"straighten up and fly right"

This is how excited I am! Wiha! I love flying. And airports are just the best places in the world. Airports are like some sort of utopitarian community where everyone's emotions and excitment are so obvious. And the beer is always cold and the shops are always full of friendly people.

So I'm a truly happy gal today! Flying home to Sweden for three days from the other side of the world. I feel like a true globetrotter.

Everyone in Sweden: Jag landar 7 imorgon bitti. Ring om ni vill ha en kram.

Everyone in Oz: I'm back next Wednesday. You will survive without me. I know it will be hard. But you will survive.

so it's still snow in sweden?

Oh. So the sun is shining today? And I have a day off because of ANZAC day? Oh well. If you need me you can find me wearing my bikini lying on a blanket in my backyard.

Haha.

"easy like sunday morning"

When you wake up at 6.45 am on a Sunday morning. The best thing to do is to bake scones.

Yup. That's the truth.

phew...

So. I guess it was a really, really good thing that I cancelled my trip to Bangkok..
The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs are advising everyone to keep away from Bangkok due to the riots. Phew. Can't say I'd like to be there right now...

Instead of hiding in a hotel room in Bangkok I'm eating pink grapefruit, writing birthdaycards, booking cinema tickets for tonight and agonizing over what essay to write next.

All this just trying not to think too much of Amsterdam.

jezzes, world's most grown up entry below...

I read. A lot. I have always been a happy reader and I thank my parents for that. In this world and age of time, reading is such a a great way to escape, to learn, to grow. And I truly feel that reading is the key for development and prosperity in this world. Reading can mean so much and it doesn't matter what you read. The oldest classics or the Twilight Saga, it's the actual fact of you reading that matters. That's why I, who usually loathe all these different kinds of World Something Days, actually appreciate World Book Day. If used to its fullest potential I think it can become something really great and it can inspire children to read. And that will trigger so many good things. Hopefully. In a perfect world at least.

So today is World Book Day, and this blog wants everyone to write about a book that has meant a lot to them. For me it has to be an author. It's really hard to pick just one book... I love strange books, the ones that you read and you read and you read and you want to give up on every page because it just doeesn't make sense, but somehow you keep reading. And in the end things just comes in to place and you feel relieved and a bit confused at the same time. Paul Auster writes books like that. Like the New York Trilogy or the Book Of Illusions or The Brooklyn Follies. Strange books. Beautiful stories.

So start reading a book today, please do. For world peace. And love. Or just because you're bored and have nothing else to do.. Just read.

note to self...

...crisp bread with cottage cheese and avocado is extremely stupid to eat in bed.

it's magic!

Getting ready to go out tonight. First time partying in almost 3 weeks. Feels strange. Like I don't know how to do it.. I've forgotten how to party. Haha.

So I've done my best preparing by putting on a pretty dress, drinking a glass of goon and eating a piece of toast with cottage cheese. Best combo ever. Until I dropped cottage cheese all over my tights. (Yes it's gettin colder here now..) Hrm.

And while putting on my makeup I'm now watching Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium. It's a silly film really. Like really. But it makes me happy so I don't care.

"today you'll dance, you'll share each other"

Good morning people of the world!

Didn't sleep very well last night. Woke up by Freddy (the possum that lives in our backyard) throwing down a box of screwdrivers on the patio floor. The roof to my room is the patio floor. If I had one bullet right now. Freddy, I would sleep with one eye open today if I were you.

To make myself a little happier I made a playlist with Newton Faulkner, Hercules and Love Affair, Antony & the Johnsons and of course sweet Andrew Bird. That's a good studying playlist if I might say so myself. Hercules and Love Affair and InDesign are made to be together.

"det kommer aldrig någonsin vara perfekt. hey"

Yesterday I had such an unusually good Monday. I made a big decision last night. And even though it feels a bit early to tell all of you about it I feel happy that the three engineers in my life, dad, Tobi and Ivan thinks it's a good idea. I'll tell you all about it later. When all arrangements have been made...

To celebrate my new future life I bought a pair of shoes for the wedding. At Nine West. Looove Nine West. Oh, if I could spend my life with a pair of shoes I think it would be these. They are utterly beautiful. I once saw a show about a woman who married a fence so it's not impossible that I will spend every waken moment with these red beauties. I've given up on men since like forever so I think loving a pair of shoes is not a bad substitution.



To follow up on my happiness from yesterday I'm spending this day listening to Swedish rap, baking olive bread and writing about industrial design history. And maybe dreaming a little about, Amsterdam. Or Rotterdam. Or Gothenburg. Who knows...

booored.

