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.

A Nantucket Wedding

So, I totally owe you all an update on my Nantucket weekend. I’ve been focusing a lot on settling back into London life (more on that in the next post), so this has taken me a long time to write.

I’ve decided to go with some top ten lists - which somehow became top 9 lists (I seemed to have ran out of steam there on each list), as this is obviously my favorite format to blog in. So, here goes...

Top Nine Amazing Things about my Nantucket weekend

1. The wedding - B, one of my oldest friends (our friendship goes back to the diaper years) got married to D - a great guy! And they sure did it in style! B of course was an absolutely lovely bride and I have to say that D did make a very handsome groom. And they had great weather and a great location and of course, great guests! All in all it was a beautiful wedding and I wish them a life of happiness. Congratulations B and D!

2. The Clam Bake - Weddings these days are never just one day events. I see this as a good thing. More time to catch up with people you do not see enough. This time, the wedding festivities began with an awesome clambake. And this clambake was a lobster one -see picture! Lobster, clams, potatoes, chicken, sausage, corn - YUM! The clam bake was in a beautiful location - a private home the groom’s family rented in Tom Nevers. Everyone had a nice time although the dinner was served quite late and people were totally boozing it up in the meantime. By the end of the night everyone was totally hammertown. Fun but sloppy!

Yummy Lobster!

3. Hanging out and Catching up with old friends - I got to spend some more time with S and K who I have mentioned before. S and K are old old friends. We don’t go back quite as far as me and the bride B, but almost. I met K when I was about 6 and S when I was about 7. So we all go back like 25 years. Kind of cool. All of our group that grew up together from our small town has stayed close. As S says, the fact that she joined our school in second grade has always made her the “new kid.” Even 25 years later we still point it out that we have not known her as long. Obviously this is kind of ridiculous. But it just shows what kind of bond we all have. We sort of know everything about each other - even the things you wish no one knew. But it was great to catch up and spend time with S and K.

4. The Boat Ride - S’s friend from NYC has a house on Nantucket. And he very nicely invited us out on his boat! It was a beautiful sunny afternoon - a bit too hot to be on the main land, but PERFECT for boating! We cruised around the island checking all the big houses, we saw some seals, we soaked up some sun, drank some wine and we waved hello to John Kerry - for real: see the picture below if you don’t believe me.

Hello John Kerry!

5. Quaint New Englandness - No matter how far you travel, you can never escape your roots. I am a New England girl. Fact. There is no escaping it. And Nantucket is the epitome of quaint New Englandness. The cobblestone streets, the rocky shoreline, the lighthouses - see below, the cute little boutique shops, lobster, clam chowder, steamers...

6. The Bouncers - Apparently, Nantucket is a place where underage drinking is highly pursued. Therefore, the Bouncers at the clubs strictly enforce ID checks for most people before you can enter a bar. I am proud to say that my ID was checked carefully every time and one of the times, the guy actually said to me: “Congratulations! You look way younger than you actually are.” Needless to say, I was kind of stoked about this.

7. The LOBSTER - I heart lobster more than any other food (besides nachos). I can eat lobster every day and never get sick of it. As if to prove this point, I did have lobster 4 days in a row - first at the Clam Back, and then as an hors d'oeuvre at the wedding. Then as an Indian dish and then my dear Mom made it for me as a going away dinner. Did I get sick of it? No way! If I could eat lobster right now, I so would. Unfortunately, I’m in London and I only eat microwave dinners here.

8. The Weather - The heat wave continued and Nantucket had lovely weather. In fact, it was hot. In general, Nantucket is a place where you always need that extra sweater. But actually, this time - no sweaters needed. Luckily, in the South of the island where the wedding was held, the weather was a bit cooler otherwise we would have actually been too hot! We even used the AC at night!

9. The Boys - Actually, despite the bad dressing (see top not so amazing things about Nantucket below), the boys on the island were actually kind of hot...

Top Nine Not So Amazing Things about my Nantucket weekend:

1. The price tag - It was a great weekend, so I’m not really complaining. But I’m glad that I am no longer a cash strapped college student, that’s for sure. $65 for a return ferry ride. $60 for parking for 3 nights. $400/night for a hotel room (with a 3 night minimum).

