Tapas & girl talk

Just got back from a dinner for two with my bestie A. My sleepy little hometown got it's very first tapas resto and of course we wanted to try it out! The food was good, the company better. There were only a few free tables when we arrived, still the restaurant was awfully quiet... People were using their indoor voices. I felt like I was entering someone's living room. You know the feeling, like you're interrupting some secret conversation. Lets just say it wasn't quiet for long after we entered. I really miss my friend. She completes me! And she's just like me, and not too many people are. So this night of gossip and girl talk was well needed and much longed for. At 9.30 pm my dad texted me saying Baby S wanted me to come home. And when my baby calls I come running! Even though I was a bit bummed that our fun evening ran short, I completely forgot all about when I entered the door and my sweet baby girl came running to welcome me home..

Ricky Gervais

Tears running down my face, laughing so hard I could hardly breathe. Ricky Gervais show in Stockholm. Say no more. Mad.

Yuck!

Trying to convince my baby girl that this mix of salmon, noodles and spinach is yummie.. She's not buying it.. Can you blame her? Tell me, would YOU eat this!?

Jingle bells, jingle bells, glamma all the way!

A few weeks ago, we started hiring a babysitter a few hours once a week. Even though I feel a little guilty over this (I mean, I'm at home all day, why would I need someone else to take care of my baby?), watching Baby S laugh and play with her new friend (who has three times the energy I have btw) reassures me we both could benefit from a little time apart. I think it's good for her not to be attached to me all day long.

This week I I wanted to relax and do something for myself. So I booked a manicure. It was supposed to last 45 min, but after 1,5 hours only one hand was glamorous. The babysitter had other obligations, so I rushed home with my one hand mani, stuffed S in the stroller and walked back to the salon to get my other hand polished. S fell asleep on the way and did mom a huge favor by sleeping through the whole thing.

So mama got her bling on! What do you think? Pretty, ain't it?! It's from OPI's latest collection "Skyfall". Love it!

Lionel Richie loves me

..no, really.. he LOVES me! 

I'm talking punch drunk head over heels crazy in love! 

He showed up at my apt last night, drunk as a skunk, begging me to leave my husband for him.. (don't ask me how we know each other or how our worlds came to cross) And it's not the current Lionel Richie we're talking about, but the younger version.. this handsome stud showed up on my doorstep.. 

[Image from Wikipedia]

For some reason I let him in. He continued his sobbing and begging. And then he started singing (no, not "Hello", some romantic love song). It was bad. Seriously, if Lionel Richie shows up in your home and starts to serenade you, you'd expect it to be good. Like an angel just landed in my living room and opened it's mouth. Not like a cat that's being strangled. Just saying.

Anyway, this dream really took me by surprise. Wasn't aware I had young Lionel on my mind.

I love kitsch!

Gingerbread house à la Emma! What do you think?

Snow!!

Yesterday it started snowing, look how beautiful our garden is now. Had to hurry up and snap some shots for it melted away!

Ice cream for dinner

Ice cream for dinner is great. If you're 1,5 years and have a throat infection. Mom said so!

Happy Holidays!

Today we light the first candel and I'm really getting in the Christmas spirit. Drinking glühwein, eating lussekatter and decorating our home.

Hope you have a peaceful first of Advent. Here's a playlist for you to enjoy!

http://open.spotify.com/user/peppetilt/playlist/17JZXNA5eliwSvpGvNhbpM

Entering the Twilight zone...

It's oh so quiet... Schhhh.. Schhhh...
P is at a work related dinner and Baby S went to sleep early tonight.. Yeeeeiiyy!!
It's ME-time! Tonight that means comfy home wear, sofa, junk food, must (or, as IKEA calls it; "Swedish festive drink") and Twilight marathon!
Only one question remains...
Team Edward or Team Jacob??

Advent coffee

..is a well known ritual in Sweden. And now I brought it to Hungary. Or, at least, to the expat wives of Buda! I served the lovely ladies some homemade traditional Swedish goodies such as lussekatter (saffron buns in funny shapes), pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies) and kolasnittar (toffee cookies).

Based on the empty plates and all the cookies the ladies brought home "to the kids" I would say it was a success.


For those of you who want to make your own lussekatter, here's the recipe I used.

http://www.recept.nu/anna-och-fanny-bergenstrom/kakor-och-tartor/mjol/det-fina-saffransbrodet/

I heart Mom and Dad

Since Prince Charming has been away in business this past week, I've had my wonderful parents come stay with me and baby S. Oh, how I love having them around, seeing them with my little girl and being able to show them some of my everyday life.

