Merry Christmas!
Little sister striking a pose
Cheese, crackers, and gingerbread cookies before dinner
Christmas tree decorations
Sis got this cute Santa from mom
Face timing with my 90 year old grandfather in the US
The dessert spread
Merry Christmas everyone!
While a lot of you are probably celebrating Christmas today, we already celebrated yesterday. The tree was beautiful, the food was good, the company great, and I got so many nice gifts from everyone. After dinner we Face timed with my 90 year old grandfather in the US, how cool is that!? And before dessert we Face timed with my sister’s boyfriend who’s in NYC. Thank you for your magnificent technology Apple.
There’s more photos to show, but I’ll save them for another time. I’ve got to get busy with my studying now, I have so much work to do… phew. I know I’m not alone though, my brother’s girlfriend also has exams and studying up-to-here. So send a little study motivation and strength our way please.
t’was the night before Christmas…
The 23rd of December, commonly referred to as “uppestittarkväll” here in Sweden (an evening for sitting up late with family waiting for Christmas, which is celebrated on the 24th here). Scrap that, sis and I had a girl’s night instead!
I spent the entire day yesterday cleaning like a mad woman. My place sparkled and smelled divine when my sister came over. We got lots of time to catch up and chit chat over dinner and wine and snacks while watching Crazy, Stupid, Love. A movie my sister hadn’t yet seen, and I didn’t exactly mind seeing it again. Two hours of Ryan Gosling? Yes please.
Couldn’t have asked for a better Sunday, night before Christmas, 23rd of December, or “uppesittarkväll”.
My cosy Saturday
I had such a wonderful Saturday! I was lucky my sister was home when I got out to mom’s place yesterday afternoon to start my Christmas baking, I got her to help me out a bit. I made truffles and saffron fudge that tasted good but didn’t look very pretty. I was too distracted talking to my sister – and recording video greetings to send to her boyfriend in NYC – that I apparently forgot to focus on making the candy look appealing. I also forgot to snap photos of the final product so you’ll just have to believe me that candy was actually made. Post-baking, I spent some time playing the piano, and then goofed around with my sister some more.
I’ve got a pretty busy day ahead of me today, on the agenda is a visit to the gym followed by cleaning my place from top to bottom and throwing in a load of laundry before meeting my sister to shop for this evening’s girl’s night! We’re having cheese and other goodies, and watching a movie. You can bet there’ll be plenty of girl talk too! Ohh, I can’t wait!!
A little update
My sister is finally home from NYC! I got to see her briefly on Thursday and give her a squeeze. For over a month we’ve been talking about doing a girl’s night once she gets home. I can’t wait to get some quality time to catch up with her on everything that’s happened in her – and my – life since we last saw each other.
My Christmas gifts are all wrapped and ready to go. It’s still undecided if we’ll be celebrating Christmas on the 24th or the 25th of December this year. According to Swedish tradition, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December. The past years we’ve celebrated on different days depending on when everyone is able to meet. Whatever the case, all I care about is getting to spend time with the people I love.
Everyone keeps asking me if I’m finished with my semester at Uni now and if I’ve got Christmas vacation. Hah, nope, my semester is still in full swing. In fact, I’ve got a massive project I need to work on. I’ve currently got a website and two reports to work on. My group and I have been working our butts off the past couple of weeks filming, designing, and coding. I’ve most recently been working on a jQuery parallax scroller… which I’m sure says nothing to most of you, but the geek in me is pretty excited about that.
I’m off to the gym now, and then I’m headed out to mom’s to bake some Christmas sweets, decorate the tree, and play the piano.
Holiday decorations and the lack of Christmas spirit
That Christmas spirit I normally experience is still nowhere to be found. I don’t know what it is with me this year but I’m just not feeling it.
Nonetheless, I’ve made an effort to decorate my place. I scattered some ornaments, hung a star in my window, made some glittery winter lanterns, wrapped a couple of presents, and mom even made me an advent calendar (the big Santa standing in my window) with little surprises every day. You’d think that would get me in the mood, but no.
I’m just having a tough time with life in general right now, which is likely what’s to blame for my lack of enthusiasm. We all have tough periods in life, and sometimes feeling or thoughts I’ve been able to keep at bay surface causing me to feel less than stellar. I’m hoping this mood will have passed by the 24th of December, so that I can enjoy time with my sister (who’ll be home from NYC next week!), and the rest of the people I love. Surely a little quality time with the people I hold dear will cheer me up.
DIY Christmas origami star ornament
I’ve been on the hunt for a pretty star to decorate my window this Christmas.
Maybe I’m just overly picky, but of all the ones I’ve seen in the shops, I haven’t found one that I like. So, when I found a tutorial on how to fold this origami star, I made my own out of some wrapping paper I had lying around. It was quite simple to make, and will definitely suffice for this Holiday season.
Happy Lucia!
Stockholm Lucia Concert, Christmas 2011
Today is Lucia, a rather big tradition in Sweden. A lot of people start their morning by watching Lucia on TV and eating something extra Christmas-y for breakfast like Christmas porridge or Lussebullar (saffron buns).
Me? I started my day with a killer workout! I’m still struggling to get into the Christmas spirit so I can’t say I’ve been very representative of a typical Swedish Lucia morning in the way I started my day.
Hope you have a nice day!
So much for my plans
Christmas market in Old Town Stockholm, Winter 2011
I had plans to do some Christmas shopping and maybe even some strolling around the Christmas markets this weekend to possibly provoke some Christmas spirit in me (I’m strangely enough lacking it this year). But on Friday afternoon, as I was just wrapping up the big essay we’ve been writing in school, there was no doubt I was coming down with something.
Sure enough, any to do’s and plans I had for this weekend had to be put on hold as I spent the entire weekend curled up in a ball in my bed in so much pain I even considered calling an ambulance to come and whisk me away. I don’t know what I’ve been hit with, but it sure feels like and 18 wheeler. I’m still doing really bad and had to cancel group work today and did my best to work from home. Tomorrow is our big presentation of our paper so I have to find a way to get myself to Uni. I don’t see how that is going to be possible in my current state though.
It’s unbelievable how many times I’ve been sick this past fall, and how extremely sick I’ve been each time. I just got over my last flu which ailed me for more than two weeks. Up until this fall, I was sick at the most once a year. This fall I’ve been sick three times! Mom suggests my stress and all the crap I’ve been going through these past couple of months is to blame. I guess she’s got a point there.
Photos from Christmas
Here’s a couple of photos I snapped at Christmas, I thought I’d share them so I can look back next year and remember what the previous year was like. That’s sort of what this blog is for anyway.
Getting the table ready for dinner.
Presents under the tree
Cheese, crackers and glögg (hot spiced wine) before dinner, while opening our stockings.
Part of the dessert table, saffron fudge and gingerbread toffees
Gingerbread toffee lollipops
Chocolate truffles with a hint of Cointreau, rolled in cocoa and almonds.
My Christmas gifts, I got so many nice gifts (and lots of owls)
Christmas nails (didn’t manage to get a good picture of them)
Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!
(Click images for source)
