Have a laugh

INNER BEAUTY

Humour is certainly something beautiful. This is so hilarious. What does a true Brit really mean when saying...

BON summer weekend!

OUTER BEAUTY

This weekend we´re hosting two dinner parties for friends visiting. Since it´s summer I like to keep it simple. 

Gossip girl meets Eckhart Tolle

Kelly Rutherford as "Lily"

OUTER BEAUTY

I loved the show Gossip Girl. Even though my husband pointed out (every week) that I was too old for it, that I was not the target audience. But I actually think he was wrong. One of the reasons Gossip Girl appealed to many ages was the parallel stories of the characters of different ages. My all time favourite was Lily, the classic beauty with timeless style and mother of Serena. 

Words to live by

INNER BEAUTY

Loving this.

[Image from Pinterest]

The simple beach hair

OUTER BEAUTY 

Beach hair. Can´t get enough of it. It´s such a grateful, care free and non time consuming hairstyle for a few months. Find out the perfect tools and how to.

Because rooftop cocktails taste better

SIROCCO AND SKY BAR, BANGKOK

 courtesy of Sirocco and Sky Bar, Lebua Hotels and Resorts

OUTER BEAUTY

Life is better at the top, they say. Have a look at some of the worlds best rooftop bars and restaurants for that refreshing summer cocktail. 

Summer in BLOOM

The summer hairdo

OUTER BEAUTY

There is something about summer and braids...Here´s a practical and easy how-to for summer's best hair. 

Words to live by

INNER BEAUTY

Loving this. Think about it. I definitely needed the reminder. 

[Pinterest image via ekojohanna.blogspot.fi]

The Monday Pep Talk | Redefining SUCCESS

INNER BEAUTY

"Success has largely been determined by money and power" the successful and very inspiring media entrepreneur Arianna Huffington said in her commencement speech at Smith College. "But we need a third metric. That should include be one based on well-being, wisdom, our ability to wonder and to give back. Don’t buy society’s definition of success", she said. "Because it’s not working for anyone. It’s not working for women, it's not working for men. It's only truly working for those who make pharmaceuticals for stress, sleeplessness and high blood pressure." Arianna Huffington, founder of the online newspaper with her name on it, should know a thing or two about work-life-balance. I love this "third metric of success" including well-being and the ability to wonder. Don´t miss out on this great speech, which you can read and/or watch here.  And, in case you´ve missed a previous pep talk from Arianna Huffington on success and failure...

[Image from Pinterest]

Long Island Beach house [Neutral perfected colours]

OUTER BEAUTY

Even if you´re a successful Broadway producer in NYC you still want to go to the beach during weekends. Have a look at the beach house of Tony Award winning producer Daryl Roth. My fave is the pool and the beautiful soft neutral colours. 

Start of the REAL summer

OUTER BEAUTY

There is nothing that says Summer more to Swedes than our national holiday Midsummer. From this day on it is most definitely Summer, whatever the weather gods say. What are you up to this day? We are celebrating the day...

Pressure, confidence and being good enough [According to...]

OUTER BEAUTY
“You have to be smart and successful and a good mother and beautiful and young and skinny forever. It’s a lot of pressure." Insightful words from one of the most famous and beautiful actresses, who decided that being the best she can is good enough.

INNER BEAUTY

Thank you for everything you taught me. 

You always inspired me. You always saw me. 

Love forever.

For my grandmother. 

When can we move in? [INTERIORS]

OUTER BEAUTY

One of my favourite streets in the world is Karlavägen in Stockholm. Have a look at this gorgeous brand new apartment building on that street. And what about that terrace? 

Favourite product [Makeup quick review]

OUTER BEAUTY
My new daily obsession. CLARINS Instant light Natural Lip Perfector in colour #3 is just more than great. It gives the perfect-nude-shimmer-barely-there-colour, sort of enhancing the lips in a very natural way. It nourishes, repairs and protects lips while giving the lips a 3D shimmer (that must be the trick). Also works wonders over regular lipstick colour. There are six different colours from this range to choose from (although I am staying put with my #3). Hello shimmer lips!

[Image via Pinterest]

[ESCAPE TO] Le Sirenuse AMALFI

You never get tired of the Amalfi view

Nights are magical, especially at hotel Le Sirenuse 

OUTER BEAUTY
Several years ago my husband and I spent three weeks on the Amalfi coast in Italy. That was some amazing weeks with so much to explore. Ever since I have wanting to go back to Amalfi.

