Posted on 21 January, 202321 January, 2023 in Like the Swedish Vabruari

6 months today :-) Sooo tired of all illness… Finals and Roundtables finalizing the fall semester!

Don´t know if it´s funny or just mean, but Johan and I both woke up last Saturday night at 4 am feeling sick. Since then all of us, except Olle are sick in covid and probably strep throat and sinusitis. It feels like Vira´s penicillin cure is not kicking in, so we have a new doctor´s appointment this weekend. Still with hope that she will feel much better tomorrow already, so we can cancel the visit.

Above all this, Tilda´s little Skurt had to stay three nights in AniCura´s care with the probable diagnosis of ANNPE. He has now returned home and has a tough schedule of rehabilitation ahead of him. 😿

Olle didn´t buy a new guitar, instead he bought something like an electronic drum devise. Perhaps I don´t really know what that is, but he is all happy about it, so everything is fine. 🙂 Due to all sickness, we have cancelled all activities this week and Johan has been working from home all week.

Last Monday, a pest exterminator knocked at our door, looking for bugs and such. Elvira had actually found some ants the week before, so he sprayed where she pointed. No visible 🐜🐜 since!

Since I am not that sick, I have been able to get out almost every day for a slow walk and some brisk air. Like a reality check and I have walked through the cool installation at Brookfield Place and saw the outdoor cafe tables and chairs at Greenwich Street that reminded me so much of Dalarna.

Olle is doing his finals this week and the last test day is on Monday. Next week, Elvira is due to present her Roundtables. Very interesting, also because the parents are to be present at school, participating in watching the children’s presentations!

In February Olle and his peers are going for a day trip to the Tenemant Museum and everything needs to be “Parental Consent approved”. I do not remember filling anything like this out for Adam or Tilda, during their highschool years… 😉

About cats! 😻 Along with these furry friends, I also love Carole King for being a big part of my childhood and adolescence and especially her album Tapestry. This week the most famous cat was delivered to me, in the form of being portrayed on a T-shirt!

A little more unnecessary trivia, habits picked up living in NYC! 🙂

On nycgovparks.org you will find information about all parks in Manhattan, and here is the website for our very own Spring Street Park, the one we see from up above every day and the same one Olle and Elvira cross to get to the trains to school every weekday. And also, every weekend the city guides share NY-info to their own little groups in the middle of the park. 🙂

Today I am paying tribute to New York City!

So many things in this vivid, amazing, living, anonymous, brilliant, wonderful, enigmatic, fascinating, permissive and crazy city I am so fascinated by and love so much. If you are curious enough and open minded you will find new angles and experience something new every day.

So it is with joy I today celebrate our first six months here!

🗽🚕🌭🐀🌆🤩🎞️🗽👗🌭🚕🎥🎬🌃🎡🎠🕶️🛍️👝👛

Cordoned street for school kids to play at lunch time.

Posted on 13 January, 2023 in Birthday, Family and Friends, Schools!

A New Year, Sweet 17 and applying to Swedish schools

Last Friday was a big day – Olle turned 17 years old, but still had to go to school! We started the day with morning song and presents and in the evening we had dinner at a Moroccan restaurant, Ives, in Tribeca. He also got a lovely cake from his friends at school. 🎂

After dinner, we strolled home and shared our elevator with a young couple and the girl started to talk Swedish to us. Her mom apparently is from Sweden and lives just a block away. Her boyfriend´s mom lives in our building, which they were heading to. Fun trivia. 😂

On Saturday Johan and I power walked through East Village and in the afternoon all four of us went shopping with Olle, he had gotten a gift card at Zara. All four of us even hit the gym on Sunday and also managed a visit at the Guitar Center. Olle is shilly-shallying about buying a new acoustic guitar with nylon strings. 😘

On Monday I got a text from Malin (one of Lotta´s friends we met for lunch last November), asking if we should grab a coffee at La Cabra in the afternoon. We had so much fun and decided to meet up with our families next time, so we will have brunch at Lido in Harlem in a couple of weeks. Also interesting to experience that borough a bit more!

Now, I have applied for Elvira to start Skolhagenskolan in August. Feels almost like when we moved here and had to fight our way into the school system. For Olle, we are waiting for him to receive password for applying to senior high school. Fingers crossed.

