MAKE-UP & MISSCHIEVOUS

This is one of the customized palettes you can make at MAC's website.

I have discovered the fun with make-up. Already? Right! :) At only 40 I understand how much fun it is and how glamourous and cool it is with make-up, or can be. It can also be a lot of other stuff.

There are of course one or two people who inspired me to discover this fun part of the world! The first one, a co-worker, Erika, who always wears make-up as if she was a make-up artist...but then again, her boyfriend is about to become one, so, there you go. ;)
I once said to her at work, "wow, your make-up is gorgeous!", and it was the first long sentence I said to her. I had seen her a couple of times at work and just said hi, we didn't seek up one and another and chat or anything. But after that first step and a few months later we are now on a more "frequent speaking level". She is a warm hearted person and she is cool and laidback.
I have asked her for several advice on make-up and she has willingly given me lots of hints how to put on make-up. I even got to borrow some of her eyeshadows. And that's when I discovered the brand MAC. A brand that can't be found in my city, Örebro, but some stores in Stockholm sell them but how often do I go to Stockholm...?! Well, hardly ever these days.

Anyway, thank god for Internet! There you will find lots of inspirational stuff and I am at the moment very much into looking into different alternatives. And when Googling stuff up you tend to find so much inspiration and once again you realize how this is a huge interest to lots of people! How much they go into this area and find lots of alternatives and even make tutorials about how to put make-up on. And this is where Julia a.k.a MissChievous comes into the picture. I stumbled up on her at You Tube and wow, is she inspirational or what?!!?

I love all her tutorials and I can sit for hours and watch her put on make-up! What a talent and talk about sharing! I love people like that, who are so generous with what they know and want to share with others. I have learned so much from her during this past week (I just found her on the internet) and she is definately someone I will come back to for more inspiration. She is gorgeous too and seems like a really sweet person. And talk about how make-up can make you a true chameleon! You just have to check her out, she is amazing! I love the Internet! :)

WORK THAT BODY

Last Monday, the 25th of October, I started with my plan B of losing weight. The week before that I went to this gym called nJoy and met a very nice counsellor. She showed me around at the gym and then we filled out this form for a membership which gives me the opportunity to excercise as much as I like, for only 83 Swedish kronor/month (not even 8€/month)! Then I can lift weights, go to different sorts of classes (aerobics, bodypump, yoga, core, step up, etc) and spinning. It was too good to be true so of course I signed up!

So, my first class, recommended by the councellor, was Afro Dance (aerobic). Last Monday. And it was just wonderful! I was euphoric when I left the place. What a great start I had.

Then the following Thursday I went to Step K (Step up with intensity and advanced choreography). I thought, well, I did aerobics about 15 years ago so I should manage...boy was I wrong! :)
It was just too advanced to start with.
They rate some of the classes, with advance levels. They have advance level: I, II and III. This one was a III...hahha. I was lost many times on the choreography but I sure did get a workout! Phew! I mean, you just can't give up while you are there, you just have to get through it the best you can. But I'll continue with something that's a bit easier the next time.

Ok, then came Sunday and I got my friend Susanne to come along. She had been to Body Pump classes before and I hadn't, so this was something totally new to me.

And oh did I love it! The instructor was gorgeous ;-) and I could kill to get those arms of hers, not as muscular as Madonna, but oh they were muscular! And did she give us a workout! Great music and good vibes from the instructor, I just loved it. But phew...I am soo out of shape and I just have to continue doing this now. Body pump is a class where you use a barbell with the amount of weights of your own choice, then you train your whole body with different "blocks", using the barbell most of the time. Some moments are with "lose weights", then you just hold one weight and do some movements.

It was hard holding the barbell above your shoulders for so long and so many times...I felt the muscles burning.

And yesterday I went to the Afro Dance again, but yesterday the ordinary instructor wasn't there and it wasn't at all the same. It was ridicilous how lousy it was. Boring and with no inspiration or speed. Hopefully she won't be a stand in anymore for that class...

Today my body is aching all over! My godness! It's that Body Pump class that really got my muscles working and boy do I feel every muscle in my body today. The hardest part is to sit down and walk down the stairs. When I go to the toilet to sit down I have to hold on to the sink and the sides of the toilet seat in order to get down, otherwise the pain is too unbearable. :)
I love it! Hahah.

