I was supposed to make another post for you before the weekend, but then stuff happened and suddenly it was Monday and here we are. I even left my DSLR at work on Friday, which makes this a Full Blogger Crisis™! The solution? My newly borrowed iPhone 4S and Instagram – I´m maja_piraja if you´d like to follow me. Here´s a little rundown of my weekend photos, left to right:

1. The mandatory self portrait. This is Instagram, after all!

2. My friend Maren´s poodle, Fie. She gives me poodle-cravings.

3. My birthday present from Marius finally arrived – brownie points if you can tell what it is!

4. Marius and I went out for tapas, and boy was it lovely. I´m such a sucker for tapas.

5. On Friday we went to Oslo to visit some relatives. It was absolutely freezing – between 0 degrees and -10 degrees at all times. We had a great time, and I met some wonderful people.

6. This sign outside a store reads “We have butter” – why the need to put this message on a sign, you may ask? Well, a combination of the current low carb fad and extreme baking of Christmas cookies has resulted in a nation-wide butter shortage in Norway. I wish I was joking. Some people have even been caught smuggling huge amounts of butter into the country, seeling it on online auctions!

7. I couldn´t go to Oslo without meeting up with Maria of lost in a spotless mind. We sat and chatted over hot chocolate for a little while, and I made a mental note to go back to visit as soon as possible.

8. The aforementioned hot chocolate.

9. Another Oslo must is vintage shopping, and I found this teal cashmere jumper at Velouria Vintage. It is so soft, like wearing a kitten. I´m turning into the biggest sweater snob :)

And that is it! I always love going to Oslo – it has a reputation of being a gray and dreary city, but I´m a fan. Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Winter has finally arrived here in Bergen. There seems to be a direct relation between the increase of Christmas decorations and the decrease of temperature, and I can´t say I hate it! It just takes some getting used to..

As you can see, I wasn´t quite used to it yet on Sunday. Winter dressing takes a certain amount of skill after all, and no matter how many winters you have seen, they always manage to take you by surprise. Marius on the other hand has cracked The Winter Code – always carry a warm drink! But hey, let´s skip to Monday and Tuesday…

Not only did we get snow, we got the full on Winter Wonderland. It is so lovely and as long as there is snow I really don´t mind the cold. It is just another excuse to dig out my giant faux fur coat, after all. A lovely blog reader e-mailed me photos from Australia the other day (Thank you Rachel, you are the best!) and I can honestly say that even though I would give an arm and a leg to visit Australia any other time of the year – I have wanted to visit for years – I would miss the snow and the cold terribly around Christmas. It wouldn´t be quite the same without it :)