A Fig in Sweden Portland

people i love (things i'll miss #1)

I remember when I visited Älmhult on our look-and-see trip, a woman on the train asked us why we were going to Älmhult. I told her I had a job interview at IKEA Communications. Her face lit up. Her husband had worked there for many years, and so had she. "It's a very special place," she said, as she jumped off in Malmö and wished me luck.

I've been thinking about her words a lot these past few weeks.

It's not often – or ever – that you care so much about the people you work with that you could tell them you love them. But that's exactly how I feel, and that's exactly what I said to them (and they to me).

This week has been one of fun, memorable, heartwrenching goodbyes. First a dinner Monday night, then lunch on Tuesday, then dinner again on Tuesday night, then lunch on Thursday, and then fika today. It has been so emotionally overwhelming that I just didn't think I could take it anymore.

Who gets this sad to leave a job?

I sit here managing a dichotomy of emotions... because when I am able to shake this feeling of deep sadness, I feel like my whole inside is smiling. Just to feel all this love this week, and to feel so lucky to have had this experience. It is incredible.

A special place? Damn right. But if I ever run into a nervous and enthusiastic IKEA applicant on a train, I'll be even more specific... it's the special people.

Next chapter in life, you have some very big shoes to fill.

our first home as a family (things i'll miss #3)

This afternoon I gathered a few red leaves from the backyard to press into a book while getting surprisingly sentimental. One week until the movers show up. My rational side is trying to convince my other half that it's just a house. But it's the longest we've been in one place, and it's where we became a family. A lot of love filled the space inside these walls.

Our little yellow house by the train tracks, you will always make me grin.

appreciating seasonality (things i'll miss #8)

As Sophie and I were walking back home from the square this morning with our fresh Swedish raspberries, chanterelles and katja apples, I was reminded of all the Saturdays we ran down to the square to see what berries they had for our waffles.

No doubt Portland's numerous farmers' markets will put Älmhult's solo farmer market to shame, but a.) it likely won't be within a 3-minute walk of our home, and b.) it won't give us that same sense of anticipation for what's in season. 

As much as I wish we could have devoured strawberries in the middle of February, I enjoyed them that much more when they arrived at midsummer. I wonder if, after months of strolling the Whole Foods produce section, I will lose touch with nature's version of christmas throughout the year. (Same goes for flowers.)

if only i could be more like Pippi

Three-ish weeks to go until the big move, and the stress of it all almost beat me today. I managed somehow to laugh about it when I got home. Perhaps the never-take-anything-too-seriously attitude of one miss Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking managed to rub off on me after our visit to her home at Astrid Lindgren's World (with Lewis' mom and stepdad, who are here for the week).

I highly recommend a visit to anyone young or old who finds themselves near Vimmerby.

P.S. Guess who Sophie is going to be for her first American Halloween? :)

fika (things i'll miss #32)

Actually, to be honest, I won't miss fika at all. I'll only miss using the word fika (and I can take that with me). I don't like organized bonding. I like spontaneous bonding. I like the grab-your-best-friend-at-work-and-run-to-Starbucks-before-the-day-gets-stressful bonding. And now I can call that — and any other time I want to sit with a friend at a coffeeshop — "fika." <sticking tongue out>

our forest (things i'll miss #17)

Where a very pregnant me walked and waited and walked some more. Which quickly became Sophie's favorite place to run and run and run some more.

Where slugs were smushed. And forest flowers were picked.

And a certain black and white dog was always happy to come along.

hacked spinach (things i'll miss #11)

While Lewis was here last week, he asked me what I will miss most about Sweden. "The quiet," I replied. Our quiet life. (Which, ironically, is also the thing I dislike most about living here.) 

Right now, what I miss most resides in Portland, Oregon. But soon I will be homesick for Sweden. So, for my one-month countdown, I'm going to celebrate some of the things I wish I could take with me back to the States.