The secret HERMÈS garden

OUTER BEAUTY
Did you know there is a secret garden, 'Jardin sur le toit’ for employes only. This beautiful garden is located on the roof of the HERMÈS  flagship store on Rue 24 rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. See more photos from the HERMÈS garden on the lovely blog You May Be Wandering.

[Photos via youmaybewandering.com, original source HERMÈS Pinterest. Photographer Quentin Bertoux]

Pilates gurus started their own "Pilates Netflix"

Stella Magazine Photo: Ina Damli

OUTER BEAUTY
If there is anyone who could motivate me doing Pilates, it is my beautiful Norwegian friend Monica Øien and her business partner Rikke Schillinger. The business duo recently took their Pilates expertise online and made it available for everybody to do at home at Webtrening.no. This is really great, and as much as I like to go to the gym I found out that I love to do some training at the convenience of my home.

Words to live by

[Pinterest image via grownupshoes.com]

It´s all about Ikat [INTERIORS]

OUTER BEAUTY
This season the Ikat pattern seems to be everywhere, from clothes to interiors. All the big clothing chains are doing their own versions of Ikat this seasons. I am especially loving Ikat for the home, since it´s a rather calm pattern with not too many different colours to it.

[Images via 1. carolyneroehm.com 2 Pinterest 3 itallappealstome.blogspot.com  4 charmingtrinity.com 5shoplatitude.com  6matildeco.se 7 cardigansandcouture.blogspot.com  8 laylagrayce.com 9 tuvaluhome.wordpress.com10 thefrenchtangerine.com]

An ENCHANTED weekend [Brussels-Waterloo]

A classic-from-the-car-photo...

Waterloo, a cute little small town just outside Brussels city full of history

We stayed in Martin's Grand Hotel in Waterloo

The breakfast area in the hotel

We now understand what Brussels is all about. It´s good food. Everywhere.

Cakes all over the place

This must however be my own favourite shop...

I desperately wanted to take them all with me and pack the car full. But you can imagine the smell...and I am not convinced they would taste the same when back in Sweden...

Beautiful table setting for the 40th birthday lunch not ending before long after midnight...

OUTER BEAUTY

I still haven´t recovered completely after the three day long road trip to Brussels this last weekend...It turned out we spent more time in the historic and cute little town Waterloo however, just outside the city of Brussels. My husband and I were invited to a weekend of birthday celebrations for dear Swedish friends, now living in Belgium. Since we had never been we thought it was an excellent chance to get away together without the children, and most of all, hang out with our great friends that we don´t get to see too often. One of the things I genuinely appreciate most in life is friendship, and this weekend gave us memories to cherish forever. Our friends had done such an a-ma-zing job giving all their friends such a fantastic weekend and thought every detail through. We felt spoilt rotten (and enjoyed every minute of it). One thing that we learned about Brussels is that the food is fantastic. Like one of the other guests told me; it´s almost impossible to get a bad meal in Brussels. For the Friday dinner we went to an Italian restaurant. The food was of course amazing. The temperature was 30C degrees in the evening and we just enjoyed catching up and later went dancing. The next day my husband and I went for a little sightseeing in Waterloo, stocking up on everything from French rosé wines to Belgian chocolates as well. Later that day it was time for lunch at our friends beautiful home. The food and wine were beyond words, and of course it tasted even better al fresco...Later in the evening we sat down again for dinner and more fabulous food...By now I am sure you can imagine how much we ate during this weekend...All in all, one of the best weekends ever, since it was about friends, food and fun. 

Short facts:

We went by car from Skåne via Copenhagen on Thursday evening. We took the ferry Rødby-Puttgarden. No line, just boarding. Buy the tickets online at least two weeks before, since you can buy a more inexpensive economy ticket. We missed that part this time. We then drove for two hours and stayed in a hotel in Hamburg. The other morning we woke up early well rested, had breakfast and went straight to Brussels. Which wouldn´t have taken more than five-six hours, if we hadn´t taken the wrong route...If you´re travelling by car in the Netherlands, make some extra time, since they are rebuilding the roads and it´s actually a real hustle finding the right way. The GPS didn´t have a chance, taking us back, and back again...to the wrong road. The only solution was to turn off the GPS and stop at the nearest gas station and ask for the way, you know like back in the old days... So do some proper research beforehand, so that you have the bigger picture in your head and which cities to look out for, not just trusting the GPS (like we did:), since there are heavy road constructions in many European countries. Also don´t forget the rush hour around the bigger cities. For the way home we went straight to Aachen/Cologne from Brussels, which was a much better way. We were home to a late dinner the same day. We love going on road trips, and after this little trip we can´t wait to go on another one!