Walking in Cross Country Tracks

So yesterday turned out a bit differently than I expected. My tutor cancelled and I ended up having the entire afternoon to myself. It was such a beautiful day that I couldn't pass on taking Reagan for a nice long walk through the forest trails. Plus, I realized today would be impossible as I had a bank appointment in the city this morning, my tutoring later this afternoon and then a return trip into the city for the Anders Suprise (sounds like a fancy dessert, huh?).

So, at 2pm Reagan and I took off on our forest walk. Like I said, the day was amazing - sunny and crisp with not a cloud in the sky! We took our usual 2KM route through the forest. Now, the only other true winter I have ever experienced was in Boston. That's Boston city - not a suburb or anything like that. I lived in the North End - a very city place to live. So we didn't have a lot of opportunities to get out in the snow and walk through the trails. The only time I even experienced that was in New Hampshire and it was on trails set aside specifically for cross country sking. To walk through the forest with all this snow on the trees and on the ground is an unbelievably calming experience. You hear the crush of the snow underfoot, see the snow falling from the trees as a bird flies off - really, really peaceful. So here we are, walking down the path. I notice on the path that there is one side that isn't being used as much and has what appears to be motorcycle tracks in it. So, being the novice snow/ice walker, I choose this side. Besides, the other side is really "spy ice" - ice covered with snow, trying to be snow but really it's ice and you slip and slide A LOT! As we are walking through the snow, observing nature's beauty, I hear some huffing and puffing coming up behind me. I turn around and see an older gentleman approaching me on cross country skis. Reagan and I step aside to let him go pass and as he gets closer he says something like "bork, bork, bork". I say, in my strongest AMERICAN accent (if you say it with a British accent, they still might misinterpret you and think you speak Swedish), "Sorry?". Without missing a beat, he looks me straight in the eyes, all the while sking, and says "Don't walk in the ski tracks". I immediately respond, "oh, Ok" and keep walking...for a few more seconds...until...OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!! I've been walking for the last 10 freaking mintues through those tracks. In my big ass snow boots my sister bought me specifically for these types of walks. They're like huge, er mostly because I am tall and therefore need big shoes. And here I am, with my freakin' dog, 'clomp, clomp, clomp' all through their precious ski tracks. I wanted to crawl under a rock. Better yet, cover myself with snow. It was horrible. I then also remembered the words in Swedish for "sorry" and "I didn't know" - but the man was far gone and I was too embarassed.

Well, anyone who knows me knows that my karma is not far behind. Now because this was certainly not intentional (although, thinking back I am not sure how I thought those were motorcycle tracks - I mean, there were two tracks, side by side and it was smooth - not jagged like a tire) my karma only punished me a little. You see, as we continued with our walk on the WALKING side of the trail, another man approached us coming the opposite way. I big thing for the older folks (75 year+) is to use cross country ski poles to walk with and this was exactly what this man was doing. Again, Reagan and I go to the side to let him pass, which just happened to be on "spy ice". Actually, this was like "Russian spy ice" because it was a mini pond underfoot that began to crack immediately upon us stepping on it. As he passes us, he says to us something like "bork, bork, bork...". I immediately say "sorry" but he continues with the Swedish. I finally say, in Swedish, "I don't understand. I don't speak Swedish" and then in Engish "I speak English". UH, WRONG!!!!! When, WHEN will I learn to say "Lo siento, yo hablo espanol". The probability of them speaking spanish is way lower than english and then I wouldn't get stuck for 20 MINUTES on RUSSIAN SPY ICE listening to this sweet old man, who probably is just lonely, go on and on about his accordian playing!!! Poor Reagan, at one point I feel something between my legs and look down to see her face sticking out looking at me like "Mom, can you shut this guy up". The whole time he is talking, whistling, etc. about his accordian he is also swing his poles around coming dangerously close to knocking me or Reagan out. Meanwhile, the Russian spy ice is crackling up with laughter under foot. Ah, alas...karma.

After finally pulling away from him, it was pretty uneventful...thank gawd. We did see two deer run in front of us - Reagan wasn't quite sure what they were or what to do but she did pick up on their scent when we got closer to their crossing. When Dad and I would run at White Rock, there is a section near the sailing club that has a ton of squirrels. Reagan loves her some squirrel. One morning, we started running through this area and I swear (Dad will back me up), there had to have been over 30 squirrels running all over the place. I had to stop running, tighten Reg's leash, and WALK through this section. From that point forward it was named "Squirrel Alley". Something tells me that she would be frightened of the deer if we got very close - she generally doesn't like to pick on anything bigger than her (unlike her mom! HA!).

