Corner View: Favorite Hangout

This week's Corner View theme is 'favorite hangout'. We don't go often enough, but it's our favorite: Edlund's. This cozy Swedish restaurant is located right on the main square in the old city. Even from the front you can see it's going to be a little bit different inside:


and it is. All manner of Swedish elements decorate the inside, from massive photos of the Swedish countryside and modern Scandinavian design...

...to traditional elk decor.

The Swedish couple who primarily run the place - she the waitress, and he the chef - are really friendly. I don't think I've ever seen her not smile. They always remember us and say hello, and she's stopped to chat more than a few times. She likens the restaurant's decor to their modern style mixed with a little of their parents' rustic Swedish-country preferences.


Whatever it is, we like it. That, combined with the crazy-delicious fresh food they serve, makes us want to go to Sweden, pronto! I really can't say enough about the food: sure, it's a little more than the average place in our university town, but it's so worth it! They have things like fresh fish with a foamy dill sauce, carrot-lemongrass soup, and chili-marinated shrimp. You always leave full, yet feeling that you didn't eat too much or any gross, processed stuff. I could eat there every day!


Afterwards, we like to walk around town a little more. We usually hit up Coffee Bay - Stefan's favorite cafe and our region's version of Starbucks - for lattes and dessert.

For more favorite hangouts from around the world, head on over to Jane at Spain Daily.

Trying something new

I've been busy with work related things as well as the Blogging Your Way class that I'm taking. You may have noticed the little badge over on my sidebar. The class has been really interesting so far. I've enjoyed how it's got my wheels turning on a lot of things, not just my blogs.

In addition to Holly, we have Leslie as a second instructor. This past week there was a bit of talk about lighting in the forums, so I thought I would play around with my camera and lighting, both in the apartment and with the Picasa software I've been using. I really need to start using the Photoshop Elements program I have, but it's a bit daunting.

By no means am I nearly anywhere as skilled as Leslie in her photography and staging, but it's fun to goof off a little for now until I figure out how I want to utilize this area of the class. I don't know that I really see myself styling color groupings like she does, but it's fun to play with the concept for now. It's a challenge to find small things in the house in the same color! Maybe it will trigger something else that's more 'me'.

Meanwhile, I'm really wishing for some good light. I have a few more tricks to try that involve a white tablecloth, but this snowy gray weather isn't helping things.

Fabric kick-off for 2010

One Yard Wonders showed up under the tree this year, and I was pretty excited. It seems like a great book of beginner/intermediate projects, a lot of which I think I will actually do. It was also practical since fabric shops are so scarce here in Germany (and prices tend to be pretty astronomical compared to US prices), so project ideas using smaller amounts of fabric are good to have on hand. This is not to say I didn't take the opportunity to stock up on fabric in the US while we were there for the holidays!


My parents live in the Midwest, where quilt shops abound. There are also lots of Jo-Ann's around as well. So, combined with Christmas gifts, 40% off coupons, after-Christmas sales, and clearance racks I brought back quite a stash!


I found a bunch of discount fat quarters for little projects. I'll be using the Anna Griffin Christmas ones for an Advent calendar for Christmas 2010.


These guys will be for some projects from the book as well as a few ideas of my own. I also picked up a bunch of knit jersey (not pictured) to experiment with. It was down to $2/yd, and I have a few ideas...


I was pretty excited to receive this stash of Joel Dewberry's "Deer Valley" collection as a gift. I've been wanting some of this line to use in our living room for some pillows and maybe a few other things. I need to try out a few of my ideas with some other fabrics first before I go cutting into this stuff.

This weekend I washed and ironed all my fabric,
so it's ready to go!

Handmade Holidays: Part 1

I had fun making wreaths this year. I made one that hangs in our bedroom, and then I made this one for the living room.

I haven't decided if this guy will stay out all year or not.
It's tiny, so maybe.

I made 2 wreath kits as gifts for my mom and sister. I gave them a yarn-wrapped wreath form and packaged up some things they could attach - or at least give them ideas. Part of me did this because I ran out of time to finish them myself, but also because I couldn't figure out how to pack them in my suitcases to be baggage-handler-proof at the airports. I also thought that they would enjoy making something themselves (and I did the most boring part already by wrapping the wreath forms for them).


I made two tiny button wreaths: an orange one for a housewarming (seen below), and a purple one for a new baby girl - which for the life of me I couldn't get a good picture of.


I have to say I was worried the wreaths would crack in the suitcases during travel, but they didn't. The nice part was how light they were and therefore didn't add to our baggage weight hardly at all!

Stay tuned for Part 2 - I made a slew of things for my darling niece's nursery. However...I forgot to take any pictures with the new camera after they were unpacked, so I'm waiting on my sister to send some my way...I think my pre-packed phone pics won't be as clear as her camera's!

Corner View: Holiday

This week's Corner View theme is 'holiday'. We had a great trip back to the US - my first time back in 2 years! Lots to process and tons of great memories. There was lots of snow - we were glad we rented a 4WD vehicle - it was perfect for the Nor'Easter that hit Cape Ann after we arrived!

We spent over 40+ hours driving during our 3wk trip:
Boston to Toronto to Indiana and back to Boston.
We saw many, many miles of snowy roads.

My phone's camera feature died on Christmas Eve, which was perfect timing because the next morning I unwrapped my first digital camera (i know, dark ages...this blog has hope now) I finally got to meet my niece - the first of her generation in our family. Total doll.

Snagged lots of fabric at various midwestern quilting shops and, of course, Jo-Ann's. Idea overload!
(more on all this later)

Caught a beautiful sunset back in Gloucester looking out
over Annisquam. LOVE it there.

Ate clam chowder at every opportunity, even at the airport - thanks Legal Seafoods in Boston's Terminal C.

Came back to another snowstorm in Germany, but we made it home safely. Our awesome neighbors had been caring for our plants and had taken the liberty of buying us a bunch of groceries to get through the snow-bound weekend, 2 potted plants, and a homemade cake.

and my German dog-in-law loves her new Christmas coat:


For more holiday Corner Views, head over to Spain Daily.