Like "hacked spinach," as I call it. Chopped spinach in English; hackad spenat in Swedish. There's chopped spinach in America, you say? Yup, I know. But, unless something has changed in the last 5 years, it's sold in one big frozen block instead of the oh-so-useful cubes you find here. I used 3 cubes for my meal tonight. And I often throw one into Sophie's pasta sauce for extra nutrients. 

Any inventors reading this blog? Seriously, I just did most of the work for you. Spinach cubes are sure to be the next big thing to hit America!

who says being organized isn't sexy?

Granit, Sweden's version of The Container Store (but better), is one of the shops I'll miss when we move back. I actually don't buy much there, but it's fun to drool over the stylie organization products. I was there on Saturday and picked up this cute flyer (plus a t-shirt). I especially like the story on page 2: Grandpa surprising grandma with a newly organized garage. Me thinks grandpa's gonna get lucky, but let's keep this blog PG-13.

6 shopping days left

I've been making a mental list of all the Swedish things I need to buy before the movers show up on Sept. 27, and they include the items above: P.OP clothes, Fjällräven bag, clogs (still not 100% on that one), Olle Eksell poster, and a Stelton pitcher and bread bag.

44 days turned into 6 shopping days, because I really only have Saturdays to get it done. (Yikes!)

Anyone have anything to add to my list (which will also include BOB Hallonsylt)?

hooray for spontaneous artichoke dancing

On the eve of my 40th birthday, I've been thinking a lot about this recent captured moment.

About celebrating the everyday stuff rather than the polish-the-silver stuff.

(It just so happens that it's also the theme of this year's IKEA Catalogue, so you could say that the idea has been on my mind for a while.)

Sure, it would have been pretty special to mark "my big day" with a trip to Munich, as we had originally planned. But I think the 5 minutes I spent dancing around our new apartment with Sophie and 2 giant artichokes says a lot more about me and where I'm at with this whole turning 40 thing.

So, instead, I will pick Sophie up from dagis after work, drive to a little gourmet market in Osby and treat myself to some good cheese, bread and olives...

...and, if I'm lucky, at least one random act of pure silliness.

it's good to be "home"

Just a few highlights from the past 2 weeks. I think I'll have plenty to blog about. (Thanks for the words of encouragement, everyone!! It means a lot.)

After a spectacular visit at my sister's, Sophie and I flew to Portland to see our future home for the first time. In short, WE LOVE IT. Why?

1. There's an old-growth forest growing in the middle of the city. And everywhere, it seems.
2. They are known for their doughnuts (Voodoo Doughnuts).
3. Cannon Beach is magical.
4. Trader Joes!! (+ Whole Foods, New Seasons, Market of Choice...)
5. The city has a great energy. Just check out Saturday Market.
6. My heart stops every time I see Mt. Hood.
7. There's a bakery dedicated to cupcakes!
8. It's like Colorado at the coast.
9. Neverending list of things to do with a toddler: Zoo, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and Children's Museum are all within a 10-minute drive away.
10. IKEA Portland! :)

Stay tuned for more... at A Fig in Portland?

looks like i'll need a new name for this blog

On Thursday morning, I watched Lewis (and Tilly) walk Sophie to school for the last time. My eyes were welling up so bad I could barely see through the viewfinder. Two hours later, I walked Lewis to the train for his flight to Portland, Oregon.

Nope, this wasn't just another one of his trips. After two years of serious job hunting, he got a great offer to work in green building/energy efficiency... in Portland. He starts in a week, and Sophie and I will join him at the end of September.

We came out here for my dream job, and it really was that for five years. Leaving IKEA and all the great people I work with is going to be infinitely harder than leaving Sweden. I get choked up just thinking about it.