Today is a lot busier (I can all hear your collective sighs - I know, I know but I swear days go by faster when you DON'T work). I've already been into town to add myself to our account. The "funny" bank guy kept joking with Anders and saying that I was going to spend HIS money and did he really want to add me to HIS account. Excuse me JACK A$$?!?!?! Let me straighten you out, for a second, K? Don't worry, Mom - I didn't say any of that. I just politely laughed because I am pretty sure deep down, he knew I could whoop his butt in 2 seconds flat - ha!!!

Hope everyone has a great day and remember - DON'T WALK IN THE SKI TRACKS!!!!!!
Later~
Monica

Monday Morning

Ah, Monday morning and it is still snowing. I forgot how much I really, REALLY like the snow. Today is is lightly snowing and the sun is shining. It's like tiny crystals are falling from the sky - just beautiful.

This week marks the beginning of the end for me - ha! Now, but seriously, I begin my English tuturing today which happens Monday through Friday from 4pm-5pm. Not bad except that I have recently become addicted to Las Vegas (we just started Season 3 here) and that is on at 4:30-5:30, boooooo hisssss!! Hey, give me a break - at least it is not Oprah.

In two weeks I also begin my Swedish classes. Anders and I tried the other night to only speak Swedish to each other. Needless to say it was a very quiet night. It got to the point that I made a new rule that during the ENGLISH moving Shark Tale, I was allowed to speak English. HA!

This past weekend we got together with the other American/Swedish couples for another game night. Always a good time and it is nice to get to know them a little bit more each time. Sunday, as you saw, was spent enjoying the snow. It is so deep and beautiful - I have to say even better than in Boston mostly because we live outside the city, so it doesn't get as "dirty" as fast. I'll take Reagan out to the forest tomorrow, as it is still snowing today.

As for the rest of the week, not much else going on. Anders has some kind of surprise set up for me tomorrow night - I think this was suppose to happen last Wednesday but something didn't work out. I love surprises and just hope champagne is involved somehow!! HA!

Later~
Monica

A Snowy Sunday

Winter has arrived and brought with it almost a foot of snow - LOVE IT. Today we went out with Reagan to the daycare behind our complex and let her off leash. It has a ton of playground area and a fence surrounding the perimeter. I made sure to close and latch all the gates, but Reagan didn't seem to want to run away. She had a fantastic time and wore herself out (as well as Mommy & Daddy). Of course, our camera has now died on us, so until it's fixed you will have to put up with cell phone pictures. Blogger is also acting up and is still only allowing me to post one picture. AAAAHHHH, le sigh.

Hope everyone had a great weekend - I'll update more tomorrow!

What do you do when you wake up and it is below freezing?!

You make Aunt Willie's Homemade Biscuits!!! And they were damn good too - hope everyone is having a great weekend.

(note to reader: this will not be appearing or be even mentioned on my "healthy" blog, the running gourmande!! ;-)

I might not know a lot

but I do know that this piece of paper is telling me I start my Swedish classes on Monday February 5th. WWWOOOOOOHHHOOOOOOO!!! This is cause for celebration!!!!

*mental note to self: you now only have 3 weeks left of complete and total freedom...ah, bittersweet.*

Could Winter Finally be HERE?!

So yesterday afternoon mother nature decided to pay a little visit in the form of major, hurricane type winds (in the southwest part of Sweden) as well as rain and snow. I remember when I first moved to Boston and one of the girls told me it was snowing outside, and it was dry snow. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. I remember clearly saying "isn't all snow wet?!?! I mean, it's a form of water, right?!?!" It was only after a few snowfalls that I realized there is a difference in the types of snow. Dry snow is usually made up of those big, fluffy flakes that look like the snowflakes we use to cut out in elementary school. The wet stuff, while good for making snow balls and snow men, is just gross and never coats the ground like a carpet. Last night, it was wet snow. This was accompanied by wind gusts. The gusts must of been at least 30MPHs because at times I thought I was going to be pushed over. This morning, I was really hoping to wake up and see a nice fluffy layer of snow covering the ground like a big shag carpet - nope, not goin' happen. Instead, it's that crappy thin layered berber style carpet and it is sleeting. UH, gross!!!! Guess I don't have any execuses to avoid cleaning the apartment.