This week Johan has a bunch of colleagues over, so he is quite occupied with meetings, dinners and also a trip by train to Washington DC. I would have loved to join! Instead I am going to botanize among my recently delivered painting stuff from Blick, since the online class starts soon. 🙂

I have also been to my hair stylist Hailey this week, and it is so much fun to chat with her. On my way over to Fox & Jane, I took a detour through Chinatown and walked, to me, new streets.

Yesterday, after school Elvira and a friend went to watch a basketball game with the boys´ team from her school. 😊 Olle and I took the opportunity to do some running on the treadmill at Planet Fitness. 💪

We have some problem with our radiators and pipes leaking water, which has resulted in some floor boards bulging upwards and Gabriel, connected to the owner of this apartment, tries to get a plumber here to look at it. But there are always some excuse for not showing up, so I wonder if there is a jinx on this radiator!

Tonight we are going to try a new Italian, Extra Virgin 😉 And if the weather allows, tomorrow Olle and I will run down the Hudson River Greenway at dusk, it is a different ambience to it when it is getting dark. On Sunday Ilze and her family are coming over for dinner and on Monday schools are closed due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Finally!! Part I completed…

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.

My beloved ones are coming here in exactly two weeks, to celebrate Christmas and New Year in New York together with us. ❤️

Posted on 18 November, 2022 in New experiences

Settled in 🙏

Wow, I am so grateful because Olle and Elvira have in some way really adjusted to the life here, both school-, friends- and city-wise. ❤️ This is the best ever, even though I feel a bit impatient and restless all of a sudden, due to more time to spend on other things. Swings and roundabouts. 😉

Last Monday, Olle and I went to a jazz club called Mezzrow on 10th street in Greenwich Village. So cool and next time we will try to get tickets to Smalls as well.

Nov 8 was Election Day, 2022 Midterms and Democrats keep the Senate, as GOP wins the House. The day after Elvira had her school Conference and in the evening Johan and I went to dinner with Ulf and Mona at Nat’s on Bleecker. 🙂

Once Vira and I got home from the hospital, Lotta had arrived to our apartment! We started her visit with dinner at Galli and the day after was Veterans Day, so the kids and Johan were off from school and work so we decided to see the parade – in heavy rain.

We woke up to a lovely and sunny Saturday morning and decided to do the Williamsburg Bridge Walk, continuing the walk down Bedford Ave in Brooklyn and then crossing the Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhattan, in perfect timing for a nice lunch in China Town. This day was also the Cocktail Party Event, and it was a great happening with funny people to talk to. 🙂

This week was full of new experiences, on Sunday we had brunch with some friends of Lotta’s. They work at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations in New York and the Consulate General of Sweden in New York, and the day after Karin invited Lotta to One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, and I was welcome too. First she showed us around her workplace and then we got a personal tour of the UN building! The whole experience was so impressive. 🙂

Lotta went back to Sweden last Tuesday, but before her taxi took her to the airport we managed to visit the Hall des Lumières and see the exhibit of Gustav Klimt:Gold in Motion. Thank you, Lotta! 🙂

Two scary things this day was that Trump announced he is running again in 2024, and the initially assumed Russian missile strike in Poland.

Thanksgiving is next Thursday, but already Christmas is all over the city. Vira and I have bought some decorations and soon we´ll even buy the X-mas tree (a fake Norwegian one) but still 6ft tall… She will go ALL IN this year. 🎄🎅🦌🎁☃️❄️🌟

Elvira finally got her new MetroCard today, since her old one stated “See Agent” when she tried to run it through the turnstile. Olle did his Mathematics Regents and these The New York State Regents Examinations are a series of exams that measure achievement in high school courses and are typically required by New York public high schools for graduation.

Olle has asked for a new password for his inlog to the Swedish Highschool Application system. He can apply from mid January next year, but since we are registered here it may be difficult for him to be admitted to any school before he is registered in Sweden again. Which is not feasible from here, only an in-person meeting will do, and the processing time can be very long. Hmmm…

Friday evening and we just got home from the gym and tonight we are going to try, for us, a new dinner place called Jack´s Wife Freda up on Carmine St in West Village.

Have a nice weekend. 🥰

Posted on 6 November, 2022 in Family and Friends

75 degrees Fahrenheit in November, appointment at the hair salon, new friends, clocks fall back and NY Marathon!

Since Halloween is such a big deal here, I just have to post some more pictures even though it´s over for this time.

View from our window – the Halloween Parade

Last week started out with all of us, except Johan, catching a cold so there were some inactive days and the kids didn´t go to school. This Friday I had some highlights done at the Fox & Jane Salon (took like three and a half hours!) and there I learned a lot. My stylist was really great in telling about Americans´ social behaviour etc. She was born in California and had just moved here from Berlin, Germany where she had stayed for three years, so I think she felt a little bit like an European. 😉

Like why Americans like to talk in the elevator, it´s not because they are really interested in you, but more because they feel an urge to say something and want to fill out the “awkward silence”. It´s kind of funny, since for a Swede – it´s more embarrasing to say something in the elevator and break that awkward silence. 🙂

She also told me about public schools, they (of course) get government money for each child who attends school. The school misses out on some money every day a child is absent. No wonder they are really eager to have Vira in school every day.

Last Wednesday was Doctor´s Day! Olle and I went to the Gouverneur Hospital to see Gloria once again. This time they only checked his weight and gave him his first shot of Varicella, since he had never actually had Chicken pox!

Our next visit to Gloria is on Thursday, when Elvira is going to do her health examination. This week, public schools are closed on Tuesday Nov 8 (Election Day, Midterm) and also on Friday, Nov 11 due to Veterans Day. Wednesday is an early day in school for Vira, due to so called school Conferences – a focus on learning, although behavior and social concerns might be discussed. The teacher will review your child’s progress, including strengths and areas in need of improvement. You also might talk about standardized test results, individualized education plans (IEP). Looks a bit similar to the Swedish arrangement and here it´s also a 15 minutes long student-led session.

Last week was also last class of Drawing. I really liked it, and will probably do another round soon. 🙂

This day the kids also finally got their own bank cards. It only took an hour with our bankman Tamba at Chase 😉 This weekend has been full of hangin´out, first on Friday evening, Johan and I had an AW with Anette, a friend of Lotta´s, at Local 92 on Mulberry Street. A really nice acqauintance. 🙂 By Saturday, Vira and I were window-shopping for four hours… and in the evening Johan and I met up with Suz and Carl for an amazingly tasty dinner at Moustache, a Middle Eastern Cuisine on Bedford St in Greenwich Village. They gave us tips to some jazz clubs like jazz at Lincoln Center, Mezzrow and the Smalls. Hopefully Olle is allowed in some place, despite his age. I will now do a little investigation 🙂

Today is Sunday and time for the New York Marathon 2022, with over 50,000 runners! We started off in Brooklyn on Bedford St, and just in time for Olle to see Katta, a friend of Mari´s. All the rest of us missed her, so we continued our tracking and spotted her at 61 St, 1 Ave on Manhattan 🙂 So fun to see her, and a lot of Swedes were running. It was a true festive atmosphere all over the city, and almost the same temperature as at the Swedish Marathon in June… We have also set the clocks back 1 hour, so again Sweden is 6 hours ahead of us.

I have also got a tip about the Art Gallery Crawl and even found artnet.com by myself. I would like to visit a gallery, like go to an opening in black turtleneck, sip a glass of red and just “hmmm…, hmm…., Ahh”! 🙂

Now the first little sunflower is accompanied by the second 🌻

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Just went down to Trader Joe´s and I have never had a thought about how the Brussels sprouts grow…

Posted on 31 October, 2022 in Family and Friends, Halloween

Embroidery studio, paint class, event Tech for social good and Halloooweeeeeen 👻

Last Friday, Eva and I found a lovely embroidery studio which had opened its doors for Open House NY. We would never have expected a factory on third floor in this Midtown building on Manhattan!

In the afternoon we had a drink at Johan´s office, on the roof top where there also was a photo shoot (like so often in this city). This day was also the first time Elvira met some peers outside of school.

