Ida

In our back yard

2012-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

... is a lemon tree. It feels so exotic to me to be able to just go out the door and pick lemons off the tree. It looks like we've got a whole bunch of them getting ripe soon and I'm trying to think of ways to use them. Maybe some gelato like Francesca, a lemon pie and lemonade. We'll see.

Enjoy your weekend.

ImagiKnit

2012-01-23T09:22:00.003-08:00

ImagiKnit is the best knitting store in SF in my humble opinion. It consists of two huge rooms that are filled from floor to ceiling with every yarn worth mentioning (so there's plenty of opportunities to grope all of that soft soft yarn). Couches and chairs are available for knitting, relaxing or for browsing through the many knitting books and magazines that are for sale.
This is definitely my squishy heaven of colours and cozy.

ImagiKnit
3897 18th St
San Francisco

Happy Weekend

2012-01-20T13:11:00.002-08:00

Clockwise from top left:
1: Kinfolk Magazine vol. 1.
2: selfportrait.
3: SF: the city of views.
4: this vest in use.

Have a Happy weekend!

Randoms, lately

2012-01-17T09:58:00.002-08:00

Morning light on the livingroom wall.

A house decorated for Christmas.

Misty

The sound of sirens and all that smoke. Sadly the house burned to the ground.

Another knitted Christmas gift. Pattern found here.

Four Barrel Coffee

2012-01-16T11:46:00.007-08:00

This place makes a really good latte but, according to my dad, their regular coffee isn't anything special. And really, you guys should listen to him because I'm not a coffee drinker at all and I only just recently started drinking a latte here and there. But if you're in the area you should definitely check this coffee shop out. It smells delicious of coffee (they have their own coffee roaster in the back of the store) and the interior design is pretty awesome.

Also, make sure to check out the cool shops, like Voyager and Taylor Stitch, that are in the same block as this coffee shop.

Four Barrel Coffee
375 Valencia St
San Francisco

The Rikke Hat

2012-01-14T10:37:00.001-08:00

A hat for me. Though as it is right now it might not get any use until next winter; the weather has been so sunny and warm lately.

It's knit in garter stitch and is super stretchy and comfortable. I added two tassels (inspired by this hat).
Also, my head is not actually that long in the back- it's just my hair taking up some room.

Pattern found here.

So close yet so far out

2012-01-12T21:21:00.000-08:00

Pictures of Austin as I'd imagined it to be; a mix of wood, cactuses, old signs and colours. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great while we were there, so these snaps, from our last half day there, are all I have of our outdoor adventures.

Simple vest for a girl

2012-01-11T12:12:00.003-08:00

For little miss H. Yes, I've finally added a couple of girls to the equation.
I used up a couple of odd yarn balls while knitting this and, much to my surprise, I really like the outcome with the mixed yarns and colours.

Pattern found here.

Austin & BBQ

2012-01-09T11:54:00.017-08:00

My brother and dad would love Austin. All that meat. And so affordable and yummy! We definitely ate our fair share of briskets and pulled pork while we were there.

In a trailer

2012-01-07T10:55:00.002-08:00

We stayed in this cute trailer when visiting Austin last month. We rented it using airbnb.

Have you heard of airbnb? It's an online site that connects travelers with people who have space available. People sign up online and list their space; it could be anything from couches, guest rooms, whole apartments to sail boats or, as in our case, a trailer.
We loved using it so much that we've already booked our next stay in Palm Springs next month.

Any recommendations on what to do in and around Palm Springs would be greatly appreciated!

For little O

2012-01-05T22:36:00.001-08:00

A Christmas gift for little O. who's officially my 'real' job, or in other words, I take care of him part time. I wish I could show you guys his cute face but, since he's not mine, that little face is not mine to show. Just think chubby cheeks, bottom two teeth peeping out and happy giggles, and you get the picture.

I added stripes to the pattern and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. The true colour is shown best on the second photo.

Pattern found here.

Last and first

2012-01-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

china beach

Last sunset of 2011

fort funston

First sunset of 2012

1 of 366

2012-01-01T19:06:00.001-08:00

2012 is leap year. Maybe it's because I'm a child of February but I've always been a little fascinated by the science of leap years. How amazing that we get an extra day.
We're starting the first day of the year with finishing a 10 day stretch of taking care of David's sister's cat, Misty, and, as sweet and beautiful as she is, I have to say that I'm glad I don't have a cat year-round ;-)

12 photos. 12 months. One year.

2011-12-31T21:27:00.003-08:00

january

february

march

april

may

june

july

august

september

october

november

december

Thanks for your encouragement and sweet words these last 12 months. I did, and do, appreciate it so much.
Best wishes for a Happy New Year to you.

oxo,
Ida

Angel Island

2011-12-30T14:46:00.001-08:00

When your parents are in town...

