And finally...

...

Ready for first course

Delayed hen do

Breakfast at the Grand.

Monopoly

Now you get two millions when passing Go. When were the three extra zeros added? Not even Monopoly is resistant to inflation and modernisation.

A very soft winter

Plus ten degrees and sun. The consequences of global warming. Short term I admit I don't mind.

Almost hundred percent predictable

I would say typical Boxing Day activities include a long walk in the forest/park/city, possibly with a dog if there is one; Christmas ham left over on Swedish crisp bread covered in mustard; finish reading one of many books (from the stocking if there was one); falling a sleep in front of a reasonably good but not too exciting film.

This plus more Christmas sweets and biscuits pretty much sums up quite a few people's day I would have thought. Including mine.

In addition to the predictable Boxing Day traditions, I added an extracurricular activity. There is now an almost finished strawman to a party that took some time to convince myself to organise. Now I wonder what took me so long. Hep! Sometimes I can even surprise myself.

The Jamie Oliver turkey

I have a clear memory of my mum cooking turkey for Christmas Day. That was my inspiration for inviting the whole family to continue a tradition that has been sleeping for the last couple of years. Six kilo bird spent all morning in the oven together with stuffing à la Jamie Oliver. Roasted potatoes, carrots and parsnips, sprouts, gravy and mashed apples. I think I did Mr Oliver proud. To make sure nobody left the table hungry, there were blueberries, cream and Swedish pastry for dessert.

Somewhere halfthrough the lunch my mum revealed that she has never cooked a whole turkey before. My childhood memory got skewed somewhere along the line. Possibly during my years in London.

Well well. I think a new tradition has been born.

Christmas shopping

I'm not alone...

Twelve people in a room

Five hours of management meeting. Twelve times five times an hourly rate of £xxx. Quite expensive and I really doubt this is the way forward. There must be more effective ways of running a business where meetings are shaped in a different format from what still seems to be the norm. Gah!

Anyway, this was my last meeting in this role as I'm now handing over to my successor. Hopefully she will be more patient than I am when it comes to spending days in meeting rooms...

Wonderful family and friends

The celebrations continued after Berlin with champagne and dinner at lovely sister's house, luxury breakfast with Adorable and Cool P, nice lunch with colleagues, delicious home cooked dinner with Beautiful J and the biggest bouquet of champagne coloured roses. A birthday to remember and a heart filled with warmth and appreciation.

Berlin by night

Gingerbread version of Adlon

Hotel Adlon

Drinking with style.

Berlin, we are coming!

The beginning of a first:
Weekend away with Lovely L
Visit to Berlin
Day in a new decade starting with a four

Stay connected

The number of tools to stay connected today... mail, email, text messages, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs etc.etc.

Not to forget live meetings and smoke signals (I'm sure they are still used somewhere).

But there is mainly one way to stay connected to the self. Through breath. Our constant life companion, from the day we are born until the moment of our last inhalation. Yet there is so little focus on breathing.

Imagine if everybody spent as much time caring about their breath as they do updating their status on Facebook...

Bits and bobs from 2011

The year I resigned from being employed to becoming my own, sacrificing employee safety for self employed freedom. In the end of the day I believe safety and freedom come from another place than the contractual arrangements around your work. Still, the feeling is different.

Also the year I started teaching yoga. I never intended to. One thing led to another and eventually it seemed like the only right thing to do to continue my learning. And to give something back as a sign of gratefulness to all of the teachers who have given me so much (and who still do).

On the materialistic side, it has been a settling year. I cut my spendings more than I thought I was willing to and without painful compromises.

I gave up a more than ten-year old membership in the hardly ever used wine cellar. Yes, it was one of my less worthy spendings that went on for far too long. Q: Was it a difficult-to-kill lifestyle illusion?

I found those missing pieces of furniture to supplement my home (OK, admittedly that was before I cut my spendings in half). Why it took years I don't know. Q: Was there something in me that somehow was going somewhere else, not wanting to invest in the here and now?

Friendships, relationships and circumstances have been scrutinised, decisions have been made. The platform is solid. As 2012 is said to be moving faster than ever, I think a stable platform to stay grounded may be necessary.

