things I like lately

it's Friday - have a drink! (photo taken at Story Hotel, Stockholm)| Fuji Superia 200, Canon EOS 500N

- Sherlock
- seeing an eagle whilst out running during Christmas
- Babes in Boyland (via teak tray weekdays)
- the redesign of two of my favorite blogs, Bleubird and Ché and Fidel (renamed to Practicing Simplicity)
- a week of mornings
- this post by Natalie
- a slow Monday morning with coffee, a little bit of work and little more blogging
- leftover ratatouille for dinner - it is so good the day after, especially tossed with whole grain spaghetti
- this soups sounds delicious!
- wearing red lipstick on a rainy Tuesday
- snowflakes and snow crystals (via ein kopp te, takk)
- fresh, sweet and juicy pineapple
- this video of how Bergen could have been back in the 1300s
- Royal Republiq - especially this backpack and this bag
- having film developed
- autor Caroline Kaspara's new website (made by the ever talented Mariell) - I'm currently reading (a signed, with personal greeting) her second novel - loving it so far!
- kisses from Sara
- this post by Ina/Kjøkkentjeneste
- the version of "I'm into something good" played in this commercial

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The winner of the Printic giveaway is comment number 9 - An-Magritt. Congratulations! Gratulerer, An-Magritt! Send meg en mail astridhagen@hotmail.com så sender jeg deg info om hvordan du får printene.

right now

autumn 2013 | Fuji Superia 200, Canon EOS 500N

Thursday afternoon. Just came home from work/studies. Will pick up Sara from barnehagen in half an hour. I sit in the green wingback chair and feel happy. Happy that the sun came out today, happy for the coffee in my hand, happy for the photos on the film that I picked up at the lab today. I had forgotten all about the photos on the roll; photos from our beautiful weekend at Hardangervidda with my parents in August, from a Champagne fueled weekend in Stockholm with our friends in September and random glimpses of everyday life in-between. I can not remember I had a roll of film in my camera for so long. I'm so glad I was reminded of these (kind of) forgotten good times. The magic of analog photography. I'm in love. Again.

giveaway!

I have slowly started the process of getting a few sponsor onboard this hei Astrid blog journey. I am, of course, very selective when it comes to sponsors and collaborations; I will only post about things that I genuinely like and recommend. 

This first sponsored post is brought to you by Printic - the photo print app that lets you order cute polaroid-like prints directly from your phone. It is so nice to have actual prints of my favorite iPhone snapshots. And I love how convenient it is to simply order them directly from my phone. 

Printic wants to give 2 hei Astrid readers the opportunity to win a pack of 6 Printics. Simply leave a comment on this post to enter the giveaway. I will pick a winner at random Friday evening (CET +1). The winner will be announced in the "things I like lately" post.

If you are interested, please check out the Printic website for more information about the app, prints, pricing and shipping. 

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PS: You can still ask me anything and get a chance to win a print from my print shop.

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Friday January 10, 8:30 pm (CET +1): giveaway closed!

a few 2013 favorites: winter

January: lots of beautiful, cold winter days, Sara started walking, I got hooked on making chocolate chip cookies and we spent a weekend in our hometown Sandnes visiting our families and had Champagne fueled dinner with some of our best friends.

February: we spent a weekend skiing at Voss with Sølve's family, I shot a roll of film in one weekend, I listened to Anna Karenina whilst out walking with Sara in the pram (it lasted 24 hours!), it slooowly started getting brighter in the mornings, and my parents visited a weekend when Sølve was away. 

