On the lookout for a new place to call home, we checked out a house yesterday. Theoretically it looked really good (and in the pictures on the Internet, as well), but when we arrived we realised that there was far less space than expected. It only had one bathroom, a tiny kitchen and several other small rooms, and the second floor was barely usable since the ceiling was pretty low. Although the livingroom was wonderful, there simply was not room enough for the four of us. I guess we're back to square one. We'll just keep looking...

The relative warm and sunny last few days of January have inspired me to think about spring outfits. I love the light grey trench coat, the dark grey embellished Vila neckline tunic and the cream 'Alex' tote handbag from Star by Julien MacDonald found at Debenhams. I also really like the long Enja tunic from Culture which was found at Sid & Sally, the Costa button bar court shoes from Schuh, the knitted grey scarf from Tranoi, the matching bracelet and ring from Anna Sukardi found at Mila Silver, and the beret from Whyred. I'm not sure if any of these items will be found in a wardrobe near me at any point, but I do like browsing.

I'm rather tired of the way we live. Apartment life has never really done it for me. In a way it has to do with space, not necessarily more of it but rather structured in a better way, and primarily it has to do with direct access to the outdoors. Our balcony in our current apartment has been great, but I miss having no wall-to-wall neighbours, whom to risk disturbing and be disturbed by, and the silence that comes with living in a house.

I also miss not having a big kitchen. I would like to have one where everything works, where everything is practical and functional — and where there is space for everything both T. and myself have managed to gather over the years. A few new additions would need to be accommodated as well, for instance the somewhat unusually shaped cookie jars and the heart-shaped pie dishes from Sofias hus. Let's hope this dream of mine is not only a pipe dream.

There has been far too many acts of violence lately, of which the most serious is murder. The bleak winter sun highlights the feeling of coldness and unfriendliness. When a young person dies in a seemingly random and completely unnecessary manner it feels even worse. My thoughts go out to the people who have died recently and their families. My heartfelt condolences.

Those of you who would like to pay your respects to 19-year-old Jonathan Bergström who died on Jan 18, a Facebook event has been initiated, Tänd ett ljus för Jonathan. Light a candle for Jonathan at 6 pm tonight if you wish to attend.

This is a book I've been looking for for years, but it has been impossible to get hold of, since it has been completely out of stock at the publisher's. Today I managed to find it at a secondhand bookstore in Copenhagen and I didn't hesitate for more than a few seconds — sorry T.!

I already have quite a few books written by the same talented pair, author Dorrit Elmquist and photographer Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer: Nordliv, Sommerhusliv hele året, and Nordlys. Yet another book has been photographed by Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer, Indret ude, but in this case the texts have been written both by her and her sister, Julia Mincarelli. All these books are truly inspirational!

...at least in my mind. The sun is shining today and it's not too cold, approximately 0°C, and it almost feels as if Spring is in the air. I would love that. This winter has already been rather long even if it's only late January. Just to see the sun again is an improvement, though, since it has been rather gloomy lately. This time of year also tends to feel rather slow moving, as if everything is just on the verge of happening, and there are indeed so many things on our agenda in the upcoming months and I'm rather eager to get going. Green light, please!

Image from Allting Gratis.

The snow that was glittering so beautifully is now melting which has lead to major floods — well, not in the Australian manner but still — and the bleak sun today gives promises of Spring. I'm working from home today and the sofa corner is a pretty nice place to be.

We've made candles today by using the leftover stearin from our Christmas candles, melting it down, and pouring it into these tealight holders, Galej, from IKEA. It all turned out pretty good actually. Next time we'll probably experiment some more with colours, for instance.

It's early days still, but, since I have alluded to it in a few blog posts now, I'd better explain a bit: we are planning to move away from the city where we now live. I will be done here in the upcoming Spring, as will my oldest son, and, as far as T. is concerned, he has never really found a platform here. My youngest son is probably the one who might have the most trouble leaving, but we hope we will be able to find a good solution for him as well in our new place of residence.