....they will put you on a boat and sail to Angel Island. They'll go nuts over the stunning views and you'll declare this view point to be the very best of San Francisco.

This trip was one my parents favourite part of their SF visit. And I'll highly recommend it too. The views really are amazing and so is the history of the island (Angel Island was referred to as 'the Ellis Island of the West' in the early twentieth century as the island processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants in that time period).

To get here we took the ferry from Tiburon in Marin County but there's ferries sailing from SF, too.

Chunky Monkey

2011-12-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

I made these vests for a couple of twin boys that I babysit every so often. The parents loved them and the boys, being only 19 months old, probably couldn't care less. Heh!
I went with neutral colours and wooden buttons to match with almost any coloured or patterned shirt thus making it simple and practical - my favourite kind of kids clothes.

Pattern found here.

A package

2011-12-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

In the beginning of December I received this package from my mom. It was stuffed full of Danish candy, mostly liqorice (and mostly gone now), presents, little letters, my Christmas stocking and homemade pants for little boys.
I know! I'm lucky.

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as mine!

Ps: I'm done with the silence - the comments are back on.

Glœdelig jul

2011-12-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a Merry Christmas.

Solhverv/Solstice

2011-12-22T01:01:00.000-08:00

The shortest day of the year is here. Yippee! A very happy solstice to my family who's stuffing their faces right about now with lots and lots of flødeboller. A very important, and much loved, solstice tradition in our family. I wish I was there.
Happy Solstice!

*the pictures are all from Austin, TX.

A scarf for a boy

2011-12-21T08:44:00.000-08:00

A little Christmas gift for one of 'my' boys.

Pattern found here.

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Warm hands

2011-12-19T08:47:00.002-08:00

Warm hands for David. For his birthday a couple of weeks ago. Easy, soft and squishy. He approves.

Pattern found here.

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Peppermint Bark

2011-12-17T12:11:00.002-08:00

Peppermint Bark in the making. I'll be gifting that alongside havregrynskugler for friends and family this year.

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Preparations...

2011-12-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

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Mission Minis

2011-12-15T08:14:00.001-08:00

When your mom's in town...

...you have to bring her to Mission Minis because if there's anything better than cupcakes, it's cupcakes in miniature sizes.

Mission Minis
3168 22nd St
San Francisco

When it was still warm outside

2011-12-13T22:23:00.018-08:00

Many months ago.
Santa Cruz. Vegan food. Highway 1. Shumei Farm. Redwood Trees. Burger.

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Pacifica, part two

2011-12-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

The first pictures was taken seconds before that seemingly small wave 'caught' me and completely soaked my shoes and socks. Luckily I was wearing woolen socks.

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Around the house

2011-12-10T16:12:00.001-08:00

Currently reading

Little clothes for a little girl due in March. I searched high and low for clothes that weren't pink as you can see.

Grey skies and dirty dishes.

Still knitting

New boots

My first pumpkin pie ever.

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Pacifica, part one

2011-12-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

From a recent trip to Pacifica.

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Quiet, lately

2011-12-08T20:45:00.001-08:00

I feel like the last 6 weeks have just flown away, absorbed by my regular nanny job and babysitting. I've been crazy busy and I'm kind of blown away by the need people have for the occasional babysitter - so far I haven't had a full weekend off since mid-October. There's definitely possibility for a thriving business in the babysitting world. It's all good though; I'd rather have plenty to do than nothing at all.
This is why I've been a little out of the blogging loop and, with Christmas coming up, why I'll probably stay in that loop for a couple of more weeks. However I'll continue the blogging, the quiet way with few words and the comment section turned off.
Wishing you lots of joy and merry making these next weeks.
oxo,
Ida

Knit one, purl two

2011-12-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

The beginning of the December and the holiday knitting is on. I think I'm going to make it this year even if I have 7 little people ( and a couple of big people too) that all deserve something hand knit.

I'm off to pack my bags as we're leaving for Austin, TX tomorrow. Yay!

Life on my street VIII - the very last.

2011-11-30T10:00:00.002-08:00

The very very last ones. I promise! I've had these floating around on my desktop for months and I'm trying to clean it up a bit.
To see the other Life on my street-posts click here.

Ps: It's my dad on the second to last picture; the picture capture his initial reaction when he looked up and 'found' me. It's one of my favourite pictures of him.

Pizzeria Delfina

2011-11-29T12:15:00.001-08:00

When your mom's in town...

...you'll take her out for pizza, and you'll both agree that this pizza is the second best you've ever tasted. In fact the only pizza to beat this margherita is made by the Italian mom of your old exchange student and so, this was a pretty amazing pizza.

