Sunday Funday

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I was supposed to have a quiet weekend this weekend. I was supposed to be gearing up for a big detox that was supposed to quick start today.

I was supposed to go to a baby shower in New Hampshire and then come home and go to the gym, go to the grocery store, write an interesting blog post, and talk to my parents.

It  had been an unusually uneventful weekend. I had gone to dinner with a colleague on Friday night and was home early and I had stayed in on Saturday night. Sunday was supposed to be a calm end to a calm weekend that was suppossed to kickoff a calm two weeks of detoxing and being healthy before a trip to London and Stockholm which is bound to be madness and full of indulgence.

But oh no... This International Woman of Mystery couldn't handle a calm weekend! Especially when faced with the prospect of the next weekend being calm as well! This International Woman of Mystery fell subject to peer pressure and ended up participating in Sunday Funday and spending NINE hours in a bar on Sunday night skipping the gym and then skipping Boot Camp in the morning and coming to work grumpy and hungover.

I blame a lot of people for my misbehavior, my lack of gym going, the fact that I didn't make it to Boot Camp and the fact that I'm HUNGOVER today. Let me give you the rundown.

First, let me start by blaming the baby shower. The baby shower where NO COCKTAILS were to be found! I wasn't really planning to drink a lot a the shower. I was driving. But I wouldn't have minded 1 drink. A bloody mary or a mimosa would have done the trick. Stopped the craving. Kept the alcoholic monster that lives inside me at bay. But alas, there was no alcohol to be found at the baby shower. WTF? And the ugly alcoholic monster reared its ugly head.

Next, I blame Hot Married Friend L (who didn't have to work today - lucky girl) who took full advantage of the in-satiated alcoholic monster that lives within me and convinced me that we needed "just one drink." I mean after all.... we did just survive a long baby shower with NO ALCOHOL. (And, let's face it, no matter how you look at it, baby showers are just not that fun).

"I'm going to the gym." I told her.

"Don't you have boot camp tomorrow?" She asks. "You can skip the gym tonight and make up for it tomorrow." I made a face. "Or, you can have just one drink and go to the gym later." Famous. Last Words.

Hot Married Friend L dropped the subject after that but no matter how I looked at it, the thought of a cold spicy bloody mary was just way more appealing then the sweaty smelly gym. And as we got back to Boston, I found myself pulling up to my favorite local "tavern." "Just one drink," I told her. Famous. Last Words.

One drink of course turned into just one more drink and just one more drink and just one more... Next I blame the Patriots (there are an awful lot of people blaming the Patriots today). First, I blame the Patriots packing the bar with people and making an interesting atmosphere. Second, I blame the Patriots for losing (thank you Tom Brady for that stunning loss) because of course then we had to drink some more.

Then, I blame the table next to us for catching us as we put on our jackets and were getting ready to leave at a rather acceptable hour. I blame them for inviting us to play a card game with them and then I blame them for continuing to order more and more drinks.  And before we knew it, it was MIDNIGHT and we had been at the bar since 3:00! Isn't it amazing how time flies when you are getting drunk.

Next, I blame The Company for not having MLK day as a holiday! Because if it had been a holiday today, then the whole day would have been a whole lot better. And I could have really enjoyed my Sunday Funday without feeling guilty or dealing with a work hangover (those are the worst, I usually try to avoid them).

Most of all I blame the alcoholic monster that lives inside me for once again overpowering the health nut that I think still lives there as well (although it is possible he drowned in a pool of alcohol).

And finally I blame I'm Attractive Single Friend C who is SUPPOSED to be detoxing with me this week but has just sent me a text to say "I'm craving a drink." Not helpful C. Not helpful at all.

I'm standing strong though. I'm not drinking until the 27th when I'm scheduled to leave for London. (I'm hoping if I say that out loud enough times, I will convince myself that I can do it).

So, thus begins day one of a 10 day detox of no alcohol and healthy eating while I attempt to revive the health nut and nurture him back to health so he can stand up to the alcoholic monster and sometimes (at least 50% of the time) win the battle.

Unfortunately, the bagel this morning was necessary to soak up the alcohol in my stomach (for some reason we managed to be at a bar for nine hours without eating dinner) but that was it... Now it's only healthy boring foods and water and tea. I had a big salad for lunch. Baby steps. Baby steps.

But please forgive me if I'm extremely grumpy these next days while I'm cultivating the health nut and reducing the strength of the alcoholic monster.

What did you do this weekend? Did you have a Sunday Funday too? Or did your inner health nut triumph over the alcoholic monster?

Christmas Spirits

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Things have been BUSY. But 'Tis the Season right? But seriously, I'm blaming the Christmas spirits. For everything. I mentioned them in my half-assed re-post from yesterday but while walking home from work in the SNOW - yup it's snowing in Boston -finally. What? Did I just say that? I HATE snow usually - I mean DETEST it. But all it took was a snowless winter in Sweden (2 years ago, yes this did happen) and a snowless winter last year in London and I'm all like an excited child. I was literally leaping through the snow on the way home and considered making a snowman or starting a snow fight on the way home from work today. I was also making a mental list of friends that I could convince to come out for an impromptu sledding party with me (unfortunately, the friends I came up with all live in Sweden and the snow will probably be gone by the time they arrive).

Ooops - I digress. I was supposed to be talking about the Christmas spirits and how on my walk home in the SNOW from work I decided it's the totally those spirits that are too blame for all the crazy situations I'm getting myself into these days (so much easier to blame others)... but instead I found myself blabbing about snow. Back to the original topic. So, these Christmas spirits are totally messing with me and filling me full of Christmas CHEER. And lately they have been turning me into one hot mess!

This past week was our work Christmas party which The Company has on Thursday nights in order to try to keep it more "low key" but it still turned into a complete shitshow anyway. Throw 700 mostly under 35 together in a big room and things are bound to get crazy (not too crazy though I swear, I wouldn't want to spread rumors causing another article about our infamously awesome parties mostly because I'm sure that every single young company has the same type of shenanigans). But for real. It was a good level of crazy. Not obscene. I promise - or at least this is what it looked like from where I stood (at the bar) and I haven't heard any crazy stories in the aftermath.

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The theme was something silly and we were told to wear sparkles. And while I didn't rock out a crazy sparkly dress as an LBD is way more my style, in my usual over-the-top trying-to-be-glamorous manner, I piled on the bling with sparkly bracelets and earrings and topped it off with an awesome faux leopard fur jacket and a sparkly head band.

And everything was going along just fine and I was chatting away to important people... When suddenly I realized two things:

• One, I was standing by the bar. Like RIGHT next to it. ALL night. And every time it seemed that I took a SIP of my drink (sorry, feeling the need for some serious caps on random words - deal with it) someone else was handing me another one (red wine was apparently the Christmas Spirit haunting me that night). So, suddenly I found that I was getting a little bit drunker than I meant to. And I kept asking for water and I kept ending up with another glass or red wine. And of course that meant I HAD to pound my initial glass. And on and on the cycle went...
• Two, my sparkly head band was hurting my head. So, of course the ONLY thing to be done was to take it off and put it on other people and take pictures of them wearing it. This seemed like a SUPER fabulous idea at the time. Okay, I admit I was VERY amused by this when I discovered those pictures over the weekend. I am saving them for blackmail purposes.

The next great idea I had was inviting VIP people over to my house for an after party until 4:30 in the morning. Ummm... SO not a good idea! What a way to make an impression on my new colleagues. Or maybe it was a good idea? Yet to be determined.

I vaguely remember singing the national anthem, smoking cigarettes out my window and blaring my music. Yes, I've been hiding from my neighbors all weekend and praying not to bump into any colleagues who were at the scene of the crime.

