Catching up - part 2

The flag of Sapmi

Straight after the opening night I went even further north to Kiruna and into the heart of Sapmi.



The beauty of this region is breathtaking! I came late September and knew that autumn was on its way out...



And sure enough soon the country was covered with snow... The little fury thing on the left side of the road is Neo :)



But as we say up here in Scandinavia, there is no bad weather only bad clothes !



Actually winter here in Sweden on the whole has been colder than it has been for decades. One can´t help thinking ... global warming?



A glorious day in Kiruna or as its called by the Sami people Giron.



I was working on a newly written play about young Sami peoples quest for identity. Its a challenge to live a traditional Sami life in Sweden. And historically we have behaved as badly towards them as the Americans to the Native Indians or the Australians to the Aborigines... I knew this from my previous play that I directed at the theatre. But this time around, due to the material, my information and knowledge deepened.



The cast were great and even though the play deals with many painful things, such as suicide
( many young Sami men commit suicide ), the injustices of the Swedish authorities over hunting and fishing rights and the struggle to continue the tradition of keeping reindeers, we wanted the play to be fun and inviting.



And I dare say we succeeded. Much due to the talents of my amazing choreographer Ola Stinnerbom.



Due to a string of reasons we did this show in NO time at all. Which meant working to one in the morning sometimes. The pressure was enormous as the play was already being much talked about in the community and not always in a positive way... What was the play about? How would it depict the Sami people? Should one really talk about things like this? Having Ola at my side was such an immense support.



And he was the one that saw that we all relaxed a little too! :)



And then it was ... showtime! The head of the theatre gets involved with the audience.



The opening night went well and the play has been well received and sparked great conversations through out the community. I couldn´t be happier! I have come to love Sapmi and have a deep respect for the Sami people. May they one day be truly recognised and acknowledged.

One of Sapmis biggest stars is Sofia Jannok. This song was the one we kept playing over and over during rehearsals :)

Catching up - Part 1

Dear vintage lovers, my life has been on high speed since August, its been quite hectic, although very pleasant too. But even has have been scurrying from one place to another I kept thinking "I have to blog about this! And this!".

So, having directed two shows, had a quick trip to Ghana (...) and moved to a new town... it´s taken me sometime to get back to my blog. But now I´m finally back ! :) And I´m looking forward to catching up with all you out in cyberspace too!

The picture above is my little "Mad Men" suit I bought at my favourite vintage shop when I was in Sundsvall directing Färdknäpp/One for the road by Willy Russell. The shop had so many lovely things ( I´ve posted som things previously ) and I dare say I bought them all... :)

One of my finds was an amazing 1940s coat with a Persian lambs trimming. Or so I thought... I left the coat to the dry cleaners and this is what it came back looking like!!! It turned out it was fake Persian fur and the chemicals totally dissolved the glue...




I was in a total state of disbelief ! But the a-m-a-z-i-n-g seamstresses at the theater took care of me and my shell shocked vintage coat in a jiffy.



First we took all the "rasta-threads off" and discarded them.



Then they helped patch up some holes with some very clever material that you just ironed on.



Then they steamed it.



Gave it a brush...



And voila! The weeks I spent in Sundsvall were very happy. As I spent my free time in the vintage store and working with a talented and very funny cast. Which was a blessing since we were doing a comedy.. ;)



This is our poster. I had sooo much fun. I laughed (hard!) every day!



The show´s been quite a hit! :)



Which is very satisfying considering all the hard work that goes into making a performance.




We opened in a small town hall and the whole village came to watch!



This is my set designer and my dear Danish friend Kirsten!



Our opening night party was at this unforgettable restaurant where time had sort of just ... stopped. The whole house was just filled with old pieces of china, silver and different artifacts. The first twenty minutes I just stared and stared and "ooed" and "aaed" :)



The evening was absolutely wonderful!

Its been too long ...