Last week was insane for us!!! We spent the majority of it in the house sitting home getting our stuff gathered up and cleaning up as well. We were finally moved back and settled by Friday afternoon. On Saturday, my mother in law closed her clothing store in exchange for retirement. We decided to go down and surprise her and Jan, showing up with additional food and wine. They were so appreciative and completely surprised. I really thought I could remember the code to their apartment but when we got there, it just didn't work. We ended up throwing pebbles at the kitchen window to get Jan's attention but instead he thought it was rain pelting the window and gave an evil, whathafa look out into the parking area. Finally, they saw us and realized what was going on. Funny enough, the code to enter the apartment was the 4th of July!!! What kind of person, especially an American, can't remember that?!?! I kept telling Anders to try 0415 - tax day!!! HA!

Well, I've got to get moving and pack these decorations AWAY!!! What a mess - oh well, I've got nothing but time. Later!

Sweet Tooth

Blogger is still acting up again with picture posting so sorry again for the formatting of this post. Just wanted to share with you, though, a couple pictures of the sugar cookies and sand tarts I made for Christmas. Much to my surprise and amazement, shortening is sold here and I was able to make my Aunt Polly's cookies. They were the biggest hit and I credit this to the insane amount of butter and shortening involved in this recipe.

This weekend has flown by and soon we will be back in our apartment. We took a load of stuff home today, just to ease our pain when we officialy move back on Thursday. I'll spend the week picking up the house, making sure we don't leave anything behind. I hope everyone had a nice weekend and is geared up for your first long week again. I remember always dreading this week after the Christmas, New Year's holidays. Speaking of work, still no word from the Täby kommun on when I can start my Swedish classes, so Anders will be giving them a call tomorrow.

Have a great week!!

Who is RG?

Curious? Click here to find out more!

Coming Up Roses

Aren't they beautiful? What can I say, my husband is a romantic. Now most of you may be saying - "so he sent flowers, big deal? I send/get flowers all the time on special occasions". But that is just it - Anders has NEVER sent me flowers in all of our 7 1/2 years together. Not even once. Sure, he's brought home the occasional red rose, tulips but he has never had anything delivered to me. And that is just what makes this even more special and unexpected. Top this off with the fact that he actually picked out these four flowers and you've got a seriously romantic night ahead (swimming in enough sugar, yet?).

After I made my way towards Stockholm, we first went to this restaurant/bar called Gondolen. It is an amazing restaurant as it overlooks all of Stockholm and during this time of year you can really see the lights of the city. After having a couple of glasses of champagne, we headed over to one of our two nostalgic places. The first is a bar we originally went to when I visited Sweden for the first time in 1999. It's changed design, style and crowds quite a bit since then, but it still brings back memories of us sitting down, drinking a beer and trying to find a hotel in Stockholm. After having another glass of champagne there, we headed over to the other memory lane place - the italian restaurant we ate at in 1999. It is still as delicious and authentic as it was in 1999 and we enjoyed ever bite of food. We had such an enjoyable evening filled with really good food, drink, tons of laughter and a lot of ease dropping. Poor Anders, he kept trying to talk to me and all I could do was try and figure out what the italian family next to us was saying. They sit people REALLY close together in restaurants here, especially if you are only 2-4, so it is really hard to concentrate sometimes. What can I say?!?! I am nosey!!

This weekend is our last weekend in the house so I will start gathering up some of our stuff and take it back home. I am sure Kissel is ready for us to come home - yeah, right! Not much else is going on, for the moment. Blogger is really giving me a hard time about posting pictures so until it's resolved, there will be a lot of single picture entries. Sorry!

Happy 4th Anniversary to Us!

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago on this date Anders and I were married. So much has happened and it still feels like just yesterday when we were saying our "I dos".

Here's to another year and another adventure. We love you ALL!!!
Monica & Anders

Happy New Year!

Yes, yes - I know, I know. Do I have to start every post by saying that?!?! No, not this year - I am going to live life to it's fullest and not care what other people think. What? What's that? You think I do that anyway? Well you haven't seen nothing yet!!!

But seriously, there are a tons of things to look back on and reflect on in 2006...I know you all can agree with me on that. But why should I? Just to prove I have zero memory left?! No thanks! But what I can say is that Anders and I were super blessed in 2006 and are thankful to all of our friends and family for support. Cheers to you all for getting us through one of the most difficult but rewarding years of our lives.

