Another good bodypump session

Went to another good bodypump class at lunch time today, my body is quite tired now and I'm having a relaxing time in the couch. My legs weren't that sore at all after the 11 km run I did yesterday afternoon, felt much better than last Monday. The bad thing is that I have blisters on my feet after the run, don't know how to avoid getting them if I'm gonna run even longer distances. Oh well, I hope it will get better. I had quite a good training week last week even though I had a sore throat on Thursday and decided to skip the spinning class. It's much better to skip one training session rather than having to skip several training session if you're sick. The summary of last week is as follows:

Week 4
Monday: Bodypump 55 min
Wednesday: 5 km run - 10km/hr, 0,5km*3 at 12km/hr
Sunday: 11 km run - 10km/hr

When I go to the gym I love having nice training gear to put on. I haven't spent much money at all on training clothes lately but will probably do that soon, would love a new pair of Nike running tights and a few new tops. Ordered a pink Champion training bra through Campadre, it normally costs 300SEK but I got it for 130SEK :)

Made a lovely gnocchi dish this evening with chicken, garlic and feta cheese. I love absolutely love gnocchi, it's a great alternative to pasta I reckon. I'm really full now and I'm also really tired. Gonna watch TV for a while and then I'm gonna have an early night. Tomorrow is packed with meetings so I need to have energy for them all!

Layout with photo from Vemdalen

Finally I took the time for some scrapbooking, it has been weeks since the last time and I've really missed it. I had material left from Molly's Scrapbooking kit for January so decided to use that and a photo from Vemdalen. We were there last year with work and on Thursday next week it's time for another ski trip with my lovely colleagues, this time we're heading to Duved/Åre and I'm really looking forward to it :)

I had ordered a mist spray in a dark turquoise colour, also from Molly's scrapbooking, so I decided to spray some of that on a white cardstock. The photo in this layout was taken when it was time for the yearly ski competition and we're all ready to go ;) I've added some things (like the white flowers, the grey scrapbooking paper and the pink, glittery fonts) on this layout from my own supplies but most of it is from the January kit. I got inspired by one of the layouts that my friend Emmeli has created and for the first time I decided to use my sewing machine as well.

Hopefully I'll have time to do some birthday cards today as well, there are a lot of birthdays coming up ;) Soon it's time for lunch and then I'm heading to the gym for a run. Haven't been there since Wednesday so I'm dying for a work out. I woke up with a sore throat on Thursday morning and decided not to risk anything, therefore I skipped the spinning class on Friday :( I think it was a good decision because now I'm feeling fine again and never got sick.

Last night myself, my brother and Maria had some dinner together in my apartment and we also watched the film Love and other drugs with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. I don't think Jake is that good looking normally but I really didn't mind looking at him last night ;) He is looking really well in this film. I cooked Bolognese with vegetable bulgur, a recipe that came with my last delivery from Middagsglädje. It was really nice and a bit different. Tonight it's time for the next delivery so time to cook again ;) I love getting inspiration and it's so handy to have all the food delivered to your door, then you just pick a recipe of your choice and follow it!

Car Crash

It's finally the weekend and I got to stay in bed until 11 o'clock today. I was at a birthday party in Solna last night so I needed it. Little L invited me to M's party and it was a lovely evening with a lot of nice people and a fun music quiz :) Lena was the judge and we were divided into teams, the team that knew the name of the artist AND the song got to nominate one team to drink. I think I did quite well and was the one who got to nominate the other teams whenever it was time for a shot! ;)

I needed a night like that, Lena and I were still a bit shaky from the car crash on Thursday evening. We were just gonna have a cosy night in and I drove the car from work to Lena's place. We were almost there and I had just changed to the left lane to turn left at Råsunda Stadion, when another car crashed into me! Well he crashed into me first and then also crashed into a taxi. We first didn't realise what had happened. Lena gently told me: "I think you should get out of the car!" ;) and so I did. The guy whose fault it was admitted straight away and we agreed to drive into one side to take each others details. When I drove off I heard this scraping noise so had to get out of the car again. My rear had been pushed forward so that it was scraping against the wheel. Luckily we managed to bend it back so that I could drive off.

