king christian the fourth...

...did a lot of things in Denmark, apparently... if you ask my husband.  Of course, this is his easy cop out as half the Kings in Denmark have been named Christian.  So, he can never really be that far off.

Introducing the master tour guide... aka my grandfather's "Senior Advisor" for their trip.

We did some sight seeing with my grandparents while they were here and I can't tell you how many times  my grandmother asked me what something was or the more popular questions about who built it and when.  I felt like channeling Rachel in Friends when she tells Phoebe all the Pottery Barn furniture is from the days of Yore or Yesteryear.  But because my grandparents are brighter than Phoebe I was grateful for my husband to to answer correctly, or at least with a more believable answer... blah blah blah Christian the 4th.

The visitors may have been fooled but this sequence reveals it all!

Question was probably something like, what is that building over there and who built it?

He clearly has no idea... but yet here comes the explanation of blah blah blah, Christian the 4th.

Note his eyes... they say it all.  Yet, see the listeners... engaged and seemingly satisfied with his answer.

No, I think they all enjoyed raking as much knowledge and sarcasm out of him as possible. Appreciation for sarcasm is key element of this country and especially with the Als.  I think that should be a tip for "before you go..." in Danish tourism books: Be ready for sarcasm and therefore know that you probably missed at least 1/3 of it and therefore you received false and probably ridiculous information.

This is all fine and well, but we all know the end result of whisper down the lane, right?

Now when stories get stretched further via retelling and adding my Grandfather's special twist of humor... it's really no wonder that most people think that Denmark is the capital of Amsterdam.  Too many gullible tourists and sarcastic Danes! Pfft!

But we had a great time, hope my grandparents did too and have read up on some of their books to debunk any lingering questionable explanations!

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married to an old man :)

Just a mere 15 minutes away from being married to a guy in his late twenties.  

Happy birthday handsome!  Best husband a girl could ever hope for!!

I know he'll hate these pictures but I find him to be as handsome as he was when we met some NINE years ago.  Wow!

Love you Christian Bo Numsemund Als! 

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advent calendars

Happy first of December!  Have you all sorted your advent calendars?  Not to brag… but I’m so loved I have 4 advent calendars.  Pfft! Ok so I'm bragging :)

In Denmark it's traditional to give small gifts all the days of advent (mostly for children but hey).  We have smiliar traditions in the States but I never got more than the box with chocolates behind the doors.  This is much better I've decided!

I made Christian’s advent calendar this year with this fun little christmas box thing and filled it with delights. 

And just when I thought I was creative... I came out from my weekly night meeting with the US and what do I see in the living room? 

 

Is he not the cutest?!  These are the socks Christian used as a kid with his older brother back in the mid 80’s.  I seriously have the cutest, most creative, thoughtful BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD.  Though he totally blew the tops off what I did for him… I couldn’t be happier!

The little green ribbon ran down to my first gift that I got tonight actually – a chocolate advent calendar.  But real chocolate bars - no mini santa thingies.  Premium European chocolate :D

 

Then we have our annual lottery advent calendars – kind of like a month long scratch ticket, if one has the patience.

Speaking of patience… my former boss and now good friend sent myself and Sarah (also former employee of his) a ‘digital advent calendar’.  I clicked Dec 1 just to see what it was all about and it told me “Have patience, it’s only November 29^th” LOL.  Yeppp.  Today I tried it and I'm not sure what it's about... maybe craft ideas??

So that totals 4 calendars for me, spoiled and loving it!

Our 'advent' candles are a little less traditional than the wreath but I like them :)

Happy Advent Everyone!

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happy birthday numsemund!

Tillykke med fødselsdagen, smukke!

As of today I am married to an old geezer, haha. 26 babe, it's ALL DOWNHILL from here! Just kidddding. 26 years young today, my handsome husband!

Today's post is dedicated to you, skat! I love you so much. You and your 26 year young numse! :)

Here's a look at how long I've loved you!! Get ready for this!

2002 - Helsingor

2003 - Malvern

2004 - Ocean City NJ

2005 - Boston

2005 - Philadelphia2006 - Roskilde

2006 - Roskilde

2007 - Fredensborg2007 - Esrum

2008 - Puerto Rico

2008 - Boston

2009 - Hillerod

2009 - Downingtown

2010 - CopenhagenEight years and counting!  I love you so much! xoxoxoxo

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God Nytår! Happy New Year!

Hope you’re all in a good spirit with the prospect of a new year and new possibilities.  I certainly think that 2010 is going to be a big year for me and the hubs.  No babies, I know what you’re thinking and that’s not what I mean!

Here is some prime footage of our typical NYE in Copenhagen… enjoy my commentating.

Did I mention that I hate my own voice? ;)  I posted all of our NYE pictures on FB but I’ll add some here for fun. 

I am really digging the whole halo headband look.  The sparkle halo headband is from Danish designer Friis & Co.  I gave it some extra sass by adding the feathery flower hair piece I had from H&M a few months back.

We spent New Years Eve with family for dinner and dessert and then drove in to Copenhagen to meet up with friends and get crazy.  We got a hotel room for the night because trying to find our way home at some absurd hour in the morning was likely to be just as expensive.  

 

We met up with friends Sebastian and Lykke and some of their friends at a party.  Very fun! Christian & Sebastian lit fireworks in the street, well maybe you saw this in the video.  I think our heads hit the pillow a little after 5am. Whoa. Anyway here's a good pic of the men:

 

The hotel gave us a 2pm check out time, thank god.  And god bless Denmark for having McDonalds open on New Years day across the street from the hotel.  I never felt so American, haha.  Perfect hangover cure!

And with that... I haven’t officially decided on my 2010 resolutions.  Obviously they only start once I’m stateside again, which, sadly, will be tomorrow.  I am going to miss Christian a lot.  We’ve had some great QT together over the holidays this year.  Meget hyggeligt :)

However, I did dig up my 9 things in 2009 blog post to determine how much of last year’s resolutions I accomplished…

1. blog more – 21 entries in 2008 and 78 entries in 2009, check.
2. have better posture – yeah, hasn’t happened. 
3. stop cursing like a sailor – somehow it’s gotten worse, ugh.
4. run more – a handful of 5ks, 10 mi race and a half marathon in ’09, check!
5. stay on top of my health – yep, even though I wished I kept my wisdom teeth in afterall! Check.
6. do something incredible at my job – I got promoted in ’09, can’t be all bad! Check.
7. keep my nails strong and healthy – I’m a little better with this… so… check.
8. manage finances better – top of the list 2010, for sure.
9. stay in better touch with friends and relatives – not sure how to measure this but I’m going to say check.

So I guess I achieved more than half of what I was after.  Not terrible.  There is some serious room for improvement, though.  I will have to have a serious think of my 2010 resolutions and keep you posted.

To 2010 o-m-g-ers!  Skål!

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