I think I may have been a good girl this year..

...Because I received so many presents from my lovelies. Here are a few of them:

An animal printed scarf from the Mister

A second scarf from the Mister

Lovely candles. I love love candles so these were a big hit.

I also got a gift card to a spa treatment which I'm really looking forward too and plus a little something something that I'll blog about later. I really do feel lucky and a tad bit guilty about receiving so many gifts. I do think we spend too much money on Christmas presents, but every year is the same. I try, but I never seem to think about the price when I'm doing my Christmas shopping. Perhaps next year.

Christmas Party

A small gathering with Christmas food, music and lovely company to kick off the festive season.

We organized a little make-your-own-Santa competition and it was funny to see how people really took it serious :-) The result was amazing. Very talented and creative people indeed.

And the winner with this unique contribution...

was the lovely Arna:

Wednesday's inspo

Natalia Vodionova for Italian Vogue (I think). Pics from http://fashiongonerogue.com/

Russian Red

My London shopping pour moi focused mainly on beauty products. One of my purchases was Mac's matte lipstick in the shade Russian Red. I love the combination of natural glow makeup with a matte red lip. Very sophisticated.

I've been kind of playing around with it and I'm not really sure about the result. Maybe more "chic-messed-up" rather than "chic-Paris". Oh well, I still love the red lipstick though. Maybe I'll be brave enough to sporting it out one day.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

It's been a hectic week. Preparing for Christmas is not easy with the little one, especially Christmas shopping. I've been running around like crazy the last couple of days buying the presents I didn't get hold of in London. I needed it done as I had to send it off with my hubby's parents who have been staying with us for the last couple of days. Luckily I managed to get a couple of hours by myself on Friday, which helped me reach my goal.

The weekend has been lovely with some quality family time. Hubby's niece came along with his parents. She's a sweet child. However I did get a glimpse on how it feels like having two kids. Not sure I want to go there...

Soul food: Indian curry

You can find the recipe here.

London love ❤

My annual trip to London came and went a lot quicker than expected. My expectations were high, but I knew that the city would never disappoint me. As always it was exhausting, but wonderful.

I did my best to boost the British economy with my Christmas shopping. Ended with a fair bit of presents  and a whole lot of beauty products for myself. Didn't get to renew my wardrobe this time around, but bought a couple of essentials like a pair of jeans from Topshop.

As always I didn't manage to take that many pictures, although I vowed to myself that this would be the trip where I would kodak every moment.But somehow, I just got preoccupied with something else, like checking the balance of my debit card....

Here are some really random (and the only) pics I took:

A squirrel

Hotel Russell

Laduree

Henrik and I at a pub

Outfit: LBD

Dress from FCUK, clutch from Accessories

Christmas party

Last weekend we were invited to Stavanger by my hubby's company to attend their two-day Christmas event. I was a bit hesitant as I knew logistics would be difficult with a kid. However my worries was a waste of time as it all went pretty smoothly. We stayed at a hotel the whole weekend and our very own babysitters (hubby's sister and boyfriend) stayed in a room next to us. I'm so proud of the little one for being an angel (or so I was told). And the flight back and forth was a piece of cake. Maybe he too has caught the travel bug...

Trine with the little one

Kim with the little one

Family pic

Family pic gone mad

Our lovely babysitters

All i want for christmas..

I'm pretty sure I've been good this year...

The eye concentrate from La Mer

Scented candles from Diptyque

Scarf from Marc by Marc Jacobs

Make-up bag from Mulberry

Scarf from Yves Saint Laurent

Bag from Yves Saint Laurent or all my other brown bags candidate

Iphone case from Miu Miu

Macbook Air

Then again I'm content with my little family to be happy and healthy.

Little pleasures in life...

such as hubby surprising me with flowers and haircare products.

Confessions of a newbie mother - The difficult part and the hard part

Nearly four months ago I was lying on the hospital bed begging for the midwife for a cesarean section. The little one had just popped his head out, eager to discover this new world. I barely noticed his debut as I was so exhausted from all the pain and the physical strain. I just basically wanted it done and over with, hence me yelling out for the easiest way out (though a bit too late). Who would have guessed that this experience would be the easiest part of becoming a newbie mother.

Needless to say, my road to baby world has been quite bumpy, being sick for 8 out of 9 months of my pregnancy. However, I thought it would be bearable once I had the little one in my arms. That I would feel total bliss and forget all the pain. Truth be told, the first couple of months of baby world has been the hardest part. Again, don't want to bore you with the details, but there has been days where I barely can see because of my puffy eyes. And the exhaustion I felt while giving birth, heaven compared to the exhaustion I've felt during the first couple of months of baby world. Mentally I was in bits and pieces, but trying to hold up for the little one and my hubby. Admitably I had to confess to hubby and to myself that I just wasn't feeling the bliss. I was struggling....

Four months into the game and bliss decided to show up. Not everyday of course, but I've felt it creeping up to the surface when the little one smiles or every morning when he is making "conversation". Some mothers say that it gets easier just around this period. Golden moments, until it gets hard again round about the age of 2. I probably will not be prepared for that to come. At least I can be honest, admit to myself and everyone else that sometimes it's a struggle.

Bliss mixed with a tad bit of exhaustion