Life continues to be idylic and peaceful here in the countryside. I say country, because the other night we took the bus into Stockholm and waived it down at least 200 feet from it's stop. When we got on and thanked her for picking us up, she said no worries and that is how they do it in the countryside. HA! I've become a little more adventurous with my daily afternoon walks with Reagan and Allan (the dog I am currently dog/house sitting for). Yesterday we ventured down towards the water and through the most amazing cluster of lake side houses. Today we walked away from the water and through another patch of beautiful homes. We even came across what appears to be a pretty long, FLAT, running trail so Reagan and I will check that out tomorrow.

New Years Eve and weekend we spent lounging around, shopping and just enjoying ourselves with Anders' best friend, Daniel, and his girlfriend, Carina. We cooked a lot, drank a lot and slept a lot. New Years Eve night was incredible. Describing it or even posting pictures (which I have none, by the way - and don't ask why!) would do it absolutely zero justice. Let's just say they sell fireworks here (mostly roman candle type things) in the mall and you can fire them off ANYWHERE. Even in Stockholm!!! The sky/horizon is filled completely with exploding fireworks for as far as your eye can see. The sound of all those going off is a bit overwhelming. Reagan could have cared less and didn't seemed frighten at all. Allan, on the other hand, who has grown up with these things around, spent the evening shaking in the corner of the bathroom. We all felt so bad for him, but there was nothing we could do. Right before midnight we went out to the balcony and just watched. An amazing site that one really should experience!!!

And the reason for the pictures on top? Well, either blogger hates me or this computer at the house sitting house hates me. Anyway, I think you can figure out what is what, but the last picture was taken on our long walk yesterday and I just think it is plain cool.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!!!

In Sweden, Christmas Eve is actually the bigger holiday and is filled with drinking, eating, gift giving and cartoons. Yes, you heard it correctly. If anyone wants to invade or take over this country, you only need to wait until December 24th at 3pm. You could literally walk through immigration without so much as a peep from the officers because most likely they are away watching these cartoons. I think what is so interesting (at least with my Swedish family) is that the cartoon clips they show are from the old Walt Disney classics such as Cinderella, Snow White, Lady and the Tramp and sprinkled with other Walt Disney classic cartoons such as the one where Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck lose their jetstream trailer on the mountain. Oddly enough, the clips of these classic movies are all that the Swedes see. Most of them have never seen any of the movies in their entirety.

Today has been spent relaxing by the fire and taking a nice walk through the neighborhood with Reagan, Gunilla and Jan. It was nice and warm yesterday, around 45F. Today, it is below freezing so burning the fireplace is very welcome. Normally, Anders and I fight about when it is OK to have a fire - in Dallas it had to dip below 50F. This rule was established after Anders built a fire and it was in the 60s. I had to turn the AC on just to survive it. HA!!!

Gunilla and Jan will stay the night and I plan on using my new Les Creuset dutch oven ti make dinner (thanks Mom & Dad)!!! I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday. It may be a few days before I can post some pictures. Since we are housesitting, I can't really upload anything onto their computer and our computer was infected with a few viruses, so I need to pretty much reload all the windows applications. OH JOY...oh well, I've got some time.

Much love to all my friends and family!!

Monica

Santa Lucia Day

So yesterday was Santa Lucia Day. Huh? Swedes celebrating an Italian saint? Go figure. The way I look at it, it was just another day to drink.

Apparently, there is no clear understanding of why Sweden celebrates this day except that at one time December 13th was consired the shortest day of the year. In order to ward off the darkness, I guess the Swedes decided to bring in a little help. And of course, just like Mid-summer, the longest day of the year, you have to have some good food and drink.

I am definitely NOT opposed to any of this and decided to get in on the fun. Since we don't have children, we didn't get to participate in any of the children's lucia processions, but from what I understand it is really beautiful. I've provided a link HERE, so you can read about Lucia and all that goes with it. I did, however, end up making the saffron "cats" or lussekatter, Anders picked up the mulled wine or glogg (still no swedish keyboard - there are suppose to be two dots over the O) and we celebrated. Our friends, Helena & Calle, stopped by on their way home as well.

As some of you may know, Reagan loves bread. Any kind of bread - waffles, toast, biscuits, birthday cakes. I had caught her earlier licking the counter to remove the extra flour (what a big help she is, huh?) so I knew she was really wanting to try the end product. As our guests were leaving, I noticed that Reagan had decided to go back into the living room and in two quick bites, she polished off one of the buns. How do I know it was only two bites? Well, let's just say this morning's walk confirmed it. ;-)

Mom, can't I please just have ONE more?!?!

