Quebec

: : a pic from Quebec. it was a magical weekend! a beautiful city covered in snow. we long to go back.

ja må hon leva

: : today is my birthday! : : I celebrated in Quebec City with Iz and friends. a wonderful weekend! we are just back in Boston. more to come soon.....

wallpaper wildlife

: : another approach to sustainability is to reuse what is already made. like these vintage wallpaper posters for kids. so adorable!!

recycled furniture

: : I'm always on the look out for cool sustainable products, but it's not always easy to find. but it's something that I would like to devote some more time to. the new furniture line .strata. by .ryan frank. was hard not to notice though. .strata. is a furniture line built from the waste wood salvaged from old office desks.

mumin trollen

: : another wonderful present from my mom...two .mumin troll. books.

the .mumin trolls. are wonderful large white, very kind creatures who live in the mumin valley.

my grandmother had these books when I was younger, they are some of the most beautifully illustrated books I've ever seen. .tove jansson. writes and illustrates. her writing is all in rhyme, and the illustrations are fantasy like, full of details, with so many amazing creatures.
I remember reading this book "what happens next" [hur gick det sen?] together with my grandma and my parents. on every page there is a hole that gives you a sneak peek of the next page.

mamma, tack! böckerna är underbara!

sexy bikes

: : habitat have had lots of great articles lately, among many others is the .top 6 sexiest cycles. I am a bicycle commuter, I love my bike. well, I love biking, and I love the freedom you have with a bike...... but I don't love my bike. I'm riding Iz's old mountain bike. it's not built for the city, and it has no giant basket where I can put my groceries. so, I've started saving up for my dreambike, and I think I'm getting closer and closer in my search.

check out this .fisher simply city bike. and below .the boston roadster. a custom made bike made by Mike at a.n.t. what a beauty!

tea time

: : who can resist these? on top of being super cool and glossy, they're recycled .christine misiak. takes old tea sets and makes them into new.

read the full article at .inhabitat.

swedish presents

: : I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!! my parents were just here for a visit, which was wonderful....and even more wonderful, they showered me with presents from the homeland!!

first out is this absolutely awesome bag, with illustration "pottery" by .stig lindberg. [from .design house stockholm.]It makes me so happy, especially on these gloomy fall days. mamma, tack söta!!

: : good reading : :

: : I've caught a cold.....and there's nothing better when you're sick than to have a pile of design magazines and a good book to look forward to. : :

happy friday!

: : this picture makes me happy! Swedish furniture store .R.O.O.M. found via .emma's.

Iz and I are off to the big .apple. to meet up with my parents who are "in town" [or is it "in country"] this week with some of their friends. have a fabulous weekend!

heat sensitive wallpaper

: : found this wonderfully strange wallpaper by .shiyuan. the pink flowers 'grows' when the radiator is on, and disappear when the radiator is off.

via a new Swedish blog .hemmariket. that my mom shared with me.

swedese

: : My mom recently reminded me of Swedish furniture company .swedese. they have some very inspirational imagery of their furniture available on their website. you've probably come across the .clothing tree. before, they have so many wonderful pieces. classic Scandinavian style with a modern look.

geometry

: : found fellow Scandinavian .maija puoskari. [Finnish] on .bloesem. I love the play of geometry and color in these pieces.

Swedish style for the little ones

: : came across these little guys on .emma's designblog. a Swedish company, called .smallstep. , designing sweat shop free stylish clothes for the little ones. check it out!

creative offices inspiration

: : my lovely Swedish friend .erica. found this gallery tour of creative offices in Sweden online. My favorite is the ping.pong table [picture above]. I think I might suggest that for our office. *smile*
anyways, the photos are very inspirational, take the tour!

my first 1/2 marathon

: : I did it !! : : we did it !! : : 2.16.36 : : not the most flattering photo, but here we are a few feet away from the finish line.

thank you everyone for your support. yes, you all guessed it right, it was the applefest 1/2 marathon. a beautiful run through neighborhoods, woods, pumpkin fields and apple orchards. it was hot, but we took it slow, made sure we drank a lot at every water station. time was definitely not an issue, more just a matter of making it. in the end I was proud of our time.

I took me two days to recover from the muscle aces, and five days to recover from the food cravings...and believe me, I gave in to all of them, I haven't felt like eating anything remotely healthy until today. I think it's time to get back to my usual eating habits.

: : marathon weekend : :

image : : www.gettyimages.com

: : believe it or not, this weekend I am running a 1/2 marathon, that's 13 miles [21 kilometers], for me, about 2 1/2 hours of running. first time I've ever run that far.

there is a reason why I run this race in October, apart from the colorful fall leaves, pumpkins, apple orchards and apple pie that they serve you after the race. the reason is that it is usually cooler around this time of year, 65 degrees or so is common, perfect conditions for long distance running.

not this year. I wouldn't complain any other day, but it is still summer in Boston, with 80 degrees and 80% humidity. perfect for the beach, not for 13 miles of running. so squeeze your thumbs for me tomorrow [Swedish expression for" keeping your fingers crossed"].

have a wonderful long weekend!

: : dibbern : :

: : you know me, anything in bright colors will get my attention. my lovely friend .tina. told me about .dibbern. Of course I am already in love with this series of solid bright colors. thanks .tina.!

susanne schjerning

: : fellow Scandinavian, Danish artist .susanne schjerning. has some lovely work. feminine, romantic and colorful.

boston design guide

: : lovely .grace. of .designsponge. has put together [with the help from elisabeth of black pearl press] a great .design guide to Boston. Places she might have missed could be in the comments section, but feel free to add your own if you think something is missing.

best of summer 2007

.deliciousdays.

