Welcome to the Neighbourhood!

Spring, or better yet, Summer, has arrived in Uppsala. Yesterday, it must have been 25 and I have the sunburn to prove it. No, I didn't venture out in a bikini (not THAT brave yet with 10 more pounds to go) but I was wearing a tank top and am still wearing it judging by the burn lines.

A few doors down from our townhouse, there's an opening and the neighbours have set up a pseudo-park with a swing set, trampoline and sand box. Little man loves it!

We've been spending a lot of time there with the neighbourhood kids and it's made me realize just how important it is for both of us to have some friends outside of school and work.

The neighbours have been rather kind and welcoming of us English-speakers. Regardless of the fact that everyone here speaks English, I'm feeling more like the "odd one out" than when I lived in Montenegro, where English-speakers were few and far between.

My desperation is growing to learn the language but the kids are my best teachers because I'm forced to speak to them in Swedish. Little Man's having none of it though, "Mama, you speak English!" Guess he likes keeping his special little club all to himself...ha!

Oh, I think I promised y'all some Moscow pics eh? Next post. Hubby finally finished them all up and we've proudly posted them to Facebook. Now to select a few to share with you.

Hope the weather is warming up wherever you are!

Weigh-in Wednesday (on Thurs.): Week 3 of 5

Two weeks? Is that all I have left? 73.1! I'm creeping closer ladies! Been pretty strict about the eating habits as of late though only one powerwalk this week...but an effective one. I told neighbour friend that she should really stop lying to me. These are NOT powerwalks. They are powerHIKES. You wouldn't believe the inclines she has us tackling. Crazy woman! She's cruisin' on up and I'm ready to pass out with each painful step. As I can't seem to get it together without her, the plan is for a YouTube video on the off nights from now on.

Time is ticking and I have 4 more kilos to go, that's 8 lbs or so.

Or maybe I'll just give this little blog weekly the finger and make an appointment for lypo...ha!

Nah,  I'm not a quitter. At least that's what the lady who owns the apartment I want to rent this summer told me. I.cannot.stop.haggling. Which is weird because I'm not cheap in any other area of my life. But there's something about driving a stranger to give me a deal (actually in most cases it's driving a stranger to not rip me off). Though I did promise to bring her Swedish salmon if this all works out.

Summer is coming and my bikini is calling from its hibernation in the black hole that is my closet. The bikinis on the H&M models on bus stop billboards around town are also screaming. Why do these girls always have no boobs?

I hear Den is doing really great these past couple of weeks. She lost 2 of something but not sure if that's metric, imperial or what, so share Den!

Mothers Day or whatever it was

Mother's Day has come and gone. I spent the day talking to the Moms on Skype, getting groceries and making meals. See, it wasn't Mother's Day here in Sweden so apparently we'll wait for that one for: breakfast in bed, presents, a meal out, a hand drawn card from the little man. Wait, I did get flowers, the day after. Apparently they took a detour through North America on their way from Planet Idiot. Seriously though, I had mother's day in Moscow. I stayed at a luxury hotel, never had to make a meal and got treated like a queen. It was the best Mother's Day EVER and it lasted 5 days!

Speaking of Mothers. I find myself turning into mine with each passing day. I used to laugh at my Mom and her vanity full of facial creams. From Avon to Clinique, Estee Lauder, some jungle tonic, cow manure, dead sea extract..you name it, she had it. And swore by it.

"What are you using on your face?" she'd ask.
I'd laugh.
I think, at the time, 10 years ago, I had the same bottle of yellow Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion for at least the past 2 years. And it was half full.
I'm not laughing anymore.
I see the "fine lines". I have dreams of Botox. I went through one container of L'Oreal in two months and rushed out for a new one. "Make way fresh-face 20 somethings, the wrinkles are coming and I need to send them a one-way ticket back and STAT."
My mother used to say (and still does), "You need to take care of your skin Jennifer. You have your father's skin and that's NOT a good thing." Hubby jokes that I'll end up looking like one of those shrunken head dolls in 10 years.
F-word.
Now I'm a face cream machine. I'm always slathering something on my face and nearly veering off the road everytime I get stuck behind that bus with the ad promoting restilyn (sp?) at the local spa. Even though it's in Swedish, I'm desperately trying to read what it says. Cuz I'm hoping it says something like: "Get rid of those unsightly wrinkles forever with just one payment of $9.99."
Sigh.
Next will be the gray hair...cue designer shampoos to line the bathtub ledge.

