Frogner Blandakor

....det var sånn vi hørtes ut utpå natten, da allsangen runget i rommet.
Eller, kanskje det var sånn vi trodde vi hørtes ut etter å ha inntatt en anseelig mengde champagne?

I alle fall var vi 16 jenter som sang av full hals til "Främling", "Fångad av en stormvind", "Is it in his kiss", "The final countdown" osv.

Vi var alle samlet for å feire verdens beste søster som fylte 40 år på fredag. Når den barriæren skal krysses, gjelder det å ha høye nok hæler, mengder av champagne og herlige venninner.
Min søster har alt det, og mere til :)

Så nå er vi skjønt enige om at vi definitivt bør være aktuelle for Korslaget neste år, med sang, dans og miming :)

Canada Goose Kensington Parka

I can't wait for really, really cold winter days!
You might think I'm a total weirdo for saying something as stupid as that.
But I just can't wait to wear my Canada Goose Kensington Parka.
The three last winters have been freezing here in Bergen - so last year I decided that this year I would finally buy the Canada Goose Parka. It's expencive, I admit it, but this is a parka I will have for the rest of my life! I love tha fact that it's slim fitting, and the extra lining in the jacket prevent the down from peeping out through the seames!
It's only just below zero (celcius) today, so I'm wearing the jacket for the first time - and I love it!
Let the winter come - cold and snowy - I am ready! :)

Skyfall - Bond is back!

Last Friday I was invited to the premiere of the latest James Bond movie "Skyfall"
I must admit my expectations were sky high after all the fuzz in the media.

And I was not disappointed at all. Skyfall delivers big time!
I really wanted to applaud several times during the movie - such was my joy!

The snappy comments are back, the irony, old fashion fist fight on a moving train, crazy car chases, the old beautiful cars with catapulte seats - all makes it the best Bond movie the last 10-15 years.
Daniel Craig delivers as James Bond, and Javier Bardem is fantastic as secret agent gone bad!

And the soundtreck by Adele is just heaven!

So get yourself to a movie theatre near you - this is a must-see on big screen!

Pinlig Ulrikke Lund!!!

Vi har vel alle hørt ordtaket "å kaste stein i glasshus".

Vel, Ulrikke Lund gjør i alle fall det med glans i dag!
I denne artikkelen Motebloggere vil boikotte H&M går bla. Ulrikke Lund ut og kritiserer H&M for å ikke betale arbeidere på fabrikker i Bangladesh mer enn 2-4 kroner timen.
Og misforstå meg rett her: jeg er faktisk enig med Ulrikke i det.
Alle har vi et ansvar for at mennesker får det de har krav på, og vi i rike Norge har også et ansvar for å legge press på kjedene slik at bransjen kan bli mer renhårig.

Men, når så Ulrikke Lund gladelig tar imot annonsekroner fra H&M, for det gjør hun!
Bloggen hennes er tapetsert med Lana del Rey!!
Ja, da mister Ulrikke all troverdighet i mine øyne!

Live as you preach - også når det gjelder annonseinntekter.
Ellers blir du ikke spesielt mye bedre enn H&M som du kritiserer heftig her!

Pinlig, rett og slett!!

Screenshot fra bloggen til Ulrikke Lund 26. oktober 2012

Brann

Ekte lidenskap har et navn: BRANN

Det kan fort skrives om til: ekte lidelse har et navn - Brann!
For sånn føltes det på Stadion i går kveld da Brann møtte Hønefoss på hjemmebane.
Guttene i Idrettsveien hadde litt å bevise etter exiten i cupen - der de tapte semifinalen mot et sultent Hødd på Høddvollen.

Gradestokken viste 6 grader, så jeg fant frem makkoen (stillongsen) og dunjakken for å holde meg varm. Jeg er glad jeg gjorde det, for det var neimen ikke mye som varmet av spillet på banen!!

Jeg har sjelden sett et så dårlig lag som Brann var på banen i går!
Lange oppspill til Kim Ojo, som enten hopper en halvmeter for kort - hvis han da ikke sklir og faller - eller så er han i offside! Hver eneste gang!
Ojo var fantastisk i fjor - men i år har han vært tidvis direkte dårlig.
Jeg skjønner ikke at Skarsfjord lar ham få spille hver eneste kamp.
Det samme gjelder Eirik Mjelde som heller ikke presterer på banen.
Det er rett og slett flaut å se på. Og det er flaut å tenke på at disse guttene hever store lønninger uten å prestere! Hadde vi i næringslivet levert like dårlig innsats hadde vi fått sparken for lenge siden.

