This is the Rose and Shine podcast with us, Victoria Resulsen and Josephine Roots. We are Swedish sisters and in our podcast we explore career and well-being. So join us for inspiration and practical insights from our own international lives and careers. Good morning.
This is Victoria sending from Atlanta. Good afternoon, Josephine from Brighton. And this is our Summer Load, our Summer Vacation, Summer Holiday special episode. All about Summer.
Yes, so we're getting ourselves into moods for Summer Holiday, Summer Break and bringing you all with us into this mood. Yes, so we're really wanting to make this episode to encourage and inspire everyone to take a break for reflection and recharging batteries, also setting ourselves up for our upcoming Summer Holiday, right? Yes, so we'll take a break as well with the podcast. We're just trying to live what we're saying, right?
If we're going to take a break, let's properly take a break. Both of you, well, you are on your holiday right now. I've just started. And I have a few more weeks left.
But yeah, we wanted to tune into what's good about Summer and how do we get into that Summer feeling. Yes, and give you a few ideas on what you can consider. So just before we go there, what's Summer Queue? Well, Summer to me, it's a combination of these lights, long days where the sun never sets.
It's about ending school and the smell of flowers, of sirens. And it's also kind of sitting on a piazza in Italy with you, feeling a bit glamorous and either depending on the time of the day, a cappuccino or an aperol spritz. So that combo of amazing Scandinavia with a bit of glamorous Mediterranean is my best. That sounds wonderful.
I think Summer is all about creating memories. And it's sort of for yourself and also for your family. And we still aren't able to travel back to Sweden. So this Summer again, we created this huge Swedish Midsomer party.
It's kind of grown in size since last year. And that was truly special. The girls and Andreas and I, and we sort of did it like by the book, almost by the book. A few slight adjustments for like, we didn't do the cilla lunch for everyone.
We had the herring for the dinner, but the Midsomer poll we did had all our friends dancing around the Midsomer poll singing the little frogs and doing all these crazy things. And my husband made sure that we saw the adult had their fair share of Schnapps. Yeah, it was a wonderful epic party sort of kicking off Summer for us. So that was also beautiful.
And then the first is also like a rainy day. It makes me think back to like Summer holidays starting and the feeling of being like 10 years old and thinking that it's going to last forever. Right. And it's like never just.
Yeah, no. And I always that last thing forever. It's such a beautiful and wonderful feeling that I often try to recreate when I have holidays. It's a bit that feeling of when you get somewhere to redecorate the room and put in a bus of flowers and really kind of deciding that this is where I'm going to be now.
I have a bit of the same ritual when I come to Lindall in our summer plays or country house that you know I need to put up new curtains or do something to take ownership and then to be and live in that space. And also just to say for everyone, you know, Midsomer is such an important tradition for us. Sweet. It's really the start of summer or you know, we've seen from the summer holidays and when you're in expat, these things become so incredibly important.
So me and my friend also who's also Swedish, we made sure but we couldn't celebrate Midsomer because we were off that we were actually in London that weekend. And so we had that two weeks before and that is the perk of being an expat and having young kids, you know, you can kind of decide. It's not correct, but you can. And we did and felt really good because it's also kind of said it's all about making memories.
And I think as a mom, you feel so good when you can create those childhood memories for your kids. Yeah, for sure, for sure. So what memories are we going to create this summer? I guess that's the question.
Right. Yeah. And I also thought about that now saying, you know, all these wonderful things about summer and I'm actually sitting in my apartment and it's kind of gloomy outside and just 16 degrees. Of course, that won't be my whole summer, but I think that this is also an episode and to reflect upon, you know, when maybe your summer isn't, it hasn't started as everything that you dream of, but there are still things that one can do to create that pulse and reflection and celebration.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. It is an opportunity because we are sort of halfway through the year to also take a moment to step back from everything else that is going on and then just think about how is life, how are we doing and check in with ourselves.
And summer is also really about taking that proper break. And I'm really longing it for it right now. I have a few more weeks left of work and quite intensive work weeks, but then taking that break, which goes beyond those three days, but you have those first three days and then you get bored and you start to actually function at another speed and more slowly and more tuned with nature and you find more creativity and more joy in the simple things. Yeah.
That's so good that your summer can really be when it's at its best. Yeah. Because I'm still in that first phase of like still writing action lists, lots of things during, so I really need to find that space to sort of go into that more calmer phase. And for that, you need time.
Right. Because it's not something that you can kind of mentally just tap into, but time provides you with that clarity, I think. Yeah, for sure. And I think that's one of the big differences I've noticed between Europe and the US, the idea of what a vacation should look like.