2. Khakis - They should be illegal. Nuff said.

3. Feeling like a Foreigner - Despite being a New Englander, I felt a bit like a foreigner the whole weekend. I’m just not used to being in the US. It’s so different from Europe! Different dress, different music, different manners and customs. I have obviously been away for too long since I feel uncomfortable in the US now. And I couldn’t help comparing this island weekend to other island weekends in Europe - see list below.

4. Not Being Rich - I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of envy when scoping out the 30 million dollar “summer” homes. I mean, I do ok for myself... but that is ridiculous. I mean ridonculous!

5. The only Cute boy was taken - So the bride B has forever been talking up this boy that is friends with her now husband. She really wanted us to meet. She even introduced us on Facebook and we exchanged several messages. But unfortunately, he managed to find himself a girlfriend just in time for the wedding. As B dramatically said: “He ruined everything!” Despite the fact he had a girlfriend, I was still a bit curious to see what he looked like. I’m not going to lie, I doubted the ability of B to pick out a guy for me. Although we have been friends since we were babies, she has met very few of my boyfriends since I’ve been living abroad. But, I am pleased to say that B was right! He was hot! Damn the fact that he was taken.

6. The Skinny Jeans Conversation - The dinner conversation somehow turned to the topic of skinny jeans. I live in Europe! Who DOESN’T wear skinny jeans? But the entire table proclaimed their hatred for skinny jeans and as fashionista S was on the dance floor, I was left alone to defend skinny jeans! It was just one more reminder of how hard it’s going to be to move back to the US. Also let me note that I'm not a fan of Brooks Brothers or Lily Pulitzer either - and I have already expressed my feelings for Khakis in a previous statement... so basically I was having a bit of trouble dealing with the Nantucket fashion...

7. Getting really sunburned - We made a mistake in not bringing or buying sunblock. Unfortunately, this mistake was not realized until we were settled in at the beach soaking up the sunshine. We were highly aware of the no sunblock fact however and decided that we would only stay on the beach for an hour. That hour might have extended to an hour and a half - max. But oh man did we get burned. Unfortunately, as sunburns tend to do, it only showed up later when we were at the wedding. So my body felt like it was on fire all night and all the pictures show me looking like a big red ugly lobster. I will not forget sunblock again!

8. The Foreign Staff - Oddly, all the staff in Nantucket were foreigners: Irish, Eastern Europeans, Jamaicans. This included all wait staff, the DJ at the wedding, the babysitters (for the children at the wedding), and the taxi drivers. Weird. Although it was explained to me that Americans do not find it worth it to live on Nantucket and work (too expensive to live and save) and the actual island kids have such rich parents, that they do not need to work. Thus, the foreign staff who apparently live in dormitory style housing somewhere in the middle of the island. Now, you all know I love me some foreigners. But what I DO NOT LOVE is foreigner's ideas of acceptable service levels. As you know, I do like the American mentality of “service with a smile,” and “the customer is always right.” Therefore, I was not impressed with the Eastern European waitress who for whatever reason would not allow us to order another plate of calamari as the “kitchen would get mad.” Not only did she loose out on that order, we also gave her a reduced tip and left the place frustrated. I would not recommend this place to my friends either. So take that you mean waitress!

9. Crying through the wedding ceremony - What is is about seeing one of your oldest friends getting married that turns on the tears? I totally lost it right at the beginning when the Justice of the Peace told B’s father to “kiss your little girl” before he turned her over to her husband-to-be. That started the tears aflowing - let me tell you. It didn’t help that the bride cried all through the wedding and that I was sitting in the front row. Thank God I had remembered to bring tissues. My other girls were also crying although I did notice that most others had dry eyes! It seemed to have been just us!

