Oh how happy my desserts would be in an antique cupboard like this in our dining room. It would function as a buffet and it would be the center piece of the room. My guests would be served only Champagne (I go nuts for Champagne!) from simple, antique flutes together with the most decadent individual Pavlovas. Certain rooms in my home are definitely more modern, but I love my dining room old style with a lot of heart & warmth. (Also love the Magnolia branches in the gray vase. No need for masses of flowers).

I am so going to try to make my own Pavlovas (discs of meringue layered with organic whipped cream and fresh strawberries) this weekend.

I found the recipe (and these images,  from an old magazine) in Oprah At Home. Does this look heavenly or what? Here is the recipe.

And a little bit of history, folks:

Pavlova is a named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova. Colloquially referred to as “pav“, it is a cake of meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner. The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Where it was created and the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but research indicates New Zealand as the source.

I don’t blame them – I would fight hard for that dessert too!

Happy rest of the week, friends!

My terrific blog friend Laura with Laura Casey Interiors alerted me to today’s blog support driven by the lovely blog La Dolce Vita. The effort is to generate awareness in the blogsphere for a worthy cause  – the wonderful charity called Pencils of Promise – that seeks to help end our global education crisis. I am definitely lending my support and my voice to the initiative.

Did you know that in this world there are 75 million children without access to even the most basic education? Pencils of Promise seeks to end that statistic by partnering with local communities and organizations to build early education schools in developing nations for some of the world’s most impoverished and undereducated children.

Through collaborative efforts of sustainable development, Pencils of Promise works to place a pencil in the hands of every child with the hope that it will be the first step towards self empowerment and an elevated quality of life.

Last December, the Pencils of Promise team visited a small village in Laos and by July 2009, they had built a new school for the village children who started attending classes on September 1st. This month, Pencils of Promise will be opening their third school and they hope to open the doors to education for more children in 2010.

{The First Pencils of Promise Class Outside of their School}

The Blogger Collaborative Project will benefit the females students of Champet, a village in Laos that is home to the only high school in the area for surrounding villages. In order to attend this high school, the students must leave their families and homes to live in dormitories. These dormitories are worlds away from our Western boarding schools. These precious girls are living in unsafe dormitories which consists of make shift bamboo huts in order to get an education. 

The goal for Bloggers Taking Action today: To build safe, legitimate housing for the female children of Laos in order for them to have the opportunity to further their education. Currently, some parents are unwilling to send their kids to school because of how dangerous the bamboo dormitory huts are. This dormitory Pencils of Promise hopes to build will accommodate about 200 Laotian girls.   

What can you do to help?                                                                     

Many of us often forget the very important task of giving back to those less fortunate. In the spirit of this holiday giving season, I hope that you will consider giving back by donating to Pencils of Promise. The donations collected through our initiative will go towards building a dormitory & library for a high school in Laos, which is the only secondary school in the area.

The dormitory will house 200 high-potential girls currently living in bamboo huts in Champhet, Laos. We have the opportunity to make an enormous impact if each of us donated just $1. And if you’re able to give more it would be greatly appreciated. ($35 will buy bookshelves for a classroom, $50 provides pencils for on year, $100 will pay a teacher’s salary for three months and so on). 

You can donate via paypal here or via this link. Every little bit helps and together we can make a difference! If you would like to stay informed about the difference Pencils of Promise is making, be sure to become a fan on their Facebook page.

I made my donation today. And I hope you will do the same. Peace & love, Monika.

I am running around like a holiday stressed otter right now and on top of everything our amazing and precious boy, 2 year old William, fell down and broke his arm yesterday, with 2 bones more or less sticking out. Needless to say, I am a distraugt and emotional wreck and should probably just pull the covers over my head now when my lovebug William is happily sleeping away. 

But I have a few moments so for a little personal downtime I’ll share some gift ideas with my wonderful & loyal readers. I mean, Christmas is literally around the corner! So, here are some gift ideas for younger ones. I really don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. (More gift ideas will be coming for  “Her” and “Him). Cyber hugs to you all!

1. Robeez Skating Penguin (Limited edition), 2. Labyrinth, 3. Recycling truck, 4. Animal Croquet, 5. National Geographic Globe, 6. Mini American Girl Doll, 7. Girl Mouse in a Matchbox, 8. Wooden Parking Garage, 9. Jelly Cat, 10. Book “The Gift Of Nothing“, 11. Maileg Brother & Sister, 12. “Animals of the world” Floor Puzzle

You have heard me babble about a good table for my plants and orchids in the past. This image has been making its rounds in blog land but I simply can’t let go of it. Sigh! Let’s all go on a hunt for a perfect metal, industrial looking garden table, to bring inside for a unique plant display. So simple. So lovely. And the weathered pots too.

Via Apartment Therapy

Don’t forget this week’s giveaway! You can end up as a winner!

Hello dear blog friends. I hope you had a lovely weekend!

