The Girl is Back in Town!

Hi, finally I am back! No I haven't moved, so really the title is a lie. I still live in the country side... :) But it is ages since my last entry and lots has happened. (Which is also partly the reason why it's been so long...)

So here's some of the stuff that's happened:

Christmas has passed, it's a new year (Happy New One to all of you!!!),

My son at last managed to break my beloved silver Gucci frames prompting me to buy new glasses (gold MaxMara),

The new job is great! unfortunately I've been having a fever, nausea and vertigo for the last two months, so for a month now I've been on sick leave and having doctors poking everywhere and taking my blood countless times. BORING!!!,

My kids have since christmas collected probably every virus that frequents daycares,

We bought a new camera, so look forward to more and BETTER pictures!

Of course it has not all been work, germs and disease. I need some style!!! I will not torture you with a picture of me now as I look quite dreadful after months of fever and my everyday uniform is my wonderful Paul Frank PJ that I got for my birthday. Not very inspiring. I am preparing for better days though, and warmer, summer!!! This winter has been long and cold and still not over. We've had temperatures down to 40 degrees celsius below zero! (About minus 104 fahrenheit)  Brr!

But as usual I continue to hope and dream! So my closet has been growing this winter, first filling up with some work essentials: some cute dresses, leather boots, patterned tights, cardigans, black jeans and some basic tops. But lately the summer has been creeping in. I know I won't be wearing these for at least two to three months, but I couldnt resist...

From H&M

And having spent a lot of time in bed and on the couch Vogue, In Style, Elle and Harper's Bazaar only lasted so long... To my great joy I found the best style guide ever!!!!!!

Written by Amanda Brooks who was just appointed Fashion Director at Barneys. She is a woman who has lived a life of fashion and this book is just the best guide to find your own style. So many books and magazines just teach you a formula that might not be YOU, but this book aims at giving you the tools to find your own style. And it has lots and lots and lots of gorgeous and inspiring pictures! Amanda blogs at Barneys Homepage here!

Now I just hope that I will soon be back at work and I will try to shape up so I can show off some of my new purchases (and gifts! Got a great silk dress from hubby and kids for christmas.) to you!

These are a few of my favorite things!

Sorry about the long MIA. I AM HIRED. Yep, I am now the employee of a real company. I am a working woman. The preparation and path leading up to this joyous event has taken a lot of my time leaving little time for blogging and daydreaming. I am so happy!

Monday next week I will start my new job for real. It is scary, exciting and absolutely wonderful!

Here comes a few random current favorite things:

The Esprit Collection shirt I found at a thrift store a few weeks ago.

Black pencil skirts, this one is from H&M.

Tulle.

Gorgeous headpieces.

Women in motion. This picture makes me think of Sonia Rykiel.

What are your favorite things?

Why don't you....

Last week I bought British edition of Harper's Bazaar September. A wonderful issue, lots of fashion, inspiration and lovely stories. On the last page there was the "Why don't you?" by Victoria Beckham. Back in the jazz era this column used to be written by Diana Vreeland. I must say Mrs Beckham's suggestions are nowhere near as surreal as Mrs Vreeland's!

But still I thought maybe I should offer you an even more down to earth and affodable version of the "Why don't you...?".

Why don't you...?

...shop around in the men's department (or the kid's). Autumn 2010 is filled with clothes inspired from the guy's closets. But still I had trouble finding some things. Like that perfectly oversized wool sweater to drown in on an autumn night. The one's in the women's department where either too short or had narrow sleeves. Voilà, found this one in the men's department at H&M.

And this perfect cap I found in the sales bin in the boy's departement.

If you are rather small feeted like myself you can also find great deals at kid's shoe departments. If you are petite you might even find dresses or shirts in kid's sizes that fit you.

...borrow coffee table books from the library. Because frankly, they are quite expensive and it's fun to switch reading material sometimes. Our library has a beautiful selection of books on fashion, art, architecture, photo, food and travel.

Like this seventies book on fashion photograpy's history featuring this photo by George Platt Lynes.

...wear socks in your heels. I was not a fan of this idea at first. It reminded me of preschool girls and I could not see myself in it. But one of the fashion spreads in Harper's Bazaar changed my mind.

Have a great weekend ladies!

