Oh my!

Yeah, the storms yesterday were really bad across the south. We luckily escaped without much craziness. It was really windy and we had some lightning and thunder but that was about it. But parts of Georgia were not so lucky and for our neighbors to the west, Alabama, the day that past was devastating. It is crazy to see the videos of the tornadoes that ripped through their state and I believe across all the states in the south that were affected over 200 people are dead. It is so so scary and so so sad thinking about all the people who lost their life or who lost a loved one. Here are some pictures that I took from weather.com:

It literally looks like a war zone. So sad. So scary. And so unbelievable.
I hope that YOU are okay, wherever you are. Hug somebody and be thankful for your life.

No no no no no no not again!

This is what we're dealing with later tonight.. I'll be working and I'm already preparing myself for where I have to go with the baby to keep safe. We're watching TV right now and there was just one system that came through north of us and all the weather lady keeps saying is: "Now remember folks, this storm system is only the warm-up. The storm that we have been talking about for the last few days and that is coming later this evening is the dangerous one, with chances of producing long track tornadoes. Remember, this is just a warm-up. Be prepared." 

Thanks a lot. Now I'll be scared for the rest of the day. Hopefully it'll only be severe thunderstorms.. 

I hope your day is looking better than mine.

blue bedroom?

I'm thinking about it.. I have been to the paint store so many times looking at paint swatches but I think I have finally made up my mind. It is called Sweet Slumber and it's a light light blue color. I'm thinking I'm going to paint the hallway that is leading up to our bedroom in the same color so that when you stand in the beginning of the hallway and can see our bedroom at the end it will be the same color which I'm hoping will make it all look bigger and cohesive. I actually went out to go get the paint today after work but some how I just kept going past the store.. Does that mean I'm not quite ready to take the step from green bedroom to blue? I'm thinking so. Or maybe I just don't like the idea of painting.. If I'm still feeling the light light blue by Friday, I'm taking a chance and buying the blue.

I've been surfing the web for inspiration and I thought I'd share some pictures with you all on what I'd like our bedroom to look like:

 

all pictures taken from google images

I would like to have orange and beige accent colors. A long long time ago we bought a duvet cover at IKEA that has an orange pattern. I'm thinking I may make some decorative pillows out of them.

this is the duvet cover we have in a drawer somewhere.. 

 

 

I would not say no to a quilt looking like this for the end of our bed as a blanket for cold nights...

On our bedside tables right now we have the standard IKEA lamps with white bland lampshades, but I saw this online and I thought "I can do that!" so this is my vision:

from bland to super cute -------> 










We have a wood/veneer dresser that I would like to paint white, which may be hard, but I'm going to try it. I would like it to look something like this IKEA dresser and I would love to change out the knobs as well:

picture: IKEA.com

 

knobs from anthropologie.com

I guess I have to tell my hubby to go read my blog now to see if he's liking my vision.. It has to be a cheap makeover which just makes it more fun..

Have a wonderful night!

a taste of Midsummer?

Yes, on Saturday I made the most delicious potato salad that tastes just like Midsummer in Sweden. I got the recipe from my aunt, but I know my mom made it as well on some Midsummer's. It is so fresh and yummy. It is served cold and I made it on Saturday evening for our Easter dinner on Sunday with the family and it is almost better tasting the day after. I am not too crazy about the creamy or mayo-based potato salads that you buy at the store so this one is a hit in my belly!

I just small or fresh potatoes and then cut them in half

I boiled eggs and cut them in small pieces as well as red onion

then I cut radishes in small pieces and added to the salad

Finally some fresh dill to make it very Swedish... 

I did not take a picture of the whole thing when it was all mixed up, but you get the idea. After I mixed it all up I made the dressing which was 2 Tablespoons of white wine vinegar, 4 Tablespoons of olive oil, 1 Tablespoon of water and 2 Tablespoons of mustard. Just add some salt and pepper as well.

Glad Påsk!

That is the Swedish language lesson today. It means Happy Easter. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend wherever you are. I know the weather is amazing in Sweden, so happy for you guys. The weather is wonderful here as well, it took awhile for the sun to pop out today but she's finally out making everyone smile and happy to be alive. Today has been a slow day, I have been alone for most of the day when mu hubby is out doing his thing. So I've been cleaning and picking up in here and then I went to buy a pot and some plants to give to the in-laws as a Happy Easter/Thank-you-for-letting-us-borrow-your-TV gift. Yes, we finally bought a new TV, I know it's a TV, but other than that, I have no clue. So I can't brag about how big it is or what functions it may have.

this is the pot and flowers I bought and planted

I made a little card as well

oh, and I've also been snacking on these little dangerous things.. yum!