Lyspunktene på Stadion er ungguttene. Kristoffer Larsen, Bård Finne, Kristoffer Barmen.
Gutter som får alt for liten spilletid. Hva i all verden er poenget med å la dem spille 5-10 minutter på slutten av hver kamp?
Joda, Bård Finne har reddet Brann to ganger nå med lekre scoringer i de siste minuttene.
Men hvorfor ikke la dem få mer spilletid?
Løpet er jo kjørt i forhold til cupen, medalje kan de se langt etter i serien også, så hvorfor ikke la ungguttene få spille kampene?
Om Brann blir nr. 5 eller 8 i serien spiller jo ingen rolle - men ungguttene trenger trening!

...og Brannsupporterne trenger å se spillere som blør for drakten!
Spillere som presterer og varmer de frosne sjelene på tribunen.

La dem få slippe til!

Barcelona

Barcelona is a fantastic city on the coast of Spain.
In spite of the economic crisis in Europe, Barcelona is bustling with tourists! Unlike other places in Spain, where you will find lots of empty shops - everything is still running good in Barelona.
Why, you might ask...
Well, mostly because of the tourists. Barcelona is filled with them.
Some come for the sun, some for the food and wine, some for the arcitecture and museums, some for the football and some for the shopping.
Barcelona has it all in huge amounts.

I just spent a weekend there, it was my second time in Barcelona, and it will not be the last.
The prices are more than affordable - so going to Barcelona now is good value for money.

I did some shopping in Zara, and compared to the same shop in Norway, it's really cheap!
I bought a leather jacket, price 89€ (today's exchange rate means 650 norwegian kroner), the same jacket in the store in Oslo costs 1500 NOK. So it's more than half price!

That's just one of many examples - so go ahead and shop til you drop!

Fab weekend

My sister came to visit this weekend, and what a fab weekend we have had!
Lot's of sister time :)

I picked her up at the airport on Friday, got some sushi take-away on the way home.
The weather was good, so we decided to eat on the balcony, and of course have champagne!!

Saturday was a bit grey weather wise, but who cares?
We walked in to town, armed with an umbrella and a credit card each - ready for shopping.
Both my sister and I have wanted a Burberry trench coat for a long time.
That is the ultimate trench, and will always be fashionable!
Fist thing we ran to Rene, and tried them on. Big mistake! HUGE!!
After you have tried a Burberry, H&M is not the same anymore!
I'll just have to save up, and maybe visit Burberry when I'm in London in October :))

But we had to do some shopping, and I ended up buying a pair of fab jeans in this fall's it-colour; plum! And I bought a fab fake fur coat. Unfortunately it's too hot to wear it now (words I never thought I would say about Bergen).

In Kløverhuset at Scabal I found a pair of fabulous ankle boots by See by Chloe, and the best thing; they were on sale!! YIHAAA!! Fab colour for the fall as well, a nice cognac/burgundy brown.

Belle fur coat, Cubus

Abbey jeans, Cubus

See by Chloe, ankle boots

After shopping till we almost dropped, we went to Bocca for some lunch.
Bocca is located in the middle of Bergen, and at street level, so you can watch people walking by.
May be spot someone you know as well :)
Good food and decent wine and friendly staff makes this our regular lunch spot.



Bloody Thursday

Since my sister coming to visit this weekend, I decided to find my inner domestic queen and tidy up the flat a bit.
It's just a week since I returned from holiday, but strangely enough it looks like several people have just tossed papers and clothes around the flat.
Don't know how that happended...

Anyways; this morning i cleared the clutter in the kitchen - meaning moving dishes from the kitchen counter to the dishwasher :)
As I reached for the big knife on the counter, my fingers somehow slipped, and the knife went up in the air, did a 360, before heading for the floor.
In pure stupidity and reflex, my hand reaches out to try and grab it before it would ruin the floor, and by that ruining my reputation as domestic queen.

Since my life is not lived in slow motion (you know when you manage to grab the knife perfectly without cutting your fingers off) I ended up with a deep cut in a finger and blood everywhere.
YAIKES!!

I just can not believe how much blood is in a single finger!
Somehow I remembered to keep my hand over my head, to stop the blood from running.
But it's not very easy to get a band aid with only one hand - but I managed with a bit of cursing.