Autumn is upon us

So, long time no read.I haven't been blogging for a while. Autumn is a busy time.
It is time to harvest what the garden and the forest has given us,

time to turn that harvest into jam, marmalades, bread, muffins, pies,

marmalades from left: peach with menthe, plum with cinnamon and black currant

time to pick also the non-edibles from the woods and make decorations,

time to sew curtains for the kitchen from grandmother's old hand-embroidered sheets that I coloured grey,

time to pick up some "new" reads from the thrift store for those long autumn eves,

time to raid the after-summer-sales and thrift store for some new loves

like this thrifted dress and tights bought at sale that goes perfectly with some of my old loves

my grandmother's brooch

and these gorgeous vintage leather shoes

and then, the love you thought lost because of a price too high suddenly appears on the sale rack for a fifth of the price! Thank heaven and all the angels! The dream dress now resides in my closet. Til it falls apart. ♥

Autumn is also the time for a new season and I will soon be back with some of my favorites from the runway!

The RL Gang

The fashion industry has been in love with videos these past seasons. This fall Ralph Lauren is presenting their fall fashion kids line with a video AND a book. I'm kind of torn in this matter. I looooove Ralph Lauren's style and these kids are just too darned cute in their little outfits. But is it really ok to sell clothes with a video apparently made for children? Do we really want our kids to be so "branded"? You know that process when a brand is put into your head as "affordable" as Old Navy, "sporty" like Nike or "classic" as Chanel. Do we really want to teach our kids that if you are a nice, wellbehaved, welldressed kid your wear Ralph Lauren??! I think in terms of values in this video is kind of cute, even though it presents a very stereotype view of gender. At the same time I think that this is really a beautiful way to present clothes. And if you buy the book 15% will go to the Ellis Marsalis Center of Music in New Orleans. Well that's nice too. Torn is the word.

Watch it here:

The RL Gang

So what do you guys think?

Another day, another castle!

I have been lost in cyberspace for a while due to a lightning strike to our modem. We are very vulnerable to lightning strikes in the rural valley where we live. And this summer has seen some of the worse thunderstorms in years. We've been able to use the internet but it has been painfully slow and updating my blog was waaaay to time consuming.

Anyway, thunderstorms aside, I had another castle I wanted to show you! You MAY have noticed I have a huge weakness for castles, mansions and anything historical. THIS is my favorite castle and we visited it again during our vacation.

I present to you, Läckö Castle. A true fairy tale castle.

This castle boasts it's own chapel.

Bye, bye vacation! Now it's back to reality.

Sweet Memories (and lots of pictures)

Hi! I'm back home again and I brought some sweet memories and photos.

Vasa, a Swedish 17th century warship. She was built by appointment of king Gustav II Adolf of Sweden. He was a protestant king waging war against the catholic king Sigismund of Poland who had claims on the swedish throne. Poland had a large fleet and Gustav II Adolf wanted to match that fleet. Vasa was supposed to have been crown jewel in that fleet. It took three years to finish the ship.  In August the 10th 1628 Vasa takes her maiden journey. The journey only lasts for about 20 minutes. A strong wind catches the ship, because of  her high center of gravity she tilts. All of the canon holes are open to show the ship's full power. When Vasa tilts water rushes in under deck. The ballast consist of round rocks that all roll with the ships movement causing her to tilt even more. Vasa goes down. Luckily almost all crew is rescued since large crowds and lots of boats have gathered along the stream of Stockholm to watch Vasa in all her splendor. Somewhere between 25 and 50 people perished. Vasa rested on the floodbed until 1961 and since 1990 resides in a museum especially built for her.

The royal castle in Stockholm, residence of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

Clothes worn by members of the royal family of Sweden at the wedding of princess Margaretha (a sister of the king) in 1964.

Dress worn by princess Sibylla, mother of our king Carl XVI Gustaf, to festivites surrounding the wedding her daughter princess Desirée also in 1964.

Wedding dresses worn by swedish princesses.

The royal castle in pouring rain. That black thing in the upper right corner is my umbrella.

Luckily, the rain let up and allowed for a cloudy but dry wedding!

I wore: dress from Sister's Point, shoes Donna Girl, cardigan MQ, headband H&M, earrings Judith Ripka and an old bag that I bought about 14 years ago.