Let me tell you what was SO NOT a good idea. Waking up on Friday morning was so NOT a good idea. Especially since I woke up at 10 am having supposed to have been at work at 9 (and no matter how much of a hot mess I tell you I am in my social life, I promise you that 90% of the time I have a very professional life and a senior role at my company and I almost never ever drink during the week - at least not more than a couple drinks - and I try to be professional most of the time which is kind of boring so I don't blog about it - obviously it's way more fun to talk about all the situations the Christmas spirits are making me get into rather than the cool stuff I work on at work).

So, I'm racing to work in my CAR (having decided to drive a bunch of us girls back the night before for a pre-party - I usually walk back and forth and just leave my car at work which is much safer for me and the rest of the city of Boston as I'm a TERRIBLE driver - I'm about to prove this point). Let's keep in mind that by this point I've already gotten not ONE but TWO parking tickets because I totally didn't even hear my alarm overslept and was parked in a meter space. And even in my hangover daze, I'm aware that I'm probably still drunk and therefore SHOULDN'T be driving but I need to move the car so I can stop getting tickets and work is really close... So, I make it into the office and I'm all ready to breath a big sigh of relief and am thank God for my safety and everyone else's when SHIT!!! Someone has parked in my spot (damn Christmas spirits making EVERYONE do crazy things). Small moments of panic ensue... What do I do? I decide to turn around and go park in visitor parking. Unfortunately... my car and the Christmas spirits had another idea and the car decided to make a connection with the stationary concrete post rather than nicely easing into the spot. MAJOR scrapes and dents. Oh man!

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Needless to say that the rest of the day did not get any better and my hangover got progressively worse and I realized that my car was seriously damaged and that I would have to pay major mula to get it fixed. And although I manage to behave myself on Friday night by staying in and going to bed early, I was unable to keep from going out with the Christmas spirits and sexy friend A and dancing up a storm on Saturday!

I'm considering a detox for a couple weeks in Jan.  Surely, I can not drink for 2 weeks? Right? RIGHT? I also plan to give up everything else that makes life nice like sugar, salt, gluten, meat, dairy... but I've decided that I need to keep one vice and that will be caffeine...

Ok - back to my red wine Christmas spirit and the cozy fireplace and Christmas tree and the thoughts about starting to do some Christmas wrapping...

What a Week!

I have not managed to get myself back on the dating horse here in Boston (I'm thinking this might be a project for Thanksgiving - to sign up for some dating sites and switch over my dating profile). But never fear! The life of an International Woman of Mystery is NEVER dull.

Let me tell you a little bit about my week.

Here is an executive summary of what went downn this week in the life of an International Woman of Mystery:

I did over 200 pushups. I did hundreds of sit ups. I sprinted up and down hills. I skipped Boot Camp due to the rain. But still managed to get to Boot Camp despite lots of drinks and shots the night before. I saw the Bruins win. I watched the Celtics loose. I learned what a hat trick is. I drank way too much Blue Moon beer. I drank way too much champagne on Saturday night. I discovered the burrito place down the street and ate burritos every single day (yes, I really did). I woke up with a hangover on Saturday but still managed to throw an awesome housewarming party. I worked a lot. I socialized with work people a lot. I texted my boss to tell him I thought my colleagues were hot I was the victim of a work practical joke...

And now for the details:

Being the insane person that I am, I have continued to torture myself with week number two of 6 am Boot Camp.  Although I will admit that even the International Woman of Mystery is not superhuman, I totally skipped it on Wednesday when the alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning and I could hair the sound of the rain POURING even over my white noise machine and the loud buzzing noise outside my bedroom window (I have mentioned this noise a few times now - it is unfortunately the downside of my new apartment). I can't say it's gotten any easier to get up in the morning but I do feel good about doing it (even though it makes me hungry and cold for the rest of the day - oh and tired. So very tired).
This week I got a re-introduction to the Boston sports scene in a BIG way! My company has box seats to the Garden for the Celtics and Bruins (how awesome is that)? So, on Thursday night I went to the Bruins game and Friday night I went to the Celtics game!

The Bruins game was exciting as it featured a hat trick - the same guy scored 3 goals. I found this out when I asked someone why everyone was throwing their hats on the ice! Look at all these things I'm learning.

Sporting events to to involve a lot of beer and as I live and work in walking distance of the Garden, it was way too convenient to go out for drinks after the game despite the fact that I tried to plead out of it. Drinks for some reason led to shots (I can't even remember the last time I did a shot on a weeknight).

So, needless to say that Friday morning Boot Camp (yes, I did make it) was not a lot of fun. Especially when the trainer seemed to be in a big bad mood and made us do hill sprints and over 200 push ups (obviously done the girlie way on our knees) and various other torturous exercises in the what was the hardest Boot Camp yet!

The Celtics unfortunately did not bring it the same way the Bruins did and ended up loosing by 4 points. But at the game I learned what little pranksters the guys I work with are (I'm working with mainly men in a technical environment so I guess it shouldn't surprise you). No one is safe from them. I know better than to leave my computer unlocked when I get up from my desk (or random emails and embarrassing emails will be sent). But after a few beers, I wasn't paying attention and had left my un-password protected phone laying around. Luckily one of my female colleagues managed to rescue my phone before any damage was done and remind me to keep my phone in a safe place at all times.

But even with that reminder, I fell victim to a little practical joke that I should have seen coming a mile away. 

Since I'm working with mobile in my new job and since I'm working in a rather geeky tech environment, there is often a lot of discussion about mobile phones. There is a definite ongoing Android vs. Iphone discussion. I won't bore you with all the details. But I need to explain this to get to the next point.

So my rather Cute co-worker has an Android phone and rather than typing, you can kind of just drag your fingers over the keys without lifting them and the words will appear. It looks very strange. I had seen him do this in meetings and was wondering how hard it was to do. So, he opened his phone and started a blank text message and showed me how to do it.

He wrote: This is a text message
Then I wrote the following very uncreative sentence: This is International Woman of Mystery. I am at a Celtics game with Cute Co-worker now.*
Then our prankster colleague came up to see what we were doing and wrote: Prankster colleague is hot according to International Woman of Mystery. Have a good night.

And then of course he immediately sent this text message TO MY BOSS!

So this message from Cute Co-worker's phone randomly went to my new boss.

This is a text message. This is International Woman of Mystery. I am at a Celtics game with Cute Co-worker now. Prankster Colleague is hot according to International Woman of Mystery. Have a good night.

Needless to say I was pretty embarrassed. But apparently my boss is used to them doing such things as he immediately texted back to say that Cute Co-worker should know better than to leave his phone around when Prankster colleague is there. Still it was embarrassing for such an incriminating and unnecessary text to be sent with my name all over it. Oh well. Lesson learned. I need to watch those guys all the time!

Saturday night I had a kick-ass housewarming party at my new apartment! I invited old and new colleagues and friends and we filled up my apartment and drank way too much. I was super excited that many of my college roommates showed up even though many live out of state. It was great to see them! Although way way too much champagne and wine have made Sunday pretty miserable especially since I had a lot of cleaning to do.

So, that was my week. How was your week? Are you looking forward to the long weekend ahead as much as I am? I have lots of things going on this week. I will be sure to tell you all about them soon.

*Obviously real names were used

Happy Halloween

So, I'm sneaking in a quick post to wish you all a great big scary:

Happy Halloween!

Despite the fact that this move has kind of gotten the best of me and left me Internet challenged for the time being, I could NOT let this holiday go by without writing a quick Halloween post.

I'm so excited to participate in this great American holiday!!

Sure, they celebrate Halloween abroad but not to the extent that Americans do. No way. So, bring it on America! Show me your Halloween style.

There is a definite sugar fueled buzz in the office in anticipation of the big Halloween weekend.

Every desk is lined with plastic pumpkins filled with candy (I'm so on a sugar buzz right now). In fact, one of the vendors got really creative smart and filled the traditional orange plastic pumpkin with not only candy but also with little alcoholic nips. I totally snagged one of those and am displaying it proudly on my desk (proclaiming to my new colleagues that I'm totally an alcoholic) and am sneaking furtive longing glances at it - yes it's one of those days - as I work. I'm thinking that tomorrow I will totally have to hit that (and prove to my new colleagues that I'm totally an alcoholic). Tomorrow is Friday and at-work drinking is usually much more acceptable on Fridays. Right?

