I can finally breathe!

I started a norskkurs at Rosenhof on the 26th.  That same day I found out we would have a test over chapters 6-10 on the 4th (today.)

Uh oh.

I had been going to a free course run by a local church but we didn't really go over any grammar, just reading out dialogues and occasionally translating a few words.  It was a terrible class and we had only "studied" up to chapter 4.

So, I had to teach myself six chapters, two verb forms, adjective agreement (et pent skjerf), pronouns, and hundred of vocabulary words.  I have spent the last two weeks drinking coffee (which I never drink) with my nose in a textbook.  Dinners have been lackluster, knitting projects growing dusty, and a husband somewhat neglected.

But I can breathe now!  It's done!  I have to wait until Wednesday for my results but I'm pretty sure I did well enough to continue the course.  As soon as I finished I know of two major errors I made (death to irregular verbs!) but I'm pretty sure I selected preteritum or perfektum appropriately in the essay.

Tonight I will curl up on the sofa with my wonderful husband and relax.  I will not study at all until Wednesday night!

Good news!

I'm finally legal!  After being unemployed for six months (one to visit relatives, one before getting married, and four waiting for UDI to approve) I am allowed to find work, go to a doctor, and most importantly, sign up for a language class!  I visited the Oslo Voksenopplæring office on Monday to get placed and I think I passed to level A2!  I applied to take courses 3 or 4 days per week, which should be a pretty intense courseload but I can do it.  I mean, I studied two languages in college at the same time (French and Japanese) so I think I should be able to handle 12-16 hours a week of just one.

I've also started babysitting!  It's not glamourous or exciting but it's really nice to have some pocket money and not have to ask my husband to buy my hairspray or the occasional Walter's Mandler (when it's onsale, like it is at Meny right now.)

Please keep your fingers crossed that I will get into a language class soon!

All over the place!

My computer's power cord broke.  After two weeks of using my husband's computer I'm still not used to it.  I'm always typing "itæs" instead of "it's" thanks to three new letters of the alphabet.  Ja ja, a new cord is in the mail and then I can check all of my favorite bookmarks and not have to sign out of my email anymore.

I also started a norskkurs yesterday!  It's only once a week for an hour and a half but itæs it's free aside from purchasing the workbook. (I found the book as a free pdf online a while back.  I told the teacher it was a photocopy, hee hee!)  We're going through very simple basics that I already know most of but I still learned a bit and the practice is wonderful.

Today, my husband left his lunch at home so I took the t-bane to his workplace to make sure he gets fed.  I walked the long way home by stopping through the bookfestival on Karl Johan (it wasn't quite open at 10) and then noticed a farmer's market near Aker Brygge.  If only payday had been yesterday, I would have stocked up on homemade meats and cheeses and juices.  When I lived in New York, I would have to walk through the Union Square Greenmarket to get to work and it turned me into someone who can't ever pass up a farmer's market without at least walking through.

I think it's time to get some homework done (YAY!)

knit knit knit!

Stitch and Bitch is back on!  I am so happy that, even though I left the boring facebook group, I was invited to join the new (and secret!) stitch and bitch one!  Now if only I can convince my husband to give me 40kr for some pecan pie.   Cafe Fedora's is amazing!

Bummer :(

Got some rather disappointing news today.  Looks like I'm going to have to wait at least another six months before my residence permit is approved.  That means no work, no language class, no health care until then. My church is having a free weekly language class, which should help but I'm not expecting much from it, aside from learning liturgical Norwegian.
And then, in my malaise, quit a facebook group that had been my only social outlet here.  It might have been foolish, but I can only read about strangers' kids and their fear of vaccines causing autism (ugh.)  I did a four course graduate certificate program focusing on autism when I worked with preschoolers on the spectrum so people expounding on pseudoscience and lies makes me pretty angry.

But, I started a new scarf for winter, cleaned up the apartment, and made a smashing dinner.

Little victories... :/

Memories!

My husband has been very into mountain biking lately and a video he watched played this song.  Took me back to high school, when I was all mod revival and wore a bubble flip everyday.

Generic update

I had written a long post about the attacks in Norway but I've decided that the best way to honor the memory of those we have lost is to keep living and be thankful for what we have.

