drumroll please: giveaway winner!

With the help of random.org I'm very happy to announce the winner of the Daniela Sigurd postcard necklace: Lauren! Congratulations! Please email me your postal address so I can send it to you. Because I do believe the postcard itself is a little bit too small for me to write on. Thanks to everybody for entering, there will be more little treats coming along in the future for sure!

Five things that made my week:
1. Listening to Säkert's new album "Facit", Swedish music at it's very best
2. Realising that all my friends share my political views.
3. Seeing a lovely small exhibition with genius comic book writer Sara Granér.
4. Designing a book cover and feeling very happy about it.
5. Cooking great food with one of my best friends.

Have a nice evening! I'll be anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Swedish election, which is pretty nerve wrecking to be honest. I can't stand another four years of these right wing clowns! Let solidarity be the winner, please.

let there be light

During the short precious summer months up north, there's hardly any need of lamps at home since the sun just sets for a few hours when you're usually asleep anyway. Come autumn, it's the complete opposite, and it's important to have comforting lighting around you, in my opinion. I'm a true housecat, in the sense that I love staying at home simply because I really love my home. Or homes, as it happens nowadays. Some might think that's boring, I don't care really. Each to their own. This beautiful 50's lamp has been in my family since the 50's, and was originally in my great grandmother Agnes' home. I love it to bits, and am so glad it's survived time and a lot of moves so well. Also, you can see parts of my dress collection hiding in the dusk behind it ...



As I've mentioned before I'm not a big fan of ceiling lamps, but that doesn't mean I don't hang them up. I just don't turn on the light. This gorgeous turquoise Chinese silk lamp was an investment after I redid my living room. It sort of hovers in the ceiling like a cloud.



A Chinese lantern from India? At least from Indiska. I think it's completely perfect on it's own, so I've never bothered to put a lamp in it. It used to hang over my bed, but I like it more now hanging in the window, where I can see it better.



Another investment when I redid the living room, which was maybe five years ago now. I had a similar flea market find lamp before, that unfortunately broke in a move, so when I found this teak floor lamp in a vintage store I got it. I love the warm light it throws. I got a 60's teak desk at the same time in that place, and since the store was brand new the supernice lady who ran it also gave me a vintage skirt for free because I bought two other things, and delivered everything to my flat for free. My kind of deal.



Many years ago I saw this red beauty in a lamp shop when I walked by with my one of my brothers. I stopped and admired it, and a few weeks later I got it for my birthday. At that time it was one of the first Chinese red things I had, maybe a subconscious beginning of a collection? Anyway, both my grown up brothers are great gift givers, it runs in the family, it's not for nothing I was appointed gift master at one of my best friend's wedding. Not that I wanna brag or anything, I'm just saying.



An actual Indian lamp from Indiska. At least an Indian lamp shade. Last autumn I got a queen size bed, fit for a married couple, and a new bed aquires a new bedside lamp, obviously. Behind it is the official wedding photo of said married couple.



I love Chinese lanterns, did I mention that before? No, I never! This is probably one of my favorite buys ever, I love this line of lanterns so incredibly much! When I found it in the Chinese shop in Copenhagen that I always go to, maybe 5-6 years ago, I almost had a heart attack cos I got so excited. I think the guy in the shop thought I was a bit weird. Walking back to my friend's apartment where I was staying it was very stormy, and I was so scared I'd drop my bag and it would fly off. So I held on to that bag so tight I had to bend my fist open once I got inside. Going back to Stockholm on the train, I carefully kept the bag between my legs the whole trip. It's been decorating my wall ever since, and for very festive occasions I even turn on the fairy lights inside the lanterns, it's the prettiest thing you ever saw.



On the top shelf of my little teak book case resides a tiny crooked uglycute lamp that I got at a flea market for 10 kronor (abt. 10 rands). I couldn't resist it. Just as I can't make myself throw out the basically dead ivys either. Some things are just harder than others, and even dead ivys are ivys.