Love, Monica

The Weekend in Review

Whew - what a fun, exciting and busy weekend we had. Let's just get right to it, shall we?

On Saturday, we drove (yes, I said drove - more on that in a second) out to Ekero, which is west of Stockholm and about an hour by car, for game night with the American/Swedish couples I have met. To most people's horror, we did a lot of SingStar (a PS2 karoke game) and a music trivia and general trivia game called Buzz (again, played through PS2). We had a ton of fun and ate lots of good American junk food like hot artichoke dip, chili with cornbread, hello dollies, rotel, etc.. It was fun to get together and just act stupid. Here the girls are after batteling it out all night. Unfortunately, I am not as good of a singer as I thought - I lost everytime EXCEPT when Leslie's 9 year old son challenged me to the Run DMC song, Tricky. I won that (barely!).
Sunday, was big errand day. One of the guys that Anders' works with let us borrow his car over the weekend so we seized the opportunity to go to IKEA and pick up some things. After spending 1 1/2 hours in IKEA, we had a quick lunch at McDonalds (shocked, I am sure) and then headed over to El Giganten - a electronics store. We'd been talking about getting a new TV for a while, so we thought we'd check out the merchandise. Well, we walked out of there with a Christmas gift to eachother - a new flat screen TV. We really didn't want a flat screen originally, but they just don't make anything else anymore. There was a small corner filled with regular TVs, but they just looked so old compared to all the new flat screen ones. And there were so many choices, it made it even easier to find a good deal.

With our car fully loaded, we headed back home. The funny thing is that this outlet/shopping area is only about 20 minutes from our house, but when I originally went it took me almost 2 hours to get there! It felt so good to have a car - like we really live here. I even drove Saturday night and Sunday morning. At first glance, the traffic signs seem really confusing but once you are behind the wheel, they really make a lot more sense.

After unloading everything, Anders brought up the Christmas tree for me to decorate. It definitely feels more like Christmas now that I have that up especially since Kissel still thinks - after 13 years!!! - that he can eat it. Every morning I wake up to a new pile of Christmas tree puke because obviously you can't eat plastic!!!

Monday was spent indoors. It was really rainy, cold and windy - not a good combination - and I had two dogs again. Here they are both staring at Kissel who is in the box - don't you wonder what they are thinking?!
We were only able to go on one long walk and the girls were pretty much stir crazy the entire day. I can't say that I blame them - I was sick of being inside too. When Anders got home from work, I made him take me to dinner at the hotel nearby. I just had to get out!!! Plus I needed an excuse to wear my Dad's parka he gave me. Let me tell you - it's so thick and heavy (must weigh at least 8 lbs) you don't even feel the wind against you - it's like wearing concrete and I loved it!! I was so warm and comfortable that I am looking forward to the winter again knowing that I will be just fine in this thing.

Today I have the puppy again, but it is sunny so we have already been on a long walk! They wrestled a little this morning and are currently sleeping *sigh*. We'll go on lots of walks today because you just never know when it is going to turn nasty again.

Have a great day, everyone!

Love, Monica

Two Are Better than One?!

I knew yesterday morning when I went for the morning dog walk it was going to be a beautiful day. You know how I knew? Well, for one thing I saw some people at the daycare all standing outside, sipping their hot coffee and looking towards the sunrise. I am not sure what they were saying but I am sure it was something like "damn, isn't that just the most amazing sunrise?". It was really beautiful and what seemed to me, unusually bright. It was more like a spring time sunrise (in my humble, never lived this far north opinion) than a fall/winter one. In any event, the sun shined all day long. This was the second day in a row with sunshine so I just had to go on another exploration walk - and yes, this time it was with TWO dogs.

After looking at the Taby map and consulting a more reliable one (the street map), I came to realize that there was a lake in what seemed to be much closer proximity to our apartment. I leashed up the dogs, loaded my bag w/ water, a scarf & the camera and away we went. The walk took us through a very nice green space area between two neighborhoods. Tons of little paths jutting here and there, but I kept on the major path until I saw this:

What's that, you say? Just a stupid stream? Oh contraire mo frare (or however you spell it). It's actually run off that has been manipulated "a bit" as on the other side of this picture is a big, concrete pipe. Not too photogenic, so I only captured it from this angle. BUT, what this drain off does tell me (and my Father would tell you too!) is that cities typically direct drain offs to bodies of water sooooooo I knew I was headed in the right direction!!!