Holy MosCOW! Part 1

My husband and I are fortunate to have some of the best friends in the world. And when I say "world", I mean it. From all parts of Canada to Montenegro, Sweden, Russia, Serbia, UK, the US and more. I'm not sure why we've been so incredibly blessed with such dear friends (and family!), but everyday I see how positively these friendships impact our lives.

Photo courtesy of www.national.ru, our 5-star accomodations

It was a friend who introduced my husband to the greatest opportunity of our lives, who gave us the key that opened the door to our great family adventure. And that's just one friend.

We nurture our friendships and we give as much as we receive.

One of the greatest examples of friendship this year was our invitation to a friend's birthday party in Moscow. How many times have we all said to our friends, "You're more than welcome. Come anytime. We'd love to have you." and REALLY meant it? Often times, it's just one of those things you say. Well our Moscow friends, who I met on a beach in Herceg Novi in 2007, have been asking us to come and visit. But it was one email in particular, sent to my husband, that sincerely expressed their desire to host us, honestly wishing the pleasure of our company, that sealed the deal.

"Let's do it. If we don't do it now, we may never do it," said hubby.

From the time we said, "We're coming." until the day after we left, we felt the sincerity of their invitation and we were humbled.

It might be easier to bullet point their thoughtfulness, kindness, generosity and love, because, well, there was just sooooo much of it:
- Arranging for our visas, upgrading our room at a 5-star hotel in the dead center of Moscow so that our room overlooked the one thing hubby was dying to explore, The Kremlin.

photo courtesy of hubby, view from our room

- Picking us up at the airport. May not seem like such a big deal but D's hubby is a deputy mayor of Moscow and is extremely busy. I did not expect to see him there or as much as we did.
- Taking little man to Gorky Park to climb all over the tanks before heading out to a Georgian restaurant for a first class meal.
- Hiring the best tour guide in all of Moscow to take us on a private tour of The Kremlin and Red Square.
- Downloading some Russian cartoons on a USB for little man to watch during any downtime.
- Ensuring we had enough time between the tour and D's birthday party to freshen up before D's hubby and his driver picked us up to take us to the party location.
- The party. She told me in advance she had a surprise for us, even though it was her birthday. I couldn't imagine what she had planned. Forget the gorgeous and luxurious party location, the exquisite food, the clown she hired to entertain the children, the open bar, the fountain outside...She hired a troupe of multiple award-winning Khazak dancers that perform for the Prime Minister and visiting dignitaries to sing and dance, completely outfitted in traditional costume. No words can accurately describe that experience. And then later on in the evening, the bartender put on an impressively skillful show, much to everyone's delight. When it was my turn to give a toast to the birthday girl, I choked up at the end. It was all just too much.
- The messages on what to do and see in Moscow. From checking to make sure the Darwin museum was open for the little man to ensuring we had a reasonably-priced car to drive us to the airport.
Unfortunately, her youngest son was ill while we were there and so she shuffled him back and forth between his grandparents and his nanny, afraid our little man might catch what he had.
- The gifts. I am so thankful I spent the time and energy I did to ensure we came with our hands full of thoughtful gifts for their family. One of hubby's most prized gifts is a gorgeous coffee table book they brought for him on one of their trips to Montenegro. They added to his collection, gifted us with lovely Russian dolls, a prize jewelry box, a gold lapel pin with the Russian coat of arms and thoughtful prezzies for little man. I was flabergasted...as if only ONE of the above-mentioned kindnesses wouldn't have been enough?

photo courtesy of hubby, Moscow at night

I know, I'm prattling on with incessant detail here but this post is more for me than it is for you. I have to remember everything, every single detail of one of the greatest trips of my life. I have to be able to come back and look at the gift of friendship bestowed upon us.

And no, this is NOT about the money. I can't even begin to fathom what our visit cost them. I think it's obvious to you that they don't live in squalor ;-). Even after repeatedly assuring her that we were low-maintenance, just-happy-to-see-them kind of people, THIS was the reception we received. I really should have worn my crown. Of course we were blown away by the lavishness of it all (who wouldn't be?).

But it was all the little things; their genuine affection towards our family, the cartoons, the fretting about having her home "presentable" (I'll save "her home" for part 2), the constant checking to make sure we were ok, chatting over a cup of Starbucks coffee in her kitchen, introducing us to their friends and family, making sure our little man was always a priority, D's hubby's availability when we know he is always so busy, putting their day-to-day lives on hold to be with us, the smiles (no matter how stressed they must have been). These are the things I will cherish the most. You know, I have a few draft posts about "hospitality" that I have never published. Mainly because I didn't want to offend anyone. But they go something like this, "Never, EVER show up to someone's home empty-handed", etc. I have been inspired to publish them and I will.