So, I'm wondering what are your Halloween plans for the weekend? Are you dressing up? Are you going Trick or Treating? Are you going to hit the town in a pimped out Halloween costume and do some serious partying?

Let me tell you about what I'm doing. I'm so tired of this move. I've decided that this weekend I'm going to have fun. It will be my first weekend out and about since returning back to the US almost 3 weeks ago now. So, I'm hoping that America will bring it on - in full Halloween style!

Tomorrow is the work party. Families and children are invited in the afternoon and in the evening there is a party at the bar.

For the work party, I'm going to keep it pretty tame. I've decided to be an angel (does it get tamer than that)?  I'm going to wear an office appropriate white dress and a halo and some wings... That's about it. I'm still the new girl, so while I love me a dress up party, I'm not ready to go all out. My colleague who I've befriended is going as a Devil, so together we are "good and evil" or "naughty and nice" or whatever...

On Saturday I'm going out with Sexy friend S - who is a crazy friend from back in my college days who I have not seen since, but am totally looking forward to meeting up with - she has promised to introduce me to the Boston nightlife and hopefully some hotty Boston boys!

Oh woops - that sentence got a little distracted and I never finished my main point. But I don't feel like fixing it (my blog, my rules). Let me try again. Sexy friend S is the girl with the plan on Saturday night (although she has yet to decide what that actually is) and she is nice enough to let me tag along and I couldn't be more excited!

But now the big question is... WHAT DO I WEAR?

So, there is where I need your advice. What should I be on Saturday night?

I've got two choices for you. I'm in possession of the two costumes below. Which one should I wear?

Should I be a SEXY FIRE WOMAN?

Or A FLIRTY VINTAGE NURSE?

Let me provide a bit of information on the costumes in order to help you:

• Despite what you might think based on these pictures, neither of these costumes is very skanky revealing - I mean have you SEEN what is out in the stores for women these days?
• Neither of these costumes is as short as the picture portrays (the firewoman one in particular is much longer than the picture shows) - I'm 5'8. I'm tall and both are a pretty acceptable length - short for sure but definitely covering my ass! There will be no but cheek flashing in either of these costumes. 
• I'm not exactly sure of the plans for Saturday night (as Sexy friend S doesn't really have the details together yet) but it sounds like we will hit up a few house parties
• The firewoman costume is kind of hot... I mean like temperature-wise. It's long sleeves and heavy material
• The nurse costume is considerably cooler - temperature-wise
• The firewoman costume actually looks really real... It's kind of freaky
• The nurse costumes trends a bit to the "cute" side
• I like profession costumes! Last year I was a sea captain and the year before that I was  policewoman... (not that you really needed this information to choose which costume you like better, but I just felt like sharing that with you)

If I had time, I would do a cool survey on the blog, so that you could vote. But, I don't have time (I'm already sneaking this post in from the office - although after hours of course). So, you will have to let me know what you think in the comments. And be sure to let me know your plans.

And seriously - have a kick ass Halloween everyone.

I will be sure to update you on the weekend's activities and the costume decision in my next post!

Ciao.

I heart Stockholm

So, last week I got the pleasure of spending some time in my favorite city: Stockholm*. Seriously, I heart Stockholm. In fact, my heart hurts when I visit because I miss living there so much. And I would move back in a heartbeat (ok - I've now said heart three times - I think I will stop now as I'm annoying myself)... but unfortunately, this is not possible right now. This makes me very very sad (but more on this later).

The trip was a little bit about work and more about fun - just the way it should be!

I arrived early evening on Wednesday and I had just enough time to run into H&M and do some serious damage to my poor bank account.

You might be wondering, why would I go shopping in Sweden when I live in the best shopping city in the world? I was wondering the same myself... But the sad truth is that I have become very Swedish (at least that's what I'm told). When I first moved to Sweden I couldn't understand why H&M was on every single corner. I also hated the fact that there was not a larger "selection" of clothes or shops. I found the shopping boring it irritated me that everyone wore the same thing.

So, now I live in London where there is a whole big bad city out there with tons of things to spend your hard earned money on, and you know what? I prefer shopping in Stockholm. Go figure. But, it's easy to shop in Stockholm. Stockholm stores are limited, but they have all the things I want. There is no searching through racks trying to figure out the latest trends. In Stockholm, it's all there in front of you. And yes, the population and the dress code is pretty homongenous but Swedes are extremely fashionable as well as attractive and I swear it feels like you are in a photoshoot everywhere you go.

A non-Swedish friend of mine described it as like "being in the twilight zone. It's just too perfect to be true. But the scary part is, it is really that perfect." Well said my friend. He didn't particularly like living in Sweden (he only lived there for one year). After 5 years living there, I have learned to love it. Actually, I think it took leaving Sweden to give me some perspective make me realize just how perfect Sweden really is - and just how Swedish I had managed to become!

Oh Stockholm... oh how I'm going to miss you.

After my impromptu shopping trip, I met an old colleague/friend for a glass of wine at Anglais and then we moved on to Vapiano for fabulous pizza and more glasses of wine and lots of catching up. It was a lovely evening... which I immensely regretted (at least that 4th glass of wine) the next day when I woke up with a headache.

Of course being the crazy person that I am, I decided that I would not let a little wine headache get between me and a lovely morning for running (seriously it was a gorgeous day). So, I ignored the pounding in my head and threw on my running shoes and went out to pound the pavement for an hour run in my most favorite park Hagerparken - where I used to run every day when I lived in Stockholm. Let me just say that this obviously did not help my headache which proceeded to haunt me all day until - well... until I started drinking again!

After work my fabulous Stockholm team brought me for drinks and dinner to celebrate the fact that I'm leaving my current job for a new one. They surprised me by bringing me to Wallmans Salonger where we saw a dinner show made up of songs written by Bjorn Ulvaeu and Benny Andersson (most famous for being part of ABBA but also for composing 3 musicals the most famous of which is Mama Mia).

Those Swedes sure do love their ABBA. I have to say that after all the time I spent in Sweden, ABBA has grown on me, but I still find that I do not know most of the songs and certainly cannot sing all the lyrics like most Swedes can. Anyway, the show was a lot of fun and it was a great night!

Friday started with another wine headache but this time I decided to skip the run. Another great day at the office and then back to Diplomat for more drinks with colleagues. We then headed to Anglais for more drinks. What else?

And GUESS WHO I SAW at Anglais? You got it. The Beautiful Swede was there!! The thing is that he had been on my mind since landing at the airport. Last week after writing about him, I had a very vivid dream about him where he met me at the airport and tried to force me to talk to him. I had this strong feeling that I would inevitably see him in Stockholm - it's a small city and you spend your life there bumping into people. So, I unfortunately found myself looking for him everywhere. Searching the faces of any tall handsome men (believe me there are a lot of those) to make sure it's not him.

I promise, I did not WANT to see him or interact with him, but I could not help looking for him. As if by searching for him, I could be sure to avoid him.

Anyway, many people came out to meet me at Anglais (I have great friends) and we were standing by the main door (and I was keeping half an eye on the door kind of waiting for him to walk in - I even commented  to my friends that I was nervous about bumping into him) when suddenly one of my friends suggested that we move over to a different part of the bar (it's a big bar). I thought it was a bit of a strange suggestion but didn't dwell on it. And by that time I'd had enough wine that I swear I'd finally stopped thinking about him. About 45 minutes after we moved, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a tall beautiful guy with a familiar face walking fast headed toward the second exit caught my eye. It was him!!! The Beautiful Swede!

