BERGEN THIS MORNNG

ALL OVER THE PLACE

Sorry about not posting as regularly as usual lately ..but this month is kind of CRAZY. First it was organizing our move and saying goodbye to NEW YORK. That was a stressful, fun, sad and hectic EXPERIENCE. Then we arrived in VÅLER in NORWAY ..and stayed there two days (being jetlaged, mainly sleeping, eating Erlend's mom's food, watching old BECK episodes, petting the cats ...and repacking), then we flew to BERLIN ...that was part of our stay just as GREY in January as I remembered it  ..BUT we also met a lot of great FRIENDS, celebrated E's birthday, had delicious meals at CHEZ MAURICE ...and I even got the time for some work; shooting CRUBA by Mira Becker's AW 2013/2014 lookbook. It was the third time we did this together and it was really nice both seeing them and working with them again.

THEN we flew to BERGEN ...where I am now.. and in a couple of days we are off to TRONDHEIM for the weekend to see MY SISTER and FRODE, then it's OSLO for about a week ...and THEN ...it's SPAIN. Yes, so I am a little bit all over the place  ..literally. I know you might think that all of these events must be somehow PHOTOGENIC and postable, but the truth is that at this point everything is just going so FAST and I am seeing so many people I LOVE  ..that I have not seen in a long time ...so I am feeling that I am not capable of doing anything but being present in the moment. Because even though photographing is also a way for me to be very present, it also takes away my attention from other things ..and the truth is; I am not very good at doing many things at the same time. I am though a little bit better at INSTAGRAMING these days than BLOGGING, so for those of you who are on instagram; let's meet there:) ..and this picture was taken on KARL MARX ALLE the first year I lived in BERLIN.. going back brings back nice memories ..also of days less grey.

SOME FAVORITE SHOTS FROM OUR NYC GOING AWAY PARTY

SKATING IN CENTRAL PARK

WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK AND 5TH AVENUE

Ever since I moved to NY I have wanted a portrait of me in the WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK ...because I think it's beautiful ..and because it is right by our house. ..AND ever since I came here I have wanted to buy a VINTAGE FUR. My last week in New York granted me both. When I first started the blog ...and many times later, I have debated  if I should do more outfits pictures. But I never managed to motivate myself to do it because I am only really interested in photographing an outfit if I can make a STORY out of the pictures, where the outfit and the surroundings somehow communicate with each other and tell a story ... ideally to look like STILLS from a FILM. And well, even though situations that are a little bit like that happen more often than I post pictures of outfits on my blog  ..its' kind of hard finding time to shoot these series when you are really doing something else. But yesterday we managed it, even though E got pretty restless in the end, getting worried we would not make it to our three star lunch reservation in Midtown (yes ...we are maxing it this last week). 

So yes, when I found this coat in a vintage store in our NEIGHBORHOOD I immediately thought it was GORGEOUS ..but it was not at all the kind of fur that I had in mind ...and was looking for ...but then I put it on ...and I felt that I was brought to a different time and a different place ..and I was MESMERIZED. In many ways I think of clothes much like COSTUMES, not costumes like in an OPERA or on HALLOWEEN, but more in the sense that costume designers in films think of costumes. I feel very strongly that certain clothes go with certain looks, situations, places, countries ..even weather (and I am referring to a more detailed way than just; wear a raincoat when it rains). This has also something to do with how I often think of life in general as a stage or a filmset. Ok, I will explain; I do not walk around thinking that I am in a film, but one of my favorite things ...that I appreciate so much when happens ... is when everything works together esthetically and thematically ...like the room, and the people and what the people are wearing ..and what they are doing ...or drinking ...or eating ...or reading for that matter; just like in some of my favorite films. Of course you have all already kind of seen how I have a tendency to photograph these kind of situations. Like I remember when I took THESE PICTURES I was for instance so happy with PERNILLE for wearing her HAT ...because I thought it worked perfectly with the setting. It's funny because not that long ago I were at some friends house and we were looking through a magazine called KINFOLK. I discovered the magazine while living in BERLIN and thought it was beauuuutiful; both the layout and the pictures ..but later I also found it a bit comical since they in this magazine really take aestheticising situations very far.  But yes, as we were discussing that magazine I realized that the kind of situation they photograph and show in this magazine is probably what you would get if 7 people like me planned and went on a photo/cabin trip together. So I guess that explains it..

WALKING WITH MY PHONE

LOOKING BACK AND FORWARD

Looking back at our last year I realized how much we have been TRAVELLING. Even though we LIVED in BERLIN before we came to NEW YORK, we were basically always on the MOVE. When we left Berlin I realized that I had never spent more than one and a half/two months there in a row. STILL it was hard leaving because we have a lot of great FRIENDS there, we had a great APARTMENT, and I had finally started to feel that Berlin was kind of my HOME…it takes longer when you're never really there. Even here in NEW YORK we have been traveling a lot. It was difficult deciding on how to prioritize our time here. On one hand we wanted to stay in NY as much as possible, but on the other hand this stay was such a great OPPORTUNITY to get to see other parts of the States. Looking back I think we managed to balance it well. I truly fee that I have now lived in NEW YORK CITY, but at the same time I have been blessed with so many AMAZING experiences travelling around the country.

