Bye summer, I hate you anyway

This summer might just be the worst summer I have yet to have had. It's been painful, and like walking through syrup. But, now it's September, autumn. And hopefully it'll just go up from here. I'll just cross out the summer months from my memory forever, haha.

My only plan for this autumn is FUN. Having fun, doing fun things, feeling good.

First thing I did was to sign up for.... adult ballet classes!

Yeah!! I've gone to two lessons so far, and it's so so so fun and so so so rewarding. Going from a couchpotato to a ballet class, doing them pliés and twirls and whatnot really does a number on you. My muscles are sore for a week, and when they've just stopped hurting, BOOM, another class. But it's awesome.

I truly truly recommend anyone who reads this and have thought that maybe maybe ballet would be fun, DO IT. You're not too old, you're not too weak/fat/whatever! It's so rewarding!



In other awesome news, my friend exclaimed yesterday that it was time to go to Paris, and I couldn't agree more. So we're going on October 1st, for a few days of heavy smoking and coffee drinking. We won't be caring about the tourist things, so if you have any tips of some nice café with some good coffee, please advice! And my friend wants to eat a lot of food, so if you have any good restaurant tips, please share those too!


The summer might have been shitty but I'm not going to let autumn turn out the same way!

Forest day

 Today, me and my roomies took our bikes and biked for a total of 10km's, out to the forest! This is from when we we're waiting for their friends, standing in the middle of nowhere(but they had bike paths!).

 So.. much... moss..And under the moss, puddles, and more puddles. My socks were dripping when we got home.

 Too busy taking pictures, so I kept falling behind.

And the reason for it, chanterelles! We swede's be crazy, biking for 10kms, trekking in the forest, getting our shoes wet and battling mosquitos. But we got 10litres all together!

Kent concert!

Kent ("Swedens biggest rockband") is playing in Uppsala, and thanks to a sudden turn of events I can go! The tickets were really expensive so I didn't even bother, and planned to just sit outside and listen, since the concert is taking place outside Uppsala Castle.
But! Yesterday my faux Grandpa called, and told me he had put me on the list for Uppsala Castle employee + family! So I get to go, for free! But then again, I did work there for two weeks(as Warden of the Castle) when I was 14, so I guess it's all as it should be.

Anyway! Super excited!
(Never heard of Kent? Listen here, here and here(English))

 Outfit and "facelook"(is that a real expression? Swedish bloggers use it all the time but I think it sounds a bit off.). I'm back to wearing falsies again! And I have no idea why I chose to wear my rattiest tackiest harley davidson t-shirt with holes all over it from being old, but oh well! 

And on an unrelated note, here's my new sunnies! Found them in Gothenburg in some kind of 100yen-ish danish shop!

Time for change

This weekend I visited my dad, and also finally had a chance to meet some of my relatives on his side! Most of them I hadn't seen for 4 years or more. One of my cousins was a baby last time I saw her, and now she was 6, and completely hyperactive.

Anyway, I don't know if I've really said anything about it, but I'm moving back to Uppsala!
It'll be nice to be out of the forest, haha! Being able to do stuff, meet people! Being able to text a friend and see if they wanna go out and take a coffee later that day, and not having to travel for 10 hours..

In honor of my second movingawayfrom home day, I'll post some pictures of my current room.  Or well, details of it.

 My Angel's Tears! I love this plant so much, everytime I look at it I wish I was 5cms tall and  able to live in it.

 My pins and brooches! The box itself isn't so visible, but it's a souvenir from Gran Canaria or something that I got when I was 6, from some friends of my mother. It's covered in shells!

 Shirts I hardly ever wear but refuse to get rid off.

 Mirror, part of my bag hanger, some hair accessories. And yes, my mirror is indeed wearing an apron.

 Skirts and dresses! I don't really know why I let some skirts hang on hangers and some be folded, but, oh well.

And that was that. I'll try and get my things in order this week. Moving is always troublesome, but I don't really wanna bring much, so it'll be even harder trying to sort out what to bring and what not to.

Picture time!

I'm not kidding when I say I don't do anything at all. I mean, obviously I do things like maybe watch the TV, read a magazine or something similar, but in reality I live a very isolated life in this village. Going grocery shopping or to the doctor is starting to feel as you know, winning a million at the lottery or something, haha. Ohgodi'msobored.

