Inlines

During Easter I tried inlines for the first time and after a shaky start I think I managed to skate quite well ;) I have been wanting to go skating ever since but since I was running the half marathon I wanted to wait with the inlines skating until afterwards. Now the time has finally come but I think it will be difficult to get out this weekend since we have a busy schedule :)

Tomorrow I'm working a full day but in the evening we're heading towards Grisslehamn to go with the ferry over to Eckerö, Åland. We're visiting my parents and will be staying for two days. Kim, Lisa & Benjamin and also Adam & Sofie will be there so hopefully we'll get the chance to meet up with them while we're there. I wanna see my grandparents as well as Titti, Knutte & Oliver so there are plenty of people to visit ;) Hopefully the weather will be nice so that we can take the boat out but we'll see.

On Saturday we're gonna be at home and we might meet up with F's friends and then on Sunday we're heading to Örebro :) I'm so looking forward to that! Maria & Marcus have invited us over and we're gonna stay one night with them. I think Maria has pretty much figured out how we're gonna spend our time over there and I know it's including some shopping! I'm gonna try not to buy too much stuff but there are a few outlets we're gonna visit so you never know ;) I think this is gonna be a brilliant weekend and I'm so looking forward to it after a few really hectic days in work!

Korean food

I've had a nice and relaxing weekend this weekend and I so needed it. On Saturday we went into town to have a look at all the marathon runners and I was hoping to get a glimpse of Lina and Hilton or Tuffy. It was quite cold on Saturday but I suppose it was great weather for the runners. After walking around the shops for a while (Note - I didn't buy anything, only a present for mam! ;)) we walked out to have a look at the runners. Where we stood the runners were on their second lap and had run around 29 kilometres. I think it's so impressive that so many people are able to run that distance. I mean I am so proud of doing half the distance and I can only imagine how sore your body must be after such a run. Anyway after standing there for half an hour to 45 minutes I finally noticed Lina and Hilton in the crowd and I was shouting and screaming to cheer them on - well done guys!

Yesterday we decided to head to IKEA, I haven't been there for ages. I bought some stuff that I have thinking of buying for a long time; a cake dish(!), lighter duvets for the summer, duvet covers and some candles. Later on in the afternoon we went to F's mam in Vällingby because we were having dinner there. Since it was Mother's Day F and his brother cooked some Korean food, it was my first time trying it and it was yummy :) I was so stuffed afterwards and I don't know how we managed to have blueberry pie as well before we left to go home!

Tonight I've been to Täby to have dinner with my parents and to celebrate Mother's Day. I had bought some marzipan chocolate and a Nuxe hand cream that I gave mam as well as a card that I had made!

The BRIT Awards 2011 - Adele sings Someone Like You

This is an amazing performance by the beautiful and talented Adele - LOVE it!

Finally Friday

It's finally Friday and I'm so looking forward to heading over to F's place where we're gonna have dinner, wine and chill out in the couch. We're having steak and potato gratin, yum! Last night we had our summer party with work in the office. It was nice as always and we started off with drinks on the terrace. We were served a vodka, tonic and Piggelin ice cream drink - very nice! After that it was time for dinner and a music quiz. I just loved how much Jessica tried to collect points for our team but it just didn't go our way ;) Later on there was a live band playing and everbody was dancing and having a good time. Some of us went out later and I didn't get home until 01:00 this morning.

I was a bit tired when my alarm went off but I have been feeling ok today anyway. Myself, Jessica and Petra went for a nice lunch at Serrano and then I left early in the afternoon to go to my lovely hairdresser Emma. Now my hair is a bit shorter (though it's still long ;)) and has more of a natural colour with just a few highlights. I like it a lot :)

Result 1:58:42

On Saturday it was finally time for me to run a half marathon in Gothenburg. I had been waiting for it ever since I decided to register for the run at the beginning of this year and I just wanted to get it over and done with. Luckily the weather was just perfect for the day, about 15 degrees - not too cold nor too hot ;) I left Stockholm at around 9 with the train and I arrived in Gothenburg at 12:20. I hopped on the tram that took me to the place where the number pick up was. I was starting with the charity group as I was running for Barncancerfonden, the organization of my choice. We were over 2600 people that were running for charity and together we raised over 1.3 million SEK.

