... means 'so, in this way, like this' in English and the Dutch often use this word to express their feelings after they've finished something. Thus zo, we have sold the house and have a moving date for Sweden. We still have to get some financing sorted out to buy the property we want (can't show it yet because it may bring bad luck) and than it's exit Dutch life .. enter Sweden life. It's all a bit of a mess right now because we didn't expect to sell the house in just one week. The day after tomorrow we're going to sign the provisional contract of sale and as from September the first The New Old House is no longer ours.

I'm back from Sweden!

We always stay in hotels or B&B's when we go on holiday but this time we decided to stay in a cottage. Sweden is of course famous for it's beautiful holiday cottages and I found the one we stayed in after a long web browse. I'm not one for dirty seventies decor with previous guest odor. I was already brave enough to wear fungus slippers worn by god knows who, something the Bo refused.

This is Andersborg our home for the weekend. It's owned by Junette and Inge and they have 4 more all as lovely. Do you spot the curtains? It was just like being home.

This is the bedroom we used and it also could've been my house only not for the candles because I'm terribly scared of candles. I'm very energetic and move around a lot so I'm always scared I'm going to knock over a candle. Or like last week when I was at my friend Mandy's house I almost had my hair on fire. I was sitting on the sofa and she had this big tray full of candles in different colors and sizes (really pretty to look at, not to actually lit) next to it on a table and when I swung my head back Mandy shrieked and I even shrieked harder .... ooooh it was dead close!

Sweden was most magical this time because we saw a moose. I've never seen a moose before so if you want something to shut us up, put a moose on the road. Almost a minute after we almost hit her I turned and said to the Bo "what the hell was that animal about?". They are so massive, so impressive and so incredibly big and ugly but yet so beautiful. Apparently it's not very common for tourists to see a moose so we already feel we are true Swedes ;o)

We also viewed our dream house with the realtor on Saturday and we've decided to buy it. Tomorrow we are going to stick the sign the Bo made on our window and is our house officially for sale. I can not believe it but we might spend this Christmas in our new home in Sweden.

I'll be back with shop news tomorrow.

ps: I've also started a Flickr collection called "Decorating Family" in where I'm going to show you how my family and friends decorate.

I've been a really bad blogger and a bad blog friend. I've been so wrapped up with my own 'personal' things that I actually have forgotten that I keep a blog and that maybe the people who read my blog are interested in knowing what's up! Because there's a whole lot of what's up in my life at the mo.

A couple of posts ago I wrote that there is so much to tell that I don't know where to start well ... let's just start.

I told you we are moving, we still are only we're moving to Sweden. It's bloody scary people and for a while I was scared writing about it because there are always people who think negative and who want to play with your mind and tell you it's no good and you know what?, I can't deal with that stress. We have this plan, we believe there's a better future for us there and people should just be happy for us and that's it. That's also the reason why I've been so bottomless in writing this blog because I was bottling up this big thing and all I want to do is write about and and tell you how scary yet how exciting it is.

So the big word is out, we are moving to Sweden ... tomorrow?, no I think next year or in a couple of months. It all depends on finding the right house, selling this house and the Bo's business. But Eeeeeee, it's so exciting!! In two weeks we're going to view a property we love only it's big and neglected so it might be a bit risky. We're also learning Swedish because I want to be able to speak the language when we move there. I never really get how these people in TV shows like My Place Under The Sun do not speak the language when they move to Greece for example. They even buy houses using hand and feet ... they are buying a house or crying out loud!! I want to be able to read my gas bill. We have a two hour lesson a week from this amazing Swedish woman (hej Katarina) and we can already introduce ourselves and count to 1000 and tell you all about the Svensson family. But I don't think we'll get far with that information so we need more lessons.

We also have to get the Boo to the vet today for her rabies shot. It takes 4 to 12 months before they can see if the Boo made enough anti cells after the injection* so we really need to do it today if we decide to move early. And we feel sorry for her because she hates to go to the vet - I don't really get her problem because she's having a very handsome and sweet vet. It's also her seventh birthday coming Sunday (easter day) so we made her a special gift over the weekend.

Behold the BooBoo balcony or as we famously call it "Boos Balkong". We made this for her because she loves the windowsill but she doesn't really fit on it with her big flapy belly - boy it's so embarrassing but her belly actually flaps left to right if she runs. Now the running is something that doesn't happen often but believe me it's an ugly sight. The other day Bo overheard people calling her a big fat cat on the street. Poor Boo.

For Swedish readers (and for those who are interested) we are moving to the Vimmerby/Västervik area. Yay, we are moving to Pipi Longstocking's neighborhood. If you have any tips, things we should know, advice you want us to give, everything, anything is welcome.

I'll go back to blogging about my house, my new house (and country) and all the other things I love blogging about because I've missed it. I'll be still selling Box Letter Cushions and as from today I've opened my own "whip up your own box letter cushion shop" (I'll have this printed on t-shirts) so that you can design your own with the fabrics you love from my selection. There's also a lovely interview Mary Jo from Trust Your Style did over here.

Happy new week!

* it apparently only takes 4 weeks but Norway and Sweden are quite strict so they want blood samples of 4 months and up.