Where in the world is Kim...?

I know, I know...it's been a while. And what have I been up to since I last posted? Well, I went to Madrid for a long weekend. Madrid was great--I have fallen in love with Valencian paella and jamón ibérico de bellota...I still dream of it...ooooh it was so good...:9 I think I will have to make another trip to Madrid soon...

I also moved from Vasastan to Frösunda. A lot of people thought I would not like living in Frösunda since it's not "in town". Apparently there is this assumption about me that I will melt or self-destruct if I don't live in a downtown area. I guess it's because almost everything I like is in town or because--until recently--all of my friends lived in town. Or maybe it's because they know that when I lived in the US I lived within walking distance of Center City in Philly and I lived in downtown Richmond.

What most people forget is that the majority of the time I've spent in Sweden has been spent living outside of Stockholm's downtown area. When I moved here in 1995, I lived in Norsborg. After a year, Tord and I moved to a sublet in Bagarmossen, and we loved it there. It was close enough to town (within 15 minutes you were at T-Centralen) and we had Nacka Nature Reserve just around the corner from our apartment. Our apartment in Bagarmossen was well-planned and was in a quiet area that was just a five-minute walk from the subway. We had three great years there and then the lease on our sublet was terminated. From 1999 to 2002 we lived in Storvreten in Tumba. In fact, we moved into our apartment a month before we got married. [By the way, my 10th wedding anniversary is on the 12th so feel free to send presents...;)] We didn't love Storvreten but it was nice until we started having problems with insane neighbors and crime. We were also tired of dealing with commuter train delays, falling on icy hills that were never sanded during the winter and having to spend oodles of money on taxis when we missed the last train home.

So it wasn't until May 2002 that we moved to Vasastan. We loved Vasastan--it had (and still does) everything we liked. The only thing Vasastan didn't have was a two-bedroom apartment we could afford. We settled for a one-bedroom that was fine initially. It was in a good location on Västmannagatan, had lovely crab apple trees in the garden and was in close proximity to my favorite cafés, my job and my friends. What it didn't have was closet space or a room where I could write. Eventually we decided we needed to move but we couldn't afford anything in Vasastan since the prices had skyrocketed to the point of insanity.

We decided to check out Frösunda, and we both fell in love with the area. We have a nice-sized 2-bedroom apartment with a large balcony and it's just a 5-minute walk from Hagaparken, which is quickly becoming my favorite place in Stockholm. And we have found a café called Sjöstugan (Thanks, Marti, for introducing me to this place when you had all of us writers at your house for a retreat!) where we love sitting outdoors in the shade of a lovely old tree while Brunnsviken's lapping waves lull us. They make yummy cinnamon buns...

So have I gone insane because I no longer live in town? Nope. On the contrary, I think I have become much calmer. And both Tord and I agree that we can see ourselves living here for a long time. We've even said that--should we ever decide that we need a new apartment--we want to find one here in Frösunda. So I think it's safe to say that we found our happy place.

But there is one thing that I will miss and that is New York Stories. Sadly, my favorite bookstore (owned by my friend Margaret) is closing. Today the shop is closing its doors for good. This saddens me because I know how much of Margaret's heart and soul went into the store. I know that those of us who were regulars mourn the closing of NYS but we wish Margaret well. And I have the feeling that sooner or later she'll have something new planned for us...at least, I hope she will. But I will miss sitting outside NYS during the summer and eating icecream, and I will miss taking care of the shop when Margaret had to go out of town or had something else planned. And I'll miss gossiping with Margaret across the counter. But I think we'll just move the gossiping to Caffé Como.

Where have you been, Kim?

Well, the answer to that question is very simple: I've been preparing to move.
In two weeks, Tord and I will be leaving Vasastan for Frösunda. A few weeks ago, we sold our two-room apartment for a good price. Preparing for the openh ouse was insane. Our real estate agent told us to remove as much clutter and personal items as possible--which sounds simple enough until you're actually in the midst of it and you feel like you're having a nervous breakdown.

It started off with getting rid of lots of old magazines and books I hadn't read in ages. That part was not so difficult. It didn't take longer than an hour and it was cathartic to send them to the recycling bin.

Then came step two: going through old clothing and letting go of things you know you'll never wear again but just can't seem to get rid of...somehow in the midst of this I lost one of my favorite ballerina flats--yes, I have one shoe left. I don't know where the other one is. This veered me off track for over an hour as I went through all the bags looking for the missing shoe. Did I find it? No. Do I think I'll find it once I've given up and thrown away the other shoe? Yes. Most likely.

While I was making a huge mess that eventually had to be cleaned up, Tord was trudging up and down the stairs to our storage unit in the attic. I don't know how many trips he made, but at one point he said,"I am NOT going back up there again..." I knew from the stern expression on his face not to press my luck.

Now while all of this was going on, I was also attempting to paint the hall white. When it was done, I wanted to cry. It's such a boring color--can you even really call white a color when it is so god-awful bland? Even now, a month later, I still walk into the hall and think, "Usch...white."

But even with all the sneezing from dust and sore muscles from lifting heavy boxes and grumbling about how all of this was the world's biggest pain in the ass, it's amazing how different our apartment looks. I would take a picture and post it if I knew where my digital camera was. It feels like a completely different place and I think the new owners will be very happy here.

And the great thing was that we didn't even have an open house--the couple who bought our apartment requested a private viewing and the deal was done within a matter of hours! This pleased me immensely. I wasn't looking forward to the open house and the usual crowd who turn up. I've been to enough open houses in Stockholm to know how little regard most people show for your furniture, etc when they're there. They cock their feet up on your coffee table, sit on the arm of your sofa, lounge around like they own your place and it annoys me. Granted, I am easily annoyed but bad behavior is not something I can stomach.

I will miss living in Vasastan--it's a fantastic place to be, but the real estate prices were just too high when we decided we wanted a larger apartment. But every time I go to my soon-to-be-home of Frösunda I get a good vibe from it. I think we'll be happy there and I can't wait to finally have a room where I can write...

And, by the way, I was too busy in November to even come close to finishing Nanowrimo. Maybe next time...