Monday. Sigh.

Sigh sigh. I have to write a paper. Like, right now. It's due tomorrow at midnight, you see.

But all I want to do is draw! And maybe embroider and look at pinterest a little. We spent three or four hours yesterday evening madly cleaning out the kitchen cupboards after seeing a moth so it definitely feels like I deserve some drawing and relaxation time in exchange for my sunday evening!

It's a pretty interesting paper though, at least I hope it will be, about diversity in children's television. I'm using the swedish childrens channel as a positive example. Swedish speakers, watch Min familj on svt play! It's a children's show, of course, but I get really excited about it, it makes me feel hopeful for the future. Really smart, articulate, happy kids showing off their families. Your heart will get all warm and fuzzy!

Okay back to writing. I have to get this done so I can do all the other things I have to do... and maybe eventually somehow scrape aside a little drawing and crafting time!

Saturday at the beach

Finally, finally, finally the sun shone and it was swimming weather! We drove south to a tiny town in Halland called Frillesås, to the beach at Vallervik. The water was warm and beach was all sand and no seaweed. It was perfect!

I have seriously been waiting all year for this.

After swimming we went to another, slightly less tiny town, Åsa, and picked up some bread at a bakery. We drove out of town to a church with a beautiful lawn and gardens and a view of the ocean for lunch. This picnic basket is getting some serious use lately!

Ahhhh. I was tempted to begin a career in the church so that I can live here with this view.

And then it was back to Gothenburg. But the sun has continued and tomorrow we plan to go to the ocean again!

Majorna

The sun was finally shining today! We've been in Gothenburg almost three weeks and this is only the second or third time I've seen the sun.

It was also Friday. Hurray! Fridays are the best, even when you're on vacation.

We walked around in the Majorna neighbourhood, a nice area, pretty quiet, with cool second-hand shops and neighbourhood bars. Majorna is what I think cities must have been like in the 70s.

 With neat small shops like this greengrocers. The sign says, Eggs, Potatoes, Vegetables. What more can you need! They also sell pickled herring. So Swedish.

One of the best record shops I've ever been in is in Majorna, it's called Majorna Skivhallen. They had sooooo many albums I was dying over, including an original pressing of Wanda Jackson's first record! I was swooning over this James Bond record. For one thing, I love any "music to do something by" album, and for another I love James Bond and the music from the movies is actually great, unlike a lot of those Music for whatever albums. I didn't buy it though, I only had 20 crowns on me today. Bummer. I need to start moonlighting and earmark all the extra cash for record shopping.

 In Majorna you can also find tiny hot dog stands (famous ones, this one was in a Julkalender (Christmas tv program) with Robert Gustafsson) and camera stores that have been around forever, to judge by the signage.

Tire pumping station. That shade of blue is really the colour of Gothenburg. It's on all the streetcars, among other things.

 These were in the window of a closed antique shop (it was after five pm). Cool, eh?

 We bought a deck of cards from a bookshop and  played gin rummy on a patio while drinking beer. I love fresh cards! Real dockside feeling to this place, with the awnings and cane chairs.

 "Order sandwich cake here." I love smörgåstårta!!!

And that's Majorna! I just have my fingers crossed that the sun will shine tomorrow too so I can finally take my new bikini into the water!

a day in town

I'm in Gothenburg for a few weeks and today we took the streetcar into town. It's so exciting to go shopping in a big city sometimes! I got the latest issue of the magazines Min Boudoir and Vintage Rock n Roll, which I have never ever seen in Uppsala! I'm so excited to read them, I'm going to go to bed right after I write this and start enjoying them!

I also got to go shopping for the sewing group I lead back in Uppsala, we get a little bit of money from an organization called Folkuniversitet and I get to spend it on things to help make the group better! Today I found a book about several types of handiwork (weaving, knitting, embroidery, etc.) at the second hand shop along with bags of different coloured wool, and I picked up a book of crochet patterns for small, cute animals and some basic sewing notions to fill out our stocks. It's so fun to shop for the group and try to find the best, most fun and useful things!

