Sweden.
Even though I come from a largely Scandinavian heritage (I have Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish roots [and a handful of others, as well]), I always felt a little odd when I coming into into contact with people who were very gung-ho about their roots and visiting those "home" countries, for I never had any interest in visiting any of mine. Norway? Eh... Sweden? Not that high on my list. Denmark? Even lower. It's not that I had anything against those countries, of course, or that I was deliberately avoiding them, but just that, in the same way that Australia isn't high on my list, these weren't.
Until now.
I found the place in Sweden that's nabbed a place on my Top Ten list.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Finds!
Finds!
I had $50 of birthday money burning a hole in my pocket yesterday, so after I dropped John off at his office, I went shopping. Yay! There were a few things I'd been needing, including a hair straightener, so I got one of the new ones that dries and straightens hair at the same time. Such Technology! I hate blow-drying my hair (read: I don't even own a blow-dryer), and I equally hate waiting around for my hair to dry before I can straighten it, so O! What a solution this is! I took a shower last night just so I could try it out, and if I do say so myself -- which I do -- my hair looks fantastic. Hurrah!
Then I went to Goodwill, where I thrifted six photo frames, most of which had hideous "art" in them. They were all really cheap; the biggest, most expensive one was $2.99. I'd had a project in mind for a while, rather like the dooce wall, only with black frames and more variety in sizes and shapes. I had leftover paint at home from a project last week, so my Monday evening was spent cleaning, painting, and arranging the frames, washing the glass, and choosing which pictures to put in them. For now, I'm staying with black and white photographs from our wedding, aww (I accidentally wrote "ass" first. Hmm).
Also, I had my first big find at Goodwill; I'd always heard about people who found absolute treasure at Goodwill for a few bucks, but all I've ever found were some picture frames and rack upon rack of ugly, ratty sweaters. Then, I found two of these! Still with the "Riedel" stickers on them. They're brand new, "Tyrol crystal designed by Riedel. Made in Germany. Non lead. 04/07" I'd registered for a set of Riedel wineglasses for fun, for our wedding, didn't get them, and didn't buy them myself due to the price -- I don't drink wine often enough for that to make sense. But! These were $4.99 each, and I didn't want to spend my birthday money just on stuff for me, and knew John would love them. Two Riedel wineglasses for under $10, rather than two for $39.99? Yay!!
I'm so excited!
I had $50 of birthday money burning a hole in my pocket yesterday, so after I dropped John off at his office, I went shopping. Yay! There were a few things I'd been needing, including a hair straightener, so I got one of the new ones that dries and straightens hair at the same time. Such Technology! I hate blow-drying my hair (read: I don't even own a blow-dryer), and I equally hate waiting around for my hair to dry before I can straighten it, so O! What a solution this is! I took a shower last night just so I could try it out, and if I do say so myself -- which I do -- my hair looks fantastic. Hurrah!
Then I went to Goodwill, where I thrifted six photo frames, most of which had hideous "art" in them. They were all really cheap; the biggest, most expensive one was $2.99. I'd had a project in mind for a while, rather like the dooce wall, only with black frames and more variety in sizes and shapes. I had leftover paint at home from a project last week, so my Monday evening was spent cleaning, painting, and arranging the frames, washing the glass, and choosing which pictures to put in them. For now, I'm staying with black and white photographs from our wedding, aww (I accidentally wrote "ass" first. Hmm).
Also, I had my first big find at Goodwill; I'd always heard about people who found absolute treasure at Goodwill for a few bucks, but all I've ever found were some picture frames and rack upon rack of ugly, ratty sweaters. Then, I found two of these! Still with the "Riedel" stickers on them. They're brand new, "Tyrol crystal designed by Riedel. Made in Germany. Non lead. 04/07" I'd registered for a set of Riedel wineglasses for fun, for our wedding, didn't get them, and didn't buy them myself due to the price -- I don't drink wine often enough for that to make sense. But! These were $4.99 each, and I didn't want to spend my birthday money just on stuff for me, and knew John would love them. Two Riedel wineglasses for under $10, rather than two for $39.99? Yay!!
I'm so excited!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Happy faux-Fall!
I'm not even going to try to make an excuse for not posting in over a month (except that, as I type this, I realize that that's exactly what I'm gearing up for). It's been such a busy month, full of job searching, applications, lots of hot, hot days, a few visits with family and friends, and settling more firmly into our life here, together. I absolutely love being married.
I'm listening to Il Divo's "Regresa A Mi" as I type this, and I love this song; it fits in perfectly with this day, the crispness of a 57 F morning, and my pumpkin spice candles and potpourri.
I'm not usually a potpourri person. Bags of stale, technicoloured, cellophane-wrapped fake-smelling stuff? Ugh. I hate it, and especially when people leave it out for so long that it gets fuzzy from dust. Eeesh. I bought this potpourri from a vendor at the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana, this past weekend. This potpourri is beautiful and natural, with tons of apple slices, slivers of orange peel, and pine cones, and smells amazingly of Autumn, with clove and cinnamon - and as anxious as I am for chilly days to finally be here to stay (we're supposed to be back up near 90 in a few days), I just had to get it.