Both myself and Lena got a bit of a shock so we couldn't really relax after that. But we stayed in Lena's place, cooked some dinner and just placed ourselves in the couch in front of the telly. We both hurt our heads a bit and felt stiff in the neck and the back. But I think it was more because we were shocked and quite tense. Went to the Doctor yesterday to make sure we were ok and so far we feel ok even though we're both still a bit stiff. I really hope that we both will be ok.

I reported everything to my insurance company yesterday and was in contact with the guy who crashed into me. We'll see what happens now and if they can fix the car for me. I'm a bit afraid that they won't want to do it (depending on the damage) but I so want to keep my car that cost me almost nothing for another while!

A lil bro

Benjamin is getting a little brother this summer. Lisa went to have her ultrasound scan yesterday and they're having another boy! That didn't surprise me at all considering the amount of boys on Kim's side of the family, ha ha. I think everybody would've been shocked if it was a girl ;) Everything looked ok and the baby is healthy which is the most important thing, I'm delighted for them and can't wait for the new family member to arrive :)

Today I had a rest from the gym and I needed it! But tomorrow it's time again, I think I'm gonna do a 5 km run. On Friday I'm gonna go to a spinning class with Petra, she says it's a tough one so we'll see if I'll endure it ;) Spinning has never really been my thing but I think it's very good training.

Tonight myself and Jessica went to Bromma Blocks and had dinner there before we went to XXL. She wanted to buy a North Face bag she's been looking at for a while. I had a look at an Everest jacket that I really like but I won't buy a new ski jacket this year, the one I have will have to do for another while yet. On Thursday next week we'll be on our way to Åre/Duved and I can't wait now. Bought a pair of Hestra ski mittens that I really like since they seem to be so warm, they will definitely come with me on this trip! ;)

I need some rest

Today I decided to join the bodypump class at 12:00 and the instructor was somebody I've never met before but I was really impressed by her. She pushed as all and made sure we had the right technique which is SO important. She walked around in the room to watch us and I did my best to keep up with it all. My legs were quite sore from the running last night so I was careful not to put on too much weights. It was a great class though and when I came back to the office to have lunch I had that shaky feeling in both arms and legs - love it! We'll see how my body feels tomorrow ;)

Tonight it's time for Guldbaggegalan 2011. I'm gonna watch that and then go to bed, I need some sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a training free day, thank God. But I know it's equally important to rest in between the training sessions. I'm dying to do some scrapbooking but I'm too tired right now, hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow night or otherwise I will have to wait until the weekend since I have something to do every night this week.

Gotta love that kid

The weekend is coming to an end but I've had a lovely one so I'm not too sad about it. Right now I'm phyiscally exhausted since I went to the gym for a run this afternoon. I ran 10 km on the threadmill and my legs are quite sore after that. Bodypump is on the agenda for tomorrow but we'll see how it goes ;) I'll have to take it easy with the weights I reckon. It feels great though, I'm getting into the training again. I'm writing down all of my training sessions now and I'm trying to squeeze in 2 running sessions per week at least, one shorter distance and one longer (starting off with 10 km but then I'm gonna try to add 1 km at a time). I'm glad I can complete 10 km without any major problems since I haven't been running properly since this summer. So far this my training weeks for 2011 have looked like this:

Week 1
Monday: Bodypump 55 min

Week 2
Monday: 5 km run - 9,5km/hr
Tuesday: Bodypump 55 min
Friday: Functional toning 55 min

Week 3
Monday: 8 km run - 10km/hr
Tuesday: Bodypump 55 min
Saturday: 5 km run - 10,5km/hr
Sunday: 10 km run - 9,5km/hr

Yesterday I went to Vallentuna to have dinner with Kim, Lisa and Benjamin. It was lovely to see Benjamin again and he was full of energy as always. I asked them if he has started talking yet but they said he's still mostly saying "Da" but he's trying. At the kitchen table, Benjamin was eating away and all of a sudden he looked at his mam, formed his lips and out came a loud and clear "Bajs!" (= poo). That was the first word I heard him say ;) After that I heard him say some other words like "Pappa" (= daddy), "Ljus" (= candle) and "Aj" (= ouch). Good boy! Benjamin and I got to play a lot and he gave me a lot of kisses. I stayed the night so we kept playing with each other this morning :) I hope I get to see him soon again cause I miss him already!