On our wishlist is a house, which we assume we will rent to begin with. This will hopefully provide us with a bit more space, a garden, and a change of scenery. We're thinking primarily of a house somewhere in the southern Swedish region of Skåne, perhaps close to the place depicted in the photo above, which we drove through last summer. Let's see what we will be able to find.

Our immediate plan is to check out a house that is for rent. This will happen in two weeks from now. If it suits us we can have this house as of April 1st while still keeping our apartment for another few months. Nevertheless, it all depends on T. getting a job in the region he can be happy with. This is something that is on the list for me as well of course. Additionally we have to find good schools for the children. All of this will hopefully be taken care of in the upcoming months. If everything turns out the way we want it to we will be able to move by the end of June, but there is no fixed deadline.

I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what the boys in my family are doing at the moment. My youngest is busy building, creating and socializing on Roblox, my oldest occupies himself with playing games such as Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty and my partner T. is playing his current favourite, Red Dead Redemption. Although not really being a gamer myself, I kind of enjoy watching them all being immersed in these activities, to study how they play, and to see how they learn and evolve as gamers. It is thus a pretty normal quiet Saturday afternoon at our place.

Images from ign.com, Kotaku, and Instructables.

Last Christmas we received a wonderfully warm woolen blanket each at work, and the tag confirmed that they came from Toarp Säteri. It has been a real treat to curl up under it the last year. Today it's kind of grey and snowy and the blanket really comes in handy as I'm relaxing on our couch in between our laundry sessions. I think I will try to get hold of one more of these Toarp blankets when we move to somewhere bigger and can use both of our sofas again. Yet another plan for the future.

Images from Toarp Säteri.

Yes, Christmas is over, but I decided to see if I could find any Christmas bargains on sale — and indeed I did. I bought two very practical deep red table cloths called Julia on the sale at Hemtex, red "Uni" bed linen for my children at Ellos, and a few more christmas ornaments and candleholders from Georg Jensen found at Danish Alstrøm. The candleholders are extremely difficult to find nowadays and I was happy to be able to add to my collection. Now I'm sort of looking forward to next Christmas, which hopefully will take place at a new location, since we're contemplating moving.

My oldest son's birthday is, to his own great joy, at the beginning of the year and this year he decided that he wanted "princess cake" rather than the usual chocolate one I make. His wish was fulfilled in this regard, as it was when it comes to the PS3 games on his wish list as well. I'm not sure if he's aware of it, but he does get rather spoiled at times like these, my little (but by now rather big) boy.

Image from Allt om Mat.

The members of my family are wonderful! We had some marvellous days together over Christmas and New Year, simply spending time together and exchanging gifts. Above you can see the presents I received: Hannu Sarenström's Vinterkalas from my children, a pair of Viking boots and christmas tree candleholders from my parents-in-law, Susanne Swegen's White Christmas and Avene's Rich Skin Recovery Cream from my sister and brother-in-law, four Eva Trio Legio soup plates from T.'s grandmother, a wonderful Christmas Day dinner from my brother who invited both T. and myself to it, a black cap knitted by my mother and some money (which for instance was used to buy the Season candleholder mentioned in the previous blog post) from my parents, and a beautiful Axcent Hope watch from darling T.

I've received so many wonderful Christmas gifts, and I will try to show you a few of them later on. One thing that has been on my wishing list for a long time, is Georg Jensen's Season candleholder designed by Maria Berntsen. My mother-in-law has a beautiful one in gold, and my own favourite is the silver version. This Christmas I did not get one though, but, since I did receive some money from my parents, I decided to buy one today instead and now the candles flicker wonderfully on the living room dinner table.

Somehow I don't think the jewellery designed by Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe will be as easily attainable. They are quite expensive, but, just like many of Georg Jensen's products, also very, very beautiful. Using the space beside the Season candleholder, I just wanted to point to Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe's work, especially her famous Vivianna 326 watch.