Entries in denmark (16)

Saturday
Jul102010

summer has arrived

My friends and family love us so much they sent us their east-coast heat wave.  :P Only problem is that we don’t have those fancy, new-fangled things called air conditioners here! Or outdoor public pools.  Plenty of beach, though!  Danish summer is here!

Christian and I went to the beach last week and it was awesome.  There weren’t waves but the water was not atrociously cold and I could see through it (and we know this is important) so I had a blast just slashing around so to speak. 

Before it gets too far gone I should talk about last weekend.  There was a lot going on!

Friday we helped Christian’s uncle with some floral arrangement delivery and decorations for a horse show in Sweden.  The customer was a bit off her rocker and we moved everything like 400x for her but I think it turned out well!

(yes, that is in a horse stable)

Saturday we went back to Sweden for Christian’s grandma’s sister’s 75th birthday.  Did you follow that?  Christian’s grandma (Farmor – the little one who lives across the terrace) is Swedish and is one of something like 7 or 8 children, no one can really answer that question for me.   So there is a lot of Swedish family.

Lots of Swedish family that no one really knows through whom they’re related.  I thought I was struggling to understand Danish… you should hear Swedish – it makes me laugh mostly.  It’s definitely a whole different intonation than Danish, yauh.

Apparently birthdays aren’t a big gift giving ordeal but everyone comes and brings maybe a small gift and sits down for coffee and 3 courses of cakes, cookies and other delicious desserts (see picture of dessert table below).   I see where Christian developed his sweet tooth!

Sunday we had the brunch for Emilie’s graduation and it was also the 4th of July and so obviously we had to celebrate!  We hosted a barbeque at our house in the garden (ok backyard ugh where is this proper English coming from already?!) and invited friends and family.

Apparently evite is not commonly used in Denmark and hit half of our friends spam folders instead of inboxes. Whoops! So our brave and handicapped friend, Sillas, made the trip out to grannytown from Copenhagen to spend the 4th with us and Christian’s family.

We made so much food.  I made Kayte’s guacamole recipe and some fresh pico de gallo and served with tortilla chips as an appetizer. Ok so not American but hello, every American loves Mexican food.  Or it’s just me. Either way YUM. 

We grilled all kinds of meats and corn on the cob. I made potatoes and a salad to serve as side dishes.  I was particularly proud of my salad – mixed leafy greens, cucumbers, red onion, strawberries, blueberries, walnuts and feta cheese with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.  Delicious! I also made the cake shown above. Cake mix from a box does exist here but it's just not the same! ;)

We drank a few cocktails and played a Danish yard game.  It’s called I forget… Købclub or something.  Haha I totally forget what it’s called but it was super fun.  I played on the winning team the whole day until the very last round. 

It would take me forever to explain the game so maybe you should just come over and play it with us sometime instead!

It’s been sunny and warm, if not hot, every day for a long time, I almost don’t want to jinx it!  I am loving it! Hope all is well with my loyal readers!

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Monday
Jun212010

royal, sporty girl

Life in the land of Dane is good!  Christian just left again yesterday for another trip up to the Arctic Circle but might be home again soon as he just wrote and said the equipment in his plane isn’t working. We’ll see.

In other news, the Crowned Princess of Sweden, Victoria, got married this weekend.  It was a big deal even here in Denmark.  Every channel dedicated the day to the event.

Obviously I cried like a big baby when she walked down the aisle and it was all very beautiful.  But I did have some critiques.  For a princess, I thought her gown was uber simple and on live TV it did not flatter her figure. In the pictures it’s not so bad but she looked like a linebacker at the altar; I wasn’t impressed.

She’s a gorgeous girl and has a body which I really admire in her (she used to suffer from anorexia) but her designer did her no favors.  I know some girls are simple but she’s a Princess wearing a crown! A little detail on the dress wouldn’t hurt anyone.  Anyway, that was my major critique.  That and the fact that her husband is not attractive, LOL.

The Crowned Prince and Crowned Princess (Frederick & Mary) of Denmark were in attendance amongst every other continental European type of royalty (not sure why the English were notably absent…).  I’m obsessed with Princess Mary and her family.  Their son Christian (another Crowned Prince) was one of the little page boys – friggen adorable.

