new bag!

Hei guys! It's been silent in this space for a little while because I've been on a business trip to Italy. It was really, really wonderful. Bella Italia! Of course I took a lot of photos, which I'll share here. Just give me a little time, because there are a lot of photos to sort through... ;-)

Remember I talked about getting a new bag? Well, one of the few things I shopped in Italy was a new bag. A beautiful leather bag in the shade of brown that I love. If you find yourself in the village Montalcino in Tuscany, make sure you stop by Si.Si.Pelle. They have a great variety of handmade leather bags. You'll love it!

new bag?

I'm thinking of getting a new bag. Here are some I like:

The two top photos are from Moop (via Unruly Things). The next two are from Morelle (via the Style Files). The bottom one is from Norwegian Moo (which I have mentioned before).

Isn't this impossibly cute?!

tagged!

Lila of Vents de Bohème tagged me.

Here's how we play:
1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself
4) Tag six other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

one
I started to wear lenses because I didn't want to wear glasses on my wedding day.

two
I like milk in my coffee. When I'm in business meeting and coffee is offered to me - but no milk - I'm too shy to ask for milk.

three
I have lived in five different places/towns; Ørland (I was born here), Randaberg, Moss, Sandnes and Bergen. I have never lived abroad.

four
I'm terrible with numbers. Sølve likes to tease me and asks questions like "how many zeros are there in one billion"...

five
I have sung in two different choirs. I'm an alto.

six
I don't like beer, but I love wine.

I'm tagging the following six bloggers: Hannah of Huffmania, Marion of Marion Hearts, Deb of [ddot], Jaime of the light archive, Molly of Orangette and Anne of Strandgut.

In case you missed it, here is the result from the last time I was tagged. PS: The photo is from 1995 when I was in Alta dog sledding with my girl scout friends. Good times!

Scusi

Here's something you might like; beautiful ceramics from the Norwegian designers of Scusi (via what's blogging my view). Janne Bråthen is the girl behind what's blogging my view. Among other things, she makes beautiful pillows - which I've mentioned earlier.

Peel P50

I never ever thought I would write about a car on this blog, but this one is worth it. Earlier this week I watched Top Gear (which is a surprisingly entertaining program) with Sølve. The feature they did on the world's smallest car, Peel_P50, made me laugh so hard I almost died. You have to see it!

white

Yes, I like white homes. It's so clean, simple and calming. I like it even more now after we painted the orange wall white. I like these glimpses from a white home in Sweden (images from the Swedish magazine Sköna Hem via Design Shimmer).

I love this collage Marion made. Just like her, I'm a big fan of the combination of a wooden table and white chairs. I have my eyes on the Eames chairs seen in the photo above. I just have to convince Sølve first...

Have you seen Anne's (of Strandgut) portfolio yet? It's really beautiful!

My copy of A Year of Mornings arrived yesterday. Love!

tailgating

I have mentioned Sweet Paul before, and now it's time to say his name again because he's really worth it ;-) While browsing through Paul's blog today, I found this tailgating story with the loveliest photos. I still remember the story from the magazine where it was published. It makes me wish it was still summer... But who says you can't go tailgating in autumn and winter?!

Via e-mail Paul tells us about his relation to tailgating:
- I remember Jim Hensley (one of the photographers) told me about tailgating. I had no clue what it was until I moved to the USA. Tailgating is first and foremost a sports phenomenon. People sit outside the stadiums with their BBQs and beers. It’s a really fun kind of happening. In the story I did with Studio Dreyer Hensley, I tried to make a more stylish version of tailgating.

As I'm sure I've mentioned earlier, the photographers Dreyer Hensley (unfortunately they don't have a website) and stylist Paul Lowe really make an excellent team.

Btw, I had never heard of tailgating until I saw this story. How about you, what is your relation to tailgating?

basecamp Åsly

This past weekend was booked for hiking a long time ago. I love hiking, but for some unknown reason I do it too rarely. We planned to take the train from Bergen to Finse on Friday, and hike from Finse to Krækkja to Haugastøl, where we'd take the train home to Bergen on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather forecast was too bad; heavy rain and wind, and maybe snow. It's no fun hiking in high mountains in conditions like this. That's why we set basecamp at Åsly. We hiked in rain, wind and autumn colors on Saturday, and on Sunday we canoed. It was perfect. My hiking abstinence is satisfied for a little while. The photos are here.

Note to self: Remember how much you love hiking and do it more often.

How was your weekend?

so lovely

I got a newsletter from Pure Style today with a lovely photograph (seen on top here) by Vanessa Courtier. The images above are from her website. Lovely, isn't it?

So, before I leave for Italy next Sunday I have a few things I have to finish. Articles that is. I'm writing about Svalbard, different ways to warm up your home, art theraphy, Stavanger, and a Norwegian design agency who has done something really cool for an international webzine. I'll tell you more about that when the article has been published. I hope you're having fun at work too :-)

relax, look back

My weekend was just as relaxing as I needed it to be. I left the office early on Friday because I didn't feel so well. I planted myself in the sofa, deep down in an ocean of pillows, Ludde and a blanket. I lay there, oh so quiet, watching season two of Desperate Housewives until my husband picked me up some time in the evening when he came home from (another long day at) work. After a quick visit to the grocery store to get supplies, we both got really comfy on the sofa, watching several episodes of Weeds, season two. Saturday and Sunday were spent organizing cupboards, doing laundry and tidying up the apartment in general. It's weird how the apartment gets so messy even though we've hardly been home lately. You know what I mean? I also got time to read magazines, make lasagne, and watch Eastern Promise, Annie Hall and Eddie Murphy Raw.