Pizzeria Delfina
2406 California St
San Francisco

or

3611 18th St
San Francisco

Kinokuniya Bookstore

2011-11-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

When your mom's in town...

...you have to take her to Kinokuniya, because if anyone can love this store as much as you, it'd be her.

Everything in Kinokuniya is imported from Japan. There's tons of beautiful designed books on arts, crafts, interior design, cooking and so much more, all in Japanese. They sell Japanese magazines, CD's, manga and a few toys too and they do have a tiny selection of books in English as well. Trust me, you'll need at least an hour to really explore this place.

Kinokuniya
1581 Webster St (inside the mall)
San Francisco

Dynamo Donuts

2011-11-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

We did a quick pit stop at Dynamo Donuts a couple of weeks ago. David had the Chocolate Rose and I tried the Vanilla Bean, they were both delicious; not too sweet or sticky as I find that so many donuts are. The Lemon Thyme and Chocolate Star Anise are on my list for our next pit stop.

Dynamo Donuts
2760 24th St.
San Francisco

Fleet Week

2011-11-26T08:12:00.002-08:00

Fleet Week was happening when my parents visited and my dad was so into it. He kept saying things like 'This would never happen in Denmark. All that pollution. I love America!'* and 'Wow! What an incredible sound!' with a big grin on his face. And then continued to telling us stories of how he'd seen the first F-16 airplanes being presented in Denmark as a boy.
It was basically a 3 day chase of flights and looking up into the air trying to catch a glimpse of the various air planes. We'd walk down a hill, hear the loud rumble of the Blue Angels and then run all the way back up that hill to see if we could get a glimpse of an airplane or two.
The pictures above are from Chrissy Field where we saw the show one of the days.

*FYI: my parents are very eco-conscious people; driving small cars, never have things on standby and always turn of the lights when they leave a room. The exception being airplanes shows, apparently!

The Pirate Supply store/ 824 Valencia

2011-11-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

When your dad's in town...

...you'll bring him to the Pirate Supply Store. Were he, like you, will be confused and then delighted by the quirkiness on this place. It's like stepping right onto a pirate ship.

The Pirate Store doesn't look or feel like a store. And finding things to buy is sort of like a treasure hunt which, I think, is appropriate in a pirate store. My favourite part is the wall of drawers where I've spent a fair amount of time opening drawers and finding feathers, glass eyes, pirate maps and belt buckles, to name just a few.

But the very best thing about this place is that it's a volunteer organization, a tutoring center, that support children developing their writing skills.

The Pirate Store/826 Valencia
826 Valencia St
San Francisco

Whimsy and Spice

2011-11-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Amazingly soft and squishy marshmallows from Whimsy and Spice. I originally wanted to pop some of them into hot chocolate but they were gone before I got that far.
Do any of you have know of any good marshmallow recipes? I'm feeling adventurous.

These days...

2011-11-08T07:25:00.004-08:00

These days are pretty busy...

...with holiday knitting...

.... and bread making (I'm years behind on the magic on the 'no-knead' bread, but man, I'm taking advantage as I've been baking and eating so many loaves these past months).

These days....

...I'm trying out caramel recipes. This one is a hit and I'm mighty proud of the outcome, so proud, in fact, that I had to send a couple all the way to my parents in Denmark.

These days...

... I carry my things in a beautiful bag made by my mom.

These days...

...I eat home cut fries, and find shelter with a chai tea and some postcard writing on rainy days.

These days...

...start with homemade blueberry smoothies.

Paxton Gate

2011-11-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

When your dad's in town...

...you'll bring him to Paxton Gate because you know he'll appreciate all the quirkiness and cool interior design.

This store is one of my favourite places to bring visitors as there's a lot of taxidermy craziness going on in this store. Everything from the penis of a mink to mice dressed up in costumes is here, as well as plant terrariums, fossils, books and plants. It's heaven for lovers of skeletons and other oddities.

Paxton Gate
824 Valencia Street
San Francisco

Chow

2011-11-04T13:28:00.001-07:00

When your dad's in town...

...you'll bring him to Chow. You'll order him Quesadillas with Carnitas because you know that that's as far as he'll go in the 'exotic food' department*. He'll love it (who wouldn't! )

by my mom

I'm a big fan of the Organic Pork Carnitas Scramble but their Huevos Rancheros is pretty tasty too. I've only ever been there for breakfast/brunch and only on the weekdays, where it's not super busy. I like the bench by the window in the front but I've heard that their back patio should be pretty great, too.

Chow
215 Church Street
San Francisco

*my dad is not the most adventurous eater and is generally happy eating oatmeal with milk and sugar, ryebread with leverpostej and risengrød.

Also, thanks so much for your comments lately. I wrote a little follow-up on my self-portrait post right here.