There was a big gala/concert the night before the wedding for all the guests.  I was happy to see that the bride doesn’t always have bad taste in dresses.  Check out this number. I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. Better than the wedding dress…

Anyway, I have become somewhat obsessed with figuring out the royal monarchy here and what it all means and who has to die to become King and how the commoners they marry fit in.  Basically I want to know the sequence of events that need to happen to make me royalty… HAHA. Fortunately it wouldn’t involve much death but unfortunately it would probably involve a couple divorces and remarriages. :P

After the wedding I demanded we BBQ in the rain and watch the Denmark-Cameroon soccer match with beer and snacks.  Unfortunately my military trained husband could not get the coals to ignite in the rain and I was the only one drinking beer. HOWEVER… Denmark won the match! Whoop whoooop!  I was so proud… mostly proud of my non-sports-enthusiastic husband cheering like a mad man, too.  ;)

He asked me the other day, “I’m sorry, did I marry a 30-year-old dude?”  This was after he asked me what I wanted to do with my night and I said… “I want to go home, sit on the couch, drink beer, eat peanuts and watch the US demolish England.”  Obviously…

That’s the update.  Kate, the bedroom is pretty much done, thinking next post I’ll put up the pictures. :) I will need your help on our desperate living room.  I don’t know where to begin.  We have all the wrong furniture which is posing a problem from the start! ;)

Right… back to work!  

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**disclaimer... none of the pictures are my own and I probably should have remembered where I got them from... whoops! :)

Sunday
Jun132010

being home alone leads to...

Well after a week alone, hubby came back.  Thank god.  I was missing him lots!  Here’s a shot of him at lunch on Saturday .  It’s from my Hipstamatic iPhone app which takes old looking photos, love it:

Despite being alone I think the week went pretty fast. I had lots of ‘dinner dates’ and such to keep me busy.

Tuesday I had a meeting in the city about a job with my parent company.  She expressed to me several times that it is not a matter of ‘if’ I have the job but a matter of when.  Hopefully at the end of this coming week I’ll know more. 

After the meeting I met up with Jeanette for some shopping in the city and then we headed to her apartment to rip down some old wallpaper and brainstorm about… a PROPER DANISH WEDDING.

Ah, I said it!  I agreed to this over a bottle of wine at Christian’s mom’s house on Monday night.  The end of this summer, we’re still working some church logistics as the first priority.  I still want my princess church!

It should be fun and it allows us to celebrate with all of our family and our awesome Danish friends. :D I’m sure you’ll hear more but it’s going to be another bohemian all hands on deck kind of wedding. Love it!  Steph… are you up for round two? JK you’ll be happy to know they don’t traditionally do MOHs and bridesmaids and such.  Just a few flower girls.

Speaking of weddings. Steffen and Haley stopped by to see me on Thursday and are newly engaged thanks to a little help of a ring delivery to my desk at work in the US! Their NYC trip was cancelled with the ash cloud business so we've very happy to help and be a part of their special story! Congrats!

This weekend we spent a lot of QT with the family.  Christian’s older brother was in town with the lovely Emma.  She and I have figured out how to communicate somehow… for the most part.  We play hide and seek well.  Today we rode bikes together.

Christian had to fix a number of things on Maggie.  Suddenly I know why it was sooo hard to ride her in the beginning.  Okay so I had two flat tires.  Then Christian sees that my front brake is always touching the wheel and kind of permanently on a bit… pfft.  All fixed up. She rides like a dream!

In other news.  I have had my 2nd ever lesson on stick shift today.  It went fine in the school yard just going in circles and starting and stopping.  Christian even taught me the emergency brake trick when starting on a hill which I semi-got.

After the school yard I drove down this long windy country road which was fine except when I had to come to a stop and make a turn. I stalled in the middle of the road and oncoming traffic came at me in both directions…  they swerved in different directions around us as I cried and refused to go further with the lesson.  HAHA. Almost dying was enough for one day!

Back to ‘the grind’ tomorrow – aka working from home.  Chr is still around somehow, which is great for the ever growing ‘honey-do’ list. :)

Day one of my new gym tomorrow!  Eeekk.

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Thursday
Jun032010

live & direct from DANMARK

It’s me, I’m alive and officially living in Denmark, GASP!  Yayy.  It’s been a LONG time in the works but so happy the time has come for me and Christian to have our happily ever after. :)

Our travel back to Boston and our flights over went off without a hitch.  Didn’t sleep much/well on the way over so imagine my grogginess when SURPRISE YAYYY WELCOME TO DENMARK parade was waiting outside baggage claim. J So cute.  Nearly all of Christian’s family was there to greet us LITERALLY with bells on… ok with noise makers, flags and banners and shouts of cheer.  It was awesome.  Only embarrassing for like half a second, mostly just so heartwarming!   Unfortunately they forgot to take pictures :(

More surprises on the way home!  The flag pole at our house had an Danish and American flag waving and a big banner in the driveway saying “Welcome Home!” – too cute.

We went to Christian’s Mom’s house for some frokost (lunch) straight from the airport.  Upon arriving at Mors house was my new beautiful bike, who I have since named, Maggie.