My goal was to just finish the run without doing any walking. I was thinking beforehand that it would be nice to run with a pace of 10km/hr to complete the run in 2:06:00 and I was dreaming about getting a time of under two hours. My start was at 14:50 and I was very eager to start running. The course circles the city crossing over two bridges. After the first couple of kilometres I started feeling less nervous and it felt good running. The first 10 kilometres felt great actually and I passed 10 kilometres at 53:35. When I got to 12-13 kilometres my knees started hurting a bit. A while later when I reached 15-16 kilometres my legs were getting really sore and my knees hurt even more but I was determined to keep on going. After another couple of kilometres - at around 18 kilometres - I started wondering if I was gonna be able to complete the run at all as my legs were so sore and my energy levels started dropping. I still kept going but at a slower pace as I was getting really tired. I looked at my watch like so many times before and realised that time was ticking away. But after another few kilometres I finally finished the run and the time I got was 1:58:42!

I'm so happy and proud of myself for doing it. This was a personal challenge I had set for myself this year and I did it!! :) Thanks to all of you for cheering me on, it meant a lot to me.

I took the train back and arrived to the central station in Stockholm at just before 22:00 that evening. F was kind enough to come and pick me up and I was in pain walking to the car I can tell you. But after putting on some tiger balm and a good night sleep I felt great again. I actually thought I was gonna be more sore than I was.

Yesterday F and I went to Brunnsviken with the boat where we stopped the engine and did some sunbathing. We had some bubbly and just relaxed together, it was so nice. After a while we went to café Sjöstugan where we had some lunch and then we went back to Djurgårdskanalen where we met up with F's friend for a coffee. We had such a great Sunday in the sun and I'm already looking forward to taking the boat out again ;)

Songs from the concert

Today I found some videos on youtube from the concert on Sunday, it's always nice to hear the result afterwards. While you're on stage it's difficult to get the full picture of what it sounds like but I think it sounds pretty good! ;) It was a lot of fun anyway and that's the main thing.

Tonight myself and F went to Kista galleria to get some dinner and to have a look around. I needed to go back to the Boomerang shop with a blazer I bought not too long ago. They're so service minded in there and the girl said they are going to fix the seams, no problem. F was looking for a jacket and found one in MQ. I saw a pair of Bondelid jeans on sale (50%) that I tried on and they fitted me perfectly. I shouldn't be buying any clothes right now though but as nice as he is F bought them for me ♥.

Now I'm gonna have a shower and then just relax in the sofa for a while before it's time to go to bed. I just realised that it's only 4 days to go before I'm running the half marathon - HELP!!

Sjung Nu concert 15th of May

I'm so glad Monday is almost over, I just didn't want to get up when the alarm went off this morning and I have been really tired throughout the day. Tonight I'm heading to bed early! The reason I'm so tired is because we had our concert with the choir yesterday which is our way to end the semester. We all met up at 12 and sang until about 15:30. Then we had a short break before it was time to get on the stage for 16:00 again. F had bought a ticket and was in the audience which meant a lot to me.

I really enjoyed the concert and we all gave it all we had, I think it was probably the best concert we've done so far (it was the 10th concert with the Sjung Nu choir and I've been part of three of them now). Our guest artists Lisa Nilsson and Stephen Simmonds brought the concert to another level and it was a pleasure singing with them. We sang Armageddon with Stephen and Himlen runt hörnet with Lisa, we also did the beautiful Tror på dig all of us together. To finish off, the choir sang Total Praise which is one of my favourite songs with the choir - it's so powerful!

Louise and I had more or less said that we were gonna skip next semester with the choir to see if we were gonna miss it and because it felt like a good time for a break. But then they told us that next semester they're gonna change some things and we're gonna do a Christmas concert with more of an unplugged sound. When they informed us about that yesterday we looked at each other and thought Feck it, we'll go for it again! :)

A few weeks ago myself and the girls met up on a Saturday to make sushi together. Camilla was in charge and told us what to do ;) We had such a good time and made the most tasteful sushi I've ever had! We drank a lot of wine, talked a lot and had a great laugh. We're not that good at meeting up very often but now we've booked another Saturday in June that we're gonna spend together. I'm already looking forward to it :)

Longing for ice cream

The best way to greet the spring/summer is to buy an ice cream with chocolate sprinkles and to sit down to enjoy it in Kungsträdgården. I try to do this every year but didn't get there until this weekend. On Saturday I finally got to enjoy a lovely ice cream in the sun! :) The weather is still great and it looks good for tomorrow as well. I think we're getting a bit of rain on Thursday but that's fine as long as the sun comes back again in a day or two.

Tonight myself and Maria enjoyed a lovely sushi at restaurant Raw. I have wanted to go there for ages but didn't get a chance until now. The sushi was lovely and Maria and I got to catch up properly, we haven't seen each other since Easter. After our dinner we bought an ice cream each and walked back to Fridhemsplan to take the tube home.