How qute aren't these salt and pepper shakers? I'll show you my bird collection some day..

I'm in the library and I'm seriously bored. Just finished writing a design brief and now I'm struggling with what to do next. Write a 1000 word essay on concrete. Or a refelctive journal on my thoughts on the industrial design revolution. It's like choosing between warm apples or eating a whole tomato without anything with it. Both makes me quiver.


Oh I so want all of these. On my window sill. In Sweden. With the late summer night sun beaming on them.

So instead I'll show you some pics from my vintage day on Saturday. The dress I found is gorgeous, even though Super Ivan says it's too short (It's definitely not too short.. I think he wants me to dress like a nun. All day. Every day. God forbid someone would ever find me sexy...) but I'm not showing it to you yet, na ah I'm not! I have to leave something a surprise. Right?


Bought the prettiest vintage jacket ever. Home sewn and everything! It goes very well together with the dress...

"her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you"

Well you have to love the Norwegians. Right?

you say potato...

I'm still lying here in my bed. Well, I've had half an hour here and there where I've done some schoolwork. But I get seriously dizzy from sitting up.

So even though I feel like throwing up I'm doing one of my favourite things.. Browsing the internet for cooking blogs. That's one of my many happy-drugs, you see. They make me want to find a rich man, any rich man, have 7 kids and just cook all days. But then I realize that that's a sad way to live your life if you do it because it seems cool and not because you want to. So then I snap out of my secret dreaming and decide to stick with becoming a successful, independent, rich by myself woman. But I still love the recipe blogs though. Like this Canadian woman who made Hasselbackspotatis. A wonderful Swedish dish. Best served with loving care by my mother together with a tender steak of deer and blackcurrant jelly. Oh and with brussel sprouts. Oh brussel sprouts.. Mmm.


.

...

I don't know what it is but I don't feel well today at all. Cold feet. Tired. Headache. Hot forehead. Nauseous. Blää.

Oh please don't say I'm getting ill. I really, really don't have time for that right now.

But I woke up at 7 this morning so even though it's just 10 right now I've managed to study for more than two hours. That's good of me. Right? But now I feel slightly dizzy, so I'm gonna lie down. Drink a cup of my new almond tea. And feel sorry for myself. For an hour. Then I have to get back to drawing... Yay. Best Sunday ever.

"when you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly chumps"

Is it just me.. Or does 37 000 Swedish Kronor (£3 300) seem quite cheap for taking a taxi from Oslo to Brussels?

"cause i'm dressed for success..."

Today is vintage-dress-shopping-day! I need to find a dress for the wedding you know. So I put on one of my favourite dresses, it's so much easier shopping if you feel pretty... And my handbag is packed with my nikon, snacks and money.

I'm going up to Paddington, the vintage Mecca of Brisbane and after I've found the dress of my dream (hopefully) I'm meeting up with sweet Haiku for lunch. It's gonna be a wonderful day. I can feel it in me bones.


Wanted to show you my new haircut and my favourite dress...


But I failed in my attempt of being a trendy fashion blogger. It feels weird taking photos of yourself.


And then my neighbour came out, and he looked at me like "What the hell are you up to? Freak." So I hurried back in again.

thank you

It's Saturday. And my body decided it was a great treat to wake me up at ten past six. Well why thank you darling. What a great start to my weekend. I'm ever so greatful.


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"a black cloud's hanging over town tonight. but i don't mind"

It's kind of hard to be angry with something that is so beautiful. Don't you say?

Although knowing myself if I was stuck at an airport sleeping on the floor waiting for my flight I would probably be raging. That's how I am. Totally irrational.

"if we do what we like then we could be with you tonight"

Just because I miss Scotland so:

yay, i can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Congrats Dad!

"all you can be is thirsty in a town with no cheer"

More often than I want to admit I struggle with my choice of becoming a landscape architect. It makes me panic thinking about that I made a choice when I was 21 that I still will affect me when I am 65. PANIC. But I don't think it has that much to do with the actual subject. It's just my restless soul fighting against doing the same thing day after day after day.

So in my panicked state of mind I need things that are fun to do. And right now I am really enjoying making maps. Abstract beautiful maps. All of these are for a project I am doing on Timbuktu. Great fun I tell thee.

"i thought by now i could have figured it all out"

So yesterday my brother's girlfriend told me that the disgusting meat glue I wrote about the other day has already been voted through i Sweden. First I felt embarrased for my lack of knowledge. Second I thought, what the hell, I don't live in Sweden anymore I can't know it all. And then I felt disgusted and sad about the food industry of today. So I started baking cardamom buns. With all Australian, no additives, just r e a l ingridients, so I could feel a bit better. See that's my thing in life. I bake when I'm upset, or happy, or pissed off, or in love. And then I eat one. Maybe two. And then I give the rest away.