They arrived Saturday while P was still here. We picked them up at the airport (yes, I admit it was a relief to see that they a) made it to the airport in Gothenburg on time, b) got to take their bags on to the aircraft (stupid Wizzair and Ryanair for their idiotic rules concerning handbagage!) and c) weren't stopped by customs). I'm a worrier.. what can I say!? 

From the airport we went straight to the small village of Szentendre, where we enjoyed the classic goulash with beer, strolled around the souvenir shops and of course; went bananas at the christmas decoration shop! Love that place! I could literally spend hours and hours there, ooohing and aaahing over the glitz and glam. And finally I got to show it to Mom! 

Just gotta mention the dinner P cooked for us; wienerschnitzels so tender they melted in your mouth. And we topped it off with a bottle of the Amarone we bought on our trip to Italy this summer. Ahhh, la dolce vita! 

Sunday morning P, my dad and I went to the Széchenyi bath to soak. Not as shabby as it's rumour, I thought. It's a huge thermal bath, with both indoor and outdoor pools. We had a blast. They have a swirl pool, where they who enter it get swooshed around, lika a merry-go-round. I will never ever forget the image of my dad swishing by P and me, giving P a high five as he passed. He was like a teenager again. Heartwarming!

The rest of the week included shopping at the mall, a visit to the amazing Christmas fair at Vörösmarty Tér where we had some glühwein with high promille, taking baby S to the playground, having a delicious dinner at Café 57, checking out the Great Market hall and Vaci út with all it's souvenir shops, and a lot of window shopping for antiques...

When it was time for them to leave my heart broke... it was so hard to see them getting in to that taxi.. now I know how they feel every time S and I leave them. It got so quiet and empty here! Luckily we'll be together again in just a short month to celebrate Christmas.

Sun is shining..

... the weather is sweet!

Makes me wanna move.. my mommy feet! (to the playground)

A teenage girl is a teenage girl is a teenage girl...

Selma and I had lunch at the mall today. Sitting at the table next to ours were three Hungarian teenage girls. Teenage girls behaviour is clearly a worldwide phenomenon. They giggle all the time. No, seriously, ALL the time. Whisper. Giggle. Gossip. More giggle. Giggle so much they can hardly speak. Selma was completely mesmerised by these girls. She couldn't stop staring at them. Which, of course, only made them giggle more. And I whispered to my baby girl; ¨Trust me, that will be you one day. That used to be mommy and that will be you.¨ And I remembered how annoying my bestie Jenny-Jen and I were. Oh, poor parents who had to put up with our constant giggling, gossiping and hours on the phone with each other. Cuz that's what teenage girls do. And I hope I remember that when it's Selma's turn to giggle.

Happiness is...

... a late Happy Birthday from a much loved friend in the mail...

Some more of that NYC feeling

Do you remember the episode of Friends where they all hung out in the park, playing a game of football? Look at this! We have that here too! Wish I had my family here, we'd gather on a Saturday and play. Maybe an expat tournament..? Had to be soccer though..

In a New York State of mind

Don't you just love autumn!? Ah, if you happen to be in a country where it's 18 degrees C, so sunny you can bronze yourself and where you still can wear a dress without leggings without freezing your butt off - IN MID-OCTOBER, that is!!! I don't miss the Swedish autumn one bit. Not one bit. I laugh when I see the Swedish weather forecast. Laugh! Oh, the rain, ah the wind.

Really loving this darling weather, so I've been taking long walks with Selma. Thought I'd share some of the amazing views from around my hill. The view almost makes up for the steepness of that hill. Almost.

When I look down on this wonderful city with the green park of Margit Island, it's many bridges and tall buildings, I get a New York feeling. Almost.

Autumn my friend

I love autumn! It's colors and crisp air. When new fall lines hit the stores. Everything gets a fresh new start. Ok, I admit...  my birthday being October 8 might also have something to do with it.

This autumn I have decorated our balcony with these amazing flowers, and a few pretty pumpkins too! I didn't have any fitting pots to the big plants, so I simply wrapped them with some decorative paper.

Turned out really great, don't you think? 