I walked downtown to Clas Ohlson to buy a rolling pin.  I've been improvising with a can of copped tomatoes and an old .5L Solo bottle.  It's quite the workout, ladies.  GOODNESS.

Oslo is covered in flowers.  It's already quite a green city but now it is like walking through a rose garden with little shopped hidden among the petals.  Absolutely lovely.

I think it's now time for another Finishing School!

B is for Bras - Did this one a bit ago.  I love the bras at Lane Bryant (for rounder ladies only) but I've also had really good luck at Target and H&M.

C is for Clothes - Also did that one just before I moved here.  I donated quite a lot of stuff to the best thrift store in North County San Diego and I'm pretty happy with my wardrobe.  It's more "vintage inspired" than reproduction or actual vintage but that is was little to no clothing budget for many years will get you.  I hope my residence permit is processed soon so I can start buying vintage/reproduction dresses!

D is for Dream - My biggest dream right now is to go back to school.  I have a BA from Michigan State University in social science so it's not very useful in Europe.  I'm extremely interested in University of Oslo's program in Cultural Heritage Preservation.  It's a wonderful blend of social science, art history, museum management, and chemistry.  I'll have to be absolutely fluent in Norwegian before I can start but I'm sure I'll manage!
One of my other dreams is to visit all 50 US States.  I'm at 39 - 11 more to go!  This might be pretty hard to accomplish, since my husband has absolutely no interest in visiting remote states but I'm still going to try.  I also want to cross the equator and circumnavigate the globe, which should be completed in a few years when we go to Japan.

Time to start making a bacon and zucchini pizza!  OH YES

How do you find friends?

I've usually met people through work/school or from other friends. But now that I'm in a country where I don't speak the language well and have no legal clearance to work yet, I'm pretty stumped.

I joined a stitch and bitch group started by a group of Americans on Facebook.  It's nice but I don't want to hang out with Americans all the time!  There is one Norwegian lady in the group, though but I don't really enjoy her company.  When I told her I moved here because I got married to a Norwegian she said, "ugh, of course" and then told us how she hated living in a building from the 1930s because it wasn't modern enough (and she wasn't talking about the plumbing.)

Oslo doesn't seem to have a large vintage community and the vintage clothing stores focus on the 1960s and later.  And while I've gotten used to the weird looks, it would be so much easier to handle if I had some likeminded friends here.

So, how have you found friends?

A is for... and a hardo!

Lottie Loves' Finishing School

A is for: A Little I Like About me!

• I like my confidence with cooking.  I'm not afraid to try a new recipe and I always know it's going to be completely delicious.  I've mastered pizza, katsudon, maki sushi, all kinds of pasta and sauces, as well as baking!  I'm still working on a good and hearty bread recipe, though.
• I think I'm pretty good at arranging furniture.  In every apartment I've had, I've been very careful about where to put things to maximize space.  I also love to buy house plans books and draw in the furniture.  I used to make Lego houses when I was little, just so I could rearrange the furniture.
• I'm very proud of my crafting skills!  I've been knitting for about a year and crocheting for about three months and I think I'm doing very well!  I was never very confident in art class and blamed my small hands.  But I've come to find my hands to be adorable, if slightly odd, because of their newfound skill.  I think red nail polish helps, too and not painting the half moon makes my fingers look longer!
• I like being adventurous.  In addition to moving to Norway, I also up and moved to New York City right after finishing university with no jobs, apartment, or friends there.  I knew I could make it there and I did!  It was very tough but I learned some very good lessons, mostly about budgeting and time management.  Those have been pretty helpful now, living on one slightly modest paycheck and living with someone who has been used to enjoying the finer things.  
• I enjoy my independence!  One of the hardest things about moving to Norway is having to depend on my husband for some things, mostly situations where speaking in Norwegian is needed.  Since I don't qualify for free Norwegian classes until my residence permit is approved, I've only learned a few phrases but I'm completely fine with finding my own way to places and going shopping.  I enjoy hanging out with my husband, I did decide to marry him after all, but I like going off on my own sometimes and I'm sure he feels the same way!

