Amalie's (still) Untitled Blog

Why my leg burns...

2012-01-29T23:59:00.000+01:00

I really am way too tired to blog, but since Nick already did a post, i had too as well.

Today was Sascha and Anki's last day here. It was also the first real snow day!
We got up relatively early, for a Sunday, got in the car, picked up Nick and headed for the flea market.
It's been so long since we'd been there last and damn! They'd gotten some good stuff! We bought a bunch of awesome things for home and shop, but i'll do a post with them, and our weekend with the Germans, later.
When our feet had reached near-frostbite status, we went back to the shop where something unlikely and super special happened: i got tattooed by Nick!

I can't say how many years we've been talking about this, or how many ideas i've gone through before this one, but the tattoo i ended up getting has been in the works for over a year.
I was supposed to get it last January, on the day we did our WotW tattoos, but we ran out of time.
And good thing we did, cause what we ended up doing today is just perfect!

Allan developed pictures in our new photo lab while Nick tattooed me, and we had a super nice day. And i'm happy to say that my nerves were within acceptable parameters. I think getting drawn in for two hours prior to getting tattooed helps calm a person down too!
Ok, enough talk, i'm watching Trek and eating chocolate and you probably just wanna see a picture anyway!

Catching dream catchers?

The dream catcher was totally Nick's idea by the way! Isn't it awesome?

I love how we were both completely on the same page about all of this!

Antlers, antlers, antlers

2012-01-25T23:59:00.000+01:00

Before therapy today, i sat down and did some writing. Some "just-for-me" writing, which i almost never do because i always have two blogs and two twitter accounts to update, and a million emails to answer too.
But it felt so good, i think i'm gonna try to do that at least once a week or so.
Not a diary, but just... writing.

Therapy was great, by the way.
I was in kind of a crappy mood earlier (ok, a really crappy mood), but now i feel energized and content.
It's just a theory, but i think my crappy mood, and a general feeling of depression i've had for a few days, may have been caused by all the drinking and junk food eating i did this weekend. Being off sugar and fatty stuff for weeks only to turn around and eat nothing but that for a few days can't be fun for the body. So i'm happy to report that i am back in healthy land again!
For dinner; wholegrain pitas stuffed with all kinds of veggies and quinoa and quorn chicken, and for snacks; nuts and raisins. Yeah, that's more like it.

I haven't taken a single picture today, not even for instagram, and wow, do you have any idea how rare that is for me? Anyway, we wouldn't want a post with no pictures, so here are some more from Friday's Burlesque Party Extravaganza!

Me...

And my long-ass ponytail!

Silly Mille after about two bottles of champagne

Pretty!

Hello Sofie!

I don't know what's going on here, but whatever it is, i approve

My husband is cooler than your husband

No, really, he is

Hunter and prey?

The first of many group phots

Lucifer got to pose in a few of them too

How we really felt!

I call this series "attack of the fancy forest creatures"!

I'll post a few more from the party another time when i have no current photos to post.
It's nice to have backups!

One of those posts where i use the word "awesome" a little too much

2012-01-24T23:04:00.000+01:00

I am pooped, you guys.
I can't even remember why i thought me blogging would be a good idea, since i can barely focus on watching my Trek!
But i'm gonna try and finish this before i nod off anyway.

Back in November when Sarah was here, i'd made a custom hat for her, and as payment, we decided to do a trade, fascinator for tattoo. I love trading, but who doesn't!?

((Oh man, i just zoned out there for a minute, Dax is totally hitting on Worf and let's not even start on the chief and major Kira!))

Anyway! Long story short, as i wrote on Sunday, Sarah was back for a few, short days, and on monday, the other first day of the new year, i got my first tattoo of 2012.
And it is awesome.
In fact, Sarah's whole visit has been awesome. Lots of good food, good times, massive amounts of Star Trek and even some antiquing, and that's basically the stuff awesome is made of!

((Damn, that episode was so good, i'm gonna watch it again with Allan right now!))

(1. Sarah and Lucifer having a moment... was this Sunday? I can't even photoshop pictures in order, i'm so tired 2. I tried not to let it ever happen, but it did, i finished it 3. Saturday night hangover junk food bonanza! 4. Tattoo time! 5. My pretty moth tattoo, about an hour later... isn't he fantastic? 6. Later that night, fun with nail polish! 7. Walking to the shop in the beautiful weather 8. A few of our antique finds: matching belts of total awesomeness!)

I don't know, but i think i might like this way of posting my instagram pictures; randomly whenever i feel like it, better than the weekly-turned-monthly approach.

Let's face it, i'm just not a "features" person!

And now, because i never posted a picture of it here on the blog, Sarah's hat!

And the other side...

... and one of Jacqueline wearing it... pretty!

Sunday sneak peek

2012-01-22T18:18:00.001+01:00

Yesterday we were on the couch all day.
All day.
Some of us felt worse than others.
Me, i was one of the lucky ones. Just a little dizziness and a general feeling of having had way too much champagne.
Mille was on the couch with us until she felt well enough to get in a taxi, and later Sarah came and took her spot for Trek and junk food night.
Oh, sweet junk food, you were needed.

Today has been more productive. We've been cleaning all day because i read that that's what you're supposed to do before Chinese new years. I'm superstitious and i don't want to piss of no dragon with my dirty apartment!
It's nice now, ready for another night on the couch, hopefully with a few more people and some more good foods.

Oh, the sneak peek part!
Yes, we were fancy on Friday. Fancy i tell ya!
Here, see for yourself.

After fake hair, before fake lashes

Me and chief yodels-at-boobs

Fluffy tails!

Three bottles of champagne before ever leaving the house is about two too many... if you were wondering

More pictures soon!

On the subject of babies

2012-01-18T22:05:00.000+01:00

Yesterday i had a bad day.
I was depressed.
Like, without the anxiety, which i haven't had much of this year, thank god, just depressed.
The can't-get-out-of-bed-cries-for-no-reason kind of depressed.
I don't feel like that often, but it is winter and it is dark and i am a sensitive girl, so when things don't go my way, i guess it's only natural that i get sad.

But i didn't start writing a blog post about being sad, because, well, that's no fun!
I started writing this because my day got better, and because i have something on my mind.

See, i went on a journey last night. A journey that took me and Lucifer outside the city, by public transportation, no less (which by the way is crazy expensive, but that's a rant i won't bore you with here) to my brothers house where we were to properly meet my new nephew!

Little Gilbert (again, such a badass name) was asleep when we got there, and stayed that way for hours, but that was fine; he was still cute to look at, and it gave Lucifer a chance to play with Carla, and me a chance to hang out with my family. But after we'd had dinner, they finally woke him up, and boy did he get even cuter!
He was farting and pooping (loud pooping!) and sneezing and crying and making faces and all those things i assume babies normally do, that i am only now finding interesting.
And i got to hold him; something i have been looking forward to ever since he arrived.

It's weird, all of a sudden finding a baby interesting (seriously, those tiny feet are just amazing and weird and amazing!), and i don't think many girls my age would be able to sit with one that she's that closely related to without wondering... is this for me? Do i see this in my future?

I don't usually write about anything that personal... i mean, of course i write about personal stuff all the time, but to me this is like a whole other level of personal, but i'm mentioning it anyway because i am sick of people asking.
No, i am sick of people thinking it's ok to ask.
"So, when are you two gonna have some babies" is a question i have been asked by countless friends, relatives, co-workers and, oddly enough, mostly complete strangers, pretty much since the day me and Allan got married, and i have resented it every time.
What makes people think that's an ok question to ask someone?
Do you also ask strangers about their salary, medical history, whether they have an embarrassing rash, what their favorite sexual position is, if they fight a lot with their partner, if they're scared of death?
Maybe, but i sure as hell don't and i've never been asked any of those questions by a stranger, so it can't be that common. But the baby one is.

I often wonder how i would feel if i was infertile and someone asked me, in that annoying playful tone of theirs, if it isn't about time we had some kids?
Cause they don't know, do they?
I could be. For all they know, we could have been trying for years with no luck, and they could ask me that, and i could die a little on the inside every time, and i would probably go home and cry and feel like an incomplete human being, just because some stranger doesn't grasp the concept of smalltalk.
It could very well be a touchy subject, and in some ways, in my marriage, it is.
One of us is deeply undecided and confused, and the other one would be happier if the subject of children never came up again, ever. So as you can maybe guess, that question has given us some awkward moments over the years. Moments we've then been forced to share with people we don't know.
Which is just great, right?
Yeah, everyone loves having an awkward private moment in public!

So, i guess what i'm trying to say, on behalf of myself and all my childless sisters* out there, is...
it's none of your fucking business!

I don't like it when people assume i'm gonna have kids, and i think it's equally offensive when they assume i'm not gonna have kids (maybe even more because, hey, nice of you to call me old, asshole!)
Maybe it's just the reckless assumption-making that's pissing me off?
But somehow i think not.
In conclusion; people need to mind their own business.

Ok, angry rant over, back to Gilbert!

He really was a sweet and mellow little dude, who by the way looks so much like my brother as a baby it's freaky, and i really hope i'll get to see him again soon.

Those little suckers change and grow so fast and i don't wanna miss it just because we don't like in the same city anymore.

And you guys, i am gonna buy so much crap for this guy in Japan!

Getting his diaper changed was no fun

Being held by grandma, on the other hand, was totally fine

Gilbert in various stages of consciousness... and Gilbert sneezing!

*This goes out to all the single girls too. Although i have been married since forever, i understand just how sucky it must feel to be asked why you're still not in a relationship, like that's anyones business.

But i know that sadly, this is kind of a common question too.

Don't you just hate it when...

2012-01-17T01:40:00.000+01:00

I was playing around with the look of the blog, since i finally had the time for it (also, new year, new design, right?) when my photoshop started being a total jerk.
Even Allan, who's way more of a wiz than me, can't make it perform the simple tasks i need it to perform.
So yeah, if everything looks a little unfinished and like i did it in five minutes, it's because it is and i did!

Maybe in a few days i'll try again, but until then, please excuse the mess.

It's not that i've having, like, a super bad day.
I mean, i made soup, and soup day is always kind of great, and i found a fake ponytail for the party on Friday...
But today we found out that the last apartment that we looked at, and liked, was not given a green light by our man-in-the-know.*
It's better to know now, than to have ones rent jacked up in two years, but that doesn't really make me feel any better right now.
It's just... it was really pretty and i wanted to live there, and if i can't have a pretty apartment, at least my photoshop should work!!

You know what? I'm just gonna go to bed now.

*Meaning, a nice neighbor of my parents who's in real estate.

Catching up time

2012-01-15T22:48:00.000+01:00

It's Sunday night and i'd say we've had a pretty amazing weekend.

On Friday i had to go home due to a mild case of food poisoning.* One minute i was fine, the next i was losing my lunch and breakfast in the staff toilet. I can't even remember the last time i threw up before this, so i was more surprised than anything!
I know this doesn't sound like an amazing start to the weekend, but to me it was. See, i don't think i've ever in my adult life had a bad food reaction that wasn't followed by a panic attack turning bad into worse, but you guys; this time i stopped it. Like, with the power of my mind, just talked myself right out of panicking.
I'm not saying i'm cured of anxiety, but this was a huge step for me, and because of that, i spent my night on the sofa with a weak stomach, but still feeling stronger than ever.

Saturday we had a sushi date! Yes, my husband invited me out, and apparently it had been too long since we'd been to Bento last, cause the whole family gave us a hard time for not coming by more often! I guess we have to go back there soon. I felt a little nervous before going, not knowing if i was gonna be able to eat normally or not, but the food was delicious and my stomach was better already.
After dinner we went by the movie theater to pick up popcorn and took them home on the couch for movie night. It's always funny to see how people stare at us when we come riding, two on one bike, and the person in front (me), is laughing and trying to eat the popcorn with no hands before they fly out of the bucket.
I live for these moments.

Today we went to the shop to get a lesson in photo developing from the photographer who sold us most of our equipment, and to meet up with our partners in burlesque partying, Mille and Sofie, for some costume planning. We're so excited to start using the photo room, and the fitting went great too, it was especially fun to see us all in the hats i've been making for the occasion!

Right now, it's Trek time on the couch.
I've had Thai food and ice cream already, so i don't think i can squeeze in anymore snacking before it's back to eating healthy again... well, maybe just a few peanuts.

(1. I'm working my ass off, but unfortunately it's still there! 2. Ready for a date night in the first mismatched clothes that fell out of the closet 3. Handsome hubby at Bento 4. Riding to the shop in the sun!)

*Turns out, fake bacon is not leftover lunch material after all.

Good news, bad news, no news

2012-01-12T13:48:00.000+01:00

We came to work early this morning to go see an apartment in the neighborhood.
It was one of those viewings that leaves you even more confused and undecided than you were before seeing it.
I loved it, but did i love it enough? It wasn't perfect, but is anything ever perfect?
The kitchen was so beautiful, but with a lot less cupboard space than we have now. There were more rooms, and bigger rooms, but the bedroom was kinda small. There was no balcony, but a pretty great backyard... confusing stuff.
I don't know, and i'm gonna need to think about this some more. Allan too.
And can i just say that i hate the fact that being so desperate to move as i am, makes it impossible for me to see things for what they really are? I just want this, and i want it now, and i am beyond sick of people telling me that "these things take the time they need to take, and before you know it the right place will just magically appear and be worth the wait"... thanks, but i am familiar with all the cliche's and i don't need to hear them again.
I have been very patient and i have been sensible. Now i'm over it, and i want the next chapter to begin already.

Enough angry ranting, it's probably just rain and a serious lack of caffeine making me cranky!

In more awesome news, my etsy shop is finally having a January sale!
Most items (except really new ones) are on sale, many at almost half price.
So please go check it out, and feel free to tweet or post a link or whatever if you wanna be extra sweet.

Etsy shop on the shop computer... no, it's not really that dark in here, but it's damn close

This little dude is 40% off this month

I think another thing that really bothers me about this whole apartment hunting thing ( i guess i wasn't quite done ranting) is how little i am going to get out of my money and efforts in this city.

Let me explain; every day i see pictures on my friends blogs and instagrams of the places they live. Some in warmer climates and some in cold ones like mine, but so many of them live in or around beauty. Lakes, mountains, forests, open spaces, clear skies. And that's just the ones who live close to the country. There are city dwellers too, of course, but even they have more spacious, more awesome apartments that cost less than half the price of mine, in far more interesting places than what i'm striving for. Which is just plain Nørrebro, Copenhagen.

Rent in Copenhagen is so, so high, and apartments in the city cost a fortune, and for what?

A better spot in a city i don't even love that much?

Some days i truly feel that the only reason i live here is because i happened to be born here, and just stuck around.

I'm telling you, if it wasn't for our wonderful and finally finished shop, i'm not sure i'd stick around much longer.

Two pages of good intentions

2012-01-11T23:59:00.000+01:00

One of my 12 (+1) new years resolutions, i believe it's number one actually, was to continue one of the better habits i picked up in 2011: exercise.
The goal is to work out a minimum of four times a week.
It doesn't matter if it's 10 minutes of pilates or an hour of yoga, as long as i get something done besides the 20-30 minutes i already spend on my bike daily.
Not too unrealistic, but still challenging for a couch potato like me.
So far it's all happening in my living room with the help of my usual workout dvd's, but i am actually considering joining a gym, so i have somewhere to just run if i feel like it.*
I took a short break over new years, but starting January 3rd, i got back into it, and i've been doing good since then, and i'm actually feeling really proud of myself for once.