But I take pictures!

So this post will have some of that.

I actually watch my plants grow. Yeah.

I take pictures of the cats. You don't even wanna look into my phone, it's 95% pictures of the cats. This is Sixten.

I find stuff! Like this Swimmer watch that I had almost forgotten completely.

I tie bows on wedding invitations.

I photograph the shelf above my bed. The picture isn't crooked, my room is slanting. Yeah.

I take pictures of my things.

And I sit quietly for half an hour staring at does.

Amazing dress and new protection

I decided to try and be serious about you know, pictures and stuff, use the camera instead of the phone. But then I found out that I seem to have dropped my camera one too many times on the floor, because the quality wasn't really that much better! Which sucks, it used to be a really good camera..

Anyhow! I'm super psyched about this dress! It's from the swedish store Gina Tricot, and a while back they had this dress in pretty much every color there is, and I used to own it in lavender. Unfortunatly, due to it being my go-to dress during several years it had become so ratty I had to throw it away when I moved from Japan.. But fortunately there is loads of people who doesn't understand the greatness of this model of dresses, so theres bunches of them on auction sites! This became mine for 6SEK!(approx 100yen), + shipping! Can't argue with that, seeing how it's seemingly never been worn at all, haha. And you know, it being THE BEST DRESS MODEL OF ALL TIME. Of all time. That I tell you.

When we went to Strömsund, we also did the mandatory visit to tThe Dollarstore, which is exactly what it sounds like, a dollar store. I think it's exclusive to the north of Sweden, or atleast it used to be. It's basically the go to place if you want cheap anything.
Stumbled over this silicone case and I've been looking at similar ones online, but for more than double the price than this one was, haha.

Hopefully a silicone case will help protect my phone better, as mentioned above I have a tendency to drop electronics on the floor repeatedly, and after six months I just discovered the first crack in the screen..
It's amazing it's still intact though, seeing how I've dropped it multiple times a day since I got it..  Well, knock on wood that it wont fall apart on me.

Fought for parcel

Uhh, one of the things I dislike the most about my current place of living, is that due to it being in the middle of nowhere, parcels and stuff takes much longer to arrive. If the shop says 2-3days, it usually arrives within 5-10.. Even EMS, which I was really pissed about, I mean, I pay extra for speedy shipping, and then it takes almost a week longer than it's supposed to? And it isn't even delivered, we have to drive for half an hour to pick it up :(

Uhh, okay, enough ranting! Reason for the rant? I ordered from H&M!

As usual, the kitty&photo rule applies, if you try to take a picture of your cat, it runs away, if you try to take a picture of something else, suddenly: CAT!! (The cat in the picture is named Pentax, and it's because she loooves photobombing)

Nothing over the top whootiwhoot, but man! I'm so happy anyway!

The reason I ordered this (and the yumetenbo order, tho it was partly my birthday present to myself), is as a reward. For what? Weight loss. 
When I moved to Japan and started living with my roomie, he introduce me to his decadent eating habits, which of course resulted in a considerable weight gain for me, since I don't have the metabolism of a young man :( And all that white rice. Every day, white rice galore.
That's pretty much the reason why I suddenly stopped wearing light colors, and opted for dark shades. I just felt like the michelin man, and since I moved to Sweden I just didn't feel like dressing up at all, because everything was unflattering and impossible and after a while I just stopped trying.

So, in about January I decided to stop moping around being unhappy about myself, and just do it. Since then, I've lost almost 10kgs! I've actually only lost 9, but I hurried the reward for this time to combine it as a reward for doing two essays and being a total boss on two math tests, haha.
So, I get myself a reward for every lost 5kgs, just something, not running out buying a car or anything.

There's still quite a bit to go till I'm around my desired weight, and I can't really say I see any difference in the mirror(that's why progress pics are a godsend!), I still feel like dressing up more often. Of course I tend to ragequit in the midst of dressing because of reasons, but I still manage to put something together, put on some god damn full make up with lashes n all, style my hair and go out. Allthough my outfits are a mess right now, I'm torned between light colors and dark colors, and those parts of my wardrobe doesn't really match.. Oh well, I'll figure it out! 


Long entry about uninteresting things, but.. well.

New bag!

Spring is seemingly on it's way! The temperature has been above zero for almost a week now, and you can start seeing asphalt even here up north! Finally!

