Xmas feeling and celebration ! :D

My house is now really cosy after having decorated it with Christmas things !! :D It's a bit early, but what the heck :P I like Christmas ! :D

And in Sweden, you also have this thing called Advent and the 1st Advent is today (Sunday) and it means that there are 4 Sundays left until Christmas, so you light a candle for each Sunday :)

Today we had the first candle lit for breakfast :D



Since my wall is F'd up and it's not a good idea to try to put any hooks up on the wall to hang these big bulbs on, I was creative and hung them in my Devil's Ivy instead :D Looks pretty festive at night when the light is shining on them :P Hihi !



My visit to IKEA together with Sara was really fun and very lucrative ! It brought nice things such as Swedish ginger cookies, which we eat tons of before and during Xmas!) and Swedish mulled wine = Glögg ! :D To my happiness, they even had Swedish Xmas Cola = Julmust at IKEA !!



Now it is very cosy in the evening here with this advent candle thingy in the window :D



Last but not least, last night me and my baby celebrated our 2,5 years together by going out to eat ! We had booked a table at one place, but when we came there, we were very disappointed and left again - it just wasn't what we had expected. So we went to the city centre and found a recently opened Sushi Grill place :D Very nice place and we left feeling very full and happy ! :D We got a beautiful table at the window with many orchids ! :D





My baby is just the best, I love him so much ! <3

Enjoy this cold, but indeed sunny day ! :D

- Stef

Operation scarf completed :P

Fun things always go fast, and here it is - the finished scarf for my baby :)

It's soft and warm and nice, and I hope you like the colors of the yarn as much as I do :D

There will be pictures of the scarf and my baby together soon ! :D

Now winter is really getting closer and closer, and I'm started to get a nice Christmas vibe :D I cannot wait for going to IKEA and buying some Swedish Xmas specialities and I think that all the Xmas stuff will be up by the time next weekend comes ! :D

Can't wait to get all the decorations, lamps and candles up and about the place ! :)

Ciao for today :P



- Stef

Space for growth :)

Today's good deed was to provide Mr. Rubberplant and Mr. Palmplant with some more space so that they have enough space to grow :)

These 2 are 2 of my favorites and they were both considerably smaller when I bought them 1,5 year ago :D

You can see when a plant needs to be put in a bigger pot, if you can see the roots coming out from the holes in the bottom of the plastic pot.

Simply fill a bigger pot with some soil, about half-way up, take the plant out of it's old pot and put it in the bigger one. Fill up with soil on the sides - make sure you pack it tightly so that the plant stands firmly, but also make sure you don't pack it too hard as the plant also likes some air for its roots :)

Finally, pour some water through the new soil and now your plant is ready to face the future !

Bottom line: Be nice to your plants and give them all the things they need to grow, and in return they will give you a cosy and peaceful atmosphere in your home ! :)

Thanks for reading!

- Stef

My favorite quote.. :)

... and my life philosophy. By Buddha:

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."

The reason why I think the content of this quote is so vital to us, living in this modern world, is the fact that many people don't see the beauty of the simple things anymore... They want gold and diamonds, metaphorically speaking, and the bigger the better.

I think that mentality is just so wrong. The quote takes us back to basics and brings us down to earth and says "Hey, take a moment to look at all the things in the world and really see the true beauty of them".

Imagine if you would take the time to study a snowflake, a raindrop, a ray of sunshine, a growing sprout from a seed... We are surrounded by truly amazing things all of the time, but if we are blind to seeing them, it's just a waste of life in my opinion. Some people admire expensive things, but money is man-made and is actually not that impressive compared to the miracle of something coming out of, in our limited eyes: nothing.

Before I become too philosophical, let me stop :P But I think it's so important to take a moment and think about how amazing the world really is, how many fantastic things we get to experience thanks to a lucky coincidence billions of years ago: the creation of life. We are just humans, we only have one life and we need to live NOW and appreciate the world we are in. Because there is nothing awaiting us later, we are just a part of the circle of life just like anything else on this planet. Therefore, we need to enjoy our lives and appreciate the things we are "given" and so often take for granted.

I hope you like this quote as much as I do and that it inspires you in a positive way as well :)

- Stef

The delicious inauguration ! :D

So tonight I felt like having something healthy, but not just another salad... So I decided to inaugurate my Gordon Ramsay book and find a nice soup. And so I did ! Namely, the Cauliflower soup with Saffron :)

Very easy to make actually and it turned out really tasty !! I added some parma-ham chips, because I'm not a vegetarian and without any form of meat I'd go hungry later :P'

This is what it looked like compared to the image in the book :D Mine turned out more yellow cause I love saffron and took big pinches of it :D






Another fact that is totally lovely is the flower that I got from Theo's mom. It's this white pretty thing, and it smells like paradise itself !! :D Not too strong, but the scent lingers around in the living room and I love it !