There is something extra with Chanel

Timeless. Elegant. It's a feeling. That's why you happily pay three times more for a Chanel nailpolish than for a similar colour from L'Oreal. I'm not the only one...

Morning walk

9 am and almost light!

Did the sun come out today I wonder?

The last couple of weeks have been unusually dark. The disadvantage of the absence of snow, which I otherwise don't mind. But thirty minutes per day of sunlight would be nice... Now the only way to keep the energy up is to 1) sleep more (yes, I think we are really meant to), 2) eat properly (lots of dark-green vegetables and fish), 3) some sort of daily physical activity (but even that seems harder as the days are so short, and who can really get their act together and leave the house once you get home after work?).

Candle lights, hot tea and DVD is my treat for tonight. Unless I fall asleep first.

Tea, talk, token

She dropped by late morning with her two children, before heading back to the city she once left the capital for. She placed the children in front of the telly with the two films she had brought and explained to them that they were going to watch a film, have a snack and mummy was going to have a cup of tea and talk to her friend. Me. Loving kindness. There was no discussion. The children happily entertained themselves and we had a long chat that lasted for hours.

We haven't seen each other for more than a year. Twenty-five years or so ago we got to know each other through being part of the same gang of girls. May be our mutual interest in riding and horses made us a little bit closer, but there were differences that also held us apart. Then we found each other again. After years abroad (me), children (her), moving and new friends (me and her) we started talking again at a funeral... An authentic vintage friendship was crystalised.

Had we lived closer I think we would see each other every week. Our lives may appear very different but we find our connection through our mutual interest in yoga. Not just the practice, but the approach to life.

She was talking about opening her studio, expanding her business. She was talking about months abroad, escaping the winter but more importantly deepening her practice and allowing the family a different perspective of life.

When she left with her two lovely children (who did join us after a couple of hours), I was warm inside and filled with our vintage friendship.

In between meetings

Catching up on reflection and reading, christmas music in the background and big career perspective in my hand.

Necessary protection

One thing leads to another. That's just how the law of shopping works. You buy one thing to then realise you need one more. iPod case? Of course.

Chutney and Vogue

The latest on Kate seems to be that she is making chutney for Christmas presents to friends and family. Of some more interest is the fact that she covers Vogue Paris in December. For anyone who hasn't already noticed.

Vintage or old

Sometimes new is it. There is no charm in vintage underwear or vintage food (with the exception of matured cheese). But for many things vintage is really the thing. There is vintage wine, there is vintage fashion and accessories and there is definitely vintage furniture and household items. It's always possible to make bargains, but often the price rather indicates that we are willing to pay a fair price for the patina that comes with a vintage bag.

So how about vintage friendships? Or vintage relationships? Can you dust off an old friendship that was left years ago to find a new, may be different friendship than you used to have? Can you find something new and different in a relationship that ended years ago for good reasons?

You hear about people getting married to the same person for the third time and you hear about other people who find their best friend from toddler age and how the friendship starts a new. May be the years apart creates the necessary patina that we are drawn to, just like the vintage chandeliers. Or may be we just happen to be back on the same road in life after a well needed detour where other friendships and relationships developed.

Anyway, there is something much more appealing with the word "vintage" than with the word "old".

Yoga detox!

"Yoga stretches and compresses the collagen network of the body, which lengthens fibers and frees toxic particles - just like we do to that old, gnarly sponge we all have hiding under our kitchen sink."
From Yinsights by Bernie Clark

Yoga is a detoxifying practice! Reading more about the anatomy and functions of the body I can't help wonder why not everybody practices yoga. Imagnine what the world would be like then?

Things you can do before 9:30 am on a Saturday

Buy a new dress. Click.