March: I took Sara to the library for the first time, made a lot of chocolate chip banana muffins, and  we enjoyed two weeks Easter holiday; at Voss and the mountain cabin - a favorite happening every year.

new book: life + good things

As mentioned last week, I just finished my new book entitled life + good things. The book is now available for sale in my Blurb bookstore; as pdf and softcover book. There is also a little preview of the book available over there, if you are interested. Hope you like it!

my kitchen anno 2014

This month's challenge over at NIB (Norwegian interior bloggers) is all about the kitchen. Here are some glimpses of our kitchen:

If you are interested; there are a lot more photos of our kitchen here: kitchen before and after the big renovation

what's for dinner, week 2

Sara helped pappa prepare the Sunday steak

Monday: Sunday leftovers of roasted steak and ratatouille

Tuesday: niçoise tuna dip tossed through whole grain spaghetti + a salad of spinach, beets, almonds and feta - recipes from Assemble by Annabel Langbein

Wednesday: roasted vegetables (potato, celery root, carrot, beet, onion, garlic), spinach, feta and roasted/salted pumpkin seeds

Thursday: cod filets + roasted Brussel sprouts and bacon

Friday: homemade meatballs (from the freezer) in tortilla with guacamole, lettuce and tomato

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What we actually had for dinner last week and the week before, check here: dinners, week 52 + 1

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about this project

- every Monday I post the week's menu

- I also post what we actually had for dinner the passed week (because it is fun to see if we actually followed the plan)

- there might be links to recipes, but the menu will mostly just be basic ideas for the dinners - often just based on what ever is in our fridge, freezer and cupboards

- Saturday and Sunday dinners will often not be planned ahead because we have a habit of buying whatever looks good in the store when we are out grocery shopping Saturday morning

PS: my pantry essentials | thoughts on dinner planning and grocery shopping

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So, what are you planning to have for dinner this week?

dinners, week 52 + 1

A couple of weeks of Christmas holiday and no real dinner planning. Here is a little recap of our dinners the last two weeks. The plan for this week's dinners will be out later today.

what we had for dinner, week 52

Week 52

Monday: roasted red deer, boiled potatoes, broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, gravy

Tuesday: pinnekjøtt

Wednesday: halibut, boiled potatoes, carrots and sandefjordsmør (butter, cream and parsley), rice pudding with red sauce for dessert

Thursday: reindeer steak, boiled potatoes, Brussel sprouts and gravy

Friday: buffet of Christmas food, cheese for dessert

Saturday: homemade pizza

Sunday: pantry pasta

what we had for dinner, week 1

Week 1

Monday: roasted chicken + wild and black rice with vegetables

Tuesday: a scrumptious seven course New Years dinner at our friends' place

Wednesday: pork filet in a spicy sauce

Thursday: Wednesday leftovers + rice and cucumber salad

Friday: stroganoff (from the freezer)

Saturday: first course: rakfisk, main course: roasted chicken and risotto, dessert: vanilla ice cream and warm blackberries (at our friends' place)

Sunday: roasted steak and ratatouille 

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about this project

- every Monday I post the week's menu

- I also post what we actually had for dinner the passed week (because it is fun to see if we actually followed the plan)

- there might be links to recipes, but the menu will mostly just be basic ideas for the dinners - often just based on what ever is in our fridge, freezer and cupboards

- Saturday and Sunday dinners will often not be planned ahead because we have a habit of buying whatever looks good in the store when we are out grocery shopping Saturday morning

PS: my pantry essentials | thoughts on dinner planning and grocery shopping

life, week 1

I get the red tea light holders out December 1 as part of our Christmas decorations. I keep them at least through January. I enjoy the evening ritual of lighting all twenty of them.

Home. Monday. Still Vacation.

Last breakfast of the year: American pancakes and bacon.

We have all come down with colds, which means that mamma and pappa happily nap whilst baby naps.

Breakfast dessert: homemade pomegranate ice cream. So, so, so good!

New Years Day still life

Cold remedy: hot water with lemon and honey with whiskey (from Vossabia).

My 0730 am breakfast is long gone - it is now 0815 and I'm still waiting for Sara to wake up so I can get to work (I'm not really in a hurry, so I won't wake her). She woke up one minute after I had posted this to Instagram. Ha!