And here in the US, it's so intense and people are like, okay, I'm taking a week and that's like really intense. And many people in their out of offices, they don't even say that they're on vacation. It's like, I'm on PTO, which means pay time off, right? So it's like, you don't want to say the vacation word even, right?
But now I do hear more and more people referring to, oh, I'm going to take a year of it. Okay, this year as in a longer vacation. And I think if you have the possibility to do that, it is really, really important and it is making a difference because it's not that hectic of just doing like you tend to do that the first three days or even week, but it's like, how do I get into a different rhythm? Yeah.
How do I find that stillness? And recognizing obviously our privilege here and in the sense that everyone does not have a choice to take the kind of break, but I think that will be experienced a lot in the circles around us is that sometimes people, there's a culture of not taking breaks, a culture of outworking each other. And it's to those people, I guess, and to ourselves, to some extent that we say how important it is to take a break when we can and how we, I think, should lead by example, we should slow down by example, invest in ourselves to do that. So you just been had this lovely book, I just need to cover and you've heard you tell me a little bit from it, but it just looks lovely.
So tell us about that because we found a little bit of inspiration in there. Yeah, so my lovely neighbors, I live in a three-story house here in Brighton and one of my neighbors shared this book with me and we realized that we're all really into rituals and ceremonies and almost not witchcraft yet, I'm not there yet, but that could be something to explore in the future. So I received this book, which is called the Spirit's Almanac, a modern guide to ancient self-care, which I just love, and there are rituals then for every part of the year and every season. And it says this about summer, no matter where you live in the world, summer represents the crest of the year cycle, the culmination of all that we built in winter and spring.
And it is stopping there, and I think that is so true, you know, it's where we can kind of celebrate our efforts. Yeah, halfway through. Exactly. And we have been working so hard, all of us have been working so hard.
And then they created a list, and I think we can build a little bit of this, but first on their list, there's this idea that summer is a time to socialize and pinpoint the people and experiences that make you feel happy and free. Oh, that is beautiful. So what does that mean to you? And what does it mean to you this summer?
Well, for me, it means, you know, I made sure that I have this girl's weekend just when my girlfriends come together, so it's not taking that time to meet up with good friends. It would have also meant sitting on a piazza with you and having a cocktail, but hopefully with me moving to Mallorca, we'll have lots of piazza moments for us in the future. But it's that freedom, that simple life, those late nights, possibly having the kids staying up way too late and running around while once there's indulged in a lovely conversation. Yeah, so this summer is a little bit strange for us because I mean, when I did block my July to be off, you know, I was so certain that we would be in Sweden, but it's still not certain.
And we might be going, but we might not also be able to depends on various factors. Now, that for me, a person who you all know loves to plan is quite frustrating, right? So because we can't really do too many plans here because in case we are going to get the opportunity to go back to Sweden, we will. But it's also maybe a lesson for me.
So I'm really trying to think about this and say like, all right, I'm just going to, like last night, had a lovely dinner with friends and doing lovely things where we're going to visit friends in Florida for a fourth of July weekend. So it's like, you know, lots of nice things happening. And I'm also setting up that possibly me and my daughters is about to live, but that we will go on a small yoga retreat that I found sort of by accident that is not far away from where we live, you know, up in the mountains and north of Georgia. So I think just take a little bit of time and say, okay, I might not be at Lindallen at our country house or and then, yeah, it's a need to leave with you drinking wine.
I mean, I still hope Lindallen is some nice wine together with you. That's like, ultimately on my bucket list. I would then say, what is it that we're doing that makes it special to be here? Exactly.
And do it, you know, do it with lovely people that you otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to spend time with because you were with us, for example. Then, next on that on that lovely list is to live less than your to do and more in your bucket list. So what does that mean to you? For me, it's about letting go of the demands, the constant demands that we have on ourselves.
It's a bit of the to do's, the practical to do's as well, but it's also that kind of inner, inner demands, just letting that go, letting that rest a little bit. And then bucket list, I do a lot on my bucket list. Like, so for me, bucket list can almost also be a to do. Yeah, I was like, I don't even know if I need so much bucket list because for me, I think it's more about just relaxing and taking it easy.
Yeah, even skipping the bucket list, maybe the bucket list is, you know, doing like you said, kind of a yogurt retreat or something where you invest in yourself. Yeah. But less about maybe the grand, the grand traveling, which I would maybe associate with a bucket list. Yeah.
But that's maybe because that's part of my profession as well. Yeah, maybe the traveling. Yeah. I mean, I guess it's more like what really makes things special, but without overdoing that it has to be so far and special all the time, right?
But just to live in the moment, I guess. And then next this, and I find that resonates with me, but I want to have resonates with you and how you feel about taking the long way home. Somewhere is the time to take the long way home. Yeah, I think that's beautiful.