Yet again, have a happy Easter!

darn spring storms...

I was so disappointed today when I went to our garden and got to see what those storms did to it on Friday. Everything took a beating. I had to take away the lettuce, it looked like someone came and stomped on it and the onions look like they may have to be taken away as well. The carrots that I was so proud of also looks like they have been stomped all over. I went to go buy some tomato cages to give the tomatoes some support and we will see if they, with some of their limbs cut off from the hail, will recuperate and keep growing. So bummed. But I guess that's life.

Other than that, I have not done much today, working right now so I'm about to start making the kids dinner. Taco-night!

My hubby bought me some Daim at the Amsterdam airport. I'm also sniffing Lavender for relaxation. Something I do every day.

Have a wonderful evening. (as much as I hate spring storms, I also love spring weather. it's almost 30 Celsius here and absolutely gorgeous.) 

Moments out of my day

Freshly cut fruit salad:

The flowers are blooming in Georgia:

Swinging on the porch:

I hope you are having a great day.

Almost time...

.....to go get my hubby at the airport! So excited I'm about to burst into a million small little pieces. :) I had to do something with myself this morning to keep me from just sitting on one spot waiting for the clock to slowly tick away. So I made some homemade apple muffins. They turned out great. I found this recipe in a magazine called "Southern Living", but the creator of the recipe is far from Southern, the recipe is by Marcus Samulesson who runs the restaurant "Aquavit" in NYC. I have made it before as a cake, but this time I made muffins, when it's easier to grab one and go.

Apple muffins:

• 1/2 cup ( 125ml) sugar
• 1/2 cup (125ml)  packed light brown sugar
• 2-3 apples of any kind, I had GALA.
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• About 50 gr unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4cups (312 ml) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup (166 ml) milk or cream

Cut apples in little pieces. Then mix the sugar and the brown sugar in a bowl. The remove 1/3 cup (83 ml) of the sugar mix and add cinnamon and the apple pieces. Then beat the remaining sugar mixture with the butter for about 2-3 min. Add the egg. Then add the flour and baking powder. Last, slowly pour in the milk. Then just use a spoon and put in muffin cups. I used a muffin pan and muffin cups. Yum!

I enjoyed mine with some sparkling water. It was delicious!

I also had some time to make myself pretty for my husbands arrival.. Which means some mascara and some girly earrings..

tornado in town

and it scared the crap out of me... I had to go hide in the bathroom with a pillow for protection. I'm thinking it is over by now, but they say there is another system coming in around 2am. I've been so nervous the whole night that I've been watching TV while reading all the blogs I'm following like 10 times  in a row.. People may think I'm a stalker. Seriously. I think I'm headed to bed now. I work in the morning, so I better get some sleep. I'm thinking it is going to be a very light sleep with all these storm. 

2 more nights..

....has never felt so very long...

I'm sooo ready for my husband to be home. Especially right now when I can hear thunder in the distance. I hear it may be really bad, with tornado watches. I already saw one warning on the TV for severe thunderstorm warnings. Why does it always seem like it happens when HE is gone!? I guess I'll have to do what I always do when it is time for lightning and thunder; I turn the volume up on the TV and hide under the blanket. Tonight I may even have an extra glass of wine to calm my nerves. Yes, I uncorked (is that a word?) a bottle of wine earlier and it tastes good with my homemade pizza, with tomato sauce, mozzarella and feta. I'm about to rent a movie as well on our "on demand", I'm thinking something easy and sweet, like "Country Strong".

Worked all day and I just love "my" two year old at the moment. She talks non stop and who knows what she's talking about, but God, does she have stories to tell. So hilarious! This is how a conversion with her goes:
Mills: My daddy. My mommy. My Deyo. My Hudson. My daddy take a nap. Ipadad? (Ipad)
Me: No, no Ipad right now, lets play instead.
Mills: No mam'. Ipadad.
Me: No, let's play.
Mills: My mommy. Home? My daddy booboo on knee. Eyes, eyes (pointing at her eyes like she just discovered them for the first time). Deyo?
Me: Deyo is at school. Did daddy hurt his knee?
Mills: Mommy?
Me: Out doing errands.
Mills: Daddy?
Me: At work.
Mills: Enis? (Elin)
Me: I'm right here.
Mills: Noooooo...

