Fyra fina faktiskt.

Sweet thing Malin forwarded me a little list of four times four questions. Here are my answers:



Four things I’ve done today

+ Chatted with my mom about the best pumpkin pie recipe
+ Stood on my tippy toes to smell the secret smell behind my beloved’s right ear
+ Been laying on our new couch looking out at the sky, which was the exact same gray as the couch
+ Had three cups of tea and three cups of coffee and one cup of Greek yoghurt with honey on top



Four things I long for

+ Going to Fårö, smelling the fall there and the salt in the air and bahing along with the sheep
+ Taking long road trips, bringing coffee and chocolate chip cookies in a basket, driving through nothingness with 90’s pop blasting from the car speakers
+ Having our moving in party with freshly baked Lucia buns, glasses of cold milk and all my friends
+ For a secret project I’m working on to finally, finally go through



Four TV-shows I’m watching

+ Project Runway, go Mondo!
+ Veckans Kanin (Kristofer’s TV show)
+ Gossip Girl, and I already miss Little J...
+ Lite sällskap, the best Swedish reality show right now



Four things I dislike

+ People who doesn’t believe that others can change
+ Customers that are rude or mean to sales clerks
+ Old people that are all alone because their children and grand children don’t care about them enough
+ People that are always set on failure, yours as well as their own



Four people I would like to see answer these questions next

+ Sylvia
+ Lavelle
+ Hannah and Landon
+ Moa

xox

Emily

P.S. All photos are, of course, by me. Now I'm off to a release party, and I bid you all a good night! Love. D.S.

Mina himlar.

Darling Lavelle of Kisses and Cross Stitches asked me if I could blog a little about our new apartment, and show you guys my new home. And I will! As soon as we've bought a new couch (we sold our old one this past weekend) and the place no longer resembles a construction sight due to all the heavy machinery that is, literally, everywhere. Until then, I'll show you what the evening sky looks like outside my window on most nights. ;)

xox

Emily

När man var liten föll man jämt, men nu skare va så jävla hemskt.

ABOUT ME
Eye color: Blue, grey or turqoise. I seems to depend on the light around me.
Hair color: Honey blond, sort of.
Right-handed or left-handed: Right-handed.
Signe: Aries.
Bad habit: I exaggerate too much.
Good habit: I’m a really good secret-keeper.




FAVORITE
Color: Petrol blue and red, at the moment.
Candy: Salt liquorice and milk chocolate.
Holiday: Halloween, hands down! This year I wanna dress up like Poison Ivy.
Season: Summer.
Food: Tapas and everything with melty cheese.
Band: Johnossi or Belle and Sebastian, probably. But I could never choose.
Day of the week: Friday, the day of hope and anticipation.



WHERE I AM
Outside my window: The sky, the sun, the Fall.
The music I’m playing: Magnetic Fields “Kiss me like you mean it”.
I’m wearing: black slacks, black see-through polkadot blouse with bow, camel brouges.



HAVE I EVER
Kissed a stranger: Oh yes, I’ve won a kissing competition.
Broken the law: Yes, well, it’s hard not to.
Been on TV: Yep. I was three or four when I made my TV debut.
Shoplifted: No, I wouldn’t dare.
Fulfilled a dream: Luckily, I have, and hopefully I’ll get more wishes.
Hurt somebody: It’s inevitable sometimes, I think. I wish it wasn’t.
Been hurt in return: Many times. That’s inevitable too.




RIGHT NOW
Mood: Nostalgic, the Fall always makes me remember things.
Time: 10:52.
Lipstick: Ruby Woo.
Plan: To go to the University Library to find books for my Bachelor's essay on fashion photography and the recession.



xox

Emily

Jag älskar dig från botten av mitt pennskrin.

It all happened during a time when everything felt like it was possible. All nights were bright and heavy with stars, all days spent aimlessly wandering through the streets. The fall of 2008 was exhilarating and full of adventures, and when Kristofer came along, to me he was perfect.

I had had a crush on Kristofer for a while, a secret, giggly school girl crush. But also, an intellectual wow-he-thinks-exactly-like-I-do kind of crush. He wrote one of Sweden’s most popular blogs and I thought he was the most amazing person.
At the same time I was very shy, so instead of sending him an email, I added him on Facebook. A couple of weeks later, when we were the only people online, I took my chance and opened up the chat window and wrote a message for him. For a second I pondered how mortified I would feel if he’d ignore me, or worse; if he turned out to be nothing like I thought. Then he answered, and we started talking. We talked and talked, writing with such speed that neither of us noticed the hours passing by. We wrote about our favorite music, books and dreams and he told me that he had read my blog before and that he liked it.

The next day he had sent me an email, starting a correspondence between us that would involve three or four long letters every day for almost two weeks. When I finally worked up the courage to ask him out for an actual date, I was kind of in love with him already.