Top Nine Comparisons between Nantucket and Gotland*

1. Both Nantucket and Gotland are islands

2. Nantucket is way more exclusive than Gotland - and WAY more expensive!

3. Champagne - In Nantucket, champagne is to be drank, not sprayed by brats

4. Cobble stone streets - both have them although the Nantucket cobblestone area is much smaller than the massive area in Visby

5. Preppy Dress - New Englanders invented the preppy dress style. But Swedes perfected it. Last summer Swedes seemed to reinvent preppy borrowing from classic New England but making it really cool. Guys were all about boat shoes and sweaters over the shoulders. But there wee no khakis except slim fitting ones in pink and blue and green. And there were definitely blue button down shirts, but there were absolutely no T-shirts underneath (that is totally America style). I have to say, the Swedes do preppy better!

6. Rose - In Gotland Rose wine is definitely the drink of choice... I’m not sure what a traditional Nantucket drink would be, but Rose was nowhere to be found unfortunately (actually, we did have some Rose bubbly)

Cheers!

7. The party - Gotland wins hands down! The summer months turns this Medieval village into party central when all the brats from Stockholm take over. It's now being called one of the top ten summer party destinations in Europe. It’s so much fun! Nantucket does ok, but nowhere near Gotland!

After beach at Kallis

8. The shopping - Nantucket wins here! Lots of cute little boutiques all over the place! I always felt like the shopping in Visby was kind of lame. But in Nantucket, you better be prepared to drop some serious cash. It is not cheap.

9. Quaint New England vs. Medieval village - Nantucket is very quaint New England, but Visby is a very quaint and very old Medieval village with a beautiful wall surrounding it built sometime in the 12th century. Let me point out that is WAY before America was born.

The wall surrounding Visby in Gotland Sweden

*Gotland is a Swedish island in the Baltic sea to the south of Sweden. The capital is Visby which is a a well-preserved medieval city that every year turns into a crazy party city for Stockholm's elite during week 29 and 30. I have gone 5 years in a row with my Swedish girlfriends. I couldn't help but compare my Nantucket adventure with my Swedish Gotland adventures.

America the Beautiful

Although the Fourth of July is over, It’s officially still the Fourth of July weekend and I’m still feeling pretty patriotic!

Check out this awesome 100 Great Things About America list! It is so right on. It’s such a good list it reminds me of one of my own awesome lists! I totally could have written this list. In fact, many of the things that are on this list are things that I have mentioned before!

As I know that most of you are lazy and won’t even click on the link (although I really recommend that you do; seriously, just DO IT), let me list some of my favorites from the list: flip flops*, the Tiffany’s box, ice cream, chewing gum, Bendy straws, Redwood trees, The Golden Gate Bridge, New Year’s Eve (every country has one but they all watch Times Square), Baseball, Kegs, S’mores, salt water taffy, roller coasters...

Oh - and in case you are wondering what MY beautiful America looks like... well it looks something like this:

My Dog at the pool

My parents have a ginormous and fabulous pool!

I should note that the weather has been FREAKING FABULOUS! I don’t ever remember it being so amazing when I’ve been on vacation. Today was another day of “not a cloud in the sky” - see picture below so you know I’m so not lying. Although the temperatures soared (over 100 degrees which is about 38 Celsius), the humidity was low and all in all it was a beautiful day. In fact, this marks the 7th day in a row of pretty spectacular days!

See - Not a Cloud in the Sky!

I should also not that this is sadly the last week of my 3 week vacation (sob) and the final week of my four week US adventure. I go back to London a week from today. So... I’m kind of in that vacation panic where you realize it’s almost over and there are so many more things you want to do (or should have done). Above all I’m determined to soak up as much sun and good feelings as possible in order to return to London a more relaxed person.

This week I will actually attend wedding number 4 of the summer (remember there are 5 in total). My good friend B who I have known since I was three years old will get married to D her long-term love and they are doing it in NANTUCKET! Now, I have never been to Nantucket, but let me tell you, I’m oh so excited! Especially since I will be kickin’ it at a nice hotel with other long term childhood BFF’s S and K. We are headed out to Nantucket on Thursday where the wedding weekend will kick off with a Clam Bake. The actual wedding is on Friday and then we will stick around on Saturday (thank you three night hotel minimums) to just enjoy! S is attempting to arrange a boat trip - sounds like fun to me!

