Oslo Airport so empty...it was really eerie. The service at the duty free store in the arrivals hall was fantastic, though. Only the two of us as customers, and a dozen staff desperately waiting for someone to help. :D

I'll post more about the trip with pictures later on, but right now I just have to unwind and destress as I'm still have my shoulders above my ears from all the chaos we encountered during this trip. Off-to-bed-itis! :)

Greetings from New York

2010-04-18T14:09:00.002+02:00

Hi everybody!

Travel update: My sister and I got to Copenhagen without any hiccups on April 14th. As soon as we arrived there, we were informed our onwards flight with SAS had just been cancelled due to a technical problem with one of the motors. We were rebooked via London Heathrow and flew Continental Airlines from there to New York, where we arrived 7 hours later than originally scheduled.

Happy to have finally arrived, we went to get our bags only to be told that we were among 40 passengers whose luggage had been lost on the way. So we went on a mad scramble in the middle of the night to get toiletries and clean underwear! The next day was very pleasant shoppingwise - having our travel insurance companies pay for shoes and clothes ain't that bad, really. We shopped like there was no tomorrow! I guess it doesn't come entirely as a surprise that the very first store I visited was Jimmy Choo on 5th Ave? Haha...

However, as we returned to our cousin's home where we're staying, we got the rather disturbing news that no flights were leaving Northern Europe due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the ash cloud it caused. We didn't think we'd see our bags for the remainder of our stay. Luckily, somehow they had managed to get it over here and yesterday it arrived, almost three days late.

(Volcanic ash cloud, in story from the Huffington Post)

Now there's another tiny little problem. We're booked to return back to Norway tomorrow. Checking the updates on the SAS website, that looks a bit uncertain at the moment. Along with thousands of others, we're stuck here until further notice.

But as our cousin and her hubby live on the Upper West Side next to Colombus Circle and Central Park, with 5th Ave right across the park, we feel like we have the world at our feet. Those buildings at the very front of this image and the lower part of the park, I'm looking at that from where I' sitting now. I kind of like the scenery here. :D

(Random NY shot found the net)

This morning the sun's out and we'll be taking a rest from all the shopping, going for a stroll in the park and maybe crossing the Brooklyn Brigde by foot. There's really nothing we can do but relax and enjoy our time here, as it won't help getting all stressed up by the uncertainty of the flight situation. And New York is definitely not the worst place in the world to be stranded. But I guess you knew that already, right? ;)

Up, up and away

2010-04-14T07:05:00.000+02:00

Off I go then. See ya in a week's time. Hopefully with a lot of interesting images from New York, not at least from some of the 40 locations on the Sex and the City sightseeing tour I'm planning on joining.

Hasta la vista! ;)

Awards galore

2010-04-11T23:12:00.003+02:00

Sheesh, I thought the awards season was over with the Oscars. Was I mistaken!

Over the course of the last week, I've received the honor of being nominated, not just for one but for two awards from fellow bloggers. First of all, my sincere apologies for not replying to those awards immediately. As my trip to New York is coming up on Wednesday, I've been so swamped with things to do before I go that I simply haven't had the time. I guess you can tell by my number of blogposts declining dramatically this month. Not to speak of lack of comments on others fabulous blogs. But I'm with Ahnuld: I'll be back!

Now, let's suppose for a minute that blogging awards are red carpet affairs, albeit fairly informal ones. Then, to accept my prizes I would need a new dress suitable for the occasion. Nothing big, but a little more dressed up than the average everyday frock. How about this cute little thing from Erdems Resort 2010 collection? Would that do for awards? I reckon I'd feel quite comfy in this with a gorgeous clutch in my hand - and a glass of bubbly in the other.

(Photo by net-a-porter)

And I need new shoes, too! Strappy bronze metallic sandals? Hmm...oh well, before I get totally carried away I'd better get on with the actual awards:

The first one was the Beautiful Blogger award, given to me by fellow Norwegian The Soulprincess of Oslo. This is the very first award in my blogging history. Thank you so much!

The rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated me for this award - Check
2. Copy the award and place it on my blog -Check
3. Link the person who nominated me for this award - Check

4. Share 7 interesting things about myself - I'm taking a raincheck on this until I get back as I'm a little bit short on time right now, ok? I'm pretty certain you don't want to hear about ironing clothes, packing and such. I'd like to think of some interesting things to share that you don't already now. Even if they're abolutely adorable, I guess there is only so much of my fascination with ferrets my readers can take, right? ;)

5. Nominate 7 other beautiful bloggers - Random picks from all the 70 odd blogs I read on a regular basis:

1. Semi Expat in Oz
2.Chic'n Cheap Living
3. Beauty be Good
4. Crystal Jigsaw
5. My cup of te
6. Lou, Boos and shoes
7. 40 not out

Ok, that's one down - one more to go.

...

The second award was given to me by someone whose hometurf I'll be visiting this coming week: The Alternative Wife, in New York. Thank you so much for the You're going places award!

These are the rules for this award:

1. Link back to the blogger who sent you this award - Check

2. Post where you would like to be in 10 years - Easy. With my health history, I hope I'm still around. (And if I am, Dear God, could I also please not have too many wrinkles and have the legs of Jennifer Aniston? I will save my pennies for Botox and go regularly to yoga practice, I promise!)

(Photo from The Daily Mail)

3. Pass it on to 10 other special bloggers! - Ok, the next ten to get this challenge from me are:

1. Bruun by Bruun
2. Pillowy
3. Anholm
4. Blonde Chicette
5. Bored London Gurl
6. Cassiopeia
7. Ma Princesse de Pêche
8. Mixed Match Media
9. My New Favourite Thing
10. Fab Blab

Have fun girls! :)

Lovely lovely fur

2010-04-08T02:00:00.003+02:00

...well, they're about to grow some any day now...

(Photo from blog Alaya and Co)

No, I have not gone completely bonkers (just in case you were wondering about the state of my sanity) by writing a post about fur now that all everybody can think of is pretty floral dresses, shorts and gorgeous sandals? Haha...

However, knowing there are many animal lovers among my readers, I thought I would treat you to some more live fur. This picture is by a member on a ferret discussion board I frequent. One of her female ferrets had 8 babies a couple of weeks ago. She's regularly updating her blog with pictures of the in total 11 members of her extended family. Three adults, one male and two females. The female who did not have kids is still helping out as stand-in mummy. They are sooooo cute!

(Photo by Alaya and Co)

If you feel like seeing more of these tiny little furballs, you can visit her blog Alaya and Co here.

Norwegian Easter: Born with skis on our feet....

2010-04-06T03:09:00.009+02:00

... well, that's how ~~all~~ most Norwegians like to think of themselves and also present ourselves to the rest of the world anyway. We claim a tiny village in a Norwegian county, Morgedal in Telemark, as the cradle of modern skiing. And judging by the number of Olympic gold medals won in any kind of skiing exercise, to foreign bystanders this idea of every Norwegian being a diehard skier might not seem so far-fetched.

(Photo by vg.no)

When Easter comes around, thousands and thousands of Norwegians ~~sit for hours on end in queues along the congested roads~~ go to their little cottages in the mountains to ski. When they finally arrive at their destinations, some ~~crazy people~~ skiing enthusiasts put their skis on in the morning and don't take them off until after sunset, walking mile after mile and conquering every top in sight (~~and would you believe some suckers even have to go for those beyond that, too?!~~)

(Photo by siste.no)

The presence of the sun in what in general is called the Easter mountain (that would be any rock above a couple of hundred feet and at least a handful of kilometres outside the city limits) is muy importante. After all, how can you otherwise brag to your neigbours about your fantastic Easter holiday at your cabin if not by showing a freshly and genuinely tanned face? A sunbed or selftanning spray simply don't cut it. Too fake. The great Norwegian Easter tan is all about authenticity and that special hue one only gets ~~when exposing yourself to the risk of ending up snowblind~~ from endless enjoyment in the snow.

Next to working up a sweat by the skiing itself, the most popular way to go about getting that much coveted glow to your face is taking a snack break - in the sun - next to the wall of your cabin (or any accessible cabin along your way. It just have to be a cabin wall).

(Photo by adressa.no)

Every man, woman and child skier is carrying his or her own little snack backpack, containing the holy trinity of Easter skiing trips must-haves: something to drink (preferably hot cocoa or hot blackcurrant toddy, or Solo, the local version of Fanta), in addition to half a dozen oranges....

