gamesnight

Last night I hosted a little get-together at mine: I made some snacks and prepared the livingroom by enlarging the diningtable and get a few more chairs for all the guests. And then we played games all night long, ate and drank wine. And what a lovely evening it was!

The gang gathered in my livingroom

We began by playing Alias - a game where you have to explain words by using synonymes or other words. Then we continued with the game Brainstorm, which is just that. You get a topic and have to brainstorm, finding all relative words to that topic within a certain time.
The third, and last game for the night, was Pictunary. Perhaps we should've started with that game as the wine and the late hour made us quite unfocused, but still it was great fun.

Dana and Katarina thinking about what topic to choose in Brainstorm

Certain games called for silly glasses...

the kidnapping

Last weekend we kidnapped my brother and his wife.

"We" in this story are myself and Lisa, who were the witnessess at my brother and his wife's wedding ceremony. And the reason for the kidnapping were in fact that they celebrated their one year wedding anniversery.

And what a party! We managed to arrange for us to be with the lovely Ann in her allotment garden, where we more or less reinacted the ceremony party last year. Down to the same food and drinks. It was such a lovely evening, such lovely people and so many laughs. My brother and his wife were totally clueless about hte party, which gave the whole thing an extra twist. It was fab to see their faces when we said "right, get dressed, the taxi is here in 20 minutes, and we're off to have a party in your honour!"

Needless to say it was more or less morning until I rolled into bed, and the following day was spent curing my headache. But boy it was worth it. How I love these people.

The Mojito toast for the couple in question.

the party planners

And we stayed put talking and drinking all night long. Best night out I've had in about a year! And hopefully we'll get a chance to do it next year too. "Same procedure as last year!"

worknight wine

I went to see my friend tonight after work. We hardly ever get a chance to catch up due to completely different work hours/lives in general, and tonight was no different really...

... I got stuck late at work. Got to hers even later. She gave the kids a bath whilst I had something to eat in her kitchen. It got really late by the time she'd put the kids to bed and I was ready to head back home and my friend ready for bed herself.

But then she offered me a glass of wine. And we talked. And another glass of wine was served. Her husband came hom and joined us for a glass of wine. And we talked.

In the end I didn't leave until nearly midnight. I will be knackered tomorrow. And I drank wine on a work night. But it was such a lovely evening I hope I get a chance to do it again rather soon!

essentials

My friend and I went to Uppsala to see a play. On the train back to Stockholm late at night we realized we had all the essentials with us in our bags:

gin

tonic

mugs

toothbrush

mobile phone

chewing gums

tickets

What more does a woman need?

north meets south

We had a little dinner get together at my place the other evening. It was my brother Po, his wife Janna and our mutual friend Fatima. I made a soup (see recipe in previous blog post) which Fatima said looked and smelled like an African stew. I guess this is what I'll have to call it from now on. :-)

(Above Fatima is telling a story which made Po and Janna crack up)

After dinner we had a bit of ice cream with Ethiopian coffee, and then water pipe with my Tunisian tobacco came out, which we all enjoyed.

The cats were nowhere to be seen. I later found them all snuggled  up on my Moroccan puff... Guess it turned out to be a Swedish - African themed evening? Strange.

great night out!

original? me?

I'm on my way to a big party. A friend's boyfriend turns 40 today, and he is having a big bash on a remote island outside Stockholm.

I won't know anybody there apart from my friend and her boyfriend (whom I've met twice)... So I've been flapping for a week now. Last night I went to my friend Shiler's house to borrow an outfit for tonight. (That girl has a wardrobe that would make Madonna jealous!)

I ended up borrowing 4 outfits - 2 brown, one purple and one black. Shiler said she could bet her life on that I'd pick the black outfit. But I really liked one of the brown ones.

And now I have tried the outfits over and over again. And guess what I'm wearing? Of course. The black one.

Sooooo typically me! Anyway, dressed in black I'm off to that party now, and hopefully I'll have some fun pics to show here tomorrow.

The wedding party

The wedding party last Saturday was fab. Really nice, really intense, with lots of impressions and fun loving memories.

My father and I got on really well and enjoyed each others company, which was nice.

Jannas family is just as lovely as she is, and below is her and our family gathered.

dancing queen

they got married!

My wonderful brother Po and his wonderful girlfriend of 10 years - Janna - got married on Saturday afternoon in an allotment garden here in Stockholm.

It was a special day, a lovely evening and a crazy night, where we ate cake, drank champagne and cocktails, talked and laughed into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Needless to say I dressed accordingly to the occation:

• Very expensive and pretty dress bought for the day in question
• old warm, wooly cardigan bought 14 years ago in a H&M in London
• gorgeous, warm socks borrowed from my friend Katarina
• and my faithful wellies.

Well, it was raining, after all! In the background you can see one of the winesses - Lisa (I was the other witness) - and the judge who wed the happy couple.

the drunken idea

During last night's BBQ a wide variety of subjects were talked about:

• the taste of ecological wines
• should we go blueberry picking together in August?
• wether to buy new furniture or not
• how to make carrot marmelade
• the pro's and con's with living in Stockholm
• hair extensions
• our jobs

The list could be made endless. However, the more wine we consumed, the more we started to talk about relationships and men. Shiler and Kamil are married, and their view on married life was really interesting to hear. Sofia and I are single, and of course we talked about the difficulties of meeting a descent man.

It could well have been the wine talking, but I came up with an idea: what if Sofia and I asked our friends to find us a single man to go on a date with? Someone they'd think would suit us?