Hanna by Greta

The working day of a self-employed

On today's TO DO list:

• Buy an iPad
• Exhange portable modem to iPad-friendly version
  
• Figure out what to use the iPad for; I'm convinced that I need it! May be it has something to do with spending the last day reading about Mr Jobs...
• Catch up on my reading; the list is long and includes Harvard Business Review, Boston Consulting Group's latest HR survey report, YinSights - the practice of yin yoga to prep for course starting in January
• Attend a yoga class at favourite studio
• A long awaited dinner with Mix and Beautiful J

I know already that the list will carry forward to Saturday and may be even Sunday. And it's OK. Time to light a fire in the fireplace, make a cup of tea and start reading! One of the advantages of working from home.

On-off switch resistance

It took until the end of the book, but finally some light is shred over Steve Job's resistance to on-off switches:

"It's strange to think that you accumulate all this experience, and may be a little wisdom, and it just goes away... 'But on the other hand, perhaps it's like an on-off switch. CLICK and you're gone. May be that's why I never liked to put on-off switches on Apple devices."
From "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson

A book worth reading. A man who is now part of history. A man who created history.

December 1

Christmas is approaching, the snow is not. I'm happy as long as I don't have to bring out the big and ugly winter boots.

Getting ready for network meeting

Today's topic: Facilitation

She is really married!

A true fairytale party filled with romance. A weekend filled with celebrations to be remembered. All the ingredients were present: the castle, the prince, the princess and the whole court. The champagne and the music flooded and were only paused to allow one of the seventeen speeches some air to honour the bride and groom. Little B was prettier than Grace Kelly in her long, red dress, silver high heels and sparkling jewellery. But nothing sparkled as much as the eyes of the newlyweds when they looked at each other. Real love.

Snapshots from the weekend

Prague the day after

Fairytale weekend in fairytale city.

Prague next

Little B's wedding celebration. She is already married to fairy prince and we now get the opportunity to give them the big send-off into married life. Hooray! A weekend of romance, champagne and party in a city sparkling of Christmas lights and frost. Fur coat on.

Mirror mirror... been there before

Auction time again. I have the perfect matching wall for this mirror. Let's hope nobody else thinks the same.

Advertising when it's good

French humour at its best. This made me laugh: Action with Canal Plus.

Christmas all around us

I wonder if this is what the architect had in mind when he created the "mushroom", Stureplan's landmark.

Learning from nine year olds

At the leadership seminar last week the organisers had invited a group of nine year olds to remind us of the fact that they are tomorrow's employees. What does that mean for leadership devleopment?

Facilitator: "What does a leader do?"
Nine year old: "Make decisions."
Facilitator: "What do you think is important for a leader?"
Nine year old: "To be nice."

A piece of India

Framed and soon on the wall as a reminder of an unforgettable month in India earlier this year.

Pottering

Q: What is the ultimate housewife chore?
A: Cleaning and polishing silverware.

In addition to ironing and baking saffron buns, that's what I've spent a significant part of the day doing. I enjoyed every minute of it thinking I could get used to doing this every day, knowing that's probably not true.

It all started with some browsing

I always claim to be very efficient and focused when working from home. No rules without exceptions. The derailing started already this morning when I just happened to browse through an auction site and just happened to find a coffee table that looked like it belonged between my two couches. With less than four hours until the close of the auction there was no time for real life inspection but had to trust the web to give an honest view of what seemed to be the coffee table I've visualised for quite some time.

What do you do when you wait for your bid to go through? You go to the plant shop of course. Very important to have amaryllis and hyacinths in place in time for new coffee table to arrive.

And when the bid goes through, hooray, you need assistance to transport it from the auction hall. Someone seemed to be as efficient as I was as Adorable also had a piece of furniture which needed to be picked up from the same place. With the new additions in our respective homes we decided to call it a day and totally just veg out.

Days like this are also necessary.

AM: home office, PM: networking at leadership conference

French bistro in Stockholm

A relaxing atmosphere, a menu characterised by elegant simplicity. No more, no less. Lovely L is just around the corner. I know we will have an evening filled conversations that matter. Just the two of us. A highlight of the week.

Christmas outside our office

A different meeting

Leadership and spirituality was the theme of the afternoon. A discussion group, or just a group actually, of people coming together to share some thoughts. Guest of honour was a woman who is normally based in a zen monastery but is currently in Stockholm working on her PhD. If it was her doing or the fine mix of people participating I'm not sure, but the presence in the room was complete. People meeting people for real and because we wanted to.

