The Happiest Yellow

One of the happiest yellow colors I know is the color of postal trucks (and carts, and trains) in Sweden. Every time I see that "egg yolk stirred with sugar" shade, I get happy. Every time I see that



yellow truck or cart, I think, "something good is going to happen today. Something very good is coming my way." (See the long, yellow train in the picture?)
The building in the picture is called Tomteboda, and it's a mail sorting facility in Stockholm, Sweden. I just love how the morning sun is hitting the building in this picture, currently one of my favorite buildings to look at.
I don't know much about steam punk, but to me, this is a steam punk-sy building. It reminds me of an art exhibit by Shaun Tan that I saw very quickly last autumn

(it was during Culture Night and I did not know that the exhibit was on, hence only a super quick look).  The piece above is called "The Tuesday Afternoon Reading Group".

Look at the chimneys behind the portrait! I see two buildings, plus Tomteboda, that look almost like that on my train ride.

The happiest yellow, and a dog.

When the skies are gray, it helps to see the happiest of yellows, and to think, "something very good is coming my way soon". Give it a try.

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Day 13: Navigate

I've mentioned before that for me, the feeling of abundance is often tied to the feeling of mastery. "I'm good at this. I've got this. I did it." Today's tip is in that vein:

When you get directions to a place, don't forget to think about how you'll get back home. It isn't always as easy as simply turning around and going back the same way you came from. See the tunnel with four lanes above, where you need to make decisions about exits.

Side note for anyone who plans on driving through Stockholm: in my limited experience, it is almost always awesome. People are very courteous and let you merge, even when you realize you need to change lanes at the very last moment. I didn't get honked at once.

I have an extra tip for you today:

if you print out the directions, and after the trip, if you think there's even the slightest chance you'll need to drive to that place again, save the directions in the glove compartment of your car.

You might not remember half a year from now exactly which exit you needed to take, or you'll need to drive there when it's pitch black out and you can't see many landmarks, or your GPS, or the internet in your phone might not work properly. "Worst case" scenario, you'll have some scrap paper to write your grocery list on, or you'll be able to jot down a few ideas while stuck in the car with nothing else for entertainment.

Are you new here? I am so happy to see you! Here is the first post in this series, 31 Days to More Abundance.

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Early autumn inspiration from Stockholm

I have a treat for you - a few of the lovely things I saw in Stockholm yesterday:

Turns out the big Swedish department store Åhlens is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. There was a whole new label dedicated to the anniversary, including leather bags, wallets, boxes, and many other items. I really liked this vase with the eucalyptus branches. Isn't the color combination fantastic? The pink gold of the copper-plated lid (heavy and lovely) and the blue-green-grey coolness of the eucalyptus leaves - together, these colors are striking.
Side note:  If you are looking for one extremely photogenic plant/flower, eucalyptus is it.
On the next block of Drottninggatan, at H&M Home,  I was happiest about this -

H&M now have a whole line of candles in pretty colored glass jars that are unscented! I loved this pink one (the glass is pink, the actual candle inside is white). For some glitter, let's add in this -

a sequined pillowcase. And then, I loved these plush dove grey towels with the hexagon pattern. So cozy.

Another lovely discovery was a small designer store at the heart of Stockholm's Old Town. This is what caught my attention:

I first noticed this idea two summers ago at a boutique in Örebro (a city in "mid-Sweden") -

some wildflowers in a large glass jar. No "bouquet", just a few stems of wildflowers or grasses in a clear glass jar, with just a few inches of water.
Who would have thought that such a simple idea would be such a show-stopper? Simple, elegant, and absolutely stunning.
The wildflowers in glass jars that caught my attention on the side of the street in Gamla stan (Old Town) Stockholm turned out to be the storefront of

the shop and showroom of Happy sthlm, a design company founded by three Swedish artists.

Some happy mini purses in "I want to scoop you up and cuddle you, and play with you" happy prints.

"Applied arts", this is the first time I truly understood what this concept means.

Latviski - beidzot sapratu, ko īsti nozīmē temins "lietišķā māksla". Izrādās, ka lietišķā māksla ir skaista, praktiska, ikdienas, un izrādās, ka I love it. Es ceru, ka kāds kādreiz gūglēs "kas ir lietišķā māksla", nonāks pie šī ieraksta un, tāpat, kā es, atklās, ka īstenībā mēs jau sen zinam, kas tas ir.

Loved the "Autumn 2014" scrawled in pencil on the wall, below:

The green of the dill, and the dark chocolate-y reddish brown of the other grass, the maroon fabric in the background - I am so ready for autumn and all this beauty.

Note: This is not a sponsored post.

More of happy Stockholm moments here:
Stokholma vakar - about one of the most magical evenings I've had in Stockholm, ever (in Latvian)
Early Christmas inspiration from Stockholm - pictures from when I discovered, among other things, the design house Svenskt Tenn
Awesome - this one is about "What would a Viking do if he/she needed to leave their store for a while"

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