40, 5 and 3

We have celebrated two birthdays here recently and another one is coming up in less than one week's time.

Isolde was first. On 9 January she turned five. 5! How did that happen?! Her arrival feels like just now and such a long time ago at the same time. (Posts from her previous birthdays, one, two, three and four.)

They say that five is a pretty harmonious age and we have noticed that in the last few months. This time last year was really the opposite. It's quite fascinating how children follow roughly the same development patterns. There are the terrible twos - which I think are really terrible twos and threes (and the Swedish word "trotsåldern" doesn't specify the exact age) - and then there are the f***ing fours, as our American friend here in Brussels calls it. Very accurate description. Isolde was in this phase the first half of last year but it changed after the summer, after 4½. They say 6 is the next difficult phase to get through - I hope we have at least a year before that starts. I know of course that all these phases are good, they are part of children growing up, learning and developing, but it is not always fun for those involved, neither the child itself nor the parents, even if you try to ease the process.

Right now we are enjoying our happy, social, curious, full of energy (but who can also be lazy, especially when it comes to dressing herself or putting her cup or plate away), stubborn, responsible, caring and cuddly girl who loves school (her friends, her teacher and the activities) and drawing/painting and writing letters. Who can tease and annoy her brother but at the same time plays so well with him. Who is fighting about being first (up the stairs or out of the house) but is always making sure that little brother also gets an ice cream or a biscuit. Who likes riding her bike and doing balancing tricks on the scooter. Who is sucking her thumb again after the index finger was demoted but is reassuring us that she doesn't do it at school (but she doesn't want to quite just yet). Who falls asleep rather easy and quickly in the evening but wakes up at night and wants to be close to us and fuel up on love and security and most often sleep next to us the rest of the night. Who still has problem with pronouncing some sounds and gets the word order mixed up in Swedish but is otherwise speaking pretty well (she was a slow starter), and who is finally not only understanding French but speaking it willingly at school and with her little friends and often using it as her role play language (though I cannot guarantee grammatical correctness :-)

Isolde celebrated her birthday with us in the morning of her birthday and with our neighbours and friends later the same day (luckily it was a Saturday) and then she had her first real kids' birthday party, i.e. with just kids and no parents staying, the following Saturday.

Preparing the birthday tray before waking her up with Ja må hon leva (but she was already awake and waiting for us, she told us afterwards).

Happy girl!

"I want to eat  that eclair!"

Elsa! And she got Anna and Kristoff too.

Birthday celebration with our Swedish and Swedish-Spanish friendbours.

Dress-up at Isolde's kids' party

Costumes!

Isolde's cake - one side Ariel, the Little Mermaid, and the other side Frozen - made by Arna.

Time for cake!

Fiskdamm as the finale of course - fishing for a goodie bag

Then it was my turn. The big 4 0. That is even more of a mystery to me. How did THAT happen?! I had a bit of angst the day before, the last day in my thirties, but on the day I felt pretty good thanks to all greetings by email and Facebook and several phone calls from family and friends. Lots of love. The following a day I felt a bit angst again, but I think it's better now. Ask me again in a few months and we'll see. I think it is so strange to think that the next big birthday is 50. Half a century. My parents have just bought a flat in one of those 50+ only buildings and I was thinking "so, another ten years and I can also move there". Shocking thought!

Anyway, I celebrated 40 in style. Parties will have to wait (will probably throw a drink here in Brussels later in the spring when the weather is nicer, and we're having our very belated wedding party/moving-back-to-Sweden party autumn 2017, so that will have to do as 40th parties for us too) but Peter and I hired a babysitter and went out for a very nice meal at one of Brussels two-star restaurants, Sea Grill. Unfortunately Peter had come down with the same vicious virus as both children had had in the previous weeks, one after the other, but he was able to drug himself with some ibuprofen to last through the evening.

Card make by Isolde, flowers from my parents and a bite-size cake

All courses except two - delicious!

Brought a cake to work - managed to get a photo of the last piece

Harald's third birthday is coming up soon. 3 years old! Not a baby anymore and moving from a toddler to a big (little) boy. More about him and his birthday next week (previous birthdays here and here)!

Winter Drinks

With only weeks to due date we thought we'd take the opportunity to throw a party before we'll be busy getting used to life as a family of four.  So yesterday we had about 25 people over for drinks and nibbles. Just 48 hours before the party we thought 40 people were coming but then the calls/emails/texts started coming: "we're sick", "our kid is sick", "the babysitter is sick"...  There was no end.  It got hilarious after a while.

In the end 25 people was plenty - I had a great time and I had time to talk to most people and refill nibble trays (Peter was responsible for drinks) - and it looked like people had a good time, but we were sad to miss those who couldn't come (hope to see you soon though, even if perhaps more on a one-to-one basis) and we got a lot of alcohol over*.