And I had one. And they were great if I might say so myself. And I can. Because it's my blog. I gave the rest away to Tobi and Ivan and then I went out for a run. Because I had eaten some dough and all of the lovely Salta S that Linda sent me 4 weeks ago but arrived yesterday (!). I love Salta S. And dough (dough is so much better than the finished product). The run was by far the best since I started running here in Oz. Whoooooosh was the sound I made.

Whooooosh. People. Whoooooosh is the sound I make.

"he ain't heavy. he's my brother"

I would like to tell you about all of the important people in my life. First out is one of the people I love the most. My brother. Did you know he's the best brother ever? Well now you know.

There's a story I've never told anyone and it's about my brother as an angel. When I was 15 I was in a really bad skiing accident and almost died. When I was lying there in the hospital unconcious from the induced coma they had me in I had this dream that my brother was watching over me and he had this beautiful pink golden glow around him. Like an angel. And it kept me going. Because I could feel him there. In the room. And I think that kind of saved me right there and then. When I was better he sent me a letter to the hospital. The most beautiful letter anyone has ever written me. Every week for six months when I was doing my rehabilitation I read that letter and it made my cry every time. I still have it at home. In a blue folder with a white ribbon around it.

My brother is always on my side. Always. And he's funny. And smart. And a bit too nice to me, we have never had a single fight in our lives. (I so blame my bad boxing skills on him.) And he's always as happy as he looks on the picture. And he makes the best brunches in the world. With the best smoothies and eggs.

And in three weeks I'm going home to Sweden to be a part of the biggest day in his life. And it will probably be one of the happiest days in my life too. And I'm gonna cry. I know I will. Tears of the most beautiful happiness in the world. Does anyone know of a good waterproof mascara? It has to stand up to floods of salt water people. Floods.

Oh and I didn't manage to get a date for the wedding. Charlotta, how hard can it be to find a date? Just once? I'm an emabarrasment to all single females. I know. I'm sorry.

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craaaaavings.

Okay, so I know I'm weird. And you know I'm weird. And a lot of the time my weirdness revolves around food. Like those two months in Stockholm when I had broccoli with every meal. (Broccoli soup. Broccoli and pasta. Broccoli gratin. Raw broccoli with chive and onion dip... Broccoli in salad. Raw broccoli on its own is actually quite good too.) Or the couple of weeks in Edinburgh when all I had for dinner every night was carrots, cucumber and hummus. If I eat something I like I can eat it forever until I find some other food to obsess about.

Right now all I can think about is leverpastej. Does that mean I have an iron deficiency? Or am I just plain blank weird? I actually dreamt about it the other night. Swedish crisp bread and leverpastej and gherkins. My mom's homemade. Or the store bought kind. The type you slice. Or the one you spread. It doesn't matter really. I just want it so much that every breakfast I have is a dissapointment because I know what I could have if I was in Sweden.

Mamma, I'm home in three weeks. You'll get some for me right? Thanks, puss, love you.

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"oh but why won't you come over here"

I have a confession to make. Lately I've started becoming obsessed by the most lucious smoothies they make at Boost. Oh the Banana Buzz is like heaven in a cup. But today when I went in to the Boost bar I always go to I started thinking that do I love this place because of the great smoothies or for that cute guy who works there? He and I have this thing now. He looks at me from over the blender and I know he put more effort into my drink than anyone elses. And he knows I know. And he always gives me my drink by hand so my fingers has to touch his, all the other orders he just puts down on the counter... And he never shouts out my name (you give the girl at the till your name when you pay so they know who's is who) because he knows I always get the same thing. And I blush every time.. Hrm. Do I have a crush on the smoothie guy? (Haha crush... Smoothie... Totally an unintentional pun)

Well, that's my Tuesday confession. Every time I go to get a smoothie I commit two of the seven deadly sins. Gluttony and lust. Ooops. But oh it's so worth the $4.60.

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impressed.

Eh. If I was 13 years old. I would be so in love with this guy. 13 and climbing Mount Everest. Jezzes..

following entry in swedish. sorry lorry.

