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It’s midsummers eve. This is a really big deal in Sweden, almost as big as Christmas and conveniently located exactly halfway between this Christmas Eve and next.

This is the day that we put flowers in our hair, dance around giant phallic symbols a.k.a May poles and we celebrate the short but magical Swedish summer. Children laugh and eat strawberries, adults laugh and get drunk and teenagers roam around in search of the perfect party. The weather becomes our dictator, dreams are shattered and all imaginable Nordic stereotypes are fulfilled.

Theres something about the word midsummer that has always given me a little pang of seasonal angst. Tonight is the shortest night of the year and that inevitably takes us on the journey  towards darker times. Before summer has even properly started.

Growing up abroad we didn’t have that much tradition around midsummer and I’ve had some pretty bad experiences since moving to Sweden when too many expectations blew up in my face. Also some really good ones though and hope to make some more in years to come.

Took some much needed time for myself after herring and salmon had been consumed and walked the dog in a nearly deserted woods. Hello sneakers!

The thing about walking in heels, even really high heels, is that it´s all about practice. For many years I wore heels all day, every day to work. I would run to the bus/tube, go out for lunch and possibly drinks after without even thinking about it. Admittedly there are more comfortable options out there and they are not for everyone but I´ve always liked that I carry myself in a different way with heels on. Also, Mr. K appreciates it as he usually towers over me at 195 cm. With a 10 cm heel we kind of meet half way!

Since I had a five year baby-break from office life when the kids were born, I got a little out of practice. Thanks to this experiment I have been “forcing myself” to walk in heels again. I´ve probably walked in heels more these past two months than I have in the past two years. Yay me!

Today, the heel of heels. 11 cm stilletoes with a 2cm plattform.

Important client meeting today together with some of the most senior consultants at our sister agency H&H. Prep for this meeting has been pretty gruelling but it went well so happy and more relaxed.

Chosing shoes today became tricky as all my usual go-to look professional staples have been used. Espadrilles are a safe bet in summer but these are maybe just a little over the top with gold sequins. Still they matched my top! 

Wise people say you can’t buy happiness and they are absolutely right. We all have our fair share of sorrow and anxiety that we need to deal with in whatever way we can. Friends and family are of course the biggest, and best pillow to land on.

But even if you are presently basically happy – have a solid family, good friends, a job that you like (or even better love) and a pretty decent outlook on life, things can get a little too much sometimes.  In situations like these I think things can certainly be alleviated by treating yourself to an emotional band-aid. In my case the mood elevator can most definitely be a new pretty bubblegum shoe. It’s not deep, it’s not going to make an impact on the world I live in but it works for me. Not ashamed to be shallow!

Rockstuds I love you!!!

 

 

I tried today, I really did. I’m working on a rather tedious report for a client today and I have an dear colleague and awesome UX ninja to help. Said ninja is a big fan of these leopard print boots from Tory Burch (another NK sale find) and I thought I’d wear them as a token of my appreciation (super corny I know).

All I can say is you kind of have to be in a special mood to wiggle around in 11 cm heels and I just wasn’t up for it. There are shoes for walking and there are shoes for sitting and these boots were not made for walking!

Thank you Converse for bailing me out after 1 hour of relative suffering.

Sunday workday. Accompanied at the office by one good colleague so it isn’t completely empty but almost. And quiet, and actually quite pleasant. Got a lot done and picked up some things I had left behind.

Managed to match my shoes and glasses by fluke today.  The shoes are a pair of former favourites from Jones the Bootmaker on Victoria Street in London. Bought about five minutes after we moved into our charming little flat at Morpeth Terrace (yes that was the actual address). I used to wear these at least once a week in London and they are still looking pretty decent. Rescued from the back of our storage room when I was cleaning out things to take to charity. Not sure what they were doing there and not sure why they haven’t been used for a long time!

Doing a lot of staying at home and taking it easy today after a long week at work finished by a fabulous summer party for the now 5 agencies that make up H&H Group.

Alpargatas are the ultimate summer staple in Spain. Light, washable and available in all different colours. Did I mention that you can get them for like 5€?!?!

 

A warning to the faint of heart; there might be another Sex and The City reference coming up.

Carrie lost a pair of silver Manolos at a baby shower when she was forced to take them off upon entry. I saw, I felt for her and I dreamed that maybe one day I could have that kind of extravagance of my very own.

Although I was just passing by, I knew when I saw these that I just had to have them. By now these beauties have been danced in, walked in and repaired several times. I feel special every time I put them on and every time I see them. Hoping my inner Carrie will keep shining.

Moving day at the office. Well being moved around at least. We are doing some major refurbishing over the summer which means some of my colleagues will be camping out in our dining room/event space and some of us will be camped out, well wherever we can find the space really.

Walking around the office today was a bit like being in a scene from the Never Ending Story. Bit by bit furniture, office supplies and boxes were disappearing and leaving holes behind.

I am fully prepared with my most important gear; Laptop, handbag and Nespresso machine clutched under one arm. Shoes of the day are amazing vintage Dior Mary Janes found in a small second hand store in Stockholm many many years ago. These were actually my very first pair of anything with a luxury label!

A young colleague of mine (yes I HEAR how that sounds) asked me yesterday if I was starting to regret my cheerful 100 day challenge. I have to say though that so far it’s been mostly fun. A little annoying to “have” to choose footwear out of strategy rather than comfort in the mornings but that was kind of what it was all about.

I am however starting to worry a little that I won’t make the 100 day mark. I’ve done a pretty good job of sorting, reselling and donating stuff already and not so sure I have enough shoes to last. Very likeable coworker suggested I might have to buy some more shoes to take me thought this momentous challenge. In her words “you can’t dissapoint your readers now”!

The big challenge has really been finding the time every day to take a picture, upload, write a piece and post it all for my limited audience to see, read and judge. I might be the last person to properly jump on the mindfulness bandwagon and have yet to understand the point in adult colouring (sorry Vera, Sanna, Christine etc.) but maybe this writing excercise is my own way of decompressing.

Glitter no-name ballerinas from Calle Goya in Madrid. They make me feel a little like Dorothy!