I feel grateful, humbled and above all, blessed. I am not sure what we did to deserve such friends, such an experience. I am honoured to call them our friends and am already planning for their visit to Sweden, whenever that may be. And when I extend that invitation to them, it will be a sincere request to enjoy the pleasure of their company.

This was Part 1, the most important part of our journey. Part 2 will have loads more photos, once hubby finishes editing all 700 of them...oy.

Thank you D, A, M and E for the experience of a lifetime. xoxo

Weigh-in Wednesday: Week 2 of 5

Welcome back ME! So...Moscow. In one word: amazing. In two words: Unbelievably Amazing. In three words: well, you get the picture.

Let's tally up scoring in the food vs. Jenn 5-day battle, shall we? Please note, scoring makes no sense whatsoever and is not to scale.

Saturday: Low-carb plane food, I win! Could I have been any more excited to see cold chicken breast, ham slices, onions, CHEDDAR cheese and cherry tomatoes being served? There WAS bread, but I gave it the middle finger.
Jenn: 1, Food: 0
Saturday night: Night out at beautiful Georgian restaurant featuring all kinds of tasty pate type dishes and handfuls of fresh herbs and the main course? Meat. Then there was that sweet red wine...
Jenn: 1, Food: 1

Sunday: Breakfast buffet at five-star hotel with more eggs and greasy meat than an Atkins girl could ask for. Steered clear of the fresh pastry table. Had a few licks of the little man's ice cream cone but all and all, not bad.
Jenn: 2, Food: 1
Sunday night: Elegant birthday party with selection of equally appealing foods. Not bad Jenn. But wait, open bar with amazing selection of fruity drinks AND the.most.amazing.birthday.cake.ever?
Jenn:-10, Food: 10

Monday: Breakfast buffet! Hello little sausages, how I need thee to coat my upset stomach with your thin veil of greasy goodness. Moscow McD's for lunch (minus buns, add fries).
Jenn: 2, Food: 2
Monday night: Birthday party leftovers...with champagne.
Jenn: 1, Food: 3

Tuesday: Hi BB! Salty bacon dipped in scrambled eggs...yum. Chips and chocolate for lunch?
Jenn: -5, Food: 5
Tuesday night: 5-star Russian restaurant with my Official Last Meal if I'm ever sent to death row: Borscht, add Russian dumplings and pies and wine.
Jenn: -5, Food: 5

You do the math. It ain't pretty. Ok, so it's not a TOTAL disaster. I did manage to maintain some semblance of control. sorta, kinda. But I am officially declaring the scale broken this week as I FAST, DETOX and cram as many eggs into my body as humanly possible until next week. I can do it. It's my blog. Let's just assume 75. I feel about 75.

Oh but loads of exercise this week! Walking through The Kremlin, Red Square, swimming in the hotel swimming pool. Yay!

Now that was my Weigh-In Wednesday version of our Adventure in Moscow. Tune in tomorrow for the non-food version, some pics and well, who am I kidding, I gotta talk a little about the FOOD.

How'd y'all do? Do special occasions get in the way of your diet/fitness regime? Talk to me. I'll listen but only after a good night's sleep. Nighty night.
ps. Missed you guys. I wasn't deliberately ignoring you. Just alternating between on-the-go, snoring, drinking (and eating), and dancing!

Weigh-in Thursday: Week 1 of 5

Hello lady friends and the few gentlemen who are following along silently. Yup, I'm a day late again and no, it's not because I need an extra day with my scale. Or maybe it is. But no, it isn't. Just been super busy preparing for our trip to Moscow in 2 more sleeps! We're headed to one of the most expensive cities in the world and we've already spent a small fortune getting ready.

In over a year, I've barely shopped for myself. Mainly because who wants to buy clothes that are a size (or two) bigger than they should be? urghhh. And the other reasons? Well I work from home so my wardrobe consists of jogging pants and old t-shirts. And we barely go out, so who needs high heels and high class? But I finally bit the bullet and hubby splurged on me. In fact, just yesterday he came home with the absolute best shirt in the world. I promise to post a photo of me in it at the fancy schmancy birthday party we're attending Saturday night.

