One of my favourite pastimes is browsings Etsy’s vast selection of vintage clothing, and sometimes I come across shops that have so many nice pieces I can’t deciede which to get. Right now I’m having a bit of a love affair with The Greedy Seagull:
My new favourite thing in the whole wide world is this hat.
I discovered it at CoCo de Mer in London, and I knew I had to get it the moment I saw it. It’s made by the very talented Victoria Grant whom is probably best known for making Paloma Faith’s gorgeous headwear, and every time I put it on it instantly makes me feel beautiful and glamorous and very noir indeed.
Now I’ll inevetably end up being The Girl With The Hat at all the christmas parties, and you know, I’m fine with that.
I got home from London last night (one day late as we missed our flight on wednesday due to the protesters who pretty much gridlocked all of central london, making it impossible to get to the airport on time.) – The trip was a birthday present for the ever lovely M and we spent most of our time talking and talking and talking — while shopping.
Highlights from the trip:
Ulf Wakenius and Benny Green at Ronnie Scott’s. Loved the place, the music, the waiters, everything!
M’s new vintage fur-hat
My new hat (0% fur, 100% fabulous!)
The lovely ladies at Agent Provocateur who helped us pick up some nice pieces and proved why M really should start a career modeling underwear.
Lingerie-department at Selfridges. Nichole de Carle, Bordello, Princesse tam.tam and oh so much more in one place. Felt a bit like heaven (if angels were allowed black lace trimmings).
Well-dressed men who talk all.. british-y.
Obviously M herself, whose conversation and insights I never, ever get tired of.
The nice taxi-driver who spent three hours trying to get us to Gatwick on time, and when failing, drove us to Heathrow for a measly £25 extra. He never complained (even when a car a rolled around a few hundred meters in front of us and stopped traffic dead for 45 minutes) and kept our spirits up with excellent conversation. Love you, man!
Shoe-sale at Heathrow, where The-Pumps-That-I-Didn’t-Buy-and-Regretted-It-The-Day-Before was on sale (half off!)
Families waiting at the airport, helping us carry our loot back home
As always, London didn’t disappoint. There is so much to do and see that you don’t get to do even half of what you planned in advance, but that’s how it should be I guess. Next time it’ll be a longer stay (intentionally, not forcably), and I’ll bring more cash too.
One last nod must go to the respective men-in-our-lives who managed to set me and M up with both a re-booked flight and a hotel for the extra night — we lovey-dovey you!
Three things that made my day fantastic: 1. My mother’s place is filled with the oddest things. Like beautiful old instruments, antique furniture, cars, dolls and barrel organs – they even got a carousel! And today when I entered their living room I saw the most fantastic wooden rocking horse. It was a very love-at-first-sight kinda moment, and it soon became apparent that the horse needed to come and live with me, you know, to keep the family-peace going. So it did:
(I’m going to name it. Because nothing screams crazy lady less than naming inanimate objects. (Our car is named Fjodor. (Yes, of course after Dostojevskij). Just sayin’. :)) – (THANKS Mom and Ståle!)
2. Husband got home from Amsterdam today, or, land of liquorice as I like to call it, and dutiful as always he brought me chocolate from Australia and lots and lots of liquorice. Good man:
The lovely M insists that though I post beautiful lingerie on this blog, it’s almost always bondage-inspired. So, in an effort to prove her wrong here are a few pieces from Nichole de Carle that I’m absolutely loving!
This morning my daugther came running into our bedroom while I was still sleeping, and after turning on the lights and jumping around on the bed a bit she decided to play “the hat game”, which basically means picking out different hats from my wast selection and making people wearing them. People in this instance = very sleepy me.
…Speaking of hats, I got this little beauty (below) in the mail today! I’ve been looking for a small, casual beret for ages, and this one is absolutely perfect!
I just loooove it! You can get it in other colours as well.. Check out Cajsita shop for more!
I just wanted to sum up this series of posts from my trip to Kosovo with a final blog entry. As my previous posts have covered already, I was there with my business-partner Siw to speak at the 1st International Conference on Womens Entrepreneurship. The conference was organized by SHE-ERA, a non-profit economic development NGO founded in the aftermath of the Balkans War, and we were invited to speak about our experiences starting our business.
We were joined by other women from the Balkan countries and a variety of others (The UK, USA, Jordan, Sweden and many more) who shared their stories from starting, running or expanding their businesses.
(My fantasic businesspartner Siw and another panelmember.)
All in all I found the speakers and topics covered to be an incredible source of inspiration. Many of them had overcome tremendous adversities and accomplished so much in their lives that mine seem to pale in comparison. The difference between the conditions for entrepreneurship in Norway and Kosovo are staggering, and upon returning home I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude for my own situation in life.
One of the presentations at the conference was by Heidi Forbes Öste and focused on Social Entrepreneurship, and I found it particulary fascinating. I would hignly recommend anyone interested or invested in social strategies for their business to have a look at the material at her website.
During the conference we got to spend some time with Heidi (including going restaurant-hunting around a few semi-scary back-alleys of Pristina) and we had some fun and enlightning talks. Thanks Heidi, hope to see you soon!
(Ladies out and about. Torunn, Heidi, Gry and Siw.)
The end of the conference was marked by a gala dinner complete with a fantastic musical performance by the Kosovo band Zig Zag Orchestra which was awesome.
I have never been a big fan of collective dances, but for this one I had no choice but to join in.. and it was great, great fun!
(Yes, we’re dancing without knowing any of the steps, and yes it’s the most fun I’ve had in my life! My tattoo was a great hit with the crowd, btw!)
(We ended the evening drinking champagne on Gry’s bed :)
I’d like to thank Mirlinda Kusari for spearheading the organizing of this great conference, and for inviting us to speak – it was a great experience and an honor. I would also like to thank Gry and Athene for making the trip happen. Thanks, we had a blast! And last but not least give a special thanks to the absolutely lovely Kosovare for giving us an insight to todays situation in Kosovo, and just for beeing a wonderful person! We miss you already!
(Gry and Kosovare. Sorry for the crappy picture quality.. Two such lovely ladies deserve high resolution!)
I’ll leave you with a sneak peak of the superstars of Kosovo: The Zig Zag Orchestra!
Torunn is a graphic designer from Norway. She makes beautiful designs for web, print and other media. She also designs a collection of pillows, silk scarfs and other textiles under the Burgunder brand.
