Chez Larsson

Hanging Wille's Longboard

So where does one store this baby? No, Wille stays in his room but what about the longboard he bought in New York and tried out in Central Park? And look how clean it is!!!


Not so clean any longer but it's just proof how fun it is. Lets put it this way, Wille doesn't mind going to the grocery store at all.


There she hangs! I just shoved what few jackets were hanging on the coat rack during summer and hooked the wheels over the front bar. Its not the loveliest thing to look at with the dirt encrusted on it (Wille and I just realised why skateboards usually have black surfaces...) but it's better to have it there than on the floor in the hallway.

It certainly works for now but do you guys have any other ideas for hanging/storing/displaying skateboards and longboards?

Ps. Where on earth did the weekend go???

Our Odd Purchases

Ok, so I think it's time I address your questions and comments about the odd purchases we made while in New York. I do tend to buy my souvenirs at drugstores where I can get useful stuff and still think " I bought this in NYC". There were so many comments about the q-tips in particular and also on the candy and the cereal so here's the deal.

We do have cotton swabs here in Sweden and I'm sure that if I searched and tested another dozen or so boxes I'd find a brand that made them almost as well as the q-tips. But since I go to the US at least once a year and know q-tips are the best I might as well get a box while I'm there. They weigh next to nothing and I'm pleased every-time I grab one. Imagine being pleased 365 times a year!

As for candy, some of you offered recommendations and I'm all ears. BUT I've bought A LOT of candy in the past and we ended up not liking a lot of what I brought home so in the last few years I've just gotten the Lifesavers, Skittles and Trident gum because we love all those. And if you're wondering why we are picky candy eaters it's because some of the best candy and chocolate is Swedish :).

So the cereal. I buy it because it's fun and unusual for us Swedes. We don't have much of this very colorful breakfast stuff over here and I thinks it's a conscious decision from everyone over here that breakfast should be a healthy meal. Swedes in general eat really healthily at breakfast and donuts and other sweets are unheard of in the morning. There are Frosties, Honey Smacks and even Cocoa Pops in the stores but most parents are trying to keep those away from kids because of the high sugar content. So why do I buy them again? Purely for fun. One box of colorful cereal is not going to kill us, it's not like we're eating it every day of the year.

Oh, the 1974 Texas license plate ended up in Wille's room. We got it at one of the flea markets. I love how it reflects light on his wall.

What are your favorite purchases abroad? Do you stick to traditional souvenirs or do you shop the drugstore like I do?

New York, New York

So what were we up to in NYC? Links to our NYC Flickr photos.

•  Skateboarded in Central Park and did some celebrity spotting whenTim Gunn + TV crew walked right next to us on 7th Avenue.

• Had Cheetos at the Roosevelt Hotel. Recommended by the way.

• Quizzed each other on the State capitals and First Ladies and realized that phalanges are finger tips.

• Realized my NYC map was outdated as we stumbled on the USS Intrepid and enjoyed a tour of the USS Growler. Awesome!

• Debated whether the Trump Tower would look better in white marble and chrome. We decided yes, but still pretty tacky.

• Visited Trinity Church as any National Treasure fan would.

• Enjoyed breakfasts at Cosi and well deserved breaks at Starbucks.

• Spent a fortune on admission to Madame Tussuad's. Over rated and over priced but still pretty cool.
  

• Revisited Empire State Building, this time at dusk and as is was getting dark. Amazing.

• Watched the Today Show in the mornings and came to the conclusion that Swedish morning TV sucks.

We also did some shopping. I was allowed mad dashes at Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Restoration Hardware, the Container Store and the basement at Macy's.

I was hoping to get an Ipad for Wille (he got awesome grades and so deserves an extra special treat) but there weren't any in stock at the Apple Store so hopefully when I go back to the US later this year!

So what I'm saying is basically that we had the best time and I can't wait to go back to the US. And Wille? He wants to live there :).

We're back from NYC

We're back! We're jet lagged. Oh boy, we had the best time ever. It was hot, it was humid but it was awesome.


I'll tell you more tomorrow. Still wearing my travel outfit, desperately need a shower, a glass of wine and my bed.


As I unpacked Wille (best traveling buddy ever) and Martin started assembling one of our purchases, a Chrysler Building 3-D kit.

Donna, a reader, insisted on sending me a gift card of some sort a while back and after saying "that's totally unnecessary" a couple of times I ended up accepting one at Barnes & Noble's. 

We had such a good time picking and choosing. Aside from the Chrysler Building kit we also got one with the Empire State Building and the White House as well as a human body pop-up book, some magazines and our favorite, Christoph Niemann's "I Lego N.Y". Thank you so much Donna!

All in all, a great trip! We're pooped. And broke. All in a good way :).

~

Ps. I won!!! Can you believe it? I won the Panduro Concrete Challenge! Found out when I read my e-mails after returning home. Wohooo!!! Panduro, here I come, 4000 kronor / $500 gift card in hand!

Confession Time

Ok, are you ready to confess?! What amenities if any do you bring back after a stay at a hotel? Do you clean out the place like Ross and Chandler or are you picky and only bring a single mini designer lotion home if available?

I'm kind of in between. I used to be greedier but after tossing out old lotions and unused mouth washes I started controlling myself. A little.

This was the amenities tray at the hotel in China back in October. Loads of goodies; loofah, bar soap, vanity kit, sanitary kit, bath salts, two combs, two dental kits, emery board, razor, sewing kit, two shower caps, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and lotion. And if you stashed them in your bag there was a new set upon returning to the room later. Maybe they compensated for the lack of internet access?! I promise I didn't put this into a system but a few things did come with me back home.

So this is the basket that's on one of the shelves in the bathroom. It holds extra razors, dental floss etc but also my stash of hotel tooth brushes...

... yup, guilty as charged. I completely clean hotel rooms of these kits. The reason being that these actually get used. Wille who uses an electric tooth brush at home takes a kit when going on trips and Martin who's allergic to rubber has problems finding tooth brushes he can hold. Did you know that virtually all tooth brushes have rubber grips and features nowadays?! EXCEPT for these cheapo hotel ones.
 

The side pocket of my cute Baby Dwell toiletry case holds part of rest of my hotel loot...

... like these little vanity and sewing kits. Perfect for those hotel nights where the management isn't as generous as the five star China version. The shower caps are for my mom :).

Please remind me that I don't need any more sewing kits though. After I took these photos I found the rest of them (yes, very plural) in a drawer in the sewing nook...

The main compartment of the toiletry case holds those little bottles that are so difficult to resist. I've realized that no one in this household wants to smell like the generic male so I make sure to sniff before pocketing. These sure passed the test. Lovely scents! I also take any small not-to-perfumey lotions that can go into my work bag. Loved getting mini versions of Vaseline Intensive Rescue Lotion at the hotel in King of Prussia in December!

So, please do confess!