Laleh

I went to the Laleh (www.laleh.se) concert last night in Göteborg. Like her alot and finally got a chance to catch her in concert. It definitely wasn´t like any other concert I´ve been to, not your typical concert. She´s very spontaneous and she doesn´t follow any of the "rules". She writes and produces all of her songs, plays the piano, guitar among just to name a few. She was dancing, singing, talking, and playing instruments, well not in the order and not all at the same time but almost. Very real, very spontaneous, kind of like me but with musical talent! After seeing her in concert I like her even more.

Day off and it´s Friday!

Today is a teacher´s work day (studiedag) for my children. Just realized the translation difference....in English they´re working and in Swedish they´re studying. Interesting..but back to my day, so I´ve taken the day off, I freelance so I can do that...I´m my own boss, nobody tells me what I can or can´t do! YEAH! No I´m just talking trash what all that really means is I didn´t book any meetings today. So getting off my high horse and back to my story....the sun was shining through the kitchen windows casting a shadow on everything that crossed it´s path. Reading the morning paper, sun in my eyes, the day off and it´s Friday! Sometimes you just have to be happy about the small things in life. A day off in this household with the children is a day filled with Swedish bulle (cinnamon buns for all you non Swedish speaking citizens) coffee for me and hot chocolate for them. Lots of snuggling and a hike in the forest. Later we plan on ending our day with a big family pizza for dinner. These kind of days are not so good for your figure but good for the heart and soul. Hope your day is lovely too!

Thought for the Day

"You miss 100% of the shots you don´t take"

-Wayne Gretsky

A minute too late

Last Saturday I went to this second hand store close to my house. They had lots of good stuff and I didn´t know which way to go first. I was going in circles I was so excited, which was too bad since I just missed these cool chairs that I would have loved to have had. Just as I laid my eyes on them and started heading in that direction there was another lady paying the man 80 kr (10 dollars) for both of them!!

Art Therapy

Last week when I picked up one of my sons from school, the teacher said he had a headache. I picked him up just before lunch and I must admit that it seemed to me that his headache had already gone over. I didn´t see any symtoms of a headache as we were walking to the car and he was talking my head off. I did sense a little feeling of vulnerability.  He was perhaps not in complete harmony with himself for whatever reason. Perhaps it was these feelings that were causing the headaches or was it the feelings alone that he couldn´t quite describe, so he labeled it as a headache. 

Whatever it was I took it seriously and tried to get to the bottom of it. We talked and just took it easy. I gave him my undivided attention. Maybe this was what he needed. 

I decided a good way to help with his relaxation was to do some art. We had the kitchen table full of paint, colored pencils, magazines, you name it. We were drawing, painting and cutting and pasting and getting fully carried away in the present. Frank Sinatra was playing in the background and within 15 minutes he stopped and gave me a hug and kiss and said "mommy, I feel much better now!"  Case rested. Cure for everyday modern stress....a little art therapy. :)

Things That Make You Smile.....

Sleeping babies

Chocolate

Sunsets

And....

Unexpected Gifts

Thought for the Day

There IS no secret ingredient!!

-Kung Fu Panda

There are no shortcuts.....believe in yourself....you hold the key to your happiness...however you say it there IS no secret ingredient. I love that movie....

Royal Wedding

A week ago today all the newspapers and TV stations were busy announcing the exciting news that Crown Princess Victoria is engaged to be married early summer 2010. Only if you´ve been living in a cave during the past week has this news gone unnoticed as it has graced the front page of almost all of the local newspapers, and magazines all over Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. Even though I am not so into all the Royal hype, I do think it is a nice break from all the financial crisis talks and write-ups, as one on-line paper put it "the perfect antidote for recession blues". In these tough times with a big gray cloud hanging over the economy, watching the saga of a real-life princess marrying her prince restores my faith in happy endings. And for a moment takes me away from the realities and current events that are going on in the world.

And let there be light......

Light is one thing that we in Scandinavia miss during the winter months. We are starving for daylight and especially sun. Some people go to great lengths to get their fill of daylight or warm sunny weather. When we´re not visiting warmer climates in our dark, winter months then we light candles to make our home a little cosier. In the picture are some lovely, green candles that were given to me this weekend by our dinner guests. These will help give me a little taste of light on the cold dark nights. Just as we are deprived of light in the winter, we are given more than our share to enjoy in the summer. 