Tonight I have to do a bit of tidying up before I go to bed and I need to water my flowers. I'm quite tired already but I think I will just put on some good music to make the cleaning a bit more fun. Don't know if cleaning could ever be fun but I can try to pretend anyway! ;)

Coffee with Johanna, boat trip and visit to Fjäderholmarna

Yesterday was a fantastic day, the weather was fabulous and when I woke up I was in a great mood. I didn't have any breakfast at home since I was meeting up for coffee with Johanna. I haven't seen her in ages so I was really looking forward to seeing her again. We met up at the tube station in Abrahamsberg and then we went to the cafe Lina & Jag (I think that is what it's called). We could sit outside in the sun and I had a sandwich and a raspberry smoothie and Johanna ordered a ceasar sallad. We tried to catch up as much as possible but the time flew by and all of a sudden it was time for her to go home and for me to head into Nybrokajen where F was going to pick me up with his boat ;)

I left Fridhemsplan and arrived to Nybrokajen around 10 minutes later. I only had to wait a few minutes before F was there to pick me up. He had M & M with him and we headed to Djurgårdskanalen where we also enjoyed a nice glass of rose wine. I thought it was going to be cold on the boat so I had quite a bit of clothes with me but that was unnecessary. After a while we stopped the engine and just floated around for a while, while listening to music and chatting away to each other. When we were hungry enough we decided to go to Fjäderholmarna, they opened for the summer just aweek ago. I haven't been there for a couple of years, but it was as nice then as it was now. We sat down at the restaurant Rökeriet and ordered lunch. I had smoked salmon with potatoes and vegetables and it was absolutely gorgeous. We had the best seats with our faces towards the beautiful sun. After coffee we walked around the island before we hopped on the boat again. I had such a fabuolous Sunday with the best company, I could easily do it over and over again! :)

Great run

Today I decided to go for a run at lunch time, Rita had a zumba class at the same time but since the half marathon is in two and a half weeks I wanted to concentrate on the running. As soon as I stepped on the threadmill I felt that I was full of energy and therefore I started running at quite a high pace, 12km/hr to be exact :) I kept running and increased the speed even more after a while. I managed to finish 10 kilometres in 49:45 and 12 kilometres in 59:31. I'm so happy, that is the fastest run for me ever. OK I was running on a threadmill and if you run outside you probably won't be able to keep that speed but I'm happy anyway and feel proud of myself, he he.

Tonight I had to bring my laptop home with me to do some work. I hope we're gonna be ready for tomorrow, I'm quite excited actually. I'm also excited about the weekend, glad it's finally here. I'm hoping to have a lie in on Saturday, it's so nice to be able to stay in bed. Now I'm gonna finish off for the night, meant to look at a particular problem we ran into this afternoon but I forgot the papers in work. Will have to get up early tomorrow morning instead :S

Cake dish

I have been looking for a cake dish for quite a while, the reason for it taking so long is because I don't really know what I want but I have found one that I like now. It is one in white from Nordjus and it costs 379 SEK. It would be perfect for putting homemade cup cakes on it ;)

I'm back from Denmark now but I decided not to go for the dinner tonight in the end. I have a bit of a headache again and there is quite a lot of work to do before Friday so I thought it was better to stay home. We've had a good trip and got a good bit done but like I said, there are still some tasks left. Fingers crossed and everything will go well when we go live with the project on Friday!

Just looking at the weather forecast and it looks like it's getting warmer again, thank God. It was really cold today again and I'm missing the warm weather we had for Easter. Looking forward to the weekend, I have nothing planned other than meeting up with Johanna on Sunday. We haven't seen each other for ages so it'll be nice with a catch up :)

Crowne Plaza

Sitting in my hotel room at Crowne Plaza in Orestad, Denmark, right now. I'm trying to get the Internet connection working but it's not my best friend at the moment. I'm hoping to get some reports done tonight but we'll see how it goes since the connection is not very stable. If I don't get it done I'm gonna have a VERY busy day tomorrow and we have to leave the office at around 13:30 to go to the airport. Our flight is at 15:30 so we'll arrive in Sweden 16:45 I think, it's nice not to get home too late.

Tomorrow night I'm heading out for dinner with the team, I thought I was gonna miss it but I think I'll get back just in time to join my colleagues :)

Last night I missed the session with my choir, we only have one more session before the concert so I'm gonna have to practice at home now. Otherwise I won't be too comfortable at the concert and I can't let that happen since F will be coming to hear me sing ;)

Had a great weekend last weekend, I helped F with the boat, met up with the girls to make our own sushi (which was yum by the way!) and went out to Täby to have dinner with my parents. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as good as it was the weekend before last. I heard that it was snowing in Stockholm today and I'm glad I wasn't there.. It hasn't been snowing in Denmark but it's freezing and it started raining in the afternoon today.

I better get to my reports now before the Internet connection starts acting up on me again. Looking forward to going home tomorrow!