Easter Outfit!

I'm playing along with this Easter outfit linkup. Linking my Easter outfit. I decided to forego the 2 second pause which lets me hide the little remote and just let the remote be visible in the photos. We all know I'm taking photos of myself with a remote. No need to hide it. Plus this allows for rapid fire photos which gives me so many more options of awkward photos of myself! Plus church is not until 6pm so I had plenty of time to even try on and review photos of multiple outfits. Why does clothing look differently to me if I look at myself in the mirror versus looking at a photo of me? And what if I take a photo of me looking at myself in the mirror?

Onward. These first two are from the outfit-choosing phase.

And it was decided upon, so shoes and a hat were added. Too bad I don't have an easter bonnet.

Pretty much all of my skirts are purchased only if they are delightful to contradance in, aka mighty twirly.

And is the image in the mirror actually better?

I'd argue that yes, yes it is.

:) Happy Easter all!

P.S. My friend Malory painted that orchid and mailed it to me in Sweden! Isn't she amazing?!

Happy Easter!

This is a post mainly about food. I hadn't done much cooking or baking lately, so I figured Easter was a good time for that. This is how Swedes decorate for Easter:

Colored feathers everywhere.

Last night for dinner I roasted a chicken and also roasted an assortment of root vegetables. It was incredibly delicious. I also made some paneer in preparation for tonight's dinner of saag paneer. I have to say, nothing says 'easter' like saag paneer. I plan to follow a different recipe than last time, so hopefully it turns out. But that is for later.

Here is a photo of my breakfast.

Yes, I ate all of those sausages; don't judge me. One of the items that was on my list of foods-to-eat-while-in-the-US was maple breakfast sausage. Unfortunately, that never happened. Even though they have a lot of sausage here, it just isn't like those maple breakfast sausages.

Fun fact: On the day after our wedding I cooked maybe a billion sausages for our 'wedding brunch.'

I even found proof on facebook. Here I am with Greg and his sister, as well as our classy brown'n'serve sausages. Also, I am always trying to convince Greg that I am actually taller than him, but the real reason this photo makes me look distinctly taller is the extreme lopsided flooring in the barn.

So anyhow. My breakfast (today) was super delicious. I tried to make an omelet like this one. It was pretty good, but I'm pretty sure it was not the best omelet I've ever had. Now I feel like I never have to wonder if those recipes actually are the 'best ever' so I'm glad I at least tried. I also bought some manchego, which I was going to open and have with my dinner last night, but I forgot about it. Breakfast cheese it is! I used my super fancy cheese cutter which is a favorite kitchen tool of Swedes and now I know why.

OH. I almost forgot about my dessert last night. I bought a finostkaka. Ta daa:

I always see people buying these and just recently I finally found where they were located in the store (near the deli meats?). They also have ones called 'ostkaka' which literally translates to cheese cake. I did some reading online and a page somewhere said that ostkaka was not the same as cheesecake, that the ostkaka had no layering. I don't have any idea what that meant, but I was prepared for this to not be like the cheesecake I know and love. Especially since there seemed to be the ostkaka, and then the dessert ostkaka: finostkaka. This is getting long, so to get to the point, it is Not the same as cheesecake but still quite tasty, and it sort of reminded me of the non-crust part of quiche only sweeter?

Back to breakfast. I also meant to make scones, but haven't done that yet. Those will be for lunch I think. I'm making the same ones I've made before. They are seriously delicious. I just realized that thanks to daylight savings finally coming to Sweden, it is well past noon. Scones for afternoon tea then.

Wednesday takes

I missed quick takes last week. So here I go, with five quick takes on a Wednesday.

- 1 -

Saw this on pinterest.

Does that mean a meeting with cake is a party? If so, my colleagues love to party.

- 2 -

There is now a giant egg filled with easter candy in the office kitchen. Let me clarify that there is a giant egg filled with Swedish easter candy. Because apparently it is different.