Isn’t she cuuuuute?!  I looooveee her! Christian’s uncle (professional florist) did the flowers on the basket and the whole family went in on the bike as a present to welcome me to Denmark.  I am 93% Danish with this bike.  I will be 100% Danish when it’s raining out and I ride it anyway.  :P 

Frokost consisted of nearly all my favorite Danish foods – Frikkadeller (Danish meatballs), Danish rye bread, potatoes, and get this… RIS ALMONDE!! Uhmm whoa.  So awesome.  Ris Almonde is a traditional Christmas dish so it was quite the treat! Tak Mor!

Once we got home after lunch I come in to the house and see… more surprises!  I had a brand new bedroom rearranged.  Chr got crafty and made us a new headboard – he picked the fabric and everything. How frikken fracken cute is he?!   He rearranged the furniture and gave me some space for all my CRAP! ;)

And on the bed?! PRESENTSSS.  Gosh I love him, he knows the way to my heart.  Some fun, little ‘getting set up in Denmark’ presents like the shampoo brand I use, toothbrush, some oreos for when I miss home, perfume, pj pants and an IPHONE.  Man… he really is working hard to buy time on this puppy business. :D

Look outside and…??? A manicured garden and some beautiful outdoor furniture complements of Ann, Christian’s Dad’s girlfriend.  She is awesome!  She tidied up the garden that definitely needed mending, planted flowers, gave me a gardening starter kit and the table and chairs. SO sweet.  I am so lucky to be loved so much even all the way across the ocean from home.

Tuesday we went to the Kommune (county) to register me as officially living in Denmark. :D Social security card is in the mail what what!  I need to register for school next but we haven’t quite gotten that far yet. 

I’m working remotely for my old job 28 hrs a week which is awesome for some income but adjusting to ‘working from home’ in a new country takes it to a whole new level.  I just want to unpack and decorate and play in the sun? haha. Speaking of, the weather here is gorgeous!  Light out until 10pm, love it!

With one trip to Ikea down, I’ve got some things to help organize the chaos I have dropped EVERYWHERE in this house.  It literally looks like a bomb went off, whoops. Christian is leaving for some work in Norway for a long time come Saturday so I’ll have plenty to keep me busy with, that’s what I keep saying anyway!

This evening I finally went and got some exercise after an almost two week sabbatical from working out – boy did I need it!  I think I’ll join the gym Christian belongs to up the street.  I might embarrass myself in class when she says to lift your arm and I lift my leg because my body vocabulary is still coming along but oh well.   I wonder what the Danish ‘gym scene’ in this old lady town is like.  Eh god.

So that is the word on Denmark thus far.  More updates to come. I’ll email friends and family shortly re contact details/skype/telephone number etc.

Love you and miss you all! Xo

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Wednesday
May192010

hey there, remember me?

I actually have gone a little crazy.  My life is a whirlwind trying to get ready to move.  

The race. First of all THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER for all of your generous donations to The BCRF - it was such an inspiration and truly touching.  In the end I raised a whopping $1600 in one month for the cause.  Awesome awesome awesome.

The race was difficult for me this year, more so than last year mostly due to the heat and humidity.  I had to take it a little slower but I only finished 3.5 mins slower than last year - not awful.  Of course you know this is a disappointment to me and I'm still not over it, haha.  I'm in better physical condition this year but for a multitude of reasons I couldn't quite pick up the pace. Grrrrr.

Anyway it's done.  Next big race on the agenda is the Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sept 12th with the hubby.  Yep, that is our 1 year anniversary date.  We'll be running 13.1 miles and then going home to eat frozen wedding cake!  (He hates me)

Moving. Well it's all coming along, and SWIFTLY at that.  I am realizing that even what I consider not to be a lot of "stuff" - it's A LOT OF STUFF. Holy Cow!  Let's all join my campaign to Christian that he needs to buy me all new clothes over there instead.  :P

Job. It's a WIP.  I have some contract work with my current company/role to keep me busy for a month or so and a couple things in motion for a full time placement with Experian EMEA so fingers crossed these "approvals" happen and I'll be fully and gainfully employed by end of June.

Celebrating. I LOVE MY LIFE.  I have the best friends and family a girl could ever ask for.  Not a dull moment around here these days.  I need to work out extra hard just to minify damage to my body from alcohol and dinners out.  Wouldn't swap it for the world, though.

This weekend. GET READY FOR THE GAGA BAR CRAWL aka THE JMAs (Jill's Moving Awards).  Gail has done a fantastic job planning and gathering all my loved ones for this fantastic event.  I have super amazing friends flying in from all over the country.  This is going to be epic.  How are you going to get your JMA? 

Christian.  Firstly, I love him.  He gets in TOMORROW.  He has to help me with all my "stuff" as mentioned previously.  But can't wait to plant some big kisses on his face, I've missed him so much!

That is the update - as you can tell I have a bit of excitement running through my veins.

Countdown:

1 Day til Chr gets here
3 Days til the best going away party ever
7 Days left of work at QAS Boston
7 Days til we go home to see the fam
11 Days til we SHIP OUT!

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