In a recent New Yorker article, How to Eat Candy Like a Swedish Person, the general public learned about Sweden’s (limited) obsession with lördagsgodis or “Saturday candy.” Messages about this article flooded my inbox with questions like, “Is this true?” and “Do you really only eat candy once a week?” I’ll admit that this has […]
It seems like all too soon, mothers of newborns are concerned about losing the baby weight. “What a cruel scheme to keep a woman from knowing her power. To put the focus on what pregnancy did to her body rather than focus on what her perfect body just did. Here we sit, creating and nourishing […]
That brief conversation at the playground that day changed how I approached parenting forever. I gave up at least 95% of the parental anxiety and worry I had been needlessly carrying with me.
Over the past six years, we have become a murky blend of less-American-but-not-quite-Swedish. We’ve kept some of the old but mostly, we have embraced the new. The differences between January 2012 (back then) and January 2018 (now) are stark. Stark also conveniently translates into “strong” in Swedish. The changes in us are noticeable only when […]
Don’t try to say “växtförsäljning” three times fast unless you are from a Scandinavian country or unless you want a tongue twister challenge. Växtförsäljning translates simply into “plant nursery” and our local nursery sells wonderful plants, bushes, and trees during the year and converts into a Yuletide haven during the third Advent weekend. This Christmas […]
Continue to live vicariously through our journey to various Christmas Markets in our Swedish town and beyond. So far, we have traveled north to Sigtuna, and Gävle, and stayed closer to home to Wira Bruk, and now Länsmansgården. Länsmansgården is an old mid-18th century property featuring a manor and two-story cottage built in 1743. The […]
Gävle, Sweden is famous for this oversized straw goat. It’s only famous because vandals burn it down every year much to the sadness of the townspeople of Gävle. Or are they really sad when the goat burns down? It is hard to tell, exactly, because on one hand, the goat is a main tourist attraction. […]
Wira Bruk is an old iron works village that was active back in the heyday of Sweden’s superpower era when they were cranking out weaponry as fast as they could. It’s the site where the King’s weapons (read: swords) and townspeople received tax credits for supplying Sweden with iron goods. Visiting Wira Bruk is like […]
Steninge Slott’s Julmarknad is always a fun trip out to Sigtuna, Sweden. The Christmas market is housed in the stone barn behind the 17th Century palace and the interior is stunning. The vaulted ceilings of the barn give it an airy atmosphere and illuminated advent stars hang from the ceiling begging to go home with […]
It is Christmas Market (Julmarknad) season in Europe and Sweden has some of the most darling Christmas markets. Glögg (mulled wine), reindeer meat, and candles on evergreen trees are all part and parcel of a good Swedish Christmas market. Kickstarting the Christmas spirit for me entails switching over to the Christmas carols on our Spotify […]