I decided, after writing down my resolutions, that in January, two of the four days should be Jillian Michaels days, and i've been sticking to that too, even though that woman kills me!
Her and her damn perky evil minions... grrr...
Anyway, the thing is, i'm not just doing the exercise thing because of anxiety and general well-being, although those are still the main reasons.
No, i also want to drop a few pounds (hopefully at least one before next Friday when i'll basically be wearing underwear in public). I wanna feel pretty, dammit, and i wanna be happy with my body before we're off to Japan where i can finally shop, something most of you know i rarely do in Copenhagen.
But i realized that if i wanted to lose weight, i'd have to change more than my workout routine, and so, as i mentioned in the previous post, i'm slowly changing my eating habits too.
And here's the great thing about this exercise crap; besides feeling good and having more energy, it motivates you to change things you maybe couldn't before. All of a sudden i don't really wanna eat so much junk food and that made changing the way i eat a lot easier.

Again, it's nothing too drastic, just cutting out some processed foods, sugar, and carbs like white bread and maybe potatoes (i haven't decided on potatoes and tomatoes yet, Sam!). And dairy too, i guess, which isn't a huge problem since i don't eat that much cheese to begin with. I cut out caffeine a while ago, thank god, cause quitting that and sugar at the same time would have been hell (for everyone)!
I wonder if changing my diet wouldn't have been a lot easier if i wasn't a vegetarian, but really, the only thing i'm really missing so far is chocolate and popcorn, and the occasional sandwich.
I'm sure it'll get worse, and i'm not gonna be super strict about this either.
I'll continue to practice my yearlong "anything-is-allowed-on-weekends" philosophy, but i hope that with the sugar gone on weekdays, i'll see some results anyway.

I already had one little victory today: i could fit my black leggings-jeans from Uniqlo that have always been a bit too tight for me. Total success. If fitting into really small skinny jeans isn't motivating, i don't know what is!

Uhm, i sometimes forget that i have a good and a bad side now... oh well, jeans!

There was a lot more to the new years resolutions list than this, obviously since there where about 12 of them, but maybe i'll write about some of them some other time.

Now, i'm gonna get the blu-ray (is that even how you spell it? It looks wrong) warmed up, so i can be ready to start season three of DS9 as soon as Allan comes home!

*Cause you know i'll never become one of them, the Joggers of Copenhagen.

Wheat

2012-01-10T23:11:00.000+01:00

I'm planning on staying off some bread and other stuff for a while, so I'm glad we got to have a pizza night on Sunday before that. It had been way too long. Maybe I can get my hands on some crazy gluten-free-super-healthy-power-flour or something, so i can keep having pizza? Nah, it's the real deal or nothing at all.

Good dough

This got delivered to my door this morning, it's a late Christmas present from my sweet parents, and i am looking forward to trying it out*

*I may even make an exception to my own rules and read the manual for this one!

Pinecones and pearls

2012-01-05T23:29:00.001+01:00

I gotta say; cutting back on cigarettes and kicking his 40-minute-shower habit has turned Nick in to an exemplary house guest. He was actually supposed to move on to the next friendly couch today, but we're having so much fun, we decided to keep him for a couple more days!
Having the whole Conspiracy gang together again is SO much fun, and today we even had Chriss at the shop too. Lucky us!

Besides doing regular shop work, and hanging out lots, i have mostly been barricaded in the drawing room for the better part of the last few days. I've been so preoccupied with making those antler hats i mentioned in the last post, that i almost can't think of anything else. It's awesome!
And it's going so well i might actually finish them tomorrow, way before my deadline. I did mention that i needed them for the dress up party, right? Well, i do, but the party isn't until the 20th, so we still have plenty of time to work on the rest of our costumes.
Anyway, about the hats, i can't figure out if i wanna put them on etsy or not? It seems a little pointless since no one buys my crazy stuff, and i don't wanna sell them cheap (those antlers took forever!).
In situations like this, i wish i had my own little shop just for crap like this, where i could at least exhibit them in a cool way. On the other hand, owning one shop is kind of more than enough...

This is what my desk has looked like for days (i'm almost looking forward to cleaning it up tomorrow)

Three almost finished pieces

Oh, and my new years break from exercising is over!

I am back on the workout-dvd wagon and i have the achy thighs and back to prove it.

Feels good, though, and i'm still quietly hoping i'll be able to drop a few belly pounds before the 20th.

Not that i'm vain, noooo, not me, but no one likes to flaunt their potbelly in public. Do they?

The New Years post

2012-01-03T00:08:00.000+01:00

New Years.
For me is usually all about partying. I rarely party so new years for me has always been a great excuse to dance, drink cocktails and be a little crazy*.
But, and i'm sure i speak for a ton of people here; new years is almost never the party it's supposed to be. Sure, sometimes it's fun, sometimes even great fun, but most times it's hardly even worth the hangover.

This winter i haven't really felt like keeping up with any traditions. I found it hard to get into the Christmas spirit and i really didn't feel like i needed the added pressure of new years, not this year.
Also, we weren't invited to anything that really sounded fun until the last minute, and so instead we decided to just skip it. Skip new years.
Yeah, about that...
That's not exactly how it worked out. I may not have been in the mood for traditions, but i couldn't just ignore them altogether either!
So we pretty much did what we usually do... for the most part; we dressed up nice (like i could resist my annual opportunity to wear hats and heels? Please...), we made a great dinner, we had sparklers, champagne, cocktails, the whole thing.
But we stayed home. Martin came over for dinner, and Helle, Michael and the kids came by for a quick glass of wine before they had to put the little rascals to bed.
And, much to everyones surprise, Martin ended up staying with us till three in the morning!
We talked, listened to records, danced to lost of awesome 80's albums and drank.
It was everything i always look for in a great new years eve, and i found it in my own living room.

Me and Allan ended up staying up till past six, playing Guitar Hero, which is so, so hard to do when you're a little drunk, but also so much more fun!

Oh, and my outfit!
I wore a vintage dress i've had forever, leopard shoes that i've had even longer, and a really special hat i made in December, that i can't believe i didn't post here...?
I made it at the same time as the antler pieces (that i also haven't posted much about here for some reason), and, for once, it's more of a hat than a fascinator.
And the special part, besides that i think it turned out so awesome, is that i finally got to use this pretty vintage netting with a pretty bow, that one of Allan's clients gave me once.
And this hat... you guys, this hat just sits so well on the head, even in shitty thin hair like mine.
I danced, and at one point during the night even banged my head, and that shit just stayed put.
Actually, putting it like that, i don't think i really wanna sell this!

Allan was sweet to take a million pictures of me before our guests arrived, and because i like them, and i rarely ever have real, non-iPhone pictures on the blog anymore, i'm just gonna go ahead post a bunch of them!
Imagine how much better this look would be if i had a nice hairdo, though? Sadly, i lack the patience, skills and hair quality to do that.
Maybe i should work on that in 2012... or just buy more wigs!

... i obviously didn't know about this one until i transferred the photos today...

The new year on instagram

(1. it was cold when we walked the dog in the afternoon 2. fancy 70s table 3. Helle and Kingston 4. awesome dinner and Martin 5. resting my sore feet 6. midnight 7.moments before slipping into sweatpants... 8. or in Allan's case, even less than that!)

The next day was spent watching Trek, nursing mild hangovers and eating a ton of leftovers... and of course, lots of cuddles

*I drink two or three times a year, and i've almost come to look forward to my January 1st hangover.

Sooo, first post of the year, eh?

2012-01-02T18:06:00.001+01:00

Oh hi guys!
How's 2012 treating you so far?
I don't wanna come off as too crazy optimistic (but i'm totally gonna anyway), but doesn't it already feel like it's gonna be the best year ever?
I had a great new years eve, and a great January 1st, so i'm pretty stoked already, but apart from that, this year just has a vibe of some kind, doesn't it? It just feels good and different and better than the previous year, or something.

Anywho, i would love to write more about our awesome new years eve, and i'm gonna; in fact the pictures have been uploaded already, but i can't right now.
Why? Because our BFF just got here, that's why!
Yes, Nick just landed this afternoon, and he's gonna be with us the whole month.
How can January not be awesome?

Awesomeness

(1. Nick gets us up to date on his life the past 6 months 2. Souvenir! We're gonna use him to save up for our next Hong Kong trip 3. Allan listens and Lucifer nods off 4. Happy year of the dragon... soon!)

Ok, gotta go make burgers with the guys!

Happy new year everyone!

The best thing to happen all year

2011-12-31T16:18:00.001+01:00

I know i wasn't gonna blog today, but what the hell; i have the time and i have the exciting news.
Exciting for me anyway!
Last night we went to a hospital 40 minutes north of Copenhagen to visit my first nephew.
He wasn't even supposed to be born this year, but i for one am glad he decided to show up early.
I'm already excited to see him again, and maybe even get to hold him!

Gilbert Leonardo Pedersen... mad props to my brother and his wife for picking suck a kickass name!

Ok, gotta go cook a nice new years dinner.

Have a happy new year, everyone!

Ps. Thanks for the lovely comments on the previous post, they make blogging and over-sharing worth it!

I know it doesn't matter, but...

2011-12-30T16:34:00.000+01:00

I wanna make some New Years resolutions this year.
Not grand, unrealistic plans, nothing like that. No, i just wanna put into words the things i wanna continue doing, or do better, next year. Simple goals and simple wishes.
I didn't do any last year, and i actually regretted that. It's not supposed to matter, but it does.
2011 has been an interesting, but not always good, year for me.
Challenging would be one way to put it i guess.

The year started out pretty crappy.
The earthquake and tsunami that hit our beloved Japan destroyed tens of thousands of lives, and broke our hearts. It was also the reason we haven't been to Japan in over a year. 2011 is the first year since 2005 i haven't been in Tokyo at all, and i don't like it one bit.
I could go on and on about this tragedy, an ongoing tragedy that's barely getting any media attention any more, but this post is supposed to be... i don't know what it's supposed to be really? A quick summary? Something like that, cause i don't think i'll have time for it tomorrow.

Anyway, the first six months of 2011 weren't great for me.
I started taking this anti-acne medication in January and had to keep taking it until June.
This medication is so strong and so potentially dangerous that it's used only as a last resort for those who don't respond to any other treatment. Having suffered from moderate to severe acne since i was 13, there really weren't any other options left.
Considering that a known side effect of the medication is suicidal thoughts, i got off fairly easy.
For those 6 months, my skin, and lips in particular, were so dry that i wasn't allowed to leave my house without chapstick or wash my hair more than once a week, and every month i had to go to the dermatologist and assure the doctor that i wasn't pregnant. Yeah, another side effect of the pills are severe birth defects, so had i gotten pregnant, i would have been forced to have an abortion.
Good thing that wasn't an issue for us, but still, it took some extra planning to make sure that i 100% would not get pregnant!
Those pills were also the reason we didn't do any work on my elephant piece at all during that time. After seeing how bad the one little tattoo i did get healed, i wasn't taking any more chances, so for a long time, i had to put all tattoo projects on hold.

For those first months of the year, i also started seeing a therapist for the first time in my life.
That in itself was a good experience, but when our sessions came to an end, i wasn't actually better off than before i started.
It took several terribly frightening panic attacks for me to finally realize that i'd only scratched the surface of my anxiety problems, and that much more work was ahead of me if i ever wanted to live a life that wasn't controlled by fear and insecurity.
The panic attacks affected every trip we went on in 2011, and even now, i can't think of Hong Kong, Prague or London with anything but mixed feelings. That's the thing with panic attacks; they attach themselves to memories, taint them, and make themselves the one thing you remember above all else. Above all the good stuff.
I still have a long way to go, but at least i'm learning so much about myself, and life en general, in the process.

So yeah, lots of panic and anxiety this year, and it certainly didn't help my already kind of fragile state that my beloved grandfather died in June.
At the time, i thought the most important thing was "handling the situation well", and being strong for him and my family. Feeling sorry for myself for losing a loved one, or even grieving properly, was not something i allowed myself to do, and it came back to bite me in the ass later.
But i am ok, now. I miss him, so much, but after giving myself permission to grieve and cry for my loss, i got better.

Wow, it really sounds like i've had a sucky year, huh?
But seriously, it hasn't been that bad.
Because of my anxiety, and the therapy i've been going to, i am realizing a lot of things about myself that i never knew:

-I am learning to be less insecure, and care less about other people's opinion of me.
As a result, i am being more open, creatively, and because i spend less time worrying about people judging my work, i have started drawing and painting again. And instead of hiding the results in drawers and folders, i am sharing them on the internet, and even framing a few of my doodles and hanging them in my apartment!
I've said yes to some fairly challenging millinery projects that i would have hesitated to work on before, and built myself a new website with the purpose of promoting myself and my work a little better.
I'm learning that everything i do and make doesn't have to be perfect, or better than anybody else's work, it's ok that it's my best and that i enjoyed making it.

-I am learning not to let people walk all over me, and that sometimes, it's ok to put myself first.
In the past, and 2011 as well, i've been so helpful at times it's ridiculous. I would do so much and it would go completely unnoticed and unappreciated, and the disappointment in people i considered friends would just break my heart. I realized that some people in my life took my kindness for granted, and others just plain used me as a doormat. I am still working on setting boundaries and occasionally saying no, and limiting contact to those who'd take advantage of my kind nature; whether they know it or not.

-I'm getting better and better at thinking positive and appreciating what i got. It's hard breaking a life long pattern of bitching and complaining and putting other people down, but when you stop and feel the results, it's so worth it. I've had to leave the room on occasion (or aggressively change the subject) when friends or family members start ranting about stuff or people that bothers them in a way that's nonconstructive, but the more i stay away from that kind of thinking, the happier i am.
It's scary how natural it comes to people, though, and how much it bothers them to be called out on it, and in some cases, i fear it's too late to change, but that doesn't mean that i have to take part in the complaining and the talking about people behind their back. In fact, i don't have to listen to it at all.

-I'm exercising more. I hate exercise, but it's a great way to rid the body of anxiety and stress, and with that as my motivation, i look forward to continue this new habit in 2012.

-My husband. He's obviously not something i'm learning about myself, but he is someone i appreciate more and more each day. Every time my friends or family have let me down, he's been there, being loving and supportive, and making me feel not alone and not crazy.
The life we have together is so special and awesome, i can't even describe it.
We get to go to work together every day, to a shop we both love, and we get to be stupid and make each other laugh all the time. And we let each other change and turn into new people all the time, without judging and without fear of losing each other.

.... oh, god, what a rant!
Why didn't you stop me? And why didn't i save this for tomorrow?
Well, because tomorrow is New Years eve, and even though this is gonna be the most relaxed, almost anti-New Years eve, ever*, i'd still rather spend the day cooking than blogging!
Oh, and blogging more in 2012 is definitely gonna be on the resolutions list! I know it's been a slow year on the untitled blog, but i've had stuff on my mind, and stuff to work out, and the pressure of daily posting just wasn't something i needed at this time.
But i look forward to seeing where this soon to be 4 year old blog is going. And if and when i hit 500 followers, this anti-giveaway blogger is definitely doing a special giveaway!

One last really good thing about 2011 (although it hasn't even happened yet): sometime today i am going to be an aunt. How great of a way to end the year is that? Pretty great, i think.

If you read this far; thanks for having the attention span of a fucking wizard, and for sticking with me this year!
I wish you all a very happy New Year and a fantastic non-apocalyptic 2012!

Ps. By the way; the medication worked and i am basically acne free for the first time in my adult life. Only someone who suffers from this, or another equally socially crippling skin disease, can fully understand how crazy and awesome that feels. I only wish i'd done it sooner so i could have maybe had a few years of no acne and no wrinkles... no such luck, i'm afraid, but i'm still pretty stoked!