In case you are wondering, Nantucket is a small island off of Massachusetts (south of the Cape) and it’s a summer hot spot for the well-to-do. It’s supposed to be lovely! And hopefully this amazing weather will hold out.

Happy Monday everyone! Hope your week is off to a good start.

Happy Birthday America (and Dad)

Today America celebrates it’s 234th birthday and in other news my Father celebrates his 60th birthday (every year he thinks the fireworks are for him). Happy Birthday America! Happy Birthday Dad!

So, I guess you are wondering what I did to celebrate? I’m sure you are expecting some crazy party or story or at the very least a of the top fun things I did... But for once, I’m actually going to disappoint you. I have to admit that I did a whole lot of NOTHING on this Fourth of July. Life has been kind of running away with me for the past few months (if you haven’t noticed) and I thought that I would take this opportunity between big wedding weekends: last week San Fran and next week Nantucket, to just chill out a little bit. I think it’s been a much needed chill out time... But I have to admit, I’m getting a bit bored and am ready to get back into real life.

But the weather has been fabulous: over 90 degrees and yesterday there was literally not a cloud in the sky. Last night, we celebrated my father with a pool/keg/BBQ party - what else? So, I drank Sam Summer (from the keg) and chatted with my parent’s friends. Then went up to my parent’s friend’s lake house in Goshen to see some fireworks. Not exactly a wild evening - but nice.

Today I hung out by the pool and then braved the heat and went for a run (something I don’t really recommend doing in this heat - too hot)! Had dinner with the parents (hamburgs and hot dogs of course), hung out by the pool some more watching the sun set and then we decided not to drive to see any fireworks but rather to watch the on television (obviously not my idea and also something I don’t recommend as it’s not at all like being there). So, we tuned in for the NYC ones (which are supposed to be the best) and that was going ok until my Mother pressed some buttons on the remote control and started rewinding the DVR and then things got a little bit messed up. Then once Mom’s remote control privileges were revoked for the night, we settled in to watch the Boston Fireworks - which I actually thought were better.

But not to leave you with nothing (and for all my International readers), here is a rather boring list of Top Ten List of things you SHOULD do on the Fourth of July.

Top Ten Things you Should do on The Fourth of July

1. Go to the beach (if that is not possible, then a pool will do)

2. Gather with family and/or friends and have a fabulous time

3. Play sports such as wiffle ball or football (American style)

4. Have a BBQ

5. Eat hot dogs and hamburgers - as you do in America

6. Eat ice cream

7. Wear red white and blue (or something Patriotic - its seems that this year those Statue of Liberty Crown hats are a big deal) and march in a parade, watch a parade or join in whatever your town or city is doing to celebrate the Nation's Birthday

8. Sing Patriotic songs and wave American flags - seriously, this is important!

9. Drink beer - especially a patriotic and seasonal beer like Sam Summer

10. Watch FIREWORKS!

So faithful readers, as you can see... My Fourth of July weekend was a little calm. Did anyone else do anything crazy? If so, leave me a comment and tell me about it so I can live vicariously through you.

And Holla to Sweden - Midsommar kicks the Fourth of July’s ass. I know that as a true Patriot and an all around All American girl I should not say such things. But ha! I did anyway. I really missed Midsommar this year!

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth of July weekend. And please share your stories!

A San Francisco Wedding

Well I'm back (in Massachusetts) from my California adventure and trying to dry out after a crazy San Francisco wedding extravaganza. Weddings these days seem to be very long events with many nights of overindulgence. But so much fun! And this wedding (while exceptional and awesome in many ways) was no exception. It was a fabulous time! But let me start at the beginning to give you all a proper update of my California adventuure.

First of all I travelled to California with my parents. This was a strange experience since we had never been on a plane together. Despite the fact that I am an International Woman of Mystery and my brother lives in Barcelona half the time, my parents are pretty much homebodies.Oh yeah - we rebel!