Greta

Just a click away... Want? Yes! Need?...

Mornington

Soon Saturday afternoon coffee with Little B and Adorable. Later birthday celebrations with Lovely L. Fabulous friends on a relaxing day in a pretty city.

May be the most beautiful capital in the world

The short version

Crêpes and catch up with Little B. A spontaneous lunch and welcome break in the middle of a busy day. Today I've been wearing the hats of the IT manager, the accountant, the secretary and the consultant. The pros and cons of being self employed.

Interaction overload

A week filled with sessions of interviews, coaching and yoga. Impossible to be anywhere but in the moment. Although that's exactly what I aspire for, I'm now longing for a day without interactions. How boring does that sound?

It's dark and cold but it's home

Crisp bread, Swedish liver pâté and tea in the favourite cup. Sometimes you need to go away to appreciate things you otherwise take for granted.

Last summer night for a while

Getting ready for an Egyptian dinner.

Snake show

Couldn't help feeling sorry for the snakes. They never asked for human attention.

Egyptian nights

Starting with a soft warmth and a dry breeze and then the temperature starts to sink as the evening progresses. Desert climate.

Cousins on holiday

This little hero, my second youngest nephew, is like a duracell rabbit. His energy is amazing and he happily tries everything that comes his way. The biggest idole is his five year old cousin. Anything she does, he does too. She knows it and slowly starts to take advantage of it. Female cunning and male obsession.

How to make hotel guests feel special

All inclusive

A party of twentysix, covering three generations, arrived in Egypt after a very early start. Now we are all equipped with a blue bracelet which gives us access to anything we like in the gated hotel community, which includes a mall of different restaurants and bars. Yes, wine and beer are also included.

Not sure where the gym is, but probably wise to find out.

The beginning

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

Apple's "Think Different" commercial, 1997

The beginning of the biography. The life, the lessons, the moments of truth. It arrived in the mail yesterday. More than sixhundred pages dedicated to the life of Steve Jobs. Timing is perfect as a week in Egypt starts tomorrow.

How to ruin relationships

One of the top ten when it comes to ruining relationships at work is the yearly budget process and allocation of central costs. There simply isn't a win-win scenario. The frustrations, the number of emails, meetings and after-meetings. Painful and draining for everybody involved. There must be another way of dealing with this.

Blog anniversary two

The second anniversary came and went, all in silence. There is a question of what happens next. When the inspiration to write here transforms into something else, when there are no more updates, when there are no more readers. Where is it then? Has the blog served its purpose? Are there more things still to come? Sometimes I wonder.

When in doubt do nothing, just give it time and it will all become clear. And then the usual everything is exactly the way it should be right now.

Short and sweet

Big family, beef stew, apple crumble, sweeping leaves and bright autumn sun. A bit of a tradition and the short and sweet summary of a lovely autumn weekend.

Chicken à la Mirva

A good motivator for cooking for friends is to buy a lot of food and store it in the fridge. Eventually you start to feel stressed as the best before date gets closer. To bin everything would be an insult to the environment and all the starving people in less fortunate circumstances. So there is really only one option: cook it all and invite someone over for dinner. Seems to work.

Not my new career

Inhale, step forward with the left leg. Exhale, follow with the right leg and deepen the forward bend. Inhale, rise while keeping the arms extended. Exhale back to mountain pose.

Probably my most frequently used vocabulary from the last couple of days. Tired of my own voice, fed up talking about the breathing that I can't do myself as I'm busy giving the instructions. It's all clear - yoga instructor is never going to be my full time job.

Wondering what Kate is up to?

Apparently designing jewellry. Must say I prefer this over the so so Top Shop collection. What's next? Don't think she has given singing a go yet.

A day of snapping

Stupid questions, undeserved criticism, annoying complaints without substance and unrealistic expectations. Snap, snap, snap! I'm impressing myself with my sharp snapping technique. Until the boomerang effect kicks in and it comes right back at me. The sour aftertaste of snapping is as pleasant as the morning breath the day after bottles of wine and cloves of garlic...

Note to self: Hello! You can choose your attitude and control your mood.

Just looking

Some things don't change

The station staff at High Street Ken are still around after more than five years. At least one lady who always used to work during rush hours. I guess London Underground knows how to look after their employees.

Breakfast at Baker & Spice

Belgravia favourite.

Tabloid highlights

The celebrity way (read Gwyneth, Elle and of course Kate) to prove they haven't got to the grey-hair-age is to show black roots on an otherwise blonde head. Really, if it was a real re-growth it would be grey. But no. Rather than fixing the roots to match the rest of the fake colour, they fake it twice according to a reliable source.

This important piece of news was uncovered in today's Daily Mail. Together with other important news such as how to get out of a car the Royal way. Knees together, pushing your Royal self out sideways.

English bedrooms

This morning I woke up in a New England styled bedroom. The conference hotel is no doubt sponsored by Gant and it was tempting to pack the bathrobe before checking out. Tomorrow I will wake up in an Old England styled bedroom. Change of bags and notebooks and off to airport. London - I'm coming!

Strategy conference

In an environment which encourages big thinking.

The first hours of the day

Perhaps the best time of day. Or may be the second best. An hour at a favourite café with the perfect latte, freshly squeezed orange juice and a delicious sandwich. An hour to observe, reflect, catch up on emails and possibly write something creative to my new web site. If this is second best, then the best hour was between seven and eight together with my yoga group. They are so receptive and the atmosphere they create in the room is like velvet for the soul. Such a rewarding feeling to guide them through the early hour of the morning and to see their relaxed, smiling faces when they leave the room to start the rest of the day.

Someone said that you teach yoga for you and you do your own practice for your pupils to have something to give back. There is something to it.

December city weekend plans in progress

I have a few European capitals left before I can say I have done them all. Perhaps the most surprising 'capital gap' is Berlin. Now there is a possibility that the gap will be addressed before the end of the year. A week before Christmas I guess all capitals are pretty, even the ones I have turned down for the last two decades.

Walk and talk

Four hours and two walks, one following the other. The second walk covered challenging decisions when it comes to work and career. The first walk covered everything but. Two lovely friends who can listen and engage in discussions that matters. New angles and input on questions I have pondered for a while.

Tired feet but lighthearted. A silent thought of gratefulness for having such lovely friends.

Unforgettable

For some unexplained reason, today I picked up a book which is one in a pile lying by the telly to hide an ugly cable. The book was 'Unforgettable places to see before you die' by Steve Davey. I opened it and found that one of the places Davey suggests is Lake Titicaca in Peru. I have been there. It's some time ago now but I remember its beauty and deep colours. Like someone has played with photoshop and boosted the colours a bit too much. But it's real.

Some of my memories from Lake Titicaca were great learnings although I didn't really enjoy the experiences when they happened.

On the night bus from Cusco, where we ended our trekking of the Inca trail, to Puno, the gate to Lake Titicaca, I lost a bag. I can't remember what was in the bag, except for my travel diary and all my films from having travelled around South America for three weeks. Photos from the Galapagos Islands, Quito and mount Cotopaxi, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, Lima and you name it. All to be developed back home, all kept safe (I thought) in a small bag inside the bus as opposed to in the big backpack in the bus storage. In my naivety I didn't keep the bag on my lap but rather put it on the shelf above my head. Somewhere between Cusco and Puno someone left the bus together with my bag. Five or six undeveloped films never turned into the beautiful and memorable photos I had hoped and the likelihood that anyone on the Peruvian countryside ever read my Swedish travel diary is probably close to zero.

After some time, I learned that my memories and my experience of a fantastic trip didn't sit in the photos nor in a diary but inside of me. Seeing the pictures of the rare animals on the Galapagos islands in Davey's book (yes, he also suggests that the Galapagos islands should be visited before you die), I can smell the sea and the air and I remember how close we got to all the amazing animals who didn't see human beings as natural enemies. I remember the group we travelled with, I remember how we had to wash our shoes not to bring sand or earth from one island to the next. And more than anything I remember the sensation of swimming with sea lions.