Mom 2 Mom sale

The organization Budapest Moms arrange Mom 2 Mom sales four times a year, where moms can sell used kids clothes and other kid stuff to other moms and dads. In order to clean out Baby S closet and maybe make a few bucks at the same time, I decided to rent a table. I had a good time, it was nice to chat with other mommies. All the kids stuff I had left at the end of the day I donated to a women's shelter. Good riddance!

å

Thank you!

I guess sometimes miracles really DO happen!! I got my stolen wallet back today - everything was still in it, except for the cash! Sending many many thankful thoughts to the honest woman who found it at the mall and then made the effort to go and hand it in to the Swedish embassy. Wow. My faith in humanity has been restored!

Early bird

What a wonderful morning! S woke up 6 am as usual, we got up and let daddy sleep in. While S played with her new toys I got plenty if time to bake some bread for breakfast, throw in a load of laundry and clean up the kitchen (sounds kinda lame, I know, but becomes crucial when you have kids). Now I'm walking around in my ab fab Paul Frank PJ:s, with a cup of coffee in my hand, listening to the soundtrack of "Dear John". Loving this awesome Sunday morning!

Made my day!

I have the best man. That's right ladies, I snatched the world's greatest guy from you! 20 red roses landed on my doorstep. And a card saying I'm a great mom and 'wife'. Made my day. And many days to come.

Chick Flick Marathon

Poor baby S has had croup since Wednesday. Daytime she won't sleep anywhere else but in mama's arms. So what's mama supposed to do, trapped on the couch? Watch as many sugarcoated romantic flicks as she possibly can stand! Yihoo! By now I've gotten through 'Dear John' and 'Remember me'. Both real tear jerkers I tell you!

Preps

Today I went to Westend to get a few last minute things for the wedding. At Debenhams (love their kiddo clothes) I found some cute leggings for Selma, since it dawned on me the wedding is in Sweden and this time of the year it's already cold there. Brrrr. I also found some stuff to scrap up a card for the happy couple!

Peter and I made the gift ourselves, it's a poster with the newlyweds names among a bunch of famous love couples! One of Peter's acquaintances put some finishing touches to it and printed it for us. It turned out great!! Hope they like it!

I also finished my toast, and I feel pretty good about it. Hopefully it will bring down a massive flood of tears, that's really my only goal!

Hot wheels

..just got to brag a little.. about Mom & Dad and my mom's hot wheels.. this was just featured on an interior blog.. scroll down to August 26..

http://herbretantik.se/

Baby steps

Hi y'all! Why are parents so obsessed with getting their baby to walk!? Hey - I'm not saying I'm any better! I keep placing baby S on her feet, part begging, part threatening her in order to make her take those damned first steps.. I mean, the baby is eventually gonna walk. All by herself. All babies learn how to walk. Sooner or later. So what's the big fuss about? Three weeks ago baby S suddenly took five steps. Just like that. And never did it since. It was like she knew how bad we wanted it. Such a tease.. She would just look at me, begging her to walk, smile a mischievous smile and slowly sit down and start to crawl instead. Until yesterday. She just started walking towards daddy. Stepping up with confidence, 7, 8, 9, 10 steps. Maybe this was the breakthrough. And from now on we will never be able to fully relax again. What the heck were we thinking!?

Now I will go back to writing a wedding toast for one of my dearest friends who's getting married this Saturday. Hooray!!

Weekend in Vienna

My last post was kinda dull..  so today I'm gonna cover a more pleasant topic. VIENNA! Love love love this city! Since Monday was a national holiday here in Hungary, I packed up my little family and went across the border. Vienna is only a two hour drive from Budapest, so it's perfect for a weekend getaway. Such a beautiful city, and the shopping is to die for. Except the prices. Since I moved to Budapest I've become used to the lower prices here, and I find all other countries to be expensive.

We arrived in Vienna Saturday by lunchtime. We stayed at the same hotel as last time, a beautiful hotel with good location. After checking in we headed to the famous Figlmeuller to see if we would be so lucky as to get a table. No way José. The line went on for days.. But hey, we ended up getting us some of that schnitzel anyway, just at another resto. And then it was time for some serious SHOPPING. I always become a shopzilla when I know I don't have unlimited time for shopping. Poor P, I stress the living hell out of him, running from store to store, my eyes wide open and with a crazy look in my eyes.  To keep him sane and me happy, we usually split up. My darling man had his mind set on surprising me with a new wallet, a replacement for the beautiful one that got stolen. This would prove to be a difficult task. At one point, he snuck off to a tiny store on a backstreet. He had just asked the lady in the store for some assistance, when all of a sudden I stood outside of the store, staring through it's window with a hollow look in my eyes. At first I didn't even see him, I was focused on the nice bags in the store. But then I someone quite familiar standing there. So no wallet from that store. A few hours later he tried again, going back to buy a wallet that I had fallen in love with. This time he pulled it off, but upon leaving the store he saw me walking in! As I was walking around the store, looking at more bags, my hubby was hiding behind some shelves. When he finally made it to the exit, the alarm went off, and a security guard asked him to come back. Whispering, P asked the man for discretion.. Despite all this, I never noticed him, and was very surprised when he gave me the wallet! Such a darling, my P. I love surprises, especially thoughtful one's like this! My crazy day of shopping resulted in a fantastic pink purse! Love it!

