out of the frying pan into the fire

This week was so busy. I wasn't expecting it, and so when I got back to work on Tuesday after the trip to Stockholm, it was all hands on deck, no time to think, go go go go go! It was crazy.

So I haven't had much time for catch up on things blog related.

Anyhow, the trip to Stockholm was very nice. Our hotel was in a trendy chi chi foo area of town called Stureplan, I can't say it was my kind of thing, very night clubby and exclusive bars with every table reserved (dammit I just want a DRINK, I'm fabulous in my own right, but I am SO not gonna play poser for you people.) and blonde women with big purses and boobs, little asses and brains, high heels and yippy little dogs with swarovski collars. God i hate that shit. Anybody who models their style after the Paris Hiltons of this world is someone I already know I don't want to talk to.

The hotel itself was nice, though our first room was so small it was kind of ridiculous. If you ever stay at the Hotel Stureplan in Stockholm, don't book a standard room, they are really small. Spend a bit more for the bigger rooms, then you're talking something nice. The room we moved to was much nicer and a good size, we slept well there, it was very comfortable.

We got there on Thursday (my birthday) and went for some drinks and a light dinner, then crashed. The next day we took a boat trip out to Drottningholm Palace, the family seat of the royal family. That was so nice, an hour boat ride through the gorgeous suburbs of Stockholm, ending up arriving at a glowing, imposing, yet oddly comfortable looking building placed right on a quiet inlet of the water.

We wandered around the grounds and the house and the outbuildings, it was a nice day, though the weather started getting blustery. What I liked about Drottningholm was the hand-painted everything there. All the 'stone' finishes were actually painted, and with my decorative painting background, I found that fascinating. The techniques and colors and the overall saturation of the different effects, it was truly great, and somehow also warmer than if it was real stone. We barely made it back to the boat before it started raining, which it did for all the rest of that day and the next. It rained so hard that it actually rained up and sideways.

Anyhow, we spent most of the rest of the time wandering around, finding cozy bars for a drink or two, and trying to stay dry but also see something. Gamle Stan (the old city) is nice and has charming alleys and little twisty streets. People watching there is great, too. I have NEVER seen so many handsome men, even if many of them are a bit overly trendy. But still, the handsome human quotient is extraordinary. Stockholm sort of kicks Oslo's ass, it's got all that history and large architecture and gorgeous views and that European Grand City thing that Oslo just never developed, it being a historically poor rural nation until not that late into the 20th century. Stockholm also has better shopping.....

Of course I had to take some time for shopping, and surprisingly I only bought two things, a pair of Arche shoes (very Euro-comfort and crashingly expensive in the US, but if you can find them on sale in Europe they are not too pricey, relatively) and a truly awesome up- and- coming-designer sleeveless coat thing that is so beautifully cut, it's a bit silly. I put it on and I feel like I'm invincible. (Both in black, of course.) I went for quality over quantity this trip.

If you want pictures of the trip, they are all posted in my Flickr page.

Got back from the trip and got thrown straight back into reality. Damn what a week I had this week!

But with a bonus. I tried on some of my clothes, you know, the ones that you save because you will fit back into them 'one day', even though they are too tight? The ones you love and can't quite get rid of? Well now they fit. I've lost enough weight that things are fitting better, I think I've gone down a pant size, and people are noticing the weight loss, so, yippee! Just gotta keep it up...8 lbs to go.

Woo!