It's like, it's not just to go between place, age, a place, be, right? It's taking the time to stop and hear the music and smell the flowers and see that it doesn't have to be so fun. To me, it makes me think about walking bare feet. Yeah.
You know, because that automatically slows you down. You have to be more careful and you're so much more aware of where you go. Or not really where you going, but that you're going. Yeah, that's a good point.
Or walking with Swedish clubs. You can't walk very fast to them wearing the gloves. We have them like from the special Swedish clubs here actually by our door and it makes me by going back to the yard. And it makes me happy every time I see them.
It's so funny. You and mom and dad and your whole family, you're so into these tests. Cool. Clogs.
And I've never, ever understood the charm. Maybe just because they're tricky to heart. I can understand that there's charming in that they're beautiful to look at and that it's hard to walk in them. But in terms of the practical.
But they're like, when you're just going to do, like if you're barefoot, like most sweets are or like in your socks, when you're inside. And you just want to go out quickly to fix something, fetch something in the garage or go out and, you know, just to your in the garden. Then having five centimeters tall like wooden things on your feet is not like, it's, you know, it's meant to break your ankle. You know, especially now with mom, for example, you know, when they become a little bit less kind of stable.
Sometimes they're very stable. Yes. No, I think you should give them a go. Okay.
Maybe it's something. Next on my list is to check in on your goals and recess anything that needs to shift. What are you going to recess? Is there anything that needs to shift?
Yeah, loads. And I think summer is a bit of kind of taking that break. For me, that resonates a lot to me for us. It loves to set goals.
And so it's a bit of, you know, taking that break. Maybe not so much about analyzing your goals and writing your goals, but more tuning into, if we say that summer is this time of celebration of the hard work, it's a little bit about sitting back and, you know, checking that the goals are the right ones. Do they feel good goals that you may be votes in January? And are you on the right path?
And if not, why? Yeah. So kind of a gentle shift. Yeah.
I mean, I love I'm taking time to really reflect and check in and like, how's it going? And I have the vision board. You created one. I did one and I look at it right now.
Actually, it's just behind my computer screen. And I think it's perfect to just sort of like, how am I doing Victoria? Is it happening? Is it not?
And what can I do differently for the next six months of the year? And so sort of like that ego day and take time and now because we won't be possibly traveling this summer. It actually gives me a little bit more time to do those sort of things. And I think that's pretty lovely.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that you actually need a little bit of that break first. Yeah, to do that properly because otherwise you come from it from your work mind. And it's this practical solution oriented, you know, now I'm going to assess my goals.
But if you come with it from a place of a pause, I think that there's more opportunity to sense into what is actually going the right way or not going the right way. You know, I'm laughing a little bit because that makes me think of my husband because he tends to work a lot, a lot, a lot. He's had a very different year of this year for him. But it makes me think back of when he had an extremely busy period at work.
And we would book like lovely weekends and things together with our friends, right, to go and do nice things. And he would always either like not really be present or actually become sick because it was like the first day he'd realized that I learned like to book these weekends. First, give him a few days off just like the two of us. He didn't need to socialize.
He could just have those three or four days. And then we could go and do things. I learned like that was some great planning for us to go straight from super busy work into like social weekend with friends or family, right, but just like have that time to relax, get grounded before going into that. And I think so that needs for the social part and it also needs for the reflection part before we go into reflection.
Let's just be a little bit stiff. And then the opposite to still. So summertime is a time to make room for childhood play and movement, hiding and seeking. I love that.
Do you add play into your life? Do you find that that comes easy? You know, what I was thinking, but now you sort of emphasize the word please. I'm like, okay, that's like, but I do think it can be like just having fun and play cornhole or pickleball.
Like these are super everyone's doing here in Atlanta. But I was thinking about a friend of mine and I on Monday morning, she's like, yeah, we have these chaos and I'm like, oh wow, that's amazing. And we live just by like, and then let's go. I just like, well, I don't think we can carry them.
It's gonna be to have them. Like, of course we can. Right. So we did.
And, you know, and we didn't have very much time. And there were so many things happening. Like, but we got like 40 beautiful minutes on that lake and it was just it was just doing something a little bit different and just like, yeah, of course we can do it. The kayaks were just there.
The lake is just there. It doesn't have to be so big and amazing. It could be just like, yeah, taking out that cub game that you have somewhere in the drawer and put it in the garden and just have a little bit of fun with it. But that's true.
And I think like making sure that there is room for it is by having a bit of time and then maybe it is putting out the toys, you know, or the game or having it a bit accessible. So that is something that you can you can reach and maybe think, you know, do things a little bit differently. Like in the summer time, I often have, you know, picnics with the kids outside, especially when you live in a big city. And you're in an apartment, it feels so important.