After that shopping spree we partook of an afternoon beer at a place called 7:ans Ölhall (beer hall), it's a real authentic old beer hall in the centre of town that's been there forever. It actually opened in 1900. The prices are not shocking to a small-towner like me and the atmosphere is great, check it out if you're ever in Gothenburg!

Speaking of, one of the cool things about this town is that certain corners of some neighbourhoods seem to have been left in a time warp. Especially one called Majorna. I'm going to go for a walk there one day soon and have lunch, I'll take pictures of all the cool vintage-y stuff I find!

And now for some reading!

a vintage day

I have a strange hobby, or maybe you can call it a pastime. When I'm just sitting around and my mind starts to wander, I sometimes try to imagine what my day would be like if I were living it in the '50s or '60s. Why? Well, I don't know, part of it is just my vintage obsession I suppose. But for me that goes beyond say wearing vintage clothes while living a completely modern life, you know? I want to try to live (some aspects) of my life the way it would have been back then.

For another thing, I read a great novel a few years ago about a man who learns the secret of time travel - surround yourself with sights and experiences that you would see the year you want to go to. Live in that mindset for a couple weeks and one day you'll wake up, look outside - and really be there! (I forget the name of the book but it's by Jack Finney, check it out!). That thought always sticks in my mind - hmm how could I make today look just like a day from the 50s, if I so desired!

Usually I don't "score" very high on getting a real 50/60s type day! Most days start off with checking my phone and doodling around on it - a habit I'd like to break! Take today - woke up and used my very modern phone. I made a casserole for lunch and went grocery shopping by car - would have been better to walk, no?  I also played a computer game, and here I am blogging, with Pinterest and Etsy open in the background! Other days seem a little more 60s-esque, like those days when I ride my bike to work and come home and listen to records or something.

Don't get me wrong, I don't really try to "score" myself on if I am living a real authentic vintage lifestyle or something like that, oh no! It's just a fun way to occupy myself if I can't fall asleep or am at work with nothing much to do, you know, a thought game. On the other hand, it's also a useful way to think about what aspects of my life and the way I fill my time I enjoy, and which habits I'd rather change!

A thoroughly modern Thursday

My tennis practice was rained out for the second week in a row, so I did what any modern, 21st century girl would do. I sat down and hemmed some handkerchiefs instead. (and waited for a sunny day to photograph them, of course!)

I use cotton or linen, 1 foot square (30x30 cm). With cotton I usually machine-hem them, but with soft fabrics like linen it's almost as easy to hand-roll the edges, and it looks so elegant. I prefer white, because it's so easy to wash all your white things at once and stick them in the sun to dry. Otherwise I like to use fabric scraps from cottons I've sewn with, as in these green ones. Sometimes I initial or monogram them, but I don't always get around to it. The pattern for these initials comes from an old book of my grandmother's.

Handkerchiefs are one of those things I love because they are so perfectly practical, as well as being a little bit old-fashioned. Not to mention their versatility as an accessory. But I love things that are perfectly simple, designed to suit one purpose very well, and with no superfluous bits. Things like Converse sneakers, white t-shirts, and sturdy handkerchiefs.

It doesn't hurt that they are reusable, and it's so much nicer to pull one out of your purse or pocket than it is to use a kleenex!

lounge

I took the life-affirming decision this morning that even a girl with a thesis to write can have a lazy Sunday now and then. I'm not sure I can call this a conscious decision. When I saw that I'd slept in almost two hours past my dutifully set alarm, I took it as a sign and kept my pyjamas on, lounged around and listened to Radio Deluxe with John Pizarelli, the jazz guitarist, and Jessica Molaskey.

I sewed these a while ago from a vintage pattern. They have this beautiful yoke and little puffy bloomers.

Yesterday I dried my white laundry in the sun. There's no feeling like sleeping in fresh pyjamas in a freshly-aired bed. These ones make me feel like I fell asleep in the 60s and just woke up, which is a sensation I like to cultivate whenever possible.