Jun 28, 2010

The weekend in photos

Coucouuuuu!
It was an amazing summer weekend in Schaffhausen!! 30 degrees, blue skies and no clouds in sight..... We went to a very sweet wedding this weekend and also had time for some picnicking, watching and playing football! Here are some picture memories..... Gotta ♥ summer!!!

The hair


The Wedding
The Picnic

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
xox
Linda - Lost in Switzerland

Jun 24, 2010

GLAD MIDSOMMAR!

Yes, it's the time of year where my home-sickness is at it's worst.....or maybe "strongest" is a better word. You see, tomorrow is Midsommar - the biggest national holiday in Sweden, celebrated like nothing else...and I can't help feeling that I'm missing out!

To compensate, an amazing weekend is planned with things like a much needed hair-dresser appointment, picnics by the riverside, a wedding (well I didn't plan this myself, but am still really excited about it!) and hopefully also just some time for relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. On top of this, next weekend, we are planning to have our own Midsommar celebration here in Schaffhausen together with some other, really great Swedes who are also living here in Schaffhausen.

Currently, I'm........
Happy about:
Finding a career mentor! My first choice ;) Someone I really admire and someone I think I can learn a lot from.
Disappointed about: .....the cancellation of the football (soccer) this past Monday! I was sooooo excited that I could barely sleep the night before. Talk about anti-climax. Luckily, it's supposed to be a weekly activity - so I might get more lucky next time. I will be ready!

Thinking about: My future....actually all aspects of it, realizing it's in need of a little planning. I usually tend to go with the flow, which has worked more than fine for me so far, but sometimes life does require a little bit of pondering upon and also a little bit of tweaking or "forced navigation" ;)
Annoyed with: My lost shipment of Dermalogica products. Placed a large order over a month ago but nothing came. Spoke to the post-office today and they said they sent it back. Shouldn't they normally leave a slip in your mailbox informing you that there is a package for you to pick-up as a second step if no one answers the door upon delivery?? Aaarrrgghhhh......

Listening to: The music of my blog......which, obviously, I really like!
Worrying about: Restarting my German classes tomorrow, knowing that I have forgotten most of what I previously learned....... Shame on me!
Hoping: That I will have enough energy this summer to do, not only all that is expected of me by others but also all that I'm expecting from myself.
Looking forward to: Going home to Sweden, not only once, but TWICE in August!! I will finally get to meet my little niece, spend a week with Chris in the Archipelago AND have time to see my friends and family!
Wondering: When my friends (Madde & Tobbe's) little baby will be born and if it will be a boy or a girl.... It's due TODAY!!! Exciting!
Planning: The upcoming Midsummer picnic/party next weekend here in Schaffhausen (it's going to be a blast!!) and a big work-related, meeting in August.
Feeling: Amazingly happy, in love and re-energized in my job after last weeks course!
Inspired by: This Paulo Coelho quote: "Changes happen when we open our heart and go against everything we're used to doing, including our prejudices." So true.....
Thankful for: Kind-hearted and inspiring people, being able to be myself and still being loved and being surrounded by friends that make me laugh out loud!
Wanting: Weekend.....always ;))
Wishing: That I had a crystal ball......if anyone reading this is in possession of one, please do let me know? I'll pay you well! Hehe!

GLAD MIDSOMMAR (HAPPY MIDSUMMER) to all of you!!!

...and last but not least - a little visual flavour of what it is I'm missing so much (the music in this clip is NOT one of those things...just to be clear! ;))


xox
Linda - Once a Swede, always a Swede, all though she's been Lost in Switzerland for more than two years now ;)

Jun 20, 2010

Why do the strangest things ALWAYS happen to me??

Seriously..... I'm not exaggerating! Strange things happen to me so frequently that I have to ask myself sometimes if I'm a mythomaniac! .....because I guess if I were, I would probably not even know myself, right? Anyway.....here is what happened this time:

As you may know, I spent this past week in Cannock (outside Birmingham), UK, attending a Supply Chain leadership course (very interesting by the way!). We were around 30 people there and we decided to have a night out together in Birmingham on Wednesday eve.
It was a fantastic and ridiculously fun eve and a few of us stayed out a little longer than planned.......myself included.