January 3, 0850 am



"Sova oppi her, mamma". I took the hint and put her down for her nap minutes later.

Time to remove the New Years nail polish, me thinks.

Glad we still have several portions of stroganoff left in the freezer. It is really very good.

One of my plans for the new year is to cook a new meal from one of my cookbooks each week. I started by making aubergine parmigiana from Sophie Dahl's book. It was super delicious - a stayer!

I LOVE our friends vintage table!

We are hooked!

She helped her pappa prepare the meat for tonight's dinner. She was really into it.

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Week 1: December 30 - January 5

in 2014 I plan to

from the archives | Agfa Precisa 100, Minolta SRT 101

I could probably just copy/paste my 2013 list, but I will try to be a bit more creative. Here goes; in 2014 I plan to:

- cook a new meal from one of my cookbooks each week

- eat in moderation (my jeans have been too tight for too long, and it is no longer baby weight…)

- keep up my running routine 

- take good care of my body 

- read in bed before I go to sleep

- spend a weekend in London with my husband

- spend a long weekend in Paris with my husband and our fellow Champagne and food loving friends

- finish reading D2 every week and not let them pile up 

- focus on quality - not quantity - in the photos I take 

- focus on balance and simplicity 

- spend time outside every day 

- continue journaling life through photography

- continue my Monday photo organizing routine (every Monday I transfer last week's photos from my cameras to my computer and upload a backup to my Flickr)

- continue the Friday tradition of "things I like lately" posts

- continue the dinner planning project - because we love food and find it easier to eat healthy dinners when they are planned ahead

- continue to make note of good things and stay positive every day

- continue to love my little family all the way to the stars and back 

What do you plan to do in 2014?

things I like lately

my little pancake making assistant (from a few weeks ago)

- coming home to Bergen after a week in our hometown Sandnes celebrating Christmas with our families - home sweet home

- a nice drive home from Sandnes (4,5 hours, including two ferries) - Sara slept a lot, which is no longer guaranteed like it used to be when she was a baby

- celebrating New Years with our friends - even though we had a rough night with Sara; the fireworks woke her up and scared her - she kept asking "bang, bang, bang ferdig?" (ferdig means done/finished)

- seeing how much Sara loved playing with our friends' kids during New Years

- egg and bacon for breakfast New Years Day

- Sara helping me make American pancakes for breakfast

- seeing Sølve and Sara put out food for the birds in our garden

- homemade pomegranate ice cream (made by our friends)

- "normal" dinners after all the heavy, rich Christmas dinners 

- feeling inspired to cook again

- finally finishing the first season of House of Cards - we totally fell off the TV series watching wagon some time during the autumn

- looking forward to start watching season two of Homeland, season two of Game of Thrones and season three of Solsidan - all of which we have already bought on dvd (we really should stop buying dvds and instead get Netflix or something like that)

- two episodes in a row of Criminal Minds (on TV, not dvd) - even though it made me stay up later than I should 

- nasal spray, hot water with lemon and honey with whiskey (from Vossabia) and the softest Kleenex available - both Sølve and I have come down with colds

- karbonade med speilegg for lunch at the office 

- kraftmamma

- reading about other bloggers' plans and goals for the new year - and making my own plans (will be posted soon)

- trying to think out plans for this blog for the new year

- Sara stealing my slice of toasted whole grain bread with salami, brie (not the mildest kind) and red bell pepper instead of eating her slice of Grandiosa frozen pizza 

- seeing how much Sara loved playing with the Duplo doll house she got from her cousins for Christmas 

- this post by the ever inspiring Linn
- seeing that some of my old Flickr friends are starting 365 photo projects - I'm a liiitle bit tempted to join in… but I have kind of quit Flickr… will have to think about it...

- finishing my new Blurb book life + good things - I'll show you a preview soon

- currently watching a random film on TV (The Visitor) that seems beautiful 

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PS: ask me anything

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Edit: I'm doing it!

2014