BRÅVALLA 2013 - DAY 2
After a good nights sleep in a real bed in Norrköping, I didn't have to start work at 8 am, which was awesome. Instead I went back to the festival after lunch to see Hoffmaestro (for the 3rd time), but we passed by Royal Republic and John de Sohn before getting to the Green Stage. Great start to the day!
When I'm at festivals I want to experience as many acts as possible, so we run in between the stages. Next one was the Blue Stage to check out Bullet for my Valentine, realized that wasn't my cup of tea. There I met up with a friend and also saw one that I didn't even know was there. Surpises at it's best! Anyway, we went to see to comedy instead and Thomas Järvheden. Brilliant! Comedy and music <3
Then I parted ways with my friend and rushed to see the end of Tumbuktu & Damn!'s show, he sure is cool and has some great songs that I got to hear!
In time for my sister to join us we went to have a dance party with Albin Myers in the middle of the day. It was amazing, also here I hadn't heard too much of what he played but oh the happy surprises I got!
Next in line were Johnossi, another band I've now seen 3 times. So a classic, and still very good. Even if I like the older stuff a lot better. They played Man Must Dance so I was satisfied! And again, can you spot the Boston-related-item?
And we mixed in some Frank Ocean in there as well. Not really my type of music, but he sure is great artist!
Before the big act of the day Green Day, we had time to dance our butts off a little more with the help of John Dahlbäck.
Green Day were never my thing, and I got reminded of that to start with. But they did get better during their 2h + show and we had a lot of fun towards the end. Even though we had to take care of a random drunk girl and look for someones lost phone.
Bad stuff soon forgotten as we headed to the last act of the night, none less than Armin van Buuren Trance music at it's best, for sure. Ah, had such a blast. And This Is What It Feels Like was definitely the best, love when the singer (Trevor Guthrie) joins in on stage! And the light show was incredible.
"And I don't even know how I survive, I won't make it to the shore without your light. No I don't even know if I'm alive, oh, oh, oh without you now this is what it feels like"
I could leave this day happy as well. An amazing day!
to be continued...
♥
BRÅVALLA 2013 - DAY 1
Day 1 - Friday 27th of June
Started the day early with my first shift as a volunteer. This is how I payed for my ticket to the festival. I worked a total of 16 hours. Started with 8 hours from 08:00 to 16:00. The whole festival didn't start until that afternoon so I really didn't miss much and had a pretty busy gate to guard, so it was not that bad. But got more and more excited to get in an see the area and start the whole experience!
It kind of turned out to be a family festival for the most part for me, because both my brother and mother volunteered as well so we enjoyed the music together for the most part too. Not as bad as you might think, haha!
My view for about 8 hours. That's the people at the camping waiting in line for the food store.
First group I was dying to see. ICONA POP! Though I was slightly dissapointed with their show, it still was a lot of fun. AND I DON'T CARE. I LOVE IT!
Ever so hilarious Jonas Gardell. A great idea to mix up the musical acts with some comedy!
We only passed these guys, didn't really dare come closer. Ghost is the name of the group.
I had the luxury of sleeping in the city at my friends place, but the other two stayed here
Can you spot the Celtics hat?
Paramore, the second act I was dying to see. SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME! Super great live!
I was pretty excited to see In Flames too, though realized soon I haven't listened enough at all to enjoy it as much as I would have wanted.
Second to last, and the main act of the day/night, was Rammstein, they had the sickest live act I've seen! It was such a show from the start. Their music wasn't what I would listen too, but it was so darn worth it to see. And Du Hast was powerful to watch when about 20 000 people scream along. 
Now to the highlight of my first day at Bråvalla: MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
The energy boost you got was huge and it was a party from the start. I haven't heard all his songs and definitely realized there are some more gems in their arsenal!
He found a shirt someone wore in the crowd and put it on and of course the next song would be Thrift Shop. It was amazing!
