Friday Gallery: Metal

One of my little projects at the moment is to auction off a few garments, mainly dresses that are the wrong size or I've grown tired of, and other stuff we're not using. The dresses are now sold and I'm making trips to the post office every day. We'd love to keep this set from Hermès but it's too big and bulky for our preferences, both in terms of actually using it and storing it. But maybe one of you have more room?

Friday Gallery: Joy

Today's theme, as chosen by Désirée, is something that makes you happy.  Shopping makes most of us happy, right?!  So I have to show you my latest purchase!  Mums and dads out there should pay particular attention!

We've been thinking about getting an extra pushchair that is smaller than the Bugaboo Cameleon and that we could bring on trips, be they abroad or to Ikea or to the supermarket, and our plan was to get a MacLaren.  But then I joined this pram group on Facebook (and got addicted...) and heard about the Babyzen Yoyo.  Such a cool and clever pushchair!  And since both Peter and I like "gadgets" (and Peter is an even more avid tech fan), we just had to get one.  Watch the video and you'll see why!




Yoyo hasn't come to Sweden yet (but will do in February-March next year and maybe as early as December to select shops) so I ordered it from a French site (which also had it in black fabric, most of the other sites only had the other four colours).  I ordered it on Monday and today it arrived!  I unpacked and put it together (which wasn't too difficult) this evening and I'm looking forward to taking it for a ride tomorrow! 

Shopping abroad for prams is becoming quite a big business these days actually as it almost always means money and time saved (the lead times for buying a pram in Sweden can be 6-8 weeks compared to not even a week from some other European country - UK, the Netherlands and Poland seem most popular).  Before this purchase I had only used British Pramworld and they've been great in terms of service and return-policy, and so far Little Design seems very good too.

Friday Gallery: Colourful

I'm on a business trip to Malmö (going back home tomorrow morning) so will have to make do with whatever I can find on the iPhone (have an iPad with me too but no photos on it) for today's theme.

Un Peu de Shopping

Bikini top (white and blue; not black and white as it looks like in the photo), three pair of shoes (two budget and one pair of the more pricey sort, see close-up) and some gifts (not pictured naturally).

Isolde Went Shopping Again...

...and bought a dress, a skirt, a shirt, three trousers/tights and four (one not in the photo) hats/bonnets. Most of it from Mini Rodini and Modeerska huset. (Malin and Anne - This is the result of my visit to Oiidesign last week.)

Shop a Little

Peter was the big shopper last week but I managed to pick up a few things in between coursework. A dress and a pair of shorts for Isolde and a Barbour jacket (International Summer Wax model) for myself, something I've been wanting to buy for a long time. I also bought some presents for people but won't show them here!

Origami

A bit tempted to get one but we don't really need another pushchair.  But it has a button and it's automatic and it self-charges and... Fitting name by the way! 

Birds

A must have for Isolde's room!  Which will probably stay on the wish list considering the price tag... Why are beautiful, stylish things so expensive?!  And why are cool lamps always so expensive?!

Sales Finds

I haven't bought anything for myself yet (though I really need a new pair of jeans so I should really take a shopping day for myself before the sales end) but Isolde's wardrobe is just getting fuller and fuller...

Promenading

If we didn't already have a Bugaboo (or weren't  happy with it, which we are) I'd consider getting a Phil & Ted Promenade.  It's similar to the Bugaboo in many ways, not as ugly as the iCandy for example, reminds me of Brio Go (but better-looking) and has some features that are lacking on Bugaboo - it's fully collapsible and have much more (storage) space under the bassinet/seat, to name just two.

Shop 'til You Drop

Isolde just remembered she never showed you what she bought for herself on our US trip. She didn't realise it while she was busy shopping but there was a certain blue theme.  Matches her beautiful blue eyes though!

Striped onesie, two tees from OshKosh and a polo blouse from Ralph Lauren (RL) to the left and three dresses from Tommy Hilfiger (TF) to the right. 

Knitted sweater from RL, two leggings from RL and one pair of soft, leggings-type trousers from TF to the left and three blouses, top one from TF and the bottom two from RL, to the right.

Hat from TF, blue Toms (one pair for you, one for a child in need somewhere) and red Converse.

Miami & South Beach

Our second full day in Miami was spent here in South Beach where we're staying (at Congress Hotel on Ocean Drive). We headed to the beach at 11 to try to combine nap time with beach time (she slept 12-13:30ish) and stayed until 3pm. It was very cloudy and at one point there was even rain drops but I still managed to get red even though I was using sunscreen and it was only sunny for 30-45 minutes out of the four hours. So no sun for me tomorrow!

This evening we checked out the shops in Lincoln Road, South Beach's "pedestrian mall" or "gågata" in Swedish, and ended up buying a few items at Banana Republic as well as Toms (shoes where for every pair you buy another pair gets donated) for Isolde and me and a pair of dressier sneakers for Peter at a shoe shop called Mixx. The street was well-designed but we thought it was going to have fancier stores as it's located near the posh hotels such as Delano. Where do the rich and famous shop in Miami?! Post-shopping we stopped by Jerry's Famous Deli for some dinner. It was approaching 8pm and Isolde was tired so we thought take-out was in order.

Yesterday, our first full day here, we drove out of Miami to the posh sticks; Coral Gables and Coconut Grove (though there are other much posher areas in Miami too!). We only drove through the latter but in Coral Gables we stopped at Biltmore Hotel where we had a really nice lunch by their super-sized pool, and toured (en voiture) the famous neighbourhoods planned and built by George Merrick in the 1920s, the first planned communities in the US, and had a quick peak at the neighbourhood's famous Venetian pool (which was overrated). Back in South Beach we stopped at Whole Foods supermarket for some baby food (and diapers, which didn't keep Isolde dry through the night so we'll try to return them - that has never happened before so it must be the diapers) and dinner from their deli and salad bar (our hotel room has a kitchenette so it's easy to heat up food or do easy cooking).

