A little late, I know, but I still want to wish everyone the very best for 2010! I hope this year will be filled with fun and interesting events for all of us. When reading other blogs, it seems like if I want to be a real blogger, I should list some plans for this year. Probably because we, in the age of TV series, like the format of “To Be Continued…” The list tickles the interest of the readers and gives them something to look forward to. The only problem is that if I put my plans in writing here, I have to follow up on it. So I think I will keep them to myself. The only thing that I can say for now is that there will be quite a lot of studying and classes for me this year, in all my favorite topics. And hopefully a bit more writing.

Anyway, when looking back at last year, it seemed a bit uneventful at times and I often felt like the life I had so desperately tryied to avoid was catching up with me. But I also got to know wonderful, lovely Martin, I travelled a bit and became more familiar with a number of countries, and on one occasion, I found myself in the middle of an old dream: When I studies Political Science at Stockholm University, there was a girl named Pakeezah in my class. We both (as many others in our class) dreamed of one day working for the UN and we agreed that at the age of 40, we would meet at a cocktail party in the UN building in NY (we thought it would require quite a bit of work experience to get a job in one of these international organizations…). When I was in NY in March last year, I went with Jenny K (who was in NY for training at the UN) to Friday drinks in the Delegates’ Lounge in the UN building. And when I was standing there, looking out over the East River and the Queensboro Bridge with a glass of wine in my hand, I thought of Pakeezah’s and my goal and realized that I was there. And though of course not so impressive to anyone else, it felt great for me!

In the Delegates’ Lounge in the UN building, NY

No, I haven’t watch too much Martha Stewart. Or TV Shop, where one little tool lets you prepare “healthy and delicious dishes” in a matter of seconds! I just thought I’d make an attempt to cut down on processed food. Mainly out of concern for the environment but also to increase the quality of what I eat. My mom used to make apple sauce and and blue berry and strawberry jams from home-picked fruits and berries when I was a kid, and so I wrote to her to ask for advice. From a more recent apple-sauce cooking session, I vaguely recalled that we actually didn’t peel the apples before cooking them, but my mom explained to me that that was the charm of having a kitchen aid. Which I don’t of course! So I had to peel the apples myself, but it was really worth it! The sauce (which was super easy to make though it never got truly saucy) tastes great and will be great to my kefir tomorrow morning. I can add that my apples were not home picked. I go them at Whole Food (an organic supermarket chain), but I guess that’s urban life… And one has to start somewhere!

Peeling apples… And the not so saucy but oh so delicious apple sauce!

After three weeks as unemployed, I finally signed my new contract today. And after a full day of mainly trying to get my e-mail and computer account reactivated, but also some work, I am exhausted and ready to go to sleep. Which would be ok if it wasn’t for the fact that it is not even seven o’clock yet. Will try to stay awake through Gossip Girl, which starts at nine… Or, I mean of course that I will watch some serious documentary about climate change, as would be expected of someone with my job. Especially now when the Swedish Prime Minister seem to spend a lot of time these days in the white building down the street, discussing (or rather compromising) an agreement on climate change.

And if anyone has forgotten what the meeting in Copenhagen is about, here is a reminder:

Yesterday was fun though I was a bit tired and not in the best party mood. My Holly Golightly outfit was alright, though the U.S. Halloween costumes are at a totally different level than at Swedish costume parties (which I have tried to avoid since I was in elementary school since costume parties aren’t really my thing), so I think I will have to make more of an effort next year. The costume of the year here in DC was of course Michael Jackson.

Today it is raining and so I am having a lazy afternoon in my apartment this All Saints Day. My insurance expired yesterday which means that I am uncovered for the day until my new contract starts tomorrow, and I am thus trying to avoid accidents. Eating Halloween candy and reading fiction seems like a safe enough activity – think I will do that for the rest of the day!

Note the NY poster in the background!

Halloween is finally here and Washington is getting dressed up for the evening. But even on an evening like this, politics is still present here in the U.S. capital; last year, there were apparently a lot of Sarah Palins walking to and from parties around the city. Not sure who this years political figure will be. And though my own glasses look a lot like Palin’s and Martin teases me for my Sarah Palin look on Sunday mornings before my contacts are in, I am putting politics aside for the evening and fulfilling a teenage dream of being Holly Golightly.

This has been a fairly lazy week. I am actually between contracts right now. My JPO contract expired last Thursday and my new contract got stuck somewhere in the organization and is thus a few days delayed. I have to admit that I am not that sad about it. I only had two weeks of vacation this summer (I know, it is a lot here in the US, but I am a spoiled European who likes to have at least three weeks of summer holiday) and this has been a fairly intensive year for me, so it is nice to have a few days to rest. So I have spent a lot of time reading, sorting things in my apartment, e-mailing and calling people that I haven’t written/been talking to in a while (as for the rest of you, it is a work in progress…), studying, etc. The weather has been cold and rainy this week so I have had a good excuse to stay indoors.