.port2port.

.simplyphoto.

.fine little day.

.girl talk. .flickr.wardrobe remix.

: : even though we're having some beautiful summer days this week in Boston, and I'm hoping to get one last swim in this weekend, reality is that summer is over.

fall is on it's way, and I'm loving it. there's no better place to be for fall than in .new england. with all its beautiful colors.

but before putting my sweaters on, and cuddling up inside under cozy blankets, I wanted to share some of my favorite summer pics from some of my favorite blogs. these all make me smile and dream of warm summer days. enjoy!!

south end open studios 2007

: : the south end open studios was fabulous as always. Boston was showing of it's best side, clear blue sky and brisk, fresh air. but, my timing must have been poor, I missed the people I had hoped to meet, and the flea market was a bit disappointing. does anyone know of a good flea market in Boston?

new collection from mod green pod

: : Last year, at the South End open studios I stumbled upon .mod green pod's. studio. Mod green pod founder .lisa. is local to Boston, but her partner and sister-in-law .nancy. lives and works in Austin, Texas. Together they started .mod green pod. , an organic cotton home textile company. I just received an email from .nancy. with a press release for their new line of home textiles, the .sprout collection. with patterns named after their own children.

I hope to stop by their studio on Sunday and pick up some samples and maybe have a chance to meet .lisa.

south end open studios

: : yes, yes, yes.....the south end open studios is here again. and the best south end open market of the year!! this weekend September 15& 16th you can browse local artists studio's in the south end, and shop for great art, jewelry, furniture etc. also visit the open market on Harrison Ave. this weekend they will have the most vendors, and I'm hoping [judging from years past] a big flea market area. see you there!

heavenly bed

: : many months ago, my roommate's dad gave me a piece of advice, he said "invest in a good bed when you are young". the more I thought about what he had said, the more I convinced myself of how right he was, and became embarrassed about my craigslist used mattress find that I've been sleeping on for the past 3 years. but there wasn't enough reason, until...Iz found out he had been assigned to rotations in Boston and would be living here with me for the fall. we were both so excited! if anyone deserves some quality time together, it's us, after 9 years of long distance relationship, two years spent in the same city, but none of them ever spent sharing the same room.

after he was moved in however, we quickly realized that my bed just simply didn't cut it, size wise or comfort wise. so we are now on a hunt for a heavenly bed [literally, I think the decision will be a Westin heavenly bed]. so, I've been browsing some inspirational bedroom pics to get some ideas. domino magazine has a great photo gallery of interiors. and my favorite bedroom pic so far, miss .oh .joy's. own [top right], has just been accepted into the domino decorating contest.

fusing plastic bag tutorial

: : I found this weeks ago on .etsy lab. and have been meaning to share earlier. this might be this weekend's project for me...along with organizing my studio, which at the moment is just a pile of paper/fabrics/frames and much more.

this looks so fun and easy though! basically you just take cheap plastic bags [which I know we all have a hidden stack of] and fuse them together using parchment paper. then sew the edges together and you've got yourself a new tote bag. made completely from recycled materials.

if you try it, please share your results. as will I.

falu rödfärg

: : to further prove my point. here are some summer wishes from my wonderful friend .linn. with the falu rödfärg. in hand, painting her summerhouse. .linn. is also a Boston transplant, and was home in Sweden during the same time I was this summer.

tack .linn. ! så fin du är!

red.house friends

: : I know that I've been telling all of you that most every house in Sweden is painted red with white trims. well, I admit, most of that was all part of building a good story. then I went home just a few weeks ago. and took a trip through the Swedish country side with my two best friends. I couldn't get over what I saw.......literally EVERY house was painted red with white trims. Only with the exception of a few white and yellow houses. [The main house on a farm was often painted yellow or white to be separated from the red barn.]

I was blown away, how could I have forgotten? It really is true, almost every house in Sweden is red with white trims. So naturally, I was hanging out the window for the whole drive, snapping pictures of all the houses. here is just a small sample. I have a fairly extensive collection of pictures of red.houses now. maybe one day I'll do a gallery show or something. it's a fascinating phenomena I think. you'll see when you go to Sweden. I'm not lying.

cambridge eco shop

: : .iz and i. were strolling around cambridge a few weeks ago and came upon a new store called .greenward. specializing in eco-modern goods. there I found about every single product that I have ever used in an inspiration board for environmentally friendly/eco conscious products.
they also have a great selection of books on green building, ways to reuse/recycle products, creating your own household cleaning products, eco design/interiors....most topics that you would want. this store is definitely worth a visit. find it on basement level off of .mass avenue. between .harvard & porter sq.

sanna annukka

: : I have blogged about her before. I adore her work. Finnish graphic artist .sanna annukka.
I found out via .oh joy. that her work is now available to buy on her site. Though for a substantial share of money.

summer days

: : so eager to share......... my favorite place on earth. .mitt favorit smultronställe.

patterns of my summerhouse

: : hej : : happy to be back. but suffering from a difficult case of homesickness. my days spent at home were absolutely wonderful. and our summerhouse is a piece of heaven on earth. there really is nothing like it! I tried to soak it in as much as I could while I was there, but it still didn't feel like I had enough time. and how I miss my family and friends....it was not easy to leave this time. but I have lots of wonderful pictures to look at and dream about sunny warm days by the water, croquet tournaments, fresh seafood every day, sauna baths in the middle of the night....[the sauna was just built and is the small wooden house right on the water].

first a collection of patterns from around the house. such a beautiful old house, with so much charm. has been in the family for more than 50 years.