Say I have 20 friends here in Stockholm. If each and every one of them were to introduce me to one man each, I would have 20 dates awaiting me without having to make the slightest little effort of being on a man hunt!

I think it sounds kind of fun, if nothing else. So suggestions on your single, mature and pleasant male friends please!

saturday night

I will tell you the latest on the livingroom floor and angry Dana.

But not tonight.

Tonight I'm off out for a BBQ with my lovely friend Shiler, her husband Kamil and our mutual friend Sofia. I will drink wine. Lots of it!

Laters!

party hair!

Yesterday I woke up late. Had a lazy breakfast on the balcony with the cats. Decided to clean up a bit of the mess from changing the floors... Pottered around for a bit.

Then I jumped into the shower. Despite my disguitingly dirty hair I put a shower cap on, as I was due an appointment at the hair dressers. With a little help from a hair band and lots of dry schampoo I managed to venture into town without being too embarrassed about my filthy hair.

I went to get a bottle a wine. Bought a new pair of shoes. And then headed to the hairdressers.

- I've got an appointment with Mia at 4.45, I told the receptionist.
-No, you haven't? she said, sounding a bit confused.
-Yes, I do, I insisted. I booked it last Monday.
-Well, I'm sorry, you're not written down here. Perhaps you forgot to tell us who you wanted to book with? she tried.

It was quite obvious she didn't know me. Knew nothing about my super-scary memory. I quoted the whole phone conversation I'd had with her a few days ago. Word by word. She looked a bit baffled as she was flicking through her book to see if she'd written my name somewhere.

-Oh, she said, relieved, you're booked with Wendy!
-Well, I do not cut my hair at Wendy's, I told her, Mia is my hairdresser.

She looked at me, giving me a "stop being so bloody awkward" look. I looked back. I told her I was going straight from the hairdressers to a dinner party, and needed my hair styled at least. Could this Wendy wash and blow dry?

And this Wendy could, according to the receptionist. For the same price as if she'd cut and blow dried my hair!!

I told her it was a rip off and she could shove it up her rectum and walked off. I was fuming. And dirty. And on my way to a dinner party looking like a birds nest in my head. I decided to go back home and sulk for the rest of the evening.

As I walked towards the station I saw a Hairdressing drop in. And they washed my hair, made it look lovely!

I went to the dinnerparty. Drank wine. Had a lovely time. Went dancing in a night club. And my hair looked fab all evening!

the wedding

Kerstin and Michail (my second cousin) getting married

on Valentine's Day.

First snog as a married couple!

In the background: bridesmaids, my brother as best man and my second cousin Helen (yes, she's a vicar)

We just can't help ourselves! :-)
Myself, my brother and his girlfriend


Cutting the very nice tasting cake

My brother together with our mother's cousin Britt-Ingrid. A woman I have admired all my life and wish I knew better.

The mad and absolutely wonderful family!

Needless to say I had a brilliant time. A beautiful day and a fabulous night!

Valentine's Day

I'm off to my cousin's wedding tomorrow. He's getting married on Valentine's Day. I'm childishly excited. This is due to several reasons:

I like my cousin Michail soooo much. He's possibly one of the funniest and kindest persons there is.

After my mum passed away I've lost contact with her side of the family completely (apart from Michail, that is). I can't wait to see them all again. It's been far too long.

Being ill for months and months has taken it's toll on me. It will be lovely to get a chance to dress up and have a drink or two, knowing I now have the strengh and energy to actually socialize and meet people. I've been a bit of a recluse lately.

My brother is Best Man tomorrow. I have never before seen/heard my brother do a speech, and I am looking forward to it - I bet it will be funny as!

Now I'm off to pack my bag and make sure I have everything ready for the morning. The wedding is up north and I've booked myself into a hotel for tomorrow night. Once back I'll show you all some pictures from the weekend.

Happy Valentines Day!

a different kind of new year

New year's eve I had to work. Noone, apart from a part time girl, wanted to work and so I said I'd do it. I told the part time girl that we'd make the BEST new years party ever for our patients, and so we did!

First of all we decorated the kitchen :


One of our patient's made beautiful place cards:

I cooked a three course meal - smoked salmon and horseradish starter, fillet of beef and potatoes au gratin with a side sallad as a main:

Of course the office had to be run as per usual too, and my co-worker took this picture of me running in to the office to answer the phone - party hat on and all! :-)

After our meal we ventured upstairs to the TV room where both staff and patients enjoyed dessert and a good old sing song with PS2's Singstar:

It really was a great night! We sang and danced til midnight:

In all honesty I would've loved to have the evening off, but it was definetely one of the best shifts at work ever! I do love my job. Well, I think the picture above says it all really, doesn't it?

time flies when you look at my hair!

2005 was the year I got invited to the Nobel Prize Gala and had a part time job (as well as studying 3 full time courses at uni at once) as a hair model as Toni and Guy... I had some fab hair do's!

2006 I got a job as a project coordinator which I hated, but moved to a great little pad. Chopped my hair a little and went a bit shaggy for a while.

2007 is all in a fog. But I had some seriously good hair days.

2008 I went a little bit OTT with the hair thing, but finally quit that horrible job, moved to a great big flat and life was good again!

The second Crimbo

Last night I visited Po and Janna (i.e. my brother and his girlfriend) to celebrate Christmas and swop pressies with them. Instead of a star in their Christmas tree sat an alien. A Christmasy alien, of course!

It was a great, chilled out evening. First a huge, fantastic dinner followed by beer drinking in their livingroom. And as per usual my brother and I posed in front of the camera: