Some of last weeks outfits - Unpredictable weather as usual

It's one thing we can say about weather in Northern Europe, it's totally unpredictable and constantly changing. Last week was no exception and I have been wearing the whole range of clothes from wool jacket to bikini. For this reason a capsule for spring or summer really does not work for us northerners. We have to have part of our autumn/winter wardrobe available all year round and add pieces for spring/summer. The summer capsule, can be used as a packing list if we're going on vacation somewhere hot.

En ting kan vi si om været her nord, det er uforutsigbart og endrer seg hele tiden. Denne uken har ikke vært noe unntak. Jeg har brukt både strikkejakke og bikini denne uken så det sier jo litt om forskjellene i temperatur. Vi har jo ofte 4 årstider på en dag. Akkurat det er grunnen til at den klassiske "komprimerte" garderoben med klær som er beregnet for hver årstid ikke helt fungerer for oss. Det som er foreslått av klær til sommergarderoben kan vi bruke når vi skal på sydentur, utenom det må vi stort sett ha en del av høst/vinterklær tilgjengelig året rundt og heller legge til noen sommerplagg.

Last Sunday I used this outfit when I had Tapas with former colleagues. As you can see it was quite cold and I wore boots, waterproof utility jacket and big scarf.

Forrige søndag var det tapas med tidligere kolleger. En sur og kald dag så det var støvletter og vanntett jakke.

Monday was dinner and shopping with the girls, a bit more pleasant temperature, I dropped the waterproof utility jacket 

Mandag middag og shopping med venninner, litt mildere og et lite hint av sol, den vanntette jakken fikk bli hjemme.

Tuesday it started to remind a bit about spring again.

Tirsdag begynte det å minne litt om vår igjen.

Wednesday and Thursday were very casual in yoga pants and sweater, doing nothing at all while it was pouring down.

Onsdag og torsdag ble tilbragt i kosebukse og genser mens jeg gjorde ingenting. Regnet pøste ned.

Friday was nice and sunny, but still a little chilly, Went for a barbeque in the evening and changed to denim jacket and sneakers, added a wool sweater too so we could sit outside in the evening.

Fredag var sol og fint, men litt kjølig, så det var godt å ha en blazer på når vi skulle handle.

Om kvelden var vi å spiste grillmat hos venner så da ble det joggesko, denimjakke, sjal og ullgenser.

Legg til bildetekst

Saturday, summer temperature and could wear shorts and a Tee, yay.

And even my bikini came out of the drawer in the end.

Og så lørdag, shorts og T-skjortevær og jammen kom bikinien også fram til slutt.

 Sunday and my birthday was spent in an Christening and I wore my festive costume, still nice and sunny, but a little cooler.

I går søndag hadde jeg bursdag og vi var i barnedåp. Jeg hadde på min Vestlandsstakk, fremdeles fint, men litt kaldere. Perfekt bunadsvær.

So as you might understand from this weeks outfits, weather is not exactly stable in my part of the world.

Det var ukens antrekk fra en typisk vår/sommer uke på Vestlandet.

Until next time

Kari

Linkup:Elegance and mommyhood Classy yet trendy

Selfies for dummies- Lesson 3

OK here we go again. I will under no circumstance show any perfect selfie, but I try to do my best. Unfortunately I don't have a full size mirror and where this mirror is located there's no daylight. If you have a mirror in a room with daylight use it when you take your mirror selfies.

Da er det på an igjen, jeg kommer ikke til å vise den perfekte selfie her for til det kan jeg alt for lite selv, men jeg prøver å gjøre mitt beste. Jeg har dessverre ikke noe helfigur speil og heller ikke et speil som er i et rom med godt lys. Om du har et speil i et rom med dagslys så bruk det når du tar selfies i speilet.

I've seen some really hazardous outfit selfies lately, women standing on the most dangerous places where it's a big risk to fall down. On the edge of the bathtub for instance, please don't do it, you don't want to risk your life for an outfit selfie. And if you don't care about yourself, do care about your husband. How awkward must it be for a husband when someone ask how did your wife die, and he has to answer that she died in a attempt to take an outfit selfie she was going to post on Instagram or on a Facebook page.

Jeg har sett en del hasardiøse antrekks selfier i det siste, kvinner som balanserer på de underligste sted og i de underligste posisjoner for å få hele antrekket med på bildet. På kanten av badekaret er f.eks et sted man ikke bør stå om man er litt redd for liv og helse. Man kan jo risikere å falle å brekke nakken. Og om du ikke bryr deg så mye om det selv så tenk på hva den stakkars mannen din skal svare når noen spør hvordan døde din kone. Øh jo hun falt ned fra badekarkanten og brakk nakken da hun prøvde ta en selfie for å poste på Instagram.

This was the best I came up with today, after playing around looking like a complete idiot on most of the pictures.

Dette var det beste bildet jeg fikk tatt i dag, noen dager er det helt umulig å få et brukbart bilde og noen dager går det greit.

Whats wrong with this picture???

.

1 The picture is taken to far from and show everything else than what it's supposed to show

2 It's a lot of clutter in it

3 I look like I'm going to a funeral

4 I should have removed the rollers out of my hair.

It's probably a lot more wrong too, the overall quality is nothing to be proud of.

Ja hva er galt med denne selfien?? Alt kanskje...

1 Det er for lang avstand bildet viser mye som er totalt uinteressant.

2 Det er alt for mye rot, ingen har lyst å se rotet ditt.

3 Det ser ut som om jeg skal i begravelse

4 Burde jo tatt krøllklemmene ut før jeg tok bildet

I det hele tatt, ikke et bilde som burde vært vist under noen omstendighet.

When you take selfies take a lot of them an delete those where you look like a complete goofball.

Når du tar selfies så ta mange og slett dem du ser ut som en komplett idiot på.  

Make sure your hubby is out of the way.

Forsikre deg om at mannen din ikke ufrivillig er med på bildet.

If you try to edit it don't overdo it.
Om du redigere bildet ditt så ikke overdriv, her er det plutselig blitt litt for overeksponert.

Use the crop function on your camera, I believe every camera and phone has this function. When you crop your pics you can get rid of clutter and we really don't need to see most of your walls, doors and floors.

Bruk beskjæringsfunksjonen på kameraet ditt, jeg vil tro de fleste mobiler og kameraer har den funksjonene. Da kan du redigere bort rot, og det meste av tak og vegger og la det som skal i fokus komme i fokus.

And don't we just love those little photo bombers that often occurs on selfies.

Og har du en liten linselus (eller to) så er det bare sjarmerende om de kommer med på bildet.

So next time you take a selfie to post maybe you can use some of my tips.

Håper du fikk litt nyttig inspirasjon til neste gang du tar en selfie.

Until next time

Kari

Linkup:Eleganceandmommyhood

My first photoshoot- Take 3

Hvorfor har jeg ikke visst dette før??  Det tenker jeg nesten hver dag nå. For det er jo så enkelt å kle seg uansett hva jeg skal. Ikke trenger jeg planlegge heller, for uansett hva jeg tar på meg så passer det sammen. Det tar meg knapt 2 minutter fra jeg kommer inn i garderoben til jeg er ferdig kledd og på vei ut. Og enda har jeg egentlig for mange klær til å ha en ekte capsule wardrobe. Har ikke funnet noe godt norsk ord for det ennå. Basisgarderobe kan brukes, men det dekker ikke helt, en komprimert garderobe kan kanskje være et ord? Uansett så har klær blitt så gøy, selv mine gamle klær som jeg har hatt i årevis er det gøy med.

Why didn't I know this before? I think this every day, because it's so easy getting dressed no matter what occasion. No need for planning, it takes me maybe 2 minutes from I walk into my closet until I'm fully dressed on my way out again. I do love the capsule wardrobe, even if I have to many clothes to have a true capsule wardrobe. And clothes has become so much fun, even my old clothes are fun.

 On my first photoshoot ( which was so fun and also very surprising as I'd never thought I should ever be in this setting) I wore my blue jeans from Fiveunits and a white tee as base and brought a suitcase with clothes, shoes and bunnies.  

 The blazer is 5-6 years old and from European culture, it's so
comfy as the arms is of a knitted fabric and very soft. The only thing from this season in this outfit is the scarf from PM. Watch from Michael Kors.

Boots from Timberland, they are waterproof which is very practical when living in Bergen. Bag from Mulberry, bunnies homemade.

Lille Pernille og Fjonge Frida elsket å være med på photoshoot.

The bunnies loved to be on a photo shoot.

Her kan du se de andre antrekkene jeg laget med jeans denne søndagen.

Links to the other outfits with blue jeans as base.

Pink denim

Striped blazer

Floral dress

Until next time

Kari

Linkup:
Classy yet trendy Eleganceandmommyhood

Selfies for dummies - Lesson 1 and 2

I'm virtually a selfie virgin myself as it's only a few weeks ago I started to take selfies. Ofcourse I tried before, but looked like I was dragged out of the wood on most of them so it did'nt do it very often. It didn't actually make my self confidence bloom. But suddenly after discovering the capsule wardrobe there was a need for selfies. Looking at a photo and looking in the mirror on an outfit is 2 different things, for some reason you can judge better from a photo I think.


Lesson 1
I've seen all the pretty selfies when people take a photo of themselves from above, I tried,but always ended up thinking my arms were to short when holding up my arm and trying to hit the photo button. Even lost my phone a couple of times in the attempts, but one day by accident I touched the screen and found that I took a photo which actually looked half decent. So first lesson is: You can touch anywhere on the screen to take the photo. You don't need really long arms. Here's a few shots of me that I'm quite happy with.

Lesson 2
Do not under any circumstance take a selfie from below, that will only make you loose any confidence and show off all your double chins even if you don't have one.

A photo like this will not only ruin your day, but also your reputation. Ah now I ruined mine.

I do prefer to look like this instead.

Hope this lesson was helpful to someone.

Until next time.

Kari

The beauty of a capsule wardrobe - The floral dress

Jeg har lenge ønsket meg en By Timo kjole og nå har jeg kjøpt meg en og jeg elsker den.  Passformen, fargen alt!! Elsket ikke helt prisen da, men regner med denne kommer til å bli en klassiker i garderoben. Den fikk være med da jeg og Kari var på photoshoot på søndag. Her viser jeg den med jeansene fra Fiveunits, min vintage Mulberry, Ecco ballerinasko  og mitt eneste par høyhælte sko fra Gabor.De er forresten helt geniale og jeg kan bruke dem til "alt"

I've been wanting a dress from the Norwegian brand By Timo for a very long time and the other day I bought one. I love all about this dress, the fit, the color, the flowers. Did'nt love the price as much though, but I think it will be a much loved dress I can dress up and down so hopefully it's worth the price.

50's Dress Floral Blue 

Also in the pics: Jeans from Fiveunits, my vintage Mulberry crossover bag, Michael Kors watch,  Ecco flats and my only pair of high heels from Gabor, I've had them for years and I tell you if you ever come across a pair of shoes in this color which is  greyish brown just buy them. Everytime I've bought a new dress or some other outfit that requires heels I just put these on and they totally work. Even when I think they won't.

Until next time

Kari

Linkup:Ladies who link up party, Eleganceandmommyhood

How to use a Silver Dollar

After one of the most beautiful constitution days ever I felt I wasn't quite finished with the subject Bunads and Festive costumes. Also I saw a photo of a friend of mine and her new bunad which she partly made herself, and she had also a very cute story about a piece of jewelry she has on her bunad. So I asked her if I could use her photos and story on my blog.

And here she is the fabulous Anne who is not only beautiful, but also one of the most creative and talented people I've ever met. She's an interior stylist and can make any room shine.

 

Anne told me she has been wanting this bunad "forever" it's a winter bunad from Hardanger for the married women. And this year her wish finally came through. She actually made the bunad herself with guidance from a friend. The shirt and the embroidered bringeklut (no English word for it, but translated it means breast cloth) was made by someone else. And she wouldn't be Anne if she didn't use her creativity and make her very own touch to it. Do you see the coins on her costume? From old days there was a tradition with a Brides dollar, they made jewelry of coins to put on their bunads. I have one myself, I'll show it further down the post. This it not common in our days, but Anne designed her very own brides dollar. On top there's a 25 øre coin from 1961 the year she was born. The big coin is a silver dollar from 1921 which is the year her mum was born in Canada. The the three coins at the bottom is 50 øre coins one for every child she has and of course from the year they were born. That's how to use a silver dollar, isn't it wonderful?

Here you can see the whole bunad, look at the amount of fabric and all the details.

My costume is not a bunad, but more a festive costume. It's a Vestlandsstakk, we use it in the same way as a bunad so it's not always easy to tell the difference between a bunad and a festive costume. But as a rule a bunad is more traditional and are approved as bunads. There are also more rules how to wear a bunad than a festive costume.

Here's two photos from yesterday, as you can see I also have a shawl to my costume, really didn't need it yesterday as it was quite warm.

 Here's some detail from my outfit. The silk scarf is made for the costume and the boots too. You won't believe how comfy they are, the good thing is I can wear them also when I don't wear the costume. The silver does not belong to the costume, but I decided to use the jewelry from my old bunad which I handed over to my daughter in law. You can find photos of it in my last blogpost. The small piece I had for my bunad when I was little and the big belonged to my grandmother. And do you see the coin?? That's my bridal dollar. The coin Danish and from 1693, can you believe that? Unfortunately I can't use it as the lock does not work.

I hope you enjoyed this post, next post will be about the capsule wardrobe again.

Until next time

Kari

17th of May- Constitution day

Tomorrow it's Norway constitution day and it will be celebrated in our particular way. Our constitution was made 17th of May 1814, yet it took 91 more years before Norway went out of the union with Sweden and became an independent country for the first time in centuries. We were under Denmark and Sweden all dependent of who wun the wars between them, after centuries the Norwegian people still had their integrety and a strong wish to again be an independent nation. In 1905 we finally got our independence at last and our very own king. The Danish Prince Carl came to Norway in November 1905 along with his wife Maud who was born a British princess and their little son Alexander. Carl took the name Haakon VII and little Alexander changed name to Olav, later Olav V. Both of them was king for a long time and was very much loved by the Norwegian people. Olavs son Harald V is our king today and recently turned 80, also he a very loved king and a very liberate man. Here you can read more about our Norwegian royalties if you want.

Why the Norwegians have the most fun royals in the world

 So how do we celebrate this big day? First of all we dress in our finest clothes, and if we own a Bunad  (follow the link and you can find a lot of different bunads form all over our country)  or some other national costume we wear it, that is if it still suits us. I had a bunad  for years that was to small so last year I decided to pass it over to my beautiful daughter in law Donnalyn. I bought myself this outfit instead, which is not a traditional bunad but a more recent national costume. Photo from 17th of May last year.

Isn't she pretty in her bunad? This one is from Nordhordland, there are lot of different bunads, every region  and place have their own. This year she can't wear it because she's pregnant and will give birth to a little girl in August.

Unlike a lot of other countries we don't show our army off in a parade. In our parades we show our future and our most precious belongings,  namely our children. Every schoolchild in every city, small town and every community around the country can if they want to join the parade along with their classmates and the school band. In Oslo they have the tradition to walk past the Royal castle and wave to the royal family who are on the balcony and waves back at all the children. And no matter if the child is 100% Norwegian with Norwegian ancisters for centuries or if the child only came to Norway "yesterday" from Syria or somewhere else they all enjoy this day. After the parade they eat sausages and lots of icecream even if it's snowing. And yes it has happened it snows at the 17th of May. It can also be like 25 degrees Celsius( 80 F) and we sweat in our bunads. Now we do hope it will at least not rain tomorrow, today has been awful weather here in Bergen, but weather forecast says tomorrow will be better. Cross our fingers.

So tomorrow if the weather is not to bad I'll dress up in this costume and celebrate our constitution. If weather is all bad we just stay at home. We can choose as we have no schoolchildren who wants to attend in the parade.

If you want to learn more about 17 th of May, you can check this link.

17 th of May in Oslo

In my town Bergen we also have another parade in addition to the children's parade. We have boys and girls brigades " 'Buekorps" which we are really proud of.

17th of May Bergen

I hope you enjoyed this post about how we celebrate our independence.