So, or despite that...

Note to self!  Don't throw a party at that time of the year which Swedes call "vabruari" (from VAB - care of sick child - and February)

I didn't take any photos at the party except one at the very end when everybody had left except for a couple of people and Peter put Gangnam Style on as the grand finale ;)

* Grateful for Systembolaget's return policy

Isolde's Birthday Party

Some photos from Isolde's recent birthday party.  For her party we did a repeat of last year and had an open house between 14 and 18 and invited most of our friends who either have kids or are important in Isolde's life in some way, as well as family and relatives.  Like last year we ended up being around 30 adults and 15 kids, not all at the same time but it was still quite crowded and loud mid-way through.  Next year when Isolde turns 3 we will probably have a separate kid party and a family/close friends gathering.  And I'm not sure what we will do for first couple of birthdays of the new baby..? It's fun to see everyone and I don't want to have to choose whom to invite really - and when you have young children, parties are in many ways an opportunity for the parents to socialise - but it's a bit hectic with so many people.  We'll see...

Duplo (the safari series especially) was a bit of a theme among the gifts (my mum in red).

First more Duplo, then cute finger dolls from Afroart

Selection of guests



I tried to get Isolde to go and sit with little friends Adrian and Edward but she wanted to pose at the front :)

Some of the goodies - and there was cake as well of course

Little guests and chaperones busy in Isolde's room, aka the playroom

Isolde with godmother Maria, playing with the selection of cookies beautifully crocheted by my aunt and Isolde's great aunt (I will show you a close-up later)

The aftermath...

Silly Hats

James and Jill "forced" all guests at their wedding to dress up in silly hats and pose for a picture. Isn't my rockstar builder so sexy?! :) Maybe he should grow his hair and start wearing a yellow hat, whatcha think?!

Hens

Another hen party weekend! This time one which I, together with the bride-to-be's sister, had planned from beginning to end.

While S. went on a little mission (to get her out of the flat) to buy a necklace (to match an outfit we'd have her wear later), we set up camp in her home. S's sister I, the other bridesmaid (in addition to yours truly) had prepared a delicious Afternoon Tea for us (well, we started eating at 12:30 so it was more brunch but the dishes were those usually had with afternoon tea: cucumber sandwiches, scones, tarts, etc.). While sipping both bubbly and tea our "hen" had to take our "How English are you?" quiz - since she's marrying a Englishman -, answering such questions as "how many players on a cricket team?" or "who's the longest serving Prime Minister since 1952?". She did so well she earned herself a Strongbow cider.

After the tea we hopped on a bus - S. blindfolded of course - to a dance studio where we were going to learn some Bollywood moves. S. was really nervous and didn't want to take off her clothes in the dressing room; not trusting us when we said we had something else for her to wear. But eventually she agreed and the teacher dressed her in a beautiful sari. That sari was just for the class but we had bought her another one for her to wear for the rest of the day as our Indian theme would continue, and the teacher kindly helped us to dress her, or wrap really.

Next stop was my flat where a chef awaited our arrival. He was going to give S. and the rest of us a cooking lesson in ayurvedian/Indian food. It was a bit difficult to teach 12 chatty and tipsy women but at least S. was paying attention most of the time and when she wasn't, he was happy to cook by himself. At least we did most of the chopping and mixing. The food was so worth the almost three-hour wait (Indian food is rather slow-cook when you do it proper and from scratch), except perhaps the dessert which was quickly thrown away when I revealed that the freezer held some ice cream (luckily our chef had left by then). S. and her soon-to-be husband N. came by today and had the leftovers with Peter and me, and as always with food with lots of different spices, it was even better the next day.

Between dinner and dessert we watched "N. tells the truth about S.", or played really, as S. had to guess what N. had answered to such questions as "what is S's best/worst characteristic?", "who controls the remote?" and "why do you want to marry S.?". We had interviewed and filmed N. earlier in the week and made him spill the beans about everything from S's snoring to the knitted wool socks she wears in bed while otherwise being spot naked.

And at 11:30pm we left (a HUGE pile of dishes and general mess) to go clubbing at Rose, a relatively new place in Stureplan (Stockholm's main trendy area) where one of the gals had managed to get us on the first guestlist, which allows you to both skip the queue and avoid the entrance cost. Our presence is even documented on one of the bar/club scene picture sites (see below) :) S. actually left before 1am - poor thing was exhausted from being on high alert all day for whatever we could have planned for her next - but some of us stayed until 02:30 or later. I haven't been clubbing for a while so I quite enjoyed myself and wouldn't mind going out again soon.

Fun and successful day to sum it up!

Japanese Hen

On our way back from Adrienne's (Peter's sister) hen party, probably the best one I've ever been to! The list of activities say it all: walking in high heels lesson, murder mystery in a haunted house, jumping castle and sumo wrestling! And great food and dancing!



