Independence rank high — We are not all natural, tall and blue-eyed Vikings, but Scandinavian women generally have a certain way of living life that is not the norm in all corners of the world. We love our independence, which is what this article will revolve around. We are also happier than most people…

Some more important than others — This is not one of those articles where I ponder on all the fundamental differences between Scandinavia and the United States. I’ll save those for another day. This is me, simply trying to make sense of 3-car garages and the size of Costco’s chips. Those kinds of not-very-important but fascinating…

Think House Hunters International backward — On the show, people are often shocked by the sizes of European homes, whether it is apartments, townhomes, or single-family homes. No king bed? Oh my. No walk-in-closet? Where will I put my clothes? My goodness, did you say no garage?! Well, then I’m out! I thought about this show…

Besides the obvious — Aside from the fact that it’s the most commercialized version of hygge I’ve ever seen, there are a couple of reasons I’ll never buy this game I keep getting Amazon ads for. This is one of those stories where I simply need to write my frustrations out. The game I’m…

You become visible with less — Just by living my life a little bit differently than the typical middle-class suburban person, I stick out. Not particularly in a bad way or a good way. Sometimes, sticking out is just that. Different. By typical, I mean two cars (one of them likely to be a pickup truck)…

Where do I begin — I could begin with the idea of combining sweet potatoes and marshmallows. Who came up with that? I am one who, in most cases, will give new things a try. So I tried sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows. It is really, really sweet. Too sweet for my taste but the…

Practice your poker face — Last weekend, my husband and I were sitting on our porch having our daily dose of coffee while mentally strolling down memory lane. We talked about what we’d do differently if, instead of coming up on 14 years of being together, we’d just met each other. Long story short, there…

Part of growing up, perhaps — Some of us spend hours, days, or even years chasing things. From a dream job to a life partner, mountain tops, a perfect bagel — anything and everything. …

For more than one reason — It’s the cheese slicer. If you’re not a fan of cheese, you should probably stop reading. …