A non important disappointment...

Thursday and time for my favorite zumba dance class at Sats Medborgarplatsen with the great dance instructor Norberto. I was looking forward to it. I even rejected the invite to join Andreas for triggerpoint in town. A big no as zumba with Norberto is one of my weekly favorites. 

So you can image the disappointment arriving there and a girl in entering the class saying Norberto won't be there and she will take his class instead. I smiled and joined the whole class anyway but got a bit moody. 

Instead, one third of the class left. All those girls attending every week knowing the choreographies perfectly well, in other words the best zumba ballerinas in the room, left without saying a word. I felt so sorry for the unknown instructor that didn't even manage to start the class before people just left the room. And it didn't get better when people dropped off throughout the whole zumba class. Ok, she wasn't good. She hardly knew her own zumba routine and got lost a little bit too many times but in respect for her I didn't leave. 

Now to a little more funny thing. Look at the commercial below. It is one of the fast food super markets chains in Sweden that has gone out with a new year resolution to never again make commercials for unhealthy food/snacks. Interesting isn't it? And for sure it is a really good 

initiative. 

I don't belong to those people putting the responsibility on the society (or the stores) if people eat wrong things. I am one of those girls that true feminists hate as I believe that models are allowed to be skinny/fit (obviously not anorexic) and I can't really bother to care if Victoria Secret marketing campaigns are being blamed to be to sexy as I will buy their underwear anyway. For the same reason I don't care if the supermarkets are having commercials for crips or candy as it doesn't make me buy more of it anyway. 

However, I would like to give credits to Pressbyrån and their initiative to make 2014 a healthy year! 

xoxo

Yoga and dinner with a friend

I normally like going to my yoga classes alone. I already find it hard to concentrate and relax as much as I would like to during the yoga class due to the hard exercises/yoga poses. If I then have a friend by my side it is even harder to get the meditation out of the yoga as you obviously keep an eye of the other person. Instead, a positive affect of going for yoga with a friend could be that you trigger each other deeper down in the poses which could get better training results. 

Well, today a friend joined me to my usual yoga wednesday yoga class. It was the first class of the year and I found it easier than normal, more stretching poses and less strength. It was the first time my friend tried yoga so he found it quite hard instead. 

I think it is time that I take my yoga to the next level. Either I should attend the power yoga classes or find the courage to try aschtanga yoga...

After the yoga training we enjoyed a nice and healthy chicken salad and now I have decided to spend the rest of the day with a good book. 

xoxo

Yes, we used to live abroad...

Tobi and Zuz's place. I felt in love with their kitchen lamp. 

Swedish people are famous world wide for being a very kind, educated and organized population. Equally we are known for our lack of flexibility and spontaneously and I can actually agree with all these things. 

Everything is about planning!

People (me included) have our agendas full for at least the next coming 7-14 days. If you wanna see a friend or invite someone for dinner you need to plan it days and sometimes even over a week before.

I used to be like that before I moved abroad. Then for nine years abroad I suddenly became much more spontaneous and could plan my evenings the day before or even the same day. Now, back in Sweden and adopting to Swedish life, once again I have become that planning freak. 

Yesterday my only plans were go shopping a warm winter jacket and then meet Cicci in the evening. I didn't find the winter jacket I wanted and Cicci didn't feel well so we cancelled our evening. So even in Sweden, plans don't always work out...

On my way home I meet Tobi, my friend from university that also used to be my best friend while living in London. We talked for few minutes and then it was decided I was invaded for dinner at his and his girlfriend's place. Tobi is one of the few Swedish people I know that doesn't like planning so spontaneity is one of his greatest straights, just like most people in our adorable London. 

After dinner, Tobi, Zuzana and I sat down watching the "Allsång på skansen" program on TV. A entertaining summer show with lots Swedish celebrities. Once again I realized I am not a "normal" Swede as I didn't know a single of those very famous (?) Swedish singers and actors. I might not be very interested in celebrity gossip but more than that, I have been away for far to long to know the new Swedish TV stars. I should start watch TV much more, it is just that I find it so boring... 

xoxo

First Sunday of the year

Today has been a very relaxing and nice Sunday. I say "has" as it feels like it is already over as outside it is already dark as in the middle of the night. 