OK, moving right along - the afternoon really wasn't that suspenseful but it was a peaceful and idyllic area nonetheless. Just a few minutes from the babbling brook (me or the stream?!) we came to the lake. It's actually a really nice lake that appears to have trails along it's perimeter. We didn't continue along the path because it was going to get dark soon and I wanted to get back so the girls (all 3 of us) could rest a little. Plus, I could see there was another dog on down the path that was playing with the ducks, leash free, and I wasn't really up for being dragged across the dirt by two excited goldens. Speaking of two excited goldens, here they are "posing" for me:

And here is Miss Mya watching the birds very closely. She loves birds like Reagan loves squirrels. She is really good on the leash, hardly pulls and has that cute golden retriever skip in her step. However she is a MAJOR "counter surfer" right now, bringing me all sorts of goodies from the kitchen.

Thursday was a total change from Wednesday - they pretty muched just chilled all day long, with a few wrestling matches here and there. This morning, they both slept in with me (I usually let Reagan out of her crate after Anders leaves for work) and were really good. Another thing about a puppy like her is you can tell how important the first few months are in shaping the way they behave. Now I am even more happy with Reagan's progress but realize that some of the things I wish she could do (go off leash at my mother-in-laws unfenced summer home) simply will never be because she is too old. When they are puppies, it seems they want to be with you every moment outside and are scared to go anywhere without you - I could probably let Mya off leash and she would be fine. Reagan is old enough not to be scared (but not trained enough to know CARS KILL!) so it will never work. Boo, hiss - we can always dream! I think the best part of having two dogs is when Reagan wants to play tug of war with her toys - Mya is all too quick and excited to be part of that game, even though it means she will be dragged around the apartment!!

This weekend we are laying low - we have a game night over at the American/Swedish couples house on Saturday but that is about it. Of course, that's how last weekend started out and we ended up having three things to go to!!! HA! Apparently, our landlord has a small, artificial Christmas tree in the basement, so Anders promised me we could put that up after Mya leaves. I think that will round out the decorations and I won't have to go buy more. OK, maybe a tablecloth, but I NEED that!!!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Love, Monica

Puppy Sitting

So yesterday we welcomed a (temporarily) new addition to our family. Another golden retriever named Mya. Mya is only 4 months old and probably 1/2 the size of Reagan. Interestingly enough, judging by the size of her head and paws, she probably won't get that much bigger. We have friends who own golden puppies and their heads and paws are HUGE. Of course, in true puppy form Mya, despite her small stature, has zero coordination and trips on just about everything.

As I mentioned, yesterday was the first day Mya was in our home. Despite peeing on the floor 3 times (2 I caught, 1 I didn't - ugh) and wrestling with Reagan until she snapped (quite literally, I might add) it was a good day. I can honestly say I never realized how good of a dog Reagan was until this comparison. Don't get me wrong - Mya is a sweetheart of a dog, she just has a lot of energy and will need lots of training in the future. To see me walk these two is a miracle in of itself. Thank goodness for Reagan's patience - I couldn't do it without her!

In other exciting news - well there is just nothing to report. Two dogs in a small apartment is a bit like daycare - you can never really take your eyes off of them. Thank goodness yesterday and today are both partly sunny days so we can go on LONG walks. Since I have been so boring, I will leave you with some other boring pictures - our living room (before Mya! ;-)

Clementine Cake

And now, for the long awaited Nigella Lawson's clementine cake post - ha! It is finally done and you can cast your eyes upon it's beauty...Doesn't it look yummy? Well it is. Especially considering how easy it is to make and how few ingredients you really need (I was even short one egg). I used 1-2 more clementines than the recipe calls for, but that was because I was trying to make up the difference for the lack of egg. The smell of the clementines boiling was unbelievable. It wasn't as orangy as I thought it would be and instead almost had a cinnamon, buttery smell. I would suggest covering the pot while you are boiling the clementines because mine boiled dry an hour into the process. It would taste really good with a dollip of whipped cream too.

What a perfect winter dessert - now you know what you can do with those crates of clementines they sell!!! Click HERE for the recipe.

Focus, woman, Focus

How does an unemployed woman manage to get so off track?!?! Just throw a beautiful day into the mix and everything is delayed.