So rather than going home, so go and have a picnic and do a bit more playing like that. Having young kids, of course, helps with with play. So I'm hoping for a lot of beyond and so over the summer. And also, I think just kind of with younger kids, the more I find that I get down on the floor, the less frustrated they become.
Like, you know, you're really with them. You sit down and you play with them on the floor and it could just be kind of rolling around in the grass. I mean, I think I want to teach Rafa how to do summer soles the summer and, you know, just kind of playing a bit like that. Did you think that this possibly is a lesson with many of us got during COVID when we couldn't do all these fancy activities?
We didn't have to go to like a big center to do things, but it was just being a bit more creative and having a bit more fun at home. I heard a lot of people like bringing out the board games and doing like, goes to stuff at home. Absolutely. I think one of the best days of our year last year was actually in lockdown with Rafa on his birthday.
And we just filled the room with balloons. And that was, you know, put on some music. And that was really, really special. So absolutely kind of taking those.
And that might be kind of the opposite of the summer because the summer might be, you know, people are vaccinated. And many people are vaccinated. There's a sense of coming out and celebrating, which is amazing. So part of me want to ride or will ride that way for sure.
And then the other part, of course, is also about, you know, stillness and tuning in. And I also find, we've talked about reflection. We talked about play and movement. And for sure, I'm going to do, I mean, we're having so much fun with the tennis, with the, but also hiking, biking, yoga.
That's so nice to have more time for that if you're off. But I also love the idea of summer holidays and just having these wonderful books to read. And you can stay up all night. Just read because you're going to be off tomorrow.
You don't have to be super focused at 7.30 in the morning, right? And that is also such a lovely luxury. Yeah. So maybe let's end on that note because I know it's not right now, but let's on that idea because I think that that is a new summer memory for me.
And I think that you have kind of loved that for a long time. And I appreciate it. I hadn't really realized that until I came to the UK, there's so many independent bookstores. And so many bookstores that you come into.
And they are just so beautiful. And there's so much. And for me, it's a bit children's books in English are so, there's so many beautiful children's books. I'm struggling as finding as many in Swedish.
And so I end up actually reading for the kids in English a bit, even though I want to really practice Swedish with them because the books are so wonderful here. But I think that is such a lovely childhood and adult thing. And maybe something that anyone can do that listens to this podcast, you know, to go into a bookstore and pick out, you know, the three books or one book or half a book that they can read this summer. Yeah.
What are you going to read this summer? I wanted to see that as a summer tradition I have with my daughters that they get to pick their summer holiday book, right? And I go with them. And I think that's okay.
So I have lots of books that I'm going to read. And you know what? I'm going to do something different this year. I'm going to reread the two books that I read this winter that I've enjoyed the most.
So to no surprise, it's going to be Think Again by Adam Grinch. So now it's going to be read again. Because I thought like, I really, really enjoyed that book. So I want to read it once more to really soak in the really good stuff, right?
And see that I didn't miss anything. And still this is the key by Ryan Holiday. I'm also going to read again. I was going to say I was going to read that one too again.
And it works so well with this episode and everything. Yeah, exactly. I'm going to read that too. So that's my read again list.
And then I have two books that I'm really excited to read that I've ordered. And I guess half here. And one is the extended mind, the power of thinking outside the brain by Annie Murphy Paul, which seems very exciting. And with so much brain here.
And the other one is whole brain living the end of the choice and the four characters that thrive our life. I was recommending that one. So I think that's going to be exciting. So those are nonfiction books.
And then I am reading right now. And that's like such a summer lovely read fiction. The music of these by Eileen Garvin. I recommend like a really nice, feel-good summer book, which is really good.
And I'm going to read the stationery shop with my book by Marianne Kamali. And it's called A Powerful Love Story. So those are like books on my 9th sentence right now. What about your list?
I am actually also going to buy more books. So now I'm going to live somewhere for a longer time to actually just have my bookshelf. Because I've been having so much on my Kindle and that's been great for my lifestyle. But I do want to have them physically.
So I am going to read my book live and reading a book by Grace Den. The book is called Hungry. And it's an autobiography about her life. She is a food critic that's quite famous here in the UK and it's her whole story.
So that's going to be fascinating. And then as I said, stillness is key. And then probably one of those books. Yeah.
You'll have to just read them first. And I know which one. So with that, I think that we're taking a bit, the podcast we're taking a little bit of a summer holiday. We'll be back re-energized in the fall in the autumn and somewhere in August or September.
And we're going to enjoy your summer holiday, your summer break. And even those of you down under that are listening to us, I hope you get some inspiration and ideas that you can use even though it's winter from us. And have a lovely time, everyone. We'll see you back at the end of summer.
Yes. Have a lovely, lovely time. Take care, everyone. Bye.