(Photo by newswire.no)

and ~~unless you're totally and utterly clueless~~ the one and only chocolate to bring on any Easter skiing trip, Kvikk Lunsj, which, incidentally, has been around ever since they started experimenting with chunks of wood up in Morgedal in those ancient times:

(Photo by freia.no)

Now, to let you all in on a secret, there are ~~those of us~~ some Norwegians who are ~~lousy skiers~~ more urbanized. Especially when, according to the forecast, there is absolutely no chance of achieving that glorious tan, and that the most sunny yellow one is likely to encounter is desperately trying to resuscitate something like this :

or spending rainy days on the net drooling over something like these :

(Photo by jimmychoo.com)

So, while I made sure prior to the arrival of the holidays that I wouldn't completely lose that Easter feeling...

...I'm afraid I had to tell my more ski interested friends that unfortunately, due to ~~grossly disliking the idea of sitting inside in the rain in a cabin with only one TV-channel and no internet~~ pressing home maintenance chores, they would have to:

(Photo by icanhascheezeburger.com)

I hope you all had a great Easter! :)

Quality Street

2010-03-30T07:46:00.001+02:00

(All photos sampled from various media sources on the net.)

I'm on the list!

2010-03-30T00:50:00.002+02:00

The Outnet is celebrating their 1st birthday with a sale where everything is only £1! However, it looks like the sale will be taking place on Friday April 16th. That particular date I'll be roaming the streets of New York for bargains. Otherwise I'd be stuck in front of my laptop trying to snatch some goodies. I guess you could say I'm on the list but out of the race.

If you're not on the list but would like to be, just sign up at The Outnet.com. They ship worldwide. If you should happen to get your hands on one or more designer beauties, it would be fun seeing them on your blog. Good luck! :)

Tablecloth that turns spilling wine into poetry

2010-03-29T00:50:00.004+02:00

Hey! Look at this fantastic innovative tablecloth from Norwegian furniture designer Kristine Bjaadal:

(Photos by Kristine Bjaadal)

What looks like an ordinary white damask tablecloth, turns into a poetic suprise if one should happen to spill something on in. Isn't that just so neat? No more embarrassment if an accident happens. I want one of those!

See more of her designs on her blog.

One year ago: Random spring Sunday in Oslo

2010-03-28T14:31:00.003+02:00

The Opera House basking in the sun

Officially, it's spring.

Only the weather in Oslo has not yet been informed. It's grey, it's cold, it's partly wet and while making a 5 minute guest appearance yesterday, the sun was last seen for a whole day more than a forthnight ago. Frankly, it's hard to stay upbeat. Even the spring flowers on my terrace seem to have gone into some sort of weather depression. Blooming? No way!

After one of the most gruelling winters in living memory, I'm begging for some sunny weather to hurry up and arrive. It doesn't look like the weather gods have any intentions of answering my prayers soon, though. For all foreseeable future - that means until Easter ends - the forecast is predicting more of the same old, same old grey, overcast and fairly cold and wet weather type. To cheer myself up, I've been looking at some pictures from last year's spring.

One particular Sunday the weather was so glorious 3 of my friends and I spent the whole day touring the Opera House and walking along the quayside downtown. We even enjoyed our first outdoors beers for the year.

Lined up outside the restaurant overlooking parts of the harbor

Sarah and Brita and dozens of other sun worshippers

Having fun on top of the roof

Admiring K/S Norge (Norway) - the royal yacht

Looking up at the medieval Akerhus fortress from the quayside

The view from underneath the castle over to Aker Brygge, a very popular area with both locals and tourists, full of shops, restaurants and bars. That's where we're heading!

Not as much as the tiniest little gust of wind - looking out the Oslo fjord, the sea was like velvet

Arriving at Aker Brygge, we were extremely lucky to find a vacant table in the sun - the placed was packed!

The first outdoor sip of beer for the year, with many, many more to come later on in spring and summer

Passing the National Gallery on my way home, where among other beautiful art one can admire one of Norway's most famous and internationally wellknown paintings - The Scream by Edvard Munch.