Our stay here is now coming to an END ..and I am dreading it. In some ways I'm not, because I always knew that it was temporary ..and I have spent my stay here accordingly. Without having the ability to make money and knowing that our visas were only for half a year ..I knew it had to end. Still, I have come to LOVE this city and our FRIENDS here and it will be very sad to leave.

Of all the cities I have traveled to, NEW YORK is the one ..and only ..where I have felt TRULY comfortable and HAPPY, in the kind of 'I could really live here FOREVER' kind of way. The FIRST TIME I came here was in 2003 and I immediately liked the city, already then in this kind of 'this city is so amazing and exciting and different' but at the same time 'it is so easy to understand and I feel so at home here' (recognizing things and finding them APPROACHABLE is an important thing with me, since basically as a rule I always prefer things the second time I experience them to the first). I continued to really like the city as I visited it more, but it was first when I moved here that I came to LOVE it.

I love the people, the walking, the streets, the taxies, the restaurants, the talking to strangers, the weather, the openness, the stores, the light, the streets, the complexity, the tempo, the sports, the fashion, the flexibility, the architecture, the atmosphere ..this list could go on forever. But I guess to me the main testament to my feeling of loving this city is that I really LIKE MYSELF here. It might sound weird, but after traveling a lot and not really having a stable HOME, friends and a job, really a BASE, for a long time ..you realize to a higher degree how external things affect you and how they make you feel about yourself. And this CITY and it's PEOPLE makes me feel GOOD, seen and appreciated ..and it is truly, for me at least, a gift to experience that feeling.

Many of my Norwegian friends find the American FRIENDLINESS/OPENNESS weird and uncomfortable, but I LOVE IT. Americans also often talk LOUDER ..and MORE than Norwegians …and Germans for that matter …and I really appreciate that too. Just realized that a lot of you that follow this blog have never met me in person ..and therefor do not know that I TALK… A LOT ! Many people might think that people who like to talk always love to speak to really shy/ non-talkative people because then they can hear their own voices all the time, ..but in my case it's often the opposite. I enjoy talking to other talkative people …because then I don't feel like a VERBAL STEAMROLLER all the time. Mostly when I'm talking a lot it's just that I'm enjoying myself; the more comfortable I feel around people the more chatty I get. Still, in the same way that shy people can come home from a dinner party feeling bad about not saying 'enough' (by the way, I always come home thinking about such people as really COOL and POISED) I often go home feeling bad about talking all the time ...and saying kind of inappropriate things. This can be a problem since I am a very OPEN person and I feel that almost anything is ok to talk about ...and sometimes the more inappropriate things are the more interesting. I just find CONVERSATION very interesting.

So because of this I've always been told that, in some ways, I have a very un Norwegian nature. At the same time I come from a city in Norway; BERGEN, that has always been described as 'a little piece of Spain' in Norway…and we are known for speaking LOUDER than all other Norwegians… and talking about ourselves a lot… and we are also always right. Writing this reminds me of a great STORY my DAD used to tell me and my sister when we were kids. My dad is not from Bergen, so he told it to make fun of BERGEN  ...and probably a little bit to warn us about becoming cliche Bergen characters. The story takes place at a FISH MARKET. A man visiting the market suddenly hears a lot of NOISE from one of the FISH TANKS and goes over to check it out. Looking down into the tank he sees a lot of LOBSTERS ..going on about their life in a quiet and peaceful manner, but then in one of the corners he spots a tiny little SHRIMP banging his feats and arms (I don't really know if there is a difference between arms and legs on shrimp, anyway..) on his little chest like a GORILLA shouting -in my dialect of course- I AM A LOBSTER, I AM A LOBSTER ("Eg e en hommar, Eg e en hommar!")) I've always loved this story, partly because I always loved our dad's stories, but also because there's some truth to it. Even though I have never felt like this shrimp, I am kind of a typical 'Bergenser' in some ways. Still there is a gigantic cultural difference between the US and Norway, and that difference makes me feel in some ways more at home and comfortable here than I have ever felt anywhere before in my life.

People has often asked me since I came here WHAT I LIKE THE MOST about living in New York, I have often answered just being here; walking the streets, looking at people, experiencing the atmosphere of the city, but it's first know writing this text that I realize that a big part of why that is my favorite thing, has to do with the fact that that I am so comfortable in my own SKIN in this city. Even though a lot of things I find hard in my life; not having stability or routines, not enough work and not knowing what waits for me around the next corner, has not changed for the better since I came here, I have felt so much more comfortable and HAPPY here than I did in Berlin. Of course it's partly a language thing, I speak English fluently and I did not do that with German, still it's also just the city and it's people making me feel SAFE, but also challenged, CALM, and eager to do things, making me like who I am. After spending time here I see that there is truly a reason why so many people from different nations and cultures love to call this city their HOME.