I didn’t get the decorations up on Thursday because all of a sudden, at 1PM the sun came barreling out and lit up what was a very overcast and dreary day. Knowing that these types of days are going to become fewer and fewer, I decided it was time for Reagan and I to venture out on a long, exploring walk and see if we could find the ocean and castle (that are nearby). You know, map makers are a hilarious bunch of people (said sarcastically). Some maps you read make an area look like it is miles and miles apart, however, in actuality, you are within minutes of your destination (i.e. the Stockholm subway map & streets). While others, make a distance look quite close and it is actually further away (the Taby map of the area). Reagan and I took off on our adventure walk with a bounce in our step only to realize ONE HOUR IN that we were no where near the ocean and would not arrive anytime soon (or at least before the sun started setting at 3:30pm). We were both pretty disappointed (OK, me more than her) especially since I have a reputation for being really good with direction. However, I did manage to figure out there is an actual bus from outside our apartment that goes to the water so next time I am ditching the exercise and traveling in style (?).

This is a picture of some bush (duh, right?) but it looks like yogurt covered raisins are growing on it – I took this on our walk, but Reagan wouldn’t be still hence the blurriness

Since we explored the afternoon away, I didn’t get to the Christmas decorations until Friday. I had a fantastic time, however, putting them up (even though there were only two boxes of decorations). I popped in my KVIL 1998 Christmas CD and sang my way through the afternoon. I didn’t get to take Clementine cake either, but will be making it later this afternoon.

Funny enough, we started into the weekend with absolutely no plans and ended the weekend with two very eventful days. On Saturday, I had decided that we needed to check out Stockholm’s Christmas Markets. All the pictures and articles I read made them sound pretty good – specialty meats, cheese, toffee almonds and glogg. As we were getting ready for the day, one of Anders’ friends called to see what we were up to. We hadn’t actually even thought of torturing anyone else with my market venture, but decided to offer it to him and his girlfriend. Miraculously, they said yes and off we went to Stockholm. It was such a beautiful day – drizzly, cold and tons of people – but the company made it a lot better. We actually had a great time just hanging with Calle and Helena and I got my toffee almonds. We even got to see the NK (Sweden’s Neimans) Christmas windows which are decorated every year in a particular theme. After cruising through the markets, we ended up going back to their house in Vaxholm (which is close to Taby), eating dinner and watching Bad Santa. What a classic!! We had a ton of fun with both of them – they even let us bring Reagan over while we ate dinner and watched the movie (even though Reagan had eaten Helena’s gloves the last time they were here…).

Helena, Calle and Anders at the Market

One of the NK Christmas windows – they are hot air balloons taking gingerbread cookies to the people of the world…or at least Paris & New York!!! ;-)!

My toffee almonds – they were really good and the only thing I found to buy at the market

Sunday we went to meet Anders’ co-workers family whom we will be house-sitting/dog sitting for 3 weeks during Christmas/New Year. They have a very nice house overlooking the water so it will be the perfect setting (pray for snow) to celebrate our first Christmas together in Sweden. After that, we went to visit another one of Anders’ friends and his girlfriend for glogg. Apparently, being invited over for glogg during this time of year is very typical and happens almost on a daily/weekend basis. Glogg is similar to mulled wine – very sweet and flavored with cinnamon, cloves and served with raisins and almonds. It was good to see Per & Rosie and their sons Isaac and newborn Joel. We had a very relaxing time and I even was able to try saffron buns (they are not savory, like you would think).

Today, Reagan had to get a manicure/pedicure. It was quite an adventure to the vet b/c the bus we took there stopped running after our appointment and didn’t start up again until this afternoon. Luckily, Anders was available at work to help me figure out how to get home and we made it back. It’s was a pretty funny site – Reagan and I sitting at the bus stop for almost 30 minutes. About 5 minutes before the bus arrived, she started barking at me. She must have been as bored and ready to get home as I was.

This afternoon I WILL BE making that damn Clementine cake – in fact, the house is filled with the smell of Clementine’s as they are boiling right now…see….

I also will be dog sitting a golden retriever puppy starting tomorrow through the end of the week. HOLY DOG HAIR - I'll probably have to sweep the floors everyday. But according to one of my aunts, I apparently have a lot of time on my hands so this shouldn't interfere with anything. ;-)

Hope everyone has a great week!!! I’ll let you know how the cake goes – I am one egg short so I hope it doesn’t make a BIG difference…he, he, he!!!

Love,

Monica

Christmas is Coming Around the Corner!

