south end open studios

: : don't miss the south end open studios this weekend Sept 20-21st. It's a great day to be out and about in the .south end. checking out artist's work and the south end open market.

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red house dreams

: : I'm leaving on thursday to head home to Sweden for two of my best friends weddings. The days in between the weddings [when I'm not helping out with wedding preparations] will be spent at my parents torp [typical Swedish red cottage] with my mom and sister. I'm hoping to be able to help with some decorating since they just moved in. I found some great inspiration images in the Swedish design magazine .sköna hem.

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mamma mia!!

: : I've seen the movie .mamma mia. twice now. I'm a Swede, that's enough of an excuse. *smile*
I loved the movie! the music is great; of course, my Swedish friend and I sang along in every song. The actors are great; .Meryl Streep. really carries the movie, .Pierce Brosnan. is terrible at singing, but brave for trying, .Mr Darcy. my all time favorite is very lovable even in this movie, and the one Swede in the movie .Stellan Skarsgård. adds a lot of humor.

In addition to all this I was LOVIN' all the attention on Swedish Design in the movie. An overwhelming amount of beautiful .Josef Frank fabrics., but even the cross stitching details on Meryl Streep's bed cover, the stitching on her dresses, the colors......everything reminded me of Sweden.

Lastly, it was filmed at what must be one of the most beautiful place on earth, the Greek island of .Skopelos., which is probably getting invaded by mamma mia fans as I am writing this. the photos above are a few of my flickr favorites of the island.

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apples

: : I like this photo. maybe because it's apple season and I want to go apple picking this weekend. the photo is from one of my favorite people's story blog .sweet juniper.

that .perch bowl. looks so good with those apples in it.

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: : Swedish classics : :

: : bvd is a design and branding bureau in Sweden. they've done packaging work on some classic Swedish products. blossa 2008, .glögg. [Swedish mulled wine] got a face lift with these colorful bottles.

above them, a Swedish post-war icon and headache tablet .treo.

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Obama for change

: : hello friends : :
I don't usually like to share my politically viewpoints on the blog. but it is election season, and a very important, historical election. since I can't vote, sharing my opinion is the only way that I can participate in this election. .Obama. is the natural choice for me. NOTHING else makes sense to me. maybe it's cause I'm European.....like the cab driver in Geneva told me two weeks ago;"if the election was going to be held in Europe today, there would be no question about who would win". OBAMA. The fact that it is not a clear cut choice in this country amazes and scares me. Most of all, Sarah Palin scares me. I want to share a brief quote from an email I received this morning.

Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms.Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she wanted to ban books and attempted to fire the librarian who stood against her), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears. To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-most-powerful person on the planet.

You can view women's responses to this email on the blog womenagainstsarahpalin

The Obama buttons above are by New York Visual design shop Trollbäck. Email them and you might receive your set of free buttons. [via notcot]

Obama for change!

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baggu

: : I went to .trader joe's. [my favorite neighborhood grocery store] today on my way home and didn't have a backpack or a bag with me. I felt guilty about using yet another doubled-up-paper-bag. it will never happen again because I just bought a .baggu bag. [in hot pink]. and it will live in my purse for all those unexpected trips to the grocery store.

if you haven't already boycotted plastic bags....do it now!!

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sweden summer pics

: : these will be the last Sweden summer pics for now.
.iz. and .farmor. [grandma] relaxing by the sauna.
the sunset from our bedroom.
successful mushroom picking and...
a spontaneous crayfish party

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Swedish weddings

: : two of my best Swedish girlfriends are getting married, a week apart from each other, at the end of this month. I am so thrilled and happy that I will be able to be home for their weddings! In fact, .louise. did try to make it easy for me and planned her wedding close to .tina's. I've been helping them both with design inspiration here and there, and for .louise & erik. I made their invitations. they'll be getting married outside in a beautiful garden. .tina & hans. will be getting married on cliffs by the ocean, on an island in the Swedish westcoast archipelago.

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finally home

: : Sweden and back. then Switzerland and back. and now finally home in Boston again. I'm sorry that it's been so quiet here.

I haven't had much time to find inspiration to share, apart from the photos from my vacation, which I still look through every other day or so. from top left. my parent's own little red.house [it is adorable], two typical fishing villages on the Swedish westcoast and a delicious Swedish meal, strömming [a type of fish] with potatoes and raw lingonberries. yum!

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