*The plan is this: make lots of food, dress up, eat the food together with our friend Martin, have some drinks, play Xbox and pass out on the couch. No decorations, no fireworks and no parties. I'm pretty excited about that!

What i wore for Christmas

2011-12-28T02:00:00.000+01:00

You know me; as much as i love dressing casual for most weekends and workdays (hell, 90% of the time i don't even bother putting on mascara), i also LOVE dressing up, so even though events like Christmas are pretty low-key, and only attended by family members, i still dress up for that shit.
My mom does it as well, so that's probably where i get it.

(1. makeup! clip-on acorn earrings were a gift from a friend and the ring is my moms old wedding ring 2. Wood Wood dress that Christel gave me, tights from day 21, shoes from Japan, vintage belt 3. not so fancy Christmas nails; candy apple red with snowflake stickers 4. part of our tree... live candles, of course)

Even though it looks like me and Allan will be staying home for new years this year (i know, it's my yearly get-drunk-and-act-like-a-fool-day, so i'm weirded out by the thought too), you bet your ass i'm gonna dress up for that too!

What a difference...

2011-12-27T15:53:00.001+01:00

We're back from the country.
We had a great Christmas, but it's good to be home too.
The weather was, and is, unusually mild for this season, which meant lots of fog most of the time.
Except on the 24th. Which was perfect.

Foggy view from our bedroom on the 23rd

Same view the next day

I took lots of walks on the beach this time... you can really lose yourself here, in a good way

Bisserup randoms from instagram

We go back to work tomorrow for a few days and although i love just being at home, i'm looking forward to check in at the shop and make sure everything is ok.

And to continue on some hat projects, of course.

The Christmas post

2011-12-24T15:49:00.001+01:00

This is just a super quick post, because everything is going so well and on time and perfectly planned (for once, we're usually pretty slow), that i don't wanna screw it up by getting lost in blogging!

I am having a wonderful day with my family* in the country, but we're a few hours from eating (the house is really starting to smell great!), so i do have time to take a break and wish you all, both my more active readers and my many lurkers, a merry Christmas!

I hope you have a wonderful day/night too, wherever you are and whatever your holiday traditions, if any, may be.

The 24th was a Trek present!!

Me and my mom took a walk in the afternoon; the weather has been spectacular all day!

*Missing someone special, though, it's our first year celebrating Christmas without my grandfather and i can't not mention how much we love and miss him.

Calendar treats

2011-12-23T15:04:00.001+01:00

Those who don't follow me on instagram* may have though that my husband only did a few days of Christmas calendar presents for me this year, since i only posted the one from the 2nd of December and then not a peep since.
But that's not true, he's been doing them every day, it's just that once i realized we were halfway through the month and i still hadn't posted any more, i figured that i might as well wait until the end.
Not the end-end, though, but who knows if there'll be time for blogging tomorrow?
It is Christmas after all!

So here they are, or most of them, cause i didn't take pictures of 1 and 3, apparently.
Probably for good reason... some things aren't meant for the internet.

(2. a gift certificate to Sort Kaffe & Vinyl so i could get my weekly coffee while Allan was in Norway... so sweet! 4. the new Feist album 5. the cutest Hello Kitty cup, with tiny marshmallows, from a gas station in Norway 6. tiny hamster 7. under pants! 8. Kitty candy 9.lacy stuffs 10. Bollywood record that i still haven't heard, dammit 11. last season of Voyager... i might cry when it's done 12. Danish flapjacks 13. pretty, pretty socks 14. pretty green tights 15. best organic chocolates 16. 30 Rock... we killed this already 17. more pretty socks that i happen to be wearing right now 18. Robot Chicken 19. more flapjacks 20. delicious organic Pukka teas 21. grey and black tights 22. Wallaby bar and flapjack (yes, i love those) 23. pringle pattern tights... and that's it so far. Last one of the year tomorrow!)

*I also realize that i haven't, at all, been keeping up with my "this week/month on instagram" feature... i'm still not sure if it's dead or if i'm just taking a break!

Coming down

2011-12-18T21:30:00.001+01:00

Today is Sunday, which means i had my weekly coffee this afternoon.
And i am just now, at 9.30 coming down from the caffeine buzz.
Or, crashing is probably more like it. This plus still having a cold means i could probably go to sleep right now and not get up for another 12 hours.

Today (and yesterday too) we went to the shop to set up the photo lab.*
It's pretty much done, and we pretty much have everything ready, now we just need the time and to, uhm, teach ourselves how to use it too.
We'd planned to try it today, but Allan ended up having to do a photo shoot, but since his first client of the week called in sick, we're hopeful about getting to try it out tomorrow instead.

Oh, and what did i do with my caffeine induced productiveness?
Made paper mâché antlers, of course!

My desk is suck a fucking mess now

More layers tomorrow, and maybe paint too... and then a few more antlers...

The antlers are for a hat project, obviously.

And possibly one of them fancy costume parties too!

Yup, we got another one of those coming up in January, and i'm hopeful it'll make up for what's already looking like the most mellow new years eve ever.

*We're not calling it a dark room anymore, despite that being its actual name. Too. Many. Jokes.

Remembering the positive

2011-12-16T17:48:00.001+01:00

I just came home* from my third session with the new therapist.
I'm exhausted and sweaty; not because of the session, but because i'm sick, but apart from the physical condition i happen to be in, i feel great.
I feel that sweet relief that you can only feel when you've had a burden lifted, and learned something new at the same time.
I feel positive and i feel happy.

It's funny, but sometimes, some of the things my first therapist told me didn't really sink in until i read it in a book later and got one of those "aha! truth!" moments, and sometimes it was the other way around.
Today, some of the things i've read in books were put into other words and spoken to me in a way that somehow made more sense.
I gotta make space for the anxiety. I gotta be big and spacious enough for it to live inside of me comfortably.
I'm not gonna fight it, or cure myself, take control or get over it.
I'm gonna live with the fear, in harmony, cause the feelings that cause my anxiety are the same feelings that make me special, that make me empathic and creative, that make me me.
Next time i get anxious i'm gonna try and invite it in and coexist instead of trying to fight it.

I've been reading about these techniques in various books and they do work.
I'm gonna do that anxiety book and exercise post i promised a few you who are in the same boat real soon.

I made this for Lucifer the other day... don't tell me he's not the cutest little Starfleet officer you've ever seen

You know how i usually love twitter?

Not so much today.

So much whining and bitching and complaining. Petty feelings coming in from all corners of the earth.

I was actually considering taking a little break for a day or so. Not that i expect people to somehow get less whiny or anything like that. I know that's not likely to happen.

I did, however enjoy finding a bunch of links to good articles and videos about Christopher Hitchens.

Of course they were brought on by the sad fact that he'd passed away, but i enjoyed the articles anyway.... and the videos of him wiping the floor with Tony Blair. Those are always amusing.

Anyway, i disagreed with him on a number of issues, but i really admired him and a person and a writer, and "God is not Great" is one of those books i'm gonna go back and read more than once.

And i look forward to reading "Hitch-22". As soon as i'm done obsessing over dancing dragons, that is!

*Actually it's been, like, over and hour because Helle called.

Bad influence

2011-12-15T21:15:00.000+01:00

I wrote this really long post about something that bothered me yesterday, but by the time i was done and ready to hit "publish", i realized that i wasn't even upset anymore, and posting it seemed silly.
Too bad, cause i liked the rant.
I'll save the draft and who knows, maybe something similar will happen in the future and voila! i'll have a rant ready to go.

This morning at the shop, while i was setting up Allan's station, my mom called.
Allan talked to my her and from what i could hear of the conversation, they'd found something interesting.
True enough, my parents, who now see opportunity where they used to see just dead animals, had found us a dead seal!
I didn't think about it all day until my mom sent me an email full of ghastly images.
Yeah, you bet i'm gonna post them.
A couple of them, anyway.

*Warning* Not necessarily for the sensitive reader...

When i first saw these one my phone they didn't look that bad... but then i opened the mail on my computer and saw the intestines....

My dad, chopping off heads like nobody's business

Look at that sweet skull!

We'll be down there for Christmas to boil and clean this guy

If you looked at the pictures and feel all sad and icky now, here's a seal story with a happier ending to cheer you up.

In other positive news; today is my parents' 39th wedding anniversary.
They are having dinner to celebrate right now.
Happy anniversary, mom and dad!

A brief hello from clammy vesterbro

2011-12-11T20:25:00.001+01:00

It's been a while. Again.
And it was going so well too...
But i suppose i needed a little blog break; i sometimes do.

I've been thinking lately, or over-thinking is more like it, but i still don't know how to open my blog up to stuff like that. My thoughts, or my opinions, is more like it.
I feel like i share so much more on twitter sometimes. Maybe because it's easy and less challenging thatn dedicating a whole post to something?
I think i'm over the stage where i'm worried about offending people, or not living up to the expectations of complete strangers, but it's still tricky to change the shape of something that has existed for so long now.
Maybe someday i'll figure that out, but it won't be now.
Now, i need to go make myself a home alone dinner, possibly while thinking about whether the fact that we finally found a place we both want to live in, only to find that dogs aren't allowed there, isn't a sign that we need to move to another country rather than another part of this shit city?
Sometimes i can't for the life of me think of more than a single reason to stay.

This weekend, or until yesterday, actually, we went to the country for my parents' annual Christmas market in the old barn.
It was very cozy and Christmas-y, but i still haven't found that darn Christmas spirit.
Even typing the word rubs me the wrong way. Christmas.
Maybe i just need to go down into the basement, get out the decorations, and get over it?
It would be a good start, at least!

All handmade, as usual

My set-up

Beautiful, gloomy Bisserup

Allan and his sleeping baby-kangaroo

My brother Tobias and his ewok Carla

Camilla

2011-12-05T17:30:00.000+01:00

I know, i kind of already posted pictures of this piece,but they were instagram and in progress pictures, so it doesn't really count. Also, i'm having a nice day off with Allan and not much is happening, and these pictures were already uploaded, so there, that's what we're doing today!

I'm really happy with the way this one turned out, especially since it was giving me a lot of attitude towards the end, and i wasn't really sure of myself at times. But i think it ended up looking great; my favorite part is the embroidered details and the matching beads inside the flowers (which you probably can't see in the pictures, but it looks cute!)

This headband and its owner had a really special night planned, but unfortunately the plans fell through; i'm hoping they will find some other night to go out on the town together!

(Photos by Allan Larsen, obviously)

Since you're here (you are still here, right?), you might wanna know (or not, but i'm telling you anyway) that i just updated my website!

I actually do pretty regularly, but this time i finally got around to getting some wedding photos off my old laptop and adding them to the "looks" gallery.

And this headband is there too, of course.

The etsy shop is regularly updated too, and while a couple of the smaller poinsettia christmas clips have been sold, the larger (but still cheap) ones are still up for grabs and ready to ship out before christmas.

Sorry for the self promotion, but if i don't do it, who will?

It's good to have him back

Slack-life

2011-12-03T15:09:00.001+01:00

Yes, i'm still here and no, i haven't completely fallen apart cause my husband is out of town.
In case you were wondering.
I was a little worried initially, cause we haven't spent more than a few nights apart in the last ten years, and the distance between us just seemed so crazy, but it's been... good.
I think i might actually be enjoying this time by myself, and i've really given myself permission to just relax and do what i want.

I went to work on Thursday, and got so much done, but because i didn't have to wait around for Allan to finish, i was already home by 7, which is super early for me, and still had the energy to make myself a nice dinner and play with the dog.
Yesterday i didn't go to the work at all because Eckel wasn't working either and the weather was kind of crap.
Instead i spent my day painting and working on the computer and listening to records, and in the evening i had an hour long facetime session with Allan after watching a bunch of Trek. Lucifer, who is missing his dad like crazy, got in on the video chat action too. So cute!

Today is my weekly coffee day, and i'd gotten a gift certificate to Sort Kaffe & Vinyl as a calendar gift on the 2nd of December*, so i braved the (today even crappier) weather to go to the café and get a small latte. Lucifer was not having the rain at all, so it was a short walk.
And now, today, i've actually cleaned the apartment, so it's nice when Allan comes home tomorrow. I can't have him seeing what a complete slob i turn into when he's not around, now can i?
Plans for the rest of my day include painting (as soon as my hands stop shaking, that is... damn, delicious java devil!), reading a huge stack of Buffy comics that i've been saving for a rainy day like this one, and later, maybe some takeout.
Being alone like this really isn't so bad, and it makes our love seem stronger somehow to have done this (yes, i know it's just a few days!)

This makes December bearable

Last nights puppy-head-tilt extravaganza

This rainy morning, Lucifer was happy to be back inside, i was happy to have my weekly coffee

This is where i'm spending the majority of my time... the time i don't spend on the couch with the crew of Voyager

I can't believe how much i've come to love Voyager, but my favorite episodes are those with TNG cameos

*Allan had hidden my calendar presents around the apartment and he's been texting me their locations every morning. I'm not showing you the 1st and 3rd cause they're kind of NSFW. He's sweet but he's also a perv. A lovable perv.

Way up high

2011-11-30T19:46:00.001+01:00

Another day, another potential dream apartment gets sold to someone who is not me.
And this one after only 7 days!
I didn't even get a chance to go see it in person.
This one was almost realistic too, i guess that's why i'm a little extra bummed.

I guess it's kind of a blessing that i spend as much time in my own little world as i do, because in my imaginary world, i don't have silly problems like finding a new apartment.
In my imaginary world, i have been living in a tree house someplace warm for years.
If you're wondering what i do in my tree house, the answer is make art and grow food and raise a few alpacas.* And swim a lot, cause my house is near a lake.

Tree house pictures from here, here and here, interior pictures mostly via woodsmaiden.

*The alpacas stay on the ground. There are rules in my tree house.

Blossoms

2011-11-29T18:50:00.000+01:00

Oh, i feel like it's monday today. Anyone else got that belated monday feeling?

Maybe it's just cause i haven't seen the sky much today. Or at all.

But yesterday we did and it was pretty and amazing, even if it was just for a little while!

As you already know, Sarah was here all weekend and it was, like, the funnest ever.

She stayed at my parents' place for the most part, but since they came in for a birthday party on Sunday, we ended up having a sleepover too, and Lucifer, who is usually glued to me or Allan all the friggin time, spent the entire night on the couch with Sarah. So cute.

Oh, and as an added bonus to having a great weekend, Sarah took home a bunch of my favorite clothes, so now i a) don't have to list it for sale and b) know they're going to a good, loving home. Win!

One of my dresses with its new Blossom-looking owner!

I rediscovered this dress that i haven't worn in a long time

Worn with the same boots as pretty much every day

Today i am working on finishing my Frida piece, as well as doing some bookings.

Both of those things are giving me a hard time, and i'm already kind of looking forward to going home.

I am however not looking forward to Allan going to Norway by himself this weekend.

I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but we've spent maybe 5 nights apart in the last 10 years, so 4 days is a lot for us. And i worry about him when he's not with me. I bet i'm gonna have nightmares about him falling into fjords and being eaten by trolls in sweaters all weekend! What? That's totally what Norway is about.

Little pillboxes

2011-11-27T19:52:00.001+01:00

I am about to start pizza and Trek night with Allan and Sarah, so this is just a quick "yay, there's new stuff in the shop!" post before the food gets here.
The pictures Allan took were great, as always, so i didn't even had to edit much.
Go have a peek at the shop, if not for the hats, then for the pretty pictures!

My tattoo is feeling much better today.
I must admit, yesterdays insane purple bruising had me a little worried, but today i even walked up to a 5th floor apartment without a throbbing thigh, so i think i'm gonna be ok.