And because of all the blood, I had to clean the kitchen AND bathroom too.
Domestic queen for real :)

Fifty Shades

I have to admit it, this summers buzz got to me.
And the buzz I'm talking about is the "Fifty Shades" books by E. L. James.
Norwegian newspapers have written about these books a lot, and they are not out in Norwegian yet.

So i downloaded them on my Kindle.

I have read all three this summer, and must admit it: the books are good.
I have to say though, I don't find them erotic at all.
They are much (WAY!!) too explicit to be erotic.
This is more "wham, bam, thank you m'am".

What I really liked about the books is how the relationship between multi billion dollar Christian Grey and young inecent Anastacia Steel evolves.
They start out with him as the Dom. Laying out the rules (how to behave as a sub), and him not wanting a relationship at all.
As he says in the book: "I don't do relationships. I fuck!"

But then it turns out that Anastacia is not the perfect sub, she has her own set of mind and a blabbering mouth. Not a good quality for a sub.

Strangely enough this is what attracts Christian to her, and why he opens up and changes.

Add a little crime as well, and you have a good story.


I do get that some may find this erotic and exciting, to me it's borderline porn.
It's now one of the best selling books in the UK and Amazon, and I think it has passed Harry Potter on the list as well.
I've heard that they want to film the books, and it will be exciting to see how they will film some of the sceenes and not end up as a porn film.

Anyways, the books are a good read

Lauren's Way - self tan

I admit it - I cheat.
With my tan, that is :)

But only on my legs as they don't tan as quick as the rest of me :)
So every year when the summer arrives, I use self tan on my legs.
I have tried them all, well almost all I think, and have experienced some funny results.
Some lotions just makes you yellow and orange, and some takes forever to work.
Some smells like yuk, and they stain clothes and sheets.

So when I heard that Lauren Goodger from TOWIE (The only way is Essex) had launched her own line of self tans, Laurens Way, I was curious. She should know a thing or two about fake tans.
I searched the web for information, and what I found was just positive feedback.
So I decided to order one, to find out myself.

Laruen Goodger - Lauren's Way

Since I live in Norway it took 7-8 days from the day I placed my order till it was delivered in my mailbox. Not bad.
I decided to go for the "Darker than dark self tanning lotion"

Had to try it yesterday, and I must say I am thrilled with the result!!!
The bottle has a pump, wich makes it less greasy. A really good thing since the lotion itself is almost black. I used a mitten to even it out on my legs.
The result was amazing. I instantly got a deep tan on my legs, and it dried within 1 minute!!
No stains on my sheet, purely heaven.
And it does not smell bad either.

So today I'm at work with fab brown legs, and my collegues are green with envy!
YEY!!!

BTW: this is not an ad - I have paid for this myself

Baggy jeans

This summer I'm joining the celebreties, wearing baggy jeans :)



They are so comfy to wear, and will be my summer favourites :)
I chose Blink Jeans, thin fabric, soft, and I also can wear them as a baggy capri
Super cool with sandals, high heels and sneakers

Summer

Every summer I spend some time at our summer house by the coast.
It's where mum grew up, and it's located in Solund in Sogn og Fjordane.
Solund is a beautiful place, and is actually no less than 1700 small islands.
This is my paradise, where I find peace of mind from stress.

Just me, waiting for the ferry

Stunning view from the terrace

Mum's flowers on the terrace

Beautiful sunset

A boat house at Værlandet

Beautiful sunset at the harbour of Værlandet

Who say's an old bucket can't be beautiful?

Raindrops

Raindrops

Fore!! Meland Golf

Yesterday we decided to play golf at Meland Golfklubb, probably the best golf course on the west coast of Norway.
Meland Golf is just a 25 min drive from Bergen.

The course was in really good condition, and it is difficult to play here.
Forest close to the fairway, water, bunkers (and by that I mean really deep ones), dogleg.
But my oh my how fun it is to play here.

Challanging to chip over the water to get to the green

Just a few par 3 holes, the rest is par 4 and 5. And long ones too.
For women it's challanging when a par 5 hole is over 500 meters.
That means we have to be able to master the driver - and hit it long.

Long fairways and beautiful view

Luckily for me, my driver was in a good mood yesterday!! My drives were long and straight on the fairway. Yihaa!!

I got points on all holes, and made a total of 42 points.
The result was that my handicap went down from 30,9 to 27,9!!!