My view for about 8 hours. That's the people at the camping waiting in line for the food store. First group I was dying to see. ICONA POP! Though I was slightly dissapointed with their show, it still was a lot of fun. AND I DON'T CARE. I LOVE IT! Ever so hilarious Jonas Gardell. A great idea to mix up the musical acts with some comedy! We only passed these guys, didn't really dare come closer. Ghost is the name of the group. I had the luxury of sleeping in the city at my friends place, but the other two stayed here Can you spot the Celtics hat? Paramore, the second act I was dying to see. SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME! Super great live! I was pretty excited to see In Flames too, though realized soon I haven't listened enough at all to enjoy it as much as I would have wanted. Second to last, and the main act of the day/night, was Rammstein, they had the sickest live act I've seen! It was such a show from the start. Their music wasn't what I would listen too, but it was so darn worth it to see. And Du Hast was powerful to watch when about 20 000 people scream along.
Now to the highlight of my first day at Bråvalla: MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS The energy boost you got was huge and it was a party from the start. I haven't heard all his songs and definitely realized there are some more gems in their arsenal! He found a shirt someone wore in the crowd and put it on and of course the next song would be Thrift Shop. It was amazing!
I think this guy's year was just made, because he also got the shirt back
And he ended perfectly with And We Danced
"And we danced, and we cried, and we laughed, and had a really, really, really good time.
Take my hand, let's have a blast and remember this moment for the rest of our lives!"
This ended my first day perfectly!
To be continued...
♥
Gröna Lund
A couple of weeks ago I had an amazing week, that started with me going up to Stockholm to see my friend from CISVMike who was visiting from Costa Rica, was joined by our other friend Isabel and Mike's friend Olle. I had no idea what was planned for the day but it turned out to be a day at Gröna Lund, Stockholm's amusement park (not as big as Liseberg, but I went there a lot more when I was younger and love it just as much).
The day was great, sunny, funny and a lot of roller coasters. A little sad we only got one day together but we made the most out of it!
Isabel and Mike 
Olle, Mike and me 
Boston love at O'Learys<3
STUDENT 2013
My younger sister just graduated from our equivalent to High School or Secondary School, like I did 3 years ago.
We had a reception after with lots of friends and family that was great with good food, great company, gifts and embarrassing videos of the graduate (and us siblings).
I couldn't be more proud of my sister and wish her all the best in the future, especially in Australia with me!
I'm gonna let the pictures do the talking this time
The last pictures is of my and my brother's gift. A box of Australia and useful things to have there!
You're the best, Amelie! ♥
CISV goes to Liseberg
Every year on the opening day of the biggest amusement park in Sweden (Liseberg) the organization I'm a part of (CISV) invites all of the members to come there and have an awesome day and meet friends from around the country. This year I went there for the second time and I also got a friend from school who studies in Göteborg (where Liseberg is located) to come join us.
A day with not the best weather to start with, but it kept most of the locals away so the lines where short!. Loads of rides, fearing for your life and CISV love. After we where done I spent the night at my old school friends place and the day after we met up with more of my friends from school who now live there for lunch. Fun, fun weekend!
Not to close to Linköping, about 3 hours away. But perfect for a short weekend or day trip. This place is beautiful, especially during Christmas!
<3
Breton Galette
Now it looks like I'm only eating and not doing much else with my time, but there are a lot of great recipes that I want to share first!
Breton galettes are buckwheat flour pancakes from France.
Buckwheat is not related to wheat and therefore a lot better to eat!
Galettes
Ingredients (serves 4)
2,5 dl Buckwheat flour
3 dl water
1 egg
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
12 slices of cheese
8-12 slices of tomatoes
Mix all the ingredients together and put the batter in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Then beat the batter again and add some more water if you think it's too thick. Heat a pan on medium to high heat and melt some coconut oil. Then pour some batter in the skillet and spread it out to a thin coat. If you want the same toppings as me, you now crack an egg over the galette and add the cheese and tomatoes on or around the egg and sprinkle the herbs over it all. Fold the edges and let it be for a couple of minutes on the frying pan or until the egg is to your liking. Ready to serve!
We usually make one savoury and one sweet, so we cook another galette but without adding anything while it's in the pan. But eat it with a mix of cottage cheese and raspberries.
Delicious!
♥
Little Sister turned 19
My sister Amelie turned 19 on the 15th of April, but she went to Rome with her class that day so we delayed her celebration until the 23rd. Cousins, grand parents and family came over for good food and great company!