Dear Vintage Lovers! Due to my job ( I'm directing) there has been so little time to write and yet I have longed to get back into the blog world!

I want to begin by saying a heartfelt THANK YOU! to all of you who wished me well on my blog-a-versary (thanks for the word invention Miss Kristiansen from The Rockabilly Girl next Door!) as well as my birthday!

The picture is from my girls-night-out when we celebrated my birthday. We started out at a fabulous restaurant called Cloud Nine that has this amazing 1920s/1930s "dessert room" which the opened especially pour moi! ;)


I had the ladies dress up for the event and did they ever! From left to right Katarina, me Rebecka ( my soul pal!) and Gunilla. Later Anna also joined us.

We drank Mai Tai´s and chatted away!

At one point it poured down outside, but little did we care! :)

I was wearing my lovely red-and-gold evening dress (that I bought from a dry cleaners were it was on sale... ), my ever so lovely Billyesque flower arrangement from my blog pal Frollein von Sofa and new cream opera gloves.

I had so much fun!

After that we went to this amazing restaurant Le Rouge were we had some superb food!

Isn't the setting just deliciously "boudoir" ! ;)

Gunilla and Anna.

Katarina and Rebecka. It was truly a great night! Well ... almost... We ended up in a club hoping to see some dazzling burlesque, but unfortunately it was more happy amateurs... Not that theres anything wrong with that. We were just aiming a little higher... Ah, well...

The city were I'm working right now is in the northern part f Sweden and there Ive found this little inconspicuous shop that sells secondhand and vintage. And the vintage things they have!!! I'm sooo happy about it that I almost go everyday. This suitcase (brand new!) and this beauty box is one of many finds.

I mean look at it, its never been used! But Ive decided only to use it for minor train trips. Once in the airport cargo it would just be spoiled... As I said in a previous post ; I intend to travel in style as much as possible! :)

And thats why this gift from my friend, this delightful little shoe bag, was much appreciated!

It was so cute ( and practical!) that I in fact went out and bought 3 more! I use them all the time.

Before I left Paris, my auntie gave me this...

Its for keeping your stockings in! And there were still unused stockings from the 1960s inside :)

Apart from the beauty box I also bought this hand bag that I have carried with me everywhere for the last 3 weeks - I just love it!

My new favourite scent (after years and years of Obsession, which is still my signature scent :) Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood - d-i-v-i-n-e !! Last but not least...

Those of you yet not familiar with the talents of Frollein von Sofa go to her blog and be prepared to get blown away by her talent and amazing creative hats! I want this one! :)

Look at the tiny curls!

A brides hat.

A true piece of "eye candy" ! ;)

Isn't this just the elegant hat one needs to put a smile on peoples faces!

Now to something completely different...

This book is like a virus in my heart... I think and talk about it a lot... Its a really, really great book and a story that will suck you into a modern day Dickensian fable that also happens to be a true story. Read it! :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Today (17th of August) I turn 46 - Hooray for me, still standing strong!

May this year allow me to move closer to fulfilling my dreams and aspirations of building a cultural centre in Ghana!

Dear vintage lovers, I know I´m behind in responding to your great comments and visiting those fabulous blogs of yours... My only excuse is that I´ve just recently started a new directing job (a comedy) and its taking all my time! I soo long to go "blog knocking" on all of your doors!

My b-day present to myself :

A weekend pass to the Stockholm Burlesque Festival!

Indigo Blue is coming!

And world famous *BOB*!

And there´s going to be workshops and gala performances and cocktail mingling and I am simply going to have a ball! :)

Celebrating !

I just realised that tomorrow I have been blogging for 1 year and 1 month! Who would have thought it - not me! :)



I´m celebrating with these beautiful vintage images of women of colour (so rare to find!!) that I found on Flicker. For more amazing photos of black women during 160 years please check out "Black Women" !

I just love this photo of this elegant, confident young lady in the 1940s!