Gotland 2015

Hello Monday!

I'm back from 5 days of gorgeous sunshine away from computers and work and it feels great! We packed our swimsuits, camera and weekend bags in our car and took the 3 hour ferry to Gotland. This was my second time visiting this beautiful Swedish island and this visit was just as fun if not better than the first. Instead of rushing around to see as much of the island as we could as we did the first time around we could relax. 

Even though I have a very free job where I can choose my own hours, it's still very nice to have vacation. It was great to spend time with friends, get some sun on the beach, and freeze my booty off in the Swedish ocean.

 We also just purchased a new camera with video. So it was extra fun to take photos and even more fun to capture all of these little clips and put them together into this fun video. Hope you get an even better feel of how gorgeous summer in Sweden can be.

So now I'm completely relaxed and ready to get tons of more work done. I've got several exciting launches coming up so stay tuned!

Rome Weekend

Hello Wednesday!

This past weekend the boyfriend and I took a quick trip to Rome. The amazing thing about living in Europe is that you can take a weekend trip pretty much anywhere in Europe (our flight was only around 3 hours). We left on Friday and came home on Monday so we had plenty of time to get a feel for the Italian capital. Both of us had never been to Rome and I'd never been anywhere in Italy so it was extra exciting. We enjoyed lots of yummy Italian food, stunning weather, lots of long walks, and an overall nice time.

 Rome is kind of rough around the edges with lots of graffiti and may not be the cleanest, but I don't think this takes too much away from the charm of this ancient city. It is a little chaotic too, definitely in comparison to Stockholm which is rather orderly. We had a lot of trouble figuring out the bus/tram/train system as very little information is given. You have to count the stops or just know where you're going by sight because they don't annouce the stops. Very annoying! Caused lots of extra walking when we missed stops or got off too early. p.s. This was the only negative we could find durring our stay, so not too bad.)

 We spent the majority of our time exploring the city's many historical sites and buildings, which I think you should always do when visiting a city for the first time. There is definitely so much to see and we of course only scratched the surface but we did visit the Vatican including the Sistine Chapel, Vatican museum, and the St. Peter's Cathedral, The Spanish Steps, The Trevi Fountain (which was under construction), the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum.

 Isn't my boyfriend so dreamy? hehe. We are actually celebrating our 6th anniversary of being together today! 6 amazing years! He makes me so happy.

Overall I really liked Rome even though it's completely different from Stockholm and I'm so glad that we had a great time. This small taste of Italy really made me crave more, and I can't wait to visit even more cities throughout the country. Have you been to Rome? What did you think?

Staycation and Nåttarö

Hello Wednesday!

I know there is nothing more pathetic than chatting about the weather but I just have to share what gorgeous sunshine we've been having in Sweden this summer. (Summer usually doesn't exist in Sweden, it's usually a little too rainy and a bit chilly.) We chose not to take a summer vacation anywhere else this year just so that we could stay at home and enjoy our own backyard, seas, and parks because we were expected to have gorgeous days with lots of sun and high temperatures through out July. For once the weather man's predictions were actually right. And I'm so glad for that because there is nothing like falling in love with Sweden during the summertime. (Makes the cold dark long winters a little more bearable.)

Staycation for some could sound a bit boring, one might get stuck in a rut doing house chores etc. Even though we had a long list of to-do items to fix at home, we haven't done much checking off of that list. Instead we've tried to be outside as much as possible taking trips to the sea or lake for picnics, swimming and sunbathing.

A few nice places we've visited for sun and swimming this July:

Björnö

Just about 30 minutes outside of Stockholm, it's far enough so you feel like you've gone somewhere but not quite so far so you feel like you have to stay all all day to not waste the drive. It's also rather quiet on the cliffs (where we prefer to find a spot for the day) as families and many others prefer the near by beach.

Nynäshamn

This is where my boyfriend grew up so he's rather partial to this seaside city's swimming options. (I don't blame him, as it's stunning!) It has many great places to take a dip, and Johan knows all of the best ones. We usually take the car, but the other day I brought my bike along with me on the 1 hour train ride, to easily take me from the station to the sea quickly.

Långsjö

Our closest body of water, a lake about a 15 minute bike ride from where we live south of Stockholm. I must confess I'm not too keen on lake water. It's a bit brown and creepy, but if you're desperately warm like we were one day, it will do the trick.