On Thursday I hope to go for a class again, or on Friday. Just hoping to squeeze in three classes/week.

So this is my plan B.

Been working to lose weight and I lost about 23 kgs (went on VLCD for quite some time last summer and some in last autumn, but when I had 5 kgs left for my goal - 70 kgs - I felt that: oh, it's just 5 kgs left to lose, I can just let go a little bit and treat myself with goodies (i.e. pizza, chocolate and other bad stuff!). Then I gave in too many times and here I am, gaining it back and I hate it! Been trying on and off to get on the VLCD again, the first time with xtravaganza (weight loss centre) and later with Cambridge. But I just lacked motivation and I got really strange eating habits. Shakes for breakfast and lunch, then after work when I got home I ate all that was bad for me...did that for quite a few months and it just didn't do any good.

So my plan B is to be able to eat but still get in shape.

Hoping for the best now! Maybe later on that I'll give Cambridge a chance to lose the last kgs to reach my goal, we'll see, but for now it's excercise and food that's on my menue!

MICHAEL JACKSON - THIS IS IT

Tonight I went to the movies. It was the world premiere of Michael Jackson's "This is it".
I sat at the front row and my boyfriend Michael (!) joined me. Not that he is a fan really, but just for company.
It was a fantastic moment and I would have loved to see more of those 80 hours of film that was captured during the rehearsals of Michael's last concerts.
I would have loved to see more of the auditions of the dancers that were going to join MJ for his concerts. I can not imagine the feeling when they were taken out from all those participants! Imagine to hear your name being called out and when you hear it you realize you are going to join Michael Jackson during his last 50 concerts, on stage! That must have been so unreal.

I was surprised though that some of the cameras that were used were out of focus! I would have thought they used professional cameras and staff for that...but I was disappointed to see so many shots were out of focus. But the ones that were in focus were amazing.
Michael is and will be number one, music wise. He was an inspiration to so many people and such a ground breaker.


He must have had a tough life, not being able to grow up as a kid, being in the spotlight 24/7 and being around grown ups all the time. Having to grow up fast and deal with all the fame and people who wanted to get something out of him. People who wanted to earn money out of him and his father who seemed to be anything but a kind and loving father.

I never thought any bad thoughts about Michael and I'm glad I didn't. To me he is and always be one of the best when it comes to music. And he still makes me wanna listen to his music and I just can't sit still, there is always something that wants to move when I hear his music. It is so vibrant and full of energy. The lyrics are very straight forward and the beats dig in deep. His music makes me happy and I just wanna dance!

He must have been very lonely and I wonder if he was straight or gay. Somewhere I think he was gay and afraid to come out of the closet and therefore had these relationships with a few women, just as a cover up. But I think he was very misunderstood and many people were vicious and mean. They said he was a freak and just laughed about his way of living. But I wonder how much was true, that was written about him. Which is another thing I never valued, what the papers wrote about him. To me Michael was a unique person, one of a kind, a fantastic performer and singer. What a voice. And he seemed to have the biggest heart. So full of love.

I went to see one of his concerts. When he came to Gothenburg, Sweden with his Bad tour, in -83 I went to see him. It was huge even then. So many people and I was very close to the stage to begin with, while we all sat down, waiting for the hours to pass by and the musicians to enter the stage. Kim Wilde was the opening act and once Michael came on stage everyone went wild! I just had to move back as I wanted to survive the concert...
But it was amazing to see him perform and hear him sing.

I just wish I could have seen one of his last concerts in London. But I didn't even try to get tickets. I think if the concerts would have happened they would have been unforgettable to everyone!

The movie had its world premiere tonight and I would love to see it again.
And if you are going to see it, sit until the very last word at the end has rolled as there will be some more seconds at the very end.
I never understood why people have to hurry out of the cinema before the last words have rolled out of the frame?! You never know if there is a surprise or twist at the end of the movie so I never leave before the curtains are moving over the screen, then I know for sure that's the end.

But if you like Michael Jackson, go see the movie!

