Week 26

Week 26 was super intense and fun. A little too much fun, perhaps? It all started with Cinnamon’s annual visit to the vet’s office to get vaccinated. She does not like this at all, or. She doesn’t like the car ride there. She just cries, cries and cries. The vaccination itself was over in less than a minute, I don’t even think she had time to realize what’s going on? Anyway, all of the excitement usually means that she’s super mellow on the car ride back home, and this time was no exception!

When we all came home again, I took her out for a quick walk and then, brushed the cat hairs off my clothes and grabbed something to eat. Then I booked train tickets and then went back into town, to the railway station. It was finally time for me to go to Karlstad!

Karlstad was amazing. I stayed until Thursday. The weather was great, maybe a little too warm for my taste. It was much warmer back home so I didn’t mind that much! I got to see so many parts of the city that I hadn’t before, and I’m so in love with it now.

I was so exhausted on Friday, I didn’t get anything done except trying to catch up to my reply pile – while I was gone I had received 9 letters and a postcard! It was such an amazing feeling. I was only able to reply to two of them.

And then Saturday came and it was of course all about Trollhättan Pride where I volunteered! I had so much fun, but let me tell you, my feet were killing me! I need to get more sensible shoes, but… that’s just too boring! I refuse to become that kind of adult. I mean, I pay all my bills on time, isn’t that enough? OK, it would be nice to be able to walk properly even after 8 hours of running around. Oh, well.

Sunday was all about letter writing. I’m in a kind of identity crisis right now; neither my favourite pen or paper seem to work for me anymore. Who am I without these? I’ve got some experimenting to do and hopefully I’ll be able to find something that works better.

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How was your week?

 

 

Week 25

Week 25 was just one of these weeks when everything fell into place. On Tuesday, a couple of days before I had expected, I finally got the letter of acceptance to the Polytechnic education programme that I applied for in May. This means that a.) I’m going back to school and b.) I can finally leave everything that happened last year behind me! I’m so relived. I still have to find a part-time job, but that will be so much easier now I think? And in 1,5 years time, I will be a Social Administrator!

To celebrate this, I bought a new backpack. Because that’s what you do when you go back to school, right? At least I do it. I’ve been thinking about getting a planner for keeping track of my studies, but I actually think that the best thing would be to continue on with my good ol’ trusty Hobonichi Techo Weeks. I’m still very much in love with this little coral pink planner!

The biggest event this week was undeniably Midsummer’s Eve. This is a very big deal for us Swedes. I usually hate this day with a fiery passion, but I decided to embrace it. I even wore a (fake) flower crown and a floral dress! The weather is always terrible, and this year was certainly no exception. Well, at least it didn’t rain! It was just really, really cold. And, on Midsummer’s Day, the weather turned and it got warm again. Oh, well.

I don’t have anything else to report, which is good because I should really start packing and shave my legs and all that. Week 26 is going to be so much fun, and I hope to tell you all about it at the end of the week!

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How was your week?

Week 24

I could have sworn that I already blogged about last week a couple of days ago, but as it turns out, it was all in my head! Oh, well.

Week 24 was a good week. Nothing major happened, except for that I got to spend some quality time with my dear friend Klara on Tuesday. She had made a pie that was out of this world, it was so good! And on Thursday, I went to a meeting about Trollhättan Pride. In case you didn’t know, Trollhättan is throwing our very first Pride event on June 30th! I’ll be volunteering at the event, and I’m so excited!

This town is not safe for those of us who for some reason isn’t a part of the norm, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it took us this long to have our first event of this kind. But, I’ll be celebrating (I’ve even purchased a pin with my purple, white, gray and black flag) and I hope that this will mark the start of a more open, warm Trollhättan.

What else did I do? I wrote letters. Like, so many letters! And I was finally able to sleep in my apartment without sweating to death thanks to the rain! All in all, last week was a pretty good one!

My life in pictures

I am of the firm opinion that digital photographs shouldn’t waste away on a hardrive or on some cloud storage service. As you know, I have already created a photo album dedicated to Mira and Cinnamon, and I now plan to create another one with some of my favourite photos. I haven’t found the right album for this project yet, but at least I have picked out the photographs and had them developed.

This time, I wanted to try something new! For me, at least. Looking through my parents’ photo albums, I have always found myself especially drawn to their square photographs with white borders around them. So, I started by picking out some of my absolute favourites and cropped them into squares. Then I had a look around the Internet to see if I could achieve the vision that I had, and found what I was looking for almost immediately. The only thing I had to sacrifice was my preference for matte finish. If I wanted the white border around, I would have to go with glossy finish. Now that I have the finished product in front of me, I’m very happy that I did.

I went a bit over the top (is anyone really surprised?) and had 60 photos developed and these can easily be divided into 8 different categories. Let’s have a look at them, shall we?

New in: Lolita rubber stamp set by Oola Happy Stationery

I can safely say that the Girl rubber stamp by Oola Happy Stationery is the most used and most loved one in my collection. So, when I saw that Varalusikka had listed the Lolita rubber stamp set on their webshop, I just couldn’t resist. The rubber stamps arrived today, in the prettiest package I have ever seen!

I haven’t had the chance to try these beauties out yet, but I will soon. Hopefully, I’ll use these as much as the other. My letters and envelopes will be even prettier from now on!

Week 23

The 23rd week of this year was pretty much uneventful. I didn’t do anything of note, I think? I made another appointment at my local tattoo parlor because, why not? It was so warm, and I just wanted to go for a swim in the lake by my parents’ house. But I couldn’t! My tattoo hasn’t healed yet, so the closest I came to the water was when my friend Klara came by and went for a swim and I stood on the shoreline and watched.