Ps: Henriette, send mig en besked hvis jeg skal reservere den med lijlerne til dig :)

Fall leaves

2011-11-26T14:15:00.001+01:00

It's Saturday and i spent my day at work, so for that reason alone, my brain is a little fried and unwilling to work with me. I don't see much email answering in my near future.

But it was ok being at work today; Allan was tattooing friends and our buddy Sarah, who you may remember from previous posts such as this one, was here working too, so i didn't mind so much.

Yesterday was actually gonna be our day off since we had to come in today, but we went to the shop because Allan had a meeting with some German gallery people (it went well, if you're wondering) and since we were gonna be there anyway, i was supposed to get a new tattoo.

I have a spot, or more like half of my right lower arm to be accurate, that i've been wanting to do for so long, and after going through just about a million different ideas, i had finally figured out what i wanted. And i wanted Allan to do it. And that was gonna be yesterday. But as you've probably guessed, that didn't happen so much.

My ideas weren't so easy, i guess, and he kept not being able to find the right way to go about it, so after a couple of sketches he gave up and we went to work.

I tried to act cool, but i was really disappointed cause i'd looked forward to it for such a long time, but i also found myself a tiny bit relieved that i didn't have to get tattooed. But after a quick self-analyses i realized that it was my anxiety talking, not me. My anxiety felt great about being let off the hook; it always does, but i actually wanted to get tattooed, so after Allan had finished tattooing Sarah, i asked him to work a bit on my leg instead.

He decided to color in all the leaves and it ended up taking three hours, and even though it sucked hard, i felt so proud of myself for not bailing even though it would have been super easy for me.

It's these things i gotta do now; the things i don't really wanna do.

Leaves, pretty, pretty leaves

Sarah getting her Halloween tattoo, only a little later than everyone else

After Allan was done tattooing he took a few hat pictures for me, so i think i'm gonna update the etsy shop again tomorrow.

I think this is the most items i've ever had in my shop at the same time, and right now i don't even care if anyone buys them, i'm just stoked to have a full shop!

Working? Working!

2011-11-22T23:32:00.001+01:00

So!
After wrestling with paypal for a couple of hours today and yesterday, i am just about ready to declare myself the winner.
Those buy it now buttons are easy enough to make, but paypal can be a bitch and so can blogger and together? Well, let's just say that they require saint-like patience, which i don't always possess.

But right now everything seems to be working well enough for me to officially open...

the untitled thrift store!

Those of you who read this blog in reader or bloglovin' may not have noticed, but a new tab was added a few days ago (up, look up) and if you click that, which you should in a minute when you're done reading this, you will see a bunch of clothes for sale.
Some of it is ready to puchase right here on the blog (hence the paypal issues) and some of it links to my etsy store.
Now, bear in mind that this is just the tip of the textile iceberg currently residing in my living room, and lots more will be added as soon as i can get my husband to take some more headless photos of me (by the way, i LOVE headless photos!).
Prices are negotiable for longtime blog readers, because i love you, and if you have any questions about sizes, measurements*, fabric content or whatever, just leave a comment or send me an email.
Everything i put up here will be in good condition and hand washed before shipping.

Anyway, thanks for the comments and suggestions here and on twitter about how to go about this; i decided to take your advice and sell via the blog mainly and it's been fun setting it up so far.
You're all so wise!

*Measurements are kind of a pain in the ass, that's why i decided to only provide them if needed.

Red & green

2011-11-20T21:39:00.001+01:00

Lucifer is still doing great, in fact, he seems to have even more energy than yesterday.

I guess he feels like he has some catching up to do, and it's been as good as useless to tell him to relax.

Also, he's so cute when he's playful. Which is pretty much all the time.

Darn 7 year old puppy.

I updated the etsy shop again last night. No, it's true, i did!

Not with any of the fancy stuff from the shoot, but with the Christmas pieces i did for the Christmas market at my parents' last year. Also known as the market where i learned that older ladies from the country side hate poinsettias with a passion that matches Madonna's hate for hydrangeas. I mean, they really fucking hate them.

When i came home from the market last year it was too late to put the pieces up for sale, but this time i made it.

Now i just hope the internet doesn't loathe them too!

Also, i know my hats are usually kind of pricey (which i am not apologizing for, they take forever to make and it's hard work), but these ones aren't, and it's nice to finally put something cheap in the shop.

Power stretch

Season greetings, y'all!*

*I am so sorry, i hate even thinking about Christmas in November, but i figured i had to at least mention these if i wanted to sell them this year.

You won't hear a word from me about the upcoming holiday until December, i swear!

Listed, finally

2011-11-19T16:06:00.001+01:00

I'm awful at taking a day off.
We originally had plans to go do stuff at the shop (my idea, i always wanna go do stuff at the shop), but that's been postponed till Monday, and now i have a bad case of the weekend guilt, even though it has barely started.
I got my workout out of the way already, and i've tried to convince Allan to help me with some clothes photos later, but in the meantime... it's so dark outside, and Lucifer isn't supposed to walk too long yet, so a good walk is out of the question. I'm behind on emails, but that stupid deep cut on my finger isn't healing well, so i'm trying not to do the typing thing too much. I suppose i could read, and i probably will, but right now, i decided to list a new item in my etsy shop instead.
Some of the pieces we photographed at the shop can't be listed yet because i still need good closeups, but i remembered that i already had closeups of this one. Not great ones, i took them myself, but they'll do.
Please go check it out, and if you know a stylish lady who's getting married, send her my way!

Go to the shop, yo

Lucifer update:
He's back to normal, so much so that it's hard to convince him not to jump up and down from the furniture every 5 minutes like he normally does.
He's on antibiotics, which he totally loves because i hide the pill in a chunk of paté, and he gets some painkiller drops that i honestly don't think he really even needs.
We'll see in a week if everything is ok with his knee, but i hope and think it will be.
Thanks for your comments and concern, here and on twitter and instagram.
You're all very sweet.

What matters most

2011-11-18T13:21:00.001+01:00

Sorry for the recent lack of posts.
I feel bad for not blogging when i've been doing so well with regular posting (at least i think i have), but this time, something real got in the way.

Lucifer has been limping more than usual for a while, so a couple of weeks ago i booked a checkup appointment with the specialist who operated on his knees two years ago.
The clinic was busy, and so were we, so the appointment was actually gonna be today, but as you've probably guessed, that's not how it went down.

Late Tuesday night we noticed Lucifer licking his left knee, which had swelled up to a considerably larger size, and when we looked closer, we saw a little blood.
I went and got a cotton ball and something to clean it with, but when i cleaned it, the cotton kind of got stuck on something. We couldn't exactly see anything, but it was clear to us that a small piece of metal was sticking out of his leg....
No wonder he's been pulling his leg up!
I won't say i completely panicked, but my worrying (and Allan's snoring) kept me up for most of the night.

The next morning we called the clinic to ask if they could see him before our appointment, but of course Wednesday was the day the doctor wasn't at the clinic.
The receptionist told Allan to just make sure that Lucifer wasn't licking the spot, and to call back first thing Thursday morning to see if they could fit us in then.
So Lucifer spent the day wearing a cute little band aid on his little knee, which luckily didn't seem to bother him at all. And since the alternative would have been the cone of shame, he got off easy!
He wasn't in any pain, as far as we could tell, but we were still pretty freaked.

Allan called the clinic at 8.15 the next morning like they'd told him to, and was a little surprised when they said to come in with Lucifer at 9. The clinic is not in Copenhagen and even though we hurried, we got there a little late.
But they were nice, and the doctor decided to go ahead and operate on Lucifer right away.
We had to leave him there, in a little cage, and go back to the apartment to get our stuff and get ready for work. Ugh. I hated leaving him without being able to explain that everything was gonna be ok.

It was a long afternoon, waiting for them to call, and when they finally did, Allan turbo-wrapped his client (sorry, Joseph!) and we hurried out the door.
When Lucifer was operated on the first time, his recovery was long and hard. He was in a lot of pain, and he wasn't allowed to jump or run for two months! If you've met Lucifer you'll know that all he ever does is run and jump, so it was a hard time for all of us.
So that's pretty much what we were expecting to go through, but when we got there, the doctor told us that he'd been able to pull the pin out of Lucifer's leg through the skin. So no actual surgery had been necessary!
So the only thing we have to do is make sure he doesn't go too crazy with the jumping for the first couple of days, and give him some antibiotics (something they had to prescribe cause they gave him a much needed teeth cleaning too) and that's it.
We were so stoked. And Lucifer, who'd been awake for a long time, was stoked to see us.
He was well enough for us to go back to the shop to work some more, and other than throwing up a bit (and a rare indoor poop situation) he seems to be doing so well.

So yeah, we had a rough couple of days there, but our boy is gonna be fine!

The anesthesia had made him a little groggy, so he spent most of the night sleeping

While i waited for the clinic to call, i finished this cross stitch embroidery that i started a year ago in Tokyo (it's a dark green fabric, by the way, if you can't tell)

I can't even begin to describe how good it felt to get Lucifer back after that whole experience.

There's nothing more frustrating and heartbreaking than having a sick little creature who doesn't understand what's going on, and who depends on you for protection.

Also, i may love my dog more than normal people do, but at least Allan is just as bad as me!

Galore

2011-11-15T18:28:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was a good, but draining day, which is why it was so quiet on the blog.
I'd also cut my finger really bad on Sunday trying to open a bottle of nail polish with a hobby knife (feel free to judge, i do dumb shit like that all the time), so i haven't actually been able to type until today! And even now, it's not exactly easy, so i'll just keep this nice and short.

I spent most of the day yesterday working on projects in the drawing room. It's a good way to start the week.
I'd finished the head piece i'd been working on last week on Saturday, so Monday was the day the new owner, a lovely girl called Camilla, was gonna come by to pick it up.
I always worry people won't like the finished product (although that has never actually happened, but that's no reason not to fear it, right?), so i always feel a huge sense of relief when i'm done and a piece is going home with a happy client.
Yay for that!
I worked some more on my Frida piece, until i got super distracted by these Christmas hair clips i made last year, but never put for sale online.
So i redid a bunch of those and had a fun little photo session, just me and Allan's way too fancy camera.
As soon as i get the pictures back, those babies are going straight to etsy.
So while i'm a little stuck with my cleaning-out-the-closet project at home, at least i'm getting stuff done at work!

Here's what Camilla's headband looked like on instagram, i'll have a better picture for the website soon

I am done with the embroidery, now comes the scary part...

I added a deer to this hat because, well, Christmas hats needs deer!

I went for my first appointment with a new therapist today.

I was a little (a lot) nervous, and i don't think i sat still the whole time, but other than that, it went really well, and the guy seemed both nice and competent.

So i now have books, exercise, therapy and medication (that i haven't used) to help me cope with, and in time hopefully cure, my anxiety.

I'll do a post soon with some book recommendations, for those of you who are interested in that stuff.

Oh, and i also found mock duck at an Asian supermarket near the therapists office... Christmas is saved!! (Ok, not really, it's probably gonna suck balls, but at least i'll eat well!)

Ok, gotta get back to work. Yes, this is a are case of me blogging at the shop.

Maybe i should do that more, it's actually kind of nice.

Sunday cleaning

2011-11-13T17:09:00.001+01:00

Oh, weekends, aren't you just the best?

Yesterday when Allan was at a show, i got a visit from Helle.
We ordered Japanese take out, watched a nature film and talked shit through. It was nice, i don't do the girl hangout thing very often.
After she left i watched a few episodes of Star Trek Voyager.It's never gonna own my heart like Next Generation, but i'm really starting to like it a lot.

Today has been mellow, but active. Just the way i like it.
Me and Allan gave the apartment a much needed cleaning and me and Lucifer went for a nice long walk.
I noticed that most other people walking around the lakes either talked about bank loans and interest, or work/school.Me and Lucifer mostly talked about birds and outdoor pooping.

Right now (well, not right now, but when i'm not at the computer) i'm trying to take pictures of clothes i want to sell. Yup, it's time to clean out my closet.
Like i mentioned in the first post on the subject, i'm considering selling my vintage clothes on etsy and my used but newer clothes on eBay, but i've been getting suggestions from people about putting it on the blog, and i'd really like your thoughts on that.
An option would be to dedicate a tab to stuff i have for sale?
Would anyone be interested in buying just via the blog and paypal, or do you prefer the eBay/etsy formats?
I assure you, my prices would be reasonable*, i just need to clean out my closet, not make a fortune!

I spent a good 10 minutes this morning, trying to find the right angle to photograph Lucifer and my weekly coffee using the regular camera instead of the crappier front camera... the first three were mostly boobs and one dog ear (this is the one that i ended up using)

Sunday walk in pale sunlight

*Recently i've stopped buying vintage on eBay.
Sellers almost exclusively use "buy it now" and their prices are ridiculous.
Like, 98 dollars for a ragged poncho.
Even auctions start way higher instead of the 9.99 dollars people used in the good old days.
And etsy, while still awesome for handmade goods, is almost as crazy.
You see girls charging over 100 dollars for some cheap, vintage polyester dress from the 90's that they found in a thrift shop for a fraction of the price. I don't mind paying good money for something i really like, but it feels like sellers have forgotten what they're really selling. Used clothes.

The ups and the downs

2011-11-11T21:26:00.001+01:00

I've had a couple of good days this week. Like, really, really good ones.

Followed by a bad one.

It's to be expected, i know i still have a long way to go.

But at least now, when it hits me, i deal instead of panic.

It feels kinda good, while feeling super crappy, obviously.

Tomorrow we're going to the shop cause i need to finish a headpiece and we have a few shop renovations to take care of. The good kind, fortunately.

I was actually supposed to get tattooed, but that husband of mine keeps not drawing for it.

Maybe next weekend, if i'm lucky.

Walking Lucifer yesterday

Where i've been all day today

Allan went to the movies, for the second night in a row.

I'm taking it easy, hanging on the couch with Lucifer and learning how to not feel guilty about that.

Butternut chronicles, part two

2011-11-09T23:25:00.001+01:00

I swear this is not turning in to the untitled food blog, so just consider this a sequel to yesterdays post, and after this, i promise to lay off the food talk for a while!

Yesterday, i got a lot of suggestions to make a soup out of this magical new vegetable i've been getting acquainted with, and since i had half a butternut squash left in the fridge, and the soup hater is at a punk show, i decided to go for it.
It was late when i got home, and i had a huge pile of dishes to do before i could get started, but cooking this was easy, and i actually managed to finish it before i got too cranky from hunger!

-Take one chopped onion, roast it in rapeseed oil (or any oil, i just used the last of my olive oil yesterday) in a large pan with salt, black pepper, ground coriander, cayenne pepper and garam masala (just a bit of each)

-Cook for a while on its own, then add lightly boiled potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini and a yellow beet (that was just what i had in my fridge, but some carrots would have been good too)

-Cook for like 10 or 15 minutes, then add some boiled water with vegetable stock, then cook until everything is pretty mushy

-Put the whole thing in a blender with a little water, blend until super smooth

-Put it back on the stove in a pot, taste and add salt and pepper if needed (i added some cream too, just because i had some, but i doubt it would have been necessary, really)

That was it! I wish i'd had some nice bread to eat this with (i thought i had and you should have seen my face when i found out that it was gone), and a nice parsley or coriander twig to put on top for a little bit of green would have been nice too, but other than that, this was perfect.

And although it would have been nice to have shared this with someone, i'm almost glad the soup hater wasn't home to ruin this triumph of the liquid foods for me!

Creamy perfection

My energy level today wasn't exactly as crazy good as yesterday.

I turned off my alarm instead of snoozing it, so i overslept by a lot and it kind of messed up my day.

But not too bad, i was still able to continue on Project Backroom, and Project Current-Custom-Order-Hat (not a very catchy name, i know) and have an all around pleasant day.