WILD HORSES

A fantastic version by Susan Boyle of Rolling Stones' "Wild horses". Wish the sound could be better, but maybe later on there will be a better version to post here.
I think it's a great story, Susan Boyle. There she came, on to stage and everyone thought she would make a fool of herself and then she just blew the house down! Talk about giving people a wake up call.
I think she has a great voice and it's great that this "never-been-kissed"-woman gets this breakthrough. Amazing. Wishing her all the best!




Photos of Madonna by Steven Klein.

BROAD BEANS

This year I grew broad beans for the first time. I rent a house with Michael out in the country side and we move out there each summer. Eventhough we are working in the city we move out there during summer as we really feel it's like being on vacation when we are out there. The place is called Hult and it's paradise.

Anyway, we have a garden and we grow lots of veggies. And this year I put some broad beans in the ground and hoped for the best and boy did I get great results! I think broad beans must be one of my top three's on the list. Right after onions, but that's another post. :)

Broad beans are really grateful to grow. They grow fast and produce lots of pods and are very easy. We covered the ground with straw to keep the soil moist and free from weed. Seems like that was a good way to treat them.

The plants are beautiful and the flowers are white (on the kind I grew). The leaves grow in a fascinating way and I followed the plants during the whole summer.

It was quite tedious "rinsing" them for conservation. I boiled them for a few minutes and before freezing them you had to take off that protective shell the beans have around them. It was hard getting it off.

But I will definately grow broad beans each summer. It is a fantastic plant!

CANON 5D MARK II

I brought home my new camera from work. A Canon 5D Mark II and my 16-35 mm-lens. I just love that combo! What amazing photos. Having so much fun with my 16-35, it's a true toy. Wide angle photos is something I really love. They just give you so much distortion and so much is shown in just one shot. I love that concept!

This weekend I will get busy with my new cam. Gonna explore it and read about some of the new features. I already have a 5D since a few years back so I'm not completely new to this new camera.

The photo is of me and my aby cat OPUS. <3

DAD - JESSE - ME

Worked the whole day, busy, busy, busy. Talked to Erika at work for a bit, about make-up. Something I just recently discovered (both her and make-up). It's always nice making new friends and we've been working at the same place for a few years together, not that we've seen much of eachother. But one time I mentioned her make-up, I told her it looked great and after a while I asked her some more about make-up and now we are talking or e-mailing eachother. She is a nice person and I hope to get to know her more.



Anyway, after work my dad and my little brother Jesse came over to visit. They are here in Sweden for the weekend (they live in Finland at the moment) and it was nice to see them. We ordered pizza and had a nice little chat, looked through some old photos and talked a bit about this and that.



To me my father is a super hero. A superman. He knows so much and I am fascinated by his skills when it comes to building and making stuff with tools and different materials. I admire his skills and knowledge and I wish I had his memory when it comes to things from the past. He seems to know a whole lot and I can hardly remember anything from my childhood.

In two days he and his family are leaving and going back to Finland. This weekend was just a quick visit but great to see him again.
Hopefully they will be moving back to Sweden soon.

JESSE & HOLGA

I have two little half brothers. My father re-married and had two children with his new wife. Jesse is the first child they got. In these photos he is on our family island in Finland, enjoying the joys of summer. I took my Holga with me to Finland that summer. It was in 2003. This first photo is the last shot on the film, that's why it's so surreal, but beautiful.

I love what Holga does to photographs. It gives them soul. Mystique. Spirit.

And for those who say; Holga? Wasn't it Jesse she was talking about?! Well, yes, but Holga is the camera that took the photos of Jesse.
Holga is one of my absolute favourite cameras. It's a fantastic plastic camera with a plastic lens and you can't control the aperture nor the time, it just gives you something!
It gives you vignetting and blurry photos. And for those of you who yet haven't discovered Holga and are into photography and want more of the photos than what the digital world brings you...go check it out!

Anyway. Jesse. He is 10 years old now and he is very much into karate and sports. He likes computer games and doesn't fancy eating food too much, but sweets, oh yes. :)

He has a little brother, Maximilian. Or Max as he is called. A sweetheart. A true philosopher. And a strong character.