Ritual Roasters

2011-11-01T19:11:00.001-07:00

When your dad's in town...

...you'll bring him to Ritual Roasters, where he'll order a strong macchiato for himself and an iced coffee for your mom.

As for me; I’m not a coffee drinker but every once in a while I’ll drink a latte from Ritual; it’s mild, thick and foamy, and it always comes with either a heart or a leave ’on top’. There’s usually a bunch of hipsters here (which isn’t really a bad thing in my opinion), lots of computers and a great atmosphere.
All in all, a great place to bring your coffee hungry dad on a sunny afternoon.

Ritual Roasters
1026 Valencia Street
San Francisco

San Francisco Halloween on Instragram

2011-10-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween :-O

Places to show your parents in San Francisco

2011-10-29T21:26:00.001-07:00

During my parents visit a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a special walk for each of them with things that I thought they'd like to do. For my dad it involved visits to coffee shops and second hand shops and for my mom it was book shops and, wait for it, second hand shops. Like mentioned before, my parents are serious second hand aficionados.

I'll be sharing both walks here in the coming weeks.

On self portraits

2011-10-26T21:33:00.001-07:00

I've always been a little ambivalent about self-portraits. On one hand I love to see other people's self portraits, on the other I have this little voice in the back of my head telling me that self-portraits are self-centered - 'look at me, look at me!' (how very Danish of me - more about janteloven and the Danish way of thinking right here ). About a year ago I stumbled upon a photo blog and instantly feel in love with Megan's self-portraits. I love how she uses herself as an object in her pictures.
In a blog world full of girls showing pictures of their perfect home, hair and bodies, it was nice to find a girl that cared more about the feel of her photo than whether or not her body was shot from the best possible angle -no pigeon-toed girl attitude there. I love that.
Needless to say, I got inspired and during the last 6 months I've been taking self portraits regularly. I've showed a few here on the blog and I'll probably continue to do so every once in a while. Though I'd like to think that I'll keep most of them to myself - for when I'm old and grey and in the need of a little laugh ;-)
Do you take self portraits?

Update: Thank you so much for your comments on this subject. It's nice to hear that I'm not the only one with those thoughts, and I'm happy to know that I've inspired some of you guys to start taking your own self portraits.
Here's how I take mine: I use a gorillapod and the self timer function on my old analog camera. I focus on the spot where I'll eventually sit/stand, cross my fingers for a somewhat clear image - and then I run like hell to be in the right spot at the right time :-)

Ocean Beach

2011-10-24T10:58:00.002-07:00

If you catch the N-Judah train downtown and take it all the way to the last stop you'll end up at Ocean Beach. It's big and beautiful and always less windy than what I'm expecting. Keep your fingers crossed that it isn't foggy and then go dip your feet in the cold, cold water.

Musée Mécanique

2011-10-22T10:52:00.001-07:00

I’m generally not a big fan of Fisherman's Wharf; too crowded for my taste but I’ll venture there for Musée Mécanique. We brought my parents here when they were visiting a couple of weeks ago and they loved it (see pictures! ). Located at Pier 45 it holds a large collection of antique arcade games and mechanically operated musical instruments. Best of all, for a quarter or two you get to play!
General admission is free.

Musée Mécanique
Pier 45 Fisherman's Wharf at the foot of Taylor Street
San Francisco

2011-10-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Picture number 1, 4 + 5 are self-portraits. If feet and hair count as self-portraits?

We've had two earthquakes here today. The shaking actually made the dvds shift on their shelves. It was 4.0-magnitude so nothing major, though still enough to scare a Scandinavian who's used to solid non-shaky ground under her feet.

Mitchell's icecream

2011-10-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Good friends introduced me to this place and consequently made me addicted to the grasshopper pie flavour. Mint, caramel and chocolate chunks! What's not to like? But really, all of their flavours are yummy. Pictured above are the Macapuno coconut, the Mexican chocolate and the Halo-Halo, all crazy good.

Mitchell's icecream
688 San Jose Avenue
San Francisco

Sol Food

2011-10-12T22:55:00.000-07:00

Sol Food in San Rafael is pretty awesome.

What I do

2011-10-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Film pictures of me and baby M. & me + Golden Gate Bridge taken by my mom.

I'm a nanny. At least that's my profession right now. I get to take care of the cutest little kids, or actually boys, mostly boys. I've got a part-time job with one sweet little guy (6 months old) and then I've got several babysitting families where I'll babysit on occasion; date nights, meetings or whenever the parents need a break. And they're all boys, all 7 of them! I've had to save their names alongside their parents names on my phone, so that when the parents contact me I won't switch their boy's name around all the time. But really, it's made me lean a little bit more toward boys, I think most women imagine having a girl but I'd love to get a cute little boy someday. Brainwashed, huh?