Via Anna's iPhone

Show & Tell: Morning

Morning has broken. That's the first thing I thought about when I read Saltistjejen's theme (our hostess for the month of March).


Thought this particular version about lent/spring was fitting since I really hope spring (morning) comes soon after the long winter (night).

That song used to end all parties at St Antony's College (my Oxford college). The thing is that we had to end all parties at 1am due to the college's location in a residential area. Didn't really feel like morning at 1am...

We had a lot of fun at St Antony's Late Bar. We were considered the party college, at least as postgraduate colleges go. It used to be pretty crowded on a regular Friday bar night but it was especially so on Saturdays when there was a big party (about once a month).

Sometimes it would be a fancy dress party:

And every year there's a Ball (I was on the Committee one year):



The Hilda Besse, or the Hilda Beast as it's more commonly known, is not a looker from the outside (though listed and can't be torn down - it won an architectural price in the late 1960s) but it's functional, especially for parties.



The ground floor of the building houses the Late Bar (or Buttery as it's called during daytime when it's used for seminars), a TV room and a couple of smaller meeting rooms. Upstairs has Hall, i.e. the eating area/canteen, also used for fancy dinners (so-called High Table) and big parties, and kitchen.



The second upstairs (which is a smaller area, as Hall has very high ceilings and is open all the way up so-to-speak) has the Junior (JCR) and Senior Common Rooms (SCR), Junior for us students and Senior for professors et al. (at other colleges which have both undergraduate and postgraduate students - St Antony's has only the latter - the JCR is for undergrads and Senior for postgrads and the rest). Concrete doesn't look so good on the outside but inside the mix of cement and wooden floors is actually quite alright. Especially with some art and Persian rugs on the walls.

So despite its name I have some pretty good memories from the Beast!

Sorry if I digressed a bit too much from the subject... :)

All own photos except for the one of the Hilda Besse building which comes from Flickr and St Antony's College

Burns Nite

Earlier this evening - now I'm in bed and looking forward to some sleep - I participated in Scottish National Day* celebrations, complete with bagpipes, haggis (pretty good actually, similar to Swedish "pölsa") and traditional dancing (and men in kilts).

* Not the official one but almost

à la iPhone

Show & Tell: New Year's Eve

I'm still behind on Show & Tell posts but I thought I'd get something right and post a Show & Tell contribution on the correct day even though it's not today's topic (more on my dream room later)...

Sparkling, this month's host, asks us: how do you celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of a new one? Do you have any particular traditions? Do you make New Year resolutions? What are your hopes and wishes for 2010?

Before I show you some pictures from our New Year's Eve party I thought I'd answer these in turn. I think I've been at a dinner or a party with friends most New Year's Eves, since I was a teenager at least. Sometimes at my place but more often somewhere else. I have celebrated away from Sweden at least three times: 1995 in the US and New York* with aupair friends; 2001 in D.C. with my then-boyfriend and his friends; and last year, 2008, with Peter, his family and 20 or so of their friends in Paris**. When I lived in London and Brussels I went home for Christmas every year and always stayed over New Year's (if I remember correctly). Next year we may celebrate in Helsinki with the same bunch of people that went to Paris, if so that's another one to the New Year's abroad list.

Traditions? None, really, except that I have mostly celebrated with friends while Christmas (obviously) is more of a family event. I like fireworks - missed them in the US - but I'm satisfied with looking at other people wasting their money up in the sky :) This year I didn't see that many though as we just stayed in the flat and there were both buildings and clouds in the way.

I have hardly ever made a resolution, not a serious one at least. When I was little I would say things like "I will eat less sweets" or "I will work out more" (I say that now too) but I would never set myself a proper challenge or task and I still haven't. Except perhaps reading a specific number of books.

My hopes and wishes for 2010 are private and personal but it ranges around the usual stuff of love and happiness and a hope that all my loved ones will stay healthy*** and happy.

And now to our Old Year's Night party that we decided to throw this year (well, technically last year). About ten days before nyårsafton we still didn't have any plans****. So we sent out some invitations, expecting 10-15 accepts, maximum. We ended up being 25 with a further 5 people arriving after midnight (though 6 people left at the same time)! And as most of you already know, the last people left at 06:10 on January 1 so I think it's safe to say it was a successful party!

I won't be showing all photos here to protect our "customers" (those of you who are friends with me on Facebook can look there) but here is a selection to give you a flavour.

Ready for the guests to arrive. We think there are so few occasions for formalwear so we decided to set a dresscode, however we didn't ask anyone wearing jeans to turn away at the door ;)

We didn't fancy cooking food for 25+ people so we asked everyone to bring something. Note to self for next time: ask people to bring cold dishes, especially when there is only one oven... Also, don't ask any Italian guests to bring hors d'ouvres as they have a tendency to be late :)


Ghost of New Years past?


