A woman with a plan!

The fun is over! (Or not really). My maternity leave is officially over. It was technically over in January, but then we went to Costa Rica for six weeks (six amazing weeks) so, it was sort of vacation and I was with Olivia all the time, so I could say, I was still performing maternity leave duties (together with Jonas). Anyways, tomorrow I start school again! I am really exited to go back. My head is ready to go back and I really want to finish my MA, so, I have to get back to concentrating and focusing a bit on my projects. Jonas will be at home using up the rest of his paternity leave with Olivia (3 more weeks), and then, when those weeks are over, we'll see what we'll do. We need to figure out how we can both work.

But not only is going back to school. This year I am going to get in better shape. That is my only "New Years Resolution", for that I have downloaded the Noom Coach app on my phone (great app, great motivator!) to help me stay focus on my goals of eating better and working out more. I figure now that I have to go to school almost every day, I can combine it with the gym as well. Also, now that the weather is getting "better", I will walk or bike to school instead of taking the bus. That is my plan. Slight changes that can make a bit difference. So I am being realistic, I don't want any magic potions, just a change of habits, that are hard and take time, but will be very beneficial! As for what I will be eating: I hate diets! So I will change the way I eat (reduce sugars to the minimum, lots of green, lots of raw, lots of fiber, good fats and lots of "fresh", smaller portions, eating more often.) So wish me luck! I need all the motivation I can get!

*image: logo for Noom Android.

Song + animation.

The Shrine / An Argument from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.

An idea.

Logo shelves from Bolia (on our wishlist for Christmas this year, so we can organize this place!)

I have been giving it a lot of thought.  And I think this will be one of my two 2012 resolutions.   The first being, as every year: get in an exercise routine! (starting now!) and the second: EDIT, EDIT & EDIT.  

I would like to edit my closet to essential-timeless pieces that go with everything and I can mix and match.  I have so much I don't wear.  And this past year and a half, first being pregnant and second being breast feeding, I have come to realize I don't need that much.  Or that big of a selection.  So, a good friend of mine says she chooses everything in black because it goes with everything.  She's right!  (I do like brown too though).  But, I will keep quality pieces, classic pieces and things that I wear every day, and the rest: sell, give away or save for Olivia in case it comes back some day.  

I not only want to edit my closet, but also our apartment.  I feel a bit cramped!  There are too many things.  We got so much for our wedding, that I have had the necessity to have everything out!  When in fact, we don't have the room.  So, Jonas and I will start editing soon and making our place cozier and fresher (not to mention Baby safe!).  I think that is a good place to start in order to fall back in love with our place.  Which is great.  So, I say, NO to excess!! Yes to re-design and Yes to order and choosing properly! I'm exited!

Machine.

Settling, nesting and the ungetable get.

A week ago Jonas and I went to see a house we thought we could buy... just for the fun of it.  We were actually not looking for a new place (oh well, one of my hobbies is looking at real state, so, I am always looking but just for fun and maybe a bit of day dreaming).  Anyways, it is a terrible time to invest, we are perfectly happy for now in our place and we still don't know exactly where we'll be in a couple of years. 

Anyways, the house.  I fell in love with it.  We saw the potential. We made a bid!  They rejected it. 

That is just making me itch for it even more than before!  I am now seriously obsessing about this place that we didn't get.  Hence, the comeback to this blog.

I have been decorating the space in my head like a crazy person! 

I am itchy by nature.  I "itch" all the time.  I love good shapes, noble materials, never aging styles, timeless objects. 

Oh well, all of this just to say I found my dreamchairs! On Finn.no for a reasonable price.  House or not, these are available! "MY" Børge Mogensen dining chairs! I have been searching for them for years!  Never thinking I could ever afford them.  But turns out I found them today!  I am just waiting to hear from the owner if they are still available.  We'll see. 

 

Update:  We got them!

I know, I know...

I keep initiating a come back and then, puff! I dissapear again.  But time is precious when you have a little one.  The problem is, that I have an overload of cool stuff and things I want to share and talk about that is going to make my head explode.  My other blog is all about Olivia and being a mom, and I need a break from that once in a while.  I do have other interests.  I used to be very interested in cooking, and tasting, and design, music, art, traveling, oh well, everything else!  So, I will try to come here and show something new every so ofter if only to keep my sanity.  I need a playground and a brainstorming space, and this is it, so, I will really try to stay connected this time.

Oh, and Happy Late Thanksgiving to all of you that celebrate it! Good luck on Black Friday! (to all the others that "celebrate" it as well).

I think I'm slowly back...

I know from now on life will be hectic as it is, but, I still need to keep my creative eye open, right?

The baby isn't here yet, she'll come any minute now so I need to spend my hours doing something.