AHHHHHHHHH! My heart stopped beating and launched itself into my throat. I felt nauseous. I forgot how to breathe for a second and my legs started to shake! Panic! What do I do?

So, what did I do? I did what any girl in my position would do. I ducked down and covered my head with my hands protectively and hid in the group of girls who instinctively surrounded me and I closed my eyes - as if I closed my eyes then he wouldn't see me either! When I finally dared to stand up again and started to breathe, I realized that he had just headed to the exit and it seems that he did not see me. I had a friend check that he was really gone (he was). And I eventually regained my cool and went on with the night. I wasn't going to let a little ex-boyfriend siting ruin a night with my friends. However, I still can't believe that he was there and even more unbelievable is the fact that we managed to avoid an interaction! Amazing.

My friends admitted that they had seen him earlier and that was why they suggested we move away from that side of the bar. They didn't want to tell me he was there because they didn't want me to either decide to leave or decide to speak with him (I think I would have left) so they hoped that we would not bump into each other.

With that tragedy narrowly adverted, we continued on to Undici for a night of dancing to bad Schlager music and getting hit on by old Swedish men (there was some kind of private golf party going on so the place was packed with uninteresting old men and minor Swedish celebrities).

After a rather late Friday night, Saturday morning's 10 am meeting for the kick off of our friend J's hen party came way to soon! But I'm happy to say that I successfully made it there on time and without even a headache to show for my late night the night before!

In traditional Swedish fashion, my friend had been "kidnapped" at her house that morning by her two bridesmaids and then brought to meet us. I like the way the Swedes approach hen parties (and bachelor parties are apparently even more crazy) - it's always a surprise, it's always well planned and thought out, and it's always a full day and evening event with lots of activities designed to make your friend who's getting married feel special.

The rest of the day consisted of pony racing (which involved driving a cart pulled by a pony - see picture below) and belly dancing followed by a dinner at F's house and then off to the nightclub Berns for some clubbing.

My friend who is getting married had various tasks to do during the night. One of these tasks included finding and taking a picture of a Swedish celebrity. This is not hard to do in Stockholm, if you glance around almost any club you can always find some kind of B list Swedish celebrity.

The celebrity she found was named Torre Kulgren (see picture to the left)** - famous for being a "Geek" who tried to play football (and yes, I mean soccer) on a Swedish reality TV show. I have not seen the show but it was explained to me that he apparently became the star of the show because he was just so socially awkward and therefore hilarious.

For some reason, I started talking to Torre later in the night - I think this was in part due to my new BFF C who I had met at the hen party and was having an awful lot of fun with that evening. Anyway, Torre took a liking to me and tagged along with us for the rest of the evening. As my new friend C put it, "well you found yourself a pet." And I know that it's kind of mean to say that (I'm not really a mean girl), but that's the best way I could describe him.

Unfortunately, my new "pet" made it difficult to talk to other men. But that was ok I guess - it doesn't have to be about meeting hot boys all the time. Besides, I found Torre completely amusing (and nice) and he kept flattering me by telling me how cute I was. But, I have seriously never met such a socially awkward person! I wish I had been able to remember some of the really funny things that he said when he was not even trying to be funny (but alas the wine did me no help here). And you should have seen the world's most awkward hug goodbye he gave me at 4:30 in the morning when we finally left the club (yeah - I killed it this weekend with late nights every night). Leave it to me to find the most dorky man in Sweden to hang out with for the night!

All in all, it was a great trip to Stockholm. It always is. Although I didn't meet any hot boys or kiss any Swedish boys in the rain... I got to spend a lot of time with good friends. I'm going back to Sweden for the wedding in just 2 weeks. I can't wait!

*For anyone who has just started following my blog, I lived in Stockholm for 5 years until a year ago when my company moved me to London (a move I didn't want to make).

**As you may have noticed, I never use names or put pictures of people in my blog but as he's a minor Swedish celebrity, I have decided it's ok.

Week in Review

Hey Y'all. Well, things have been pretty busy. And I've been busy reading lots of other blogs. So much so that I have not been keeping up with writing my own!

So, just in case you have been wondering what I've been up to, let me give you a little "week in review."

These are some of the things I did this week:

Celebrated Bank Holiday Monday with a Sleep in - that's right, this Monday was a bank holiday here in the UK. For me, that meant sleeping late - although this was unfortunately rudely interrupted by the appearance of my House Cleaner who decided to give up her Bank Holiday to clean my flat - which was actually kind of nice...

Continued to Celebrate Bank Holiday Monday with Brunch, Shopping and Drinks with M - I met M and T for brunch at my favorite brunch restaurant - a very American Style dinner called Chelsea Bun (if you are craving pancakes, waffles and omelets, look no further than this awesome place). We started the day with a Bloody Mary - yummy! Then T had to go into work so M and I continued the afternoon with shopping followed by more drinks at The Botanist

Found out from M that my Ex Boyfriend is now engaged - That's right. You heard correctly. THE EX BOYFRIEND. The Scottish Ex Boyfriend. The one I dated off an on for four years (I have not blogged about him yet but those of you who know me know exactly who he is) is engaged to the girl he started dating after me! Ugh. I can't say this devastated me - a fact that I'm kinda proud of actually. It's been a long time since we broke up.... Also, I never imagined that him and I would get engaged so I guess that makes it hurt less. But still... It made me think and it made me a little sad. I guess I always thought I would get engaged first. Ok. I will be more honest. I guess that a small part of me still thought that maybe one day we would get back together. His getting engaged seems to close the door on any future relationship between us - in fact, I would say that door is now locked up tight (which is probably a good thing). And of course I'm working on a blog post around this subject, so stay tuned for the details at a later date.

Suffered the Back to Work Blues on Tuesday - it's always tough to go back to work after a long weekend. Tougher still when you are feeling a bit unmotivated in your job. I am leaving my current position at the end of September. I will stay within the same company but switch products and divisions completely. So, I'm at the tail-end of my "phase out." Having been with my current product for 6 years, this is a big deal. I enjoy being at the center of things, making key decisions and watching them pan out. It's been strange to hand over my responsibility and watch other people start making decisions around me. It's very weird to plan for next year and know that I will not be there. And it's hard to realize that I'm no longer important or involved in things... Yes. It does seem that just like everyone else, I'm very replaceable (something I've always been aware of - I'm not that egocentric - but the reality of it is harder than the theory).  In general my job is important to me and I get so much satisfaction from working and the contributions I make, so suddenly having things slow down has been strange, depressing and demotivating. I've been having a tough time with the transition (although I fully realize this is totally my decision)... But enough about that. I try not to blog much about work but sometimes it's inevitable.

Went to an Offsite Meeting in Cambridge - As I have mentioned before, my job is kind of awesome and we often get to do cool things in cool places. So, rather than having another meeting in the London office, we went offsite to Cambridge for a 2-day meeting.

Went Punting on the River in Cambridge - This is a must do if you are in Cambridge. Basically you get on a long flat boat and someone "punts" you down the river which involves sticking a long pole in the river and pushing the boat along. It's very relaxing and according to our guide can be quite hilarious during the weekend when the punts are full of drunk students. The scenery is beautiful and historic as you wind down the river right through Cambridge University and past such historic buildings such as King's College Chapel.

Had Dinner at Jamie Oliver's in Cambridge - The atmosphere was great! And our big round table was perfect for a team dinner. But, I found the food mildly disappointing. The price however, was not bad at all. If you are in Cambridge and looking for a nice place to eat, I would give it a go (but I do not recommend the fish in a bag).

