Midsummer in Sweden

Midsummer celebration is one of the most important holidays of the year in Sweden, and probably the most uniquely Swedish in the way it is celebrated. It takes place on a Friday, in connection with 24th of June, the day of solstice. The traditional event is to dress, raise and dance around a high maypole. Above is the crown made of wild flowers and the costume is to wear it on the head. 

Because Midsummer was thought to be one of the times of the year when magic was strongest, it was considered a good night to preform rituals to look into the future. Traditionally, young people pick bouquets of seven different flowers and jump over seven round pole fences and sleep with them under their pillow in hope of dreaming about their future spouse.
In the past it was believed that herbs picked at Midsummer was highly potent, and water from the springs could bring good health. 
Midsummer is also linked to fertility and even today March is a month where many children are born.
It is also a good opportunity to eat new potatoes , herring and drink aquavit.......


Gunn

Denise Grunstein's show is up

The show is up on the walls ( and the non walls ) and we had a wonderful summer  evening last night. 

Do you remember when "nara heltnaturligt" was presented in Tokyo with all the incredible summer flowers. Well we tried to make the real thing last night, nice but not as nice............ 

Lots of mingle with a glass of fresh Sangria.............lot of happy faces. I did not like the photos so i am not going to show them. As you say in Italian...Basta ! enjoy this,


Gunn

Italian food licence

I am proud of my goofy self !!!!

I passed the exam of the Italian " Alimentarista " yesterday, 

an hour written ( I had some mistakes about meat ) and one hour oral . 

WOW what stress and what an headache.

 2 months , 80 hours class , 3 hours a day ( to stick into all the other things i am doing )and 500 pages in a technical Italian, I had to use google translate for every other sentence. And of course I had underestimated the whole work load as usual.

Done ! 

 I can now introduce some food from Sweden into my shop Un Momento Nordico in Biella. Wonderful crackers, marmalade, honey and who knows.......

Good girl...,

Gunn

Denise Grunstein

You are all welcome on Wednesday  ,
Gunn




Ps. click on the photo to see it better.........

Wedding

Sweden's wedding of the century happened today. Crown princess Victoria and Daniel Westling exchanged vows in the Stockholm Cathedral. I have been following  the celebration directly on my tiny Macbook on TV4 all day during my studies. Lovely.

 They are both so beautiful and radiant. 

A wonderful wedding to be remembered for a long time. 

Let's wish them a long and happy life together.

click on some additional photos

Stockholm must be heavenly right now, covered in flowers for the occasion. 

LOVE Stockholm 2010 

Trust in me

 Dear Followers,


I apologize that I have not posted a message for some time. many messages and nice photos are on the desktop ready to go, but I am just missing that little "it" that makes me do it.
I am going through a rough period of studying for an exam in order to apply for a food licence for the shop Un Momento Nordico and  did underestimate the amount of reading and learning we need to go over in only 2 months. Just scared that I am not going to pass...........


Will let you know on the 22nd,
Gunn

Award in Tokyo

nara heltnaturligt ,

 presented the brand for the first time in the Tokyo Interior Life Style show last week and received an award from JID

 ( Japan Interior Designers Association) for Best organic and natural life style brand concept and for the quality of our products.


Isn't that fantastic news. 


This is how we looked in the fair , just click on the photo for a bigger size.

Celebrating the JID Award. Hopefully the first but not the last......

We are all very pleased and Happy.......

Lots of good and exiting things are happening.We are also studying new scents and products for an Autumn launch.

Will keep you posted,

Gunn

From one thing to another...........

I fled the daily madness  with my husband and ended up in a last minute decision to fly to Crete for a week. Blue sky, clear  water, good food and blue chairs are really making a difference. I am also testing my own TOTE from nara heltnaturligt in linen canvas. I love it ! and am ready for more colours as bright green doesn't always work with my outfits in town. All though I did pack all my favorite items in green to coordinate with the bag. 

                                                                            

Note: more to come on Crete