Inspired by the warmer weather and the thought of upcoming spring, I made a bag the other day! I'm kind of pleased with it. Crocheting is way fun!

Forever21

For my birthday I got some things from f21 from my mum, and it's only know I realise the irony, haha.
I'm really happy that they opened up for the European market! They really grew on me during my stay in Japan, and how couldn't it, it's cheap and cute!

And a random shot of the top part of my desk(that my dad did himself!), because I thought it was (rather) tidy and nice for once!

Cold weather

Since there's been quite a while since I last posted an outfit, here we go!
The skirt and tshirt are both sales finds, 60sek altogether!

Perfumes

All ladies(or well, most) loves perfumes, and I'm no exception.
Though, my mum is hypersensitive to smells, so I've never really gotten into actually using them. I remember nagging her for a raspberry scented EdT when I was a kid, and when she finally caved in she got this huge asthma attack because of it. Ow.
That doesn't mean I don't buy some though! And I try to remember using them as often as I can.

These are my favorite ones, and really the only ones I own haha.

 

1. Vivienne Westwood's Boudoir EdP

It's so heavy but so wonderful! I only use it during winter though. 

Me and a friend found it in one of the fancy drugstores along omotesando, for a super discount price! 2500yen! It usually goes for 50€ or something, so it was a real thrift haha. 

2. Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely EdP
The first perfume I ever loved! Celebrity scents are usually.. Not.. a favorite of mine, but this one smells so lovely of flowers that I can't help myself!
It's a very light scent, but it lasts for so long~

3. Lily of the valley solid perfume
Lily of the valley has always been my favorite flower, and I've searched for such a perfume for ages, so imagine my joy when I found this over at Loft a couple of years ago! It smells a 100% like lily of the valley! The best thing about solid perfumes are that they last forever, I think I bought this in summer 2010 or something, and you can barely see the bottom, and there's been no changes in neither texture, color nor smell. And at 800yen that's just awesome.
This is also the only one of my perfumes my mum can stand, so it's the one I currently use..

Northern lights!

Thanks to the solar storm the other day, we had some Northern Lights!
I was surprised to be able to photograph it with my digicam! 
They did of course not turn out as great as the ones you usually see, but, anyway, I'm happy with them!

One of the few nice things about living in Sweden is the possibility to see this, haha.
Did you know that if you whistle during northern lights, it becomes more intense?
It's not scientifically proven though, pretty much nothing about it is, except for "Hey, they're like, moving and stuff".

Recent gets

I update so seldom nowadays! That sucks, and I should do something about it. I guess it's because I don't really use my laptop anymore, the poor thing has gone unused because of the iPhone. And the blogger app kind of sucks, so..

Well it's soon Christmas! I'm going back home after a visit in the south tomorrow and I'm looking forward to spending Christmas with my mum again, this'll be the first time in two years!

I'm working on getting school out of the way, and by the looks of it I should be able to have finished pretty much everything by spring, but I'll have to take language courses someplace else since my municipality doesn't offer any.

Anyway, as the title suggested, here's three recent gets!
Between Christmas and new years it's swedens craziest sale, but since I don't think I'll be able to go to a city during that time I did some shopping at the pre Christmas sale.

Out and about

Been traveling a bit lately, the first step being Uppsala. A dear friend turned twenty!

I don't really know when I'll go back north, tho..

Picture time !
New fancy dress(you know a dress is fancy when even the motif is dressed up), cake, pretending to be a teenager for a while, and norrkoping.

Country life

So, my fifth/fourth day back in Sweden. Everything is going suprisingly well! My bag finally came yesterday, so now I can dress, haha.
I'm pleased that I'm not torn apart inside over leaving Japan, since I thought I'd be completly depressed, haha. But I think I left at a good time. Two years is a long time, and the last 6 months I didn't do anything. I want to live in Japan, but I want to do something, school, work, anything, and right now there's nothing there I can do. I'll soon be back there, anyway!

Things are rolling on good here, thankfully! I'm gonna join the local gym, the last two years haven't been nice to my body, but hopefully with some exercise and home cooked meals I'll be healthy and fine in no time! And next week I'm going to start taking driving lessons!
Gonna sign up for adult school this week too! 

So, what do you do in a village? Let there be pictures!
(Yeah, I abuse instagram lately, it's one of the few sources of entertainment I have)

My mother is unknowingly really trendy with her interior, I noticed!