Received another unsolicited Email from the Beautiful Swede - Yup. He's back up to his old tricks of trying to contact me. He wants to be friends. He would love for me to write him back. Yadda Yadda... It always bothers me when he writes to me because then I start to think about him again and struggle with whether or not I should write him back. As I have mentioned before, despite his attempts to contact me, I have not spoken with him or written to him since Christmas. I'm just not sure what the point would be. We were not friends before we started to date. I'm not sure we can be friends now... But sometimes I do really want to contact him. I want to tell him what I've been up to in these past months. I want to share the exciting changes in my life with him. I want to hear about what's going on with him. I miss talking to him. I hate to admit it, but I still think of him every day. And I unfortunately still care about him more than I want to admit (do not worry, I have no disillusions of ever getting back together with him). But that means that if I were to talk to him, and he were to talk about his current life this would inevitably mean talking about his current girlfriend... and at this point, I realize that this would probably make me sad and upset. So, this is kind of why I don't go there. I'm still not cool with the fact that he moved on so quickly and I'm well still "looking for Mr. Right." 

Realized that after way too much summer indulgence in food and alcohol, my clothes are not fitting exactly the way I would like them to - So, I guess that means it's definitely time to kickstart a refocus on having a healthy lifestyle and getting back in shape: start hitting the gym and running more, push myself harder when working out (I still continued to work out often this summer but didn't really push myself), eat healthier and forgo those oh-too-often glasses of wine (I seriously think that alcohol and french fries are my true downfalls). Ugh. I'm not really looking forward to this. But it needs to be done! I hate feeling out of shape.

Met my Personal Trainer - See above point (I'm off to a good start). That man freaking kills me. Seriously, it's 4 days later and I still can't move my arms without immense pain. But as they say - "No pain, no gain." Although I'm still a bit miffed that I actually pay lots of money to allow someone to inflict physical pain upon me. Now, if only the results would make themselves known soon!

Thanked God it's Friday - I was very very happy to see Friday arrive. It was a busy day at work though as I had foreign visitors to take care of. After work I went for a run in the park with a colleague (see above points - aren't you impressed that I'm making good on my promise to work out more - although it would have been slightly better if I didn't eat pizza tonight and french fries and nachos yesterday). Then I had a quiet night in spent catching up on Jersey Shore Episodes and various blog reading.

Hosted a Fabulous Chelsea Pub Crawl - On Saturday I hosted a Pub Crawl! I've been wanting to participate in a pub crawl since arriving in London and as my days here are limited, I decided to throw one. To keep it simple, I decided that we would stick around the Chelsea area.* We started at 14:00 at The Phene and were supposed to end up at the Botanist around 23:00. The idea was to go to 12 pubs and have a drink at each. The turn out was pretty decent although most people chose to pop in and out along the way. It was just me and my Sexy Single friend A who made it through from the beginning until "almost" the end (see next point). Although most people stayed through the first 6 or 7 pubs. All in all it was a good time! I kept track of how much people had to drink via a complicated process of awarding different types of stickers. At the end of the night I even handed out awards for the one who stayed the longest and had a drink at most places (Sexy Single Friend A took this one) and also for the one who did the best at trying to catch up despite joining late - this went to American Boy J who joined us late but took lots of shots to catch up. And also to the ones who tried to cheat by using one score card for two people - this was of course M and T.

Made an Executive Decision to Cancel the Pub Crawl - After dinner, everyone (including me) started to drag and many of the early joiners had dropped off. We made it to the 10th pub around 10 pm. For some reason this pub was as miserably hot as a sauna. It was then that I made the executive decision (I was the organizer after all) to leave the pub, cut the crawl short (we had two more pubs to go), and head back to my house for more drinks of course! By this time we had lost a lot of people but gained a bunch of others. We were about 15 people who headed to my house (much to my neighbors dismay) cranked up the party music, opened some bottles and caught a second wind!

Went Clubbing and Danced all night - And after a long day of drinking, what else is there to do but continue on for a night of clubbing! So, we went back to Valmont again! With a big group this time. Unfortunately, there were no hot boy to sweep me off my feet this time. But it was ok anyway, I had fun dancing the night away with friends!

So, that was my week in review. What did you do this week? Any good stories?

As for the week ahead, I'm off to Stockholm from Wednesday to Sunday. I will meet my team there and say goodbye to them (this will be my last trip in professional capacity). I have big plans with the Swedish girls this weekend, but for various reasons, I can't reveal them yet. Stay tuned for the sure-to-be-amazing details coming at you next week!

And let me end this post by asking for your advice. So, what do you think? Should I email back the Beautiful Swede? Or just let it go? Do you think we can be friends? Can you ever be friends with your Ex? Is there any reason to be?

Have a great week!

XOXO

*In case you want to "borrow" the pub crawl route that I invented for this weekend's fun. Here is the route for the Fabulous Chelsea Pub Crawl:

1. The Phene
2. The Cross Keys
3. The Pig's Ear
4. Cadogan Arms
5. Henry J. Beans
6. Trafalgar (dinner was here)
7. Sydney Arms
8. The Builders Arms
9. Chelsea Potter
10. The Phoenix (we ended the crawl here so didn't make it to the last two)
11. The Queen's Head
12. The Botanist

The Hot German Boy

So, I was getting a little bit worried that I wouldn't have anything exciting to blog about this weekend. I've been feeling a bit blue these days (for reasons I will inevitably address in another post) and the terrible London weather is not helping (I have never witnessed a more miserable summer). In general I'm feeling a bit uninspired.

As of Friday at 5 pm this International Woman of Mystery did not have a single plan for the weekend, but I was kind of feeling ok with that - thinking that I would just wallow around in my misery and spend some time alone. As you do when you are feeling down and at.

At the same time, I was realizing that this might not be a good idea and I should probably find some energy to force myself to do something if for no other reason than for the sake of this blog and my faithful readers (I now have a total of 13 official followers - btw, click follow if you have not done so already) and being able to write about something mildly entertaining.

Sexy Single Friend A saved the night on Friday though, and we decided to meet up for drinks at my favorite Chelsea pub The Phene to celebrate her new job. However, as much as I'm excited for her, it was a low key evening and I was home by 9: 30 in bed catching up on the latest Jersey Shore episode. I love me some GTL!!! Fist Pump!

On Saturday I woke up in a not much improved mood. I had two options for the evening and then the one I was leaning toward kind of fell through (or at least got a bit overly complicated) and I was seriously contemplating just staying in Saturday evening as well. But again, realizing that my days in London are dwindling and I should make the most of my time here, I searched deep inside to find some inner motivation. And then I did the following: went shopping at French Connection and spent too much money, took a power nap, went for an 8K run, threw on a sexy LBD, spent a little extra time on the hair and makeup and locked up my apartment and hit the street!

I decided to meet some work friends for a birthday dinner. The problem with this plan was the fact that the majority were work friends. And while I like most of them very much, we do an awful lot of work socializing in general and sometimes I need a break from work (because inevitably we talk way too much about work). The other problem was that I'm not exactly getting along with a certain colleague right now for reasons that I won't go into as I try to make it a policy not to blog about work stuff cuz let's face it it's boring and I spend way too much energy on work as it is. I knew he was coming to the party and I was so not interested in any possible altercation with him.

In the end it was a nice birthday dinner and copious amounts of wine and sangria helped create a fun party atmosphere and the colleague that I don't get along with made an appearance late and I didn't really need to interact with him. So, all was good.

Then we decided to go clubbing. As we had not put much thought into where we would go (i.e. we were not on any lists for the super exclusive clubs), we ended up at our old standby Valmont on Fulham Road. The scene of last weekend's crime. But I didn't mind. As I have mentioned before, I really like this club. It's small, they play good music and the people are usually ok and it's not as much of a "scene" as many of the other clubs nor does it have the high price tag.

So, there we are dancing together in kind of an obnoxious circle when suddenly the friend of the colleague who I do not get along with approaches me. He starts asking me about living in the US and making some small talk. The conversation doesn't really go that well since he is pretty intoxicated (thankfully, for once, I am less so) and the music is loud. Actually, I realize that he is really drunk. And that he is possibly attempting to firt with me - or else he is just trying to grab my hand to maintain his balance - I'm not entirely sure. I'm a  nice girl and I try to be polite but eventually need to move away from him to the other side of the circle. But suddenly there he is again - crossing the entire circle to get to me so that we can have this conversation:

Drunk Swede: So, I really think that we should go home together.

