Posted on 5 January, 20236 January, 2023 in December, Family and Friends

Christmas and New Year´s Eve – in New York City – with all the kids!

It is with a little gloomy feeling I am writing today. We have had such a lovely time during the holidays, and I already miss them. Adam, Emma and Tilda went back to Sweden last Sunday, on the first day of the new year of 2023. It all got so quiet and with a realization that the four left of us, actually are living here. 😉 Of course I know our stay is timed, but nevertheless – at that particular moment, time is not quiet counted normally.

Something nice here – the weather! 63°F and sun, RealFeel like April. ☀️

We have experienced a lot during the holidays! We started out with a lunch at the Tavern on the green in Central Park, all seven of us. Absolutely good food, but I had missed the little thing about them only serving Christmas Eve menu on Christmas Eve with fixed menu prices… 😱. Also, Christmas Eve was sooooo frigid cold with nasty winds. Almost no people outside, but the sun was actually shining from a clear blue sky. ☀️

We celebrated “julafton” on Christmas Day on Dec 25, with homemade meatballs, herring, Kalles Kaviar, Janssons, salmon, knäckebröd, red cabbage, sour creme and small sausages. It was really great and later on in the afternoon we opened up our presents and in the evening we played lots of board games, which we did throughout the holiday. 🙂

Really boring was that Vira got sick in the evening and lay in bed the following five days 😦 She caught the flu, but happily she recovered just in time to celebrate NYE. 💯

While Vira stayed in bed, the rest of the gang explored the city from west to east and from north to south. We walked the High Line, and also did our own special walk from Spring Street entering the Williamsburg bridge through the Hasidic neighborhood of Williamsburg, climbing up the Brooklyn bridge down to the City Hall park, taking a left and checked out Pier 17 with the Tin Building and the market.

We also wanted to try some ice skating, in ANY park… We checked out the rinks at Central Park, the Rockefeller Center and the Bryant Park, but all of them were sooo fully booked and apparently the New Yorkers really love to queue! The weather offered a feeling of spring though.

Looks like a icy lake – it is the amazing sky!

We are getting closer to New Year´s Eve, so Johan and I went to Whole Foods for some shellfish, cod and veggies. We found everything we wanted, lobster for starter, scampi to the cod and with Elvira´s luxurious chocolate fondant for dessert! After dinner and a bunch of fun board games, we decided at 11.45 am to go down to our favorite local dive bar, Broom Street Bar. What a Party!

So, the big kids went back to Sweden last Sunday and since then some of us have had some tough times… Schools in New York commenced on Jan 3, basically one week before all Swedish schools do. This is the first year Olle will be in school on his birthday.

We are starting to become friends with our neighbor Andrew (with puppy :-)). He offered his air bed for the holidays, which we really appreciated when Vira got sick! We are soon giving the bed back, together with a good bottle of wine. I would love to walk his little dog Toffee. 🐶 😉

Tomorrow we have a birthday boy, already turning 17. 💗

Posted on 22 December, 2022 in December, Family and Friends

Merry Christmas everyone & Happy Holidays!

Wow, yesterday on Dec 21, we had lived here for five months already and the Winter Solstice also occured both here and back in Sweden! Today is a rainy day and the forecast for tomorrow shows strong gusts and heavy rain, followed by a sharp drop in temperatures and the Real Feel will go as low as -8°F. 🥶🥶🥶 Tomorrow also is one of the worst days to travel, so it will be SO, SO wonderful once Adam, Emma and Tilda arrive tomorrow afternoon in the apartment!

In the last couple of weeks, I have finally got to the gym more frequently again and am feeling well. The kids have however been home with cloggy noses and sore throats, but for the moment we are all on top. Except for Elvira who had a backlash and feels more homesick again. 😔

Last Sunday we had dinner with our friends in East Village. It was all four of us visiting Ilze, Jannie and their youngest daughter Lara. Such a pleasant, fun and experiential evening.

12/12/22 and our 14th wedding anniversity – time flies 💞 Our first dinner one-on-one since we moved here! We had a lovely evening at Quality Eats in West Village!

On Dec 13 – Lucia, I finally received my Social Security Number.👍👍 Actually don´t know if and when I´m going to need it, but anyway it´s a cool thing to have! Johan and I had tickets for the Lucia procession at SACCNY on Thursday night instead of Tuesday. It was a nice event with open bar, snacks and some Swedish lusse-songs.

