Hair woes

There are some pretty strange and/or terrible symptoms of being pregnant: being constantly dead-tired, having your gums bleed, bloating so bad you look like you swallowed a Thanksgiving turkey even in the first month or two, wanting to throw up when you look at things like onions.

Another I've had is my hair has gotten really CURLY! I've always had a little wave, but my hair has gotten this weird kinky curl thing going on, and I just don't know how to deal with it! I hate blow-dryers. I don't like products. I have no artistic vision. Some women can and do it well...I suck at hair.

I have had bad experiences getting my hair cut in Stockholm. It's expensive for nearly all salons. I've tried those on the cheaper end since I don't think it is worth $60+ for my 1 cm trim, but I have never liked what I walked out with. Once, my hair was a half inch longer on one side of my head. Another time, she didn't even wash it...she just sprayed it with water, which she got all over my face, and then it didn't even look like I got it cut.

Part of that, I think, has to do with the fact that the stylists in a lot of these lower-end places are not actually Swedish, and as immigrants, many speak pretty terrible English. I realize how that sounds...I live in Sweden, I don't expect everyone to cater to my English. But when you are getting your hair cut and they don't understand my mime act to describe 'layers' (much less the word itself!), communication is pretty darn important! And then you spend the next 30 minutes in complete silence as they spritz & clip.

The last place I went to a few months ago was much nicer & pricier, and the guy gave me a a scalp massage and spent a lot of time and care to cut my hair. I walked out with a flat-ironed blunt cut...it looked really good. For 2 or 3 days. Until I washed it. You can't blunt-cut wavy hair! I've been cone-shaped for weeks now.

So now it is *curly*. I have desperately needed a trim or something, but I decided to go with the opposite end. There is a hair school 2 blocks from our place, and it is always packed! They only charge 120kr for a wash & cut ($18) and the stylists are young, hip, and Swedish. I actually had a great experience. When she wasn't quite sure when I was describing the shape of the layers I wanted, she got a book of images! When in doubt, look at pictures. But her English was perfect, so we ended up chatting the entire time...it was almost like I was in a different country. And granted, it took longer than it needed to, so by the end of the hour and a half, I was *starving,* but totally worth it to not have a weird-shaped head for the foreseeable future.

But man, I hope these curls go away after this baby is born.  

Stockholm Guide

We didn't come up with this, but its a good one, especially for the design-inclined. The most recent DesignSponge city guide is for Stockholm!

illustration by julia rothman

It's very thorough, and I was both happy to see a lot of places we love made the list, as did some that we had never heard of (For example, this awesome-looking chocolatier just down the street from us!) And nice little Fotografiska shout-out.

Stu & I leave for DC ungodly early tomorrow (why did I book a 7am flight out of Arlanda?!?) We'll be back the first week of July for a whopping 5 days, then off to Edinburgh & surrounding Scotland for a week, followed by a week in southern Germany with Stu's mama. We'll be back for all of August (except for a short stint for me in Paris, woohoo!) so we'll have lots to discover with this D*S guide!

I am not skanky enough for Stockholm

That is what I have decided, anyway, as I am standing here doing lunges in my black stretch pants that, after the Christmas carb overload, don't seem to stretch enough to avoid pantylines and a muffin-top. Like I mentioned, we were invited to a New Years party with a bunch of Swedes we don't know. Because we are poor students, we didn't buy new outfits for a party with strangers, and I am digging through my piles of already-owned clothes trying to find something to impress said strangers.

You know how Halloween is really just an excuse for girls to dress up like skanks, Mean Girls style? I really think NYE is kind of the same thing. But Swedes in general dress in, uh, less than I do (or most sane people do when its -8c outside!!) Stu has some Swedish classmates that only seem to have spandex mini-dresses and super high heels in their closets. They pull it off, for sure, but it leaves the curvier of the species (like me) feeling like an old married woman because I really, really like wearing jeans and keens, and would feel like an idiot wearing anything spandex. Don't worry, they aren't pleated jeans (yet.)

And I don't seem to have anything in my fake closets even close to New-Years-skank enough. What did I wear the last several New Years Eves? Granted, we have spent the last few at our friend Dan's penthouse parties with a gaggle of gay guys who don't care whether I wore a parka or a swimsuit, so maybe that's why? Maybe there was no pressure? These are STRANGERS, so I am not sure why I feel any pressure now.

So I am doing squats and lunges to get these pants to loosen up a bit. And I have to find something low-cut enough that I won't freeze in. Preferably sparkly. Pictures later, if I manage to pull off "Stockholm skank" successfully.

What are you guys doing for New Years? More importantly, what are you wearing?!?

Hootchy Kootchy and midget burlesque

Our first burlesque show in Stockholm.  Stu and I used to go to burley-q shows fairly often in the US. Like yoga classes, we'd try to go to burlesque shows whenever we were in a new city.  We just hadn't jumped on any of the few opportunities since being in Stockholm until last night, when we went with our Finnish friends.

It wasn't cheap at 180:- a pop ($26) at the Kägelbanen back bar at the beautiful Södra Teatern.   We had missed a show last month with a Vegas theme, but this one was "A Family Affair." I guess they were channeling the Addams Family. The poster was kind of creepy...

The show started about midnight. It ended at 12:45. Seriously, the most expensive and shortest burlesque show I have ever been to.  But not without merit. The MC didn't overstay his welcome, and the acts were pretty tight...we have seen some disasterous burlesque shows, and this was surprisingly well-run!  Its the Swedish way.

There was a pregnant burlesque dancer.  Yes, like in her third trimester, with a very pregnant belly in a sheer pink body suit.  And there was a little person burlesque dancer. I am not kidding. Her second act was to be wheeled out in a baby stroller and then kick her blankets off so she was wearing some red sequined two-piece number.  Very interesting.  I think.  And there was a plus-sized burlesque dancer who probably had the best act of the night, bathing in a giant champagne glass while singing Chicago showtunes.

But better perhaps than the show was the scene at Kägelbanen. We have seen more fun, more interesting burlesque acts, but we have never seen the audience get SO into it (we even went to the New York Burlesque festival and didn't see nearly as many people dressed up.)

There was over-the-top make up, pin curls, and fishnets. There were men in goth, men in tuxedos, men in drag. There were women in goth, women in ballgowns, women in drag.  There were women in their underwear, and women obviously WITHOUT any underwear.  It was insane...I loved it! It was worth going solely to see how Stockholmers pull out all the stops as an audience.  I wish I had brought a camera. I really, really wish I had brought a camera.