The flag on the roof of the Royal Palace told the tale of the King being home. Maybe he was waiting for his ship to be ready to take him out for a cruise on the fjord?

In the summer, one can go on guided tours inside some of the official rooms in here. The King and Queen live on the third floor. On the first floor, to the right in this image, are the guest suites. When President Bill Clinton, as the first sitting American president, visited Oslo in November 1999, he was offered to stay here. He wanted to, the guide told us, but above the most powerful president in the world is an even more powerful minder. Secret Service's response to his wish: NO!

Oh, Sun and warmer weather.....where art thou?

Redecorating my bathroom = 5 Balenciagas

2010-03-27T00:36:00.006+01:00

Reading home stylist Emily A. Clark's inspiring interior blog and her post about Pondering my Powder Room, I decided to write a bathroom post of my own as I'm shortly going to redecorate this particular room in my flat. After spending parts of the last few weeks browsing through dozens of brochures, I've come to the conclusion my taste in bathroom interior is on par with my taste in handbags. That means non-budget friendly.

However, as my bathroom looks pretty much the same now as it did when I bought the flat seven years ago, it's time to give it a real facelift. This is how I've been living since the original mirror I had got damaged:

Loose Ikea mirror standing on the bathroom sink, electrical cord hanging out of the wall as I have been completely unable to decide on both a new mirror and a lamp for the mirror, huge old-fashioned sink with practically no space to put one's stuff when applying make-up, an unsightly grey concrete wall (the builder was obviously a cheapie as he didn't care to have the part of the wall that was concrete tiled), tiny granny style cupboard with little storage space and boring grey tiles on the floor. I'm sick of it!

This is what I want to wake up to:

(Photo by kuma.dk)

A Kuma Divine7 sink, with white high gloss drawers that have built in grips. Extremely practical, easy to clean and the drawers close softly by themselves when given a little push. Only I don't want the sink to be black, but in a material called Terrazzo. It can be had in many colors, but my choice is white marble with grey and a few pink stones mixed in. According to the producer, this material is 2 1/2 times stronger than concrete. (Not that I have any intentions of testing whether the claim holds true!)

(Photo by Kuma)

As for solving the problem with the mirror and matching lamp, I want one like this, only bigger, with lamps and a plug for the hairdryer and toothbrush built in:

(Photo by Foss bad)

For the floor, I'm getting new tiles, in grey slate, like this:

(Photo by maxbo.no)

And finally, my old-fashioned toilet standing on the floor is getting replaced by one hanging on the wall, with a soft close seat that closes itself in the same way as the drawers and with a quick release function which makes the seat easy to take off for cleaning:

(Photo by Villeroy & Boch)

The grey concrete wall is getting covered by the same high gloss white tiles as the rest of the walls. I want to keep the walls white, as a darker color is gonna make the already small room seem even smaller.

I'm so looking forward to getting this done. The plumber will let me know right after Easter when he can start. It's not the cheapest solution I could have chosen. However, I'm pretty sure I'll quickly forget about the selection of Balenciagas I could have had when I'm smiling happily to myself in the (new!) mirror every morning.

Sensible shoes

2010-03-26T18:17:00.002+01:00

So I've been all around town, looking for a pair of sensible walking shoes for running around shopping and sightseeing in New York. Today I found them:

*hysterical laughter*

Well, you gotta give me they're practically flat - on the underside...

*more hysterical laughter*

Topshop to Oslo - finally!

2010-03-24T14:21:00.002+01:00

(Oslo's parade street Karl Johan on May 17th, our national day. Photo by aftenposten.)

Hurrah! We Norwegians have been waiting for Topshop to establish themselves in Oslo for years. Now they have finally found their dream premises, and will be opening a 3 floor, 2200m2 store on Oslo's parade street Karl Johan next spring.

Only one more year to go, and we'll be able to go get our hands (litterally) on their huge selection of budget friendly fashion without having to worry about shipping from the UK and garments that don't fit and have to be shipped back. Good thing there's still some time to save up. Come the opening day and I guess the line outside will match that of the children's parade on our National Day! Only the flags will be Unions Jacks!

