Should I stay or should I go... ? ;)

Today, it has been 9 months since I'm living here in Stockholm.
And I think I love it a little bit more every day. Probably because of the summer but also because I really feel like I'm building myself a life here, a life that I am not ready to give up so early...
This life it is : meeting nice people all the time - more and more swedish people, always discovering new lovely places, being able to leave work quite early without everybody around me saying "what ? are u already leaving ?", and as a consequence, having time to train at least 3-4 times a week, having a nice apt right in the center of the city, getting to know the language...

I love my life here. And I am now absolutely sure that I took the right decision when I decided to prolong my contract for one more year (until next summer then).


However, now I'm a bit unsure about the long term future. A few weeks ago, I was pretty sure that after my 2 years here, I would like to go back to France. Today it's quite different. Not that something has changed since then, but I just realized that if somebody was telling me that I need to go back to France in a close future, I would probably be the saddest person in the world. If we were in a perfect world, I would bring all my family and friends here in my Swedish life, OR I would bring my Swedish life (with all that implies) in France, close to my friends and family...

But this is not a topic right now. It will come soon enough so I can take some time to just leave it and enjoy the present time. CARPE DIEM is a good philosophy in this case, I think ;)

Eureka !!

I found it !
The dress for Tiphaine's wedding in June !
I'm so happy because I was really stressed out as I knew I would not have so much time to look for it, and I didn't want to take something just because I needed it. I wanted to like it as well.
So I feel very satisfied right now :)
But I won't show you, you will see it on the pictures of the wedding !
Now I still have to find some shoes... but when I see how many shoe stores there are in Stockholm, that shouldn't be any problem !

Anyway, thank you Eleonore for your nice advices ! Eleonore who was supposed to come to help me find the dress, and who ended up buying almost half of each H&M store of Stockholm ;)

Dancing week

Hello world !

Saturday we are, and it is the end of a week full of training, dancing and emotions… !

First of all my dad was there last week-end and we had great time together. But I didn’t get so much sleep and on Monday I was tired like I’ve rarely been, dreaming of my bed during the whole day… So instead of going to my street dance class, I went straight from work to my bed !! And it’s not very usual for me to skip dance classes… especially that this was the last week of Åsa before she leaves for New York. But I knew I had some other occasions to catch up as I had decided to go to her classes everyday this week :) No it's not craziness, it's just the passion of dancing and catching every single opportunity to do it ;)

With Dad :)

On Tuesday, I went to a « chairjazz » class that Åsa was organizing. SO funny !! I so want to do it again !! And I really hope that Åsa is going to organize more events like this one.
Here is the group at the end of the class. All lovely people ! :)

(Picture from Åsa F.)

Wednesday, it’s the early start with a bodybalance class at 6.45am… ! But always really good ! I definitely like going training in the morning. However, I don't think I could go to a cardio class. This one is perfect because the music is very soft, calm, but your muscles are really working, and we finish with some relaxation, which is great to start the day !
And the evening it was the street dance class again. Last time of a choreo that was so cool !
And then I headed to Ostermalm with Veronica for our traditional «Vurma/Cinema» session. Well, it was the second time but this is definitely going to be a tradition ! ;) For your info, Vurma is probably the cosiest coffee/fika place in the world. And this time we went to see the movie « Gainsbourg » which was a great movie. :)

On our way to Ostermalm, after the street dance class…

Vurma

Thursday has been quite a stressful day at work… Waiting for important signatures that were not coming, I’ve been asked to do some urgent changes in some financial plans and that was due for 2 hours later… Hopefully, I had a… dance class (surprising huh ?) to help me get the stress out :) Wonderful jazz class, as usual. And last dance class before Åsa was leaving… Huhu... :(

So on Friday, she was subbing for a bodybalance class in the evening, so I went there with Veronica, first because I love bodybalance, and also because it was the occasion to say goodbye.

Here is Åsa and me at the end of the class.

And Åsa and Veronica :)

I’m definitely going to miss Åsa and her classes. Hopefully she’s coming back in a few weeks to teach some classes during one week, and then I’ll probably see her and attend one of her classes in New York :) She is really an awesome teacher, and person.

After the class, I headed to Djurgarden to meet some friends, where I could see a nice sunset on the water…


I just love Stockholm during the summer time...

Now this week-end is all about doing NOTHING because I need it and also it’s good sometimes ! Or doing things just for me, as to go shopping, to go training, just hang out, chill out…

I hope you all have a nice week-end ! :)
Kram !

I'm in love...

With Stockholm...
With my wonderful dance classes...
With my adorable friends...
With my cosy apartment...
With my great job...