Also!  It's pretty warm today so I wanted to pull my hair up.  I managed to get one victory roll up but everything else fell flat.  So I braided my hair in two braids, knotted them, and tucked the ends in.  Then I lightly teased my "bangs" (they're very long) and sprayed them into a light wave.

Front

Back

I hope this holds up outside!

I'm alive!

My dear blog, I have neglected you!  The last six weeks have been absolutely non-stop!

To begin, the husband and I finally have gotten rid of roommates and have a place of our own!  We are renting an adorable apartment in downtown Oslo, a few blocks from the Karl Johans gate (one of the main shopping areas.)  We have some pretty noisy neighbors, one who insists on blasting Ne-yo's "Tonight" for about 30 minutes straight every night.  I've taken to blasting Big Star Radio during the day as revenge!

An old tram running on line #19 down Bogstadveien in Majorstua, Oslo, near where we used to live.  They run old trams every once in a while but no riding allowed :(

But it wasn't easy to get here.  We attended ever so many apartment showings until we got one.  I think my mostly-legal status and unemployment here have been hindrances but that will change soon, fingers crossed. We had to move TWICE, too.  We stayed at my mother in law's house for a week because of a tiny bit of difficulty about when we could move in.  It was pretty fun though, she lives in the suburbs of Oslo so there were lots of trees (and bugs!) but it was rather relaxing.

I managed to finish my gloves!  They are just warm enough to keep my hands from freezing on rainy days and covering my chipping nail polish :/

While staying in the suburbs, we went on a trip to the western-most city in Norway, Florø, where my husband's father is from.  It was a gorgeous 10 hour car ride each way but I got to see some amazing things, like glaciers, old road markers, and goats on the road!  All of the photos are, of course, on my husband's phone :(

I've also become obsessed with wearing my hair just like this:

Mine doesn't get as angular but it's becoming my go-to style for some easy everyday glamour.  

This post is getting so long!  I'm "enrolling" in Lottie Loves' Finishing School so expect to see some self esteem boosting posts soon!

Victory!

It seems that one of the missions of any vintage-inspired lady is to be able to Victory roll their hair.  Today, I can very proudly say that I have finally done it!

They are definitely not very good and could use a little more height (where is my teasing comb?!) but I'm so happy of this small accomplishment!

Tonight, my husband has dinner with work friends so I'm fending for myself - mashed cauliflower and potatoes with sauteed mushrooms, kidney beans, and spicy spinach.  I'm no vegetarian but I love side dishes.  Anyone know where I can find kale here?  I very much prefer kale to spinach, with its heartier texture and taste but Norway seems very stuck in its ways, foodwise.

Let's talk shoes

I pretty much only wear two pairs of shoes.  This is not because I have an aversion to trying new ones, my feet, however, hate them.

I have size 6 EEEE feet.  They are basically square.  In Norway, the length often sends me to the children's department.  The width usually sends me back home empty handed.

This is my all-time favorite pair of shoes, the "Viola" by Softspots:

I wear them probably 4-5 times a week and still get the occasional blister with them but it will be the most sad day when I finally break them.

I've managed to find some good basic sneakers - the classic Keds makes a EE one that I wear whenever I plan on doing some serious walking (which happens quite a bit here in Oslo.)  I love these shoes so much that I even bought an extra pair from the US before I moved here because I knew I would have a very hard time finding sneakers as comfortable as these.

I would LOVE to find a nice, classic, brown leather oxford shoe, like these from Target:

I would prefer real leather but these seem to look the least mannish of multiple Google Image searches.

or even with a heel, like these handsome devils from Irregular Choice:

I seriously would do anything for these to fit.

But until some wides start rolling around, I'm stuck in Keds.

Has anyone found any nice, wide shoes with a 1940s feel?  Especially somewhere that ships internationally for a not too crazy fee.

Time to finish crocheting some day gloves!  I'm working off of this pattern and I really like how they're looking!

It begins!

Step one: just make the darn blog - CHECK!

This blog's purpose is to chronicle my year of being a housewife as well as my jump into vintage style.  I will share some recipes as well as use this to keep track of amazing resources I come across.  This is rather exciting for me and I hope I do ok!