rosendals trädgård ♥DJURGÅRDEN♥

djurgården is the nicest place on earth. it's huge. so nice. and the food at rosendal is so delicious, all made from ingredients grown there. i also played paparazzo and took two pictures through a hedge--of a wedding, and the wedding violinist. ha. he sounded really good too.

more wandering around, day 1 pics

they provide blankets at all the outdoor cafes!

café mojo (like peter's nephew--mojo otto)

never seen so many bikes before--everywhere

i bought a bag at their nyc store when i was at grad school, before sweden obsession

i think these are strindberg's words

adolf fredriks kyrka

muffin scuffle w/swedish birds

on drottninggatan

brownie cheesecake and rhubarb/white chocolate, woohoo

banana and milk-choc.

sneaky

strategery

that one bird eyeing my muffin told all his friends and then they wouldn't leave me alone! (but they knew what was good; i found out later that Muffin Bakery has its own muffin cookbook because they are so good)

day 1, 9am-ish

my hotel was right down the street from hötorget, open-air market. i got to the hotel around 8:30, the room wasn't ready, so i wandered around in disorganized coffee-search/amazement. it was so pleasant! so not humid! cool, refreshing sunny spring weather--these were taken in stunned disbelief. fresh, clear, beautiful day...in august? it was like a different planet.

down the street is the hotel, on the right side

the little-r cuter blueberries are swedish blueberries

hötorget and sergelgatan. the right side is movie theater.

i had coffee here, i think it was on sveavägen--but there's lots of wayne's coffees around the city so i'm not sure. it's really good. and there really is a wayne; i read it in TimeOut!

incredible hulk popsicle

i feel like i know them and they are so familiar to me, cuz i've read emi's blog for like 3 years or so...but it must be strange for them--emi's kids, i mean.

they must think, "who is this girl? why does she act like she knows us?"

but that's why emi and anders are so nice---they actually let me forget that, though i've caught glimpses of their lives steadily the past few years, they just met me! have i mentioned how cool they are? have i ? have i told you how fun/engaging/smart they are to talk to?

ok, my camera just died. couldn't download anything else but this pic at the market, joel appearing to enjoy his incredible hulk pop. (tho' i remember emi saying he didn't like it. after he ate it all.)

UNPREPARED FOR THIS: dazed and confused, minus coffee (and matthew mcconaughey) (yes that was for emi)

i woke up two hours ago, which is v. good. i need coffee, but no bodum beaker thing (broke it the day i left for sweden, cuz people came to "fix" the closet an hour before i had to leave--they were supposed to come 3 days earlier--and i was flustered, doing things too fast and distractedly. fully blame them. they were 3 days late and i said to them the day before--"DO NOT COME TOMORROW". but then of course 3 guys came, all separately, fluster-ing me since i was packing my bathroom stuff and just outta the shower, 9am. by the way, my closet is STILL NOT FIXED.)

oh last nite i hope it didn't sound like i was starting a new blog; i just meant "dear hugh laurie" is now basically "i love stockholm".

i didn't know when i came back from stockholm i'd be feeling like this. i was not ready for THIS!! i have stockholm-withdrawal. not stockholm syndrome. (btw i read the Acne store in norrmalm was the site of the incident that caused the invention of the term, stockholm syndrome. u know what i'm saying. i need to google)

preview of upcoming attractions!!

CUTE! FUN! FUNNY! AMAZING!!

my new blog where i blog about when i was in a blog

(how...post-modern)

or, my new blog where i just post pictures and re-live the experience, selfishly!

emi is the best

[i haven't slept for two days, it seems like.. slept only 3 hours, attempt to slow time down, then succumbed from like 4-7, went to the airport... and now have been up for maybe 25+ hours. ahh, that's why i'm typing with my eyes closed]

BUT I HAD TO POST A FEW PICTURES, RIGHT? ok, now hallucinating, signing off!

ALSO, I GOT ACNE!

i've not only stepped into the blog of EMI, i wanna take stuff back from this world...

bet you didn't think i was this tall huh. wait, will these still fit, like back home? do clothes that fit in blog-world fit you in reality-world?

you MUST check out these instructions, taken from the official "ACNE DENIM GUIDE" that came with my jeans (i chopped the sentence into two pictures for full effect):

and they're totally serious. i hadn't read The Guide before my entree into ACNE-land, so imagine my confusion: the acne lady asked me from outside the dressing rm, "Does that size fit you?" i said yes. i came out to show her it was very comfortable. then she ran off saying, "ok, then i'll run and get you the next smaller"--but but but..what? she explained that i would understand once i wore them, and that she used to share my doubts, but then she got used to the corset-style non-breathing and now when she wears her regular, more comfortable size, she doesn't like it anymore. well, she's the expert! and i remember emi detailed her saga in her blog --needing assistance at first, then--victory!--the day arrived where she could put them on herself! and she looked HOT!