WOW - what an awesome birthday I had!!! Anders suprised me with dinner and a concert on Tuesday night and then continued to suprise me on Wednesday by taking the day off! We had an awesome day that ended with some Veuve Clicquot and my mom's brownie recipe - yummy! I also received a webcam and the NEW Barefoot Contessa Cookbook - YIPEE!!!! My parents stayed up past midnight (their time) to call me first thing in the morning and wish me a Happy Birthday! Thank you! I also received all sorts of calls, emails and text messages from all my friends and family wishing me a happy day. It really made turning 25 easier - he, he!! I am always so impressed by the number of people who are so thoughtful to me. I am the absolute WORSE at remembering people's birthdays (ask my mom - I've even forgotten hers!) and just wish I had an ounce of the thoughtfulness that some of my friends have. Then, their are the "other" ones - the ones like me. You could hit me over the head with a birthday book and I still wouldn't catch on. What makes this all the funnier is my best friend is the same! It drives her fiance and my husband crazy that we are so "thoughtless" when it comes to eachother, but the fact is that is so far from the truth! I guess we just don't get hung up on those silly "celebration" days and instead celebrate our life everyday...good grief, what the hell was that sentence about?!?! I think I have had too much sleep and coffee. Maybe I should start listening to rap music or something and get a little more grounded. HA!

Anywho, I didn't take too many pictures but there are a few I want to share with you:
First the boots I wore out on Tuesday night. Can you believe I walked on these things through the city and on public transporation? I mean, come on. These boots are great going from car to home or car to work or car to restaurant - but mastering the art of walking on your tip toes so your heel doesn't get caught in the subway grates is a entirely different thing. Now I know why the thick heeled boots are so popular here. I'll have to buy a pair but will wait until the end of the season since I already have TWO new pairs of boots.The bar at the restaurant/concert venue we went to on Tuesday night. No, we didn't see ABBA but we did see one of my favorite, current bands - Bo Kaspers Orkester. They sing some pretty amazing stuff, are incredible live and would you believe almost every member of the band plays at least two other instruments? At one point Anders and I couldn't remember who played what because they had changed so many times.AW, the virgin Reagan!! HA! Isn't she just the sweetest? We have so many pictures of her but this one (taken yesterday morning) is just hilarious. She's all wrapped up and snuggled in. She is such a momma's girl now since we hang out all the time.My breakfast this morning. I know, I know - it's a food shot (boring) - but I am really getting into this food styling/photography thing. Maybe I will create another blog just for this so I don't bore you all to death. Anyway, breakfast this morning consisted of corn museli and vanilla yogurt. One thing I have noticed that is a bit different in Sweden than the US (ok, there are LOTS of things, but this is more subtle) is the way they "protect" their food. In the US, there would not only be a plastic ring you would have to break or unwrap, there would also be a plastic piece on the spout you would have to remove (by the way - this particular yogurt comes in a cardboard container here - it's thinner so it pours out like milk). When I opened it this morning, I was a little scared. I even called Anders to see if he had some because it felt like someone had tampered with the yogurt. He assured me that yogurt is packaged this way and no one had put cyanide in it (Mom, are you rolling your eyes yet?).

Today will be spent putting out the Christmas decorations, putting away laundry (because I already did ALL of it this morning) and cleaning the house . I am also going to use up the leftover clementines (that I used as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving) and make a cake. I'll let you know how it tastes, tomorrow.

Thanks again to everyone for thinking of me yesterday - it meant A LOT!!!

Love,
Monica

Phood and Photography

So, many of you know that I enjoyed a long life in catering before I went to the "dark" side of HR. Well, while I was quite relieved not to have to answer to customers anymore (as they are ALWAYS right), I didn't loose my passion for food. Luckily, Anders enjoys cooking as much as I do but with recent changes in our work dynamics (i.e. I don't work and he does...) I have become the primary chef again. It's been really fun getting back into cooking and discovering new recipes. I also have discovered a love for photographing food. Now, I am sure there are food stylist around the world cringing at my latest attempts below, but hey - I am an amatuer and when it is a cloudy, foggy day in Sweden, the lighting in my house is crap too.

Anyway, I took the poached egg picture this morning and the crackers with cream cheese & lingonberry jam last Tuesday. I think it is fun to document some of what you eat (one of the food blogs I read documented ALL of the things she consumed for an entire week - that'd be tough) so I will try and do it a little more often if anything just to have pictures to post (especially since the weather in Sweden is just overcast and cool - BORING). Here's to photography and food!!! Have a Great Day!!!