Christmas, Stockholm, New Year, New York and squirrels

First blog entry in the new year and I am home sick. Seems like one day at work was all my immune system needed to launch a major cold attach and add a little eye infection on top if it. Anyway, I'll live...

At least I have time to give you a little update on what has happened lately. 19th of December we left Stavanger and headed for Sweden. Mum and Dad's place Bergholm outside Stockholm for my case and Ulf's hometime Västervik in his case. We both spent a lovely Xmas at home with the families. I had a very quite and relaxing Xmas with Mum and Dad, but we manage to fit in some riding as well, as mum just both her own horse, Abba, whom I of course wanted to meet. On Xmas day Gabriel, Karin and little Isak join us as well as Ulf who arrived from Västervik. Isak was responsible for the entertainment, has he made us all smile with his fasination for his new Xmas gift.

After a lovely time at home Ulf and I packed our bags again and headed for our most favorite city of all, New York, were we spent a week. We had a fantastic time, with sometimes fabulous (15 degrees warm and sunny) and sometimes not so fabulous (+15 and windy as hell, on New Year's Eve) weather. We spent most of days in a similar fashion, started off with some fabulous diner breakfast or sometimes quick Starbucks ones, then we walked and walked and stopped for coffee once and a while and found some great spots for lunch and then did more sightseeing and walking and coffee-stops and found a great spot for dinner and so on. C'est la vie!

Some of the major highligths were:

*The Sunday morning we spent in Harlem, were we started with a fantastic breakfast and then headed across the road to the Caanan Baptist Church were we joined the locals for a 2 hour gospel service. It was really and amazing experience and the regulars really gave us a warm welcome. Truly recommended for anyone who goes to New York.

* Going on a ice-hockey game at Madison Square Garden and seeing New Jersey Devils kicking New York Rangers ass and getting scolded at for doing so.

* Going over to Brooklyn and seeing Manhattan with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge from that side. Truly beautiful, and then to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.

* Talking to new found friends at beautiful Campell Apartment

* Eating steak at Cipriani Dolce in Grand Central Terminal. We did not get the secret behind it but those steaks are amazing! Best even and better then we remebered them.... yumm....

* Jazz at Club 55 in West Village.

Some pictures are added, but more can be found on flickr.

Isak cheking out his new gift

Mum and Isak
Dad and Smila


Central Park
Grand Central Terminal
Me at Burger Heaven
Ulf at Brooklyn Brigde
Moon walker at Brooklyn Bridge

Me at Columbia University
New York Rangers doing yoga Henrik Lundquist, swedish goalkeeper for Rangers
Empire State Building
American Breakfast

Cookies at Dean & Deluca
5th Avenue
Swedish Fish at Dean & Deluca
Someone make and effor taking a pic in Central Park

Manhattan Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge

Me in Greenwish Village
Perfect muffins at Dean & Deluca cafe


Ulf claims that I take too much pictures is squirrels. Don't everybody takes pictures of squirrels? Anyway, he might have point. Here is the latest additions for my "squirrles around the world" collection, Squirrels of New York. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Here is a little summary of my 2008.

1. What did you do for the very first time in 2008?
I showed Ulf Paris, and luckely he loved it as much as I. I went to California. I became an aunt. I resigned without having a new job.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolution and do you plan to make new ones?
No, did not keep it. Plan was to finish wine course book by end of 2008. I am still on chapter 1 out of 12. Plan to just transfer the 2008 resolution to 2009 and hopefully do a bit better next year.

3. Did anyone close to you have children?
Yes, my dear brother!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. Which countries did you visit in 2008?
Great Britan (London, twice), France (Paris, twice), Sweden multiple times, USA(twice, California and New York)


6. What do you wish for 2009 that you have been missing?
More then 5 weeks of vacation.


7. Which dates in 2008 will you never forget, and why?
None since Im really bad with remembering dates.

8. What is your major achivement of 2008?
Resigned just before financial crisis and manage to nail a better job with better pay within 6 weeks.

9. What was you biggest dissapointment?
The stockmarket.

10. Have you been sick or hurt?
No

11. What was your best purchase?
My travels and Karo Bio (a swedish stock)

12. Who deserves credit for their behavavior?
My dear brother and his girlfriend for being fantastic parents to Isak

13. Who has behaved in a way that makes you sad/angry?
Can't think of anyone. Think I surrounded by pretty great people in general.

14. What did the major part of your money go to?
Besides the normal like taxes and morgage, did put a lot of them in stocks and travels.

15. What made you very happy and excited?
Becoming aunt and booking travels (California, New York, Egypt)

16. Which song will remind you of 2008?
American boy - Estelle feat. Kanye West


17. Compared to this time last year, you are...

a. Happier or more sad? happier
b. Skinnier or fatter? same same
c. Richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you had done more of?
Travelling

19. What do you wish you had done less of?
Worrying, critisazing myself and others.

20. Where will you celebrate Xmas?
With the family at Bergholm

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Kept in love

22. How many one-night-stands did you have?
0

23. What was your favourite TV show?
Dexter

24. Do you hate something you did not hate this time last year?
Can't think of anything

25. Which book is the best one you read 2008?
Hard to choose one, but think I have to say Twilight, even though I know it is patethic.