Although a bit strange to travel with Mom and Dad, the experience was actually kind of nice. I felt a small comfort that reduced the fear of flying when I realized if I died on the plane, at least I would be with the people I loved (although I did have a few moments of panic about what would happen to my brother if we all died together on the plane and also a bit of a panic about my brother's flight - he was en route to San Fran from Barcelona at the same time - but overall panic level was down a bit as happens when you are with your Mom). Also, when I couldn't get the top off of my vodka (the family that flies together, drinks together) Dad was there to help me out! Nice.

First stop in California was Sunnyvale where my Aunt and Uncle live. Sunnyvale did live up to it's name - it was sunny the entire time we were there. We took a ride and went out to the Redwood Forest - which I had never seen before - to check out the old and gigantic trees. But mostly we sat around and caught up on family stuff and ate tortilla chips. Not but for real. A BIG BAG of tortilla chips was consumed - see below for a very American image (remember what I said about Americans and their love for the SUPER SIZE)?

Then we headed into San Fransisco for the beginning of the wedding festivities.

Let me start by saying that I thought a lot about Mark Twain while in San Fran (at least the first day). Mark Twain infamously said: "The coldest winter I ever spent, was a summer in San Francisco." Boy did those words ring true. BRRRRRR! I knew that I was going to be clothing challenged when we drove through the streets of San Fran on the way to the hotel and everyone was wearing heavy coats, scarves and even gloves in some cases and the wind was whipping their hair everywhere. People looked COLD! I suddenly had a bad feeling that my suitcase full of shorts and sundresses were not going to cut it. I did not even bring a jacket! I knew it was supposed to be cold, but I wasn't expecting it to be THAT cold! Note to you all: if you are in San Francisco in the summer, bring your winter clothes.

The first wedding related activity was a wine soiree at Terroir - home of natural and organic wines and a very cool place. It was nice to see C and S - the bride and groom - and meet and mingle with the rest of the people in the wedding party - especially the lovely Maid of Honor J. At this point I must introduce the Best Man to the story as every story needs a cute guy as either the hero or the villain - or both (I think the best man could be either one depending on the perspective). First of all. I have known the Best Man since we were very young. Second of all I actually used to BABYSIT the Best Man when he was young. Third of all - boy grew up to be HOT! Imagine Mathew McConaughey (although possibly without the abs - and no, I did not check). Actually, forget that, imagine him with the abs because that makes it better. But seriously, he was totally Matthew McCoounghy in looks and in mannerisms and even voice. Actually, thank you Google image search, he totally looks like the two pictures of Mr. McConaughey below. I did a side-by-side comparison (I don't show people pics here but friends check out my Facebook page if you are curious) and it's eerie:

 

 

Unfortunately, as if trying to live up to his movie star look-alike, Best Man was not only was he married, but Best Man brought another woman to the wedding/wedding activities! Thus the hero or the villain comment. I will not comment any further (God knows that I can't judge anyone else) except to say that several things I witnessed on this trip (not just with him) lead me to conclude that relationships in California are a bit more fluid then those back here in the conservative East. Well glad that CA lives up to it's hippie free love reputation. But to me the Best Man was a hero for making some good eye candy and being someone to inappropriately flirt with.

Side note: So, the Best Man kept calling my brother and I the dynamic duo. He reminded us of the fact that we were all in this after school care program (for children whose parents worked - not in any way as common back in those days as it is now) and that my brother and I essentially took over the whole group and made them play crazy games that we invented. We also made them sing a lot of songs if I recall. The adult actual leaders could never actually get any of the kids to do anything because my brother and I were always stealing the show! Well, some thing never change... Ha ha...

The second day in San Fran reared it's ugly head with a wicked hangover - thank you organic wines (although I fared better than most of the rest of the people who were up until at least 4 am with us, my brother was praying to the porcelain God and the bride hadn't slept all night). I decided that I would suck it up and go out and about with my parents - also suffering from hangovers. We went down to the docks and walked around in the cold foggy San Francisco morning weather. Of course I had to take the requisite photo of the Golden Gate Bridge - see below. The amazing thing is just about right after this picture was taken, the fog cleared off and it became a sunny beautiful (almost warm) day.