That little white egg-shaped one? I spit that one out.

- 3 -

I am getting really excited for bike-riding season! For Swedes, no season is Not bike-riding season, but for me, I'll wait for the ice to melt. There is noticeable progress every day though. Not too much longer now.

- 4 -

A few days ago when I was still sick, my nose was SO sore from abundant tissue-using. And I got this really smart plan to put neosporin on my nose. It worked like a charm. Made my nose feel so much better than any lotion ever did.

- 5 -

Luckily I am feeling nearly 100% healthy now. I went from walking at least 30 km per week to not ever leaving the couch for several days while I was so sick. My legs weren't too happy with the change, and they were pretty achy, but now I am back to walking and my legs feel normal again. I bet you are so glad I included that info here.

as of late

This post is alternately titled Evergreen Sunday.



In an incredible display of cuteness, I got this tiny bit of a branch of an evergreen tree today for 'Palm' Sunday. I mean honestly, why would we import palms when we've got loads of evergreens that we could distribute?

I keep thinking of all these great things I should write in my blog, but then somehow they never make it there. Luckily the Swedish palm was all the encouragement I needed. And now that I am started I'll add a few more things.

Last week I was in NH for a short vacation. I had big plans to see a lot of friends there and do fun things and eat all of the foods I've missed, but mostly that never happened because I ended up getting sick. When I flew back here, I was still feeling very sick, and flying felt very awful. Then last night I slept 16 hours, and today I am feeling a bit better. sixteen. not a typo.

7 things I wrote in the past week

- 1 -

I was pretty fascinated by this article I stumbled upon earlier this week.

"Sitting is so prevalent and so pervasive that we don't even question how much we're doing it. And, everyone else is doing it also, so it doesn't even occur to us that it's not okay."

- 2 -

There have been multiple occasions since this day where I have successfully responded, 'ya tack' to a cashier. It is basically the extent of my Swedish-speaking these days.

- 3 -

I read this in a scientific article recently:

"First, we need to eliminate the possibility that the FABs produce the SLAMS by comparing observations to theory [...]."

Indeed. We totes need to do that, and while we are at it let's create some more acronyms. Can I be a namesake for the newest one?

- 4 -

- 5 -

I had a super fun visit with Julie last weekend. We noticed that Swedes like to use the word 'practical' even in a situation where it might not be the most practical word choice.

- 6 -

Also, I've developed a new love for the Swedish royal family. They are totally awesome. Way better than that british one. Maybe next week's quick takes can be devoted to members of the royal family! Excitement!

- 7 -

I am so glad I followed this advice to not give up something for lent that makes you unbearable to others. Often, I compose emails in my head before I send them (this is a related thought, I promise). If I do this before a cup of coffee, they are ridden with frustration/annoyance and are completely harsh/unpleasant. It just takes one cup of coffee to make me a far more generous person.

Note to self: Don't send that email in the morning before you've had coffee. Just don't do it.

____

And the other quick takers.

A sushi hypocrite

This is what I got for dinner last night. And the night before that too. Both of these events occurred within one week of me saying something about how I'm just not that into sushi. Also, I specifically was lamenting the fact that the good* sushi place in town makes rolls that are three times the size of any I have ever seen before in my life. Normally I really am not a fan of sushi, especially not of those big raw fish bites. But somehow I got it in my head that nothing else could be more desirable for dinner. Twice.

For the record, it was completely delicious, but now that I took care of that I think I'll go back to being a not-huge fan of sushi:)

*according to the experts, aka a swede with a japanese wife

March ten on ten

Last month I did a 'ten on ten,' a photo every hour for ten hours on the tenth of the month. It was a good way for me to be very intentional about taking photos. Then I sort of stopped taking so many photos, but this weekend I brought my camera out once again for a ten on ten. It also helped that Julie was in town, so we did a lot of touristy things that were worthy of photos.