Inspired by other bloggers

2010-03-21T23:51:00.035+01:00

Do you find inspiration from other bloggers? Since I started blogging, I keep finding interesting blogs all the time. Fashion, interior decoration, photography, drawings, beauty, lifestyle...you name it, I add it to my blog roll . Who knew when I created this blog a couple of months ago than in such a short time I would be spending so much time reading other people's blogs?

Often, these other bloggers write something that inspire me to take action. Take this post about new gear from She left on a Monday, for instance. That caused me to look for a new and better lens for my camera, like this one from Sony - a 50mm 1.4.

(Photo by Sony)

It's on my shopping list when going to the US. There it costs approx USD 370. Here it's a little less than the double. Good thing I saw that post and started craving better bokeh before my trip, as the lens becomes so much more affordable. Hopefully, my readers will also get to enjoy nicer photographs. Of course, great images don't all depend on better gear, but it helps. At least if the photographer finds interesting motifs...;)

(My hair, circa December 2007)

With regards to the upcoming trip, I also found a great tip on the blog of She Wore It Well, when she wrote about her New York memories. Posting a mouth watering picture of a fortune cookie dessert from restaurant Tao I just knew I had to visit that place while there. Looking it up on the web, they advised to book a month in advance as it's so popular. Now that my booking is confirmed, I can't wait to have that chocolade mousse filled fortune cookie. YUM!

The latest one to inspire me is Struggling to be stylish. Her post on Keeping it going versus making it better caused me to think about how I'm finding the balance between keeping things as they are when I'm running short on time or energy, and making progress in all my projects whether in the home or otherwise.

As a side effect of chemotherapy, I'm suffering from something the doctors at the Cancer Centre call Chemobrain. Some of the symptoms are being unusually disorganized, fatigue and taking longer than normal to complete routine tasks. That means getting started on things and/or finishing them often feels like trying to climb an insurmountable wall. Add that to the usual lack of time when there are more projects than one on the list, and you get my drift.

Eh...where was I?

Oh yeah, right...Over the course of the last few years, I've had to adjust my normally busybody and impatient personality from "everything's gonna have to happen right here and now " to "one thing at a time". So if I feel tired after washing half the floor, I take a break to reply to mails or read some blogs before I wash the other half. (OK, being entirely honest here - sometime it doesn't get washed until the next day. But that information is strictly off the record, just so you know it. I blame it on too many interesting blogs. Besides, who knows if I should happen to find one with tips about how to get the floor to clean itself?)

If I have to choose between visiting a friend for a nice evening, like I did yesterday

and get my bike ready for a spin on ice free roads, I do the bike later, like today:

Somehow, the important things get my priority, while the not so important can wait. While everything is no longer happening immediately, whatever needs to be done eventually does happen in due time.

Every now and then, though, I get a real burst of energy. That feeling of being ready to take on whatever is one I make sure I take advantage of for all that it's worth. So while the pleasant night with my friend last night amounted to a great way of spending one's time, it also recharged my batteries, giving me an energy kick. Thus, I not only did the bike today, I also took on my terrace:

Old flower pot ready for the bin, accompanied by unwelcome greetings from doves

Cleaning the whole terrace, taking the furniture out from winter storage and trying to scare the doves with a homemade scarecrow.

Checking out my gardening efforts from last fall, hoping they will have survived the winter and become like this:

while waiting for spring for real so it all can turn into this:

I know it's not always easy, but my way of balancing it all is trying to think: Relax. Stay cool. The world won't come to and end if I don't get around to do everything today. Always try and prioritize what's most enjoyable or what will eventually give you the greater satisfaction having accomplished. There's much truth to the saying "Life's too short", if you know what I mean.

Today's outfit:

Spring cleaning couture. :)

Responding to a challenge

2010-03-20T02:54:00.035+01:00

The other day, I was challenged by blogger Soul Princess to reply to a long list of questions about myself.

