Month: May 2011

Just another brocante

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It seems that lately whenever I leave the house I always find myself in the middle of a flea market, or a brocante, as they call them here. Last weekend there was one just down from my street, yesterday just around the corner from my street and today a couple of blocks further. I love the concept: One sunny day the whole neighborhood transforms into a lively market place. People gather all the things they don’t need or want anymore, carry their kitchen table out to the street and start the secondhand trading. The local cafés and restaurants have their own stands, where they offer refreshments or greasy barbecue. And of course there are always the few people selling cheap replicas of designer handbags, one euro plastic jewellery and cosmetics with an expiry date from the late 90’s. If you ignore the last-named, a brocante is a very nice way to spend a relaxing afternoon. Advertisements

Stuffed sweet pepper with rice and home made pesto

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Stuffed sweet pepper: Cut a red sweet pepper in two, remove the seeds. Fry some onion, courgette, broccoli, sesame seeds, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes (and feel free to add other vegetables such as mushrooms and olives or some tofu as well). Add some salt and pepper, fill the sweet peppers with the vegetables and add some mozzarella on top. Bake in 175c for about 15-20min. Rise: Boil some basmati rice while the sweet peppers are in the oven. When you are serving the food, fill a small glass with rice and flip it over on the plate. Pesto: Take some fresh basil leaves, pin seeds, chopped garlic and grind with a mixer or with mortar & pestle. Add some olive oil and finely ground Parmesan cheese. Spice simply with salt and black pepper. If you want a more detailed recipe, you’ll find one here.

a new friend

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It’s a really warm day and a free day for me. So I took a walk in the burning sun to see if I could find some fabric, yarn and other useful things. And I wore one of my favorite dresses, which always makes me feel good in a way as if I was living a summer memory from an old Polaroid picture of the countryside; an old wooden house and a cup of tea in my hand. I went out with an old friend …and came back with a new one.

Stockings Uprising

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A dress code is a set of rules imposing what garments may be worn together. Whether it is smart casual, business casual, business standard, full dress, half dress, undress, white tie, black tie or lounge suit, there is always a way to rebel and spice it up a bit. The way we dress is a part of our personality. Some clothes make us feel comfortable, others keep us unease the whole day. One colour make us glow, another can make us fade into the wallpaper. So, if we find ourselves  “tied” down by a dress code, it is time for The Stockings Uprising!

Vintage Oslo

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One late sunny afternoon I walked up to Markveien, where the coolest vintage stores in Oslo are located. Here is what I found. After a long walk with a map I drew on a post-it before calling it a day at the office, I arrived at Markveien, where the vintage stores awaited. The area is a calm residential area with a beautiful park and young couples pushing their carry-cots. Froken Dianas Salonger was  like a little universe of its own. Elise, one of the owners told me that most of the things in the shop have been hand picked on their travels to the US.  The store had a candy store feel to it, with an impressive selection of colorful jewellery, dresses, blouses and skirts for women. Accessories included both old and new, funny and elegant items from vintage leather clutches to Jesus-shaped soaps and cool iPhone covers. All the beautiful clothes were hanging from clothes hangers made of pearls. This store is definitely worth a visit! Further down the street (Markveien 51) I found another interesting store. Fretex, owned by the …

Live The Lifestyle

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I found a lifestyle magazine in my hotel room. Browsing through it, the illusion of perfect people living a perfect life, I started to think what is true luxury. Private jets and yachts, hot tubs and hot clubs, sparkling diamonds, designer clothes and handbags, fast cars anda never ending flow of champagne is reality for some people, but for most of us: it’s Not. But this is the lifestyle we are all supposed to want. Even if your salary would barely allow you to make a one week last minute trip to the Canary Islands off season, the only right way to spend the holidays would be at least one month at a five star spa resort on an exotic island. If you live a lifestyle other than this, for God’s sake start to do whatever it takes until you get there, until you live The Lifestyle! I just saw a perfect manifestation of this so called luxury at the Oslo Airport while I was queuing for some lunch. In front of me there was a black guy wearing big Bvlgari …