This weekend was warmer, though, and Mikael and I went to Alexandria and had brunch, looked around in a few stores (including the Christmas Attic – the fantastic store with only Christmas and holiday stuff), and took the boat back to Georgetown again. It was a very nice day!

 Alexandria: brunch in the harbor

On the boat back to Georgetown

Martin is away in Central Asia these weeks and DC feels a bit empty… Instead, I am trying to hang out with my small circle of friends in order to not turn into a complete hermit and so for a reason that I fail to remember, Mikael and I decided to go out to Pentagon City today. For those of you who are not familiar with DC, Pentagon City is an area close to Pentagon with among other things a large shopping mall. I did actually need some new things to wear for work (I tend too wear things until they break, and at one point, Mikael told me – and rightly so – that I looked like a bum) and a new wallet (which is broken to the extent that everyone, including registry staff, comments on it), and Mikael was attracted by the Apple Store and an opportunity to check out watches. Whereas Mikael actually managed to buy a watch, I of course did not find anything (except for a piano, which I did not buy). Instead, we had a disgusting meal at the food court and then most of the Sunday was gone. Since shopping isn’t exactly one of my favorite activities, it is immensely frustrating to make the effort to go shopping and then fail the mission because it means that it was just a complete waste of time! I did take a picture of Mikael in the food court to at least be able to show you what an American mall looks like, but he deleted it, so I can’t even do that. So to summarize: half this day was four hours of my life that I will never get back.

When I got back to my neighborhood, I sat out at Dupont Circle for a while, studying for the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) that I need to take in a few month, before applying to PhD programs. But I admit, this was not the most interesting Sunday of my life! I think it is about to peak now when I will have a cup of tea and some French cheese, and watch Desperate Housewives. I guess that as an adult, one has to realize that life can’t be fun all the time…

Yesterday was a nice and relaxing day. The weather is lovely here in DC, with Nordic summer temperatures and the sun shining. I ended up spending most of the day with Fernando, with whom I had decided to meet for lunch in Adams Morgan to practice French and Spanish. After having taken a break for a few weeks to study Romanian prior to my trip to Bucharest, I am now focusing on Spanish again. (While it is not essential to speak Spanish here in DC in order to get around, it often facilitate things. And the fact that you frequently have a chance to practice obviously makes it easer to learn.) So we had a very long and un-American lunch at a French cafe up on 18:th street. The staff was very busy and our waitress apologized after a while for the slow service, but Fernando and I agreed that it for once had been a really nice lunch as we had had time to sit and talk while going through the menu, were able to have a conversation over our meal without constantly being interrupted by a “How are you guys doing here? Is everything alright? Do you need anything else?”, had the chance to properly finish our plates without someone taking it away from us as soon as we slowed down a bit, and we were able to sit and talk and finishing our drinks without being handed the check. Eating out here is a quite different experience from eating out in Europe….

After our 2.5 hour lunch, we passed by a local artisan market that was in the area over the weekend, though it wasn’t very impressive to be honest. I expected artists and designers but the things that were sold were more like that of second year art-students. Even the most interesting things resembled stuff that I would easily find with Swedish retailers and at IKEA.

Instead, we continued the lazy day with coffee and cake at another French cafe, and in the evening, I went out with Fernando and his (mainly Spanish speaking) friends for dinner and drinks. So it was a quite unproductive but very nice day!

Isn’t it weird how scents can affect your mood and remind you of things, even though it is difficult to say exactly what it reminds you of? A couple of weeks ago, I had a strange week and was in some ways not very successful with what I had hoped to achieve. And so after a unsuccessful visit to the DMV in Georgetown Friday morning (needed to get an ID, but their computer system was down or something, so they ended up closing the office for 1.5 hours about 30 min after I arrived, without even properly telling the 12 m line outside why nothing was moving), I passed by the l’Occitane store and decided to have a look inside. It is one of my favorite stores in Paris and every time I go there, I always come back with a bunch of soaps from l’Occitane. (If I am somewhere else in France, I get non-brand soaps from the local market instead). For some reason these olive oil and lavender soaps reminds me of my childhood, my mom, and my grandmother, though I have to admit that I am not sure if this memory is accurate, or if it is just because my mom loves these soaps and used to buy them on our tips to France. Or if it is because when we visited Provence and our tante Mymy there, the air was always filled with lavender. Or because small lavender bags to put in my closet has followed me throughout my life. Regardless, I couldn’t resist the lavender shelf. And the scent did make me feel more rooted and assure of myself.