Life in the Land of the Ice and Snow
Infiltrating Sweden one cinnamon bun at a time
Today is Fat Tuesday. In Sweden, this is known as the day when we EAT ALL THE SEMLA! What is a semla? It’s pastry awesomeness. That’s all you need to know. I actually have to get to a bakery early today to make sure I get enough for our family. Last year I went at … Read more
This was my 8 year old’s interpretation of the famous line in Purple Haze this morning when I played it for him at breakfast. People often mess up that line, but I have to say, this one is my favorite misinterpretation.
A letter came yesterday from the pharmacy. There was a letter congratulating me on joining the pharmacy club plus 2 coupons. My husband asked, “When and why did you join the pharmacy club?” I replied, “I didn’t.” But after thinking about it, I realized what had happened. It was yet another case of language failure. … Read more
We are trying to book a hotel for our summer trip to the U.S. Here’s one that came up on the list: Pros: You can get a Slim Jim anytime you like. Cons: Lots of noise from the Lotto ticket machine.
My youngest has been suffering from a bad cold with a strong cough all week. This article couldn’t have come at a better time for him.
Our local paper has raised a question in our neighborhood; Should people be sledding in a graveyard? The initial picture one gets in one’s head is of sleds crashing into gravestones or “this wouldbe great for ‘The Addams Family Christmas Special.” However, the hill they are using doesn’t have any burial sites, it’s just landscaped … Read more
I like that I live in a country where this story has dominated the headlines the entire week. Someone drew a penis on a frozen stream in the snow in the middle of a southern city and the city had trouble getting on the stream to remove it, but finally managed to. Now this happened:
If they can invent shoes where you can pop out wheels to roller skate, why can’t they invent winter boots where you can pop out blades to ice skate? It would be so much more useful in my neighborhood.
I had a spectacular fall on the ice yesterday. I’m talking a full-out comedy banana peel-type fall landing horizontally on the ice. The only thing missing was the Benny Hill theme as background music. It’s mid-January and so far the score is Winter – 2, Heather -0, unless a defeat against winter would be a … Read more
One of my Facebook friends posted an article about Matthew McConaughey the other day that discussed his love for the New Orleans Garden District. All of the comments were on how great a person Mr. McConaughey is or how great New Orleans is, but there was not one comment about the name of the magazine … Read more
As my kids are going to school this morning, it is -18c here in Stockholm, Sweden. We haven’t seen temperatures this low for about 3 years when I was last convinced we lived on planet Hoth (I swear I saw a man riding a TaunTaun to work). The buses barely ran, there were subway problems … Read more
I’m looking for jobs lately and I came across this: Happy Socks: Social Innovation Ambassador I love when jobs make up titles. I only want this job so I can check “Ambassador” on my flight tickets, have it on my mail, etc. I’d also really look forward to global summits with Ambassador Fruit of the … Read more
In order to save a bit of money, my husband and I decided to install our new car stereo system by ourselves. We took the car into a mall parking garage because we don’t have a garage and it’s -10 outside. It took us 3 hours to install the stereo and speakers after which time … Read more
Took the kids to a buffet the other day. They proceeded to make a hamburger filled with fries, chicken nuggets and hot dog weiners. Oh! Don’t forget the barbecue sauce! They also like to dip carrots in ketchup. Lots of people say they gain weight after kids. That’s funny. I seem to lose my appetite.
Sweden’s getting better with different types of restaurants and foods, but they still haven’t mastered the Sports Bar. We have a chain of Sports Bars in Stockholm with the usual unsatisfying high-priced food you would expect from a typical sports bar, but these places are only a third full of lonely people eating buffet pancakes … Read more
I was looking for activities today to do with my kids. One event was labeled “North Pole Studio – open house!” Oh! That would be nice. It’s so snowy out and they must have some fun winter activities. Maybe we can do that. Let me check the times….. Oh, THAT kind of pole! Hmm…. maybe … Read more
Today is another holiday here in Sweden. I can’t remember the name of it. 12th day of Christmas holiday or whatever it’s called. What it means is that our children have been home from school for 3 weeks now and are getting major cabin fever. It doesn’t help that it’s -10c outside (14f) so I … Read more
My thoughts on this story from The Local: It must have occured on a Friday or no one would have noticed the stolen chips. If it happened in the summer, you could still follow the chip crumb trail or all the seagulls/magpies following the theives.
My 8 year old has informed me that he made it through 2015 without throwing up once and this is again his New Year’s Resolution for 2016. I fully support this resolution.
I’m not sure if it’s age or lack of sun, but almost everyone I know in Stockholm (including me) just wants to spend a quiet New Year’s Eve with their family this year. Oh, we still plan to dress up, eat a fancy dinner and have champagne, it’s just that … I’m not sure, maybe … Read more