Now I am going to chill and work on Theo's future scarf :D

Peace !



- Stef

Cool books !! :D

I have just started reading Usain Bolt's biography "9,58 - Being the world's fastest man" and I find it very interesting.

I'm not a person who is interested in sports whatsoever, but I like when people have an extraordinary story to tell. It's the same reason as to why I love true story movies, because it's the truth. It can make you feel very sad or very happy, but it's important to know sad events from the past, but also to know that miracles actually can happen.

I think Usain Bolt is cool in the sense that he is a world star but also down to earth. I'm a big fan of down to earth famous people that don't get drifted off into the mini-castles of Hollywood and the lifestyle of the "rich and the famous". No, I think it is awesome if you become famous and you don't change who you are and you have some smart things to say. So I recommend this cool book to everyone about Usain Bolt and his story!




Now since I'm all talking about books, I just HAVE to mention another one !

My mommy had a gift for me and Theo and guess if we totally lost our faces when we saw this !!



It's the newest book by Gordon Ramsay, and if you already didn't know, Theo and I are crazy about him and his food ! :D

So we were jumping up and down out of happiness for this awesome gift ! But let me show you exactly HOW cool it is:



It's called "Best menus" for a reason ! The whole book is split up in small pages like this, and the top shows starters, middle is main course and bottom is desserts. So you can turn the pages and combine you own customized menu - with a perfect overview of the courses!!

I think it's is spectacularly smart and handy !! :D Can't wait to get started with cooking the recipes together with my baby ! :D

Peace and out for today ! ;)


- Stef

Mommy's visit ! :D

So, the week flew by quickly, my mom arrived and left again, but left are many happy memories !! :D

Here are some highlights from the week that I spent together with my lovely mom and my lovely Theo :D





First night: After Theo's home made Italian dinner, we went to the city center for some dessert :D Yummie !



Here we arranged my place to fit 6 people for dinner ! :D Looking nice eh :D




Theo's mom, sister and brother :) And Theo and the mommies :D



Theo, Naomi and Alexander :P So cute together !



Me and mommy and Theo's grandma :D And Theo's dad and grandma :D



At Theo's grandpa's place :D



Having a beer at Grote Markt after some shopping in The Hague city center :D




Some shopping in Amsterdam :D And a lazy dinner on the couch :D




And the happiest food-day was when we went to the restaurant Los Argentinos in The Hague city center. It is seriously the best steakhouse ever !! Home made BBQ sauce and grilled meat... We ENJOYED every bit !!





In short: The week was amazing and we had lots of fun together !! :D I just wish we could do this more often !! Now it's back to school, 1 month left until Christmas holidays and Sweden :)

Thanks for reading :P Til next time !


- Stef

What to be happy for on a rainy day :D

So the sunshine of my day, today (metaphorically speaking because it was raining terribly the whole day :P) was to clean my whole house and get rid of every piece of dust laying around, and to discover that my rubber plant has started to branch :D

(meaning, I cut off the top in order to prevent another leaf from growing upwards , and by doing so, the plant will then force a new branch with leaves to break out from a different place on the plant than upwards, meaning side-wise)

So I was totally happy that it worked out :D I'm always childishly excited about the positive progress of my plants! They are like growing babies, only green :D

In the end of the day, I could sit down on the couch and just enjoy the knitting of a scarf that I initiated a few days ago ! I was inspired when I saw yarn for a cheap price in the city centre, and it's going fast ! I don't know who it's for, but I love knitting when you watch TV or something :)

So, having the house really cleaned, I'm ready to go and pick up my mommy tomorrow at the airport. She is coming to visit me for an entire week :D Gonna be so nice with some mommy-daughter shopping, chatting, cooking, baking and what not :D

Here's me and my lovely mommy a good few years back, in Sopot, Northern Poland :)

- Stef

The magic of soca :)

If you need a cheer up or joy enhancer, these tunes will do it for you ! :) There's no way you can help but to smile and relax :D It doesn't matter who you are, these tunes work on everyone !





It's simply joyful magic and therapy in one ! :D

Enjoy the tunes!


- Stef

The sunshine of my life is my love :)

Having spent 2 weeks apart, 2 boring and long weeks, it was so nice to be together with my baby for 2 whole days :) I was laughing until my stomach was hurting many times, and I had simply forgot how much fun the 2 of us can have together !

During the 2 weeks, life still goes on but it's just quiet and boring without that someone special being near.. Being together just makes life worth so much more ! And it's important to realize that sometimes as well - to really see how much someone contributes to your well being !

So today's props go to my boyfriend Theo who simply is the sunshine of my life, even when it's raining ! ;)




And remember, crazy makes life more fun ! :P Hihi !

- Stef