The Johnny Appleseed Festival was so much fun! It's a festival set in the early-to-mid 1800s, thus all the vendors (hundreds and hundreds) have to dress in time-period appropriate clothes, and cannot have any newfangled technology helping them make their wares. We went there with our friends from Tennessee (we have friends!), and had a super time getting to interact with real! live! people! We saw people using thick wooden paddles to stir a huge, cast-iron cauldron of soup (am I the only who was violently reminded of Voldemort's rebirth at the end of Book 4? Oh, probably...), and a man perched on the wooden frame of a pottery wheel, keeping the wheel going with his foot, and creating amazing things with the clay in his hands.
And I got to see a llama. LLAMA!
John is doing well, loving most of his grad classes, and is doing a fantastic job as a grad assistant. He loves helping teach and tutor, and it really confirmed for him the fact that he wants to always be in the University teaching field.
The biggest piece of news around here, though, is that (as of tomorrow, when I sign the contract) I have a job. Finally! I'd been quite discouraged, because of all the applications I'd submitted since we moved here the end of July, I hadn't gotten any call-backs. None. Then, on September 6th, a lady from the University Library called to set up an interview appointment (a month after the deadline to submit the application!). I had the nearly two-hour long interview on the 7th, and though they said they had more interviews the following week, I got a call on the 11th, offering me the position. I was completely shocked.
I start on my birthday. :)
In the meantime, though, I've been cooking every day, rediscovering how much I love it, how proud I feel when John sits back in his chair after the first bite, and says, "Sweetheart, this should be served in a restaurant!" I'm just hoping me means, like, a good restaurant.
Also, be impressed; I've made a whole flock of origami paper cranes. They're resting on one of the endtables in the living room until I figure out what to do with them. I folded them while I was watching one of the bi-weekly two-hour marathons of "Friends," just so that I felt that I was at least semi-productive while I sat on the couch.
Sorry for this boring post, but really, I was feeling terribly guilty for not having even logged in for over a month (what's the website? boggler? blogger? bolgger?).
I'm listening to Il Divo's "Regresa A Mi" as I type this, and I love this song; it fits in perfectly with this day, the crispness of a 57 F morning, and my pumpkin spice candles and potpourri.
I'm not usually a potpourri person. Bags of stale, technicoloured, cellophane-wrapped fake-smelling stuff? Ugh. I hate it, and especially when people leave it out for so long that it gets fuzzy from dust. Eeesh. I bought this potpourri from a vendor at the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana, this past weekend. This potpourri is beautiful and natural, with tons of apple slices, slivers of orange peel, and pine cones, and smells amazingly of Autumn, with clove and cinnamon - and as anxious as I am for chilly days to finally be here to stay (we're supposed to be back up near 90 in a few days), I just had to get it.
The Johnny Appleseed Festival was so much fun! It's a festival set in the early-to-mid 1800s, thus all the vendors (hundreds and hundreds) have to dress in time-period appropriate clothes, and cannot have any newfangled technology helping them make their wares. We went there with our friends from Tennessee (we have friends!), and had a super time getting to interact with real! live! people! We saw people using thick wooden paddles to stir a huge, cast-iron cauldron of soup (am I the only who was violently reminded of Voldemort's rebirth at the end of Book 4? Oh, probably...), and a man perched on the wooden frame of a pottery wheel, keeping the wheel going with his foot, and creating amazing things with the clay in his hands.
And I got to see a llama. LLAMA!
John is doing well, loving most of his grad classes, and is doing a fantastic job as a grad assistant. He loves helping teach and tutor, and it really confirmed for him the fact that he wants to always be in the University teaching field.
The biggest piece of news around here, though, is that (as of tomorrow, when I sign the contract) I have a job. Finally! I'd been quite discouraged, because of all the applications I'd submitted since we moved here the end of July, I hadn't gotten any call-backs. None. Then, on September 6th, a lady from the University Library called to set up an interview appointment (a month after the deadline to submit the application!). I had the nearly two-hour long interview on the 7th, and though they said they had more interviews the following week, I got a call on the 11th, offering me the position. I was completely shocked.
I start on my birthday. :)
In the meantime, though, I've been cooking every day, rediscovering how much I love it, how proud I feel when John sits back in his chair after the first bite, and says, "Sweetheart, this should be served in a restaurant!" I'm just hoping me means, like, a good restaurant.
Also, be impressed; I've made a whole flock of origami paper cranes. They're resting on one of the endtables in the living room until I figure out what to do with them. I folded them while I was watching one of the bi-weekly two-hour marathons of "Friends," just so that I felt that I was at least semi-productive while I sat on the couch.
Sorry for this boring post, but really, I was feeling terribly guilty for not having even logged in for over a month (what's the website? boggler? blogger? bolgger?).
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