On a slightly different note; people in Denmark have such a hard time looking at nannying as a real job because nannies are virtually non-existent there. Danish parents have one year of maternity/paternity leave and then the kid usually go to nursery school, while both parents go back to work. Nursery school and pre-school are generally cheaper than in the US and they're open on weekdays from around 6.30am-6pm. So, like I said, nannies aren't really needed.
What do you do?

Grand View Park

2011-10-06T09:59:00.003-07:00

San Francisco is the city of views. It seems that no matter where you go there's always some kind of view. I like them all but if I had to choose just one view; my favourite view and the one that shows the most of the city, I'd choose Grand View Park. The name says it all really; it's grand with a 360° almost unobstructed view of Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge. Go alone if you'd like a beautiful place to just be, or bring some friends and a picnic while you enjoy the sunset.

The only catch is that it's not the easiest place to get to and if you're only in San Francisco for a few days it might be too far out of your way. On the other hand it is only a good 15 minute walk from Golden Gate Park.

Grand View Park

Nearest cross streets are Funston and Moraga. Just walk up Funston Ave until you hit Moraga St, then turn right.

Marselisborg slot

2011-10-04T22:40:00.001-07:00

The Danish queen's summer residence located in Marselisborg Skov in Århus, and her garden is open to the public whenever she's not at home. My parents, sister and I went for a walk around her grounds one sunny day in July.

The beginning of a guide

2011-09-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

To say that the 'love affair' between San Francisco and I was love at first sight would be a lie. I’m almost embarrased to tell that I didn’t really get the city at first and I saw nothing charming about it whatsoever for the first many months.
I originally came to the Bay Area as an aupair and stayed in Sausalito which basically is right next to the Golden Gate Bridge, just across from San Francisco. On my days off I’d take the bus across the bridge, through the city and then be dropped off at 7th & Market. I’d then walk up Market street, past the dodgy shops and the homeless people hanging out at the store fronts, while I was looking really cool but secrectly being scared to death. I’d end in the Union Square area which is the major shopping district where most of the common chainstores are and, while it’s a nice place for shopping, it really could be anywhere in the world. It wasn't until I got my hands on this deck of cards that the beauty of San Francisco revealed itself and my obsession began.

I've long wanted to share what it is that I find so special about San Francisco. At first I planned to make a real printed hold-in-your-hand guide but I've come to realized that it might be a little too ambitious, so instead I've decided to share it here on the blog. It'll be a hodgepodge of everything I like about this city such as my favourite streets, shops, vista points and coffee shops posted in several blog post throughout the year. In other words it'll be a very egoistic and totally opinionated guide to my favourite things to do and see in this city but my hope is that there'll be something that you'll like too.

On another note; do you have any plans for the weekend? Mine will be spent in the company of my parents and David. We'll be going to Angel Island, also called 'the Ellis Island of the West Coast', tomorrow and the Castro Street Fair on Sunday. Should be fun!

In the middle of the rainbow

2011-09-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Nina and I visited ARoS in July. We saw colours and rainbows and circles and mirrors. I love Olafur Eliasson.

Eat

2011-09-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Bread, yogurt, karbonader, eggs, green beans and potatoes. Some foods eaten in the weeks before leaving for San Francisco.

Snaps from my parents house, part two.

2011-09-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't already figured it out; my parents love everything secondhand, and rummage flea markets and secondhand stores as often as possible. I'd say that 75 percent of the things in their home is secondhand finds. And then there's the barn which is full of retired secondhand finds that are just waiting to be picked up and used by my siblings and I.

Snaps from my parents house

2011-09-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

We picked up my parents at the airport yesterday so I thought it appropriate to show you just a little bit more of their house. These are all film snaps of some of the many many knick knacks around their home. I'll post the last batch a little later today.

**

2011-09-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

taken by David

Film photos* from a walk around my new neighborhood. We started out by climbing the hills for a couple of hours and ended up at Chow for a late brunch. The timing was perfect as the morning crowd had vanished and the lunch crowd had yet to show up.

*with my 'new' Yashica fx-3. So happy to be shooting with a Yashica again, I like the Nikon and Pentax but I love my Yashica. It was my first love after all.

In transit

2011-09-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

From Denmark to San Francisco.
I'm not especially fond of flying; I don't fear it but I definitely don't love it either. I have a certain ritual that includes always listening attentively to the safety instructions and studying the safety card on every single flight I'm on. It's redundant but to me it means that everything will be alright.

A farewell party

2011-09-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

On the evening before my departure we had a small gathering with homemade layer cake that, to my grandmas surprise, was decorate with a laundry line (i.e. little flags, at least that's what they were supposed to be).
I've gotten my first roll of SF film back and so I'm guessing that the next month will be a mix of old pictures from Denmark and new San Francisco photos.

