July On The Fly

July was one of the best and most anxious months of my life. It was meticulously planned and totally impromptu. It started with my 50th birthday and a magical week of nearly everyone I love dearly in one place at one time in Saltsjöbaden. It ended with me being alone for ten days by myself in Sweden while Nik and the twins were in Shelter Island with my family for our annual summer vacation, the first summer in 23 years I was not there. Despite buying airline tickets and booking summer camp back in the winter, all those plans went out the window on July 10th when I had to accept that I actually have no idea how long it’s going to take for me to get an official decision on my Swedish residence permit, and as advised, I will not be traveling until I do. When I applied for the renewal in February it never occurred to me I would still be waiting in August. The best laid plans yada yada yada. So with many weeks stretching out in front of us with no agenda, I started to panic, then I started to plan, again.

I am a planner. Living at least six months in the future was a necessary aspect of working as a fashion buyer for 20 years. My job was literally to predict (and shape) the future fashion seasons. Now as a twin mom, we are always one step from chaos, and the only way to keep it at arm’s length is to plan our way forward. As much as I pretend to love lazy, casual summer days and easy, breezy long summer nights with no plans, I have come to realize I function best when I have an agenda. My very human, and very futile, attempt to control reality. But one thing you can do without much forethought is a road trip. After talking for years about all the places in Sweden we wanted to see, we pulled out the guide book Nik’s sister gave us when we moved here, packed up the car and set off, first for Gotland, then to Skåne.

The best part of traveling by car? Buying whatever books and ceramics you come across and letting the kids bring home an entire bag of stones and rocks. Jumping on an antique train you happen to spot when you hear the whistle blow. Finding a crazy cool automotive and toy museum while looking for a gas station in the pouring rain. Experiencing the most magical rainbow and sunset of your life after said rain storm. Taking a detour to a dahlia farm. We decided in the end the boys should still go to Shelter Island for an abbreviated visit without me, which is how I found myself at the end of the month at home, alone, for the first time in almost 7 years. I am a people person, and never in my life have I craved alone time. That is until I had kids. So it was bittersweet to say goodbye, and god I have missed Shelter and my family and friends and summer island life, but I decided to make the most of my found time. I stayed up late watching movies. I read all day. I studied Swedish. I did a few house and work projects. I barely cooked, because why even bother? I also decided to go and do and see and try things I have always wanted to do in Stockholm and the archipelago. Solo hiking 25km? Check. Day at a Japanese forrest spa? Check. Tour of Stockholm’s epic Stadshuset where they host the annual Nobel dinner every Deceber 10? Check. Art, city walks, more movies? Check, check, check. I even ended up sailing, ferrying and solo-hiking in the archipelago complete with glamping in the chicest, tiniest personal A-frame cabin.

The short list:

Hiking and city walks: Norr Djurgården, Kungsholmen, Djurgården in the city. Erstavik and Hellesgården both easily accessible from Stockholm by public transport. Nämdö in the archipelago also accessible with daily public ferries. Check the SL app.

Reading: The Sisters by Jonas Khemiri, Marie Howe New and Selected Poems.

Movies: The Odyssey, High Fidelity, Free Solo, Once, Wuthering Heights (WORST EVER), Voicemails for Isabelle (EVEN WORSE), The Devil Wears Prada 2 (terrible, but good in comparison)

Hotels & Spas: Ett Hem, Idöborg, Yasuragi, Ôrum119, Kiviks Hotel, Hotel St:Clemens

Restaurants: Babette, Bar Nîmes, Gamla Orangeriet, Rosendals Trädgården, Riche, Prinsen, Stora Bageriet, Talldungen, Byvägen 35, Skillinge Hamnkrog, Gamla Bageriet, Bobergs På Hamngården

Art: Carl Eldhs Atelier, Modern Museet, Skansen, Artipelag, Vandalorum

Amusement Park: Gröna Lund

What I wore!

You can find everything I wore here. Fun, fun, fun birthday wardrobe of my dreams with matching sets, a sexy rainbow dress and a giant strawberry shortcake dress. Summer black from Toteme and Rachel Comey. Crumpled button-downs, somewhat structured shirt dresses. New glasses and sunnies from L.G.R. and a pair of iconic Saint Laurent aviators, progressive AND transition. I am 50 after all. Perfect ribbed tanks and t-shirts. Actually flattering swimsuits. Floridas are the new Arizonas. Crisp cotton poplin skirts and pants. Always and forever a new favorite Fond sweatshirt, a blue chore jacket, and a weekend tote bag for hauling it all around.

As Emma Straub just wrote, July was 700 weeks long. Happy August.

Thanks for reading. I am happy you are here.

Onwards!

Jen