an afternoon at the park

working 7 days in a row is not good. if i say that, believe me. it is no good idea. i've been there. twice within 6 weeks. today was my free day after such a 7 workdays week. i would need another one of those free days tomorrow, but that's not possible. so, today i slept forever, had a good brunch and then we headed out for a walk in the park. the sun shone brightly and we enjoyed the brisk autumn air. it was almost like vacation, with waffles and everything!











































also, i started breaking in my purple mint vintage justin boots. the leather is hard as hell, so the breaking in will take a while...



















there are so many nice spots in the park, it's always hard to decide where to take pictures. the stairs seemed like a good place today. and the bushes. they're still green. i might just be able to convince myself that autumn hasn't arrived yet...











































skirt, scarf, bag: vintage, thrifted
boots: justin, vintage via etsy
jacket: thelin
rings: vintage and etsy

pictures by pixelpark

winter vintage

at last weekend's fleamarket, i did not only score three very pretty african inspired vintage dresses, i also found a perfect vintage dress for the upcoming fall/winter season. it is woollen (well, i guess there is some acrylic stuff involved as well), very comfortable and has this wonderful dark red colour.


























also, you can make a pretty bow with the collar, and what more would a girl want?

























apropos winter - a couple of weeks back i also found a wonderful vintage winter dirndl at a thrift store:

























it has this fantastic victorian feel to it, with these huge puffy shoulders and wide skirt. and of course it reminds me of the alps, the mountains, things i long for sometimes.










































i also love the silver coloured buttons (they are a good sign for it dating back to the 80s) and the red and black trim at the seams. the dress is a little long though, so i'll shorten it quite a bit (to knee length), and i might need to add some snaps if i don't want to wear an apron with it. anyhow, now i am really looking forward to wearing more dresses this winter!!

early autumn details

for the fleamarket yesterday, i thought i'd wear something easy and comfortable. it was a warm early autumn day, so i took out my pretty patterned zara pants and a white t-shirt with puffy arms:








































i won this beautiful necklace earlier this summer on vintage (a love story). thank you so much, tuva minna linn!! it is a beautiful, art nuveau inspired piece of silver art by carnosa, which i have been wearing a lot since it arrived. i'm still looking for the perfect sterling silver chain to complement it, though.










































the ring is another recent fleamarket find. i love how it looks like fish scales, or some kind of mushroom fixated in silver. it has a nice weight as well, so sometimes i feel like i have to balance it with this rather heavy piece on my other hand...

africa vintage

today there was a huge fleamarket at the school right across the street from where we live. i got myself out of bed early for this and was quite lucky - although norwegian prices even at fleamarkets still make me stand with my mouth open because i just can't figure why stuff should be so expensive (yes, 12€ for a vintage dress with stains and smell is considered cheap here.. i still don't get it).










































there were loads of people there, especially in the room with the ladies' clothes, so i just grabbed whatever nice fabric i saw and tried to fight my way to a corner with some room to see what i had in my hands. there was no way of trying things on, so guess how glad i was when all the four dresses i bought turned out to fit like a glove! i left with one woollen vintage winterdress and three vintage cotton dresses - the one above included a pretty matching bolero with fabric covered buttons as well!



























































these vintage cotton dresses (including one more which i had to leave behind for lack of funding) must have been donated by a lady with great taste. i would say that they probably were made in the 1960s, but i am not quite sure, one seems home-made and two are done by a professional tailor, as the label says. all of them are made of patterned fabric which seems to be inspired by african batique patterns - maybe the fabric was even printed there?









































just a couple of weeks ago i stumbled over some nice dresses and jumpsuits at asos, by their asos africa brand, and was quite tempted to order one, and i have also seen several items at zara with small patterns in brown tones, batiqued patterns and other native inspiration. these three dresses really fit my bill for this autumn - i'm happy i found them!

ulovlig norsk

two days ago, my friend maria amelie published her first book. and it's not just any book, but her autobiography. the story of her life. the story of how she and her parents ended up in norway as refugees, got refused and then went underground. the story of how she, against all odds, took a bachelor's and a master's degree at trondheim university. how she lived a full student life and at the same time didn't even exist on paper.

it is not a book about the general situation of refugees, or about norwegian politics, or about a system that obviously does not care about individuals. however, it is about the consequences of these things for her as an individual. it is a personal story, and it was written because she didn't want to lie anymore. maria also wrote it with the wish to give the reader a new perspective on their own lives.

























these last days, from when i first heard about her background until reading through the book, i have been amazed. i feel deeply honoured that i may call this extraordinary person my friend. she is more norwegian than some norwegians i know. she is always full of energy and so positive, looking for new challenges and making her friends happy. she is one of the most generous people i know, and has - even before i knew the truth about her - been a great source of inspiration for me and how i want to live my life.

i wish her all the best for the future. i wouldn't know anybody else who deserves good fortune and luck and a fantastic life more than she and her parents.

music on the roof

one of the most amazing venues for open air concerts this summer must have been the roof of the norwegian opera where i work. the stage was floating on the fjord while the public was sitting on the roof. we had a couple of wonderful shows there, amongst others with the norwegian band big bang (who gave the expression stage diving a whole new meaning... the fjord was really cold at that point!) and a charming al green.

for me, however, the absolute highlights were two evenings in a row, with the goodbye show of the folk rock act gåte and the swedish singer/songwriter lars winnerbäck. while i have admired the latter for a long time (and what i loved best with his show were all the old songs and classics he played. wonderful.), i had never heard gåte before, and was very pleasantly surprised - two hours of waiting in the rain was surely worth the bombastic light show and explosive music that followed:







i really don't think i've ever seen a light show better adjusted to the music than here. i'm still amazed.

silver bomb

i like big rings. cocktail rings. statement pieces. this is one of my best. i sometimes wear it to work and then i need to remember not to wear anything on the neighbouring finger. last week i forgot about that and made little plings whenever i handed over a ticket to a customer or typed anything on the computer. basically whenever i moved my hand. i don't know if my collegues appreciate this kind of music.








































it was made by discomedusa on etsy, and as far as i know she may have materials left for one more of these little silver cytomorphic bombs...