Off to enjoy the sunny Sunday. Enjoy yours!

Sometimes destiny is a lovely thing

2011-09-16T14:43:00.001-07:00

It's Friday and I've spent all morning walking up and down the beautiful streets of my neighborhood. Just like I spent yesterday doing the same thing with one of my very best friends who moved to the bay area a couple of weeks ago. We've know each other for around 10 years and it still feels unreal that he's actually here, just a 45 minutes drive from my house.
Sometimes destiny is a lovely thing.

Scenes from my parents living room

2011-09-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

Søsterkage

2011-09-13T07:59:00.001-07:00

Sister, cake + icecream. A great mix!

Life on my [old] street VIII

2011-09-12T22:16:00.001-07:00

Summer 2011 in Århus, Denmark.

Yes, I'm really here

2011-09-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I've yet to show you any SF pictures. So here's a couple from instagram just to assure you that I'm really here.

Notice the orange dream bike? My new commuter friend. Her name is Ethel and she's all mine. She's a C7 and you can read more about her here on Public Bikes website.

Also, if you're living in or around SF and would like to meet for a coffee (or tea in my case :-) ), photo adventures or bikes rides please don't hesitate to shoot me an email at ida_nielsen at hotmail dot com. I'd love to meet you.

2011-09-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is Anne. One of my most favourite people in the world. We are terrible at keeping in contact but once we see each other it's as if we were never really apart. I miss being quiet with her.

Scenes from my parents kitchen

2011-09-06T22:12:00.001-07:00

My parents are big time do-it-yourself people. Most of my childhood was spent living in some kind of a reconstruction site; kitchen in the entrance way, sand as flooring, missing walls, concrete as flooring, which accidentally is perfect for indoor rollerblading, and so on.
Apart from the electric wiring my parents made everything in their kitchen themselves from putting down the concrete base and the floor to building shelves and ceiling and installing the kitchen. All with the help of their 3 [very reluctant] children. Gosh, we hated it back then, but it's made me pretty handy - I'm a badass IKEA assembler.

The day before

2011-09-05T21:49:00.002-07:00

Early morning. Still so sleepy.

Self-portrait taken the day before I left Denmark.

Pictures that remind me of poetry

2011-09-02T10:00:00.001-07:00

The poetry of the earth is never dead.
John Keats

Marin lakes in March. Everytime I look at these photos, little snippets of poems pop into my head. Like Ode to Autumn by Keats for example which I read in the gymnasium. I've never forgotten about it and I can't remember if it's because I loved or hated it.

LA in March, part two

2011-09-01T14:47:00.002-07:00

On the campus of UCLA.

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A splash of colour

2011-08-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

My lovely sister wearing my newest knit. This was my first time knitting with madelinetosh yarn (love!) and my first time following a Danish pattern, which was so difficult to understand as I'm used to reading patterns in English. I'm really happy with the outcome and the yarn seems to be holding up really well despite lots of wear already.

Pattern: Camomille by Helga Isager
Yarn: Tosh light merino in charcoal and Isager Alpaca 1 in white.

LA in March, part one

2011-08-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

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Løve's Bog- og VinCafe

2011-08-29T08:08:00.004-07:00

Løve's cafe is another great little cafe in Århus which incidentally was conveniently close to my old apartment. It's a mix of a cafe, a bookstore and a wine tasting place and most of the 'employees' there are students who are volunteering. Go there during the day if you like quiet, free internet and real candlelight, or go there in the evening if you prefer lots of people, live music, bookclub and the like.

Løve's Bog- og VinCafe

Nørregade 32

8000 Århus C

Visiting mormor

2011-08-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

A visit at mormor's always include hours of gaming; board games, card games and the like, lots of food and this time around also an hour long walk.

B&W en masse

2011-08-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

I got 4 other B&W rolls developed along with the Holga roll. Some of them dates 6 months back. Prepare yourself for some serious b&w spamming these coming weeks.

Now I'll try to bribe David to take a walk with me along the Embarcadero as the sun finally has burned away all that morning fog. He really do love the car - such a stereotypical Amerian, huh!? ;-)
Enjoy your weekend!

Twenty and Thirtyfive

2011-08-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to all who participating in the giveaway. I used this website to draw the winners and it chose comment number 20 and 35. Congrats to Malene and Ansku :-) Please send your shipping info to my email: ida_nielsen at hotmail dot com.

Back in the bay

2011-08-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, these last days flew by quickly. It's hard to believe that I've been here for almost a week now. The pictures are from my last trip here; it's the first time I've ever gotten clear pictures with my holga. I quite like 'em.
I'll pick the winners of the giveaway tomorrow so there's still a little time if you'd like to participate.
Anyway, it's good to be back!