And to all Norwegians

Gratulerer med dagen i morgen.

Until next time

Kari

The Beauty of a capsule wardrobe - My first photoshoot take 2

Som jeg skrev på bloggen i går dro jeg av gårde i jeans og hvit T-skjorte, dette var mitt basisantrekk på nesten alle antrekkene. Unntaket var en kjole jeg hadde med, da tok jeg av T-skjorten. I dag viser jeg hvordan det ble med en stripete blazer som jeg har hatt noen år, merket er Zay. Denne blazeren har jeg brukt utrolig mye og er kjempeglad for at jeg fremdeles kan bruke den til tross for vektnedgangen. Er usikker på hvilket merke skjerfet er, det er også en del år gammelt og jeg har brukt det mye det også. Vesken er en vintage Mulberry veske som jeg kjøpte på Finn for et par år siden, den er tidløs og samtidig litt røff og kan brukes til det meste. Eneste minuset er at det ikke er plass til en paraply i den. Bor tross alt i Bergen. Faktisk er alt på disse bildene ting jeg har hatt en stund, unntatt T-skjorten og jeansen som jeg har arvet av en venninne. Vanntette Timberland støvletter og mine favoritt joggiser fra New Balance.

Thought I looked a bit stuffy in this photo, but one of my best friends said it was one of favourites.

The

As I told in my blogpost yesterday I took off in a pair of blue jeans and a white Tee. This was my base in almost every outfit in the photoshoot. Exept an outfit with a dress, then I took off my Tee. Today I 

show you some of my favourite pieces from my wardrobe, all a couple of years old, but something just stays as favourites don't they? The striped blazer is from the brand Zay and I'm happy I still can use it even if I've lost weight, not sure where the scarf is from, but I've worn it a lot over the years. Crossover bag is vintage Mulberry, I love this bag so much as it's versatile and a bit rough. Only one thing wrong with it's to small for an umbrella, after all I do live in Bergen. The only thing I've purchased this season in this blog post is the Tee. Boots are Timberland and sneakers my beloved New Balance which I probably wear until they fall off my feet.

Ganske forskjellig fra gårsdagens antrekk selv om det er noen av de samme plaggene.

Quite different from yesterdays blogpost even if it's some of the same pieces.

Watch- Michael Kors Bracelet- Fit bit 2

. All photos taken by my friend Kari Charlotte Waage.

Until next time

Kari

Linkup:Classy yet trendy Ladies who link up party

The beauty of a capsule wardrobe -My first photoshoot

Her om dagen fikk jeg en kommentar fra en venninne her på bloggen. Hun syntes jeg burde være modell for klærne selv og sa at hun ville ta bildene. Man sier ikke nei takk til det, spesielt ikke når man vet at hun er en flink fotograf. I dag var det perfekt vær for en liten fotosession, overskyet og bare litt regn i luften. Jeg pakket en koffert med klær og tok på meg jeans og en hvit T skjorte, det var mitt grunnantrekk nå var det bare fantasien som satte grensene. Turen gikk til Hanevik på Askøy der vi først besøkte Butikk Josefin og så gikk turen ned til sjøen. I dag viser jeg den rosa denimjakken som jeg nettopp kjøpte på H&M.

Boots - Timberland, scarf - PM, watch - Michael Kors

The other day a friend of mine suggested I should model for the blog myself and offered to take some photos of me. I couldn't say no especially not since I know she's a good photographer. Today was perfect for a photoshoot, no sun and good light. My base was blue jeans and white tee, I packed my suitcase and my hubby was wondering if I was leaving him. We went to an island close by and had the photoshoot among some old boat houses by the sea. It was so much fun and, we decided to do this again sometime. Today I show you the pink denim jacket I recently bought at H&M.

Jeans- Fiveuntits, tee -H&M, scarf- H&M, bag -Mulberry, flats-Ecco, sunglasses -  Brilleland

Look at this very charming old boat, isn't it fabolous.

What a cool picture of my sunglasses.

And here she is, my friend Kari who took the photos.

None of the photos has been edited at all.

I already look forward to our next photoshoot Kari.

Would be very grateful for some comments if you like this post.

Until Next time

Kari

Linkup:Classy yet trendy