 

The evening culminated with the rehearsal dinner - which really had nothing to do with a rehearsal and more to do with gathering family (in our case almost-family) for a pre-wedding dinner. The venue for this event was Millennium which served awesome vegan food (vegans and non-vegans alike should seriously check this out). I should note that the bride and groom are long term vegans and many of the younger people at the wedding were vegans or vegetarians as well. As for me after 15 years of being a vegetarian, a little vegan food is fine with me. As for my parents and the rest of the older generation, I think they were crying a little bit and missing their steak. Oh well. It's good for them to live a little!

But now to focus a bit on the main event: the non-traditonal and very unique wedding of C and S. But first, a bit about C...

C is a very old and dear friend. In fact, I have known C since before he was born - he is four years my junior. He is for all purposes "my other brother." Most of the events of my younger life include C. His parents and mine have been best friends since before I was born. Over the years we have spent a lot of time with him and his family. In fact when we were younger, our parents would hire one baby sitter for the three of us while they went out and partied. I have spent more New Year's Eves with my brother and my "other brother" then anyone else (we even met up as adults on New Year's Eve 3 years back in San Fran - although none of us really remember that night). As adults we have taken over the party train from our parents in a way that we think would make their younger selves proud even though it makes their adult selves not so happy with us at times. But like mother like daughter... like father like son... right? The party tradition between our families lives on!

But as younger brothers tend to do... C has grown up into a very handsome, interesting and just kind of really awesome guy (not that he wasn't when he was younger - but who ever thinks their younger brother is all that cool) who met an absolutely beautiful woman. The irony is that C, the youngest brother, got married first! Who would have guessed (well probably anyone who knows my brother and I).

C and I have not been in touch as much as adults (although he does read this blog) but I absolutely consider him to be family and I hope that I will have a chance to hang out with him much more in the future as well as get to know the beautiful and lovely S a bit better.

As you know I'm very fond of lists...

So, here are the best things about C and S's wedding in San Fransisco in list format:

The amazing wedding venue. It was held at the Foreign Cinema  in a very nice and bright room. If you are in San Fran, I highly recommend that you go to dinner there.

C's amazing Paul Frank very slim tuxedo

S's beautiful purple and black Betsey Johnson dress (that's right, she decided to completely forgo the traditional white wedding dress) that looked fabulous on her

The awesome ukulele music played by my brother as the bride and groom walked down the aisle and the looping later on

The great rendition of "Such Great Heights" by my brother and the Maid of Honor - who by the way also looked fabulous!

C's college roommate serving as the justice of the peace and doing an amazing job at telling the story of C and S while interweaving life lessons learned from C and S. My favorite part was when he described C's progressive taste in music as "robots meeting robots."

Both the bride's Father and Mother walked her down the aisle

The bride and groom said their own vows

The parents of the bride and groom were asked if they approved of the marriage (and of course both said 'we do').

The Best Man's speech which for some hilarious yet inappropriate reason managed to include a story about C crossing the Mexican boarder (and I quote) "with a pill of Ecstasy strapped where the sun don't shine." Luckily I think that most of the adults missed the reference (or at least my mother did).

The long poem read and written by the Best Man about Frankenstein-esq Monster (which he said was NOT a metaphor for the relationship of C and S) meeting another Monster and falling in love. A bit of a strange choice... however, I guess at the end of the day, we are all monsters and love is indiscriminate and can make even the most terrible monsters human.

The amazing tapas style food catering to both vegans and meat eaters alike, that was passed around all night -especially the amazing watermelon dish with pine nuts and goat cheese (sounds gross but was soo good - wish I could get the recipe). The funny thing about the food was in the beginning it seemed that everyone was panicked that they wouldn't have enough to eat so some scavengers were literally standing by the door the waiters were coming out of and grabbing as much food as they could. OK, I admit I was kinda one of those people. About an hour into the food serving I asked my parents who were not scavenging food by the door, if they had anything to eat yet and both hadn't! I felt bad and scavenged them some food. However... there was really no need to panic as the food went on being passed all night and I'm pretty sure that by the end of the night everyone had more than their fill. I swear my dad must have eaten 20 plates.