+i'm sure it'll be gratifying. my legs can grow 2-3 inches...it's sheer WILL, or stretching. or probably prayer.

KÅNKEN=BACKPACK=A LOVE STORY

at the passports line at o'hare today i am conscious of boy (even in fuzziest jetlag)--cute, blond--behind me who is speaking swedish. i was blurrily thinking as i heard his speedy super swedish, what's he doing in the citizens line? durrr, foreigners..! then i hear him say (this time, in perfect english), "HEY LOOK" aimed in my direction...i turn to see--!!!-- that we have the same exact FJÄLLRÄVEN KÅNKEN (the army-greenish one with red straps that was love at first sight, that spoke directly to ME, loudest of all the siren songs of his colorful kånken siblings)! this guy, he was very friendly--asked me how long i was in stockholm, what i did there, did i go anywhere out of town (i tried to pronounce where emi lives--"lead-ing-UH"--lame!) he had been visiting his family in stockholm. i think he said some other stuff but i was all blurry; i was still marveling at how easily he had switched to college-dude english after i had so confidently pegged him as blond swede misterioso man...

so then after passports, i kept running into him--kinda embarrassing, kinda thrilling, this kismet-seeming experience (seriously weird: i was at the united counter and suddenly he was checking in right next to me..then i saw him again behind me in the security line--and that was after i leisurely goofed off at the duty-free, killing time before my next flight). at one point, though, when we met again--as i was finding out that he lived in the bay area, near where i used to live (wow wow destiny)--he leaned in as i took an inhale and --HOLY--he had the most virulent eye-watering jetlag-blasting B.O.!!!!!!!!!!!

no kånken kismet.

oh! the lady at the arlanda express early this morning (i mean, yesterday morning) gave me an under-25 discount ticket (until i stupidly inquired)--so, you know, there's always some kind of balance..

wanna-be swede

1. got the must-have (unfortunate name) acne jeans. and correctly, i bought a size smaller than i would usually wear. this is the rule.

2. i now own a sweater (words cannot express) from FILIPPA K.

3. emi took me to restaurang prinsen for--f i n a l l y !!--meatballs with lingonberries and mashed potatoes. also, cucumber salad, which incidentally tastes just like my mom's cucumber salad--sweet, vinegary. delicious!

4. i went to THE H&M, the big one on hamngatan, and found that they have all this stuff that i could wear--more conservative, less wacko/trendy... i could shop there for real!! i had given up on H&M in the states (esp. the one in st louis); i'm always like, "Is this a shirt, a dress, a hat?" or "why does the mannequin have that pair of jeans wrapped around her neck like that?" or "is it halloween?"..but here i bought this really cool short trenchy jacket, two pairs of tights (black with subtle small butterflies), a top (that's not like doll-size). there are SO many here, too. stores, i mean. just near my hotel i think there are three.

5. i bought cloudberry deodorant. and i admit i don't even use deodorant. but ~~~CLOUDBERRY! (they were out of the lingonberry deodorant--must be delectable)

(ps. i'm done now with the shopping. today was unexpected. i was meant to go to 35 museums. it was the filippa k. that started it all i think.) (oh and i just read on this other stockholm website that there are 100+ museums in town. i have to come back i guess eh)

risa ate rudolph (neil, amy--skip this post!)

i forgot to mention that yesterday on the steamship back from drottningholm (so beautiful i thought it was the afterlife, well if u've been like reallyreally good) i sat in the fancy dining room away from the riffraff (truth: no more seats in the hold cuz it was the last boat i think) and had a reindeer appetizer. it was served like a hunk of pate on a big wasa cracker. then there was a little neat pile of bright yellow fish roe, a lemon wedge, diced red onion, and chives. i squeezed lots of lemon but it was like really salty salami and not very pretty to look at.
emi says this is not traditional- actually really weird, to have the roe and the chives. i think traditional is more like reindeer filet... merry xmas.
i had the whole dining room to myself with beautiful views. i spread out all my tourist paraphernalia and had a great time. i think i forgot to take a photo! (well, like i said, not too pretty--reindeer on plate, not the views)

wait...