Saturday morning! Lars-Erik, Eva, Johan and I went on Whale watching. 🐳 We boarded a yacht on Pier 36 that took us along the Hudson River and out into the sea. Even though we didn´t see any whales or dolpins, it was an amazing trip with wonderful skyline views and all the horizon with water, blue sky and sun. ☀️

After almost 5 hours at sea, we came home just in time for me and Elvira to take the train up to the Paint Place on West 72nd street. There we got to paint the Hogwart´s Starry Night, it was a really nice place and time passed very quickly!

In the evening we had dinner at Bottino in Chelsea and the day after Lars-Erik and Eva went back to Sweden. On Sunday morning Johan and I had a long gym session and we also booked plane tickets here for Adam, Emma and Tilda during Christmas and New Year!! So happy for having them over. 🥰

Last Monday started with Pajama Day in Vira´s school, and the dressing up continued throughout the week, culminating in Halloween party on Friday night.

Vira has decorated the shirt all by herself!

Last Wednesday Johan and I were at an event, Tech for Social Good – Bridging the Digital Divide at the Official Swedish Residence on Park Avenue, hosted by Consulate General of Sweden. What a beautiful building and interesting panelists.

According to Matthew C. Fraser, NYC CTO, 40% of the citizens of New York lack internet access, not because it doesn´t exist but because they can´t afford to pay for it…

Meta (!) has really helped to connect with new acquaintances here in New York. Last Friday I was at a Swedish luncheon at the Scandinavian House, also on Park Ave. Here I also got to talk to Ulrika Bengtsson, a Swedish star chef in New York!

This weekend wasn´t so fun since both Elvira and I, and now also Olle caught colds with runny noses and sore throats. No fever and no covid – but still just as boring. Yesterday we were supposed to visit Camilla and her family in White Plains, but we had to cancel and today is the Halloween Parade just outside our building, and at least we have the opportunity to watch the madness from our windows this evening!

Over to something more cute – our little Alfons turned 3 this Saturday 😻 and we got him on FaceTime. Adam and Emma had also got him presents, snacks and a bed, like a cat cave in the shape of a cactus 🌵. A blurrrrry pic, but still.

More fun things, Johan and I are invited to a cocktail party. Rumors say it is Lenny Kravitz’s former penthouse, and that Alicia Keys (current owner?) now is trying to sell it… Dress code anyone? 😉

Here are just some nice pictures, from our everyday life right now 🙂

Police cordon off the streets for Halloween

The New York City Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination in New York City, in employment, housing and public accommodations. In NYC, every employee must undergo a harassment and assault training. After completed training you will receive a certificate, and Johan got his yesterday. Very important and relevant.

Upcoming things this week are i.a, if we are all well, follow-up meeting for Olle at the hospital, bank meeting at Chase for the kids to get bank cards of their own, last Drawing class (!) and AW and dinner with new contacts and friends. ❤️

Posted on 21 October, 2022 in Family and Friends, Halloween

In-laws and new friends

Fall, with all its wonderful colors, pumpkins and apples has thrived these two weeks. Degrees around 55 and the sun is still shining most of the time. I note that many birds of various sizes and shapes, fly by outside our windows, wonder if they are planning to leave for warmer latitudes.

Sunrise is just after 7am and sunset at 6.10pm, so still there is much daylight. Here clocks change backward 1 hour between Nov 5 and 6, and the earliest sunset is at 4.28, in Dec. The latest two weeks have been filled with in-laws and some new friends and aquaintences.

Last week, Karin and I went to MoMA and Roosevelt Island. Two interesting places, and it was real fun to take the tram way from the island back to Manhattan again! This week was also full of Google- and Zoom school meetings and also an appointment for Vira to get her MenaCWY at the MinuteClinic. Still no drawing class, due to their miss of adding me to the roster.

We also went to the movies at Angelika Film Center, and saw a Korean film called Decision to leave. We all liked it and it brought up some questions, so we had a little discussion about the film afterwards at Broom St Bar. 🙂

Last Sunday Olle hanged with some new friends from school! They went roller skating in Brooklyn and it seems like he had a great time. 🙂 At the same time, Elvira and I met up with a new Swedish girl and her mom for lunch in Central Park. It was a nice lunch and afterwards Vira and I strolled all the way back home (with a stop at Ulta Beauty on Broadway ;-)).