Lockets (and a giveaway)

2011-08-16T04:16:00.000-07:00

I found these lockets in the middle of my packaging/moving session this weekend and couldn't resist making a couple of necklaces - I needed a break after all. I made one each for my mom and my sister as a go-away present and, instead of adding a picture, I wrote a special qoute for each of them to carry within the locket. They dropped me off at the airport a couple of hours ago ( weeeee-I'll be boarding soon) and I gave them the necklaces as I told them not to open the lockets until they were back at the car. Hopefully they'll like them.

I made a couple of extra lockets (see below) that I'll be giving away here on the blog. One has a tiny picture of a globe inside and both of them carry a 'secret' little quote. To get a better idea of size and look click here.

To win just leave a comment telling me which one you'd like and I'll draw a winner once I've settled in in San Francisco.
Good luck!

All quotes found on this great blog.

Idyllic

2011-08-15T11:26:00.002-07:00

Early Summer sunshine morning from a couple of weeks ago -the last couple of days have felt like Autumn.

A different vending machine

2011-08-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

One of the bicycle stores here in Århus has this bicycle tube vending machine hanging on the wall. You know, if you puncture your bicycle tube and you're in desperate need of a new one. It makes me smile everytime I see it :-)
Bonus info: almost all bicycle stores here in Århus (and there's quite a few) has free industrial pumps available for bicycle tires who are in need of a little air.

Ps: I'm dreaming of biking around SF on this bike.

Life on my street VII

2011-08-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

I've got a couple of these posts left and then that'll be that. I'm a teeny tiny bit sad about that as it's been surprisingly fun being a street spy.
The packing is almost done and I'll spend the next couple of days at my parents until I leave on Tuesday. I still can't believe how much stuff I've managed to accumulate within this last year even though I really should know. In the past 6 years I haven't lived in the same spot for more than 18 months at a time and every single time I've shaken my head in astonishment at my own pack-rat capabilities. And, just like last time (and the one before that) it feels so refreshing going through my possessions and throw, give and donate some of them away.

Five days

2011-08-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

I'm back from the land of chemistry. I had my oral exam in the morning and it went much better than expected. I biked home in the rain while words like oxidations, chemical reactions, ions and acidity flew freely out of my brain. It was lovely!
I've already re-used all my notes from class as packaging paper for some of my things because, eeeek, I'll be on a plane in 5 short days! My mind has been so busy with school these last weeks that I sort of forgot that I'll be leaving so soon.

My world....

2011-08-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

....right now: chemistry, chemistry, neighbor stalking with camera, chemistry, my sweet cousin (my other roommate) making pizza for dinner and chemistry.
Friday can't come fast enough. See you on the other side...

Aarhus University

2011-07-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

My parents and I went for a walk on the university campus this weekend. July has been so wet this year that it's on the top ten of the most rainy July's since 1874, but at least it ended warm and sunny and green.

Fuzzy Friday

2011-07-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

Woah, it's Friday. Finally! I'm so happy about that and so is my fuzzy brain. It's rustier than those polaroids up there for sure. No complaining though, I knew it'd be intense as it's 104 hours of chemistry packed into 12 days. Yesterday I actually got excited about doing a little math when we calculated chemical substances. I was shocked as I've always hated math in every shape and form but it was just so nice to be able to put numbers into a formula and let the calculater do the thinking for a little bit.
Ohhh, hello there weekend.
I hope you'll enjoy yours where ever you are!

-Ida

Back in school

2011-07-25T10:51:00.001-07:00

I had my first day of chemistry today and my brain feels like mashed potatoes. I had such a hard time concentrating for the full 8 hours of the periodic table, atoms and so much more that I can't remember. 11 days to go before the exam.

Vandbakkelser

2011-07-23T13:54:00.001-07:00

Vandbakkelser are puffy cakes/buns made of butter, water and flour that's boiled and then whisked together with eggs. In our family we've always eaten them with custard and whipped cream or frosting but they're also good with marmalade or eaten plain. My dad likes to eat his with a glass of cold chocolate milk as you can see.

before/after

2011-07-23T00:05:00.002-07:00

I got a minor surgery to get a ganglion removed yesterday. I've had it for around 10 years so it was about time.

On another more horrifying and important note; I can't believe what has happened in Norway these past 24 hours. Sending warm and healing thoughts!

♡♡♡

2011-07-20T09:52:00.002-07:00

I shot my second package of impossible film* with my polaroid camera the other week. They pretty much turned out like last time. I'm curious to try some of their other newer film soon. Do you have a favourite film from the impossible project for Polaroid 600 cameras?