And this goes on and on and on. Like a broken record. And she is always so happy when her conversations goes on, and her happy face is so cute and hilarious. So fun.

Enjoy your weekend!

A {sweet} post

Yes, today when I picked up the mail for the first time this week, I got a sweet surprise from my husband. Somehow even though being miles and miles away in Edinburgh for the week he manages to be the best husband in the world. I had a package from a certain store containing some sweet gifts for me. So thoughtful and so Christian. Thanks babe!

Other than that, I'm working a lot. I did make a visit to the garden in the afternoon and things are growing! I replanted the strawberry plants that we had in the ground last year into pots a few weeks ago and it is doing great. In a few weeks we'll have plenty of sweet strawberries to enjoy. Can't wait. Other things are growing as well. Carrots are coming up, I pulled one up to see the size of them and they are still tiny tiny, but they smell like fresh carrots. Yum! Our tomato plants are getting taller so the next step is to get some tomato cages to support them.

the carrots are looking good and smelled so {sweet}

the other week, I planted some more carrot seeds in between the existing rows to get a supply all summer and today I saw them sprouting. 

the yellow straight neck squash is liking the weather

so many strawberries on the way!

we've got more lettuce than we can eat at the moment..

Time for to bed right about now. I hope you all have {sweet} dreams...

Working hard

I have been working non-stop since yesterday morning so therefore nothing exciting is happening. Well, I did get a virus on my computer and thought my life was over.. $63 later plus some help from a very nice Indian man who took over my computer from, well probably India, for 20 minutes and my life was saved.

Other than that, I'm supervising two children who are starting to get so old that they really only need me for driving, cooking dinner and reminders to do certain things, a.k.a bed time please, no more chatting and Instant Messaging with people you'll see at school in a few hours. Ah, the wonders of preteens.

I spend Sunday at the pool, all day, with my Swedish friend Maria. We agreed that we had not seen each other since the St Lucia celebration in mid-December. What!? Life just passes by..

TANT-varning! (old lady alert!) There is nothing better than crosswords from "Allers". Thanks mamma and mormor!

Hope all is well with YOU.

new footstool

Last weekend, I think it was Friday, I spent some time on ebay.com to see if I could find some good steals. I ended up "impulse buying" a vintage footstool for $31 ( 193 kr). I had just bought a magazine called "Flea Market Style" and was totally set on making my house into a flea-market-style-kind-of-house. When it arrived at my door step, my itch for the flea market style was somewhat over... Yes, that is me in a nut-shell. Anyways, the footstool was not too bad, although since it is a vintage piece, the cushion on it was pretty dingy and dirty. So today, trying to keep my mind off of my long gone husband, I started making a new cover for it. I used fabric that I had laying around, a.k.a the ironing board fabric for $1 a yard. I'm so so pleased with how it came out! I have no clue on how to make these things, so I totally made it up as I went. This is the process:

this is the before picture, not too bad, but a little worn..

sewing what is to become the ruffles

then I added the ruffles onto the rectangular piece that I first had fitted to the stool.

Voila'! Looks very cute. I love it.

Does anyone want to come over for a movie night?

 

 

 I'm very excited about this project. It is fun when something comes out the way you hoped it would.

Now, I'm about to head out to the grocery store, I have nothing in the fridge. Maybe a bottle of wine to reward myself for the hard work.

I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday afternoon.

new ironing board

My lovely husband (who's out traveling again. Dammit!) used our ironing board a few weeks ago and somehow managed to break it. So yesterday I went to Goodwill and bought a used one for about 8 dollars, or 50 Swedish kronor. The cover on it though was not that great, so I went to the local fabric store and bought some $1 yard fabric and covered it up. It turned out cute. And cheap.

this is the old one, with a dark green cover

the new one!

this is the fabric, not so bad for $1 a yard, or 6.20 kr per meter

I'm doing nothing today, just dropped my hubby off at the airport. He'll be gone for 8 days. 8 days! I can't stand it..