So happy about that :)))

Soul candy

That's what he is, Jarle Bernhoft, he is soul candy.
He's deep voice just sneaks in your ear, dances around in your brain, makes your hart beat faster, makes your feet move and puts a huge grin on your face.

At Bergenfest he had a 12 man band with him on stage - giving his songs an extra edge.
He made the rain stop, he got the sun to come out - and he made me sing LOUD!!

Jarle Bernhoft is so fantastic live - you just have to go and see him if you can!

Here is a sneak peak from YouTube:
C'mon talk

Shopping by night

Every year the shops in Bergen have "shopping by night" one night in June.
That means that the shops are open till after midnight, and they always offer good discounts.

The weather yesterday was fantastic, clear blue sky, sunshine and 22 degrees celcius. A perfect summer day. To top off everything, Bergenfest started with live concerts at Bergenhus Festning.
The whole city was packed with happy people. They were shopping, enjoying good music, and relaxing with a good meal and beer at the restaurants.
What an experiance this must have been for the tourists!!

We went on a stroll to town at 21:30, just to take in the buzz.
Meeting lots of friends on the way - and enjoying summer in beautiful Bergen.

On our way home we walked along Bryggen, and spottet a huge yacht.
Of course we had to take a closer look at "Lady Kathryn V", and she was huge!!
The website informs that she's 62 meter long, and avaliable for rent for no less than €450.000 pr. week!!!

Here are some photos:

Huge!

Private!!

Of course you need a little speed boat as well :)

City of concerts

Lenny Kravitz on stage in Bergen

Bergen is really the city of concerts during the summer months. It starts in May with Festspillene and Nattjazz, and then it goes on with Bergenfest in June - and of course the bigger concerts outdoor at Koengen.

Last Saturday it was lenny Kravitz on stage at Plenen at Bergenhus Festning.
And what a concert that was. A real hit parade!
All the funky songs from the 90's mad the crowd sing.
The rain was pouring down during the whole concert.
Lenny Kravitz put it well: "let's enjoy this liquid sunshine"

...and we did :)

Full rain gear needed, enjoying the liquid sunshine

Today it's Sting on stage!!!
The reports from his concert at Norwegian Wood in Oslo is fab, so I'm really looking forward to hearing him tonight.
...and the weather is good too. Well, better than Saturday anyway, it's not raining and the sun is shining for a few minutes here and there :)

Sting, going on stage in Bergen

To top off a good week of concerts, we are going to see Jarle Bernhoft on Friday.
This fantastic Norwegian singer has a voice filled with soul.
His funky tunes is accompanied by a musicality that few people have.
He deserves a bigger audience, that's for sure.
And hopefully he'll get it soon

Jarle Bernhoft

Absolutely freezing

After the fabulous heat and sun we had the last week of May, it's now back to normal.
Normal in this case means 8-9 degrees, strong wind from the north - basically freezing.
For me, who plays golf at Herdla (north of Bergen), this means that I have to dress in several layers to keep warm.

To give you an example:
Yesterday I was training at Herdla, it was windy, cold and raining.
This is what I had to wear not to freeze to death:
Wool underwear (long pants and long sleeve)
Sweather
Wind stopper west
Down jacket
Shell jacket - waterproof
Beanie - to cover my ears
Gloves

This is what I normally wear when I go skiing in the winter...
...and we are talking 4th of June!!!!!

I don't want to sound like a cry-baby here, but a blit less wind and a few degrees warmer would be good.

Tee off hole 7 at Herdla Golfklubb

Statsraad Lehnkuhl

Every year in May, I am one of the lucky ones who gets an invite to a happening on board the beautiful ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl. The ship is run by a foundation, and to secure the economy, they offer mini cruises to businesses every year. It's a 4-5 hour cruise with entertainment and food (schrimps and herring).

The ship is built in 1914, and is still in a fantastic shape. Hands out to the foundation for taking care of surch a treasure. You can get more information on the ship here

This year, the weather was fantastic. 26 celcius, and sun from a clear blue sky. I've been to these mini cruises for 14 years now, and I think this is the best weather we've had - EVER!!

On this particular cruise the boat is filled with happy and exciting people, so there's always room for a bit of networking. Wich also is a big part of these arrangements.

Fantastic weather

Askøy Bridge

The beautiful harbour of Bergen

Harbour of Bergen

Statsraad Lehmkuhl in the sunset

Magic, at Bryggen

Nattjazz in Skostredet