I like both my brothers. They are sweet. And funny in a way that they are 30 years younger than me!

WEBSHOP

Not that I am actively out there to sell my stuff over the Internet, but there are still a few stuff left to sell, in my webshop.
All made by me. Mainly ceramic brooches, necklaces, rings, a vase and some small bowls. And then some marble magnets, illustrated by me. And some bookmarks.
I should have kept it alive a lot more and maybe some day that I will find the time it needs, but as for now it's more or less sound asleep.

I just wish I was more of an entrepreneur and more "out there" with my stuff, but I guess I'm too less of a business woman to manage something like that.

But I also wish there was more time for fun stuff like this, more time to play and less time for "9 to 5 jobs". We are working way too much in this world! We need more free time to explore ourselves, others and new places and things.

Anyway, if you'd like to browse around in my simple shop, just go here and click on GREJS. There you can click on each word to see what's behind them.

I know...it's very much asleep...!

USB-TAMPON

Oh how I would love to have one of these! But they are not available yet from www.meninos.us, and haven't been for quite some time. The question is how difficult it is to make one of your own?!

KENT - TICKETS: CHECK!

Yes! I got tickets. Kent are coming to Örebro on March 30th and that date ends their short Swedish tour. Really happy I get to see them again and I just can't listen enough on their new single "Töntarna" ("The Dorks" in English).
Looking forward to their new album "Röd" ("Red").

I am so ready for it! :)

ISTANBUL

Exactly one year ago I was in Istanbul. I went there with a friend and we attended a course in marbling paper. It was a fantastic 8 days and I will never forget that time. What a wonderful city it is! So full of life and so much to see. I didn't let my camera rest for one bit, it was constantly working. I really hope to go there again. (You can click the photos for larger view).


The hotel breakfast was quite dull to tell you the truth. We Swedes are more used to whole grains and healthy breakfast than just white bread and cheese. But sure, it was ok, I got full each morning, but the fullness didn't last very long though.


Some mornings when breakfast was almost finished a waiter arrived and loaded our plates with böregi...phew! We didn't ask for them, they just appeared on our plates...sometimes it was quite hard getting them down eventhough I love böregi. But the stomach just said no, no more!


Each morning we passed by this area when we walked from the hotel to the ferry. This is Aya Sofia, the backside. It was a wonderful walk and there was so much to see, every day, I was taking photos all the time and almost missed the ferry time.


Each morning the ferry took us to Kadiköy. It was a pleasant trip, smelling the sea and watching the west side of Istanbul disappear in the distance, bringing us closer to the much more relaxed and bohemic side of Kadiköy (east side). I loved these mornings!


Walking from the ferry. The sun was up a little bit and casted long shadows from the other travellers. The ferry area was quite busy in the mornings when people were going to work and school. And we were on the way to the studio in Kadiköy.


Our teacher, Kubilay, shows us his skills and technique. It is not the easiest thing learning about the ancient ways of marbling paper. First you need a good balance between the colours and the liquid in the bath and that takes quite some time to find. It was a struggle at times but oh, the results were marvellous!

Then the paper needs to be put down in the jar very carefully and in a special way to avoid empty spaces on the paper. But that we learned quite fast. But it also had to be taken out with a special technique, it was all a bit scary at first as you didn't want to spoil anything. But after a while you got the hang of it.

Lunch break at the studio. The Turkish attendants are very geneous and treat us with Turkish lunch. Nice tea and pizza pasties and cheese and olives. Yum. I could have eaten those all by myself! ;)


Looking at our results after the papers have dried. Kubilay's dog Seker joins us for the check-up.

Marbled paper that Kubilay made with a moving/shaking technique.

Some tools we use at the course. Combs give a great effect!

Coming back to the west side of Istanbul from Kadiköy. The sun is about to set and the city is full of life. The fishermen stand faithfully in the harbour using their fishing gear. We are about to go find a place to eat now.