A little challenge to make food for the first big party during this new lifestyle. And I have to admit there are some agave in one of the cakes, so there's some sweetener in it. But the better version of it. I just have to be careful with it during these 8 weeks and not eat it.
Sweet potato pie with guacamole and tomatoes
Ingredients
Base
1 sweet potato
2 carrots
1 red apple
3 dl cashew nuts
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
Guacamole
1/2 red onion
1 ripe tomato
2 ripe avocados
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs lemon juice
1 - 2 milliliter cayenne pepper or chili
salt and pepper
Topping
Tomatoes, arugula, onion, leaf parsley, olives, cashews
Put oven on 175 C. Peel and slice the sweet potato, carrots and apple and put them in a food processor together with the nuts. Blend it to a rough batter and season to taste with lemon juice and salt. Pressure the batter into a mold in a springform baking tin, with grease proof paper underneath. Bake it in the oven for 45 minutes. After it's done, take it out and let it cool.
Peel and chop onions and tomatoes. Slice the avocados and scoop out the avocado meat. Mix the onions, tomatoes, avocados and garlic in a food processor until smooth. Season to taste with lemon juice, cayenne, salt and pepper.
Cover the base with a layer of guacamole and then add the decorations.
Done!
With it we served chicken scewers and a big sallad.
For dessert we made a raw cheesecake and the paleo mudcake
Raw Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the base
2,5 dl cashews
1 tbs agave
4 tbs coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
For the filling
7,5 dl cashews, soaked for 1 – 2 hours
2,5 dl coconut oil
1 1/4 dl lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 dl agave
3 3/4 dl pomegranate juice
some blueberries for color
To make the base, put the cashews in a food processor and process to flour. Add the remaining ingredients and process again. Press it into the bottom of a springform and put it in the fridge whilst working on the filling.
For the filling, blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. then pour it on top of the base.
Put it in the freezer to set. When it's set you can store it in the fridge until you want to eat it.
Decorate with berries of your choice. I used pomegranate seeds for the cheesecake and raspberries and blueberries for the mudcake.
Happy birthday sis! ♥
Paleo Mudcake + Walnut and Chocolate Balls
Me and my mother were invited to a lunch with my grand parents and my grand father's siblings. We decided to be in charge of the dessert. Sugar free style. It was a hit!
Paleo Mudcake
Ingredients:
3 eggs
10 dates
2 dl almond flour
1 dl coconut flakes
5 msk cacao
1/2 dl coconut oil
1 tsk vanilla powder
1 tsk baking powder
En pinch of salt
Turn the oven on 175 C. Mix the date and coconut flakes in a food processor. Pour in the almond flour (super easy to make yourself in a food processor), cacao, vanilla powder, baking powder and salt and mix some more. Melt the oil and pour it in the batter with the eggs. Mix until smooth. Grease the baking tin with the coconut oil and sprinkle some coconut flakes over the tin. Pour the batter in the tin and cook in in the oven for 8 minutes, it's supposed to be sticky when you take it out. Put it in the fidge for at least an hour before serving it.
Serve with whipped cream.
Walnut and Chocolate Balls
Ingredients
2 dl walnuts
1 dl cashew nuts
5 dates
2 tbs coconut oil
1 - 2 tbs cacao
some water
Decoration: coconut flakes
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, add some water if you need to. Make some balls and roll them in some coconut flakes. Store in the fridge or freezer.
Serve with whipped cream, frozen raspberries and sprinkle with some more coconut flakes.
It's always fun to spend time with these people. So many memories and fun stories!
♥
Breakfast
The breakfast I usually eat these days. So incredibly good! Usually I make a big batch to stand in the fridge, so it's easier to heat up in the morning and top off with the berries etc.
Buckwheat porridge
4 dl buckwheat groats
1 apple
2 tsp flaxseed
1-2 tsp flaxseed oil
4 tbs sunflower seeds
4 tbs pumpkin seeds
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Cook the buckwheat with the apples and water for 25 min. Then mix in the flaxseed, oil, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cardamom and cinnamon. Decorate with berries and fruits of your choice. I have frozen blueberries, raspberries, redcurrants, some homemade apple sauce, bananas and the juice from elderberries. And topped off with some walnuts.
