the Marimekko blog

Do you like Marimekko? Then you'll like the Marimekko blog! (Via Sol.no) The photo shows me wearing one of my two black and white Marimekko dresses.

I like this

Via Malo blogg

I like this

Alphabetbags, via the February 2009 issue of Livingetc.

good looking bathroom design

Photos: Anoush Abrar and Aimée Hoving for Wallpaper* (via Klikk.no).

See the video presentation with designer Ron Arad.
Manufacturer: Teuco

weekends are for feasts

Flickr favorites links: 1. aprèsgrillage, 2. i just like putting crackers/bread on the table cloth, 3. Breakfast, 4. Untitled

I hope you have had some yummy meals this weekend. We are soon having second breakfast. Happy Sunday peeps!

PS: I had a little photo uploading feast today; 22 new everyday life shots are now in my photostream on Flickr.

hagen

Spring has definitively come to Bergen and it feels so good. Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining brightly (at least today) and the temperature is getting better and better every day.

Every spring I fall in love with our garden. It's so nice to see it come to life again after the winter. I don't love gardening, but ever since we moved in here and got our first garden in the autumn of 2005, I have grown to like it more and more every season. Sølve on the other hand loves gardening. If it wasn't for him our garden would have been an overgrown bush of weeds, grass and flowers. Well, it's still not a perfectly neat garden; I don't think it ever will be. The flawless golf lawn and proper flower beds doesn't fit our style. We're too lazy to keep it perfect, or too busy doing other things...

By the way, my last name Hagen translates to "the garden" ;-)

How about you, do you have a garden or maybe a balcony with some flowers pots? Do you enjoy gardening? What is your idea of a dream garden?

More garden photos: my garden (yes, I love pretty flowers)

Super Normal

I enjoyed reading this article (in Norwegian) about Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa's Super Normal Philosophy.

Super Normal slideshow

Book: Super Normal: Sensations of the Ordinary

a Provence paradise

I really, really, really want to go to Provence and stay at this dream of a hotel - Crillon le Brave (via Helles interiørblogg).

USA?

We are concidering spending July road tripping in the USA. Any tips, advice, suggestions?

South Africa: interiors

I have made a set on Flickr with the photos I took of the interiors at the beautiful Kapama River Lodge. Normally I prefer a more Scandinavian inspired style in interiors, but Kapama River Lodge made me rethink my preferences. Dark wood, natural colors, textures - it is all so well done and elegant.

South Africa: interiors

Beautiful

Beautiful photographs by Wai Lin Tse (via Lena Corwin). There are so many beautiful photos on her website - you should really have a look! She's on Flickr too.

the photographer's home

This inspiring home belongs to a very talented photographer I've worked with - Inger Marie Grini. She's a joy to be with! Take a look at her website Utsnitt.no to see more of her beautiful work, which among other things includes more interiors, portraits and travel photography. Enjoy!

interiors for NIB

According to my blog stats, quite a few of you found your way to hei Astrid from Norske interiorblogger. Thanks a lot for stopping by! I really appreciate it.

I know you girls (and boys?) love interior decorating, so I thought I'd just remind you of two of my Flickr sets filled with interior photographs. Hopefully I'll find something inspiring there. Enjoy!

other people's houses
my home

Friday night salmon

This isn't the prettiest food picture I've taken, but it sure was a pretty yummy tasting meal.

Here is what I made:

Salma salmon (best quality you get!) with pesto, 1/2 red onion, garlic, a lof of fresh parsley, the juice from 1/2 lemon, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (this is one of my favorites), fresh ground salt and pepper baked in the oven at 75°C until it reached 60°C (using a cooking thermometer) served with asparagus, spinach and cherry tomoatoes with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, fresh ground salt and pepper. Wine: Terras Gauda

We enjoyed this dinner while watching Burn After Reading. Have you seen it? If no, you should. It's good.

I hope you too had a good start to the weekend.

A Homemade Life

I have written about my fondness for everyday life before, and you know I made a book of everyday life photos. Well, I just wanted to say that I just uploaded a bunch of everyday life photos to my Flickr.

Notice the book in this photo. It's written by my favorite food blogger/writer Molly of Orangette. I know many of you already know Molly and that you have read the book. It's fantastic, isn't it?! But there are probably some of you who don't know Molly or Orangette or her book. Grab a nice cup of coffee, tea or what ever, and start reading her blog. Prepare to refill your drink several times, because I think you will be stuck to the screen for a while. Also, prepare to get hungry. Watch out for drool on the keyboard!

If you like the blog, you should definitely buy her book. You will love it! And while you're at it, take a look at her Flickr too. She's got such a great eye!

Enjoy and bon appétit!

for the weekend breakfast

Flickr favorites photo links: 1. playing with my food, 2. Untitled, 3. 2008-12-27, 4. i hosted breakfast

I know I will have eggs for breakfast this weekend. How about you?

Happy Friday!

room for the soul

Remember this question? Now the article is out. In the home supplement to the current issue of the Norwegian women's magazine Kamille you can read about color psychology, feng shui, neo feng shui, vastu shastra, wabi sabi and pure style. Enjoy!

cabin life

The newspaper headline asks: what kind of cabin life tempts you the most?

This is the kind of cabin life I love:

Sølve's family's mountain cabin is about 1,5 hours drive from our hometown Sandnes. In winter it takes us about one hour to get there, skiing. There are only four other cabins in the same area, more cabins are about 30 minutes skiing away. There is no water or electricity. In summer we get water from the river close by, and in winter we melt snow. Evenings are candle lit. We have to go outside to the "toilet house" to... These four photos are from the main living area. There's a small living area upstairs with an (uncomfortable) sofa, but we seem to always end up here. The cabin is only 30 square meters, and there are beds for 9 people. Sølve and his family built it. This was the place Sølve and I "officially" became a couple in May 1998. And this is the place I became as sick as I have never been before - with appendicitis.

I LOVE this place.





Many Norwegians own a cabin or another kind of holiday home, and many Norwegian like spending the Easter holiday at their cabin, skiing, eating oranges and Kvikk Lunsj. (Here is a little more about påske i Norge.) We are no exception. Sølve and I try to always spend the whole Easter at the cabin; from Friday before Palm Sunday until Easter Monday. Normally Sølve's parents are there with us the first days. When they leave our friends come join us. There's hardly any cell phone reception at the cabin, so we just turn of our phones and leave the rest of the world behind. Being away from civilization for more than a week feels so good. I even enjoy doing the dishes.





As I mentioned on Monday Easter was quite wet. It rained a lot and heaps of snow melted during the week. A little sad really, because sun and blue skies are always more fun. But it was kind of nice though seeing spring come to the mountains. The rain was of course a very good excuse to stay inside and play games, read and eat lots of yummy food. Sølve really is a master chef. Lucky me!

See the rest of the Easter photos here. Here are the photos from Easter last year, and here are the Easter 2007 photos.

So, what did you do this Easter? And what kind of cabin life tempts you the most?

I like this

Via snydesign

I'm back!

Hei guys! I'm home in Bergen after almost two weeks of vacation. We spent most of the time at the mountain cabin - one of my favorite places in the whole world. Unfortunately it was quite wet, which isn't my favorite weather condition when skiing, but we still had a really great time. I hope you had a lovely Easter vacation too.

so long!

We're off to our mountain paradise for the Easter holidays. I'll be back in a couple of weeks. Ciao!

I like this

Via Design Shimmer