The "New" Meaning of Flowers

for centuries flowers have had certain meanings

according to jason logan who has illustrated 

a "new" meaning of some common flowers

with a whimsical twist

i´m weak for flowers and especially painting them 

that´s maybe why i found this slideshow in the nytimes

fun and worth sharing

click below to view 

The Sweet Smell of Semantics

And today´s thought for the day is.......

Whatever you´re feeling is what you´re vibrating and what you´re vibrating is what you´re attracting.

-Lynn Grabhorn

Spread a little love.....

Hope your Valentine´s Day was everything you hoped it would be....... anything from a kiss from yours truly or a bear hug from your little bear cubs or just a nice relaxing dinner. I had the night out for dinner, and took the hugs and kisses too, and it was nice. We don´t go out to eat that often so when we do, it is a special treat. We went to Swea Hof in Gothenburg. Delicious food, drinks, and engaging company made for a lovely evening out. Cheers!

Things that make me go Mmmmmm.........

Collages are underrated

Fun, Easy and 

the End Result

Totally

OUTRAGEOUS!

I use to always do collages when I was in high school and college. I did this one about 6 months ago when the kids were cutting and pasting, I sat down and did a little cuttin ´n pastin of my own. I think I had a warm tropical vacation on my mind when I did it. I usually do. I think I lived in the Carribean in my previous life. Wish I lived there in THIS life. We were using Swedish magazines so for my English readers here´s a little Swedish 101:

Sommaren

The summer

Hus &Hem

House & Home

Var Glad!

Be Happy

Vin och Vatten

Wine and Water

Tillbaka till landet i våra hjärtan

Back to the country in our hearts

Tropiska badpardis

Tropical beach paradice

Bio

Movies

Perfekt Tajming

Perfect Timing

Favorite pattern

This is one of my favorite patterns... love the design and color combo. I have this in a wax tablecloth. It´s not the old fashion type wax cloths... it´s a modern version oil cloth that repels spills and stains but looks like regular cloth...great when you like design but have kiddies. 

Here´s to a creative 2009! Cheers!

I´ve got a good feeling about this year... on the creative front that is. I´m getting lots of inspiration from my surroundings. Just found my long lost, extremely talented, artsy roommate who use to always give me creative vibes and tips. I love bright happy colors and I try to convey this in my paintings. Other influences lately have been from both people I know and people I don´t. I love it when the inspiration and creativity start flowing. I´m feeling the energy and I hope with a little help from my friends it will be a fun, bright colorful year!!

Two Design One

This is one of my favorites. Both the painting and the photo. This painting had a twin sister that I duplicated as close as I possibly could while still keeping them both originals. The two identical paintings looked nice side by side. I sold both of them together at Design and Art in Göteborg. Hope their new owner is enjoying them and hope they make their day just a little brighter!

NYC

A little inspiration I got after visiting the Big Apple.

Thought for the Day

" You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you cannot do."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Bono to write opinion column in the NY Times

For those of you who haven´t heard, Bono has been asked to write an opinion column that is to appear occasionally in the NY Times nytimes.com/opinion. I´ve been recommending everyone in my English sessions to read it. I must say I was not overly taken by the first article. The comments, however, over 200 of them, were very interesting. No, I did not read all of them but skimmed over some of them and found them to be more entertaining than the article itself. I think his writing will be like his music, and great wine, it will only get better with age. So that is why I am eagerly waiting for the next one. Tell me what you think about the article? 

No sun, but I´m happy to have my favorite sunglasses back!!

Yipee! I found them! After searching frantically through the whole house and cleaning out the cars, I thought my favorite sunglasses that I bought in North Carolina last summer were long gone. As Murphy´s law would have it, out of the many, many pairs I own, I lose the most expensive pair! Then on Friday I decided the waste paper basket in the office was well overdue for someone to empty it. BUT as luck would have it, (thank goodness, I do have luck on my side every now and again) I decided to hand pick everything out of the trash can as I dumped it. Half way through, there they were... my sunglasses.... in the trash can.... case and all!!! How they got there I do not know and really don´t care I´m just happy I found them.