For once it's really exciting waking up and eating breakfast!
♥
Zucchini Pasta with Chicken and Raspberry Ice Cream
After a couple of days of my sugarfree days I made dinner for my dad. Found both these recipes on http://emmabarremyr.blogg.se/
First the zucchinipasta
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 zucchinis
2 ripe avocados
1 clove of garlic
2 handfuls of arugula
1 tbs chopped chive
1 tbs chopped chili
3/4 dl almond milk
Salt
2 chicken fillets
shelled walnuts
Mix the avocado, garliv, arugula, chive, chili, almond milk and salt to a creamy sauce. Using a peeler, shred the zucchini to look like pasta. Then mix the sauce and pasta together and put it in the fridge to get to kinow each other. The chicken I cut into pieces and fried with salt and pepper and garlic. Take out the zucchini and put it on plates and then put the chicken on top of it with some walnuts.
For dessert I made a raspberry ice cream. A delicious treat!
Raspberry Ice Cream (serves 2):
250 g frozen raspberries
1 avocado
1 tsp vanilla powder (not vanilla sugar)
Mix it all in a food processor, and add some water if it's not smooth enough. And it's done!
A success according to my father. And I quite agree. A good start!
♥
Hello!
So this has been a while!
Did you know a new job can drain you of so much energy?
Because that's pretty much what I've been doing. Working and then coming home and not having the motivation to do this big job of writing. Because I have a lot of things I want to write here. So now you're in for a treat!
A bunch of things I've done this last month, but also a lot of recipes from my new way of life. I quit sugar about 6 weeks ago, though this last week has been a little bit of a bust in that department so I'm starting over again on Monday, and this time I have my sister with me! 8 weeks of no simple carbs or sugar.
It's not as bad as it sounds! Has made cooking a lot more fun, because I have to really think and explore. And the best part is,
it tastes REALLY GOOD! So I thought I'd compile the recipes here, for easy access for me and others. My own little cook book maybe?
Anyway. I'm back and trying to get on track with all these posts.
Here we go!
Gentlemen of the Road
The obvious choice of music on the train, a song that they sadly didn't play!
Me and my sister getting excited on our way up
Frida, the second person I was there with <3
Two bands played before M&S. First called Half Moon Run and second Mystery Jets. These two pictures are both of the latter because I didn't get a good one of the first. Music wise it was alright. They both had their ups and downs, but it must be incredibly ungrateful to play before Mumford & Sons, when everyone just wants them to get on stage. Here I'm gonna have to say I was impressed with the two people behind me who managed to talk loud and all the time during the two preformances. It was awesome listening to you! They thankfully managed to shut up when the important part of the evening started, or shut up is not very accurate. The second Ben, Marcus, Winston and Ted get on stage the place erupts with screams and excitement and I was in heaven. Finally I saw them again!
To top it off they suddenly invite some guests to the stage. None other than the amazing First Aid Kit. According to the guys (and me) these girls make some of the best music in the world. They played Lions Roar together and it was incredible. I love both these groups and to see that they are fans of each other was awesome!
After the first encore which was The Cave (awesomeawesomeawesome) everyone got on stage and they played The Weight (a great Bob Dylan song).
I also bought my new favorite shirt. A Hopeless Wanderer Mumford & Sons shirt. My favorite song from my favorite band illustrated on a shirt: I'm in love <3
This was such an awesome night it's hard to describe, it could only have gotten better if they had played Hopeless Wanderer, Below My Feet or Broken Crown too. But a girl can't have it all and they did play White Blank Page with the first three words of that song having the power to send me on an emotional roller coaster. Tears of joy or happiness I think it's called ♥
See you next time guys! ♥
I will call you by name, I will share your road
There are a lot things happening. Some I can write about now, some not just yet.
First of all. Tonight is the night. I'm seeing my favorites again, and it's going to be amaaaaaaziiiing!
Also I cut my hair like 10 cm shorter, not by choice, but it had been too long since the last time (I think May last year..) :
I met up with Olivia, my dear friend I met as an au pair at her house I've heard so many stories about, so that was great! Too bad she lives in Norway now...