Okej. Många av er vet nog att jag är engagerad politiskt. Eller har varit iallafall. Jag saknar politiken ibland, jag gör det. Och det är när jag läser sånt här som jag förfäras över vad vi lägger våra skattepengar på. Varför ska EU lägga ner tid på sånt här? Jag trodde EU var till för att öppna gränser, skapa gemenskaphet, fred. Missförstå mig rätt, skulle vi börja sälja kött med köttklister (gud vad det ordet gör mig kräkfärdig) så skulle jag stå utanför riksdagen med ett plakat och protestera. Jag har aldrig hört om något vidrigare än detta. Kattmat har färre tillsatser än människomat, hur sjukt är inte det? Men detta är något vi kan besluta om i Sverige. Vi behöver inte EU för detta. Kan inte EU se till att större saker inom köttmarknaden som att djurtransporter blir bättre istället för att ägna tid åt nåt vidrigt ämne som får två stumpar att se ut som en hel ko? Nä. Fy fan. Både för petitessbeslut från EU och för det där äckliga klistret.

Slutraljerat. För stunden iallafall.

(It's about politics. How EU eats up tax payers money on making decisions each country can make on their own. And it's about meat glue. The most discusting thing I've ever heard of. Sorry for not translating it all, but it's quite boring really.)

mothers and boys. best ever.

My mother is by far the only person in the world who knows me the best. And I tell her everything. Well. Almost everything..

That's why I'm so happy that I know that when I get one of my panick attacks I can call her. And she calms me down.

And then when I can breathe again I go upstairs and the boys take care of me and give me chocolate and say that I shouldn't be sad because sad is stupid and I shouldn't complain because landscape architecture isn't a real subject and my ass is never gonna look as good as Ivan's.

That's what I need when I'm sad. My mom who can calm me down and the boys who can pick me back up again by making me laugh.


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"how do you like your toast in the morning? i like mine with a hug"

Things that make me happy:
Toast with cottage cheese and avocado and blackpepper and alfa alfa sprouts.

Things that make me even happier:
Funny toasters that I could kill for to own.

Cutest song ever by the way.

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god i'm rambling. i know.

Because sometimes. When your best friends are hurting because boys treat them ill. Pretty things to look at keep me from crashing. You know those things that you can stare at for hours and just escape reality for a bit.

Because of those sometimes. When all I want to do is take the first flight to Edinburgh. To give a hug. To try and make things better. For those sometimes when I wish I'll never fall in love. Because it hurts so. I need beauty. And my camera.

For those times. I'm so happy I have my Nikon. So I can take pictures like these and find that it's the beauty of the world we live in and not anything else that keeps me afloat. It's a rusty frickin ship. (Haha. "Keeps me afloat" "Rusty ship" Oxymoron?) I know. But today I don't need much.



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"marikitaaaaa. singaporaaaa."

party in our room at the hostel. yes. you can stay under my umbrella.


ivan. frank. ferry. fraser island.


camping site. rocco the car. chair for $7.50.


obsession. pictures of my feet.


gah. sunset. romantic. no boyfriend.


sand. sand. sand.


lake wabby. go there or you have never lived at all.


tobi the undertaker. super ivan. haydon the boom.


sand.


sunset at champagne pools. oh why did i not stay?

What an absolutely wonderful week. One of the best ones ever. I'm so happy I have such amazingly fun friends. Haven't laughed this much in ages.

We first went to Noosa. Not the most exciting place on earth. Expensive and touristy. But we had fun at the hostel anyways. After that we went to Fraser Island. The largest sand island in the world. Oh guys. Go there. Now if you can.

Why?
It's beautiful=best place ever.
You can only drive 4x4=fun.
There's lots of wild dingos=exciting.
You can sleep in a tent=I love camping therefore you love camping.
The sunsets are breathtaking=Ivan and Tobi should be glad I'm not overly romantic cause I don't have a clue what could have happened tot them if I was...
There is just no reason not to go=go!

Oh. I hate being back.

"i fell in love at the seaside. i handled my charm with time and slight of hand"

Peeps. I know you're all gonna miss me immensly. So I'm sorry to say that this is probably the last entry for a whole week.

Tomorrow morning, a group of partying, beach loving, goon drinking friends and I set out for a week of camping, surfing and exploring.

So If you're sitting at home thinking "hrm, I wonder what Charlie is doing today?". Just revisit my blog each day and look at the following pictures. That should give you a rough idea. Hahaha. (I do enjoy that it's summer and 25+ degrees here and you all are freezing like hell.) Hahaha.

xo xo

/Charlie girl















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"chicken... good!"

Because sometimes.



It is okay to disappear from all the commotion upstairs. Grab a snack and some wine. Crawl into bed. Put on a good ol' nineties film. And just enjoy your own company. That's what I did on Monday night. I love being alone. I'm such a great person to hang out with.


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