does that mean stockholm might have a uniqlo too? whoa...

hey, one more swedish observation before i forget, this time....TOILET!
the button to flush is like a switch. you press left side for #1 and the right side for #2. it's eco-friendly, dude!

tomorrow i have to hit 35 museums. then another 35 on wednesday. (there are 70 museums in stockholm)

good luck `a moi.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

there is a muji in Åhlens dept. store!

i know!! i had to pick myself up from the floor too!

convenience-blogging, swedish-style !

i am at a 7-11-(but better)type place called pressbyrån, using this truly 'blazing fast' internets on a huge mac monitor. what luxury. i am down below in the subway. it rained pretty hard on my journey back from skansen to "home," so i got on the t-bana for one stop! (it is magical swedish rain, however--cuz even tho' i was completely + utterly soaked a tiny while ago, now i am totally dry like my clothes have amnesia. they're probably cleaner now too, ha.

everything closes early on sunday and all the museums (i think there are about 50 at least) are closed mondays so i think my plan for tomorrow is to go forth in pursuit of the royals. i will take a boat out to drottningholm, where the royal fam hides out, apparently. some dump, i'm sure. har.
i also want to go out in search of luxemburgli, which i think are just french macarons. i'll taste-test them against the amazing ones i had in s.f. with JV.
it's sad that i cannot post any pics because i took an extra pair of shoes instead of my notebook. turns out i didnt need 2/3 pairs that i brought, since i am only wearing my 'running' shoes. there is free wireless in the hotel, even in the rooms! and also emi told me you can even bring your laptop to djurgården and type on the grass! stockholm is all wired-up and tech-savvy (not to mention eco-advanced and socially conscientious like u wouldn't believe)--but i am not.
boo. i will now take some winding route back to the hotel, which i must tell you is a favorite with italians. at least this week..
so...arrivederci! sayonara. i mean, hej hej!

conditions are perfect!

yesterday went to rosendal, part of the huge beautiful expanse of djurgården with emi and fam, had the most delicious cookies --made-on-premises from their own grown-there ingredients!--lemon and almond cookies that are so pure lemon-tasting and outta this world.. there's a playground for the kiddies, beautiful flowers everywhere, greenhouse, even a wedding in progress later in the day--magical, magical, beautiful.
the day before i went with emi to pick up her kids and visit her on lidingö, i think that's how you spell...i had an amazing fresh delicious home-cooked meal (my first night! am i lucky or what) prepared by the Incredible Anders, and met emi's photographer friend from childhood in from london with her two adorable (yay, bilingual) kids.
today i must rush now to skansen, the swedish wonderland (fantastic outdoor museum, complete with real "SCANDINAVIAN ANIMALS." i am meeting emi and clan, and i hear the swedish are very punctual!
quick observations from previous 2 days (wait, is that all?) in stockholm:
--the swedes seem to all speak excellent english, very comfortable switching quickly to accomodate silly americans (moi)
--all cafes and even the hotel lobby here seem to have a selection of water, one pitcher with fresh cucumber, one with orange slices..it's like a spa everywhere
--tap water is delicious
more later, im going to be late..there is SO MUCH MORE

i äm in stockholm! where the typewriter is different!

i am meeting emi today--yesyes, kids! i have entered the magical blog world of letters to marc jacobs and http://www.lftec.blogspot.com/. can u believe in a mere 8 hrs you can suddenly be cool like the scandos? weather is dreamy spring sunshine and i had coffee already at the very swedish sounding "wayne's coffee" near the konserthuset. very very good. coffee shops every where you turn--i must live here. i also had a banana choc. muffin at "muffin bakery" and strolled a graveyard. see, i've been waiting since about 8:30am for my hotel room to be ready...

yay for friends

look at the rabbit!! yogurt parfait magic only a child could spot~~ neat-o, huh?

sad closet

all my clothes are draped on my bed, chair, dresser... cuz of a water leak in my sparklingly new, very faulty condo, in my fabuloso master closet. apparently the units above and below me have completely water-soaked closets and they've ripped up the walls to find the leak, but mine--??huh?---has only wet carpet and is damp only on one side? this makes no sense to me.

i am sure there is more to come... good thing aggie likes water!

what's it smell like?

BYREDO

Master Samuelsgatan 42

111 57 Stockholm

(i will investigate)