*PX 600
Silver Shade/ First Flush

3 tops

2011-07-19T02:54:00.000-07:00

The Danish Summer feels like Fall at the moment; the last week has been so windy and rainy. On days like these all I really want to do is snuggling with a blanket on the couch or make something. I've long had my eyes on simple loose tops like this or this and on this rainy Saturday my mom and I set to work. We found an old pattern from a magazine modified it a bit and started cutting. I did the 'invisible' work i.e. everything on the inside of the tops, and choose the fabric from my mom's huge stash, and my mom did all the hems and the cutting since she's a lot more precise (and patient) than I am.
I'm really happy with the outcome of all three tops, they're super comfortable and I'm sure they'll get a lot of wear these coming months.

Tak for hjœlpen, Gitte :-)

Gifts

2011-07-18T12:41:00.002-07:00

Wrapping presents at my parents house is fun as my mom has boxes and boxes of wrapping paper, ribbon, tags and so on. These presents were for my friend Charlotte who just bought a house with her husband -are we really old enough to buy a whole house now!?
I knit her a pair of Driver's Gloves and gave them a set of those spoon.

Sand Sculptures

2011-07-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

I'm visiting my parents this weekend. Yesterday we went to the Sand Sculpture Festival in Søndervig, this year the theme was The Roman Empire and it's rulers. I was so impressed by the perfection of the dimensions, shape and liveliness of the sculptures.

PLINT

2011-07-14T12:56:00.001-07:00

PLINT is a frilly, girly kind of store. The perfect place to buy gifts or non-traditional souvenirs.

PLINT
Søndergade 3.
8000 Århus C

Life on my street Vl

2011-07-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

The little guy following his sister on his scooter was ridiculously cute; helmet, pacifier and all :-)

Thanks for the interesting comments on the last post; they're definitely worth reading if you have the time.

About comments

2011-07-09T01:03:00.000-07:00

I love getting and reading your comments. I love it so much that for the past year I've tried to send back the love to each and everyone of these comments by leaving a comment back on the 'commenters' (is that a word?) blogs. I've done this because I figured that people who leaves comments loves receiving comments just as much.
I've had a system where I would try to comment back every two weeks or so; using hours going through blogs which eventually made me 'blog-dizzy'. And the more blog-dizzy I became the more lame my comments became. Not good. Not fair to the people who leaves such nice comments to me. Not a good use of my time.
So the last month I've been thinking about other ways in which I can say thank you for your comments without always feeling like I have to click back to the commenters blog and then leave a boring comment. To make a long story short; I've decided to pick one or two blog posts each month and then click my way through the comments. Read, really read, those blogs and take my time to leave a comment on more than just one word. I think this will take the pressure and guilt of not replying to everyone of my shoulders. I think...
What's your viewpoint on comments? Do you feel like you always have to reply back? Or do you only comment on the blogs that you follow?
And again, thank you so much for those great, funny and thoughtful comments. They're all so appreciated !

* this might be the blog post in the world with the most use of the word 'comments'! Comment, comments, commenters...;-p

By the sea

2011-07-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

My good friend Anne is in town, it's so great having her around! We went swimming this weekend and strangely it felt a lot colder than last time.
I hope you're enjoying your Summer (or Winter), too.

Sunrise/Sunset

2011-06-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sunrise

Sunset

I'll miss the beautiful soft light of Denmark when I leave.

First ice cream of the Summer

2011-06-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

One scoop of liqourice ice cream, one scoop of chocolate chip mint ice cream, soft ice, flødebolle, guf and marmalade. Shared with my sister. Simple perfection.

Danforth Pullover

2011-06-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

I finished this just before my CA-trip back in March as I thought that it'd be perfect for the changing weather of San Francisco. Surprisingly I didn't use it at all. Oh well, I still like it :-)

Pattern: Danforth Pullover

Ravelry link here.

Life on my street V

2011-06-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

A little Danish for the Danes :-) :

I den seneste tid har mine 'stats' fortalt mig at jeg har fået en del danske lœsere (faktisk er antallet af danske 'kliks' kun overgået af amerikanerne og det er da rimelig sejt, når man tœnker på antallet af indbyggerer i de to lande).
I de seneste par måneder har antallet af danske blogs på min liste også vœret støt stigende (tak, blog-land :-) ) og jeg nyder at følge med på dansk rundt om i landet. Danske blogs indtager helt klar første pladsen i min 'grine-højt-foran-skœrmen-kategori' - åhh, dansk humor, den var sgu savnet i USA indimellem og bliver det helt sikkert, når jeg rejser derover igen.

Et 'pœnt goddag' til jer alle og tak fordi I gider at kigge forbi. Det gør mig simpelthen så glad!
God weekend!