Last night we saw the film Precious, it's based on the novel Push by Sapphire. It's a horrible but true story and I really liked the film. The film stars Mariah Carey.

Precious

Hectic week

I'm so glad this hectic week has come to an end, I feel exhausted! Workwise, it feels like I've done nothing else but running from meeting to meeting. It will hopefully get better next week, I need some time to actually catch up on the work load ;) But first, I need a relaxing weekend! Tonight I'm just chilling out, tomorrow it's time to do some running in the gym again and I also need to do the laundry before I drive over to Kim, Lisa and Benjamin in Vallentuna. I haven't seen them since Christmas and I'm dying to play with Benjamin. I wonder is he talking a bit more than the last time?

Last night myself, Lena and Louise went to see Romeo and Juliet and Göta Lejon. We first had dinner at a place called Entré. I had chicken with sundried tomtatoes, risotto and a basil sauce together with a glass of red wine, it was gorgeous. The show was absolutely fantastic and I can highly recommend it to you. Måns Zelmerlöv is brilliant in it and the girl who plays Juliet is also great. I didn't want the show to end and we all had a lovely Thursday evening together.

Earlier on this week I went to Apoteket to buy a new facial cream. I didn't know what to get but then decided to go for Natuvive Essential Almond. I tried the night cream last night and the day cream this morning and the cream feels great on your skin so I think it was a good choice.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Don't you just love tulips

The season for tulips is here and I've promised myself to keep having fresh tulips in my apartment this spring. They make you happy and I think it's important to treat yourself to the small things in life. Today has been a good day, somewhat strange but still good :) Little L is back from Denmark so we had lunch together and it was so nice. We had a lovely chat and I didn't want it to end. More lunches like that please! After lunch I drove to Täby to pick up my mam and dad. I had promised to give them a lift to the airport since they were flying off to Kenya today (I'm not jealous at all by the way ;)). They are going on a safari trip and I think it will be a holiday to remember. They've promised to take loads of pictures and I can't wait to see them when they're back :)

Fajitas and red wine on a Tuesday

I'm currently finishing up in work and getting ready to head over to Petra at Råstensgatan in Sundbyberg. She has invited myself and Jessica over for dinner tonight and we're gonna have fajitas and red wine :) She is moving out of her apartment soon but it will be nice to see it so that I can compare it to her new place as I expect to be invited to the house warming party later on this spring (hint, hint). Today has been a long day, I got up at 6 o'clock this morning to head to the gym. We were 5 people from work altogether and I was shocked when I saw Sven walking in ;) I tried to persuade him to go last week but he just shook his head and when I asked him gently last night I got a quick No! for an answer. It was fun but I reckon my body is gonna be sore again tomorrow, I can already feel it coming on now!

Coffee with Annica, Emily and Joline

Sweet little Joline

On Saturday I met up with Annica and Emily for a coffee, we hadn't seen each other for about a year. The last time I saw Annica I didn't even know she was gonna be a mum, since she didn't tell any of us and pretended to drink wine ;) We went to Espresso house to have a chat and it was really nice to see them again. Besides, Joline is such an adorable little girl. She has got eyes just like her mum and she's so cute!