After a relaxing weekend my work week has a slow start. This Monday is a day of planning and getting into the right work mode. It's also time to look back on things I've already done - like the photos above show. Coop Medlem is a free magazine that you can pick up in the Coop retail stores all over the country (Norway that is). I've written about interior design, DIY, gardening and travel stories for Coop Medlem since 2004. In the latest issue you can read my story and see my photos from Greece and you can see my photos from one of the Hurtigruten trips, specifically the king crab experience. Sometimes I find looking back inspiring and motivating.

we were in Paradise

Fogn. To me this is the name of Paradise, with a capital P. Like I mentioned last week, Fogn is where we spent last weekend. It was everything you want a perfect weekend to be; filled with the bestest friends and their kids, sun and a lovely feeling of summer in autumn (including a couple of baths in the ocean!), a dreamy beautiful location (a small red cabin in a big garden overlooking the sea on a small island which has one narrow road in between the farms and fields), hanging out in the grass under the huge oak having great food and drinks, and an unforgettable hippie themed 30th birthday party.

FYI: I shot these photos with my analogue Canon EOS 500N using a 50 mm lens and Kodak Portra 160VC film. I've never used this film before, and I must say it's truly amazing! Click on the photos to see them larger. See the rest of the photos in this set.

PS: We have no plans for this weekend but relax. Ever since the wedding all weekends have been filled with birthday parties and a wedding. All this celebration makes me exhausted! But also so very happy. How about you, do you have any fun or relaxing plans for the weekend?

a modern classic

Like I already told you, I simply love Royal Copenhagen's Blue Flute Mega! Download the new and beautiful brochure here.

weekend plans

This upcoming weekend my friends and I are going to an island a little north of Stavanger. My friend Jakob's family has a cabin there, and it's the most idyllic place! It's the perfect place to go fishing, catch crabs, do all kinds of sea sports, pick blackberries, or just hang out under the big oak in the garden. The weather forecast for the weekend is all sunny. Yay! It's a tradition for us to go there in August/September each year. Here are some photos from our first visit, and here are some photos from last year. The photos above are from this island called Fogn. As a bonus this year, we are celebrating Erik's 30th birthday. The theme for the party is hippie. Yippee!

I feel good about work this week. I'm not buried in deadlines like I've been the past month. I'm pretty much a jour and I've had a chance to look forward and plan ahead - wish feels really good, you know what I mean? I met up with a photographer today and we are eager to start working together. Mostly we'll do food related stuff, maybe even for NORD. I also did my accounts today, which I normally detest. Today it wasn't too bad.

farm life

Last Saturday we flew from Bergen to Rygge to celebrate our friend Eileen's 30th birthday. You might already have seen the photos in my Flickr stream, but I want to highlight a few of them here. Eileen comes from a rather big farm in the eastern part of Norway. Her birthday party was held here, and it was such a wonderful setting for a party. I didn't know how much of a city girl I am until I got there. The only pet I have ever had was a goldfish and my stuffed animals, and I'm not the typical animal lover. I'm even a little scared of cats... It felt so good being there with the kittens (I held them!), Chili the dog, the rabbit, the horses, the fields, flowers and barn. Too bad I was too tired (...) to go horseback riding on Sunday...

fine finnish

I'm still working on that article about Finnish design. An article about Finnish design has to include Marimekko, right? The photos above are from Marimekko's autumn/winter 08/09 collection, design by Samu-Jussi Koski. Photos by Juliana Harkki.

sleep is good

This morning I slept in and I decided to work at home. The simple pleasure of a little extra sleep. It feels so good. But before I start working, I'm going to make our home shine - which it hasn't done in a while...

Flickr favorites photo links:
1. well …, 2. 07/13/08, 3. film.117, 4. Eldorado ARCADE

Today's Flickr favorites should be of sleeping people, but then I remembered I had already posted a few of those favorites a while ago. Take a look. (A few of the photos have been set to private or deleted since I posted the links.)

pretty yellows

On my mind today; shoes. Pretty shoes that don't fit.

I have gigantic blisters on both heels after my silly new shoes walk yesterday. So today I'm wearing lots of band aids and comfy Birkenstock slippers that are open on the heel. Not very practical in the rain, but we drove to the office this morning, so it's nothing to worry about.

Last week was a busy, busy with work. I think this week will be a little slower. Yesterday started off with a phone interview with a leader in a power company, I wrote the article that I did the interview for, and I finished the article about autumn coziness that I mentioned last week. Today I've worked on an autumn campaign for a local bakery with some guys in the advertising firm that I share my office with + I'm continuing the work with my articles for no.

Flickr favorites photo links (including one of my own photos that is not really a favorite, but it fits the theme, right?):
1. mistress of procrastination, 2. Bananza, 3. {yellow}, 4. Untitled