The nightclub Vessel http://www.vesselsf.com/ where we went afterwards where things got even wilder and dancing on the tables ensued. And the best part was that the majority of the wedding (old people included in both the club going and the table dancing) actually joined and we shut down the club! Oh yeah!

The after party in the bride and groom's suite where we continued to dance and overindulge but at the end of the night most passed out in bed with the bride and groom and chatted about the highlights of the night (I told you this was not a traditional wedding).

The only thing that was not fun about the wedding is that I had an 11 am flight with my parents the next day. Mom's wake up call came just one hour after I fell asleep. Ugh. But I survived - and luckily I lived to tell about it.

Congratulations C and S!
Your wedding was fabulous. I had such a great time and it was so good to see you. I'm sad to be missing the East Coast event as I'm sure it will be a good time, but I hope to catch up with you again soon. You are always welcome wherever I am. 
XOXO

Vacation To-Do List

I just returned from the most amazing Stockholm weekend. I have lots to write about it, but am too tired right now. Instead I leave you with my vacation to-do list (a post I had written already). That's right. I'm headed back to the good old US and A on Thursday. I have to work some the first week but I'm home in the US for a month and I plan to do some serious relaxing in between the following things:

Go to three weddings - that's right THREE weddings and even more important they are three weddings of three of my oldest friends. Two of them I have know since I was 3 and we all went to pre-school together. One wedding is in W. Mass and the other is on Nantucket. I'm really looking forward to catching up with my high school girlfriends who will also be attending. And I can't wait to see my old friends get married. The other person who is getting married is someone I have known since he was born. He is my parent's Godson and essentially my "other brother." He's getting married in San Fran and my family is flying out for the week. My brother is even flying home from Barcelona. Should be a good time - they are a fun and trendy couple and the wedding seems like it will be quite the social event. In other weird mentionable events... my parents and I will fly together to San Fransisco and it will be the first time in my life I have been on a plane with my parents. Weird huh?

Meet the American boy in Boston - Remember him? Well... I hope to see him again in Boston. And let's hope he's still single! Although I wouldn't be surprised if he's not. He's way to good a catch to be single for long.

Lay around at the pool and do NOTHING! My parents live in the middle of the woods and have an amazing huge pool. It's up on a hill and you can't really see the house or the road. The landscaping around the pool is very natural with lots of wildflowers. You are more likely to see a bear (seriously, a big black one walked right by me one day) then other people. It is the most peaceful place in the world and I love going home to my parents in the summer and just chilling at the lovely pool.

Turn off my computer and my blackberry - I have not really had a vacation where I have been able to do this, but this time I'm serious. Work be damned. I have worked like a crazy person all year and I'm taking time off! My usual vacation day consists of waking up at 7 to bring my dad to work so that I can have the car for the day, then I usually log onto my computer and start tackling my emails. Before I know it, I'm in one conference call and then another... And then it's more emails and suddenly it's 4:30 and I have to go pick my dad up at work. And I realize that I have not moved ALL day - nor did I really need the car! And then there was that memorable Christmas vacation where I spent the first Sunday morning of my vacation speaking for hours with my colleague while my parents tried to get me to come and spend time with them. Or last Christmas where the President of our company called me like 5 times a day during my first week off... So, this time I'm making it very clear to everyone. I'M GOING ON VACATION! DO NOT CALL ME AND DO NOT EXPECT ME TO RETURN YOUR EMAILS! I feel that if I say this enough times out loud to myself I will actually maybe enforce this rule. I have to say that turning of the Blackberry is going to be a tough one.

Catch up with great friends - the best thing about weddings is it makes it easy for you to see everyone at once. I will have a chance to catch up with school friends and old hometown friends. I can't wait.

Read lots! I love to read but lately have had trouble finding the time. So, I can't wait to catch up on some good books.

Figure out "what next" - shh.... don't tell anyone (that I work with) but I'm planning on making a major life change soon which may even include trading in my international jet set lifestyle and heading back Stateside. Although I would totally prefer to head back to Stockholm if possible. Since I have no time at all to think or figure out what next (my favorite and only fantasy of the moment is running away to Bali and writing a novel - I'm not sure how realistic this is), I plan to use some of my vacation time to do some soul searching and well... job searching.