We met on one of the coldest autumn evenings of 2008, and walked over to my favorite bar. Kristofer wore a black coat and looked like something out of an Anton Corbijn photo. I thought he was so very handsome. Later that night we walked to my apartment to mix hideous rum drinks and play our favorite music for each other on my laptop. That’s when he finally leant in to kiss me, and everything just became so right.

xox

Emily

Smink.

Readers have been asking for a make up turtorial from me for a while now. I haven't had time until now, but here it is. I love make up, and actually planned for a long time (before I discovered photography) to become a make up and special effects artist. I still usually do my friends' make up as well as my own when we go out, because I love doing it (and I guess they like to be pampered, haha). Anyways, here's a tutorial for my everyday make up, I hope you like it:


Step one. Start with a clean face! I seldom use any products apart from make up on my face, but if anything I love the Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch primer.


Step two. Apply foundation, and concealer if necessary. I use Nivea Beauty Lift foundation because it's more like a tinted moisturizer, which is perfect for my fine skin. I put concealer underneath my eyes and dab a tiny bit around my nose. For concealer I use Make Up Store's Cover All Mix. And then I color in my eyebrows a little with some crappy pencil from H&M, he he.


Step three. Apply blush and eyeshadow. I usually smile and then apply the blush to the "apple" of the cheek (I use Fresh Rose blush from Make Up Store). Then I put on some eyeshadow in a muted brownish color (any old eyeshadow will do here, right now I'm using the compact eyeshadow Dress 2 Impress by H&M). Start applying the shadow from the outer corner of the eye and smudge it over half the eyelid.


Step four. Now here's the tricky part; eyeliner. I use liquid eyeliner when I want to be quick, but I prefer cake eyeliner. In the photo I'm using Loreal Super Liner Carbon Gloss, which is the only liquid eyeliner I like because it has a super fine pencil brush. Okay, so start by applying eyeliner from the inner corner of the eye with small, dabbing movements. Eeverybody has their way to wear eyeliner, I like mine to be thicker at the outer corner of the eye, because it's very 50's.


The reslut should be something like this!


Step five. Apply mascara and lip color. The mascara I use is called Extra Volume Collagen and is from Loreal, but really all I ask from a mascara is that it doesn't end up underneath my eyes. On the days when I don't use my red lipstick I just dab some rouge on my lips.


And there we are!

Any questions?

xox

Emily

Fråga&Svar.

Thank you all for your interesting questions, this was very fun, but hard. Here are my answers:

+ What my life motto is. Well, I actually have two. The first one is “it will all work out”, which I say pretty much all the time. It’s partly because I do believe that no problem is too big to solve (or work around, hehe), but it’s also because I think that thing mostly work out for the best. The second one is to try to drift aimlessly, as often as possible. What I mean is that I, and, I think, people in general should cut them self some slack and just try to be sometimes. To just take a book, maybe some coffee, and walk aimlessly through town by your-self is such a great feeling.

+ How old I am. I'm 24, but the romantic/emotional/cocky/insecure/irrational little girl inside of me will always be 17, I think.

+ Where I grew up. Well, I’m a southern belle really. :) I grew up in a small town called Växjö in the South of Sweden and I was 19 when I moved away from there. I will always love my hometown because it’s where I grew up, but Stockholm will always be my home. Until I move to NY, that is. ;)

+ What level of literature studies I’m in. Right now I’m writing my graduate paper for Literature studies II. I think everybody should study this subject at least one semester, because even if you might not plan to become a publisher or whatever, it’s so incredibly educating! I don’t plan on continuing to study this however, since I’m going back to studying Fashion studies this fall.

+ What I want to be when I grow up. My goal is to be a successful fashion photographer, and I would also love to be able to work with Kristofer (in my dream we live in a small cottage on Fårö, he writes long articles for luxurious magazines and I take artsy photos to go along with them). In the end I plan on creating my own agency concentrating on fashion photography. Oh, one day…

+ Who my favorite poet is. I really couldn’t choose. But if I have to say just one, I’d say Johannes Anyuru, because his poetry is like love and violence and concrete and salt mixed together. And also Håkan Hellström (to me he is more poet than singer).

+ How I succeeded in ensnaring Kristofer. Hi hi, this is a funny question because I really did do just that! But I think this story deserves its own blog entry, so I’m going to tell you all about it soon. What I can say now, though, is that he was my blog crush and that I was his, and that’s the short version of how we met. ;)

+ What I dream about in life. My ultimate dream is to live in a loft in New York with Kristofer. I would take over after Grace Coddington at Vogue, but also shooting the editorials as well as styling them. Kristofer would write his next book and the walls in our apartment would be covered with books, there would be stacks of old Vogues in every corner and everyday would include a big breakfast and a walk along Lafayette Street.