Last Saturday I walked all the way up to Columbus Circle throughout Hudson River Park and via Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park on my way home. There are lots of buildings, views and attractions to be amazed by in this bustling city.

On the fourth of Advent we all went up to Fabrique for some fika, also the same day Argentina won over France in the World Cup in football in Qatar.

This last week before Christmas, there are some preparations to take care of. For instance I am trying to get hold of some Swedish Christmas food, not the easiest thing. Not that we neeeeed to have it, but somehow cozy!

We have put Christmas cards in the lobby tree for Chris and Nelson. Cards which, by the way, we have bought to support two girls in Elvira´s school for their upcoming European trip in April. 🙂

Elvira showed me another Swedish bakery, a place her Advisor found near school! So from there we now have herring and Annas pepparkakor. 🙂

Last Tuesday we had dinner with Johan´s American colleague Curtis and his adorable wife Jenny. They live in Denver, but Curtis is here in the office from time to time and this time Jenny came along. We tried the Standard Grill, a really cool place with the best burger I have ever had. Jenny, just like Olle (and I) loves Korean movies and series!

Yesterday evening we went to the movies and saw “Puss in boots” at the AMC Theater on 34th street. It was more scary and dark than fun, but with a intriguing story and a thematic statement.

At Little West 12th St in the Meatpacking District

Today I have shopped some Christmas gifts for the youngsters and soon the Holidays are here! I attach a card, originally sent to DanAds from their lawyer. 😂

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Posted on 9 December, 2022 in December, Thanksgiving

Feeling a bit under the weather, new friends and X-mas is knockin´ at the door!

I am finally well, after an appointment with a MinuteClinic Virtual doctor who prescribed antibiotics without further ado. This after many weeks back and forth of sore throat and a feeling of sinusitis, so hopefully we all will stay healthy from now on and are able to participate in all fun things coming up!

The spirit of Christmas wants to arrive early here (before Thanksgiving even) with X-mas markets, Light shows, Christmas window displays, decorations and Christmas trees. So we decided to go with the flow and do the same, so now we have a perfectly Christmassy kitted apartment. 🌟🌟🌟

We have even seen the play A Christmas Carol, which I´ve seen in Stockholm so many times before, but it was really long time ago. This year´s play is a one-man show performing Jefferson Mays. 👍👍👍

A Christmas Carol at the Nederlander Theater

For Thanksgiving Johan found a turkey at Wholefoods, brought it home and made all the right preparations. Like the gravy, the stuffing, the mashed sweet potatoes and the cranberry sauce. And again some intel from my renowed hair stylist, she told me about a substance in the turkey that makes you sleepy! So all Americans eat their turkey on the fourth Thursday afternoon in November, and then they go to sleep for a couple of hours. 😉 Apparently it contains tryptophan, which is an essential amino acid used in the process of making serotonin. Interesting knowledge, and it seems to be correct even after being source critical!

I also took the opportunity to stop and be grateful for my lovely big family, my best of friends and for being able to affect so many aspects of my daily life. 💕

Today the sun has been shining and the temperature about 57 °F. We have had some rainy days but still no snow. It feels more like fall than winter and it´s normally bright sunlight from 7am to 4.30am. However, last Wednesday it was extremely foggy with high humidity, but still there is a light that makes you a little happier!

Walking down to William St to reapply for my SSN…

Johan went to Sweden last Tuesday afternoon, but after missing the connection flight from Paris to Stockholm, he and Curtis were on the road (or more like in the air) for like 36 hours before finally arriving at ARN… And tonight Johan, Adam, Emma and Tilda are having dinner at Capri Due – I would have loved to be there with them!

Last Friday I had lunch with a new friend, Ilze from South Africa. We met at Soothr in East Village, close to both her apartment and Elvira´s school. This was a really nice experience because she is such an easy-going person with many interesting life stories and hobbies. I am a bit fascinated and it feels like she grows on me. We´re going for a drink at their apartment and then grab a light bite on Sunday evening, together with the families. 🙂

Both first and second Advent have come and gone, and tomorrow Olle, Elvira and I will hopefully get tickets to the Lucia Concert at Svenska Kyrkan in New York.