Me: Oh really? Why's that?

Drunk Swede: It will be a really good time.

Me: Umm... Let me get back to you on that one (walk away - FAST)

So, after that little interesting episode that made me laugh. I decide to escape to the ladies room. On my way back to the dance floor, I decide to stop at the bar to get another drink - I mean I'm going to need it if I have to keep interacting with the Drunk Swede.

Standing at the bar is a guy who from behind looks like he might be interesting. He is tall at least. I decide to go and stand next to him. He immediately notices me says something to the extent of that he can make room for me. He is paying for his drinks and is about to leave. He is GORGEOUS! I do not want him to leave... But what can I do?

I try to think of something quick and witty to say to grab his attention and make him stay... but nothing comes. Oh no! He is turning away! C'mon International Woman of Mystery - say something!!!! But he is already headed back to the dance floor. Damn. I look back at him again and see him hesitate and then turn back around, take steps back to the bar and look at me. The bartender is asking me for my drink order, but I am too busy watching the boy. Oh this is awkward! What do I do? I can't think. But the chemistry between us is so strong it's amazing - I can't let him get away.

He starts to leave again and I turn back to the bar. And finally I turn around again and he is still hesitating. We have to speak... So, I blurt out a very smooth opening line: "What's your name?" (Oh jeez is that all I could come up with)? And of course his name is something difficult to understand in the blaring music and I have to ask him to repeat it like 3 times before I get it. But, he has now come back to the bar and is standing next to me looking at me with amazing eyes. So mission accomplished. 

I am so distracted by his total hotness (seriously, this guy is beautiful enough to rival the Beautiful Swede) that I'm still totally unable to get a drink at the bar. I know I should be ordering the drink and I can tell that the bartender is getting a little annoyed with me as are the people behind us who are pushing to get bar space, but I can't take my eyes off this boy. Have you ever met someone where your chemistry just clicks and you are just really drawn to someone? Well, this is how it was for me in that moment. It was totally overpowering and completely awesome.

We enter the standard conversation of where are you from and what are you doing here and I finally manage to put in the drink order. I find out the hot boy is from Germany and is visiting for Investment Banking training - what else? (Seriously, I sometimes feel like there is no other profession in this city). Unfortunately, he has three checks against him: 1) he's an investment banker (or even worse, an investment banker wanna be), 2) he's German (actually I once dated a German for quite awhile and that was okay but in general they are not really known for being the most interesting or fun people) and 3) he's only in the city until Friday.

But what the hell right? He seems interesting and smart enough. He's young - 27 (perfect age). He's tall. And he is just so damn hot (I realize I have mentioned this before, but had to say it again)! I love the cute black glasses he is wearing (for some reason I find this style of glasses so sexy on men - as long as they can pull it off). And the attraction between us is incredible! When he leaned in to kiss me... well let's just say it was amazing. I actually think there were actual. So, we head off to the dance floor and dance the night away together... (Remember that this blog is rated PG 13).

So, the weekend was a success after all. The only thing that could have made it more successful is if the German boy was not leaving this week and I would see him again. But alas, it was only meant to be a one night fling. But sometimes, that's all you need to get back in the game.

Speaking of getting back in the game, stay tuned for an update on my date with the Sexy Cop!

XOXO

Drunk Blog

First of all, I want to start by thanking the attendant in the bathroom who noticed that my skirt was tucked into my underwear (or pants as they call them here in London) and yanking it down for me and saving me the embarrassment of going back into the Chelsea club and parading my goods for all to see! Seriously thanks. I appreciate that small act of kindness. And I’m even sorry that I didn’t tip you.

Second of all, I want to thank my friend M for always insisting we order Long Islands and tequila shots as we did when we were very young indeed. And even though we now laugh and say that we are too old for such shenanigans, we always find ourselves ordering that Shi#$ at the bar. M - you are the best! Thanks for making sure we keep it real.

Third of all, I want to thank the irritating short guy who kept feeling me up all night from behind. Seriously, you can’t handle this! Although I suppose you knew this when trying to cop a feel when I wasn’t looking. Let me give you some advice, next time pick on someone your own size!

Fourth, I want to thank A for having an awesome BBQ with really yummy food and fun people who were all down with being dragged out for some impromptu clubbing.

Fifth and finally, thanks to my fabulous blog readers who are putting up with me as I commit the sin of BLOGGING DRUNK! And I promise that after my hangover (oh yeah, I feel it coming) wears off, I will update you on my totally awesome trip to South Africa.

So laters biatches. Hope you have a good night!

P.S. Shoot - I almost forgot. I also want to thank the DJ at Valmont who played awesome music all night. I danced my ass off tonight and had fun.

P. P. S. Ok seriously. I’m going to bed now.

Night night Y’all!

XOXO
-International Woman of Mystery

Smögen with the girls

Hi Y’all. So, I’m back from my latest great adventure. Did you miss me? I missed you!

Let me start by saying WHAT AN ADVENTURE these past 2 weeks have been!

I don’t know where to start.

Although South Africa is on my mind having just returned today and visions of lions and zebras (oh yeah - I saw both) are dancing in my head, I guess it’s most logical for me to start with the girl’s trip to Smögen.

And let me start by saying that my Swedish girlfriends are totally awesome. No seriously, they rock. I have never met a group of nicer kinder girls! And on top of that they are all cute too! The best thing is that we travel together at least once a year and amazingly we never ever fight. They are so drama free. It’s very refreshing. I love hanging out with them. This year our annual girl's trip was even more important for me because I don’t get to see them as often now that I live in London.

The only sad thing about the trip is that my oldest Swedish friend (and the reason that I know all the other girls) was not able to come with us this year due to the fact that she recently had a baby. We really missed her!

The other sad thing was the weather. It was oh so cold and rainy the whole time in Smögen. But we didn’t let a little grey weather spoil our fun. Oh no we didn’t!

Let me remind you that Smögen is a small harbor town on the west coast of Sweden. And it’s a major stop on the summer party sailing scene. Swedes are pretty big into sailing and one of the cool things to do is to rent a sailboat (if you don’t have your own) and go out for a week or 2 with a bunch of friends stopping at all the party spots along the route.

As we weren’t able to devote a whole week to sailing, we decided instead to drive the 7 hours from Stockholm down to Smogen (8 girls in a mini bus) on Thursday morning and stay until Sunday and hang out, catch up with each other and of course, party!

Despite the long drive, the rain, the cold weather and the very tight fit in our rented house, we still managed to have a super weekend!

I think the best way to explain the weekend is to revert to list format. So, here we go:

Things that happened in Smögen 

We pre-partied on a sail boat. A BIG sailboat. The first night in Smögen was the best night. It was the night that most of the sailboats came in as it was the place to be on the sailing route. I had mentiond to a Swedish colleague (who I do not know that well) that my 7 girlfriends and I were going to Smögen and he was like “well, me and my 7 boyfriends will be there as well. Come and join us on the boat for pre-party!” Well, ok! And so we did. And it was so much fun. My colleague and his friends were great hosts. They were a very international crowd of young professionals and therefore very interesting to talk to. And he had a particularly cute friend who was Swedish but lived in Dubai...

Blame it on the rain, but I totally had to kiss the cute friend of my colleague. The cute friend of my colleague and I exited the club together into the absolute pouring rain! There was nothing to do except run to his boat which was nearby. By the time I undid the strappy high heels I was wearing, and managed to climb over the boats moored together to get this his sailboat (note to self, do not wear hard to take off high heels when partying on boats -especially iu the rain it's impossible to walk across boats in high heels so you must take the off), we were completely soaked. I’m not sure why being barefoot and soaking wet on a sailboat wuld lead to kissing, but he was cute, so it did! And by the way, he was a good kisser. Admittedly, it was just a bit awkward when my colleague (who I did not know very well) came home later and caught us and laughed at us. I should note that he had been encouraging us all night so I think that he was laughing in a good way - let’s hope!