I'm just back from the gym, managed to run 8 km on the threadmill tonight. I think it's quite boring to run on the threadmill but you can't exactly go out for a run when the weather is like this and there is so much ice on the ground. I'm gonna try and follow a training programme that I found on the Intranet to slowly get used to longer and longer distances. Since I'm only back into the training again I can tell you that my legs are pretty tired now. I might get to run once more this week, then I'm just gonna run 5 km and take it easy. Next week I'll try to run 10 km, at least I know I can do half the distance then ;) But before that, it's time for bodypump early tomorrow morning again!

Salmon prepared

Last night I had some food delivered to my door again and I made one of the dishes - salmon with goats cheese, honey and pecan nuts with a warm potatoe salad with lemon, olive oil, dill and apricots. It was gorgeous! If I have the energy tonight I'll try and do the pasta with haloumi cheese and zucchini so that I can bring my lunch box with me into work again. Feels so good! ;)

Tonight it's time for Idrottsgalan again, I'm definitely gonna watch that. I saw that Jonas was gonna head to Globen to watch it live, I did that a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it!

Annica

Emily and I

January challenge for Svensk Scrapbooking

Got to do a bit of scrapbooking yesterday again and decided to use the material from Molly's Scrapbooking kit to create a layout for the January challenge for Svensk Scrapbooking. I used two photos that Jonas took of me when we were in Oslo in January 2009. We went there to celebrate Morten on his birthday and we had just bought a new system camera that we tested frequently while exploring the city :)

The layout I created is quite dark, the cardstock is a greyish colour with a shiny finish and the other scrapbooking paper that I used the most is black with snow flakes in different colours. I've also used a tinsel in green that came with the January kit, a few punched butterflies in blue and I also cut out a couple of penguins that I placed in the middle of the layout to follow the sketch.

Fashion desires

As you know I love fashion and clothes shopping but I shouldn't be buying that much clothes for a while now. I need to save up some money for other things and I have a wardrobe full of clothes. Funnily enough I never have anything to wear ;) I've promised myself to write down everything I buy this year to find out how much money I actually spend on clothes and hopefully when I see the figure at the end of the year I'll get put off as I will realise how many other things I can do/buy for that money. I think it's ok to look around though and right now the following are some of my fashion desires:

From the top left:
1) Blouse Lindex
2) Trousers Vila
3) Cardigan Lindex
4) Top Topshop
5) Top Vila
6) Top Vila
7) Shorts Topshop
8) Blouse Asos

Let's Dance tonight

TGIF! I can't wait to open a bottle of red wine and just relax in front of the TV. It's time for Let's Dance tonight again and it's extra fun to watch it since my old school buddy Maria Lindberg (who is dancing with Björn Ranelid) is one of the contestants. She has been dancing for as long as I can remember and she has always been really good. I haven't been in touch with her since we graduated school but we have some friends in common so I met her before Christmas when she and her friend Jeanette had a premiere party for their blog Damrummet at Collage.

It has been a good week but it feels like I was never off work ;) I'm so busy again and I'm struggling to meet all the deadlines of my tasks already! I think it's gonna be a fun spring though because I'm part of a new exciting project so I enjoy being busy. Today myself and Petra tried out the Functional Toning class at the gym which is a muscle toning class but a bit "softer" than bodypump and with less weights. I liked some of the movements but others were a bit difficult to follow and it was difficult to get the most out of them. We'll see if I try it again or not but now I know what it is anyway :)

Registered for Göteborgsvarvet 2011

I don't know what has gotten into me BUT the other day I decided to register for Göteborgsvarvet in May 2011 which is a 21 km run in Gothenburg - a half marathon! I've been playing with the thought a few times before but never really thought I'd actually decide to do it. It's a very popular run so you could only register for the special charity start group, but that is even better since you donate money to a charity organisation of your choice and then you get to represent them in the run. The registration fee is higher of course but I'm just glad to be able to help and I chose to donate my money to Barncancerfonden.

Picture borrowed from www.goteborgsvarvet.com

I've never ever completed a run longer than 10 km so this will be interesting. I know I will have to do a lot of running this spring to be prepared for this event and I know it's gonna be a huge challenge for me. But I'm really looking forward to it and I want to have something to focus on. My goal is just to complete the run, I don't care if I run at a slow pace at all but I want to run the whole way through. I know I'll be so proud if I succeed and I really hope that my knees will be able for it.