While it's always flattering being tagged by someone, I have to admit I'm always the one among my group of friends that breaks the chain when these types of e-mails and similar text messages are sent around. Normally, I just don't possess the patience needed, and think my time is better spent doing something more academic, say, for instance, ~~doing my assignments~~ spying gorgeous shoes like these ones from Gina:

Or even taking part in their competition to win your pair of choice at a value of up to GBP 450. Come to think of it, I probably should keep quiet about the competition, lest I will get even more competitors for the prize. Haha...But Gina sure makes some really beautiful shoes. If I ever should happen to get married, I might choose one of their crystal studded models, like these ones:

(All photos by Gina)

But I digress. I'm very good at that. The questions in the challenge don't disclose that particular trait, but there's a lot of other information to give about oneself in reply to the numerous questions. Armed with a glass of red wine, a bag of crisps and some music playing in the background, I set about the task of being a good sport and picking up the ~~glove~~ virtual pen. Here we go:

1. What time did you get up this morning? 10 AM'ish. I'm definetly a type B personality during winter.

2. How do you like your steak? Don't eat much meat but I wouldn't decline my sister's fantastic roast with a red wine sauce and tons of broccoli.

(Lucy totally agrees my sister's cooking is yummy)

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Half of Sherlock Holmes. Way too modern. For detective stories I prefer David Suchet's Poirot.

4. What is your favorite TV show? Sex and the city forevah!!!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I can think of many places. The two requirements would be a) warmer than here b) close to the ocean - being at sea gives me a great sense of freedom.

(The one that got away was thiiiiiiiiiiiis big)

6. What did you have for breakfast? A litre of water.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican.

8. What foods do you dislike? Way too many to specify. I'm very particular.

9. Favorite Place to eat? A good restaurant anywhere.

10. Favorite dressing? Just don't give me Thousand Island!

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? My last car was a Mazda 626. Now it's a bicycle.

12. What are your favorite clothes? Jeans. Always searching for the perfect pair.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? I've done every continent except Africa. A safari in the Kruger park in a game reserve called Mala Mala is high on my wish list.

(Photo by Mala Mala)

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Full.

15. Where would you want to retire? A tiny villa with a view to palm trees and the ocean somewhere warm.

16. Favorite time of day? I love sunsets and sunrises.

17. Where were you born? Arendal, southern coast of Norway.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Sailing regattas when I can follow them from either a) a boat nearby or b) a nice spot on the beach on a sunny day.

19. Bird watcher? Occasionally, if I have my camera along.

20. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night in winter, morning in summer.

21. Do you have any pets? Used to have two ferrets.

22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? If so, they'll be on my blog the minute they happen. :)

23. What did you want to be when you were little? Shop keeper.

24. Are you a cat or dog person? Dog.

25. What was your last drink? Drinking red wine now.

26. Always wear your seat belt? Not in taxis.

27. Been in a car accident? Someone hit my car from behind, luckily at slow speed.

28. Any pet peeves? I can't help thinking of people wearing real fur as evil Cruella de Villes.

(Photo from blog Rdujour)

29. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Quattro formaggio.

30. Favorite Flower? Clematis. I'm forever trying to grow the perfect one on my terrace each summer:

And bougainvillea. In the Caribbean they grow them all over walls and fences, and they become huge. Norway's too cold for that, but a small one will thrive in the sun in the summer:

31. Favorite ice cream? Anything that's in my freezer at the moment. And there is always ice cream in there.

32. Favorite fast food restaurant? I just got a new one. In Copenhagen they had one with grilled sandwiches and fries cooked in a healthy way. Don't remeber the name right now, though.

33. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None.

34. From whom did you get your last email? The plumber from whom I decided to accept an offer for refurbishing my bathroom.

35. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? The travel agency.

36. Do anything spontaneous lately? Couldn't resist a tempting piece of cheesecake with my coffee after Thursday night's exhibition..

37. Like your job? My "job" at the moment is finishing my degree in media sciences. I love the freedom of being a student.

38. Broccoli? It's good for you!

39. What was your favorite vacation? That has yet to come when I can convince some of my friends that spending a week or two on a sailboat in the Caribbean will be the best vacation ever.

(Photo by Sailvacations.com)

40. Last person you went out to dinner with? My friend Brita. We do that spontaneously every now and then.

41. What are you listening to right now? Canandian songstress Amanda Marshall. The album: Intermission. Playing right now: Fall from grace.

42. What is your favorite color? Blue.

(Over the top? What do you mean over the top?)

