I brunched in West Hollywood with the Hollywood Housewife and Kelly (Love Well) on Saturday. It would have been very posh had we not talked each other’s ears off like a pack of hyenas.

We shared a pitcher of spiked lemonade…but I may have had more than my share. Don’t tell my mom…

On Sunday afternoon, I called up two friends and told them to get their butts in gear; I had wine to pick up in Temecula and it was a BEAUTIFUL day.

I love that my friends are suckers and susceptible to peer pressure when trips to wineries are involved.

At one point this weekend, I looked around my living room and realized I have a slight problem. I bought a statue of a peacock and it’s kinda creepy.

Are there 12 step programs for One Kings Lane and Joss & Main addictions?

I’ve mentioned drinking a few times in this post so far, but in all fairness, I was stone cold sober when I bought the dang peacock.

And speaking of drinking, the green smoothies are rocking my world – but I’m not gonna lie, they look like a diaper blowout.

An interested side effect of the green drink is how superior I feel to the rest of the world.

I’m convinced my skin is glowing and that I have more energy than everyone else.

I’ve realized that my blog posts on my European adventure (here, here, and here) were interesting only to me.

I’m pretty sure they’re akin to making you sit in my living room and look at slides while serving you cocktail wieners and pigs in a blanket.

But fear not, I’m still happy I posted them and will look at them and reminisce over a glass of wine at some point in the future.

After our stay in the country, we headed into Stockholm for a few days. The weather was still cold and drizzly, but we were able to do and see a lot.Our hotel was nice and in a businessy part of town and the hotel’s bar and grill was called Bjork. I had to laugh when I saw that…and naturally, they played good old fashioned 90s tunes there.

The people in Stockholm are BEAUTIFUL and fit. The city itself is VERY clean and safe. I didn’t see any ruffians, homeless people, or vandalism. It’s wasn’t a cheap place to visit, but honestly, it wasn’t as expensive as I expected, either! Switzerland was pricier, but Stockholm was more metropolitan. With that said, the city was interspersed with amazing history, as well!

Our cousins told us we HAD to visit the Vasa Museum and we were so glad we did. The Vasa is the oldest shipwreck ever to be raised from the ocean floor. It was restored and made into a museum in the early 60s and it was the perfect place to visit on a cold day.

After the Vasa, we walked across the street to the Nordic History Museum. With a headset and a magic wand, we were able to learn all about our Swedish heritage and the history of our people. The building itself was absolutely incredible…completely exquisite architecture! 

I can't wait for my next dinner party after seeing how the old Swedes did it! : )

We met up for a traditional dinner with a friend of our cousin. We had a nice time visiting with Frederick and learning more about Stockholm. After dinner, he took us for a walk through the city and we even rode the metro. Stockholm is a very clean and safe city. We were out until at least 11:30pm and never felt concerned at all!

Mmmmmm...meatballs.

While walking through Old Town (Gamla Stan), my sister was thrilled to find a paper store!

The next day, we ventured out for a tour of the city. Stockholm is made up of 8 islands and we really enjoyed going through the canals. Gamla Stan is in the background of this photo taken from city hall.

After the canal tour, we went to tea, then walked through Gamla Stan in the daylight. We saw the Royal Palace and beautiful old world Swedish buildings. It was just gorgeous!!!

Prince Carl lives here. I waited in the town square to find him...he IS single, after all!!!

I was so sad to leave Sweden the next day. It truly was the trip of a lifetime and it felt like I was there for far too short of a time. I learned the importance of connecting with my roots, how to be a truly gracious hostess, and that pedestrian travel in the city is a great way to get around!

I absolutely cannot wait to go back and I’m forever grateful to have had this opportunity.

If you have the chance to retrace your roots, please please please grasp it for all it’s worth!!!

I left Switzerland and landed in Stockholm on Monday, the 19th. My sister had just landed a half hour before me and met me at baggage claim. Sadly, I didn’t have to go through Customs in Sweden, so I never got my passport stamped…which means I’ll just have to go back! We went to the train terminal, picked up our tickets, then sat down for a glass of wine while we waited for our parents to fly in from Paris (they’d been there for baking classes at Le Cordon Bleu). Once we’d all met up, we got on a two hour train ride to Linköping (pronounced lin-shop-ping; one of the largest cities in Sweden), where our cousins live.