Some nice boys selling grilled corn cobs. The smell was delicious and they had customers all the time. I didn't taste them though. The corn cobs I mean... ;)

Looking for a place to eat under the bridge next to the New mosque but there were mainly fish dishes and me being a vegetarian had quite a struggle finding a place to eat! It really surprised me that there weren't more vegetarian dishes to choose from, the ones I found were very plain and not impressive at all. Guess Turkey is more for meat- and fish eaters... :/

The new mosque was impressive and in the evening it made a great photo! I can feel the atmosphere from the city by going back to look at the photos I took. Mmm, I love it.

The mosques are impressive buildings and the decoration inside was breathtaking!

Finally a place with great vegetarian food! It was actually near our hotel in Sultanahmet, too bad you have to stay in the more tourist areas to find good vegetarian food. Or then it was me who couldn't sense the great places the locals go to...
But this dish made me very happy! But in Turkey I couldn't find any cider at all so I had to settle with the Efes beer. I am not a beer person but it was ok, still a cider would have been perfect. :)

I'll probably come back to this post and add some more or maybe make a new post with more photos from lovely Istanbul!

LATCHO DROM

My first try to put up a YouTube-clip in my blog (I know I know, but I just haven't gotten into this blogging thang...).

I just love music from different parts of the world; arabic, gypsy, turkish, sufi and more. It just awakens the dancing feet in me and I can't stop smiling inside. It's a relieving thing. It just is so releasing and energizing!

This is a clip from the movie "Latcho drom"!

LONGING

We are constantly bombarded with ads that says BUY THIS, BUY THAT and making us believe we won't be happy otherwise.
I just long to a place where life is free from all that...don't you?

MIGRANE

It hit med today, migrane. I have it very seldom nowadays but when it hits, I'm totally out of this world. Have to lie in bed, leave the curtains closed and wear a blindfold. I need total darkness and quietness. I become lethargic and all my energy goes to trying to keep from vomiting as I feel nausea as well. Guess it's called surviving skills.

I had really bad migranes many years ago and then I went to a "magic doctor" who knows about kinesiology, acupuncture and more. He helped me get rid of maybe 95% of my migrane. At the time I went to see the doctor (Peter) I was heavily addicted to diet coke and got headaches if I didn't get my diet coke every day (!). Peter told me to stop drinking the diet coke and if I absolutely had to dring sweet soda I should choose regular coke, eventhough it contains sugar, it doesn't contain artificial sweeteners, which he said was the evil part of my migrane attacks.

So, I got away from my diet coke addictions and now I am feeling so much better. Sure, I get migrane every now and then, but it feels like it's gone to 95%. It's a relief for sure.

But now it's been coming back again, more often than I've been used to for a while and I am wondering if it has to do with me going on and off diets all the time. I think it is. So hopefully I'll find a balance with the diet and weight goal and get rid of the migrane for good.

Just need new focus.

MADONNA - sticky & sweet tour 2009

Yes, finally Madonna came to Sweden and for two shows! Very generous of her. And I got to be there on both days. The first day, 8th Aug, I was in front of the stage, at the Golden circle. It was unreal to see her live, it was the first time for me and I still can't believe I was there.

She gave us two great shows and I took lots of pictures.

But it could have all ended up in a suicide!
Let me tell you!

It was very organized when we, the Golden circle people, were going to be let in. Felt almost like kindergarden when we all stood in lines, all quietly and excited at the same time. But before we got to go through the ticket check in we had to be searched by security.

I was pretty nervous about security finding and taking my camera that I had in my bag. I had an empty soda bottle in my left hand and said to the security guy that I should probably throw the bottle in the bin and so I did.
The guy checked my bag, not to 100% as I got through without having to leave my camera. Then I went over to the others who had been through security and waited in line for the next security check. While I went to that line I heard some people starting to shout behind me and I thought, what is all the fuss about? So I turned my head to see what was going on and I saw four or five guys in their teens probably, maybe around 15-17 years old. One of them waved something in his hand and shouted at me (!) and he said: "- You threw your ticket in the bin!".

God almighty! I thought that was the end for me. Being so close to gettig to see Madonna and from the Golden circle, but then it could have been turned around in an instant as I threw my ticket in the bin and these young guys who were watching us from the other side of the fence...they stood there and just looked at us passing through security and seeing what we threw in the bin...or something?!
(I had rolled the ticket in my hand, like a cigarette shape and held it in the same hand as the empty bottle. So in that stressful moment, losing my camera or not (?), I thought that "piece of paper" was just rubbish, and I threw it in the bin!).