We had dinner at this amazing thai restaurant called Patara. We had a tasting menu, so the tasty dishes just kept coming and coming.. yumm..

Sunday everything is closed in Vienna. I mean everything. But that gave us plenty of time to wander about and explore the city. We had brunch at Die Wäscherei. On the walk back to our hotel we stumbled upon a jazzperformance at a square, so we stopped and listened for a while. After kicking it back at the hotel we went out for dinner. Italian food at "Limes", so goooood! We said our salutes in some sparkling prosecco, mmmmm..

On Monday we went for some last minute shopping. I surprised P with a gift, and he surprised me with an early birthday gift from a very special jeweler...

Our weekend in Vienna was fantastic, can't wait to go again!

Thieving ladies

Long time no see! What happened..? Did I lose interest in blogging so soon!? No, I was pocket-picked, that's what happened.. There I was, roaming the mall like any good housewife should.. when a thief dressed up as a pretty lady kneeled down beside my stroller, carefully opened my purse (yes, I know it's stupid and naive to keep the purse under the stroller and expect people to leave it the hell alone) and took my iPhone and wallet. I saw her kneeling down but I didn't think much of it, since she appeared to be looking at some baby clothes on the wall. When I discovered what had happened, my first thought was "I must call P"! But I haven't memorised his number! So I rushed home, well, took the very slow Budapest bus home and then rushed the streets down to our house. I then called P on Skype to let him know what had happened. It didn't occur to me I should have stayed and report the matter to the security. P came home and together we went back to every store I'd been to.. and they were quite a few.. After that we went to the police to file a report. Even though I'm furious, I'm most of all grateful that nothing happened to baby S or me. Those are just material things and you can replace them. From now on I won't waste any more energy on the matter.
The thieving lady is not worth it.

I believe in..

.. making every day count. I really try to live by it. Then again, since one of my favourite things to do is chill out at home, making every day count comes easy to me. ;) Jokes aside, I've had a happening week! On Thursday for instance, I was at the playground with my friend Sandra and her adorable girls. We had coffee at my place afterwards. And on Friday we went to Margit Island for a great day by the pool! Baby S absolutely loves to go swimming in the pool. She tries to swim, kicking and waving her arms in a frenzy! So cute! Sunday we went to Sandra & Karsten for a BBQ, we had a great time! Yesterday I had the lovely ladies from our "playgroup" over for a coffee & chat with the kids. Great times! The older kids were running around the apt, chased by an "awful monster"(no, not me), the little ones were on the floor, playing and doing babystuff. We had some cake from the fantastic and famous bakery down my street, the"Daubner". Chocolate & blueberry soufflé on chocolate cake. YUMMIE! It's so nice to get together with this group of ladies, I really enjoy sipping coffee and talking about everything.

Also, I've been catching up with some of my dearest friends.. ever since I got pregnant I've been MIA, and I really feel bad about it. I just can't seem to find the time or the right moment to sit down and make those calls. There really are no excuses, but I hope they still like me enough to not call off our friendship, even though I suck at keeping in touch right now. Well, in the past few days I've talked to no less than four of those dear friends! I feel so good about this! Talking to them really gave me a much needed energy boost! One of my besties is getting married soon! So happy for her! And another one is expecting her third child in only a few weeks. So exciting!

Today I took S for a walk, and stopped by our mall to do some grocery shopping. After that we've been mostly doing everyday stuff.. oh, there's a knock on the door - hold on!

It was the german lady upstairs. I've been taking care of her cat while she was out of town, and now she had bought Selma a super cute swimsuit to thank me for the help. So sweet!