We were greeted at the train station with hugs galore and headed to dinner at Bertil and Katerina’s house. They live in an old converted water tower which is totally modern and amazing. My sister and I stayed with Sture and Inga in their 1925 building that’s been converted into flats, too. Both places were TOO cool. And our relatives went WAY out of their way to ensure we had an amazing trip. They created a “program” for us and took us to all of the places we didn’t know we wanted to go to. ; )

Now the really cool thing about our relatives in Sweden is, we’re not really that closely related, but years ago, another random relative started working on a family tree that goes back to 1755 and somehow even followed the relatives that moved to America. Through them, my grandma and her sister became very close with them and voila, we had new “cousins.” They’ve visited us many times, lived in the OC for a couple of years, and even sent one son out to be an exchange student for a year. And for the last couple of years, his brother and wife have been living near us, so we’ve had them for all holidays, etc. But this was our first time to visit them and Sweden. 

Our first excursion was to Gamla Linköping, which just means “old town.” We did a little shopping, walked around cobblestone streets, and had a traditional Swedish lunch (potato pancakes with bacon and lingonberries). It was pretty good!

This is my sister...you'll see a lot of her!

Traditional wooden butter knives, etc. I got myself a present here!

A darling old general store.

After lunch, we did a little more shopping in the new part of town, then headed to the Linköping  Cathedral where we met up with my dad and Bertil. It was incredibly beautiful and is still used for daily services. The church has been there since the 11th Century!

Dad, Sture, and Bertil...just three Swedish guys hanging around.

Linköping Castle - it's now a museum, but if the royals are ever there, they have a suite of apartments they use!

That night, we headed to my cousin Marcus’ house for dinner. He’s the one who went to HS with me for a year. He’s married now and has two boys. It was fun to be in his home!

The next day, we were on our way to the old family farmhouse (Karsebo; pronouced car-suh-boo), but first we stopped for fika – the Swedish coffee break that everyone takes! After we had our snack, we stopped in Gränna, a cute town that they said my grandmother had loved visiting years ago!

And then we were in Ramkvilla…the town where my family originated. After having lunch and doing a little shopping in an amazing craft store, we hit the old church and graveyard. This is the last headstone from my branch of the family (before they emigrated to CA). And this goes back to when we were all closely related…my great great grandparents Peter and Stina-Maria Haakonson were buried here.

This is Bertil, my dad, and Inga (Bertil and Inga are brother and sister).

And then we made it to Karsebo. I wrote about how being there felt like home…the connection to my ancestors was powerful and really touching. The house and barn are literally older than California…you just can’t feel this degree of history and connection to the land here at home.

Ya, I totally took a time out for portraits of my family. ; )

"Cousin" Stieg owns Karsebo now and has said that his two kids aren't interested in buying it...we've been pretending like we'll come back and buy it. It would be a total shame to have the farm leave the family after more than 200 years!

There's a big lake with a dock and places to swim and fish there, too! Here's Inga and Sture being silly!

And my sister and I being silly, too!

The next day, we went for a short drive out of the city to my cousin Henrik’s house. He and Linda have a new baby named Kajsa and were visiting their families the same time we were there. They live in Pasadena now, so it was fun to see them in their hometown and they invited us out to their farm to see where they lived, too!

Inga with her new granddaughter!

Henrik and Linda's property has three tiny houses on it. They didn't have electricity of running water. They've only renovated the one house so far, but have big plans!

This is the second building. I'd love to renovate a home someday...but perhaps not to this degree.

Even my dad was blown away!

The neighbors all help each other out. They have chickens and sheep!

They also have their own lake, too. Here's Missie and Linda.

Henrik made bread in his stone oven for us.

In the reno, they kept everything to the era of the house...including the short ceilings!

Back in town, we went to Bertil and Katerina’s for one last dinner. They live in a converted water tower. It’s really a cool way to do infill housing!

Some of my favorite moments on this portion of the trip were sitting around at dinner looking through old photos or the family tree. I think they understood how precious this connection to our ancestors is to us and honored it by pouring over old papers and letters.

The little girl in the middle here is my great grandmother, Olive. This wedding photo must have been taken in CA and sent back to relatives. So sweet!

And that concluded our trip to Linköping. That night, we headed back to the train for a few days in Stockholm. I loved being there with my family and can’t wait to go back!