Where do you do your writing?

Do you have a cozy place where you like to do your writing? I adored my little room in Norway, especially during the winter when I could curl up at my desk with a blanket and some hot coffee and watch the snow falling while I did my work. 

Now that I've moved back to England and to a new house, I've been trying to make a new cozy little space to work from. Unfortunately my little window is too high to see out of from my desk, something that is quite important to me, but I have such a pretty little room here that it doesn't matter too much :) 

I've decided to keep the room as minimalistic as I can - light coloured walls, baby pink fabrics and all of my things stored away. It's very fresh and calm and I feel very office-y with a neat little desk and a calender (we can pretend it's not a True Blood calendar instead of a sensible one, for now) for important deadlines. And of course, the all important thick Norwegian jumper and soft, snuggly blanket for optimum coziness... 

What is your writing space like? Do you have a set place where you like to do your work? I'm not one of those people who can work just anywhere. I have to have all of my things, a large selection of stationary and plenty of tea and snacks in order to function properly :)

inspire nordic

☆

Rainy Days

To my girls who love flowery dresses and cardigans as much as I do, go and treat yourselves to something pretty this week. Let's brighten up our days. 

Cardigan: £20 ($31 25€)

Dress: £7 Sale (10$ 8€)

Both H&M

Sitting inside safe from the stormy weather, reading The Night Circus (review coming soon!) -  it has been sweet to sip tea and wear pretty clothes. 

What do you like to do to brighten up your rainy days? 

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♥

K is for Koselig

In Norway there is a word that I hear all the time: 'koselig'. It means cozy, however it is used for many more situations that the English word.

For instance, a place can be cozy and some clothes can be cozy, but a person can also be cozy. It's not just a sensation or a feeling, for example, you could meet a person and decide that they were a ‘cozy’ person by the way that they spoke and behaved. It’s quite difficult to explain, but since I moved to Norway, I found myself using the word ‘cozy’, or, ‘koselig’ much more often.

It almost feels like part of the culture here. As I explained in my F-post, people enjoy spending cozy evenings in. In November I went for a ‘cozy’ walk by the river, on a night where they switched of all of the lights and lit hundreds of candles. My bedroom is cozy, with it’s ornaments, books and fur cones lining the shelves and last semester we had the coziest little birthday party for my best friend!

Do you like being cozy? What’s your favourite way to feel all warm and toasty and cozy and lovely?

Ha en koselig dag! (Have a cozy day!)

(Pictures lovingly taken from here, here & here)

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F is for Fredagsmys

When I visited Sweden for the first time, I was introduced to a relatively new Swedish tradition: Fredagsmys. The word 'Fredag' means Friday and 'mys' translates to cozy. Friday coziness.

The idea behind this, is that after a long week of hard work, Friday evenings are for sitting down with your family and friends, having some candy and watching a film together. In my little introvert eyes, it’s the perfect tradition, and Bjorn and I observe it almost religiously.

If you stop by around 4pm on a Friday afternoon, you will almost certainly find us putting on our comfy clothes, pulling various ice-cream tubs/bags of crisps/bags of mixed candy/masses of chocolate out of the cupboards and settling down in our little sofa-fort for an evening of snacking, giggling and watching Lord of the Rings marathons.

Fredagsmys has become so iconic in Sweden, that the word even made it into the dictionary in 2007.

In my opinion, this is more of a winter tradition than a summer one and there are many people who are actually against it, stating that it is unhealthy to spend your evenings in this way. I don’t really see the harm, personally. The Swedes are amongst the most active people, in my view. It is rare to take a walk and not see people running or hiking or doing bizarre sports involving wheels and walking poles. Our summer evenings are usually spent sat outdoors, dipping our toes in the lake or taking hazy walks around the forest, so why not dedicate one day a week during the winter to eat sugary foods and lounge around on the sofa? It is tradition, afterall!

So how about tonight? Will you be joining me for fredagsmys? Yes? Go now, up to your room and put on your pyjamas and then come down and crack open the ice-cream. Cozy, right?

(Pictures lovingly taken from here & here)

I'm sorry for not being able to visit all of you yesterday, these last couple of days have been unexpectedly busy and tonight I'm taking a very long train journey through Sweden, but I promise to come visit you all, as soon as possible! Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and support, you made me a very happy girl!

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