When we arrived from Key West on Wednesday it was 4pm already so our first evening here we just took a walk down to Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant where we discovered the waiting for a table was 1 1/2 hours but also that they have a deli/cafe next door where we could eat almost the same food in a more baby-friendly (but still designed and atmospheric) environment. Recommended!

Here are some pictures from the beach today (don't know how to insert pictures in the text where I'd really want them with the Blogger app?!):

Tax-Free

Since we're in Delaware, the tax-free state (as in VAT; there's still income tax of course), shopping is a must. Including shopping at the outlets at the beach (Rehoboth). We were quite lazy in the morning but got to the outlets at a pretty decent hour - 11:30 - and had about four hours to spend before we had to drive back at 4pm. With Isolde in tow and fitting in meals and nappy changes we didn't do as much shopping as last time we were here (3 years ago), when we filled the whole trunk with bags, but we still managed to pick up (and spend) a decent amount.

This evening we had dinner out with (my aupair host mother) Karin and (her partner) Steve, made a quick diaper and baby food stop at Walmart and are now watching telly. Isolde played with the rocking chair and befriended the cat before she fell asleep. The cat also cuddled with Peter and slept on his lap before it suddenly threw up a hair ball on Peter and the sofa :)

Tomorrow we're going to hang out with Kristin (my aupair daughter, the real reason we're here right now as she's getting married on Saturday) and the check out the shops at the mall.

Must Have

Isolde just had to get this at H&M today. Even if she won't be able to wear it until next autumn (smallest size was 86). She insisted.



Via Anna's iPhone

Maeght

Another two days have passed in Nice (and elsewhere of course :) Yesterday we took another car-free day. The plan was to go shopping, which we did but we didn't find anything. Nice doesn't really have any fun shops in my opinion, unless you can afford the Louis Vuitton streak or want to stock up on Provencian fabric (which I don't find that pretty) or herbs. But I don't mind just strolling the streets, looking at architecture or people. In the evening I took a bath with Isolde for the first time (we don't have a tub at home but in our new flat we will!), which we both enjoyed. After that the whole family chilled on the sofa where Isolde has occupied one corner.

Today we made a short journey to another pretty mountain village, St-Paul-de-Vence, where we also visited the modern art museum Fondation Maeght. It's considered one of the world's finest art museums but since I'm not too fond of modern art and it's a small museum, I thought it wasn't worth 14 euros. On the other hand it's a cool building and it's amazing that two art dealers collected so much to open a museum (or gallery). And it's famous artists of course; Chagall, Miró, Giacometti et al. It's a cool building as well. So it's nice to have seen it. To tick it on the check list.

For Isolde it was her first visit to an art museum. She found the milk bottle display of course (her parents did not stage the photo at all, no...).

Via Anna's iPhone

200

FYI, those new (and very new) or expecting parents out there!

I've estimated that we have gone through around 200 nappies since we came home from the hospital with Isolde. 200 in four weeks makes around 7 per day. That's a nappy change every 3½ hours roughly, and probably more during the day as she sleeps pretty well at night.

Sales Finds

First two from Polarn & Pyret and last one from Lindex. Unisex stuff for now - shopping will be slightly easier when he or she has arrived, though I'm still very much a unisex person.






Apologies for the bad photo quality but the iPhone 3GS doesn't always deliver...

Build-a-Buggy

Evening activity a Sunday in October. Still almost three and a half months to touchdown but very happy to be able to check off one thing on the baby list.





Via Anna's iPhone

Shopping & Mini-Break Weekend

I had Monday (yesterday) off from work due to my workplace being closed (something I had missed and didn't discover until last Tuesday - didn't get too upset naturally) so my friend Malin and I took the opportunity to make a little trip we had talked about for a while. We went to a place I had previously vowed never to visit, ever, but Malin gradually won me over to her side, brainwashing me into thinking "yeah, maybe it could be quite fun actually... maybe they have some good deals on x or y...".

What am I talking about? My Swedish readers will immediately understand when I say it and be either utterly shocked or say "actually, I've been there too; I used to be a sceptic too but...". It is...

Gekås, Ullared

There, I said it. I'm still a bit embarassed that I can now add Ullared to my list of life experiences but... ;)

For the non-Swedes, this is a low-cost department store à la Walmart or similar (English link), also called big box market (but Walmart is normal compared to this place...).

So how was it? It was alright actually - you can find lots of useful things there, especially perishables such as schampoo and dishwasher tablets, as well as household utensils and children's clothes - but I thought it was going to be even bigger than it was and that it was going to have more brand names goods, especially clothes. So in that respect I was a little disappointed. There were some outlet shops in the vicinity too but these weren't that great. What Gekås did have was a lot of cool and/or pretty lamps and you could also buy cheap Wiis and blueray players, etc. I think my recommendation is to know what you're looking for, maybe research a little beforehand and see when they have deals on what. When you're just randomly shopping like I was you don't make any big finds so-to-speak. Another recommendation is to go on a Monday in off-season like we did - much fewer customers than on a normal trading day (I assume).

The best part about the trip was doing it with a best friend - talking for hours in the car and in the cute cottage we rented. We don't spend time together that often so it was nice quality time! The B&B we stayed at was really nice - Malin has blogged about it here, here, here and here. On the Sunday night, the night we stayed there, we were the only ones in the whole B&B; maybe that's why we were very popular with the cute and super social house cat.

All-in-all, a super weekend!

New Bike!

Proof that spring is finally here!


Via Anna's iPhone