43. How many tattoos do you have? None.

44. How many are you tagging for this quiz? I'll leave it open for anyone reading it to do if they like

45. What time is it? 2 AM

46. Coffee ?? Don't usually drink it, but when I do I prefer espresso or moccha.

Puh...that sure was a long list! If you've read all the way down here, you might be the next one to pick up the challenge of replying? If so, let us know in the comment box, so we can all go take a look. :)

Mick Rock - Rock Diaries

2010-03-19T04:05:00.003+01:00

Image of Lou Reed by Mick Rock via Steen og Ström

Trough my membership in "Friends of department store Steen og Ström", I was invited to last night's vernissage of an exhibiton by famed rock photograper Mick Rock called Rock Diaries. The exhibition consists of black and white photographs from the early 1970's of a few rock'n'roll celebrities, mostly Lou Reed, Rod Stewart, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and a few more. Along with a couple of pals I went to have a look:

Sarah and Thor William in front of an image of Lou Reed

The pictures are also for sale. The large ones that I really like are NOK 25.000 (~ USD 4200) a piece. That's way over my budget for wall art. Still it was fun just dreaming of putting something wild like these on my wall:

Iggy Pop in his heyday

David Bowie with pal Mick Ronson in his Ziggy Stardust period

Both of these photos are the same size as the Reed one behind my friends. The exhibition is pretty cool, it's a real piece of rock history. It's open to April 6th.

As a sidenote: Sorry for the lousy image quality of my pictures. It was impossible to use flash and that caused a real bad camera shake. I need a new lens with better aperture, and I've already found one that I want. But that's another story which hopefully I will be able to show the results of after my trip to New York.

Live fur & fake fur

2010-03-18T12:34:00.009+01:00

Modelling is hard work and not for everyone...

...but someone just loves posing

Inspired by Pure love for fashion's blogpost about the Chanel collection the other day, I was thinking about how pleased I was with The Karl for exclusively using fake fur in Chanel's Fall 2010 collection. While I can hardly wait to see who will be the first celeb to don the abominable snowman look...

(Photo by style.com)

...I won't be surprised to see the high street chains being full of shaggy jackets come next fall. The shaggy look has been a favorite of Kate Moss for years, and while I'm not certain her's aren't real fur, I love this kind of look and will be sure to get a faux one if I find one I like.

(Kate photos from The Daily Mail)

Anyway, here's a collection of real fur the way I ~~like~~ LOVE it!

Sniff (2000-2009) relaxing in the shadow on the terrace on a hot summer day

Storm (2000-2006) was always looking for the perfect jeans...

...while Sniff just couldn't get enough of shoes...

...or handbags...

...or designer clothes...

...or chocolate! Hmm..sounds somewhat familiar, doesn't it?

Since these two passed away, I've been doing some babysitting for someone else's ferrets and they're coming back to visit once again later this spring:

Ferret spilleth ovah...

I'm wayyyyyy too cute and innocent to have have trashed that shoe sole...

How clever am I? Getting this open was nada for a smartie like myself!

Die you bastard!

St Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T21:00:00.000+01:00

Congrats to all Irish on St Patrick's Day!

I thought I would join in the celebration. Not by drinking green beer or anything, but I put on some green eyeshadow and wore a green cardigan with my boyfriend jeans to university today. ;)

I dropped the belt and did the whole sagging look. These jeans are so comfy, but I'm worried I might I have gotten them one size too large? I'm usually a 27", but this model was big so I got a 26". Any bigger than that and I could have pulled them down over my hips without undoing the buttons. Good thing I brought my bike to the bike shop today to have it checked and fixed for spring. Better start doing more exercise to build up some mucle!

Wearing: Cardigan and paint splatter tank top by H&M, Levi's 501, black suede ankle boots from H&M, silver metal bangle by Bik Bok and green eyeshadow from Maybelline. These Stylish Smokes as they're called are not yet sold in Norway, but my friend Michelle in Michigan got them for me there. I used the upper two of the green ones, doing the full smokey eye thing is a bit too much for just going to the bike shop and a lecture. :)

Pret-a-portea

2010-03-17T02:52:00.002+01:00

Drinking tea has never been this much fun!

How about having a nice cuppa with one of your idols?

Or how about discussing politics over a cup or two with Angela Merkel and her peers?