The girls surprised me with a spa day! I told you that they are awesome! The last time I was in Sweden, they had a birthday dinner for me and had given me a card with an IOU for a birthday gift in Smögen. But then they didn’t say that much about it. On Friday morning we were all feeling terribly hungover from the previous nights party but the girls told me that we were going to go swimming (in the ocean). I went along knowing that there was no way I would swim in the cold ocean on this cold rainy day. We did dip our toes in the cold water. But I was totally fooled. Until we walked into the hotel, I had no idea what we were actually doing! But it was a nice spa with a pool and hot tub and of course a sauna and we had a very relaxing day. The perfect remedy for a hangover.

I got a hot stone massage from an 18 year old boy. Before you jump to conclusions, this was actually a gift from the girls and the 18 year old boy was a certified (I checked) masseur at the spa. 18 is even too young for me. the hot stone massage was a new experience and not something I would have necessarily picked for myself but it's good to try everything once. I’m not sure I would do it again. But the whole massage situation was made slightly hilarious because this 18 year old boy who was giving me the massage, basically proceeded to talk to me the whole time while rubbing hot stones all over my body. So, it was kind of awkward and not that relaxing. But definitely an experience. It would have been a better experience and definitely more fun to blog about if he had been a totally hot and hunky 18 year old. But unfortunately, he truly looked 18 with the spots and the awkwardness to go with it. However, he seemed like a nice boy with lots of potential cuteness and I do think that he will grow out of it and become a heartbreaker someday. Maybe I will check up on him when he is 23 (that seems to be my lower age limit).

We ate so much amazing seafood! Smögen is famous for it’s seafood. We ate lots of shrimp, lax, crayfish, crab, and fish soup. The only thing that was oh so good but also oh so not good at the same time was the aioli. Shrimps in Smögen are uusually consumed dipped in aioli. I love aioli. I could eat it plain. And eat it I did. A lot of it. The problem was that it was not so conducive to kissing meeting men.

Seafood market

 

Räk Mackor (Shrimp sandwiches)

Dinner at the house

We ate this amazing sandwich called landgård! It has shrimp, crayfish and lax all on a piece of bread. Seriously this was the most amazing thing I have eaten in a long time. And we had fish soup on the side. Yum!

 Landgård = Yummy!

We enjoyed walking around the quaint town of Smögen and checking out the small shops. Seriously, how beautiful is this place:?

We partied with lots of boys boys boys... The best part about being in a sailing town was the fact that the guy girl ratio was way off. There were so many boys! And so few girls. My sexy single friend H and I were the only single gals in our group and we got lots of male attention. So much so that it was almost not really a good thing. Especially the first night when I was hanging out with the cute Swedish friend of my colleague. He seemed irritated by the boys grabbing me - it was irritating. I enjoyed the attention at first but it got annoying quickly. 

 A scene from a Smögen nightclub: lots of party! And lots of BOYS!

BOYS, BOYS, BOYS

Of course here was a little fun boy drama. And for once it wasn’t my drama. But my Sexy Single friend H who had the drama, has agreed that I could share her funny story. After the nightclub one night, H and I were for some reason sitting on the bench outside the nightclub. And of course due to the dispraportionate ration of boys to girls ratio as mentioned above, we did not manage to sit alone for long. H started talking to kissing this guy who flat out told her that he had a girlfriend but that he really wanted to kiss her anyway. I guess H decided that the girlfriend was his problem and that kissing on a bench was harmless enough. The drama ensued the next day when we went for lunch and the guy and his girlfriend were sitting at the next table! Ooops! The guy had forgotten to mention that his girlfriend was actually WITH HIM. We all had a good laugh about this. The always calm H, thought the whole thing was hilarious and didn't seem phased at all. We did joke about her going up to him and his girl and introducing herself as "the girl from last night.:" But, we aren't really that mean. We left the guy alone. Although poor girlfriend. Someone should tip her off that her boyfriend's a creep.

I met a boy who wanted to make me his partner in crime. Literally. While my sexy single friend H, was talking to kissing the boy on the bench with the girlfriend. Another boy was speaking to me. At first glance, he seemed like a very good looking boy. But he soon proved to be crazy. Literally. This was basically how our interaction went:

First we had a very annoying conversation that I tend to have often with very annoying Swedish men which involves me convincing them that I really am American (usually by showing them my American driver's license) and them still doubting me and thinking that I'm really Swedish and just pulling one over on them. I should have walked away then because the conversation continued to detriorate from there:

Him: Let’s commit a crime. I’m feeling crazy tonight.

Me: What do you mean? (realizing that he MIGHT really be crazy but still hoping he is joking)

Him: I mean, I want to rob a bank or something... Do something crazy.

Me: Well... I don’t see any banks around... (fortunately)

Him: Let’s rob a store then (tries to kiss me)

Me: (pushing him away) Sorry buddy, but my crime committing days are over. This one is all you.

Him: No seriously. Let’s rob a store together. I want you to do this with me. C'mon!

Me: I don’t see any stores around anyway... but if you feel like committing a crime, I’m not going to stop you... I’m not going to participate either.

Him: C’mon. I need a partner. (Tries to kiss me again with way too much force)

Me: (Tiring of the conversation and him forcing himself on me) See ya. (Grab sexy single friend H and run away from the crazy guy).*

We danced and danced and danced. The dance party started at the house fueld by glasses of rose and then we continued dancing each night in the clubs on the watefront. The second night, we went to a plac with a particularly good DJ and managed to find a small stage in front of the air conditioning unit to dance on. It was so much fun - although we had to keep getting rid of annoying men who wanted to join us - beat it boys! This was a girls’ night. The following songs will forever remind me of summer 2010 - if you don’t know them, check them out:

• Stereo Love
• Alors on Danse
• We Speak No Americano
• Dancing on My Own - Robyn
• (One) Your Name - Swedish House Mafia 

We had a great time with great friends. We all missed the party in Visby a bit. But it didn’t matter where we were because we were all together and that was what mattered. Thanks for yet another great weekend girls. You are the best! Krammar!

*I swear that this ridiculous conversation really happened. In fact, it lasted for around 10 minutes and was even more ridiculous than I managed to represent here - but I had also consumed high quantaties of rose wine so my memory did not allow me to take down the full 10 minute conversation so this is just a high level recap.

Back to London and being a Faux Swede

So, I’m back in London now and I’m kinda struggling to get back on the work schedule but in fact, a very strange thing has happened: I don’t have that much to do at work. There are some reason behind this which I will get to at a later date, but this is a very weird experience for me. I’m used to being really really busy. I don’t know what to do with myself when I don’t have 15 hours of work that I’m trying to cram into a 10 hour day! Oh dear... what is wrong with me? Why am I even complaining about this. I’m thinking that I should shut up now and just try to enjoy it.

I’m also thinking that now that I have some free time again, maybe I should pursue the London dating scene again! I’m simultaneously trying to pursue the work out/eat healthy/get in shape scene again - but that’s really not as interesting for me to write about and there are enough blogs out there about that!

I decided to jump back into the London scene Swedish London scene by attending a Swedish Chamber of Commerce event with my sexy single friend A. Ok for real. Why did I not do this before? It’s the perfect place to look for my future Swedish husband pick up cute 25 year old Swedish boys. But more on that in a minute - first I’m going to sidetrack a bit and talk about being a faux Swede - one of my favorite subjects.

The thing about Swedes is that you can spot a Swede a mile away. They stand out! But for good reasons. They look good, they dress good, they carry themselves well... overall they just have a good style.

As I have mentioned before, I look very Swedish - or at least that’s what I’m told over and over again by Swedes and Non-Swedes. However, it never fails to amuse me when people mistake me for being Swedish. I do take this as a really great compliment. I love being a Faux Swede!