Went to Systembolaget for the first time! You have to be 20 in Sweden to buy hard liquour. I got candy!

The view. Quite different from the view I had in Tokyo.

Raided my grandmothers attic, 7 wool berets and a nifty suitcase!

Kuro, the kittens mother. She rules with an iron fist!

Keeping my mood up... with kittens!

The departure date is getting closer everyday, and with it comes mixed feelings. I love Japan, this is where I want to be. Naturally, that means I'm plenty upset about leaving. And while I dislike Sweden in so many ways, there'll be good things about it too. Both Japan and Sweden have their pros and cons, so I guess it'll all be good in the end.
I'm trying my best to keep my spirits high about leaving, by thinking about all the bad things about Japan(cockroaches! humidity!), and things in Sweden I look forward to.

So here's a small list of what I'm longing for about Sweden!


1 Food
Of course, swedish food is something I've been craving ever since I left. While teriyaki, sushi, onigiri and ramen is all very delicious, there's just something about the food you've eaten since you were a child, right?  I'm preparing mentally for a weight gain of about 5-10kgs when I come to sweden.. (No, not really! Haha)

2 Friends and family
Allthough my friends are sparse but amazing, and my family small and complex, I miss them all, and it will be one of the best things about returning! Being the "runaway" on my "special adventure"(i.e omg I lived in Tokyo!), homesickness haven't been a top priority of mine, but I know how much my mother and father have missed me, so being able to see them again is going to be fantastic!

3 Fresh air and amazing tap water
When I lived in Uppsala(Swedens 4th biggest city), I complained a bit about the air, that was rather dirty compared to my hometowns. After living in Tokyo for 2 years, I'm thinking my lungs will burst by the clean air! Also, I hardly ever drink tap water in Japan(omg the chlorine taste!!), so being able to drink the tap water at my mums house, that goes from a spring in a neighbouring mountain(yes it's THAT village-y!), will be like drinking tears of angels, I believe.

4 Kitties
Cats are my favorite animal, hands down. I haven't had a cat for 4 years now! And although Japan is filled with cats, they are all very scared, and unlike japanese people, doesn't approach you for a snuggle. And the cats at the cat cafés I've visited are rather .. uninterested in humans.  My mom got a cat lady right after I left for Japan, and this spring she got kittens! Although I didn't get to actually be there, my mom uploaded pictures everyday for me to see their growth! Kittiekittie!

These are the two I'll get! I'll either take them both, or just one.. Or none, depending on what kind of apartment I get..

I might make a list of what I wont miss with Japan, for my own sake. It could be good looking at it when it feels too hard.

Fall wants from F21

Surprisingly enough, the brand that has grown the most on me while living in Japan is not a japanese brand, but an american! Forever21 doesn't have stores in Sweden, and the shipping costs are crazy, so I never really experienced F21 until moving here, and it quickly became a place were I did alot of my shopping. Unlike other overseas brands(like H&M), F21 is still reasonably priced and have a lot of simple, cheap and cute pieces to put together.

Fall is coming up, so I decided to make some collages of things I wouldn't mind wearing!

One other thing I'd add, is loads of dark green stuff. I've been completly obsessed with that color lately, but I have yet to find some nice things sporting it.

Doing this reminded me I need to go by F21 someday before leaving.. Just about 2 weeks left now!

Oh my, is that the time?

For a very long time now, I've been on the hunt for a wristwatch. I've been very peculiar about what kind of watch I wanted, so it took it's sweet time.
But tonight I found it when going to the 100yen shop! (I have the habit to look into every shop that displays watches), and alas, it became mine for just 1050yen!
It's not exactly what I wanted, but it's the closest I've found so far! 

Scarfy scarves scarf

I have a profound fondness for scarves. However, I barely own any at all, which sucks.
But I had been eyeing one at a local shop for a couple of months, and while waiting for a friend in their cool airconditioned shop I saw it was still there, hidden behind a bunch of other scarves! Destiny I believed, and so I bought it!

Since it's brown, and that k ind of pattern is something that's always in style one way or another, I can't think of it as anything less than an awesome purchase.  (Oh and it's HUGE, so that's why there isn't a picture showing it off completly, I simply don't have room in my apartment to photograph it in all it's glory)