Ooooh...K Turns 33!

Yep, I turned the big 33! I don't know about these 30's. I swear I have been in a constant (more or less) crisis since I turned 30. It's like I need to find out who I really am. Can you really be going through an identity crisis at 30?!?!?

Anywho, my family near and far was great and celebrated me. My boys sang to me in the morning and family called and sang to me too. The boys brought me breakfast in bed. Yum! I got some great gifts. What more can a girl ask for...well, since I am asking, laser eye surgery wouldn't be shabby ;-)

Seriously though, it was a nice day and I am genuinely thankful to see another year! Cheers to being 33, hope it's filled with love, happiness, success and prosperity!

The red velvet cake I baked for myself.

My happy birthday guests. Aleksander was also in attendance however we managed to only get blurry pics of him.

Something For Me, Something For Him

When Mattias and I got married we were given a year worth of postcards with tasks written on the back. Each month it was a task for either Mattias to do for me or for me to do for him.
We eagerly and happily went through the cards our first year of marriage. It was fun. Then we tucked them away.
A month ago, I was rummaging. I have a lot of rummaging to do around here. We have more stuff than space these days. Anywho, I stumbled across the aforementioned cards. I took them out and thought, "what better way to spice things up than with these cards." It's fun being wooed and having someone to woo. And these cards aren't necessarily "wooing" cards in that regards but it's doing little things for each other that don't normally come to mind (for some people...Mattias). So, we started with August...well actually we started mid-July but it wasn't a fair amount of time for Mattias to plan a trip for me to Copenhagen so I could enjoy myself like a queen. Therefore, we started with August. August meant that I was to bake cinnamon rolls (kanelbullar) for Mattias. I think they made a mistake on this card as chocolate balls (chokladbollar) are really his favorite but I made them anyway. I used a recipe in my recipe book that I've never used...I like trying new things...I'm that kinda gal!

Let me just say, they were sinfully delicious. They are cinnamon rolls, infused with homemade vanilla cream and then topped with a glaze and powdered sugar...double the sweetness!
He (we) enjoyed!!! And there is some nicely packed away in the freezer, believe it or not!
Here is the years worth of wooing:
January: Mattias makes me a 3 course meal with candles to set the mood. Ooooh la la!
February: I plan a party for Mattias birthday...perfect for the coming year since he turns the 35!
March: Mattias plans a spa evening for me at home.
April: Take Mattias to a movie of his choice.
May: Mattias has to clean the apartment while I go shopping.
June: Mattias gets to go to a soccer game of his choice.
July: I get to go to Tivoli in Copenhagen and my wish is his command.
August: Bake cinnamon rolls for Mattias
September: Mattias does the laundry for the whole month. He had his first dose on Sunday and of course it was a whopping 8 loads!
October: Mattias gets to go to Karlskrona and party. You are probably wondering, who wants to go to Karlskrona and party... Alle, a good friend of his, birthday is in October so I think the whole idea is that he should go and party with him.
November: Mattais has to buy me all the candy I want during this month. DANGEROUS!!! This can get out of control.
December: Mattias doesn't have to go Christmas shopping if he doesn't want to.

My Apple

I love sweets! I love sweets so much that I think a life without sweets isn't a life worth living. Mattias quickly diagnosed me with a problem, a huge problem, after I made that statement. And yes, my relationship towards sweets isn't by any means healthy...well, right at this moment it is but usually it's not. I indulge and enjoy! And unfortunately, my apple, Enzo, didn't fall far from the tree. He loves sweets just as much as I do. It kind of scares me, if I am going to be honest. I don't love my condition nor my relationship towards sweets and I really wish that he wasn't plaqued with the same "disease" but it looks like it has happened. Regardless of all my efforts to minimize, hardly have any sugar in his diet the first 2yrs plus it has become just as I was trying to avoid. Darn those genes!

Crispy meringued topped blondie, aka a yummy chocolate chip pie with a crispy meringue top.

Fully enjoyed, not so much the meringue.

I fully indulged both meringue and cookie and took seconds when Enzo was gone to bed. Naughty!

Another Birthday...

...to be had.
I don't know what happened. Yes I do, I turned 30 and ever since I don't enjoy my birthdays nearly as much as I used to. Getting older now is just plain depressing. Getting older totally and utterly freaks me out! Not sure what to do about it. Mattias says I just need to accept it and understand that we will continue to get older, older and wrinkly and frail etc etc etc. and then we'll die. That 's the part that I just can't swallow, the dying part. But this post isn't going to be about dying because I am sure I will just freak myself out and make myself cry so I will stick to the matter at hand...my 32nd birthday!

My birthday was what you can call a mini disaster. The day started out relatively ok but then it spiraled out of control, slightly, and then ended fairly ok. First of all, I usually love birthdays! I love it when it's other people's birthday, like my kids and MHS (my hot swede) and it calls for me to plan and surprise with gifts and such. I used to love my own birthday. Every year I always waited with such anticipation and the month of December would always be a countdown month for me, but not anymore.

Well, my Mattias is not a big birthday person, let alone holiday person for that matter. Well, if the World Cup, Olympics or European Championship or anything Zlatan participates in was a holiday he would be all over it. Point is, he is pretty lousy at planning such days. However, to his defense he did plan a rockin' 30th birthday...totally surprised me, which is good since it was a surprise party. And I am glad he got that one right since it was the Big Cahuna thus far for birthdays...I mean turning 30 was a big freakin deal. However, I do remember my 30th birthday, that I was limbering between totally blue/sad and it's opposite, happy/excited.

Well, this birthday I woke up to my kids. Had anticipated sleeping in but when I woke up I felt pretty well rested. Outside it was a total snowstorm . Mattias was feeling bad and stressing because there were last minute things he needs to do and time was ticking by and the day wasn't turning out as he had planned. He made me breakfast. Then he had to leave to get my birthday present, which was the total highlight of the day! I got a brand new camera. An SLR. I love it! Then we had to go to town but because of the crazy weather, we didn't take the car nor the bus, we decided to foot it. It was the stupidest thing ever. It was nearly impossible to get where we were going as the snow was so thick. Once we were there we were both sweaty from our workout. Enzo whined the entire walk there...because snow was flying in his face. And Mattias and I were thinking shut up kid, we are pushing you in this stroller, you need to just enjoy the ride... Needless to say, Enzo's days was filled with meltdowns... I think this is what ultimately put a damper on my day.

We were at the mall doing last minute shopping like the rest of the nuts/last-minute people. Lines were outrageous. But we were efficient. It was just toys we were getting for Mattias' nephews. When we finally made it back home, I went on a supermarket sweep...not really. But it felt like it. Picked up pizza on the way home from the grocery store. Once the kids were in bed it was last minute preps for Christmas Eve, which is the day they celebrate Christmas here. And then it was bed time. Phew! That day was over and I don't think I relaxed for one minute...well, when I got in the bed for the night. Maybe this is just how birthdays are when you have kids. I don't know but I hope next year isn't the same.

Here's my shopping cart.