Some of us braved the cold and had our champagne on the balcony whilst the others (most people) stayed inside

Tomten kept to his corner, sipping a drink and getting a head massage

There was dancing, both freestyle...

...and classic pardans (couple dancing??)

As there wasn't much of fireworks going 'round we had to make our own sparkles

Around 5:30 in the morning...

...and the next day...

* We missed the ball drop though because we were busy partying in a hotel room in Tribeca and by the time we left (10pm'ish) there were simply too many people also going to Times Square. But we had fun anyway, despite not getting into the club we wanted to go to (as we were all underage by the American definition).

** Which I now realise I never blogged about!

*** And I hope 2010 is the year when my friend Maria finally gets well from her long illness!

**** Some of our friends are not very good at organising things, even if it's just a small gathering and some drinks... So we had hoped someone else would organise something but when that wasn't happening we had to take matters into our own hands!

Glove & Hat

Thought I'd show you some photos from the Michael Jackson party we went to a couple of weeks ago! Unfortunately not that many people were dressed up but Peter and I went in style of course! My favourite is the last one!

Show & Tell: Walpurgis Eve/30 April/1 May

Promised to tell (and show) you about our Valborgsmässoafton/Walpurgis Eve* party last Thursday which also doubled as Peter's birthday celebration (his birthday was on 16 April so he doesn't share a birthday with the Swedish King on 30 April). But before that, I just wanted to share a few Valborgsmässoafton as well as 1 May (May Day/Labour Day) memories with you.

- The neighbourhood I grew up in used to be my grandparents' neighbourhood - we moved there when I was 13. But because farmor and farfar lived there I spent quite a few Valborgsmässoaftnar by the neighbourhood's bonfire. But the best part was not the actual bonfire, as in the burning of the fire, but playing in the slowly growing pile of garden waste, greenery, branches and other random rubbish the weeks preceeding Valborg. We used to build a hut at the top of the pile. Sometimes people had put tyres or an old armchair (even though that's not really authorised bonfire waste) on the bonfire so we could even furnish our "house". We were actually quite sad that our special playpen would eventually disappear.

- That said, the day after the bonfire was pretty exciting too. The ashes were still hot and slightly smoking. I learnt that lesson the hard way when walking too close to fireground with my new wellingtons. The soles were never the same after that. It must have been a cheap brand or maybe all kinds of wellington would melt of that kind of heat?

- As an adult (well, young adult) I've had the opportunity to take part in the very special Valborg celebrations held in Uppsala (I spent a year there before continuing my studies abroad).

The strongest and most traditional spring festivities are also found in the old university cities, like Uppsala and Lund, where both current and graduated students gather at events that take up most of the day from early morning to late night on April 30, or "sista april" ("the last day of April") as it is called in Uppsala. Modern Valborg-celebrations, particularly in Uppsala, consist of having a light breakfast including champagne and strawberries. During the day people gather in parks, drink alcoholic beverages, grill and generally enjoy the weather, if happens to be any good. (Source: Wikipedia)

I was there in 1998, which happened to be a very good year weather-wise; it was 25 degrees! As far as I remember we didn't see a Bonfire; instead we went to a formal dinner at one of the nations.

- As far as 1 May or May Day (Första maj in Swedish), the Swedish workers' or labour day, is concerned I grew up in an active Social Democratic family and remember being pushed in my pushchair while my mum (can't remember if my dad participated?) and (paternal) grandmother walked with the other demonstrators, singing the Social Democrat hit song The Internationale. Making the placards and banderoles was also fun! I took part in the demonstrations - then with the Social Democratic youth wing - until my late teens but since then I haven't, mainly because I moved abroad and stayed abroad for a while and "got out of the habit". Sometimes I miss it, especially all the fun and the sense of community, but mostly I feel that it's not my thing. I'm still a Social Democrat but I prefer showing my political colours and working for my causes in different ways.

But now to the party photos**!!

Posing with my wonderful friend Maria who's finally feeling better and was well enough to come to the party, her first party or get-together of any kind since she fell ill in early January. It was so special to have her there.


Another great friend, Suvi!

Peter and Johan being silly, a tradition that must be upheld.

Peter sipping one of his concoctions.

Valborg + hot dogs = true

Peter sister arrived late and showed how much she loves her brother :)

Alex reaps the benefits of the only bonfire of the evening

There was some dancing...

...and chair guitar.

It looks like I had had enough at this stage....but I can re-assure you I was smiling a second later!

Choosing music takes at least two people

At this stage it was getting a late...

Leftovers...

Oh, I almost forgot, Musikanta is in charge of the themes for May. See all five themes in the right-hand column.

* Scroll down for the part on Sweden

** More photos on Facebook. Don't want to post too many photos of friends who may not want to be "public" on my blog