Hej from Stockholm

Hi there. Wow it’s been quite a moment since I put the fingers to the keypad. I prepared all of my New Zealand Month posts well in advance before the voyage to Sweden and I have to say I’m really glad I did. The past couple of months I have been very preoccupied to say the least.

As I write this, we’re in the midst of unpacking all of our belongings from the container, and very soon, our life will be going along with some structure and routine. With that, I will be more present here on the blog. A lot of you have been following my new life on Instagram but I thought it was about time that I popped in to say hi and give you a proper update.

After Auckland, we travelled to Sydney for ten fantastic days smakunv the most of family and friends. We then flew to Bangkok for a couple of crazy days before arriving in Stockholm, albeit for only one night. I have to say that was a tease, but we had to move on because we had a week’s holiday booked in Cyprus to soak up the sun and warmth before we went into another winter. That was truly a perfect holiday and such great family time to reflect on our beautiful time in New Zealand and exciting future in Sweden.

Not even forty-eight hours after arriving back in Stockholm and into our apartment, I left for a weekend alone in Amsterdam to attend the Meet The Blogger conference. I was so excited to go there and meet some of my blog friends in person, Yvonne, Holly, Judith and to catch up with Igor again! It was also so great to meet Holly Becker in person and to hear her inspirational talk. Unfortunately the weekend got cut very short because poor Lou, my little one had a nasty gastro and ended up in hospital. I took the plane back to Stockholm a day early to spend the night with her there and take over from Guillaume and the boys who spent twelve hours with her in hospital. The poor little thing wasn’t well for an entire week! At least we can say that the medical care here is really good.

Some very good news is that we found a big old apartment with stunning features in the heart of Södermalm, which I might add was named one of the coolest neighbourhoods by Vogue magazine! Unless you’re in the situation of looking to rent a place in Sweden, it’s hard to imagine how difficult it is to find somewhere. There is a serious rental crisis here and we have been so incredibly lucky to not only find something, but for it to be big and in a great location.

Luck was also on our side with schooling. Our children got into the school of our choice and they’ve settled in really well. Lou, our littlest began last week and finally I just only now have some time to myself as I have literally had at least one child with me 24/7 since we left Auckland in August!

Autumn was hit with an early blast of winter and much to my delight as I write this, it’s snowing outside. Today the temperature is ranged between -4 and -2 degrees celcius! The cold is not shocking me, I don’t mind it when I have the right gear to wear and when it’s toasty warm inside. I’ve always said that the winters were colder in Sydney and Auckland compared to Europe because you never escaped the cold with poorly insulated homes with limited heating.

I’m so excited to share my experiences of my new life with you very soon along with of course, the coolest of Scandinavian design. Somehow I doubt I’ll be short of things to post about. Stockholm is a truly beautiful city and I’ve included a little taste for you with some photos I took of Gamla Stan, the old town, while my sister was visiting a couple of weeks ago. The last image is the view from my windoww yesterday as the snow started to blanket the streets and buildings of Södermalm.

So that is what’s been going on in a snapshot. Big hugs to you all!

Mel x