But, at the same time, I have faith in the unknown. You can never predict where life will take you. I never would have predicted that I would live in Antarctica (yup, for 6 months!) or Sweden or Portland (I've never even been there). New chapters are meant to be read with anticipation, and I'm trying to focus on the going rather than the leaving. On the regular Whole Foods visits, toddler classes with Sophie at a nearby arts center and urban coffeeshop culture. And perhaps what to do with this blog...

perfecting the pout

pathetic ceiling eyes: 7.0

body language: 8.0

stubbornness and refusal to move: 10.0

pissed-off posture: 7.0

protruding lower lip: 9.95

child labor (and laughter)

I love mowing the lawn. There, I said it. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm nuts and wonder why they never see Lewis mowing the lawn. I actually don't let him.

But I don't mind that I now have a little helper...

(Guess we need to get her a little vacuum cleaner so she can help daddy too.)

in mommy's footsteps

I decided that June was as good a time as any to make a new year's resolution. This actually gives me a fighting chance to keep it through the end of the year. But, to be honest, I just hoped I would make it through June.

I'm running again.

Being a runner defined me for a huge chunk of my life. It kept me out of trouble (for the most part) in high school. It got me a scholarship to one of the top universities in the country. And it gave me self-esteem, self-discipline and all the other nifty things sports offer girls.

It was also a lot of work. Two-hour workouts every weekday for eight years. Sometimes early morning workouts too. Track meets on weekends. The only athletes that I saw working harder than us were the swimmers. I loved running, but long distances were not my thing (I'm a 400m/800m girl). So when college ended, so did running for me. 

Fast-forward almost 20 years. I'm out of shape. I never did get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Facebook friends post status updates about running 5Ks. I'm probably on Facebook too much. And my daughter has no clue that mommy is an athlete – something that's a huge part of who I am.

She saw it for the first time on Monday, when she came along on my run in her bike trailer. But when she joined me today, she decided about 20 minutes into it that she didn't want to be sitting on the sidelines cheering. She wanted to be a runner too.

tillsammans in stockholm

Sweden has royal wedding fever right now. Crown Princess Victoria will marry ordinary-dude Daniel Westling on June 19. Apparently there's like a royal wedding countdown on all the news programs. IKEA Sweden joined the hub-bub with a really fun exhibition: IKEA Tillsammans (together), which was basically our take on how Victoria and Daniel should furnish Haga Castle.

Our whole group went up on Thursday to check it out. What an awesome work day away from work that also included a visit to the new Fotografiska museum (super Annie Liebovitz and Lennart Nilsson shots), a latte in a cafe (I miss that!), Gudrun Sjödén shopping, Thai food, a smoothie fika and Beirut Cafe takeaway for the train ride home. If you live in a city, this sounds like pretty ordinary stuff. When you live in a place like Älmhult, not so much.

Here are some shots from IKEA's Haga Castle and the IKEA sleepover camp – yes, you can sleep over but only if you booked early. It's sold out every night.

rain, rain... let's go play!

Sophie's teachers said she had a blast playing in the rain today, and here's the evidence. (Somehow her puddle jumping defies waterproof raincoat + bib-style rain pants + rubber boots.)

*Playing* in the rain? Yup, that's Swedish preschool for you. They are out in everything – since, in Sweden, we get everything. I mean, if they didn't go out in bad weather, how often would they go out?!

I think it's great. I love that Sophie is encouraged to explore the outdoors and just be a kid. A kid who sees rain and gets excited about puddles and being able to carry an umbrella. 

Our little burst of sunshine.

we're still beachy

This time, we took our stripes and polka dots to the east coast to our usual spot south of Åhus. It's an hour to either coast, and the forecast said it would be windier and a little cooler on the west. So we packed my sister's famous bean salad and a few Yoggi drinks and headed east.

(We look so American, don't we? I just need to buy some red tights and we'll be all set for 4th of July.)

thank you, laxvik

For a few hours on a sunny Saturday, we could forget about her 4:30 wake-up time lately...

good life. good design.

The packaging designer-wannabe in me was very happy to see the new look of the ICA Gott Liv line. These fun illustrations were done by Swedish illustrator Klas Fahlén, who also illustrated the IKEA book Beloved Homes.

Click on any of the images above to see them in motion on the ICA website. 

(Images from ICA website)