Morning glory

Lady S woke me up at 4.30 this morning. She's teething, poor thing.. After giving her the bottle and playing with her for about an hour, she did however go back to sleep. So this turned out to be a great (if maybe a bit early) morning after all.. Now I can enjoy my morning coffee and just relax.

I bought this pretty bouquet yesterday. They are dog-roses with mint! Smells amazing!

So if you're not up yet; wake up and smell the flowers! Or coffee.

Daily update

Alright.. since this blog is about me keeping a diary so I'll have some memories stored for when I get old.. I will make a daily update.. I always buy new diaries, thinking this time it will be different.. this time I will keep a journal of every single day.. write down small stuff  like the weather and important stuff like my baby's first steps.. and it always ends the same. I will write for a few days and then get bored and forget about it. And I'll feel bad for not writing. So, I thought that maybe a little pressure from the public is what I need.. If I can at least pretend that I have a few followers out there (hi Mom) who'd be disappointed if I went MIA, well then maybe I will keep it up.

Yesterday was a great Sunday. P and I were invited to our friends house for a BBQ. Nice red meat went right down my tummy.. yummm!! I can tell you, it's almost impossible to find good red meat here in Budapest. A nice juicy steak.. forget it Barbie! So we have desperately been trying to find a butcher somewhere who sells some tender meat and not just shoe soles, but no.. until one day, you hear about the Magical Meat Guy over at Mom park.. Like an urban legend amongst expats throughout Budapest. He exists thought. Apparently. P and I still haven't made the trip, but it's about time. I'm getting tired of all this pork and chicken.

Mama wants her some MEAT! Roaaarrr..

Right now, little S is sleeping. Mama is having coffee on the balcony, searching the internet for.. well, I don't know exactly.. Roaming for dresses for the upcoming wedding, random gifts for P, and oh yes - my latest addiction: japanese fabric! LOVE THEM!! Will I ever buy anything..? Probably not, but this is just like window shopping from home. I have nothing on my agenda today. Mondays are mostly about cleaning up after the weekend. Gonna have the girls come over for coffee & chat tomorrow, so I better make the mansion look presentable.

Have a great day y'all!

No 1 candy

This is my favorite candy here in Budapest.. Chamallow smurfs.. I mean, how often do you get to decapitate a smurf!?!

Moahahaaa (evil Gargamel laugh)

Love sTORIes

This picture perfectly sums up some of my greatest loves:

* Starbucks
* Glossy magazines
* Tori Spelling 

Yeah - that's right! I said it! Tori Spelling! And I'm proud of it! Well, yeah, sort of.. ehhrr.. (sorry Tori). I confess. I am addicted to Tori Spelling and everything about her (not in a psycho-stalker manner, just in a "the-baby's-sleeping-I-might-just-as-well-watch-daytime-TV" kind of way). It all started when I was pregnant and spent my days roaming the internet for The Perfect Baby Blanket (yes, I actually did that, took me forever and I ended up not buying one anyway) and watching "Tori & Dean - Inn love" on TV. The show is basically about nothing, like most reality TV-shows are, but I got totally obsessed (again, not in a crazy way) with Tori. Now I have seen all of her TV-shows, bought most of her books and I find myself anxiously checking Apple TV for a new season of "Home Sweet Hollywood".. ahhrrgg..

Well - I think I am proud, and I'm gonna say it out loud: 

I LOVE YOU TORI!! (call me sometime, will ya!?)

Here we go!

This is it..    Numero uno..    The very FIRST post..  No pressure.. 
Just have to write something super witty yet smart while at the same time memorable and eye-catching.. gggggg..

Oh friggity frick - I'll just throw in a presentation instead! 

Who am I? - If you're reading this you're probably either a relative or a friend (and you probably use this blog as a sign of my very existence since I suck at keeping in touch). But if that's not the case you might just want to know a bit about me! 
My name is Emma, I'm a thirty-something swede, currently living in the beautiful city of Budapest, Hungary, with my man and our sweet little daughter. Since I'm currently on maternity leave I spend my days caring for my little one, shopping, gossiping with friends, sightseeing, sunbathing and eating croissants. 
You know - just average housewife stuff! 

Why a blog? I wanted to start a blog mostly to keep a diary of this exciting time in my life. And I wanted my mom to know what I'm up to. Keeps her less worried.. ;-) 

In this blog I will write about my life in Budapest, about being a mom and a desperate housewife, about my likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams, glitter and sparkles, 
sugar and spice and everything nice!

Come rock with the Hula Hoop Honey!