If anybody feel that they want to cheer me on, feel free to come down to Gothenburg on the 21st of May! ;)

Urban Deli @ Nytorget

I'm just back from a nice dinner with Maria, Louise and Malin. We went to Urban Deli at Nytorget tonight and had such a lovely evening with nice food, great service and a lot of talking ;)

Malin and Louise

My sirloin steak :)

Molly's scrapbooking challenge for January

I've just completed a layout for the January challenge for Molly's scrapbooking. I picked up the monthly kit at the weekend and looked at the lovely material for a while before I had an idea of what to create. The photo I've used is from Åre last year of me and Maria. I think it was a perfect photo considering the winter theme and also the pink ski goggles since I had decided to use pink colours in the layout. Almost all of the material that I've used for this layout is from the January kit. However, I've added a couple of flowers. I also made retro punched flowers from a pink paper that was included in the kit. The glittery letters in pink are from the December kit and the dew drops in red and green that I've used for the flowers I had ordered additionally from Molly's. I have to say that I love the Prima winter branches, those are really the icing on the cake in this layout.

I should probably say that the challenge was to use the January kit and the title had to be Hej mitt vinterland, one snowflake had to be represented on the layout and also one button. You can see the layout below:

Not much sleep

I'm extremely tired today since I only got about 4 hours sleep last night. I went to bed quite early, well about 22:30, because I wanted to get up for the early bodypump class. Fell asleep about half an hour later but then woke up at 3 o'clock this morning and couldn't fall asleep again :( I tossed and turned around for about 3 hours before it was time to get up. Since I was already awake it wasn't too bad, so I went straight to the gym. I just love bodypump, it gives you such a good workout and you work with most of the main muscle groups. We were only 4 people there but it didn't matter. Had a nice, long shower afterwards but as soon as I was in the office I could really feel how tired I was. It was really bad until lunch time, then I went out to Sundbybergs Centrum for a long lunch with Gabi before I headed back again. Had more energy this afternoon and got quite a good bit done.

After work I decided to head to Solna Centrum as I really needed a pair of flat boots that are neat enough for going out. I wanted no heels since they should be walkable in this kind of weather when it's very slippery out. Luckily enough I found the perfect pair in Scorett (I've had a look around previously in other Scorett shops but didn't see them then)!

First day in work completed

So it wasn't so bad to go into work this morning, I was worried about being really tired. I had set the alarm for 7 o'clock and snoozed for an hour before I had the energy to get out of bed ;) Got into work for 9 and joined the weekly meeting. I love the fact that we get served breakfast on Monday mornings and today I was really hungry. There was no food in sight before the meeting so we started anyway. The meeting went on for about 40-50 minutes but when it was over there was still no breakfast. Gabriella and I decided to go down to have breakfast at Espresso house then, otherwise I would have had no energy for work.

I had a lot of emails to go through so I spent most of the day trying to reduce the amount of emails in the inbox. I think it's gonna be a busy spring, I have a lot on the agenda and there is a lot of catching up to do. Things look like they normally do with an outlook calendar full of meetings for this week ;)

After work I wanted to go to the gym but it was a bad call to go down at 5pm. It was really busy down at the gym and all of the threadmills were taken when I came out. Luckily one of the guys was finished after a few minutes so I hopped on it and started running. I haven't done any running for about two and a half months (woops) so I took it easy. Ran 5 kilometres in 30 minutes and decided that it was enough for today.

I've just had a lovely pasta sallad with mango, tomatoes, red onions, baby spinach, avocado, pasta, halloumi cheese and sweet chilli sauce. I'm really full now. Now it's time to watch TV for a while, then I'm gonna jump into bed. Tomorrow it's time for bodypump again, it's gonna be an early start since it's on at 6:45 tomorrow morning ;)