If that's not impressive enough, you can upgrade to afternoon tea with the British royals:

Should that be a tad too stiff upper lip for you, why not do sex, tea and rock'n'roll?

But the dream tea date for most fashionistas would probably be pret-a-portea with Karl & co, wouldn't it?

These fab tea bags are sold by German company Donkey Products. See more funny tea bags here.

(All photos from Donkey Products)

Quality never goes out of style

2010-03-16T18:33:00.003+01:00

Remember that slogan? Yep, that would be good old Levi's.

I remember my very first pair of Levi's pants. They were 501's, bought sometime in the late 80's in one of my hometown's kids' stores. My father had up until then thought they were far too expensive and since I had no money of my own, I just had to make do with whatever cheaper brand he would ok to. But finding them on sale at half price, he finally agreed to fork out for the jeans of my dreams.

In the 80's, at least where I lived, the 501 model was the jeans to own. I'll never forget the excitement of coming home from the town, putting them on and looking forward to showing them off at school the next day. From then on and many years forward, I would never even look at another type of jeans. I bought the same model over and over again. But that was the 80's. Ever since, I've just bought whatever jeans were in fashion at the time.

The last few years, my wardrobe has mainly held bootcut or skinny jeans. Until yesterday, that was. Having tried several dozens of pairs in my quest to find the perfect boyfriend jeans, I found myself in a Levi's store in the local mall. And voilá, I ended up once again as owner of a pair of women's Levi's 501's. Finally a pair which were neither too baggy nor saggy. I also almost ended up taking a pair of Replay jeans with me home. The store assistant in another jeans store handed me this pair to try, and boy did they fit beautifully! But having already settled for the Levi's and since it's less than a month until I'm going to New York, I cringed at spending another NOK 1599 (USD270) for just one pair of jeans. But they're still in the back of my mind, so I haven't written them off completely. They did look fantastic on. Hm.....

(Photo by Replay)

Today I wore my new boyfriend jeans while running an errand downtown. I ventured into Zara to have a look at all their fantastic shoes, and sneaked a picture while trying on a pair of their sandal clogs. The shoes were amazing and very easy to walk in, even with that height. But what I really need is a pair of comfy walking shoes. Incredibly boring, but necessary for running around shopping in New York. But if I were going there only to sit in a café and look as stylish as possible, I'd much rather have bought these cuties:

(Yeah, yeah, I know, should have taken my old socks off for the picture to better show the shoes. Oh well, next time...)

Wearing: Zara beige sweater (my own, old), grey/beige leopard spotted pashmina from Ebay, Levi's 501, vintage belt, old black socks, and Zara sandal clogs (which sadly did not come home with me).

Hugly? Cugly? Fugly?

2010-03-15T21:46:00.001+01:00

With pools of water from melting snow everywhere, Oslo is not yet a city where open toe shoes and stillettos are practical. Thus, I was thinking of adding another pair of wellies to my wardrobe.

What do you think of these ones?

a) Hilariously ugly - they could work with the right outfit
b) So ugly they're actually cute - absolute keepers
c) FRIGGIN' ugly - you did save the receipt for a refund, didn't you?

NO. Just NO.

2010-03-15T02:42:00.002+01:00

(Photo by Free People)

The other day I was expressing my admiration for the super cute Miu Miu floral clogs.

Well, it seems Free People has a completely different take on the concept of floral clogs. These are selling at USD248. Depending on the amount of fashion victims out there, stealing granny's old cushion cases and wrapping them around some chuncky pieces of wood might turn out to be a lucrative business. Whodathunk?

Verdict: Fugly. And that's being nice.

Sunday lunch with friends and their kids

2010-03-14T19:23:00.007+01:00

In the café's playroom: What is that scary thing?

Could it be....? Nah...But it sure does look a lot like a certain infamous glamour model, doesn't it?

Seriously, would you look at these boots...

Ewww...disgusting!

Big sis doesn't care for ugly dolls - she prefers her drink and the cuddly stuff

On my way to the café

Wearing: Brown Alexander leather jacket, grey hoodie by Carlings, Oasis turquoise leopard scarf, Ray-Ban sunnies, grey and black striped sweater by H&M, black leather bag from Topshop, Cubus skinny jeans and Roots taupe boots.