So, after that introduction, let me get back to the weekend.

Friday night we hit the bar for After Work (as the Swedes would say) or Happy Hour as the Americans would say. Since I’ve moved to London I’ve been waiting anxiously for The Phene, a pub very near to my house to open. It’s been under renovation since I moved here but it looked like a great place with a huge outdoor terrace. It opened while I was on vacation and is seemingly a big success (especially with the Swedes who seem to have a good sense of nice pubs).

So, we headed there after work for a few drinks and let me tell you - it is my new favorite place! Fact. I plan to live there this summer. It has a great outdoor terrace and the inside is really nice as well. In fact, the whole place is really “Swedish” meaning I feel like I could be in Sweden and considering that the clientele was mostly Swedes (mostly my colleagues and their friends) I guess that is not exactly surprising.

The only downside is that I heard the food was not so great and you have to exit the terrace around 10 pm due to noise regulations. Oh well. Despite that, it’s still pretty good. And on this night there were even cute (Non-Swedish actually) boys to flirt with like Tom the investment banker... who gave me his business card but was too arrogant for my liking... Why is everyone in this city an investment banker? And even worse, it just seems like investment bankers are not my type. I wish I could meet a nice and interesting one and then I would literally eat my words. But I’m thinking that’s not going to happen.

So, a funny thing did happen at the Pub. I was speaking to a colleague who works in a different product that I met for the first time that night. So, we are in this long conversation which did involve me explaining some of my life including the fact that I lived in Sweden for 5 years but I started working for my company in Boston etc. I did feel that at different points of the conversation we were having trouble connecting, although I couldn’t quite understand what the problem was. So, about 20 minutes into the conversation I mentioned something about my Swedish being “not very good,” and she was like “Why not? Did you live abroad a lot as a kid?” And I was suddenly like “ You do realize that I’m American, right?” At that point we both realized that this whole time she’d been sitting there thinking I was Swedish and that had led to our small miscommunication! We had a good long laugh about this! But once again, unknowingly, I was posing as a faux Swede! I swear, I’m not even trying to trick people. It just happens!

Saturday night was the Chamber of Commerce event: a BBQ boat ride down the Thames. This time, I unfortunately did not get to drive the boat, but it was still a fun night for other reasons.

So, I’m waiting for my sexy single friend A to make an appearance - I am oddly early and she is oddly late. And I’m standing at Westminster Pier watching all the Swedes and reflecting on how amusing it is that you can easily spot the Swedes as they really stand out from the other tourists and Londoners. One of the organizers of the event (enter the aforementioned 25 year old Swede) comes up and asks me (in Swedish of course) if I’m Swedish and if I’m there for the party. I tell him in English that technically no, I’m not Swedish (just a Faux Swede - but I don't say that out loud thank God) but I am here for the event. And he is nice enough to make small talk with me until my friend arrives. Once again, I’m amused that he thinks I’m Swedish until I tell him that I’m not. There were obviously other foreigners at the event but I could easily pick out who they were. What makes me more Swede-like? Swedish followers? What do you think? Comments appreciated.

I was also amused by the 25 year old’s “oh-so-Swedish” outfit. The party was actually a theme party. The theme was ironically “The Hamptons” which I think he actually came up with. Ironic because here I was an American looking like a Swede pretending to be an American! Did I loose you yet? I think I lost myself... Anyway, back to his outfit. He was going for a Chuck Bass (you know from Gossip Girl) Hampton’s look and had actually Googled this picture below and managed to succeed in rocking this style:

The “oh-so-Swedish” part however was the socks. He was of course wearing pink socks (which were highly visible with all that white and because the pant legs were cut perfectly to show off the pink socks - So Swedish)! Seriously, why do Swedish men all wear pink socks. The Beautiful Ex Swede has like 5 pairs. It is hard for me to imagine an American man wearing pink socks*...

Anyway, the night progressed. The boat went up and down the river as the rose wine flowed and people started to get to know each other. And most importantly there were lots of cute boys to entertain my sexy single friend A and I. The night continued at a Mayfair club called Whiskey Mist which is a pretty fun club. It was actually a pretty good night! Fun to go to a club with 120 people you have just met. Makes you feel like you know everyone and sets a good party mood. The club was good. The music was good. The people were good. I was drinking champagne and dancing with the cute 25 year old Swedish boy dressed like Chuck Bass. And you know I can’t resist me some Chuck Bass...

And so I will end the night there... No need for more details... ;)

Hope your week is off to a great start!

*Shh... don't tell anyone, but I secretly like pink socks on men. This might be even more proof that I'm a faux Swede! Help!

Me Encanta Barcelona!

I know that you are all waiting impatiently for an update from my awesome weekend in Barcelona...

Well all I can say is that it was an amazing weekend with great people. But for the most part, what happens in Barcelona should really stay in Barcelona. However, fear not although I might scrimp on the details... I will provide you with top ten list.

Top Ten Fabulous Things About My Barcelona weekend

1. Getting to hang out con mi hermano!
2. Getting to meet all my brother's fun and interesting friends - they truly made it a great weekend!
3. Eating really amazing Catellan food cooked by the sweetest gay couple ever! Gracias M and D - you are the best!
4. Drinking Estrella beer in the park while riding on a rocking horse and sitting on ducks
5. Going to a Warehouse party and dancing all night long (and I do mean all night and well into the morning)
6. Meeting a cute Italian/French guy at the said Warehouse party - he invited me home on his motorbike (how Italian right?) but I politely declined.
7. The fact that for a few hours cigarettes and gin were the best thing in the world (I will not explain this one, if you were there, you know what I'm talking about)
8. Not wearing high heels once all weekend - my brother and friends rock a slightly different dress code than my London/Stockholm friends - sneakers and jeans were totally ok
9. Sitting around for hours doing nothing - I didn't even think I remembered how to do nothing - lately, it's all been work work work and go go go; I've forgotten how to relax, I've forgotten how to slow down, I've forgotten how to turn off from work... this weekend I learned the true art of doing nothing from my brother and his friends
10. Good music and the funny You Tube videos I was introduced to by my brother's flatmate S (this was part of the doing nothing thing that I experienced in general my free life doesn't have time for Youtube... if I have free time, I write this blog for my faithful readers) But check out llamas with hats and David after the dentist for a good laugh! (Caaarl... what did you do?) And check out this video full of fun English sounding gibberish!
11. Hablando espanol! (yo se - ya tengo diez puntos pero uno mas esta bien) - Era muy bello a hablar espanol de nuevo. No he hablado expanol hace much tiempo and me encanta el idioma

 Top Ten Not So Fabulous Things about My Barcelona Weekend

1. Lack of sleep from way too much partying
2. Not having enough warm clothes with me... I thought it was going to be warm out - I brought summer clothes. I needed cold weather and water proof clothes
3. The hangovers
4. Stumbling out of the warehouse party at 9 am in the morning to find a painfully bright day and then enduring an extremely long and painful journey home on the subway
5. The torrential downpour that overtook the city on Sunday night - it wouldn't let up so we decided that we would run home - we were soaked as if we had just swam in the ocean (which by the way, I managed not to see the entire weekend)!
6. The fact that I didn't once get to win at the game cheat also known as bull shit or mentira (en espanol) - this is a totally awesome game by the way and you should totally play it (preferably while drinking lots of Estrella beer) but I unfortunately didn't manage to win and that made me a little sad and that's why this is going on my top ten not so fabulous list rather than to my top ten fabulous list (ok, ok, I would have put it on my top ten list but I already had eleven good things and not enough bad things)
7. Leaving Barcelona

Note: There are only 7 items on this list because these were the ONLY bad things I could think of about Barcelona.

Hasta Luego Barcelona. Ya te estrano y necesito regresar muy pronto!  

 (I do not know how to make the accents and tildes on my computer. Lo siento)!