Another memory was my constant altitude sickness. It started on the Inca Trail and got progressively worse as we stayed for a few days in Puno by Lake Titicaca. I mistook it for a tummy bug and tried to treat it as such. Swollen, sick and tired. Impossible to eat much at all, I lost more weight than I needed. Back at sea level in Lima, I returned to normal and I had learned that my body doesn't agree with heights. Lake Titicaca sits 3 800 meters above sea level.

A trip that I will always remember. One part I did with my sister, the other part with a girlfriend who is no longer in my life. Why? Some things are hard to understand and may be they are not meant to be understood.

Steve Jobs in our lifes

I think a majority of blogs today will address the world's loss of Steve Jobs in one way or another. The reminder of who he was and what he did is on our laps and in our hands. It would feel disrespectful to pick up the MacBook and not dedicate a silent moment to the great person he was.

Steve Jobs made a difference and had an impact that changed how we use technology as part of our daily lifes. Our iPhones, iPads, iPods and MacBooks are probably as present in our lifes as our friends and family. Without them we are naked and alone.

So although we don't actually know him, there is a big empty space which he used to occupy.

Shop shop

It doesn't happen very often that I walk into H&M's flagship store without finding anything to buy. It happened today. Nothing looked attractive. Not even the elastic hair bands. I left rather disappointed but perhaps also relieved. This means I'm allowed more shopping in London next week... I can't imagine walking into any of my favourite shops on Westbourne Grove, Kings Road or Highstreet Ken and leave empty-handed. I would say the not-shopping-risk when in London is close to zero.

Mothering the body

The kidneys are the mothers of the body. They continue giving when there is nothing more to give. So to do the Butterfly yoga pose is a gift to the kidneys to restore their energy and strength. One of many things we learnt in this evenings class with my favourite teacher.

Peeking into another world

I was trusted with the task to collect a gorgeous Princess from nursery today. The playground in the park on the way back home proved to be a whole new experience. The Princess knew her way around and enough people to have a good time and all I had to do was to follow.

Lunch time

Mashed apples

Every year I have this idyllic dream that I will collect tons of apples, spend a weekend in the kitchen with a pretty apron and make lovely mashed apples and all sorts of apple cakes. The fridge will then be loaded with sweet vitamins that can be defrosted and enjoyed when needed the most. Every year the dream stays a dream and I end up buying the mashed apples in the grocery store. Mashed apples which probably contain as much preservatives and other unwanted additives as they contain apples.

This year the dream was realised. With the exception of the pretty apron. The freezer is now filled with one hundred percent organic mashed apples and my urge to spend time cooking is gone.

A milestone

The start of the rest of the journey.

Not working

Autumn and self employment at their best.

A park in action

Observed at ten thirty in the park, a normal weekday:

• A film team making a movie or some kind of documentary.
  
• School children practicing various sports led by their PE teacher.
  
• Toddlers in yellow vests walking in line behind the nursery teacher, holding on to a rope to not get off track.
  
• Three latte-dads dressed in sporting outfits and in deep conversation while pushing their one-year-olds in trendy buggies towards the playground.

Twenty years ago I suppose the school children would still have been there and may be even the film team. But I doubt the yellow vests and the rope would have been present. And the latte-dads are more likely to have been moms without lattes.

A park of our times.

Different ways of beginning the day

The day began with an hour of giving yoga and ended with two hours of receiving yoga. Somehow the meetings and emails in between left less of a footprint when summarising the day. Tomorrow starts with a flight to Gothenburg and ends with a network meeting. Contrastes embellish, but I think I know how I prefer to begin the day.

Trapped

1-0 to telly tonight. Gym, work and books - all beaten by the telly. And it's not even that interesting. What is the magic trick used by telly that others seem to be missing?

Aching feet

Two days in high heels, running around the city and the real estat summit of the year, my feet are still aching. With age it takes longer to get over hangovers from both alcohol and high heels. I can live with drinking less but I'm not resigning to foot-friendly comfort shoes. So I just have to accept the feet hangover and rest in a horizontal position to ease the pain.

Team lunch

And after-lunch activities.

The office this morning