I woke up late after sleeping over 10 hours. I got up and got myself a big breakfast, ate it, read todays news, put on a facemask and got back in bed reading for a couple of hours. I felt so tired that I could had stayed in bed all day but instead I managed to get my training clothes on and went to meet my personal trainer Andreas for a quick coffee before we together headed to my favorite body balance class. I joined Andreas for his crossfit class the other day so he promised to join to the body balance and he did, and he liked it... 

Body balance is a class with 90% women which consists of few strengths exercises, lots of flexibility, some balance and 5 minutes of total relax. I didn't expect a gym pumping guy to like it but I am glad he did.

Now I gonna get ready to go out for a drink. Today is my last day of "holiday" as tomorrow I will start focusing on my little project. 

xoxo  

Cosy evening with Zarah

Zarah and I - August 2013

I was quite sore after my zumba marathon so a cozy night in was just perfect. 

Zarah and I enjoyed a three course meal, lots of ice cream and some hot tea and spent the evening talking everything and nothing. 

Zarah and I met my first year at university where we ended up living in the same student corridor just the doors opposite each other. At the time, it was in 2002, we spent many many hours sitting on the floor (don't ask me why as we had soffas), drinking liters of tea and just talking about everything you can ever imagine. Great memories! :-)

xoxo

My first Zumba marathon

I am back home after an amazing zumba marathon. It was the first time I did a zumba marathon but it was great fun and very inspiring. 

A couple of times in Milan I got invites and attended masterclasses in Zumba which is just an extended zumba class, normally 90-120 minutes long. What was particularly fun with those were the people that attended which was a crowd of fit zumba loving girls which made the whole zumba class like a big party. 

A zumba marathon is something even better than that. It is also an extra long zumba class but the different is that there is two or more zumba instructors leading the group. As it is still a very long work out session it is a group of fit and dancing loving people joining in, to manage... 

So today I attended my first zumba marathon at Sats Hornstull. It was lead by my favorite zumba instructor Norberto Lacourt (that I have mentioned few times before) and Niloo Lopez, another popular instructor at Sats. The two of them danced us through 90 minutes of zumba party. I had such fun that I even forgot how tired I was. I only realized how sore my legs were when I walked home from the gym. That is what I call great training!

xoxo

Fishy dinner and a drink at Reisen

A great Friday night with Johanna! 

We started off in my place where I cooked a new kind of fish (salmon) stew which turned out very nice. Then we met up Samuel and 10 of his friends for drinks at Reisen at Skeppsholmen. 

Now I have to rush away to a zumba event at Hornstull :-)

xoxo

First time at Crossfit

My personal trainer Andreas has been trying to convince me for quite a while to start training crossfit. He, and most of the personal trainers, are very critical against the body pumping classes as they state that is far to easy to fail the pumping movements due to the quick pace. 

Finally yesterday he managed to convince me to come and join one of the crossfit classes he held at SATS Odenplan. It was a "only" 45 minutes class which was more than enough for me. I learned that the crossfit is an extremely high intensive circle training class and that most people that attends are very very fit. I thought I would die while I was training but anyway I managed quite well throughout the whole class, and then when leaving the gym I got that satisfaction feeling I used to get after the horrible bikram yoga classes in Milan this spring. 

Believe it or not, I will be doing it again.

Say hi to the newly born crossfit girl people :-)

xoxo

Welcome back in my life Mr Nespresso

One important thing I have been missing since I moved from Milan is to start of the day with a nice cup of coffee. In Milan Luisa and I were addictive to our Nespresso machine and it has felt so boring starting off the days without it every day since I moved home so it was on the top list of things I wished for from Santa this year :-) And I got it, I just had to go and choose it myself so today I did so. I choose Nespresso Lattissima plus machine and I already love it.

I am a breakfast loving person! I love to eat a big and nice breakfast, and to have a big and nice cup of coffee with that while I read the daily news. That, for me, is a good start of the day and I believe a good start of the day is very important to make it a good day. 

xoxodi

New Years Eve in Örby

The massive dinner table

Playing constructing games with candy - our group made a wine drinking giraffe, cool heh?

A candy spider

The view :-)

Midnight champagne

Happy New Year people! 

I celebrated New years eve in Örby, south of Stockholm, in Lisa and Johan's place. The evening was well organized and all the guests (17 people) had our own responsibilities including snacks, games, food etc. I was like you read the other day part of the main course group and we were very happy with the result. Also the starter and the dessert were very nice and throughout the whole evening we kept busy playing fun games. Just before midnight we went to a nearby park where we had an amazing view over Stockholm and could see lots of fireworks. 

It really was a great new years evening!

xoxo