hej, hej, hej: true scandinavian

My dear friend and co-blogger Ming has been in Sweden for the past year, where she presumably spends her time eating lingonberry jam and dating boys with soft Js in their names. I hope she has also clocked a few hours in houses that look like this.

These photos are from soon-to-be-released book True Scandinavian: Contemporary Living. I love these photos because they buck the trend of overly blonde-wood, too-sleek Scandinavian interiors. These are spaces you can actually imagine living in, maybe even getting a little dirty. Not everything has been artfully slotted away into custom-made cabinets. DVD players work just as well sitting on the floor. Milk crates are excellent storage containers.


Considering that I'm about to move in with a knack for drawing flora & fauna, that last photo might not be so far off from our future apartment!

found these photos via this lovely swedish blog - thanks!

hooked on succulents

A trip through the American southwest totally reshaped my ideas about natural beauty. Outside my window here in Montreal, the rain is falling and the buds are sprouting - and that's nice and all, but I'm almost too busy fetishizing desert plants to get down with spring. Is that so wrong?


photos (from the top) from here, here and here.

making peace with the hippies

The photos from this 1974 book have me California dreamin'.




I grew up on the west coast, where my mom took us over to the Gulf Islands between Vancouver Island and Vancouver to visit her aging hippy friends. I never identified with that aesthetic, but as I get older (and admittedly more stressed), I find myself gravitating more and more to brightly-lit, wood-panelled, house-planty spaces. I've finally realized I can love west coast interiors and wear a lot of black. Duh.
The other day someone told me they could tell I was from BC because I radiate "such a calm vibe," as if he was trying to speak to a British Columbian in language she could understand. Like, totally, man. East-coasters are nuts.

Check out more pictures from the book here.

I LOVE SCHOOL

I have always found old school buildings to be incredibly beautiful. Though I did my fair share of complaining throughout my former educational years, there was always some secret thrill to the school building itself. In 'afterschool' or perhaps while involved in a school play, for example, one got to roam the empty halls and peer into unlit classrooms. There was definitely something, a feeling of exhilaration upon realizing that to be in school after school meant no more rules.

La Classe in Belgium is a hotel created out of a converted school building. There's an anatomy room, a geography room - all tastefully furnished with the proper models and diagrams. This is elementary school for grown-ups!

breakfast in denmark

A beautiful morning spread in a house made entirely of pale wood. Part of this idyllic vacation with pals.

the unbearable cuteness of tokyo storefronts

If these photos are anything to go by, Tokyo-ites like their shops and cafes pocket-sized and kawaii as hell (although their diminutive size might be born of necessity more than desire). These pictures were taken by this lady in the Tokyo suburbs of Koenji, Nakameguro and Shimokitazawa - all of which she describes as being packed with, variously, thrift stores, stationery shops and cozy restaurants. Now, to befriend someone who will let me crash at their place in Tokyo...

portable living

I have for some time entertained the idea that I one day will succeed in whittling my belongings down to the point that they can contained in a single trunk. This trunk,no doubt, would have to be very well partitioned and organized. Even better, it could become not only the receptacle of my beloved objects, but an instant home wherever and whenever I chose to open it. This vision has been somewhat fulfill given that the things I prize above all are my books. In theory this trunk would have to be quite cavernous.
Here are some sources of inspiration, which might - with some adjustments - be just the thing I'm looking for:

The ultimate en-LIGHT-enment.