Autumn loving

As a sweater-loving type of gal, who adores to bundle up warm with cozy scarves and don the chic chelsea boot, autumn is prefect for me! It has actually become one of my favourite seasons due to what I can find in my wardrobe; simple items which one can layer, cozy items (a.k.a. knitted sweaters and scarves), and boots.

With autumn just around the corner (read: it's already here…), it means I'll be heading back to Aberdeen for my third year at university. I'm looking forward to coming back and catching up with all of my friends and hearing what they got up to this summer! I'm especially eager to hear David's story, as he is cycling all the way from Orlando, Florida to Seattle, Washington. Last time I heard from him he was in Montana. Crazy bastard.

During Freshers' Week 2014 I'll be volunteering, as well as PR-ing for the Nordic Society, which I am so incredibly excited about! Since first year I have wanted to volunteer during Freshers' - the week of madness, followed by the infamous "Freshers' flu". Last year I had the flu for over a month. But it was worth it!

Music Monday #89

Terrified...

I turned my bed side lamp off at roughly 23.00 and put my head on my pillow. Just as I was about to slumber I hear a noise in the house. It was one of those noises which completely freaks you out. It's not that it was super loud or anything, but it sounded suspicious. One of those noises that you don't normally hear.
At this moment I froze in my curled up position in bed, swaddled by my duvet, and I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I lay still for a while, hardly breathing. Listening for that sound again. I heard it several times and started to freak out even more, as I was almost certain someone was in the house.
In these situations, I usually am too afraid to even breath, and will absolutely not move form my frozen position, not even to turn on the light and sit up in bed. But after a serious debate in my head of the consequences of me not getting up and investigating, I finally rolled over and turned on the light. I then sat up and reached over for my phone on my bedside table. I quickly punched in 112 into my phone (just in case), but didn't call. I then put my feet on the ground as quietly as I could and snuck over to my door and put my ear against the door. At this point I felt my adrenaline rushing though my body and my  heartbeat was pounding like never before. I then heard the sound again and mustered up enough courage to open the door. Just in that instant I recognized the sound I had heard as the sound of water dropping from a tap. I cautiously headed over to the bathroom but it wasn't coming from there, so I stood still for a while, listening for the quiet "plop" sound again.
It wasn't coming from downstairs, so I headed into the living room, thinking it was coming from in there (weird.. I know). But apart from the buzzing lights we have in there it was silent. So I headed back to my room, when I heard the "plop" once more. It then occurred to me that it was coming from my brother's radiator in his room. As his room is right opposite of mine, and his door is open as he isn't home, I could hear it very clearly from my position in bed. I cannot describe the relief I felt when I finally figured out where the strange noise was coming from, and what was causing it. I let out a huge sigh of relief and instantly felt a bit queasy, but headed back to bed to try and calm myself down by listening to calming music and watching 2 clips of Robin Williams' stand up on YouTube. Now, after writing this, I am going to catch some z's.

Time

I don't think any song has made me feel as emotional as this song has.
As I was sitting on the sofa in the TV room, with the speakers blasting out some good tunes, Wait by M83 came on. As soon as it came on I leaned my head back on the sofa and closed my eyes.
This song makes me happy, sad, nostalgic, excited - all at the same time. How this is even possible, I have no idea. As the song was drawing to its close, I opened my eyes and looked out the window, only to realise that I had tears in my eyes. No song has ever made me feel this way before.

I found this song before sometime during the end of June, just before Helina came to visit. We played it a few times during the week she was here, and takes me back to that week with her.
I get especially attached to songs that remind me of cherished memories. For example, every time I play the playlist I have of all the songs from our time on Ios (Greece), I get extremely nostalgic and want to book a ticket back right in that instant!

Music Monday #88

lol

My favourites from Josh Record's new album:

Pictures in the dark

Dead Tree

Belief

Summer has Come

Our trip to the north

Early on Wednesday morning, my grandma, Oskar and I set out on our road trip up to Sollefteå, where my grandma is currently residing. The car journey went smoothly and we were all eager to get out of the car once we arrived. I spent a part of the afternoon napping, trying to recover from our grotesquely early morning. After dinner, Oskar and I went on a walk around Risön, which is right next to where my grandma is living.

The bridge you cross to get to Risön

Standard foot picture. My brother is truly baffled as to why I take these types of pictures, and to be honest, I don't know why I do.. Also, I am absolutely loving Oskar's "sock-tan" haha!

On Thursday we set out on an adventure up to Myre, which is situated right on Ågermanälven (a big river). We had a delicious lunch and then had a quick look around in the "loppis"

Our view at lunch

The old barn which had been redecorated into a small café/restaurant was decorated with charming old cans and bottles, as seen in the photo above

On Friday around noon, we headed up to Imnäs to visit my grandma's brother:

The view of the river from their cottage

After a day of fishing with Oskar, and watching Oskar swim in the river, I headed back up the hill to pick some raspberries. I have never seen so many raspberries in the same place in my life, I picked about half a litre in a matter of minutes and it wasn't even noticeable!

Of course one can't visit Imnäs without diving over to Skogsnäs and the best tomatoes and cucumbers on the planet! This is a greenhouse owned by a farmer where the locals come to handpick their vegetables. We have been coming here since we were children, and this time was no different, apart form the fact that the place had been plundered by a few people just before we arrived, leaving us with only a few tomatoes to take back home.

Oskar looks like Slenderman in this photo, cracks me up

I cannot express in words how insanely cool and dangerous this place feels. (This picture really doesn't do this place justice.) As I was standing there on the brink of the water, with the loud noise of the water gushing out, I felt so peaceful. It had been raining quite a lot over the past couple of days, and as a result they have to let some of the water out of the reservoir to maintain the water level

The view from my grandma's balcony out over the garden and river, and in the distance you can see the camping site.

Oskar and I drank many glasses of the homemade (it was actually purchased in the shop but it's homemade by a woman in the area) blackcurrant "saft" (cordial/squash).

We got home at around 19.20 on Sunday evening, and after dinner I headed out for drinks with Natalie and Juno

Music Monday #87

I seem to have found a good mix of music this week as well!

Friday night

Before I headed off to dinner with Natalie, I had an aperitivo at home with my parents and two family friends. My dad made watermelon and mint drinks, containing watermelon flavoured rum, sprite and chunks of fresh watermelon and crushed mint.
At roughly half past eight, Natalie and I ended up at Level (a bar & restaurant) for dinner and a glass of wine. After our dinner, we headed over to Sushi Yama for a taster of their cocktails. I had a mojito, which was super nice and fresh! After my cocktail we headed down to Ivy to meet up with a few people and a cider. We then headed to Satin, where I bumped into a few friends and stuck around until half past 2, when we finally decided to skedaddle and head home. As Natalie was the designated driver for the evening, we first drove home Robin, her boyfriend, and two of his friends, but only after a quick stop at Sibylla, where they got some food. I got home at twenty past 3 and headed straight for bed as I was knackered.

This morning, Oskar and I took the car over to our grandparents house for lunch. We then helped them around the house a little bit and ran an errand, before we headed back home.
My Sunday will be spent at work, as I had to cover for a girl who couldn't make it. I'll be working from 11.30 to 22.00, so I'm making the most of my chilled Saturday.