The rain finally came on Sunday evening, and let me tell you. It was amazing! I went out to just stand in the rain for a while, with my arms stretched out. It was truly the highlight of the week!

Oh, before I hit the “publish” button, I just wanted to let you know that I have decided to stop using my stationery Instagram account and instead focus entirely on my main account @pophannah. Having two accounts is just too much of a hassle! Besides, I’m way more active on my @pophannah than I ever were on the other account with the same name as this blog (this blog will remain unaffected by this change!).

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How was your week?

Week 22

This week felt like several weeks, all wrapped up into one. So much happened? Plus, it was so warm. All the time.

Last weekend – and Karlstad especially – was amazing. Every single time I visited Karlstad before, I’ve been freezing my as… behind off. Now, I finally got to experience what the city is known for; sunshine (it’s reputed to be among the sunniest towns in Sweden, and there was also one local waitress who earned the nickname “Sola i Karlstad”, or “Karlstad’s Sun” due to her sunny disposition). I’m going back there within a couple of weeks (I should really start preparing for that, shouldn’t I?).

Anyway. This week began with me getting my second tattoo. I am now half way to my goal of honouring all the cats I’ve had in my life with a tattoo! I’m super happy, but I have decided to let it heal until I share pictures of it here. Cinnamon seems to be rather oblivious to the fact that I’ve now not only bled for her, but also paid a big chunk of money to have her portrait tattooed into my skin. I was sort of expecting some kind of reaction? Oh, well. Now she’ll always be a part of me, inside and out.

I went to a job interview on Tuesday, in a part of Gothenburg that was completely new to me. Wise from experience, I made sure to give myself a lot of time so I wouldn’t be late if I got lost on the way from the tram to the interview. And… I found it immediately! I should really have bought a lottery ticket, because that usually doesn’t happen. Talk about an opportunity wasted!

I met Alma for a short fika on Wednesday. As you may know, I’m an introvert and therefore I need a lot of time to recharge and rest between things, but there really wasn’t that much of that the last couple of week. Oh, well. There will be other chances to fika!

The rest of the week was slow and offered plenty of rest. I’ve written a lot of letters, perhaps maybe 8 or more? And I’ve been admiring my tattoo. Oh, and as I’m writing this, I’m waiting for my friend Klara to come and visit me at my parents’ house. She’s gonna go for a swim in the lake while I have to sit and watch (I have to wait for my tattoo to heal until I’m allowed to go in the water). All in all, this has been a wonderful week!

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How was your week?

Week 21

I’m posting my weekly round-up a bit earlier than usual, on Friday evening to be exact. I’m off to Karlstad on Saturday morning and don’t want this blogging thing be a thing I have to squeeze in somewhere when I’d much rather spend time with my relatives. I don’t see them enough!

I haven’t had the energy to do much stuff this week, it’s been too hot. Actually, this might turn out to be the hottest May in history! I’m not impressed. I can’t stress this enough, but I hate warm weather. And cold! Can’t we just have (real) spring and autumn all year round, please?

Letter writing has been my main form of communication this week. I’ve sent out about 10 letters or so? I’ve lost track. I have a list of five more people I want to write, but I’m officially on a little break right now. I have not only sent out stuff, I’ve also received letters and postcards! I’m officially in stationery heaven.

Aside from letter writing, I have also prepared what I hope will be a really good present for the newest addition to my extended family. One of my cousins became a father 8 months ago, and now it’s time for his child to be baptized! I even made a card and found a suitable poem and everything!

Oh, well. I would love to write now, but I honestly don’t have the time. I’m way behind on my schedule as it is!

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How was your week?

 

Midori MD Notebook

Yesterday I received a package from Finnish stationery shop Paperimuru that contained something I’ve been wanting for quiet som time now, namely, a blank A6 Midori MD Notebook! This was my second Paperimuru purchase, and I can safely say that it won’t be my last.

Along with the notebook itself (that arrived wrapped in a paraffin paper), I also decided to buy a clear notebook cover.

What’s so special about the MD notebooks is that they don’t have traditional covers. There is a reason for this; covers make notebooks more difficult to open, and risk compromising the writing experience.

But, some kind of protection against wear and tear is necessary, especially if you like me intend to bring the notebook with you. And that’s where the clear cover comes in!

Even though I love the simplicity and minimalism of the Midori MD Notebooks, I just couldn’t keep myself from adding one of my favourite La Dolce Vita stickers to the cover.

I can’t wait until the pages of this notebook is filled with my hopes, dreams, ideas and plans – but – I have yet worked up the courage to start writing. I do hope that I will, soon. Notebooks are meant to be written in, not admired for its beauty.

Haul: Cute Things from Japan

Last Wednesday I was finally able to pick up my second Cute Things from Japan order from my local PostNord agent. And when I say “finally”, I really mean it.

I bought the items on April 24th and the order was shipped one day later. The package arrived in Sweden on April 29th where it got stuck in customs, I think I was able to pay VAT and the customs fee sometime during the week before last. Then I had to wait another couple of days after payment until it left customs. And guess what happened next? It got stuck again somewhere… Oh, well. Nothing tests your patience more than waiting for a package.

6 out of 8 items were cat related. I bought two Pottering Cat rubber stamps (Caution for wet and News) and a pin (Driving a Car), the cutest washi tape I’ve ever seen (Cat & Bow from Violet & Claire), some message flake stickers and the small brown cat tray I’ve had my eye on for almost a year now from Classiky x Kata Kata. And then I also bought two Sorameme ink sets from Tsukineko (Yoyo and Amagase).

I’m happy with all of the items and I have used the stationery stuff frequently for both journaling and letter writing purposes this weekend. The pin is now on my beloved Kånken. I haven’t decided what to do with the cat tray yet, but I just love looking at it!