When we arrived back at the hotel, slightly "over-refreshed" (I admit, some shots were involved), at 3 am in the morning, the key-card to my room didn't work. So I did what any normal guest would do..... I walked down to the reception to have it reactivated.

To my surprise, there was no one there, so I gently called for someone - but no answer..... I then yelled for someone, but again with no answer.... I dialled all the numbers mentioned on the sign at the reception (you know the kind of sign that says "In case there is no one in the reception, call this number and someone will be right with you". Well.... I called but still no one came.

I waited patiently for about 15-20 minutes, all though I was sooooo tired and thirsty that I could barely stand up straight, I then left my things in the reception and started to walk around in the hotel in search of some help. I found no one but I did find a back-door and my curiosity led me out through it as I was thinking maybe the receptionist was having a smoke in the back.

Just when the door shut behind me, I realised "CRAP!!!! I won't be able to get back inside!".
My key-card wasn't working, which, as you know, was the initial problem (don't judge, you weren't there ;)).
So now I was literally locked out of the hotel! .....and let me tell you, this is not a nice area to be looked out in, but luckily I was too tired to panic and at least found my way back to the front door (but still no one to be seen).

After 20 minutes of waiting a taxi driver showed up and kindly made some phone calls for me - but guess what?? No answers! 10 minutes later, he looked at me and said "I'm really sorry Miss, but I really have to leave now. Can I offer you a cigarette?". While I would have normally said "No thanks", I happily accepted the offer, happy I would at least have some ember to keep me company.

10 minutes later, a policeman appeared on the inside of the hotel and I waved and jumped of joy - funny enough, he waited 2 minutes before actually opening the doors for me and then asked "What's the problem??". I explained the situation and he cleverly said "Well if you are locked out, then just ask the reception to reactivate your room key". Uhhmmm...... No comment.
I took a deep breath and explained, that I had already tried this and he said he would help me find someone and made some phone-calls..... Guess what? No luck!

The not-so-pleased-policeman then headed off on a tour of the hotel in search for the lost receptionist while I had a go at trying to navigate their computer system! I found some application where you could enter the room number and check each room - for what I don't know. I entered my room number and all I got was "No guest registered".
Mission unaccomplished! I gave up and sat down in a chair, thinking to myself that "This must be the real life Hotel California!".

It was 04:30 in the morning when the policeman and the receptionist came back and all the receptionist had to say for himself was "Oh, sorry! I hope you haven't been waiting too long m'am?".
......and all I could say was "Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!" and give him my (sleepy-)angry eye.
Trust me, after 1.5 hrs of that - there are no words left.

Glass half-empty perspective: I missed 1.5 hrs of desperately needed sleep and was freaking scared out of my mind!
Glass half-full perspective: I survived, not only the night but also the day after, I'm one experience richer AND made a lot of people laugh by telling this story.......

I hope you've had an amazing week!!
xox
Linda - Happy to be back and Lost in Switzerland rather than being lost and lonely on a dark street in the middle of the night in Cannock ;)

Jun 11, 2010

TGIF!

Dear sweet wonderful readers,
Another Friday has arrived! Another weekend to enjoy! Plenty of adventures to experience and new things to discover! Exciting events coming up such as the start of the FIFA world cup and all kinds of holiday activities..... Life is GRAND!!!

It's been a great week so far and I'm hoping that the weekend will be just as lovely! Here's a short update:

I'm........
Happy about:
A lot of things! Especially the fact that it's finally really summer with all that it means!!
Disappointed about: Still not having a date set for meeting my little niece.... I want to meet her so bad!

Thinking about:
Annoyed with: All the little flies that always insist on trying to feast on your lovely meal or take a swim in your wine when eating outside!!

Listening to: The divine and sometimes desperately needed, sound of silence...........aaahhhh...
Imagining: That I had a big bad bank account so full of money (honestly earned, of course!) that I could easily take a year off of work and pursue some dreams, stirring beneath the surface, eager to materialize!
Worrying about: These articles speak for themselves =(
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/11/oil.disaster.developments/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/26/bird.extinction.red.list/index.html?hpt=Sbin
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/25/biodiversity.small.mammals.loss/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Hoping: ...that (with my thoughts still on the above articles and many others), mankind will come to their senses and stop destroying our planet!! We need clear legislations NOW, top-down implemented! No matter how much I wish it was possible, I don't think we can individually manage to change this without the governments and top leaders of our world putting their money (and ACTIONS!) where their mouths are.
Looking forward to: Having dinner with lovely Milly, Simon and Chris this evening, going to Birmingham, UK on Sunday to attend a full week course in Supply Chain Management and planning some more holidays in July.
Relieved by: Having finally found a house to rent in the Swedish archipelago!! Am sooooo looking forward. Oh happy day(s)!!
Wondering: What to pack for next week?? I'm clueless.........