Spring is slowly arriving to Bergen.  We've had some sunny days and some rainy days with snow in between, so the weather is a little esquizofrenic but you can see the blossoms everywhere you go, the temperature is a bit higher and yesterday, Jonas and I had our first ice cream in the sun. 

I found these beautiful plant dyed silk scarfs on Etsy today.  Aren't they just beautiful?  They come from a shop called Zeldez Plant Wear, they use organic plant dyes that they make themselves. Perfect for spring.  I love silk scarfs, but they keep disappearing on me!  So, I am in search for a new one... these are a bit outside my budget, but they are perfect and exactly what I have in mind!

Oh, and by the way, I have a new blog.  It is more for baby stuff and mother talk.  A bit of design, a bit of a weekly update on how things are going and a bit of DIY things that have kept me busy these last months.  So feel free to check it out and leave comments, or share it with your friends that you think might like it.  It's called: Becoming one of those... precisely because I said I would not blog about baby stuff (that is why I have been so absent from this blog) and I would try to stay focused on my thing.  But that obviously didn't happen, and I am more into the mother thing than ever, so I needed to have an outlet somewhere... but not here.

Dani.

A Note

Hello, hello!  My life has officially become busy, hectic, crazy, and any other word that can describe "no time available" so, for the time being, I won't be coming very often, only when I see that I can.  Don't worry, I will (soon enough) become a mommy and probably follow the mommy trend of blogging... But for now, I need to take a break and focus on school and school and school.

I will announce on Facebook any new posts.

For now, have a nice autumn and big hugs to everyone!

Dinner for one (hehe)

Early today I roasted an eggplant and a red pepper in the over for a while (wrap in tinfoil, with salt, pepper and olive oil, bake 180ºC for a couple of hours).  When they were ready, I smashed them together a little bit and they were perfect with some pita, then, I added a capresse salad.... need I say more?  Fresh, tasty, light and delicious!

Something to look at.

I am absolutely no fan of propaganda.  I hate, HATE, to get emails (and especially the pictures attached to them) telling me how cruel they are in Norway by killing the whales or the seals, for example.  I eat meat and enjoy it!  I travel by airplane (which other way is there for me to see my family then? Boat?!?), my point is, I don't like these types of manipulative messages.  I am aware that we need to be responsible with the environment and take care of it the best way we can, I try my best to recycle as much as I can, to unplug electrical objects that are not in use, I don't own a car, I walk, take the bus or use my bike instead, etc.  I try to be conscious of what we eat at home and where it comes from.  I am aware!  But from time to time, I find something that is eye-catching and interesting.  Such is the case of Neozoon, a collective of female street artists that recycle fur coats and transform them into these urban interventions.  There is some controversy around it.  Is it or is it not an effective way of recycling?  Is installation art such as this making a valid point?  Or is it yet another way of exploiting the animals?  Could the fur be used in a better way?  I leave you up with the question.

Sunny days in the autumn are just the best!

A sunny day with Rafa in the balcony playing around with my phone's camera (and it's "retro camera" function.)

Hotel booked

Jonas and I are going to escape to Berlin for a weekend in October.  Actually, I have a school trip planned there first, so, he will catch up with me later when I am done with my duties.

We found this really cool hotel called the Michelberger Hotel located in between Kreutzberg and Friedrichshain, so not bad at all.  Also, compared to the prices at other popular places like Circus, it was pretty good, so, not only cool, but different and not so expensive!

The design is unlike anything I have seen before at a hotel.  Well, just look at the pictures (which by the way, are also very cool!  They make the rooms feel used, and populated, which is very refreshing, makes you feel like this is a place you can feel at home for a few days.)

Fine piece of work

I had never heard of Adrian Lohmüler, German artist living and working in Berlin.  Now, after only looking at some pictures of one of his latest installations called Das Haus bleibt still / The house remains still, I can't help but to put him in my list of most inspiring artists at the moment.

All these images come from the artist's website.

Can't seem to put it in a more effective and concise way: "On four floors, water seeps from containers into pipes and collects in the first floor, where it is heated, dropped onto a salt block and finally led over the floor into a white bedding - the white salt cristals form a pattern on the floor." (found in Quite Contrary blog)

True love for tomato and eggplant.

I am not sure of what I want usually, dinner has become a challenge since I have to eat healthy and balanced but there are so many things I really don't want to even look at at this moment!  Like fish, any fish!  So, today, I started thinking about what I wanted.  No meat today either please!  

Tomato.  Always tomato.  I love tomato.  And eggplant.  I could eat eggplant any time any day.  So I decided to make my own version of "ratatouille" or "pisto" or whatever you want to call it.