26. Which was the best musical discovery of 2008?
Too hard questions! Can't think of anything! Maybe Kimya Dawson through the Juno soundtrack.

27. What did you wish for - and got?
My new job

28. What did you wish for and did not get?
Can't think of anything. Feel pretty fortunate in general.


29. What was the best movie of 2008?
The wackness and Juno.

30. What did you do on your birthday?
Had a lovely dinner at parents place.

31. Which thing or person made the year much more fulfilling?
Ulf

32. What defined your style?
An increased amount of colourful V-neck sweaters and polo-shirts with little horses on them

33. What have kept you in a mental balance?
Travelling, Ulf and books.

34. Which celebirty did you like the most?
Obama

35. What in the politics has annoyed you most?
I find Lars Ohly very annoying in general, since he talks so much crap.

36. Who did you miss?
All the friends and family I don't see as much as I want to.

37. Who was the best new person who entered your life?
My god son Isak

38. Tell one important lesson of life that you have learned in 2008?
It all works out in the end.


From both of us to all of you, Happy New Year! We are having a grand time over here in the big apple, and hope you also have some grand New Year's celebrations!

See you in the new year!

I just have three things to say

Im going travelling again and I just have three things to say:

First of all:


Secondly:


And last but not least; Marry Xmas and a Happy New Year! Next update from me will from lovely Sweden or glorious New York!

Current obsession

I'm with team Edward!

If you try to rip this girl off, it will backfire and you will regret it to the end of your days

At least I really really hope so!

So basicly I come home from treambuilding event, totally exhaused as one is after these things, and find a nice little bill from my mastercard waiting for me. Well, this bill wasn't as nice as they usually are, since I don't hardly use this card. This bill had about 25 taxi trips on it. With Rogaland Taxi and Norgestaxi. The stupid f-s must have skimmed it when I took Rogaland taxi last time, in January (!) and decided to try to rip me off now. But they didn't really do it wiht any finesse. I mean seriously, would anyone not think it was a bit wired when they get a bill for 5 taxitrips of the exact amount of 120 nok in the same day? Anyway, thanks to the lovely people at the bank, seeems like they won't get any money from me after all.Feels quite amazing that after all the travelling Ive done with no hesitation what so ever to use my card, this would happend in Norway!

So this is a warning to you ppl out there, keep a track of your card billing....

California, London, new job and more travelling

I'm back!

Lots have been going on here, so I'll start where I left off; California.

To avoid writing an epic about it; California was fantastic! We had an absolutely awsome time, and I really hope we get to go back there in a not too distant future! After San Fransisco we drove up to lovely Sonoma, which was like a Stars Hollow with nicer climate and gormet food, and if it wasn't for the property prices, we would probably still be there... We went on a fantastic wine tour and tasting and hade a great meal at "The girl and the fig" and left our hearts in the town when we headed south again towards highway 1 and LA. We did some stops on the way down; Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, the latter with we really liked, and enjoyed the beautiful drive, before arriving back in Canoga Park and spending a day there before or flight back. Have uploaded a lot of pictures on Flickr. They can be found here.

After arriving home a week went by and I had a new job (did resign before going to Cali, so only had 3 weeks left at work at S Club 7 when we came back) so started there 2 weeks ago. Basicly the same kind of company doing the same kind of stuff, but a bit of a different role for me, and a lot better location. Now I'm saving like 50 minutes of travelling time a day, which is just fantastic, and I also work right next to Ultra, which have turned out to be the answer to all my grocery-store dreams I've been having since moving to Stavanger. So all good!

Last weekend me and Ulf went away on a little romantic gettaway to London. It was just as rainy as Stavanger, but it was London, and we had a fantastic time! Did a lot of dining and wining and strolling through markets and some shopping. London is just such a fantastic city!

And travel addict as I am, as soon as we got back from London, we booked a new trip (one always gotta have at least one, preferably two or three, trips to look forward to, especially now when the rainy and chilly and utterly depressing season is upon us here in Stavanger), so in March we are of to sunny Egypt for a week! Another Lonely Planet was added to the inventory after the London trip, so we can already start planning and daydreaming!

Well, all for now, I'll try to be better at updating! Until then, seek happy days and happy nights!

Last update from San Francisco

This is the last update from San Francisco. Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Sonoma and Napa Valley, then we will spend a few nights along the coast on our way back to Los Angeles. If we have wifi in our hotels we will update, otherwise next update will come when we are back in Norway again.

San Francisco has been great! It is a beautiful city, got a bit of a New York feel over it, but more relaxed. Like if New York is Ralph Lauren San Francisco is Marc Jacobs. Good good, but different. We have seen a a lot, eaten great food and manage to get good sleep in our dump of a hotel room. Today we biked over Golden Gate bridge to Sausaulito. It was awsome!

Anyway, we are about to start packing for tomorrow. Hope you are all good back home!

Cheers