Nåttarö

As close to a mini vacation as we came with a one night camping stay was a trip out to one of the islands in Stockholm's southern archipelago, Nåttarö. Just a 30 minute boat ride from Nynäshamn we were able to find our own little spot to camp and swim for 2 days and one night, pretty much all on our lonesome too. Sleeping in a tent isn't my favorite (creepy), but I can do it for a night, especially since it's free. With Sweden's Allemansrätt (Every Man's Right) there is no such thing as private property, you can camp pretty much where ever you like, just as long as you leave it just as you found it. It was really nice to explore a new place and be surrounded by gorgeous blueberry speckled Swedish forests and pretty beaches and rocky coastlines. It really felt like summer vacation!

How I celebrated Swedish Midsummer

Hello Monday!

Swedish Midsommar was this weekend, and it was nice. I would say we took it pretty easy, actually, Midsommar the lite version. No major drinking and dancing into the wee hours of the night (as we've done years before.) Even though we may not have had the most gorgeous sunny warm summer weather (it was freezing!) we spent the majority of the weekend outside. At least it didn't rain! 

Although we skipped out on a few traditions this year (we didn't dress the May Pole, or do any dancing) we of course didn't skip the snaps and the herring. We enjoyed a nice Midsommar lunch with Johan's family and met up with friends on the following day. All in all a nice holiday weekend. I got to see swan babies too!

p.s. This picture was shot at Midnight. Around Midsummer the days are at their longest and this is as dark as it gets. The sun never really completely sets, just stays just past the horizon line, until the sun starts to rise again around 3am.

Glad Midsommar!

Hello Friday!

In honor of today's huge Swedish Midsommar celebration I created this illustration. We've got all the Midsommar essentials here: The Swedish Flag, a Midsummer wreath, Pickled Herring, New Potatoes, and of course Aquavit! All that is missing are the silly snaps songs you sing with dinner. The boyfriend and I are celebrating out in the country with family where we hope for a day of sunshine.

Hope you all have a gorgeous Midsommar!

My Stockholm Map on Pinterest

Hello Monday!

I'm completely obsessed with Pinterest, as I'm sure you are as well. (It's just so easily inspiring for all sorts of inspiration; style, food, creative projects, travel etc. and I spend far too many hours on the site than I'd like to admit... especially during work hours. oopsie) One new feature that I'm especially excited for are the new pinable maps. This is a great way of remembering favorite places during a recent trip or cataloging a map of your very own city to share with others. I've even used other pinners maps to learn more about a travel destination when planning future vacations. I of course also promptly started work on my very own for my city, Stockholm since I adore my city, and love playing tourist and tour guide.

Since I completely adore Stockholm, I've been really loving adding favorite places to my map. Places including favorite food shops, restaurants, cafes, retail shops, parks, or just gorgeous places to take in a beautiful view. I really hope you'll follow along as I discover new places in my own city, and I'd be ever so tickled if my Stockholm map would ever be of help to a future visit to Stockholm. Follow My Stockholm Map board here on Pinterest.

Have you ever been to Stockholm? What are some of your favorite places? Oh and do you have a Pinterest Map of your city?

Tenerife: Vacation Pictures Part 2

Hello Wednesday!

Don't worry I'll have a blogger What's in my Bag illustration to share with you later today. But first, let's take a look at a few more gorgeous vacation photos!

The rest of the week, we explored even more views such as from the heights of El Teide (an active volcano and the tallest mountain in Spain), visited a gorgeous local market, and even went on a private wine tasting. 

I'm so glad we were able to get away from our regular daily lives for a week to explore a place we've never been before. And getting away from Sweden's January depressing darkness was kind of nice as well. Travelling is always so refreshing and exciting, and I really really enjoy it! Tenerife was really lovely as it's very tourist friendly but still rather interesting with all the amazing mountain views, and traditional Canary Island culture.

Hope we'll be able to travel somewhere else together this summer or next fall too. (Now I really want to go to main land Spain, to eat even more delicious Tapas.) I've already got new travel plans for myself, as I'm flying to Florida in 2 weeks to spend some time with my family. I don't really consider this vacation, as I hope to get lots of work done. But we'll see :)