Thanks for the spice suggestions in the comment section on the last post, i'm always excited when people wanna join in and share tips with me, and each other.

Energized

2011-11-08T23:59:00.000+01:00

I didn't even plan to blog right now, but i've had such an awesome day, i just couldn't help it.
You know how some days are just great, even though stuff goes wrong and nothing special happens?
Totally one of those.
By the way, you may know this already, but i have a bit of an aversion to "this-is-what-i-did-today" posts, but i feel one coming up now.
I apologize in advance, but mostly to myself.
Sorry, me.

I couldn't sleep last night, so when i woke up this morning, I fully expected sleepiness to be the theme of the day.
But i got up early-ish, made a green smoothie (something i haven't done in forever) and had a cup of herbal tea instead of my usual earl grey.
And for some reason, i haven't been tired all day. Maybe it's because i laid off the caffeine or maybe it was the raw fruit and veggie booster, but either way, it felt great to have all that energy.
Even morning Pilates didn't feel as hard as it does some mornings.

On our way to work we had a disappointing trip to some weird, out of the way post office with strange opening hours (hence the disappointment), but even with the detour and Lucifer's daily run along the lake, we nearly made it to the shop in time.
The energy boost from the smoothie, or wherever it came from, stayed with me all through my work day, and even a sore back (i lifted some stuff i probably shouldn't have) didn't get me down.
I just enjoyed the whole work day, and even the parts that are kind of trivial seemed fun today.
I got some hat making done, did two loads of laundry in our new washing machine (i can't believe we finally have one, the shop is so close to being perfect!), did the other kind of laundry (tubes) and got started on cleaning out the messiest back room. For, like the 10th time this year. Ok, so it's more like 4, but i'm allowed to exaggerate, trust me.
Man, do we have a lot of flash and artwork begging to be organized. Good stuff too, most of it. I wish we had more walls.

Allan finished around 8 and we rushed out the door so we could go by the weird post office again on the way home, and we actually made it there in time to pick up a mystery package from a twitter follower.
More on that in a later post!

The whole way home all i could think about was what to make for dinner.
No, the planning thing didn't really stick, and although we did have stuff in the fridge, it just wasn't the stuff i was in the mood for, so i had to send Allan to the supermarket.
But he got the stuff i was craving and i ended up making up this fantastic little pasta dish that would have totally made my day if i hadn't already had such a good one.
Again with the energy; i don't usually feel like being creative in the kitchen after a long day...
Anyway, after dinner we lounged on the couch to a particularly funny episode of How I Met Your Mother, which was followed by Super 8, a movie i've really been looking forward to, and one that didn't disappoint.

A fantastic little pasta dish

This is one of those dishes i have to remember, so it's getting a recipe label for sure.

-Pasta penne, half wholegrain and half regular

-Butternut squash and zucchini slow roasted in a frying pan with some olive oil and salt and pepper

-Mushrooms, added pretty late so they didn't shrink too much

-Cream for the sauce (i would have used soy cream for cooking, but my no good supermarket don't carry that anymore... grrrr)

-A little bit of grated cheese on top

I have never cooked anything with butternut squash in my life before, and Allan looked at me like i was making it up when i told him to get one, but i've been wanting to try it for a while.

And holy shit, was that ever delicious! Such a sweet smell too... i ate a lot of it. A lot.

This was pretty much perfect as it was, but it could have used some spices...

I don't know when i ran out of everything, but i did and i so need to go spice shopping.

Any suggestions as to what kind of spice would have been good in an autumn dish like this one?

Ps. I hope you didn't have a terrible day and find this post braggy and annoying.

If you did, take comfort in the fact that i'll probably be miserable again tomorrow!

7/11 (today's date, not the overpriced kiosk)

2011-11-07T23:48:00.002+01:00

First day back was good.Real good, actually.All over twitter i saw people complaining about the awfulness of autumn combined with a general monday gloom, but for some reason i wasn't seeing it.
Maybe because i had new projects to start, fake spiderwebs to remove from chandeliers, and rotten pumpkin vomit to clean off the sidewalk?
Yes, that last part is definitely the more glamorous side of shop ownership, in case you were wondering.

Starting from scratch... more work on this tomorrow

I've realized that even though i'd love to do more, cooking dinner and posting on the blog is as productive as i'm likely to get tonight.

Cue Star Trek, and some white chocolate that my fat ass will have to work extra hard at working off in the morning.

White Milka? Totally worth it.

The (slumber) party is over

2011-11-06T21:12:00.000+01:00

Our staycation (which you maybe didn't even know we were having?) has almost come to an end and i am ready to get back to work.
In theory.
I miss the shop a lot, and i miss being on top of things, but i'd be ok with just going in for a few days and then taking the rest of the week off!
But i have some exciting projects to start, and a lot of practical shit that needs to be done. So it's time.

It's been good around here.
Allan spent the better part of the month finishing an album cover, but there's been time for some long walks together, nice homemade dinners, and lots of reading for me.
A billion other things too, of course, but i always forget what i've been up to as soon as i sit down to blog about it.

Taking some time off to work on overcoming my anxiety, even isolating myself a little from some of the more negative influences in my life, has been good for me.
I feel more ready for winter now, and ready for challenges ahead.
But mostly i feel sleepy.
Damn you fall, damn you for making it dark at 5 pm.

This little guy is extra sleepy too these days

Saturday, heading down to the coffee shop

My second cup of coffee since quitting 19 months ago... having just one every week is working out pretty great for me

I have no real place to sit and do stuff at home, so recently i've just been camped out on the couch in the workroom

Today we took Lucifer to the park for a Prazsky get together, but there were no Prazsky's to be found (luckily we found a large group of small to medium sized dogs, and he got to sniff some butts after all)

I was hoping to remodel the apartment while we had time off, but Allan wouldn't let me do anything too drastic (read=fun) to the place, so that plan quickly died.
It doesn't matter much anyway, once i am done with something, i am done, so i don't think prettying up the place would make much of a difference.
Of course having my grandfathers old closet in pieces in my living room since August (see the big, brown board covering my bookcase in the picture below? Yeah, that's it) is something i could do without (like, really!) but assembling it in an apartment i don't want to live in doesn't exactly make sense either.

I really thought i would have found a place by now, and spending another winter here was so not a part of my overall life-plan, but instead of whining about it (like i usually do) i have started to prepare for moving.
Step one is cleaning out my closet.
Not just the stuff in the basement, although that needs to go too, but my actual closet.
There's so much stuff there (some of it really good stuff too) that i just never wear for some reason, and while it is pretty to look at, it takes up too much room.
In short; it gots to go!
So i'll either be selling some things here on the blog (in a tab on its own maybe) or on eBay (for used) and etsy (for vintage)
I started picking out items to sell today, and tomorrow i'll have Allan do a photo setup so i can start getting pictures of things and list them online, somewhere.
If you have ideas, input, have done something similar, which i'm sure many of you have, please leave me a comment.
Whatever way i decide to do this, there will be a blog-reader discount!

The first batch of clothes, ready for their closeup (i didn't know where to put them, so i MacGyver'ed this "belt-over-door" hanger solution... i'm awesome sometimes...)

Ps. I've gotten really bad at commenting on blogs since i started using google reader instead of the blogger dashboard, but i'm trying to change that.

It's so convenient, but i realized that reading a post without actually visiting the blog is kind of like going to a dinner party at a friends place, but staying outside their house the whole time. Eating their food and drinking their drinks, but never actually going inside.

I've been missing out on carefully planned layouts, fun little details, and links to other good blogs.

You know, the whole blog experience, and i want to have that back.

The leftovers

2011-11-05T14:00:00.000+01:00

I really struggled with finishing the Prague film.It was like a magical film, neverending, only i didn't want it to be, so not so magical after all.
These are the last of the pictures from that film, taken on a sunny walk by the lakes sometime in September, (probably).
I love these walks with Allan and Lucifer.

(The last picture was obviously taken by the guy with the long arms who was so sure the self portrait thing wouldn't work with the Lomo)

Praha in analog part two

2011-11-04T19:30:00.000+01:00

No, i'm not quite done with Prague yet.
I know it's mostly buildings, and if you don't like buildings, well, then i apologize.
But really, everyone who've been there will understand.
They're just so beautiful and overwhelming!
This second batch is maybe not as good as the first one, but there are still some pretty good shots here i think.
In any case, i enjoy looking at them.

Going home

2011-11-03T12:34:00.000+01:00

It finally happened; we bought tickets to Japan.
I can't even begin to describe how weird it's been, not being there for almost a year.
I wanna say i've missed it, but that'd be a gross understatement.
It's almost like i've mourned the loss of it? Even though it's obviously still there!
It's hard to explain, but not going there for over a year, not seeing our friends, not going to the places i usually go to for two months out of the year, not hearing people speak Japanese on a daily basis... i sincerely hope i never have to do that again.

I suppose it's not too hard to guess why we haven't been to Japan at all in 2011, and i wish i could say i think it's safe there, but i don't. I don't think it's safe at all.
And i don't know if going back is a good idea at this time.
All i know is that i miss it so much, i don't even care about any of that anymore.

We booked a short trip, just 2 weeks, our shortest ever, and in February no less.
I've never even been there in the winter before.
It's probably wet and cold, and yet; again with the not caring.
We found cheap tickets, we had to no other plans, and it just felt right.
And, much to our surprise, we just got word from Shige that he managed to fit us in for some tattooing while we're there too. Unexpected and so lucky! He's the best.

I seriously can't wait to see everyone.

Ai took this picture on our trip to Kyoto, almost a year ago*

Maybe i'll finally get to meet this little bumblebee? I hope so!

*Still trying to grow out the undercut in that picture... ugh...

Praha in analog part one

2011-11-02T18:14:00.000+01:00

I finally got my film from Prague back a few days ago.
The pictures aren't super magnificent, but there are a few of them that i really like.
I can't help but feel that i really blew it by getting so ill and panicky that weekend, and i honestly feel really stupid when i look at the pictures.
I hope this amazing city will give me a second chance some day, and that my husband will too.

Part one.*

*No photoshopping done here, apart from resizing.

Ps. Today is my big brother Tobias' birthday, so happy birthday to him!

The Halloween post

2011-11-01T17:25:00.000+01:00

I just posted a ton of Halloween pictures over on my other blog, so this is just a quick little post with a few pictures of me that didn't make the other one.

For Halloween i was a... witch-goat-high-priestess-type-thing?
I was spooky, is what i was!
If you don't believe me, ask our carpenter who was so scared of me, he ended up leaving before getting tattooed.
Yup, that scary.

I had a pretty easy time with the costume, except for the fact that i started on my horns way too late, and papermaché apparently needs time to dry... who knew? I probably should have known, but in the end i got by with the help of heaters and hairdryers.
I found my dress in my closet. You've seen it before, but back then it looked like this.
Black dye, you're so handy.
The necklaces were mostly homemade from various stones and pendants found around town, on etsy and in my collection (but since you can't really see them, i guess that's not important), and the boots were from the basement.
Really, who needs to buy a costume when you never throw anything out?
Oh, there's the wig of course. Didn't have one that long lying around, so i found one on eBay, but other than that, pretty much stuff i already had.

The day went great. I was pretty busy, but had time to hang too, and most importantly; no anxiety.
So a success in every way, and i'm already planning our next walk-in day in my head.
I didn't get tattooed, of course, but i'm ok with that. I'll get one next year.

The horns ended up a little thinner than planned because of my lack of time, but they still came out pretty good, i think (they're heavy, though, and i have a bruise on my head from wearing them for a full day!)

I wish my nails had been longer, like, creepy long... that would have been awesome...

My pumpkins

I hope everyone else had a fun Halloween too!

A day of sticky pumpkin fingers

2011-10-28T00:39:00.000+02:00

We just spent the better part of our day decorating and getting the shop Halloween ready.
I'm still not sure what i'm expecting to happen on Saturday, so instead i'm just enjoying the process.*
Isn't that usually the best part anyway?
Well, either that or the worst, but thankfully, in this case, it's been fun.
The spiderwebs and pumpkin carving in particular.
Not pictured: my papermaché costume project. Which is not finished and most likely won't be until the last minute. That's how i roll. Unfortunately.

(Click for a larger view)

(1. Pumpkin express 2. My tiny sign announcing our gathering 3. The front room has never looked cozier, ehm, i mean scarier... yeah... 4. The small one is not crying... or he might be, but never mind, i'll explain him later)

*I just caught myself double tapping the space key to make a period. I'm iPhone damaged goods.

Homebase

2011-10-25T22:16:00.001+02:00

I had planned to go to the shop today, but somehow i ended up staying home.
I'm not sure, but i think that Allan and Lucifer may have had something to do with it.
They just feel so good to be around, so when they're not coming, well, it makes it that much harder to go.
So i had a relaxing day at the apartment i loathe* instead, and even though it doesn't feel like i've done much today, i did manage to do some laundry, dye some clothes, draw, stitch, shop for the Halloween party with Allan, take a nice long walk with Lucifer, listen to the new Tom Waits, do pilates and yoga, answer some emails and update stuff on the blogs... and chill and drink tea.
I may feel like a slacker, but at least i'm a productive slacker!
And if nothing else, my hair has been growing today. Granted, it does that when i'm busy too, but it struck me today; even if i did nothing all damn day, my hair would still grow. And that's doing something too.

The living room is my office these days... god, how i want to move

I am currently reading one of the anxiety books that was recently recommended to me, and holy shit, does it feel like it's been written specifically for me. Like, it's creepy how well this strange woman knows me.
I'm doing the work and using the techniques, and so far, i'm seeing some real results. Not that i'm cured, but it's just good to be doing something.
When i've finished this book and started one of the others, i'll do a little post with titles and stuff, for those who are interested.
Amalie's Anxiety Blog, much?

*Ok, loathe is a big word, but i'm still so sick of living here...

Out of character

2011-10-24T20:30:00.000+02:00

I'm not usually much for Halloween, or any new, imposing American holiday for that matter (i'm looking at you, Valentines Day!), but we kind of decided to go all in and embrace Halloween this year.
We're doing this thing at the shop, and on Saturday we went on a cheesy Halloween-themed Tivoli date!
And much to our surprise, we liked it.
The decorations in the old amusement park were generally cute and fun, and the mood was full of autumnal goodness.
And that place always smells of sugar and popcorn, so you know, bonus right there!

While we were walking around, we got to talking about why we rarely go to Tivoli around Christmas time where they have a similar thing going on, and we decided that the difference is guilt. Halloween is guilt free for us.
It's not even a real holiday, no one is expecting you to do anything or buy anything, and it doesn't lead up to anything bigger than a party, at the most.
Whereas Christmas is the mother of all holidays, and therefor, basically fueled by guilt.
Christmas is several months of hype and consumer madness, of stressing over buying friends and family juuust the right piece of whatever junk they probably don't want or need, and of doing things exactly the way your supposed to because "that's tradition".
And it all starts so very soon, always sooner than you'd like it to.
So it was nice to enjoy something holiday like, but way less... pressure-y.

Uuuuhh, scary (but not really)

Pumpkins everywhere

So much like Christmas, only... not

We didn't go on any rides (although i may have begged and pleaded until i saw the price of an individual ticket to the roller-coaster, and goddamn!) but we did go eat some pretty good pseudo-Japanese food at Wagamama.

Almost like on a real date.*

*Another concept i personally can't stand, but that's a rant for another day.

Crosseyed

2011-10-20T12:30:00.000+02:00

Done!
For now.
I still have lots of stuff i wanna add and change*, some of it too advanced for my little brain to deal with right now, but for now, i'm calling it done.
I've been working on this for days, and i feel like i can barely see straight, so it's time for a break, at least.
All the new pictures Allan shot the other day are up, which is what i'd been looking most forward to, and i hope y'all like them.