Feeling: Inspired and happy at a purely personal level, but at the same time feeling down by all the frightening news and updates related to our environment.
Thankful for: Finally feeling well enough to go to the gym again! (I've been taking antibiotics for 2 weeks).
Wanting: THIS:
http://twitpic.com/1vrr0l soooooo bad! Come to MAMA!! Maybe you have one for sale?? If yes, PLEASE let me know!! ;))
Wishing: That time could fly just a teeny-tiny bit faster so the official WEEKEND could be a fact.......but good things come to those who wait patiently!


That's all from me this lovely Friday..... Have a lovely weekend you all!!!
xox
Linda - Lost in Switzerland, happy that she could manage to do this post during her lunch-break

Jun 10, 2010

Me = Wannabe

Hello dear readers!
I'm hereby continuing on part 2 of my attempt at making post as suggested by some of you, so here goes!! This one is for you Jordan M Willams!

He asked: "If you could do a flawless impersonation of any celebrity, who would it be and why?"

....and here is my answer!

Simple - Sheryl Crow!!
I have always had this secret dream (yeah yeah, don't judge.......don't we all have them, even if not this corny? ;)) of being a really cool rock-chic and Sheryl happens to be one of the few people I could say I really "idolize"... I would love to be this cool and further more, I would LOVE to know what if feels like to sing like this!!! She is AWESOME!
On top of being an absolutely fantastic singer, song-writer and performer - she also spends a lot of her time and money on charity work, survived breast-cancer AND adopted a little son to become a single mom!

I watched her play live at the Hard Rock Calling festival in Hyde Park, London 2008 and that was one of the best musical moments of my life!!




Ooooohhhh! AND she has a new album coming out in July called "Summer day" and I will be one of the first ones to buy it!! I am PSYCHED!!!!

So........as you can clearly read, the filtering is not applied in this post ;)
xox
Linda - Lost in Switzerland

Jun 7, 2010

Prinsesstårta - The recipe

A Swedish classic ;)

Prinsesstårta
(Schwedentorte DE, Princess cake EN)
12-14 pieces

Ingredients:
Bottom:
4 eggs
2 cup white sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup potato flour (Kartoffelstärke DE)
2 teaspoons baking powder

Filling:
5 gelatine leaves (not a must, but then the filling won't be as solid)
2 cup thick vanilla custard (Marsankräm SE)
2 teaspoons vanilla powder
5 dl whipped cream
1-2 dl raspberry jam

Decoration:
A marzipan lid (or 300 g marzipan mixed with green or red household paint)
Marzipan roses or your own choice of decoration
1 tsp powdered sugar

Marzipan roses:
20-40 g green marzipan
20-40 g pink/red marzipan

Follow these steps:
Please use an electric mixer to make the batter for the bottom.
Grease and sprinkle a round shaped bakingmold (24 cm in diameter) with bread-crumbs (you can also use oatmeal or grated coconut if you're out of breadcrumbs).
Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy.
Add the baking powder, flour bottom and potato flour and stir into a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the bottom of the oven at 175°C for around 40 minutes.

Let the cake stand in the mold for a few minutes then remove from mold and let it cool down.
Once cooled down, slice it into 2 or 3 layers. This is best done with a long bread knife.

Filling:
Put the gelatine leaves in cold water and then add to the custard when ready and if needed. If you use the Swedish Marsankräm, then no gelatine should be needed.
Whip the cream until it's really thick. It has to be almost rigid.

Put the Raspberry jam on the first layer, custard on the second and the cream on the third - but save a little bit of cream.
Spread the rest of the cream on top and a bit around the edges so the marzipan lid sticks better.

Decoration:
Place the marzipan lid on the cake (directly on the cream).
Sift powdered sugar over.