I went to the cinema twice. Once this Sunday with my sis watching Jack the Giant Slayer and then yesterday we got tickets to The Hunt. Two completely different movies, one a big ass production with animations, the other a Danish movie with very little special effects. I have to say I liked the Danish one the best. I had little expectations for it, those surprises are the best! It's a great movie, with the theme of something so easily happened. And Mads Mikkelsen is amazing! Jack the Giant Slayer is fun and if you like Nicholas Hoult you should see it, though I'm more excited to see him in Warm Bodies next week!
Another big thing that's going on is that I started 8 weeks with no sugar on Monday. Which I'm actually am pretty excited about, even though I won't be eating bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, chocolate, candy etc. Or drink alcohol for that matter. There's this book that inspired this idea called Sockerbomben (the Sugar Bomb), which is a book about being addicted to sugar and what sugar does to you. And because nearly everyone eats sugar everyday it's a pretty important thing to know. I'm not addicted, but I still want to see how my body feels without it and then after the 2 months have a life style with considerably less sugar. If some extra weight disappears in the midst of all this that would just be a bonus!
Other than that I'm trying to get a job, planning my future, doing tests that go really well, apply for university, Skype with Alistair again, seeing Julia again (met her in September when she started her 6 month trip in North and mostly South America), beeing jealous of my Boston friends and family for travelling like they do or for the weather there. 20 C and sun and here it actually snowed today.
Tomorrow I'll be back with pictures and memories from tonight and it will be awesome.
♥
Happy Easter!
Yesterday I started going through and cleaning out our pantry, and I actually found a can out coconut milk that expired in 2000....that must be a record. If you don't count the "Rose water" that expired in 1999, haha! I guess we didn't really use the stuff that was on the lowest shelf in the back that much. I think I'll do more of this in this house, we definitely need it!
Then in the afternoon there was semi final #2, and it's my team against the right now best team in Sweden. It's gonna be a really exciting set of games. LHC one the first one in OT, and SAIK won this one in OT too. And they scored 2-2 with 32 seconds left of the game. We were SO CLOSE to winning this one too! I'm really looking forward to the next game they play here in Linköping, because me and Tamina are going!
When my sister came home we started our family night with cooking dinner together (bifteki with tzatziki is soooo goood!) and then watching a movie together. The Intouchables. My dad and sister had already saw it in the theatre, but they loved it so they watched it again for me. IT WAS AMAZING. Everyone has to see it. Really.
Today I'm meeting friends who are home for the weekend, so see you later!
<3
Going off with a bang
Some pictures from my last week in Stockholm. Cause now I'm back home again. Perfect timing with Easter!
Watching the last quarter final that LHC won 6-1 at a sports bar on Thursday. A lot of fun!
On Friday I went to see my brother in action when he worked at a bar, at his university. Also fun :)
On Sunday I visited my friend Ida where she was studying (in a suburb to Stockholm) art. She was making a project (the picture) which is very original (I think) so I'm excited to see if she'll be successfull! After that we had a movie afternoon/night. It was nice doing almost nothing with someone you've missed!
Then not too much excitement until Thursday which also was my last day working. As I wrote about before there was a movie shooting outside about 2 weeks ago, now they were back and were shooting a scene where a car drives by and then a night club blows up. Apparently this would happen during winter so I now know how they first make it look like snow on the ground and then how to make it look like there's snow falling. When they were shooting the explosion no one could go in or out of the café so we took that opportunity to stay outside the whole time and really see them filming. It takes more time than you think, but it was fun! We know more about the movie now, have a name and a little bit of what it's about :)
'
Due to the fact that the film crew blocked a lot of the streets outside the rest of the day was pretty calm.
That night Ruth (the one I've been staying with and the owner of the café) took me and my brother out to eat dinner. It was my last night there and we wanted to celebrate. Had tapas for the first time in my life and ate calamari which is squid or octopus. Not as bad as I thought it might be! A really fun night and great way to end these 4 weeks I've been there!
On Friday I helped with some cleaning up at the café before heading back south in the afternoon. I had a little Easter gathering to get to in Norrköping!
That was the perfect way to begin Easter and coming back home with. Awesome night with awesome friends! Delicious food and seeing old friends again!
<3