Onion, red bell pepper, eggplant, and lots of tomato (I cheated here, I had found a readymade Arrabiata sauce in the good supermarket, and I was saving it for a rainy day.  I usually make things from scratch, but this one looked and "sounded" soooo good).  I stirred fried on EVOO (I know, how very Rachel Ray, but really, it's a mouthful!) 1 roughly chopped onion, then added 1 roughly chopped bell pepper, then the eggplant (cut in small cubes ca. 1x1cm), after around 10 min.  I added the arrabiata sauce (spicy tomato sauce originally from Rome), a bit of water, salt and pepper to taste and some basil.  Let it cook for a while... I measure by eye but the idea is to try not to kill the veggies and to let it reduce enough that the taste is intensified.

I made a 50/50 mix of bulgur and quinoa to eat it with. To add a bit more protein besides the quinoa, I made some hummus with toasted pita chips.  All very tasty, fresh and delicious!  This I could never get tired of eating.

Tip:  Sprinkle some feta on top!  Give's it an extra little something.

A Poem

Litany 
by Billy Collins

You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine . . .
Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,   

the crystal goblet and the wine.   

You are the dew on the morning grass   

and the burning wheel of the sun.   

You are the white apron of the baker   

and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.   

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,   

the plums on the counter,   

or the house of cards.   

And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.   

There is just no way you are the pine-scented air.   

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,   

maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,   

but you are not even close   

to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.   

And a quick look in the mirror will show   

that you are neither the boots in the corner   

nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.   

It might interest you to know,   

speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,   

that I am the sound of rain on the roof.   

I also happen to be the shooting star,   

the evening paper blowing down an alley,   

and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.   

I am also the moon in the trees   

and the blind woman's tea cup.   

But don't worry, I am not the bread and the knife.   

You are still the bread and the knife.   

You will always be the bread and the knife,

not to mention the crystal goblet and—somehow—the wine.

Billy Collins, “Litany” from Nine Horses. Copyright © 2002 by Billy Collins. Reprinted with the permission of Random House, Inc.

Thanks Cup of Jo, for posting something so deliciously great!

I got it!

In an older post I said I really liked this summer jacket from Monki, well today I just went and got it!

 Silvi Jacket

While at it, I happened to find this super confy, roomy (specially roomy) and very welcoming winter jacket.  I didn't buy it, but my eye is on it.  I'll sleep on it... I am growing, and by winter, I will definitely need something warm with enough room for the two of us!!

Noomi Jacket

Happy days!

Hello!  I am here again with things to tell.  So far it's been a busy and interesting-full of surprises summer with weddings, concerts, parties, visits and news!

First news to tell:  I am pregnant!  8 weeks today.  It has been one of the reasons for my lack of posts.  I have been digesting the idea and trying to decide whether to tell or not.  Jonas and I ended up deciding to tell, and just enjoy it and to go with the flow.  Anyways, if the worst came to happen (knock on wood!) we will be surrounded by people that loves and supports us all the way.

Second of all, the day we found out about the pregnancy (2 weeks ago) my father came to visit from Costa Rica and stayed until yesterday, so we have been busy, busy, busy.  I do hope from now on I can be more active with my posting, but we'll see how I manage it with school (which starts next Monday!!!!!).

I will have to gather some pictures from the summer, and promise I will try not to become a mommy-blog and to still focus on the things I like and enjoy.  Maybe I will drop something babyish and adorable every so often but I will try not to abuse it!  So recipes will come along, tips on design as well as art and whatever is going on with my projects too... bare with me if you can, I am a bit slower these days! (they call it baby-brain, hehehe.)

For now I leave you with Sufjan Stevens new song from his new EP of the same name "All Delighted People"... it's magic!

Great and simple!

I love a store where I can find ANYTHING, like Åhlens, Muji and Granit.  These 3 shops are so simple, clean and practical!  My last discovery was Granit, a swedish franchise that sells things for the home and also for yourself.  It's basic black and white and some wood, glass and metal products.  They also sell spices, teas, olive oils, soap and other goodies.

A few months back, I got myself 2 items,  a black and white stripes simple T-shirt and a black T-shirt dress.  They are both favorites in my closet, I wear them in the winter, summer, anytime and go with everything. 

Dinner on a rainy weekend

We'll be having some friends over this weekend at the cabin, since it seems like it will be raining ALL the time, Jonas and I have decided on making a cozy meal.  We have two options:

 Jamie Oliver's Roast Pork Shoulder

 or... Roast shoulder of lamb (also Jamie Oliver)

 I am not very experienced cooking meat, so I need a guide, and who else than Jamie Oliver to give me a easy to follow, down to earth, 100% pleasing recipe?  I know, I am a big fan, and I have always been, but I have never been let down, and I have learned a lot about cooking from him, so, when in looking for a good recipe full of flavour, that's my man.

I'll tell you how it went!

The Neistat Brothers