Marzipan roses:
Form small leaves of the pink/red marzipan and with the leaves you build up a rose by layering. Shape the leaves of green marzipan.
Use the knife on the leaves to draw patterns. Decorate the cake with roses and leaves (I always poke a hole in the marzizan lid to make the roses stick ;))

Ready to serve!
The cake will taste better if you allow it to be refrigerated between 4 and 12 hours before serving.

Enjoy!!!
xox
Linda - Lost in Switzerland

Photoblog: Swedish National Day

Yesterday, June 6th, was the Swedish national day!
We celebrated by having a picnic in sunny Schaffhausen with some other Swedes living here, eating Swedish pastries, drinking Swedish coffee (Gevalia mellanrost) and playing kubb!
I also made a "Princesstårta" or "Princess cake" or as the Swiss call it, "Schwedentorte" ;))


It was an amazing afternoon!!
xox
Linda - A Swede Lost in Switzerland

Jun 1, 2010

Oh my?! It's JUNE already!

JUNE as in S U M M E R !!!
I can't believe how rapidly time flies by when you're not really paying attention! I guess I must have been pre-occupied.... OK, so here's a little update:

I'm........
Happy about: The official arrival of summer!
Disappointed about: How some people just never seem to grow up and even worse, how you think you know someone and then realize you were wrong =(
Thinking about: Food! Dinner!! It'll be Swedish waffles!! If you haven't figured it out yet............. I ♥ FOOD!!
Annoyed with: My new EMU USB Tracker and Sonar Cakewalk - Audio dropouts!! Anyone any ideas??
Listening to: Just the sound of me typing on my keyboard.
Imagining: That Sweden would have actually qualified into the FIFA world cup 2010 so I could have followed it with true PASSION! Aaaawwwww......why why why??
Worrying about: Not finding the perfect little house in the Stockholm archipelago this August.... It has to have a Sauna, a wooden pier (as walking slowly into the water is NOT an option!), be relatively accessible from the mainland (I'm talking about mobile phone reception ;)), available between August 6-15th and not be ridiculously expensive. Not that easy, I can assure you ;)
Feeling: Hopeful, in love and at peace.
Hoping: That the nice weather comes this weekend like the weather forecast is currently promising! I want picnics and some freckles!
Looking forward to: Eating Indian food tomorrow night!!! It's been awhile! ....again food! Mmmmmm.....
Relieved by: Recieving my speeding ticket just to realise it was not at all as bad as I feared....and just to be clear - YES I learned my lesson!
Wondering: When I will be able to find good flight tickets to go home to Sweden for a weekend. I still haven't met my little niece =(
Thankful for: Chris, my friends and my family!
Wanting: Someone, ANYONE to help me figure out why Cakewalk is failing me (or why I am failing Cakewalk will probably be the likely scenario ;))
Wishing: ....you all a wooooonderful week!!

Take care.......and SMILE ♥
xox
Linda - Lost in Switzerland

Chocolate cupcakes - My own recipe

The other day, I experimented my way to baking some really lovely chocolate cupcakes.
Here is the result and the recipe
(Megan - as promised ;))

Chocolate Cupcakes (around 16)
3 eggs
2.5 dl white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50 g unsalted butter
1 dl yoghurt (natural or vanilla)
3.5 dl white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons Cocoa powder (I used Caotina Noir)
A pinch of salt
100 g dark chocolate

Directions
Start by preheating the oven to 175 degrees.
Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until it's white and quite fluffy.
Melt the butter, add the yoghurt and mix it with the egg mixture.
Now mix flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt and fold gently into the batter.
Chop the dark chocolate roughly and melt it in a bowl over boiling water or alternatively in the microwave.
Place the paperliners in an owen-pan and fill them with 2 / 3 of batter.
Bake in center of oven for about 15 minutes.

Allow to cool down properly before adding the frosting ;)

Chocolate frosting
60 g unsalted butter, softened
5 dl powder sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
0.5 teaspoon vanilla powder
0.5 dl Cocoa powder (I used Caotina Noir)
100 g Philadelphia cheese
100 g Dark chocolate of good quality

Mix everything together in a bowl with an electric mixer but the melted chocolate.
Add the melted chocolate last.
Now just spread the frosting on the cupcakes and add some sprinkles, flowers or berries and TA-DAAAA!!!

If you do decide to try, please let me know what you thought?

Enjoy (I did......too many actually ;))!!
xox
Linda