*my time in sweden*

i like sweden. a lot. for one thing, smoking indoors has been outlawed there. we had breakfast this morning at the laundromat cafe, and it sucked that we got smoked out.

so my trip started with a 5 hour train ride. i love the trainrides here, and train rides in other countries in general. i'm working on a little photo documentary of trains. they are so colorful here. much more creative than our dumb old trains.

i learned that pippi longstockings is from sweden! who knew?

i spent my first night in sweden just wandering around -- well, i suppose i spent my whole time in sweden just wandering around, but my first night was a general, clueless wander. i ended up on a 2 hour boat ride that toured sweden's bridges, which i have to say, didn't knock me over or anything. but the buildings & the sunset were incredible. i couldn't get enough, so here's just a few photos. a sampler, if you will. the rest are on the photo page





this crane looked so much like a sea horse to me:

my 2nd day was my amazing shopping day. a few house-y highlights:

who wouldn't want to dust with one of these!?

amazing window of tea shop

from david design. perfect for me. i love hanging things off of things.
to give you a sense of swedish design:

quite possibly the coolest name ever. right up there with ascha drake! jewelery designer. closed. bummer.

my other favorite shops in sweden were: bric-a-brac, design torget, david design, and zadig & voltair (french & expensive, but still...).

the next day, i went to see karin eriksson in uhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giflriksdal. i took a pendaltåg to get there! so much better sounding than "commuter train," no? my visit was great. i got there, and it was in this compound sort of place -- big gardens & farms... it was like going back in time, sort of. i met karin's brother & his wife & kids, who were picking out some of karin's work for their new home. i also met her dad! he runs a compost shop right by karin's studio. she's hoping to move to a bigger space that's become available, which she took me on a tour of. amazing space, and perfect for a studio & shop. we went back to her studio and she showed me around. karin does literally everything, which is shocking to me, since her work is sold all over the place -- so many shops in denmark & sweden, and in the US. crazy & huge. but it makes her work that much more special. i wandered around & did a photo shoot of the area because it was so inspirational. more photos here. we went to the cafe and had a very delicious lunch overlooking the garden & golf course. then back to the studio where i helped her with the decals she uses. it was so incredible to get a peek at the behind the scenes of karin's studio, and to talk blogs, style, etc... for a day. it was a perfect visit.


my 4th day i checked out anna-carin & karin's recommendations for a day of galleries, gardens, and museums. there were a handful of really amazing small galleries and shops along hornsgatan street. my favorite was blås & knåda (blow & knead, as in glass & clay), where i bought a small ceramic piece by hisako mizuno. it's a small dish that has such a soft, round feel. i couldn't stop touching it. when i asked about it, the gallery owner introduced me to hisako, who was working in the shop, so meeting her made it ever more special.
then i went to rosendals trädgård, these beautiful gardens with a great outdoor cafe.

a quick tour of the stig lindberg exhibit at the national museum -- the man behind the cup!


on my last day, i found my favorite cafe -- the copacabana. great location for people watching, and even though the weather was perfect & i didn't need one, they had the cozy blankets!