Anyway, please go check it out, the address is the same as before (or the same redirect as before); princessinferno.com.

*The ads are going asap, like maybe tomorrow or the next day.
I know it's the price you pay for a free website, but i think i've reached a point where i'd rather pay the price of actual money than the price of ugly.

Update: i made a mobile version of the site last night, so now there's a (smaller, not as fancy) version for those kinds of devices too.

Little green turtle

2011-10-19T19:27:00.000+02:00

Sometimes it takes Allan a while to give me pictures that are on his memory card, and sometimes it takes me a while to edit them once i have them on my computer.
Such was the case with the turtle fascinator, and that's why it hasn't been on the blog before.
The turtle fascinator was a custom order i got from my regular (i can say that if she owns more that one of my pieces, right?) Henriette who had this tiny little turtle that she didn't really know what to do with.
So she gave it to me and asked me to come up with something. And so i did.
I made the fascinator pretty small, so the turtle wouldn't drown, and i think it turned out really cute and delicate.
The green fabric and the feathers are from Japan... god, i miss craft shopping in Tokyo.
And everything else there too!

I little lighter than in real life, to enhance details

Now, it didn't take him nearly as long to give me the pictures we shot with Jacqueline at the shop the other day.
Maybe because they're his pictures and he was looking forward to editing them?
Or maybe because i nagged, who knows.
In any case, i got them and they're magnificent!
Like, way better than my hats are, so i really don't deserve these pretty, pretty pictures... but i'll take them!

The etsy shop haven't been updated with new pieces (but this current listing did get a couple of new pictures) cause i still need a few close ups of some of the hats, but the new website is being built and updated and cursed at... and yeah. I'm still working on it, but it'll be up real soon.

One of my favorites from the other day

Alright, time to go make some dinner.
Or anything that doesn't involve working on that *%¤#!?^ website.

Cheat pizza

2011-10-18T23:08:00.000+02:00

I've been pretty bad at posting recipes lately, but since I was kind of in the food neighborhood already with my post from yesterday, it seemed natural to stay there.
I think I mentioned that most of the stuff I cook is improvised. Both because it's fun and I like it, but also because I'm pretty horrible at following instructions.
So this post is for me, more than it is for you, because I need to remember how I made these delicious little suckers I ate for dinner tonight, so i can make them again some other time!

They take no time, because I have very little patience, and they taste so good.
And you can make them with pretty much anything, as long as you have the tortillas, so it's the perfect "use-the-stuff-in-the-fridge-before-it-goes-bad" food.*
They're surprisingly filling too; me and Allan ate one and a half each, but we could have probably stopped at one.

In order of appearances:
-Organic multigrain tortilla (mine are from Santa Maria, i think)
-Tomato sauce
-Grated cheese
-Dried oregano
-Smoked tofu in thin slices, marinated with olive oil and fresh thyme for a little while before cooking
-Spring onions
-Vegan sausages (or whatever kind of sausages, or no sausages at all))
-Feta cheese
-Thinly sliced cabbage
-Blanched and chopped sugar snaps

Put in the oven for about 15 minutes on 200c, preferably on a grill setting if yours have that.
Careful they don't get burnt, they easily can cause the tortilla is already dry and thin.
I drizzled it with a bit of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, and some fresh parsley.
Mmmm, parsley.

Anyway, that's it for me tonight, i've been working on a new website all friggin day, cause i kinda hate the old one, so i think i need to step away from the computer.
Watching a movie is better that sitting in front of a computer, right?
(... just say yes... )

Crappy phone picture, but you get the idea... this would be good with fresh avocados and cherry tomato too...

*Right, Sam?

Chop chop

2011-10-17T18:56:00.000+02:00

At my house (and by house i mean the apartment i almost can't stand anymore), we have a bad habit.
Whether we're working till past 10 pm, like on Saturday, or have the whole day off like we did yesterday, we'll ask each other the same question every night: "sooo, what are we gonna eat?"
And by the time we ask each other this (it varies who asks it first), the supermarkets and restaurants are either closed, or pretty damn close to being closed.
We're good at many things, but planning just isn't one of them.
So on many nights we'll settle for some crappy takeout from the kebab place on the corner, the only kind of place that's open after 10 (their falafel is actually ok, as long as you don't make the mistake of watching them prepare it) or i'll whip together some pasta dish that usually contains leftovers and artichoke pesto.

But today i decided to try and do something that resembles planning ahead. I can't make a food schedule, cause that's just not in me, and since i improvise most meals, it wouldn't make much sense anyway, but i went to the supermarket and bought a crapload of vegetables, so at least there's stuff in the fridge for the rest of the week.
And, because i didn't have anything else to do today really (i even vacuumed just because i didn't know what to do with myself), i peeled, rinsed and chopped everything too. I even blanched the sugar snaps, which is something i always remember at the very last minute, and then i have to eat them warm.

Anyway, that whole rant was actually just an excuse to post this picture of the pretty colors in my sink.
Some days, i think i should just have a tumblr instead of this having to write something just to post a picture.
But then, if i didn't ramble on, it wouldn't be my blog.

Pretty fall colors, even indoors

Even though i just spent a good hour and a half (at least) on Project Easy Vegetable, i think Allan might actually be doing the cooking tonight.
It's never been his thing, and in all our years together, i've always been the cook, but he has a few dishes that he's getting really good at.
Fake-meat lasagna is one of them and i think (hope) we're having that tonight!

A walk in the woods

2011-10-16T18:11:00.000+02:00

You're not gonna believe this (ok, you might, but i almost didn't): today i left the house with my Canon.
Not just my iPhone, no, an actual camera.
I don't think i've done that since August!
I feel guilty for not bringing it along more often, mostly because i feel it's lazy to just use my phone, but i feel bad for my camera too. It's a good camera, it's served me well. In case you're wondering, yes, i do have a tendency to anthropomorphize... ok, more than a tendency, but whatever, it's probably the reason i have cool stuff, so i'd say it's working pretty well for me!

Anyway, it's Sunday, and since we had a long and busy work day yesterday, i felt like having a real day off today. So i suggested a roadtrip. The idea was not well received by my other half, but he went along with it anyway.
We drove up to Dyrehaven with our trusty sidekick (who i didn't take ant pictures of for some reason...?) and a couple of slices of last nights crappy pizza. When we got there i had only just said to Allan: "i hope we'll get to see some deer" when we saw the first one. They're beautiful, and not too afraid of humans. Not Nara tame either, but you can get close. And they look so great with the autumn foliage.
Me and my man held hands and shared popcorn, Lucifer sniffed some upper-class-mutt-butts, and Jean-Luc didn't break down once.
Heaven.

Majestic

Moss and mushrooms... pretty much my favorites

This little cutie-pie was just lying there on its own

Lunch spot

Amalie's Guide to Taking a Great Picture:

1. Find reluctant subject who has a mouth full of pizza 2. Have a leash in your hand and an annoying dog pulling at it at the other end 3.Try to somehow get your own shadow in the frame 4. Fire away!

(You're welcome!)

Like it said, we've been having the best weather lately

Slowly crossing the road, not paying much attention to people or dogs

I quit drinking chai.
I know, i'm just quitting stuff left and right, but all that warm milk every single day was getting to be too much for my poor stomach.
But i've decided that i can have a few on weekends, so i had one when we came back to the city, and i drank it in the living room while editing these pictures and listening to vinyl.
I think "Mission: Great Day Off" is a success.

Shining so bright

2011-10-14T22:57:00.000+02:00

It's so cold now, but we're having a pretty spectacular week here in Copenhagen anyway.
As long as it's not raining, the cold ain't so bad.
This won't last, of course, so i'm trying to enjoy it.

We've entered the work part of our staycation, but that's ok, the shop needed us.
It's been good to get shit done, and it's been good to get out of the house.
Being idle is not what i need right now, so i don't even mind having to work tomorrow. On a weekend.
So unlike me.
Maybe i'll bring a book.

Today by the lakes

My rather limited view of the beautiful night sky from the shop kitchen

I'm not gonna rant about this, but i gotta say; i need to move.
It's getting worse, so much worse than ever.
It's pretty much all i can think about... when i'm not busy over-analyzing my mental health, that is.
I think my apartments obsession might actually be the better of those options!

Photo fun day

2011-10-13T01:38:00.000+02:00

As i mentioned in my brag-post from last night, me and Allan did a hat photo shoot with Jacqueline at the shop today.
We also went and looked at an apartment and bought Halloween decorations for the shop, but that's another story (or two).

We met up at the shop to take pictures of both old and new pieces. Some that have been in the shop before and some that i've never even posted pictures of online.
I've only seen small previews, but Allan is getting so good at portraits, Jacqueline is such a good model, and we all work so good together, so i'm fully confident that the pictures are gonna come out great.
We did have to get by without our stylist who's on her honeymoon (i know, pretty lame excuse for not coming, right?), but it was a pretty simple, indoor shoot (not like last time) so we managed just fine.

Hopefully Allan will have time to transfer and edit the results soon, so i can update my website and etsy shop.
And post them here too, of course!

I'm glad this afternoon was so easy and efficient, cause right now i'm experiencing some pretty epic gadget failures (laptop is slow, apple is being extra difficult, and my phone... oh my fucking god, don't even get me started on that thing... so, yeah), and it feels like nothing is working the way it should.
Win some, lose some.

Hats and taxidermy

Behind the scenes... or more like right in the scenes

Total, actual, natural beauty

Allan is watching Battle: LA, and boy, is that ever a flaming pile of turds!
I think i might even prefer dealing with failing iPhone updates, it's that bad.

Treasured

2011-10-11T22:30:00.001+02:00

So, Lucifer is all better (yay, so relieved!) but i've been on the couch with some awful stomach thing all day.
Lucky for me, i'd planned to spend my day off on the couch anyway, so HA! Take that, sickness.
Yeah, not feeling much like a winner, but you take what you can get, right?
Anyway, i didn't come here to blog about my shitty health, because, well, boring.
No, i came because i apparently had a crap ton of activity on my etsy shop earlier today, and i just found out where it came from.
Turns out, one of the recent treasuries i've been in made the front page!
My first time for that (i assume), so yay!
And it was a Mori Girl themed treasury, which is so nice to see because it means that non-Japanese girls are finally getting into this style too.
Ok, back to the front page; i was a little bummed that i'd missed it by about 6 hours (they change it all the time) but after the quickest google search ever, i found a page, this one, that takes screen shots of all the featured treasuries.
Can i say "yay" again or have i used up my quota for the day? You know what, don't answer that.

Oh, who cares... screen shot, YAY!

Tomorrow me and Allan are meeting up with Jacqueline to take some new hat pictures, so expect new items in the shop very soon.
Oh, and this was the piece that made the front page. I still like that one a lot.

Sad mouse

2011-10-09T14:17:00.000+02:00

Lucifer has been sick for two days.He shakes all the time, has his tail between his legs and he hasn't even looked at his toy basket today.
I hate it. Hate, hate, hate it.
Me and him are going to Bisserup with my parents tonight, cause Allan is going for a metal-countryside-sleepover type thing, and i'm hoping his favorite fields and some fresh air will cheer him up.

Feel better, baby... please

On a completely different topic; you never really know how much pent-up rage you have in you until someone let's you rant non-stop for about an hour.
I feel a little bad for unloading on Helle and Michael yesterday, but i think both me and Allan felt better afterwards!
And we had a nice, relaxed night of talking and eating take out sushi in spite of me going on about stuff that's pissing me off!

Small victories

2011-10-08T13:33:00.000+02:00

First of all, i'm really touched and grateful for all the sweet and supportive comments on my last post.
It's a pretty common human mistake to assume that we're the only ones dealing with whatever issues we happen to be dealing with, but we never are. But because nobody wants others to see their flaws and their weaknesses, we all walk around in our little bubbles, thinking we're the only ones.
And we look at each other thinking "that girl, she could never feel what i'm feeling, she looks so cool and together and her life is probably perfect" and well, that's just never true.

Now, i'm in no way happy that so many of you knows what it's like to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, but i'm happy that you chose to tell me about your experiences. You made me feel less alone.
And i'm especially relieved that so many seem to have overcome their anxiety completely, something i actually never knew was possible.
It gives me hope!

I've had a good week.
After the stress London kind of faded (working hard, like physically hard, on the darkroom helped me move on) i started feeling more like myself.
After so many bad experiences lately (London and Prague in particular) i was starting to think i'd never be able to do normal, but challenging stuff again, so it was kind of a huge deal when, a few days ago, me and Allan decided to work on on my leg. Getting tattooed, especially the longer sessions in Japan, has been a trigger for panic for me for a long time, and i was getting seriously worried that i had reached a point where a simple, short session in my own studio was too much for me.
So i told Allan "maybe", just so i wouldn't get too worked up during the day, and that seemed to do the trick.
The first 15 minutes were kind of awful (but then again, they always are) and i could feel the panic emerging, but i focused on my breathing, and on telling myself it'd get better, and it did.
Not the pain, because holy shit, but the pain was never what scared me.
Feeling unwell, being nauseous, not being in control, and ultimately feeling less than sane, is what scares me. And for some reason, the idea of passing out, even though i've never even come close to that in real life. Weird.
It was a short session, cause Allan had a meeting about a photography gig to get to, but it was a successful one, and i don't think i can explain how much i needed that.
I needed a win. I needed to do something on my "trigger list" without having an episode. And i did, and i've been riding that feeling ever since.
The only thing that bothers me right now is my leg being too sore to work out. But i'm ok to do yoga still, and that's something that's becoming increasingly important to me.

Sorry for the rant.
I guess i decided to share.
Here's hoping that doesn't turn into over-sharing!

My sweet and patient husband

Our trusty sidekick, being bored out of his mind

There's still a long ways to go on this one, but it was great just getting started again

The next day

Today i'm gonna search eBay for wigs, dresses and other things that will eventually make up a Halloween costume.
It's funny, but with Halloween being kind of a new thing in Denmark, not even a tradition yet, i've never been a Halloween person. But now, with the shop plans i just posted about on the other blog, i kind of have to be.
And i must admit, i'm getting into it!

The short version

2011-10-05T13:11:00.000+02:00

Ok, so i already did the official "we went to London" post on the other blog, so i figured i can slack a bit on this one.
Right?
It's not that i don't wanna blog here, although i know it may sometimes seem like it, it's just that so much is going on with me, that i feel like i can't write about anything without somehow getting into things that require a deeper explanation. And like most bloggers, i'm always struggling with "too-personal-not-personal-enough" balance.
But in short; i've been having a lot of anxiety this year.
I've been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks for years, but this year it's just gotten so much worse. Sometimes it's so bad that i wonder if my life will ever be normal and fear-free again, and then other days i can hardly remember feeling that way.
The last kind have been few and far between lately.

So to someone like me, an event like a tattoo convention, and even the days leading up to one, can be a complete nightmare, and that's pretty much what i expected London to be.
And in some ways, it didn't disappoint (although i obviously wish it had).
Friday was the worst. I had a day-long panic attach, the longest i've ever experienced, and having to deal with clients and work the booth at the same time was, to put it mildly, extremely uncomfortable.
But Saturday and Sunday got a little better, and i ended up having moments of actual enjoyment. And for me, that's about as good as it gets these days.

Although that was pretty vague and brief, i hope that explains the few pictures, and my not wanting to get into things too much.
Maybe i'll try to write more about the stuff i'm dealing with at another time, i hope i will because writing helps me deal, but i still need to decide what the right amount of personal is.
So for now, this is as much as i feel like sharing about that weekend.

