6 degrees [of postcards]

the current show at light grey art lab is the 6 degrees show, and i am fortunate to be one of the artists donning their gallery walls. the theme was to design a postcard showcasing where you live and sending 100 of them to LGAL to be redistributed to all artists involved, so that you have THE BEST MAIL DAY EVER when you get a giant pack of postcards from artists around the world! (photo via LGAL)

i styled my artwork to mimic minimalistic vintage scandinavian design and drew my color palette from the always lovely nyhavn. i wish i could be there in person to check it out, but to all my minneapolis friends, be sure to stop by--it'll be up until january 17th. (and feel free to show some copenhagen love by buying a print here tak!)

ærø

this year we took a summer holiday to the southern danish island of ærø and it was lovely!

the houses were colorful and cozy, lining cobblestone roads. the countryside and coastlines were beautiful and we saw farms and loppedmarkets (flea markets) selling antiques and fresh produce--often with honor system pricing! (everyone is very trusting)

we only went to the beach once and it was sooo windy and cold...but oliver is so acclimated to danish climate and loved going in the water, teeth chattering away. we ate amazing sea food (smoked oysters NOT from a can) and fresh baked goods, took bike rides and long walks, cooked food and baked cookies in the most charming tiny house, knit while watching movies, played board games while it rained...it might not have been the tropical island holiday i imagined it would be (no, i don't know why i thought an island in denmark would be tropical) but it was a REALLY nice holiday and i can't wait to go back someday!

craftenhagen + blog royalty

last week i had my first evening sans baby! i went to craftenhagen and made ornaments and gift boxes in a workshop led by the lovely tina of traveling mama. there was hands on crafting, i met nice people, and ate delicious homemade snacks in a cozy little studio...perfection.

and the BEST part was...i met brittany of the house that lars built!!! blogging legend!!! she is as cute as can be and so sweet. i wanted to be her copenhagen bff but sadly she is moving back to the us in two weeks...darn it. i am so glad i got to meet her and see her fun studio, and can't wait to hear about her new adventures back stateside!

32 on 3/2 and time marches on

i turned 32 this year and went to lunch and dessert at paludan bogcafe and la glace with my favorite expat friends, chris got me a waterproof bookbag from the freitag flagship store in zurich (as a solution to my frequent annoyance with denmark's unpredictable weather), had dinner at the delicious quattro fontane, and got lots of overseas birthday love via facebook, email, and even regular post which just makes me so thankful for all of the wonderful friends and family in my life.

margaret (a friend since 4th grade) came to visit in march as well, and it was really nice. we often say our friendship always starts up where we left off, no matter the amount of time or distance since our last time together...and that's neat to have.

my "golden" year is great so far, wanted to just say a big THANKS!!!

god morgen solskin!

it has been exceptionally sunny lately and i am loving it! no longer does it get dark at 3pm, and though winter FINALLY came a few weeks ago with some snow and cold temperatures, i will gladly bundle up for a beautiful sunshine-filled day.

yesterday i also passed my danish module 2 final exam, jeg havde en god dag! before i went home, i started at one end of the strøget and just walked around...window shopping and stopping to treat myself to lunch at one of my favorite places, paludan bogcafe. it is so cozy in there--like sitting in an old library, and the food is always delicious.

happy new year!

once we announced our baby news, a friend asked me if I could add more life-changing events to this year. we've had amazing fireworks shows outside our window all evening and will be skyping with our families early in the morning to re-celebrate midnight in the US...as there is only thirty minutes left of 2011, i'm keeping my fingers crossed we have a peaceful, non-eventful remainder to the year ;)

i have a lot of really fun plans for 2012 (a contest or two???) and i'm looking forward to what the new year will bring. thank you all for your support and love, wishing you a fabulous new year! cheers!!!

goodbye november, hello new apartment!

today we moved into our new apartment and we are SO excited! it's a simple, modern and open layout with huge floor to ceiling windows and a beautiful deck. the view is fantastic (around the corner you can see downtown copenhagen in the distance), we are near lots of open space for milo and only 3 miles from the beach.

it feels really settling to have our things out of storage and i can't wait to decorate and organize. chris' work friends have already given us tips for finding vintage scandinavian furniture...YES!

and we're back

when we got back to denmark, it felt strangely like home...it's interesting that although life here is sooo different than what we've been used to our entire lives, we are starting to finally feel like we are a part of this new life now.

milo has settled into city living pretty easily and like a cat, loves people watching from our window. i'm so glad to have him here since i am home a lot during the day and it's nice to have snuggly company :)

home sweet [temporary furnished] home

we're living in a temporary apt, and it's been...different. you've seen how great our neighborhood is and the apartment itself is nice with hardwood floors, lots of windows and natural light. the downside is it's less than 650 square feet and filled with 95% NOT our things. the apartment has a kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms, and a dining/living room. it's mostly furnished by ikea (which is fine) but on skype my cousin pointed out "it's so...WHITE." we are getting milo soon, so we'll see how long that lasts! (just kidding, management)

fun fact: in reality there are only 13 plastic plants, not a million

iva jean rain cape

after living here for over a month now, my biggest tip would be "carry an umbrella AT ALL TIMES." the weather is incredibly unpredictable with showers hitting you out of the blue (literally) on and off throughout the day. i once went into a grocery store for less than 15 minutes and upon exiting had to run home through pouring rain.

we are planning on getting bikes this week (YAY) and how great would it be to have a rain cape like this one to protect you from the elements??? it has so many practical features (TONS of cinching) and looks super cute on too! perfect to wear riding your bike and walking around in this cool fall weather.

good luck to iva jean (and sweet amelia presents :) on daily candy's start small go big--i put in loads of votes for you...fingers crossed!

copenhagen design week

we braved the storms and went to various exhibits during copenhagen design week, with this year's theme being "think human." the egg-crate-esque coffin was actually one of the more interesting things i saw. it was a completely different aesthetic than a traditional oak coffin which got me wondering--why aren't there more modern coffin options? will the options be different when WE [knock on wood] pass away? (especially since the egg crate material is biodegradable) i luckily don't know much about the coffin industry, but it was definitely interesting to think about.

i bought this AMAZING notebook from about:blank and i love it! it's an A6 sized notebook that opened flat becomes an A5 size layout, the pages are nice and thick with faint grid lines that aren't visible when photocopying/scanning, and when you tear one page out it doesn't make another page fall out...genius! i love when details are so well thought out. [image from their website]

tivoli gardens

we spent the day at tivoli (an amusement park here in copenhagen) and it was so fun! they have beautiful gardens, concerts and shows, carnival games, crazy rides (we're waiting for visitors...swings spinning at 260ft in the air scare me) and tons of food. we saw a few shows and concerts, ate at a delicious buffet for dinner (chris was SO happy) and decided we are definitely going to join an archery club someday.

[last two photos taken by chris]

house hunting

today chris and i are going house hunting, as we would like to be out of our temporary apartment by the end of october. we know our next place would ideally have a yard for milo to frolic in...what are the chances our view out the window will be as beautiful as this?!

[image found on pinterest]