Next chapter in this exciting series: fairy lights. Until then, me and my Japanese girlfriends bid you adieu and good night.

But first we'd like to remind you all about the current giveaway, open until Sunday night. All you have to do is become a follower and post a comment, and you can get a beautiful necklace made by Daniela Sigurd for that tiny effort. Check out further details here.

particularly pretty penguins pt. 3

In honour of the beginning autumn, I'm gonna pretty up the blog with some more beautiful penguins in a very leafy yellow colour. These are all from the series Great Ideas, and it's just a parade of excellent graphic design, typography, and of course book titles. No one does it like Penguin. I adore them, have I mentioned that before? Well, sorry for going on about it, but just get used to it, because this love is here to last.



















Outside the leaves are still green, but the temperature occasionally dips down to about 10-12 degrees, definitely feels like autumn. Unlike Durban, that I hear was boilers today with proper summer heat, although it's just spring. The southern seasons don't really compare with the northern ones, and come winter here I'm most likely gonna go on about how much I miss the Durban sun.

Don't forget about the giveaway, there's still plenty of time to enter!

pretty giveaway starting now!

So this is my promised first giveaway, kindly sponsored by the very talented jewellery designer Daniela Sigurd, originally from Sweden but now living and working in London. I own several of her lovely pieces, and this particular necklace is one of my absolute favorites! It's got a little postcard saying "I love you", a small swallow and a swarowski crystal, and it's completely adorable.



Here's a closeup on my own necklace, sorry that the colours are a little bit off, it's a lot more golden than this as you can see in the first picture. This is how you enter the giveaway:

1. Be a follower of this blog, and in a comment answer this question: from where (not necessarily where you are right now) and to whom would you send this postcard necklace? Easy peasy!
2. For an extra entry, become a fan of Daniela Sigurd's jewellery on her facebook page OR spread the word about this giveaway, and let me know you did so.

This giveaway is open to anyone, the more the merrier, and the winner will be picked randomly. You can enter until next Sunday, the 19th of September, and I will announce the winner on Monday the 20th.



I just wanna show off some of my other Daniela Sigurd jewellery, while I'm at it. I fell in love with this love letter envelope just as much as the postcard necklace, so I simply got both!



It's almost too cute for words! I don't open the envelope and read it that often, but really like knowing I've got it around my neck. You can never get too much love. Okay, that got a bit cheesy, I know ... I still love this necklace!



A stunning piece with one thing more beautiful than the other. I never get tired holding the tiny dragonfly when I wear it, it's so delicate and pretty.



Another gorgeous necklace with gold and pink and mother of pearl. Pretty pretty pretty!



A couple of sweet swallows for my ears, I'm not twittering, but they might be.



And some hummingbirds that get out flying with me on a very regular basis. To see more of the wonderful Daniela Sigurd designs, head over to her website straight away, well after entering this giveaway of course!

On a last note: I would send the necklace postcard from San Fransisco, a city I have yet to visit but have been dreaming about for a very long time, to my grandmother because I love her and she doesn't read emails!

cute cafés of gothenburg

As I'm almost about to get ready for Gothenburg again (in two weeks the book fair is on it's third day), I'm thinking back to some of the best things I experienced when I was there just a month ago. To me Gothenburg has always been a city of excellent cafés, a bit like Berlin actually, where you can find a nice, cute place with great coffee and food and friendly staff in just about every corner. Nowadays I don't go out for coffee as much as I used to in Stockholm, and of course there are some good places here too, but they're definitely harder to find for some reason. Maybe I'm too picky, or can't see the forest for the trees, or whatnot. Anyways, my friend and her husband found this rather excellent "hole-in-the-wall" coffee shop close to their hotel in Gothenburg, and she brought me there one morning. I don't remember the name of the street, and it didn't have a sign with a name, but I think I'll find it again if you wanna come with sometime! The coffee was indeed divine, and I just had to take a picture of these adorable vintage looking bottles of soda from Abbondio. After having seen them in that place, I spotted them in another few places too. If I find them here in Stockholm I'll buy a set for sure.