And we're back

Convention family part one

Convention family part two

Allan working and getting interviewed at the same time... there was a lot of that going on this year!

Fucking awesome

Kate took this!

A break by the water

Bringing only one pair of pants will sometimes lead to having to borrow your husbands far too large jeans (also, my belly looks really fat in this picture... i'm hoping it's because i just ate!)

It finally happened!

Walked by here on the way to the airport

As awful as the weekend was for me at times, there was good stuff too.

It was a successful weekend for the shop, as we had one of the busiest booths of the show, and for once we had stickers and business cards too!
We met up with some really great friends, and made some new acquaintances too, which is always nice.
But i am hoping that next year will be easier for me on a personal level. It sure as hell can't get much harder.

Can we pretend i wrote this in September?

2011-10-01T22:50:00.001+02:00

Oops. It happened again didn't it?
Whatever, you're used to it by now, right?
And i have actually been super busy. And in London. Some of the time at least.
But i'm back now, and i'm having my first genuinely great day in a long time.
More about that, and London, some other time, right now i just wanna post some pictures and maybe take a nap.
Oh, to have a day off. Isn't it just the best?

Today the weather broke a heat record from October 1978.
About friggin time, i say.

Morning coffee with my handsome boys

Lucifer's favorite park... possibly mine too

More chai and a politically incorrect bracelet

That dog and that dress

Trying to make him dance for the camera... doesn't always work (but sometimes it does)

Ps. I didn't take a nap after all, but i did read a few chapters of my book and eat some snacks. Just as good.

Snail on basil leaf (not a recipe)

2011-09-20T01:57:00.000+02:00

Things that happened today: tried out level two of that evil exercise dvd, regretted that decision almost immediately, shopped for groceries and exchanged some lingerie, took the car to Nørrebro where we bought a used washing machine for the shop, worked-worked-worked, went home and cooked dinner, watched a single, much too short episode of Buffy, found what appeared to be a dead snail in some grapes, played with the totally not dead snail for way too long, mixed my gross natural hair coloring soup and accidentally knocked Allan's toothbrush into the bowl while applying it, waited forever for the hair color to work before eventually ( i hope?) rinsing it out.
Yeah, i'm still on that last part.

My shoulders and back hurt from that workout. I almost puked a few times too. Back to level one tomorrow and for a long time to come.

The snail, he's still in the kitchen, waiting for someone to release him into the wild (he's from Bisserup, by the way, i hope he'll enjoy living in Vesterbro)

Yeah, i'm definitely ready to wash my hair for the third time today (poor planning), so i can get some damn sleep

London is in a few days. We just bought the tickets today, because why get the tickets in good time, when you can do it at the very last minute? So fun.

I sincerely wish i still enjoyed going to conventions. Then maybe i wouldn't stress so much about it?

Right now i just want it to be Tuesday, so i can be back home and work on the photo room at the shop, and not be nervous all the time.

Dream boots found, dream apartment still missing

2011-09-17T23:07:00.000+02:00

What have i been up to?

Oh, you know, just looking at apartments. Every day.

Looking at apartments, all of the apartments, hoping "the one" will show up soon.

I've got a few potentials, but nothing... perfect.

But perfect doesn't exist, we all know that.

Maybe when we come back from London, i'll make some calls and arrange to see some of these potentials in person.

Maybe if i pretend i've found something, the right one will present itself? You know, that old trick?

If not, i'm leaving the country.

I am not spending another winter here.

A few days ago i got the strangest urge to wear these shoes that haven't seen the light of day since i put them in the basement in 2004... imagine if i'd thrown them out!? But of course i wouldn't...

Me and Allan had a very successful shopping trip today; i found my dream boots plus a sweet vintage denim vest and a very soft, used t-shirt and Allan got himself (another) denim jacket... a really nice one

All this looking for a home with no success is pretty depressing, but on the plus side, i'm getting very good at street names, and i pretty much know exactly what an apartment is supposed to cost in various neighborhoods.

So that's something.

Not much socializing going on these days. Not even with each other.

Allan is busy painting flash for London, and i'm just doing my best to be out of his way.

It's a drag, but it's temporary, and i'm very proud of him for all the progress he's making.

I'm supportive-wife.

Hey, maybe London will be fun this year?*

*Hopeful, naive font.

Some weeks on instagram and some words from right now

2011-09-16T13:29:00.000+02:00

I am totally beginning to catch up on the instagram posts, aren't i?
If i keep this up, maybe the weekly feature will become, well, weekly again soon.

My getting back in shape (or just in shape, depending on how you look at it) is going pretty well.
I ordered a couple more dvd's on amazon cause they're really cheap and it's good to have some variety when you're as easily bored and distracted as me.
I'm not tired of the "6 week Six-pack" yet, though, in fact i'm only just getting to the point where i can get through the whole routine without pausing for almost-fainting and almost-puking.
And i'm still on level 1.
I also got a Danish yoga dvd with nighttime exercises, so i have something to do in the evening on days when i don't have time for the morning workout.
I tried it once, and while it was a little too focused on relaxation (i have a hard time turning my brain off) it did provide for some serious stretching that i could feel the next day.
I'm also eating less crap, or at least trying to, and the crap i do eat is healthier than the crap i used to eat.
Like, making homemade organic popcorn with olive oil instead of eating a can of Pringles.
Yeah, i still snack, i gots to!
So yeah, baby steps, i certainly don't look different, but on the days i exercise before work, i'm filled with energy, and that alone is reason to keep this going.

Thanks or the support and suggestions on this post, if you have other good ideas for getting fit and healthy, please do share!

Click for a bigger view

(1. The almost obligatory pizza shot 2. Darth memory-stick, another cool present from Adam 3. Gary! 4. Bob! 5. First of the Conspiracy grown tomatoes 6. Before i cut my hair, but after i dyed it 7. Amazing Arcade Fire 8. Flowers for a funeral 9. Viva Buffy! 10. Magical M. Ward 11. These books have stolen my soul 12. 105 Yen shoes and some frilly socks 13. Mucha bookmark 14. Allan rode me to work while i was sick 15. I like this picture cause my hair looks pretty and you can't see my face 16. This face i like 17. Deer skull from Bisserup being cleaned at the shop 18. Cacti in pretty pots at home 19. Vesterbro 20. Lazy feet 21. Reading in the park on a sunny day 22. Shonen Knife! 23. Bored 24. Stressed 25. Love 26. Best homemade burger 27. Goodnight 28. Future projects)

Instaprague, praguestagram and pictures from my phone

2011-09-14T22:43:00.000+02:00

I still. Haven't finished. That. Damn. Film.
It's on 36 now, and everytime i take a picture, it's still on 36.
And there's nothing worth taking a picture of in this town.
Nothing!
It's filthy, for one thing.
The lakes are full of green goo and vintage trash from the fall of 2010, there's dog poop and busted up, badly parked bicycles on every sidewalk, construction is so out of control that it has become a permanent part of the cityscape, and to top it all off, every lamppost in the city has about 3-10 ugly ass election posters on them. I can't even begin to tell you how sick i am of their phony politician faces staring down at me when i ride home from work in the rain.
Yeah, it's raining too.

It's kinda the opposite of Prague, one might say.
I had a mixed trip, i think i said that already, illness and anxiety are always working against me, but i wasn't too far gone to appreciate the beauty of this place, and how much effort they must put into making it the clean and friendly tourist mecca that is.
And i certainly appreciated the romantic alone time with my love as well.
We couldn't have picked a better spot to celebrate our 10 years as husband and wife.
Until the real pictures get here (if they're any good, that is), i'm gonna settle and post a few from the iPhone.

Out walking that first night, met a lonely book on a trashcan

Disney-esque

Best weather imaginable... almost too good

Details

Their language is cooler than ours

We found owls! Huge owls! I can't wait to see Allan's pictures of these guys

All buildings were beautiful

View from the top

Karlův Most

Praha

If i'd been able to eat at all, i would have bought one of these

View from the second Mucha exhibit in one day

As usual, click to go bigger

(1. Traveling light 2. Czech Airlines 3. Our room at the lovely Mucha hotel 4. Pretty inside too, kind of important 5. Night time walk 6. September 3rd 2001 7. We didn't go there, but their posters where awesome 8. That view 9. That bridge 10. Those churches 11. The police did this... in Copenhagen they're more likely to beat up your dog 12. Souvenir)

As if

2011-09-13T21:41:00.000+02:00

I've answered so many emails today, i've come to that point where words don't make so much with the sense anymore.
So don't go expecting a wordy post.
And it's not just my brain that's fried right now, my body is too.
Yes, i started working out in the morning again, and you guys, it is brutal.
And i'm only on level one!
But it feels good to be exercising again. Right now i don't even know why i stopped (oh, yes i do actually; a friend moved into my livingroom so i couldn't work out there... but i still should have gotten back into it much sooner).

To be realistic, i couldn't get a six-pack if i did this 6 times a day for 6 years, but it's still a good workout, and my belly needs it the most!

I'm skipping tomorrow morning cause we're taking an early trip to the hardware store for shelves and stuff for the shop (something i am way too excited about), but since i don't have a goal here, every other day seems reasonable to me.

Evolution of an outfit

2011-09-12T18:44:00.001+02:00

You know those days where you really need to vent on the internet, but the last thing you can do is vent on the internet?
Yeah, i'm having one of those days.
But i've also had a busy, but short day at work, and i love those.
So at least there's that.
But you know what makes me happy?
Seeing how happy you guys where to have comments back.
I'm sure the excitement will die out soon enough, but it was nice that so many of you felt like leaving a comment.
And that you care at all. Obviously that's nice too.

Coralene asked about the hat i wore to the wedding, so i decided to do a post about that whole outfit.
See, comments back is working for me already!
Anyway, it wasn't that my outfit was the important one that day, because duh, the bride and all that, but for once i had the whole thing planned in my head, and then it didn't turn out the way it was supposed to after all.
But here it is anyway; the picture that inspired my outfit, and what went wrong.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Frida Kahlo, and for the wedding i'd wanted to wear colors similar to these

I'd already made this headband a long time ago, also inspired by her and the way she wore flowers in her hair

It would be better if i had gorgeous long hair to braid, but you gotta work with what you got

I bought this dress from Mama Stone on eBay, but it didn't arrive in time, and when it finally did, there was a ransom to be paid... so this dress ended up being very expensive, and due to the lack of summer, i haven't even had a chance to wear it yet

Instead i ended up wearing this dress, that i bought in Tokyo a few years back... not quite the same, but whatever, it's a nice dress, right?*

As for shoes i was supposed to wear these, but the weather was so bad i ended up wearing the boots i got in Texas a couple of years ago....sorry i only have these crappy insta-pictures to show for this very long build-up, but hey, like i said, this post may be about me and what i wore, but the day wasn't!

So in conclusion, i looked nothing like Frida, and you wouldn't be able to tell what inspired my look unless i told you, but it was fun going for something specific instead of just throwing random things together like i normally would have done.

I still haven't finished that Prague film. There's probably only one picture left, but i can't find anything worth photographing here!
Maybe tomorrow i'll have better luck, and if not, i'll let them have it anyway.
The suspense is killing me!

*Picture taken in the fitting room the day i bought it, there hasn't been another hair disaster since last week!

This, that and a bad haircut

2011-09-10T23:26:00.000+02:00

I've been struggling with that whole comments on/comments off dilemma for a long time now.
You may have noticed.
Comments-off was actually working pretty well for me for a while, but i could tell that the blog was a more interesting place to visit back when people could share their thought with me and with other readers, and according to my stats, ahem, others felt that way too.
But what to do; i hate the way you can't reply to individual comments in Blogger, and i wasn't about to switch to Wordpress just because of that.
But still, i was too lazy to sit around and copy/paste people's names every time i wanted to reply to a comment, and if i didn't, well, then it got confusing.
There where other reasons too, for the comments-off months, and i think i mentioned them here before, but while i can't do anything about those, i could do something about the comment section itself.
See, i noticed that my blog buddy Nova had a fancy comment section on her blog, even though she's on Blogger too, so i decided to give that a go.

So far, i like it ok, although there seems to be one huge con; i can't switch comments off at all.
And i would like to have some posts comment free, just once in a while.
But it doesn't look like that's an option here, which is too bad, but since i went through all the trouble of setting this up (note: it took, like, 10 minutes, but i wasn't in the mood for it, so it's a big deal now), i guess i'll give it a chance anyway.
So, comment away if you like, even the closed posts of the past many months are now wide open to whatever input or pun or snappy comeback you may have had in your system at the time you read them!

In other news, i am home alone, reading a book that's making me super sad.
In other, other news, i got a haircut that i hate, and i'll putting my hair in a (now ridiculously small) ponytail until that shit grows back out, thankyouverymuch!

It started out ok, then it got really flat and started to look like a helmet, and then i noticed just how much had been cut off.... months wasted...

The camouflage hair-do, complete with homemade headband

Oh, i already don't like having comments back on...
I was feeling so safe and comfortable, and now i feel all vulnerable again.
Be nice, ok?

... and they lived happily ever after

2011-09-09T13:57:00.001+02:00

I'm about two months late with this post, and i honestly didn't think anyone had noticed my slacking, until i saw Martin on Monday, and he asked me what the hell happened to his wedding post.
Whoops!
I guess my irregular posting doesn't always go unnoticed.
But i did put up a teaser, and that's something, right? No?*

Ok, then, here's the official "Martin and Christel Got Married" post.

The ceremony took place at Assistens Cemerety in Copenhagen, and while the weather was crappy most of the day, it did stop raining for the short time we were outside... good people, good weather karma, right?

After the ceremony we went to Copenhagen Skatepark were Martin and Christel had spent hours decorating the night before

More balloons, and my head watching the happy couple open their wedding presents

The night was full of good food, speeches and surprises; here Martin is serenading his new bride with the help of our old friend Sune Grip

The bridal waltz was followed by a romantic dance, that i tried my best to capture in the dark...

I think it worked...

... with a little help from my friend photoshop, that is

... and from the instamagram (click for a much larger view)

(1. Wrong dress because of the post office and wrong shoes because of the weather 2. Allan and Eckel clean up good 3. Saying their "I do's" 4. Just married! 5. Champagne ice cream, from you-know-where 6. Kitty berries 7. Eckel and Corey 8. Cake overload 9. Drunk on my ass, waiting on a falafel)

We had a super fun night, talking, eating and drinking, dancing with Helle and Michael and sucking helium from the balloon decorations with my mom, who stayed almost as late as we did.

Martin and Christel were showered with awesome gifts and love from their friends and families, so i think they had a pretty wonderful time too.

It was, by far, the most spectacular wedding i've ever been to, but i'd expect nothing less from these two!

Check out Christel's blog for more wedding goodness.

*Ok, so i didn't actually have that many pictures. At least not that many good ones!

Another app, another test...

2011-09-08T23:12:00.001+02:00

Remember back when I used to try and blog from my phone and it looked like crap, so I had to go back on the computer and edit it and then what's the point, so I stopped doing that?
That might be happening again.
Or maybe not.
This app might be different.
Why?
Because this is the official Blogger app, the one whose non-existence I've been complaining about often and loudly for years.
Taking that into consideration, you'd think my expectations would be pretty high, but I've been burned before.
But I'm hopeful. Maybe it too little, (way) too late, but maybe not?
I'll know in a few hours (or tomorrow) when I check on my computer.
Until then, if you're on Blogger too, the app is out and it's free, so why not join me?

Update: Already a little disappointed with the lack of posting options, like comments on/off... but on the plus side, blog looks pretty normal!