Oh and I should also mention that along with the awesome lilacky pouffy shirt, hubby laid something very sinful on my keyboard when I wasn't looking. I opened the bag and there it was. A small "Sicilian Rocket", aka, the Canoli. I was determined to walk that phalic-inspired delicacy straight over to the compost bin. But then I thought to myself, "Self, hubby knows you're struggling with your weight and he never would have put this here if he didn't think it was worth it." So self ate it. And let me tell you Hyacynth, that DID taste as good as healthy feels. Now normally that taste of sugar would have sent me into a downward spiral. But I held it together and did NOT run for the cupboard. So yay me!

Now my main worry is how many kilos I'm going to gain while there. I mean, how best to show hospitality but with FOOD? And vodka of course. And then I'll be forced to eat carby food because I need to soak up the vodka. Damn. So I'm going in at 73.5. Now let's just see what I come back with for next week's Weigh-In Wednesday. Maybe I should get on Den's detox stat...you know, to cleanse the pipes before they get clogged up again.

The walking has been sporadic due to the weather and the fact that my walking buddy has made the leap to jogging. Yay for her! I promised her I would hit the pavement and high speeds once I can actually keep up with her in slow motion. Wish me luck.

Oh, I almost forgot. I bought a pair of leggings. I succombed to Swedish Style. Now I just need the short leather jacket, a pair of Converse sneakers and I'm all set. The leggings. Why do overweight girls insist on wearing them? Yes, there was a time, a week ago, when I judged them for taking such a bold fashion risk. I admit, I snickered silently. But they're so damn comfy. Like wearing jogging pants or no pants at all. I'm on the edge. You look. You look again. You wonder, "should she really be wearing those?" Leggings aren't really for big-legged girls. But if I pair them with heels and an ass-covering shirt, I sorta, kinda can get away from that 2nd look of almost disaproval.

When I post the pic of the awesome shirt hubby bought me, you'll notice that it will be paired with black leggings and you can judge me (as punishment for me judging others). Sorry God, you're the only One allowed to judge.

The other day we're in the packed grocery store and Little Man blurts out rather suddenly and very loudly, "Mama, I gotta make a POOOOOOOOO."

Have a great week everyone. I'll try to check in from my fabulously expensive hotel ;-)

The Social Butterflies

Went to pick up Little Man from school today but he wasn't quite ready, "Mama, I say goodbye to alla barnen (all the kids) first." So I stood outside the door while he hustled back inside, all business. He stood in front of each kid's cubby (where they wait for their parents to pick them up) to address each of them with a proper farewell, careful not leave anyone out:
"Bye Do: Yara/Gustav/Emilia/Jasmin/Halle/etc.."

Now "Goodbye" in Swedish is "Hej Do". But our Little Man flexes his bilinguality (made that word up) and says, "Bye Do".

When I drop him off at the park every morning, there's usually a fan club there to greet him, mainly consisting of females. No surprise there, especially if you know his father.

And the past two weeks, he has received handmade gifts from two female admirers. A painting of his name and a bead bracelet.

Yup, our little man is Mr. Popularity...ha!

And tomorrow we find out if we're headed to Moscow this Saturday for five days. You might remember me mentioning some great friends we met on a beach in Montenegro. There I was on said beach running around after my little 1+ year old, likely hollering something in English when a blonde approaches me to ask me something "touristy".

She's Russian and like most Russians in Montenegro, has just bought a vacation home. She has two sons, one now 3 and the other 6.

We started talking and well, we haven't stopped.

They've been asking us to come and visit for the past several years and as hubby turns the big 5-0 this year, he said of her latest invitation, "We're going. If we don't go now, we may never go." And if the Visa Gods are smiling, we'll get our passports back "approved" tomorrow and be on our merry way.

I've been very blessed to have travelled a lot these past ten years but I'm nervous as hell about this trip. Genuinely excited to spend time with dear friends and stay in the posh-est hotel in all of Moscow with a view overlooking The Kremlin but...

What do I wear? (Already spent a small fortune and still freaking out)
How do I speak? (Apparently Moscownians find Americans/Canadians speak too loudly and it's considered rude. We're loud talkers!)
How do I eat? (Fork in the left, knife in the right)
What do I wear? (Still freaking out about this)
What do I give? (Remember: Never yellow flowers and always in odd numbers)
How do I behave?(Moscownians will think you're crazy if you smile too much. We're a smiling people!)
How do I repay such kindness? These dear friends have already pulled out all the stops and we haven't even arrived yet!

Yup, I have a case of the social butterflies!