But yes, so we are leaving, but its not only a bad thing ...because well ...since I am married to Erlend we have new ADVENTURES waiting for us in the new year too. First we were thinking about going straight to ARGENTINA from NY, but that turned out not to be possible because of E's work; he needs to stop by Norway regularly because of a current project he is working on. Then we were thinking about THAILAND ..but after  a lot of back and forth we decided to concentrate our travels on Europe. And even though the other alternatives might be WARMER, more EXOTIC and EXCITING I'm glad we made the choice we did. Traveling all the time is beautiful and amazing in many ways …but I also miss the familiar. Compared to Thailand traveling in Europe is closer to home, in both DISTANCE, LANGUAGE and CULTURE  ..and to be honest, I think I need that. Traveling to far away unfamiliar places can be magnificent, but when traveling becomes your every day life, at least for me, it feels good to keep it a little more close to home. That said; EUROPE can be pretty amazing and we are traveling to some really beautiful and interesting places; JEREZ and SEVILLA in Spain, NAPLES, LIPARI and SICILY in Italy ...and to BEAUNE in France.. But first we are going home to NORWAY and then to BERLIN to say hi to loved ones. That's the one BEAUTIFUL thing about having your FRIENDS in different cities and countries, when you leave some, it means that you get to see others you have missed.

And yes, I know the picture on top of the post  might look a little bit too serious and posy for the content of this post...but it was of me ...and New York ...and I kind of like the dramatic atmosphere;)

IN 2012 I...

_________Went for a beautiful January walk around Schlachtensee_________

_________Photographed some of the Fredrikstad bakery FASVO's  delicious cakes_______

__________Spent beautiful days visiting Hanne in her townhouse in Brussels_____________

____________Went on a road trip to Champagne_____________

________Photographed CRUBA by Mira Becker's store in Berlin________

 

___________Visited New York_____________

_______Went to the Berlin launch of Kunstkritikk's first paper edition_________

____________Tried out a new look________

_________ Drank Champagne in the Norwegian mountains___________

__________Was charmed by this little guy__________

________...and this guy_______

 _____Spent an amazing spring day at Nakholmen outside of Oslo_______

____________Enjoyed Easter in Paris________________

__________ ...watching the cherries in bloom__________

_______Photographed CRUBA by Mira Becker's fall/winter 2012-13 lookbook_______

_________Became Marie's 'fadder'_______

_____...and took some ..if I may say so myself.. beautiful pictures of her______

_________Photographed Synnøve and Kristoffer's beautiful  Bergen library wedding________

_______Got a new bike ________

___________Photographed Sigrun and Erik's Berlin wedding_________

________Visited beautiful Blumberg_________

_________Spent beautiful summer days at our balcony__________

____________Visited dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel____________

_________Watched Venus pass the sun__________

________Bought a new bikini__________

_______Visited Piemonte_________

_____________....where I fell in love with this apricot tree_____________

__________...and had great fun with this gang________

______________....by this pool___________

 ________ ...sometimes wearing this hat and this bikini___________

__________Enjoyed watching this photo________

 ________Celebrated 4th of July at Flughafen Tempelhof___________

____________Ate many really, really nice meals___________

__________Trained out door boat yoga in Berlin_______________

________Spent cold but beautiful summer days at our family cabin in Norway_________

__________Picked mushrooms in Erlend's parents garden__________

_______Watched the beautiful apple trees at Alby, Norway_______

__________Spent summer days by Schlachtensee_______

__________Had a 'last' classic Berlin breakfast_________

_____________Said goodbye to Berlin___________

_________...and our beloved Berlin apartment________

________Drove to Norway with all our stuff_______

_________Moved to New York____________

________Hung out on the Lower East Side________

_________Walked on the High Line___________

_________Went to a US Open match__________

_____Enjoyed a prolonged  summer_________

________Loved watching The New Jersey skyline__________

____________Went on a road trip in The South West__________

______________... to look at amazing land art______________

____________Visited Monument Vally___________

__________Missed these two________

__________Loved watching the Manhattan skyline_________

________________Went to Eve and Alex's wedding ______________

____________...on beautiful Lake George _______________

___________...where I ate s'mores for the first time________________

__________Fell in love with the autumn colors in Upstate New York__________

__________Experienced SANDY and a following blackout__________

_______Was excited about experiencing the American holidays_______

___________ Went shopping at many of New York's Farmers markets______________

_________Came to love New York__________

___________Hung out with Arja____________

_________Photographed PDT's Jim Meehan mixing cocktails__________

____________Traveled to sunny Miami____________

____Saw some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen ...driving up the coast of Florida_____

_________Got to spend time with Britney and her family in her home state__________

____________ Spent a day at the Pascagula river___________

______________Visited beautiful New Orleans___________

___________...where I met Mr Big ...in the amazing bar French 75_____________

_____Celebrated Christmas and New Years in New York (and became a big fan of instagram)_____

So all in all I would say it was a pretty good year... :)