Raw food challenge

I think most people in Seattle would agree when I say that the weather has been pretty shitty here for a while. And still is. I have been waiting for warm weather in order to get inspiration to eat more raw food. I fear that I will have to wait for a long time and then, suddenly, summer is over. Therefore I have decided to start my own raw food challenge during July. This means that I will only eat raw vegetables, fruit, seeds, nuts, spices. I have decided to include an occasional glass of wine and green tea. Wish me luck.

This morning I had raw oat meal with banana, pear, dates, cinnamon, and chia seeds. It tastes so much better than it looks.

My 14-year old decided to join me, but she is off to Costa Rica on Friday so it will only be for a few days.

Already at lunch my daughter decided that she cannot only eat raw, but maybe do 30% or so. It would have been nice with the company, but I think you have to be committed for this. Otherwise it won't work.

Lunch (no photo I am afraid) consisted of raw food zucchini and carrot noodles with cherry tomatoes and pesto. And for dessert, I made some brownies with pecan nuts, cacao powder, dates, honey, and a pinch of sea salt. Yummy!

Vancouver getaway

I think that there is no problem multi-tasking, but at a certain point the tasks become too many.

Working full-time, running a business, being a mom and wife, and keeping up with friends and other activities do become a bit too much at times. Usually, I don't get involved in too many things because I like the freedom of not being tied up all the time. Well, this spring I did not adhere to this very good way of thinking. Thus, the lack of blogging.

When things get busy, it is really good to just take a break and get away, which is exactly what I did. With Zoe gone to Bermuda on a "marine biology school trip," the rest of us decided to spend the weekend in Vancouver, Canada. The reason why I write Canada is because there is actually a Vancouver in the southe of Washington as well.

We have been to Vancouver a few times before and I must say it beats Seattle in many ways, in particular as regards to its beautiful waterfront. Seattle has a lot of work to do in that department.

The Drop at the waterfront is pretty cool and in the mountains across the water you can see a little bit of snow.

Little I wanted to climb the Drop, but mommy said no.

We ate a lot of fish and raw food on our trip, but for some reason I did not take any pictures of that.

However, I found some beautifully designed chocolate packages that I want to share with you. Unfortunately, I could not eat this chocolate because it contained dairy, and, for some silly reason, corn syrup, but I like the packages.

Selling products at the Swedish pancake breakfast at SCC

No, it was not a joke. I really had to get up at 06:30 last Sunday morning on April 1. The agenda for the morning was to try and sell my products at the Swedish pancake breakfast at the Swedish Cultural Center in Seattle. Luckily I had my dear friend P with me to help me and to keep me company.

As soon as we arrived, we set the table up and put all the products out for display. I had brought Easter eggs, candy, blankets, clogs, and different kinds of home decor products. P and I soon realized that people were more interested in eating pancakes than buying products from "made in bohuslän." Since our table was placed near the door, we soon became very cold from draft through the door as people were coming and going. In fact, we began to shiver and had to put our coats on. P managed to get us some hot drinks which helped a little.

Around 1 pm, we decided that it was time to pack up. We sold a few eggs and a blanket, so I guess it was better than nothing. It was definitely an experience for me as I have just started this journey of having my own retail business.

And it feel so good to get into the warmth of the car, and had back home.

Thanks P for helping me and for keeping the spirits up in the chilly realm of pancakes, ham, jam, and whipped cream.

Happy Easter/Glad Påsk!

Have a wonderful Easter and be nice to all the Easter bunnies who work so hard during Easter.

And enjoy the beauty of all the colorful eggs out there.

Images borrowed from Microsoft Office images.

Made in bohuslän launch party

Saturday just passed I had the official launch party of my business. It was fantastic to see a lot of friends dropping in to say hi and celebrate with me. I hope that you all had a good time. I only wish that I had had more time to talk to everyone. It did not help that my kitchen helper and my assistant had to leave to fix Zs braces that broke when the party was at its peak. Unfortunately, that meant that the photographer also left, so the only photos I have are from the table with the food.

For the party I wanted to make mainly Swedish food. So I made orange and lemon marinated salmon, curried herring, potato salad, crackers with Swedish style shrimp mix, crisp bread, and Swedish chocolate balls (there is yet to be a good translation for these small chocolate sweets rolled in either shredded coconut or pearl sugar).

The marinated salmon.

The chocolate balls.

It was a very tired, but happy Kicki who went to bed that evening. Only to have to get up 06:30 the next morning (on a Sunday!) to go to the Swedish pancake breakfast at the Swedish Cultural Center to sell some of her products.

I have a few Easter eggs left for sale

Easter is fast approaching and I have bought a few goodies for Z and I. Only one piece of chocolate (gluten and dairy free chocolate hare ears that I found at PCC), and some small things that I know that they like.

And I have nearly sold out on my Easter eggs, but I have a few left if someone is still interested.

I only have one big egg left that I am selling for $10.00. It is 9"/23 cm.

And then I have some eggs that are 3.5"/9 cm ($4.50) and 4.5"/11 cm ($5.00).

If you would like to purchase more than one, I will give you a special price.

Another Microsoft contract

In the middle of starting my own business, job opportunities suddenly appeared en masse. Why is it always that things happen at the same time? Or, at least, that is how it feels like. Suffice to say, a friend of mine found a job that she thought would be a really good fit for me. And it was. I just could not say no when I got the job offer. However, it was the worst timing ever.

Here I am ready to launch my business with only a week's work left on my web site before I could go live with it, and then this job appears. Yes, I could, of course, have said no, but no, I just couldn't.

And so now I am on a short contract (until June 30) in the Windows International group at Windows and Windows Live at Microsoft. Windows International handles the localization part of Windows. In this role, I am supporting a group of International Program Managers with everything they do not have time to do, which is a lot. And I love it! I am their Jack of all trades. I do project management, technical writing, editing, some techie stuff, and a bunch of other things. And I get to use my SharePoint skills. A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

So let's see how I can handle a full-time job, my business, two kids, a husband, and a bunch of other commitments at the same time. I thank my lucky start that I was blessed with good organizing skills.