Go to the gym and work out A LOT! This is always on the agenda when I'm on vacation. It feels great to do a little extra burning and toning while on vacation and you have a little extra time.

Spend quality time with my family. I love my family. I miss them. It's nice to see them. It will be fun to be in San Fran all together. I'm so glad my brother can make it. It will be our first family "vacation" since the Stockholm trip 2 years ago.

Get lots of "pet therapy." Since an International Woman of Mystery like myself sadly can't even manage to even keep alive a plant, pets (although I would LOVE to have one) are totally out of the question. But, my parents have two cats and one dog. One of the cats has some serious problems such as when you try to pet her or pick her up she squirts horrible things from her bottom that make you smell terrible for hours (he he - the Beautiful Swede Ex learned the hard way). I don't touch her anymore. But the other cat and the dog are great. The cat is black and called Batman. He is such a little lover. Actually, he's a total brat and hates new people so last summer when the Swedish Ex came home with me, he refused to surface at all. But this year the Swedish Ex is back in Sweden probably having babies with his new Swedish girlfriend. So, I will get to pet my cat. And then there's the dog Jacoby. He is really cute. He is still kind of new and we are still bonding (which is hard to do when we only see each other twice a year). But isn't amazing how smart animals are? He totally recognizes me and gets all happy and tail waggy every time I come home. So, I plan to spend lots of time talking to and petting the animals: pet therapy.

Take up a new hobby like Yoga or Pilates - seriously, yoga and pilates are always on my "to-do" list and as my body is getting older and my back is giving me more and more problems (although my awesome new Danish Physio therapist here in London has taught me how to stand and breath properly and this is making a huge difference). I wish I could see myself as one of those really toned spiritual women like Madonna... (and hopefully with a hot younger guy like Jesus although hopefully without the scary manly arms). But I can't. I'm sure I will try yoga and pilates and hate them. But I will try anyway. Wish me luck.... Maybe I too will be a convert.

Eat Lobster - I LOVE New England lobster. My mom is usually nice enough to make a home cooked lobster meal for me at least once when I am home (this is usually the ONLY meal she cooks for me when I'm home) - if I beg her enough.

Have my "favorite" day - my favorite day consists of going to the beach in Rockport, Massachusetts. And stopping at Amelia's to have fried seafood (scallops, clams fish) and french fries and onion rings. AND THEN having a peppermint stick ice cream with chocolate sprinkles at the Dairy Queen. Ok admittedly, the ice cream and the fried food don't go so well with the bikini. But it's my favorite day and calories definitely do not count on my favorite day! By the way, my favorite day derives from the fact that my family used to vacation in Rockport when I was younger so rather than having a week long vacation on the beach with my family. I settle for cramming it all into my on "favorite day."

Celebrate my Dad's 60th - that's right, the old man turns 60 on the Fourth of July (and every year he still thinks that all the Fireworks are just for him). This will most likely be celebrated in my family's true style with a pool party and a keg! Gotta love it!

Read other people's blogs - I find it fascinating to read other people's blogs and get inspiration for my own. Unfortunately, this is time consuming and it usually means that I find myself still awake at 3 am when I need to get up at 6 am.

Get more people to read my blog. I have decided that I need to pimp out my blog a bit more and get more people to read it. I have no idea how to do these things... So, I probably need to first spend some time researching and then doing some shameless self promotion. Hopefully I can also find some time to WRITE MORE as I have heard this is also a key factor in writing a successful blog - kinda makes sense I guess. If you have any suggestions for me or my blog - please let me know.

Try not to think about the Beautiful Swede... He came home with me last summer... It was fun until he broke up with me directly after (serious jerk). However, I secretly sometimes wish he was going to come home with me again. In other moments I'm very happy that he's not because I can do whatever I want and not have to worry about him. And at least my cat will come out and play as the Beautiful Swede won't be around to scare him off!

And of course, I'm going to blog more! So, stay tuned!