Back home

2011-09-08T11:02:00.002+02:00

So, we're back. Have been for a few days actually, but with us working late, and me having sold my soul to A Song of Ice and Fire, there hasn't been much time to blog.
Also, i didn't actually finish the film i brought to Prague in Allan's Lomo.
Not that there wasn't lots of stuff to take pictures of, because holy crap, was there ever stuff to take pictures of. It's just that i got sick on the second day, and after that, even lifting the camera was a bit of a struggle.
So that sucked.
But the part where i got to spend some quality time in a new (old) city with my love, that part did not suck.

Anyway, more pictures and stories when i finish that film!

A view from the castle

That week on instagram, and also, i'm out of here

2011-09-02T15:30:00.000+02:00

When you read this, i will be on my way to Prague.
Or in Prague, even.
The weather there looks amazing and i can't wait to do some serious walking and picture taking with my man.
I'm excited to see the hotel too. It looked cute in pictures.
I won't be bringing my laptop along this time, so no posts until i'm back.
Also, as usual, i forgot to check the internet situation there anyway.
I'm hoping for just a little wi-fi here and there.

This insta-collage is mostly from mid August when we came back from vacation and went to this party.
The next one should be more up to date.
Have a nice weekend, everyone!

(Click picture for bigger view)

(1. I forgot this guy in the Bisserup insta-post! 2. The city welcomed us with pouring rain and black skies 3. At the shop, preparing for burlesque madness 4. Party nails 5. Party lips 6. While getting ready, first layer of white powder applied 7. My boobs made it to the popular page... 8. Mille 9. Me 10. Lucifer looked on, probably confused 11. Me again 12. Sofie 13. The next day was spent on the couch with this 14. ... and these guys 15. The Conspiracy tomatoes 16. A nice little salad17. Present from Adam 18. I don't have much time to read, so i'm still on this one 19. Pooch 20. Cacti 21. Plant projects 22. Windowsill 23. We've been sucked back in 24. Gross, but pretty)

Future us

2011-09-01T12:38:00.000+02:00

This post, although barely started, i already in danger of becoming one of those "this is what i've been up to lately" posts, and i hate those.
They make me feel like i'm constantly behind schedule and i need to catch up, when really, i don't.
So instead i'll do the opposite; i'll skip ahead.

This weekend marks a special date for me and my husband.
This Saturday, it'll be 10 years since we got out of a rented limo and into a crappy little chapel on the strip in Las Vegas, just the two of us, to get married.
10 whole years.
I remember how we, in the early days of our marriage, used to sit around and fantasize about what it would be like to be married for 10 years, looking forward to it even, and then all of a sudden, it just happened. And here we are.
Well, we're both alive and we're both still happy to be in this marriage, and that's kinda huge.

I never regretted running off to Vegas and having a simple, cheap ceremony.
I was never the type of girl who dreamed of a big wedding, or dreamed of a wedding at all, so being just the two of us suited me just fine.
But the thing about eloping is that you don't get to have a party and celebrate with your friends and family, and although i never missed that, i always promised myself and my people that it would happen sometime.
And that sometime was to be our 10 year anniversary.
10 years, that's a long time to plan something, that's waaaay in the future. Right?
As it turns out, future-Allan and future-Amalie are as bad at planning ahead as our past selves were.
And 10 years can sneak up on you. Really, they can.

A few days ago we realized that we still hadn't planned anything. And that we didn't have room in our apartment for a whole lot of people. And it was too cold outside to have a party there.
And so, we did it again.
We decided to run.
We bought a cheap trip to Prague. Just the two of us.*
We'll only have one full day there, but we plan to just walk and walk and explore and have fun.
The perfect way to celebrate a marriage that started with two kids, alone in a new city.

Lately i've been sewing till my fingers bled (literally, i got blood on a white rose!)**

I was planning on bringing this awesome, old instamatic camera i found in my grandpas apartment to Prague with me, but it turns out you can get neither film nor batteries for this camera anymore.

And after Sweden, i really feel like taking less digital and more analog photos.

So i'll probably borrow Allan's Lomo for this trip.

That means it'll be a while longer before i can share Prague photos with you, but as always, just go to my instagram feed if you wanna see what i'm up to.

*I feel bad about leaving my Prague Ratter at home, and flying off to his country of origin without him... but i'll see if i can find a nice Prazsky souvenir for him there.

**I finished the piece i've been working on yesterday, but i can't share cause it's for someone, and she should see it first. But soon, i hope!

Another week on instagram

2011-08-28T05:00:00.000+02:00

Oh yes, now i remember that thing i wanted to write about, but forgot in my last post.
It was Dream Apartment.
We found it.
Did i even mention that here?
I don't think i did?
Well, we found it, but it wasn't perfect.
Nothing ever is.
But we went to an open house one day to see it, and we both fell in love.
It was even better than it had seemed from the listing, and we were the only ones there which gave us lots of time to explore and ask questions.
It felt like home. It felt like it could very easily be our home.
But future-home had some serious flaws; some of them i had to figure out if i could live with, and others i had to try and change.
For weeks i stayed in touch with the Realtor and tried to work stuff out, but a few days ago i decided it was time to give up on it for good.
I'd realized some things that, if true, would be major deal breakers, and honestly, dreaming about living there, making a home in my head, but not actually having it happen in real life, was too hard for me.
Having a vivid imagination can be a curse.

The reason i was thinking about Dream Apartment that morning was because i'd left my book at the shop.
I don't usually read at work, but i was expecting a long day Friday, and decided to bring it just in case i had time for a chapter.
I didn't, as it turned out, but i'd taken it out of my bag anyway, and forgotten to put it back.
So i was lying there, listening to the thunder move on to other neighborhoods, and thinking about how easy it would be to just go to the shop and grab it... if i lived in Dream Apartment.
I'd take one of my many umbrellas, put on my rain boots and walk to the shop.
It would take me about 5 minutes, if i didn't grab a cup of tea on the way, that is.
While i was there i'd do a little work on the hat i'm making at the moment, and maybe bleach that bird skull i found in Bisserup.
I'd hang around for bit and chat to Eckel, and on my way home, i'd stop by the supermarket to buy food and dish-washing soap.
And then i'd be back home, and it wouldn't have taken hours.
I'd be home, and home would have a big, inviting kitchen and a bedroom so big i wouldn't stub my toes on the corner of the bed, or bang my shin against the dresser drawers, every damn day.
In my head i already bought a new couch.
Damn you daydreaming, you're breaking my heart.

Ok, enough complaining, back to the real subject of this post!
Or at least what the headline suggests would be the subject.

This week was mostly spent in Bisserup by the looks of it.
As you've already seen in this post, it was a pretty cold week, so i didn't get to spend nearly as much time outside as i would have liked.
But we had a nice little vacation anyway.

(Click on the picture for a larger view)

(1. Having a chai, wearing a dress my mom bought me 2. Flower pot at the shop 3. Allan at the cemetery 4. Blooming sunflower 5. On our way to Bisserup, Lucifer and basil in the backseat 6. My parents were throwing a party/concert when we arrived, not in our honor though 7. I do love waking up to this view, no matter the weather 8. Our beautiful homes 9. Dead shrew on the beach 10. Sunbathing mouse on a bench 11.My mom picked us wildflowers 12. Seriously love this so much 13. My reading buddy 14. Seagull skull on the beach 15. I used this fancy thing to make pizza dough 16. My dad was out playing a gig, so we invited my mom over for pizza 17. Rain attire 18. My dad and Lucifer taking a nap 19. Me and Allan shared the most giant, yet cheap, ice cream this part of the country has to offer 20. Windy 21. Me and Allan's home away from home 22. Reading up on how to build a dark room... yes, that's still happening 23. My vacation project: cross-stitch on an old sun dress 24. It rained all day on this day, not a single break 25. The big flower was done from a pattern, the rest i had to improvise 26. Removing the cross-stitch fabric took about two hours! 27. And done! It looks pretty good, actually! 28. The cheese-mobile comes by every few weeks, and my mom buys some every time.... ah, sweet country life!)

Bright lights

2011-08-27T15:39:00.000+02:00

This morning around 6 am, me and the rest of Copenhagen were woken upby a thunderstorm unlike any other we've ever seen.
The light was so yellow. I mean, not just the sky, but everything was yellow.
And the lightning came with just seconds in between them, and the thunder was deafening.
I shook Allan awake right away, and he was so shocked by the light that he wasn't even annoyed with me.
Our houseguest Adam, who had a plane to catch, was wide awake too.
It looked like the end of the world. Or at least what that looks like in my head.
Or a martian invasion in the style of our beloved War of the Worlds.
It scared me and i don't think i've been really scared of a thunderstorm since i was a kid.*
I started thinking about what it would be like to wake up like that, disoriented and a little scared, and not have Allan and Lucifer lying next to me.
That would be the worst.
I've been thinking more about death and loss than i usually do because a dear client and friend of Nick's died last weekend, too sudden and too soon.
We're going to his funeral tomorrow.
There's just nothing fair about that.
This morning, i thought about his girlfriend and their baby.

I just read on the news that after the crappy, rainy weather this weekend, the temperature is gonna drop drastically, and that'll be the end of summer.
What summer, right?

There was something else i wanted to write about, something that kept me awake after thunder had passed, but i can't seem to recall what that was.
Instead, here are some mixed pictures from the last week or so.

Nørrebro's water got contaminated by poop bacteria, and for 5 days we had to use bottled water, or boil tap water twice, at the shop

My workroom and a hat in progress

I made a shadow hippo by accident while waiting for my tea to steep, and was so excited about it that i yelled at Allan across the shop to come take a picture (he seemed impressed too!)

Adam got attacked by Gary, the newest member of the Conspiracy Zoo of the Dead

A sunny moment on the way to work

Vintage eBay dress

And of course, socks in heels

More progress...

A fantastic postcard from Nova that made my day

Sorry for the gloomy post.
I'm actually in an ok mood today, compared to many other days during this complete shitbomb of a summer.
Right now i am dying my hair, and tonight we're seeing Arcade Fire.
Oh, and Lucifer is sleeping with his rat toy as a pillow next to me.

*Back then they terrified me. If i was at school and i heard thunder, i'd hide under a table. It's a wonder i wasn't teased more that i was.

A week on instagram

2011-08-26T11:49:00.000+02:00

Yeah, not this week, or last week.Just a week.
I can't be bothered to go through my instagram and do this chronologically, so the next few insta-posts will be a little on the random side.
You don't mind, do you?
Duplicates may occur, and if that happens, i apologize in advance!

(Click on the picture for a larger view)

(1. A heron at Frederiksberg Have 2. Me and Lucifer in that same park 3. My boys at the café 4. Gloomy skies on the way home from work 5. Self portrait at the shop... not sure why 6. Anne's cat 7. I started Voyager, or Next Generation Light, as they might as well have called it 8. My very old amethyst necklaces as bracelets 9. Me and him 10. New obsession, a birthday gift from my mother in law 11. Lucifer in the park 12. Eating a rather unsatisfying avocado sandwich 13. Sunflower 14. French embroidery pattern book 15. At the shop alone one day, dreaming about having a balcony... 16. Embroidery stuff, ready to take home 17. In my head, i was already decorating Dream Apartment 18. Going to Sweden! 19. Sweden, posted after we came home 20. Danish snail meets Swedish snail)

Bisserup in analog

2011-08-24T13:26:00.001+02:00

These next pictures are also from our vacation, more specifically, the week we spent in Bisserup.
I guess i'd used up most of the film in Sweden already, but that's ok, cause these aren't nearly as good!
But here they are anyway.

Our view

Beach flowers

Horsey

It was too cold to go swimming

I like walking here

Crappy self portrait of puffy face

All taken with my pretty pink Holga.

Tem's wedding

2011-08-23T00:20:00.000+02:00

I was seconds away from opening photoshop to do one of my famous and well-loved (what? In my head they are!) instagram collages, when i decided... nah.

Not that i don't wanna do another fabulous insta-piece, i do, and i even wanna get back to posting them more on the regular so they don't end up ridiculously long like this one. I just didn't wanna do it right now.

I could go into how crappy i've been feeling lately, or how uninspired i've been, but what good will that do?

Sure, venting is nice, and i haven't done an honest emo post in a while, but right now, i think doing a post on a somewhat recent creative success might be healthier.

Maybe it'll even inspire me to get working again, and that's probably exactly what i need.

Me, me, me... this is dangerously close to becoming an emo post anyway.

Enough of that!

A while ago i got commissioned to do a wedding hat for a girl in England.

A top hat.

A custom mini top hat, to be exact.

In spite of never having done a hat like that before, and not having a clue about how to make such a hat, i said yes without hesitation.

I realize now that i probably should have thought about it some more before accepting, but at that point it was too late, and instead if panicking, i got to work.

I can't say exactly how many hours i put into this piece, but i started in March and finished in July.

So a few.

Tem, my client, was super easy to work with, and pretty much gave me permission to just do my thing.

Inspired by her keywords, and her gorgeous dress, i worked my ass off, gave it my best shot and learned a whole lot in the process.

Mostly i learned that i wanna learn more.

Funny how that works.

I'll always be able to find a thousand flaws with everything i do, and that's probably never gonna change, but i am happy with the result anyway, and more importantly, so was Tem.

Here are some pictures Allan took before i shipped it off to its destination, followed by a few pictures Tem sent me from the wedding.

Hopefully i'll see more as they get through editing what i'm sure is a shit ton of wedding photos.

Front

Tilt

Hand dyed and beaded vintage lace, probably my favorite detail

Tem sent me a sample of her dress fabric to match the colors from, but i ended up using it as a band

The berries were actually added after a spontaneous instagram poll voted in their favor

Lots of feathers

I didn't have any pictures of my client before starting the piece, and therefore no clue what she looked like, so of course i was thrilled to see how lovely she was

So damn romantic

Seriously though, doesn't this look like the kind of wedding you'd love to get invited to?

More clients like this, please!

I've done other wedding pieces too, and i honestly can't say why i never got around to posting them, but i will do that. Post them.

They're on my website, of course, but that's not the same at all.

I should probably start by getting the pictures from my shop to my home computer, right?

Yeah, that'd be a good start.

Oh, and by the way, since we're on the subject of creativity, or lack thereof; i went to the fabric store today, bought some really pretty furniture fabric and some luxury velvet (really, that's what it's called) and had a nice talk with the manager who usually seems so grumpy.

I hope that fabric will turn into something pretty real soon.

Sweden in analog

2011-08-19T15:29:00.000+02:00

I've been bringing my pink Holga with me on vacations for a while now, mostly Bisserup actually, but to Sweden too when we went there a few weeks ago.
But unlike my husband, who's on a first name basis with everyone down at the photo shop, i have a a tendency to forget to get my films developed.
But after taking a bunch of pictures of the kids in Sweden, i got curious to see how they turned out.
And of course there was already film in the camera, and a few others lying around too, so now i have, like, three or four developed films!

A large portion of the pictures are crap, as usual, but there must be something magical in the air in Sweden, cause most of the pictures i took there, with my notoriously difficult camera, actually turned out pretty good.
Win!
I haven't uploaded them all, obviously, as there were shit ones too, but a few good ones, once in a while, is really all i need.

No photoshop was used, apart from resizing, which is ok, right?
I even resisted the urge to crop them, and that was hard.

Anyway, here they are, hope you like them.

The magical lake

Allan and a pine tree

Someone can't swim yet

Sweet boys

The moose had somehow rubbed off most of the pine needles

The woods

Yonas in the sky

The house

Another one

Double exposure goodness

Favorite

Should we jump?

Land/sky

What?!

Thistle

I must have let Allan or William play with my camera for this one

Seriously though, these are pretty good, right?
The Bisserup ones from this summer and last summer aren't nearly as nice, but i'll be posting them soon anyway.