Sweet breakfast part one

Breakfast. It can be so many things and I believe for most of us it tends to change; we vary it depending on the time, the season and whether we are out or at home. When I was growing up we had sourcream yoghurt (filmjölk) with homemade cassis jam and granola for breakfast. I can't say I really liked it. The filmjölk per se is sour and the cassis jam was hardly sweet enough for my immature taste. My biggest cheer was on the weekend when we, if I was lucky, ate some honey yoghurt or in summer when we had fresh raw strawberry jam in the refridgerator.

When I was a teenager I loved making pancakes or scones for breakfast, or if I was in a rush I often just grabbed a couple of apples.

Since then, fortunately, I have found quite a few morning foods that power me up for a great day.

For me black coffee and fruit is an essential in the morning. Without it, I don't feel quite like myself.

Here are a few of my breakfast favourites

Early-morning-breakfast-bliss-balls.jpg

Chia pudding, fruit and black coffee

Sardinia-fruit.jpg

Berries, fruit, egg and yoghurt with homemade granola

Raspberry chia overnight oats (for one)

1/2 cup almond or oat milk
1/4 cup oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp coconut flakes
a handful raspberries
1 tsp cinnamon cacao nibs

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Stir gently and refridgerate overnight. Place some fresh or frozen raspberries in a glass and pour the chia oat mixture on top and decorate with goji berries, cacao nibs and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Coffee, tea and juice with friends (good conversations can be very energising too)

Avocado-on-rye

Mashed avocado drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with chilli flakes on ryebread (mm one of my absolute morning favves)

Cafe-molino.jpg

When me and Damien have breakfast in a café I often bring a protein bar to have alongside my coffee. Then it is just a bonus if I find something that I like, such as these dried pineapple rings.

Hope you found some inspiration, expect a follow up post soon!

Days in Paris and a book review

Following our stay in Paris in August, I just couldn't stop thinking, or talking, about it. It made my french man a little annoyed, and eventually I had to admit that he was right when reminding me that to live in a place is never the same as visiting for the holidays. Sadly, I do know it is true. Living in London working fulltime is a very different story from being a tourist in London. The city is large and at times too much time passes by with only work, commute, eat and sleep and none of the fun things one can do with the time at hand.

Paris-gardens.jpg

I love Paris nontheless. Relaxing greenery in the middle of the city.
 

Opera-National.jpg
Along-the-Seine.jpg
Tapas-along-the-Seine.jpg

The Opéra national. Especially the interior, the ceiling is painted by Chagall, and it is stunning. We drove past late at night, andI knew we had to return the next day. Nights by the Seine.

French style tapas food...

This week I came across a book about Paris. Or rather, the typical Parisian woman.

How to be Parisian wherever you are: Love, Style, and Bad Habits.

It is written by four ladies - Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline De Maigret and Sophie Mas and it describes the Parisian woman in ways such as "she smokes like a chimney on the way to the countryside to get some fresh air" or "one who randomly exclaims: this is the most wonderful day of my life".

I love the unexpected touch. I love that some things are so true. I love how many things are taken to an edge of total exaggeration. Know any woman in her 20s that is a bit of dreamer? This is the perfect gift.

how-to-be-parisian.jpg
Pray for rain

Last weekend I went to my first Californa festival. I was pretty excited about it. Some of my favourite bands were playing. Need I say that I was not disappointed? I arrived quite late after a full day of yoga history, not to complain, I loved it, but I felt pretty exhausted. The low evening sun beamed a magical light over the festival area. The young crowd was welcoming with their smiley faces. In the ticket line I felt the excitement spreading throughout my body and as soon as the bag search was over I started started to jog towards the stages. Only to be stopped by a final security guard that apparently wanted to scan my ticket first. Oops, I almost started my festival experience by being run after by security. Nice!

The first performance was Tv on the Radio, which I have seen before. But that was some time ago. In a completely different setting, or let's say forest, in nothern Sweden. It was, as you can imagine, a very different experience. The performance had a Tv on the Radio-like intensity to it, and they played a nice mix of old and new songs. As they were playing the sun went lower and lower, and there was a golden glow over the heads of the swaying and at times dancing audience. As the the last palm tree lost its touch of golden we headed to the second stage for Poliça.

I was standing on someone's picknick blanket and I got lost. The transfers between each song were mezmerising. Instead of falling in and out of the songs, the rythmic transformative flow in each song emphasised their relationship to one another. Like seeing someone combine ten different outfits with some reoccuring pieces, getting to love these pieces more and more, seeing how they come out so different each time.

2014-10-19 18.38.00.jpg

As for all concerts, there is an end. Which made me kind of sad, so we decided to take a little break for touring the festival area. I'm glad we did, because we found an awesome silent disco, the DJ was really great. He almost convinced me that silent disco is better than a conventional disco. I thought about it as we headed to the food trucks for some food. They sold healthy SF green juices, young coconuts with a straw and American style pizza. I had to take my latest obsession, a warming naan bread burrito filled with garbanzo stew.

As Alt-J finished his performance on the main stage, we headed to the smaller stage to wait for Washed out; the guy from Georgia who wanted to become a librarian but didn't secure a job and instead moved back to his parents and began to create music. He told us Washed Out has been touring for one and a half years and this was there last performance of the tour. It was brilliant. As it happens on festivals, we had to leave before the last song to make our way to Massive Attack. We found a very good spot just in middle and quite at the front. Damien had seen them once before in Lyon in the early 2000s. And they had the same pictures streaming in the background. Come on? But apart from that, I really enjoyed it. Especially when our hopes were fulfilled and Tunde Adebimpe from TVOTR entered the stage to sing Pray for Rain. Pure magic, and a perfect fit for the California drought. They must have thought about that.

And best of all, it worked, because when I opened my curtains the day after, it was raining.  Thank you Treasure Island, I'll be back!