+ What my education is. Well, I studied photography for three years in upper secondary school. Other than that I’m a self-taught photographer. After that I spent one year at an art school here in Stockholm. Then I went on to study Fashion studies at Stockholm University, where I now study Literature studies. This fall I’m going to take my bachelor in Fashion studies, and then maybe a Master as well.

+ What my biggest inspiration is. I’m inspired by so many things! Whenever I get this question I always forget to mention at least ten things, but here are some of them in no particular order: music with amazing lyrics (like Why or Håkan Hellström for example), literature (especially books from my childhood and teens), fashion and the idea of fashion, my friends, Stockholm, amazing views, movies, 20’s to 50’s-aestetics, New York, my boyfriend, poetry, memories, words.

+ What other things I like to do other than photography. Well, I love to drift/walk aimlessly, but this you already know. I love to read, I read a lot! Also, I draw a lot, and paint, but I’ve always preferred photography because it’s so much quicker. : ) And I hang out with my friends of course, the best friends a girl could have. When Kristofer is free I love going on adventures with his.

+ Which color I used when I dyed me hair the first time, when it was a lighter red. I dye my hair at a salon, but I do know the brand my hairdresser uses is Loréal.

+ What music I listen to. Oh my, this is a though one. Northern soul, country and Swedish hip hop mostly. But I love indie as well, like Belle and Sebastian, Markus Krunegård, She&Him, Vampire Weekend, Florence Valentine and so so many others. I love music with lyrics that means something to me.

+ What camera I use and how I achieve the colors in my photos. I use a Canon 400D and a Diana Mini. When I process my photos in Photoshop I do a lot of different things depending on the look and feel I’m after, but usually I work with Levels and Layers, Photo filter and Hue/Saturation, among other things.

+ Where I buy most of my clothes. H&M, for sure! My wardrobe is a big happy mix of clothes from H&M, Topshop and thrift/vintage shops.

+ What my real hair color is. My real hair color is a honey blond, with a lot of gold in it. I personally don’t think it suits me very well.

+ What size clothes I am. I’m a Swedish 34-36, it depends on the store. In UK size I’m a 6-8.

+ If I ever wear jeans. No, I guess I don’t. I don’t like wearing pants at all (except for shorts, love them shorts!), but I do I wear slacks. I own one pair of jeans, which I bought in 7th grade. I love them, and still wear them as shorts, but other than that I don’t even own a pair of jeans. I prefer dresses and skirts because they’re less constricting and easier to style, I think.

Oh, gosh, it's so difficult to write simple answers! But this was fun, we'll do it again sometime. Now I have to hurry, I'm meeting Stina for beer at my favorite mountain. What are you guys up to tonight?

Later darlings!

xox

Emily

I've been asked to give another book tip. I haven't read a book of my own choosing for about a month, there's no time for that when you study Literary Science, and I really really miss that. Today in done though, so now I'm gonna splurge in all the books I've been keeping on my waiting list. Anyway, here's my lastet list for you guys:

Emily's Top Five January-Sucks-So-Lets-Stay-Inside-Books:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Contemporary fantasy about travelling America to find the American gods.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. An epic family portrait mixed with the story of it's youngest girl and the mystery surrounding her.

Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. The devil comes to 19th century Moscow and the result is the greatest love story I know.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I love this book for so many reason, I can't give them all here. But the language, the composition and the story of Humbert Humbert and his forbidden love are a few of them.

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk. America is hit by a wave of rabies disease and there's only one person to blame.

xox

Emily

A couple of days ago a reader asked me if I could compile a list of my favorite books. Now, I could never actually choose my top books, because I love books too darn much. But what I have done is I've made a list of my top five christmas holiday books. You know, the ones you read in bed with a cup of tea in the morning hoping people will think you're still asleep and leave you alone for another couple of hours? Here they are!

Emily's Top Five Christmas Holiday Books (to read in bed):

The Sopranos by Alan Warner. A group of out-of-control catholic schoolgirls go to the big city to compete in a choir competition. But instead of rehearsing they drink shooters, pick up boys and come out of the closet (all in one day).

The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas. The bookish heroin discovers a way to travel through another dimension of the mind. This book is a little slow in the beginning but after that it becomes really addictive.

The Collector by John Fowles. A lonely misfit butterfly collector kidnaps a young girl and keeps her captive in his basement, waiting for the day when she will start to love him back.

The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. This book has everything: a cool redhead, a pet bear, 1950’s Vienna and one of the best love stories I’ve ever read. It’s one of those books your try to read really slowly just to make it last longer.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Murder, a secret society and a boarding school. What more can you really ask for? Seriously.

xox

Emily