But I walked up to the guy and he gave me back my ticket!!!
Talk about good karma for him for the rest of his lives!
And I must have done something good to got the ticket back!

Imagine the "what ifs". What if he would have kept the ticket himself or sold it to someone?! He could have! But instead he decided to give it back to me.

I was in such a shock I didn't even ask his name or anything! I have never gotten the chance to thank him so I guess I'll give it a try here:

"- THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!".

I had a fantastic evening with Madonna, her dancers and all the 59.000 fans!

More of my photos from the first show? Go HERE!

Kill this site for good...?

Posting a spread in my sketch book for our summer house called "HULT". There I write all sorts of things regarding the summer house, such as gardening for example. I write about sowing seeds, watering plants, adoring them and harvesting.

And I wrote a wishlist for next year and that's a kind of list that grows each time I look at it, there are so many things I want to grow next year. Both veggies and flowers. Guess we will have to start digging a bigger veggie garden...

Anyway, I don't know for how long this update thing will last, maybe it will take me another one or two years or I don't know. We'll see...

EDM #164

It was my suggestion that was picked for the EDM #164 challenge: Draw a camera.
This is my first time at EDM and it was QUITE a challenge to draw this old camera from the 19th century that is in my office at work. I love it but it was so hard to sketch it! I am not the best of sketchers and need to learn, but that is why I am participating in these challenges from now on! :)

18th SketchCrawl!

WOW!
What an awesome day it was, 29th of March. It was time for SketchCrawl, the 18th and a worldwide happening. Places like San Francisco, New York, Japan, India, Italy, Germany, England, Spain and Nora in Sweden. I was one of the participants in Nora and we were a total of 12. I could never have imagined it to be such a great day. Cold, yes, but so much fun.

Check out our results from this event and make sure you join the next crawl! It's for anyone who would like to sketch what they see during the day, no matter on what "level" you are at.

I just love the Internet, it is so friendly and inspirational! There are so many great people out there, creating wonderful stuff and giving me a push to be creative too. Thanks to all of you out there!

Beloved furry companion

It's been two days now, since he moved on to another level, another dimension. My cat, Busen, came into my life 9 years ago and he is one of those cats that will leave a big hole and emptiness in your life once he's not around anymore.

The decision was made by me two days ago that it wasn't worthy for him anymore to walk in circles, not having his balance anymore, walking with a tilted head, not seeing where the food was, falling over from not being able to keep the balance. It was just becoming unbearable and i think it stressed him more and more as he probably didn't know what happened to him.

The vet thought it might have been a brain tumour as his head was so tilted to one side and that he only walked counter clockwise and she didn't see any good prognosis as we went to see her two days ago and I was prepared for the decision earlier as I thought there wasn't going to be any improvement of his health.

So the decision was made and the light in the room was softened and the payment for the procedure was made and the vet gave Busen the lethal injection and left me, my boyfriend and Busen alone in the room, to be able to say good bye to our beloved little cat. I was holding Busen all the time and after a while he relaxed in his whole body and I let him lie down on the red, soft blanket we brought with us from home.
He lay down so peacefully and he was looking so relaxed again, in contrary of how he had been for the past two weeks. It was a relief to see him free again and I stroked him over his warm and soft fur. I buried my nose into his neck and smelled his sweet scent and knew I would miss him forever.

I have never met a cat like him, ever. He was the sweetest and kindest and so social. A true personality and with lots of wonderful qualities, I will miss everyone of them.
He leaves this place peacefully and hopefully he is somewhere where all his teeth came back again and he's probably having all that extra cheese on the pizzas now.

He was 15 years old and I wish he could have been here for at least 5 more, but the tumour decided it was time to free him and so I decided to let him go and he is somewhere good now. I just hope he will come visit.
The biggest consolation is that he got to have the best summer ever, this past summer, when we were out in our summerhouse. There he could chase mice and flies and even little birds, how ever cruel you feel it is, it's the nature.
I'm glad Busen got to do all that during his last summer.

Rest in peace beloved Busen!