Stars, stripes, and peaches

I am definitely enjoying the South: the heat, the food, the people, it is great! Today we went to a small town nearby for the yearly one-day peach festival. When the sign that welcomes you read "Trenton - home of the peach festival", you know there is not much else to offer than this event.

Except a couple of cute little churches. 

This army band was pretty good, and the people in fancy cars in the parade gave us lots of candy.

We never plan to match, I promise.

There were a few peaches too, but I honestly thought there would be a little more focus on this sweet fruit this day. And how cute are those baskets? 

A great temptation ahead

  


In a couple of days I am off to America for the summer. And though I am very excited, I believe this will be the greatest test for my stop shop/live simply goals for the year.

I still haven´t bought any new clothes, shoes or accessories for myself in 2013, but it is hard to keep the "one item in, one out" rule for other things... I went to a thrift shop last week, and couldn´t resist some summery yellow glasses. I justified it by thinking I will need more glasses when my new roommate moves in this fall, and consequently didnt get rid of any of the ones I have. During the year I have got rid of various other items, books I have read and other things, so all in all, I am pretty sure I am in balance.

But being in a travel mode, surrounded by cheap shoes, pretty summer dresses and fun stores we dont have in Norway, I dont know how I will manage.

So, when evaluating my closet, I have given myself a couple of exceptions from my regime:
- A new bikini. 
The one I have is several years old, and since I will be in hot weather for 5 weeks, I dont even know if I can manage with just one swimsuit!
- New underwear
I stocked up on socks in December, but not on underwear. I should have.
- A pair of summer shoes (maybe)
I have two pair of canvas shoes, and both have holes in them. In addition, I have a couple of ballerina flats, but with paper thin soles, those are not good for walking. Can I get a new pair then? What do you think?

In addition, I can shop 2nd hand clothes, and other things like books, paper goods and more!

PS. The second picture is self-grown spinach! I am already enjoying the fruit of my gardening labor :)

Strawberry cream popsicle

Summer is here! And in the heat it is perfect to cool down with some refreshing popsicles. I had some cream in the fridge, frozen strawberries, and a lime. After a quick search, this recipe seemed to be just perfect for what I had.

Strawberry cream popsicles
Makes 4

1 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries
2/3 cup cream + milk (I didnt have whole milk, so I used a little over a 1/3 cup cream and the rest with normal milk)
1 Tbsp agave nectar
some lime juice

Puree everything in a blender and freeze in popsicle moulds. Depending on your freezer, it might be 4 hours or more till they are done. I waited till the next day.

I really liked them, but for next time, I think I would do some small changes. They were a little tart, and could need some more sweetener. Also, they tasted a lot like cream, so I would have more fruit and less cream/milk.



Sadly, my blender seems to have died just a couple of days after this, and though it kinda worked as an emergency solution, I dont think a potato masher is the best way to go for smoothies in the future. A new one is therefore on my wish list!

I might have another genius tip for you, depending on your experience with homemade popsicles. Everyone knows you can just freeze juice/saft/lemonade, but did you try yogurt? Through my job I was given a rather large donation of flavored yogurt, and I had to get creative in how to use it all. Making popsicles proved to be part of the answer to that dilemma, and it is the easiest thing in the world: freeze yogurt in popsicle molds. Super easy, and tasted good. Actually, I think I will eat one right now.

My U.S summer tour dates

Estes Park, CO with Helina in 2010.

This summer I will leave Telemark be go to America again. But this time I will go to the South! I will meet Mike´s family for the first time, and we will travel in the area close to his home town Augusta, Georgia. 

Here is our busy schedule. Let me know if you are anywhere near, perhaps we can meet up!

• June 11-21: Augusta, Georgia
• June 22-24: Greenville, South Carolina
• June 24-25: Charlotte, North Carolina
• June 25-July 3: Denver, Colorado
• July 3-7: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
• July 7-16: Augusta, Georgia

PS. My latest newsletter is right here. 

House tour: the out-takes

As I mentioned in my last post, I would post more house tour pictures. Not all areas have great light, so the quality is unfortunately lower than I would like. 

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of my home!

Balcony with spring flowers.

Kitchen.

Bathroom.

Loft bedroom

Craft corner in the bedroom.

House tour: the Small Cool version

The house tour continues. Here are the five photographs I chose to represent my home in Apartment Therapy´s Small Cool contest. It is hard to get good overview pictures in a small space, especially without a wide angle lens, so I will show some out-takes later of the places that didn´t make it to the top.

PS. You can still vote for me, favoriting ends May 31st.

Entrance and dining table.

Living room.

Overview from the loft bedroom.

A sneak peek of the green bathroom.

Guest bedroom and craft room. 

House tour: the Small Cool competition

My soaring ceilings are now on Apartment Therapy!

I have been an avid reader of Apartment Therapy the last years, and I love all their practical tips on living in small places, wonderful house tours and DIY projects for inspiration. It is such an honor to be featured on their website. This house tour series is happening because I entered the competition, and I will post more pictures from my entry, and a few outtakes later.

But first, see my entry here, and vote for me if you´d like!

PS. I will post the winner of the giveaway later tonight. 

House tour: the floor plan

I have planned a house tour of my little home, and the first part is the floor plan!

In some areas, I am a nerd, and my boyfriend is kindly helping me to be more nerdy than ever. The last thing he introduced me too is floorplanner.com. It was so much fun to recreate my own home in 2D, cause who doesn´t love a good floorplan?

Here is my take on the apartment as it is right now:

PS. Tonight is your last chance to enter my giveaway. I will draw a winner tomorrow :)