But most of all, with the summer !



:)

Recap !

Oy oy !! I'm back ! And it seems that the summer is back as well and it feels incredibly cool ! :) It's crazy how we went from Winter to Summer in like... 3 weeks maybe ? Everybody was telling me that it would be very fast and they were so true !
Anyway, it's cool and I just hope it won't go to quickly ;)

So what happened since the last time I wrote ?

First of all, I have been very very busy with work. Actually, I started working on a subject that was quite new for me : tenders. So it was kind of hard for me because I had to learn how to do while I was doing it, knowing that I was under quite a lot of pressure as the deadline was very short and the tender very complex, and most of all very strategic for my company ! But that was a good experience and I think I really like working on this subject. Good to know for the future :)

Also I went to see Lady Gaga's show at Globen. It was a great show, a real show. And you have to admit it whether you like her music or not. Of course it was very provocative and she made me think of Madonna in some way... But most important is that we had great fun !



Then Charlotte and Claire arrived the Tuesday after (last week). They were not very lucky as it was the day I had to finish to work on that tender and I left work at 8.30pm... while they were arriving at 6pm ! Too bad...
We had great time together and I really need to say that you easily get used to living with somebody, and when they left last Monday, I felt very lonely. Hopefully for them the weather was great. We could even spend a day in Vaxholm in the archipelago. Here are a few pictures of their stay !


Drinking cocktails at my favourite restaurant in Stockholm : Koh Phangan !


Drinking cocktails at Allmänna Galleriet with Veronica. (No we did not ONLY drink coctkails !!).


On our way to the archipelago.

Last week, I also had the opportunity to participate to a BODYJAM class. This is not a class that I am used to take as it is not available at the gym (otherwise I would take it for sure !), but Åsa needed to rehearse, so she organized a rehearsal session with some participants to help her out. That was so much fun ! Here is the group after the class... looking kind of red ;) Thanks Åsa !


(picture taken from Åsa's blogg)

By the way, I'm very happy because now I know most of them, and it is such a pleasure to see them every time I'm going to class. :)

Now it is a new week that has started. The beginning was good, but today I had some small medical issues, and even though it was nothing really bad, it was quite stressful. When I woke up, I could see I had a problem with my left eye. But it already happened last week and then disappeared so I thought there was no problem. So I went to my training class, then I headed to work. But I finally realized that I should really take care of it before it gets worse... I really don't wanna take any risk with my eyes. So I finally took the day off and went to different medical centers and finally some kind of emergencies to be able to see a doctor and get some treatment. So now I got the treatment, but if it doesn't work within one month, I will need to have a little surgery. Just hope we won't need to go until there !!

Well, that was for the last news !

My father is coming to Stockholm this week-end, I'm really happy :) Just hope the ash cloud will stay away until then !!

Oh, and I am posting a small ad here : I am looking for a bike (cheap one preferably as I am not gonna use it a long time) ! So Sthlm people, if you hear about something... just let me know !

No time, no computer...

I am at work right now, just taking a very short break to write here and apologize for not posting any article lately.

First of all I am totally overwhelmed by work (yesterday I worked from 8am until 8.30pm without lunch break...), I have some new visitors - Claire and Charlotte - and on top of that, my computer is not working anymore !! Well, the computer is working but has no battery left and the charger is broken. But actually it feels quite good to not have a computer at home for some days so I'm no rushing out to change it ;)

So I'll probably be back at the beginning of next week. It should be more calm then (hopefully !).

Have a nice long week-end ! (for those for whom it is the case)

Nice visitors

Since last Friday, my grand parents were in Stockholm and they are leaving tomorrow.
Actually I feel more sad than usually. I have had lots of visitors, and everytime it's a real pleasure, but when they leave, it is kind of a mixed feeling that I have. Of course I am sad but it also feels quite good to have some time just for me, to clean my apt a bit, to chill out...
But this time is different because my grand parents were not staying at my place - they were at a hotel very close to it - so we were not 24 hours a day together and I could have some time for me as well. It was really a perfect balance.
So now they have left, I only have the sadness feeling... :( And I don't know when I'm going to see them again. Maybe not before next Christmas...

I am really happy because we had a great time ! They have seen the main things I think, the weather was gorgeous (even though a bit cold !) and we had some good time together.

Here they are, in front of Drottningholm Castle (where the Royal Family lives).



Miss you already...

Now, I am charging up for a busy week (LOTS and LOTS of work in perspective + all the training), a great week-end with the Lady Gaga concert and then, another visit - of Charlotte and Claire - from next Tuesday to the Monday after ! :)
Then I might not have so much time to come and write here... but I'll try !