Another very nice little café we stumbled upon just as we got really hungry for some lunch during one of our shopping rounds. It's on Andra Långgatan, a street supposedly known for being a street representing the whole of Gothenburg, according to a local newspaper. I don't know about that really, but this café is sure worth a visit anyway. "Konsthantverk" means arts and crafts, and when we were there they had a small art exhibition in one of the rooms, and some pretty jewellery in a glass cabinet.



I had a delicious goat's cheese salad with beatroots for lunch, and a refreshing organic raspberry soda in a lovely looking bottle.



With the turquoise walls and vintage teak furniture you might guess I'd feel right at home there, and you'd guess completely right. My fave kind of café looks just like this. There were some tables with sofas as well, but they were occupied and I didn't want to take pics of people.



Very cute vintage lamps above our table, I think they look like jewellery. I like it a lot! Which reminds me that I should phone an electrician and get some wiring problems sorted out in our flat, so that I can hang up some more lamps. Although I do prefer my lamps elsewhere than the ceilings, which is weird, I know I know. I can't help it. Two other cafés I'd like to mention while on the topic are Le Petite Francais (at least I think that's the name, it's something with Francais anyway) on Västra Hamngatan just by Domkyrkan, which is a french café with really good café au lait and a ton of different delicious pastry; and the other one is on Viktoriagatan just a stone's throw away from Vasagatan, called Café and the Bakery, where a very friendly lady serves wonderful coffee and lots of lovely goodies for the sweet tooth. I sure wish I had some downtime to go back to at least a few of these places when I go to Gothenburg next time, but unfortunately I won't. I'm stuck with grabbing coffee on the go from an automat whenever I can get a few minutes to myself. At least it's free.

On another topic, apparently my last post wasn't the 100th (blogger is confusing!) but I'm still gonna host a giveaway to celebrate it very soon. Be sure to check back to enter!

happy hundred

I had something extra special planned for this post – my 100th – but it will have to be postponed for a while, due to lack of time and energy at the moment. So I leave you with this lovely Chinese lady, one of my vintage posters that I got in Berlin some years ago, and the promise to be back as soon as I can, with my very first giveaway!

Also a small list of 5 favorites as of right now:
1. Eating applepie.
2. Watching The Wire.
3. Listening to Noah and the Whale.
4. Reading Alice Munro.
5. Wearing warmer clothes.

fireworks for fall

I finally wore my lovely Asian looking 60's fireworks/trees polyester dress that I got earlier this summer from Humana. I truly love it! To match I also wore my tree earrings from Durban, that I got for my birthday last year. Dressed up this nicely I spent the entire day doing loads of laundry, getting some stuff from the basement storage, like a few coats and knitted scarves and hats, and organised two closets, making space for my husbands clothes, storing away some summery items, and so on.



To accompany a big collection of dresses in a cold climate are the essential tights, a wear and tear piece of clothing I really like. Well, I don't really like the tearing part of course, I wish all tights were untearable, or maybe that I was just more careful. Or both. Either way, seeing all these colours laid out like this makes me quite happy about the arrival of autumn.



Moving some summer tops I suddenly got a little extra space in my small cabinet, but on the other hand I didn't get all my knitwear from the storage yet, the really big and warm things. They need to stay somewhere too. Not for a while though, as I hope it won't be that cold until December at least.



I needed to go to Åhléns to get some more hangers, and thought I could reward myself for all the hard work I'd been doing all day. So I got this cute belt I saw the other week, and have been thinking about since. It cost 99 kronor, and I love the leaves and vintage look, and it will go great with a lot of my dresses.



Since the tearing thing mentioned above is quite common, I also got two pairs of new tights in some really lovely autumn colours, both matching my dress perfectly. Which means I will wear this dress a whole lot from now on, maybe even to the rather big book release party I'm going to this Thursday with work. I mean what could be more festive than fireworks to a release party?