This evening we had dinner at Lena, a charming little French restaurant at Morton St. Elvira also texted a girl from class, and they will hang out on Friday. So happy for the kids´new friendships. 🙂 She also has picked a new advisory at school, since the people she talks to are there. I have booked her into the same hospital Olle was at, and to the same wonderful doctor, for Elvira to do her Health Examination in addition to her immunization program.

Still foreign to us Swedes, the message is however clear….

Karin went to Sweden last Monday and Lars-Erik and Eva came on Tuesday. We started out with a pizza night at home, and then we made some plans for the rest of the week. On Thursday we went to the Fire museum, halfway between our apt and their hotel.

In the afternoon I finally made it to my Art class in drawing at the Art Studio NY! It started out with a 30 minutes private catch up from last week (when I was at the wrong address, but actually not my fault). Then we painted the entire paper with charcoal, and used a kneaded eraser to subtract. The opposite of adding colors, you create highlights and reflecting areas with this eraser. I think next time is about perspectives. 🙂

This weekend is Open House New York, October 21-23, the 20th annual OHNY Weekend will unlock almost 300 places across the five boroughs through talks, tours, and behind the scenes access. Unfortunately we have no tickets (didn´t know there was a lottery to sign up for) but hopefully we can be in there somewhere.

Saturday is going to be an exciting day! First, we will go on a Whale Watching Cruise (!) in the morning and in the evening, I and Vira have signed up for a painting class called Hogwart’s Starry Night 🙂

Next week is Spirit week and in Elvira´s school it ends with a party on Friday night. On Monday Oct 31 the Village Halloween Parade will take place right outside our building! Exciiiting 👻👻👻

Posted on 10 October, 2022 in Danads, Family and Friends, Schools!, Sports

Events, hospital visit and renting a batting cage at Chelsea Piers

Friday before last, Peo was the first in line of DanAds´co-workers to come to New York for a week of “office warming” party, meetings, dinners and the big event Self-Serve Summit 2022. I think they were so happy and satisfied with all achievements and for me, Olle and Vira it was fun to participate and say Hello to both DanAds´ people and also to some of their clients.

I do a lot of walking 😉 Still, these views at the Hudson River are the best. Walking here is like a refill of peace to the soul.

Last Monday Olle and I went to the Gouverneur Hospital to, what we thought was only to receive his first vaccine doses. Two hours later we walked out of Dr. Gloria Perez´s examination room after a physical exam, had a form filled out of mental health status, titers done and two shots taken (Tdap and MenACWY). His next appointment is in the beginning of November, and then we will find out if he´s immune to e.g. Chickenpox or need a few more doses. We had another approach with Elvira, so she got her first dose of the Varicella at the MinuteClinic inside a CVS Pharmacy. Hopefully that is enough, or we have to arrange for her to visit the hospital as well.

Poor son. Like his big brother, Olle got really dizzy after the two vaccine doses

Hurricane Ian came to New York last weekend, decreased in strength but with heavy rain and winds.

There are still difficult times for the children, especially Vira, and I am hoping for a new “good enough” week as from tomorrow when schools start again. Today they are closed due to Italian Heritage and we are planning for Karin to come here tonight!

Olle is quite impressive considering he is not feeling too happy either, on this day off he’s made a schedule for today´s homework and also for a run at the Hudson. Also, he and I have a nice thing to look forward to, on Nov 22 we will go see Stromae at MSG! 🙂

At Chelsea Piers you can try a lot of sports and last Saturday we rented a cage to perform as baseball batters!

I follow Elvira to school in the mornings and almost every building has a cellar with entrances from the street. This creates regular holes in the sidewalk and I always feel like I’m going to fall down like Alice in Wonderland 😉

We have been here for almost three months already and I know time passes quickly. I really love waking up to a new day and my biggest hope is for the kids to feel comfy and happier.

We have a zoom meeting tomorrow evening with Vira´s school about a new platform called Jumprope and then on Wednesday a Google meeting for 11th graders at Olle´s school.

And I am so looking forward to Thursday, when the first drawing class will take place. 🙂 On Sunday, Elvira and I will have lunch with a Swedish girl and her mom, hopefully it will be a good aquaintance!