I want to share one of my favorite music CD’s with you. It was given to me by a friend many years ago, and it is still one of my favorite CDs. It is called Gling Glo and features a very young Bjork (yes the iconic rock artist) singing jazz tunes in Icelandic! I love it when I clean the house and I love it as party background music! It has all the ingredients: It is happy, upbeat, unpredictable (with Bjork’s special voice) and it is filled with just good music. In my humble opinion, this CD is truly fantastic!

(Funny, this is how I like to decorate too. Warm, inviting, classic with an unexpected modern twist!).

Take a listen! (Here’s one of the tunes from the album performed live)

Bjork – 1990

This CD was recorded in 1990, but you can still buy it on Amazon, among other places.

…everywhere I look around…

Photos: Flickr – “Wanderlust”

… and I am drooling over all the lovely things that I have come across that will keep me warm & very content while the air is getting crisper and the days much shorter. Imagine me whistling when I am putting together the list of some of my fall FAVES!

Fall = boots! ! A lady needs a nice pair of boots! How about these lovelies from Coclico.

Image via the lovely blog Bliss

I also like these from Cole Haan.

I have a real crush on these boots from Italian Fiorentini & Baker. I can’t obtain a good image, so go to Barney’s if you want to take a real good look. (Check out the image with the cool zipper!)

It won’t keep me warm – but very happy! – this lovely leather and silver bracelet called Jumbo from Hermes. Simple. elegant equestrian.  Not cheap. But I am a hard worker – so, yes, please!

This sweater from Nordstrom would keep me both warm & purring!

And of course anything from Swedish Odd Molly will do. I was a lucky owner of this cardigan below (in a different color) but it magically disappeared from the back of my chair at a fancy bistro… I am still mourning it and am determined to  get a new one. ( I know that Mint Julep, among others, sells them).

This gray dress from Odd Molly together with boots. It would make me pretty happy!

I bought this scarf from the Etsy store Karlita last year. People went nuts over it. It is still one of my favorite scarves.  It looks so good with jeans and a simple shirt or sweater.

I am eyeing this one in rust for fall.

My husband can’t stand strong artificial scents. (What is wrong with him anyway?!!) So, when he is on business trips it is my chance to indulge! I love the elegant Mandarin Tea collection from Aquiesse. Their soy based candles are handmade in the US.

Fall = curled up in a cozy chair right next to the fire place reading a really good book. A nice throw is then a must! I love this one from Swedish Inredning Etc. It is a high quality wool throw made on Gotland, my favorite Swedish island. (The store ships internationally). Let me know if you need any help with the Swedish language.

Also from Inredning Etc are these adorable baby slippers! What a cute gift! (And they are not too expensive).

With my good book and throw I also need a great cup for my green tea. This one from Dean & DeLuca in NY can move in with me anytime.

I recently ran across this tea infuser from the MOMA store in NY. Very slick!

Sheep skins have been on my mind a lot lately. They are warm, cozy, and make so many of the minimalistic chairs so much more comfortable and inviting. (How lovely during cold winter months).  I am saving up for a whole bunch. And I will only get them from my lovely Gotland where sheep farming is a key industry.

Photo: Stellan Herner for Elle Interiör. Stylist: Tina Hellberg.

Photo: Flickr – Scott Dungan

Now I am ready for fall! Are you?

Hello. I’ve missed you this past week. Last minute we scooped up the kids and headed to wonderful Bandon Oregon were we spent a week of quality time with close family. The computer Gods decided to not be on my side but in a way I am glad because I got more time to dive in sand dunes and fly kites!

On our way home I had plenty of time to browse through the new Ikea catalog. Here are a few things that caught my eye: (I am most definitely getting the gray Orchid pots this week!)

1. Alvine Flora Pillow. (Check out the latest design with yellow, black and gray flowers – not shown here). $24.99.

2. Drömmar. Horse-shaped (Swedish national symbol. A must for true Swedes!) baking tins. $6.99/set of 2.

3. Mandel plant pot. $4.99/set (pot + saucer).

4. Spraka. Spice mill. $19.99.

5. Engan chest with 2 drawers. $99.99.

6. Gunilla fabric. (Hello girlfriend Gunilla!).  How lovely this fabric would be together with white! $7.99/yards.

Dear readers, I am so hoping that your summer – wherever you are in the world – is off to a great start!I am taking a few weeks off myself and intend to do nothing but to smell the roses, pick berries, listen to the bull frogs, wiggle my toes and just be with my wonderful family & friends! I will be back on August 1st! Stay safe & happy!

Images from Flickr. (Sigurdhsson, NorthofSweden).

I just wanted to tell you that Desire to Inspire, my every-morning-must-read-design-blog-when-I-drink-my-cup-of-tea, mentioned Splendid Willow in one of their recent posts. See here.

I feel very honored to be recognized by this talented and professional blog duo. I have so much respect for their work and their good design eyes.  You have heard me mention them before but in case you have forgotten, bookmark them here.

Coming up! Mother’s Day in the US on Sunday May 10th.

People who know me well know that I am more into giving things than receiving. But for Mother’s day even I would accept a little thing as long as it is simple, preferably handmade and/or Swedish! Here are a few splendid things to give (or get!) for Mother’s day: