• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dear Sabrina

  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Beauty
  • Thinking
  • Miscellany
  • About
    • Now
You are here: Home / Archives for life in sweden

life in sweden

Making friends as an adult in the US and Sweden, two women hiking

Making Friends As An Adult in the US and Sweden

February 24, 2017 By Jodi

I've been thinking a lot about relationships—particularly friendships—as part of my happiness project these last few months. It's also something I think about as an immigrant living in a foreign country. I have been blessed to have some of the very best friends in the world, but, unfortunately, they all live an ocean—or an ocean and a...

Read More

Fire outside cafe making for a cozy Swedish winter

Winter in Sweden: the Basics

December 15, 2016 By Jodi

It's time to talk about winter in Sweden. A while back I wrote about summer in Sweden, essentially saying that it's like heaven. And winter? Well, winter can feel like the opposite; or if not quite like hell, then rather like a long, slow slog uphill through waist-deep snow in the dark with clouds covering...

Read More

Swedish Lucia with candles

A Very Swedish Holiday: Lucia

December 13, 2016 By Jodi

Today is December 13—better known in Sweden as Lucia. It's a lovely holiday meant to celebrate the bringing of light into the dark, dark winter. It used to correspond with the winter solstice on December 21 or 22, but these days it coincides with St. Lucia's day on the 13th.

With August as a newborn

Maternity Leave in Sweden vs the US

November 25, 2016 By Jodi

In my first post about having kids in Sweden, I laid out the basic benefits of having babies in Sweden: generous parental leave; chances for social connection while home with a baby; affordable, high-quality daycare, and more. Now, I want to lay out a theory I'm developing about the benefits of the generous parental leave policy.

boy-playing-in-boat-preschool-in-sweden

Preschool in Sweden: the Basics

October 7, 2016 By Jodi

Let me start by saying that I never know whether to use the word daycare or preschool when referring to the place where kids spend their early years here in Sweden. I suppose that's because it's sort of a mix of what we know those two places to be in the US. While I will continue to use the word preschool here, do...

Read More

baby-on-fathers-shoulders-stockholm

Having Kids in Sweden: The Basics

July 14, 2016 By Jodi

This is the first in a series of posts outlining the general structure of life in Sweden for a family.  You've probably heard or read about the amazing parental leave policy in Sweden and wondered if it's true. It is. Maybe you also heard about the affordable universal daycare and wondered whether that's true, too. It is. And while these...

Read More

face-on-woodpile-in-field

Found in the fields | A Surprise Face

June 17, 2016 By Jodi

Now that the days are warm and neverending, we've been taking a ton of walks with the kids. I am delighted each time we walk by this little guy - such a lovely little spirit animating the neighborhood! Photo by me.

Gamla stan stockholm

Why We Moved to Sweden

May 9, 2016 By Jodi

When James asked his previous boss, who has professional ties in Sweden, what Stockholm was like, he expected some comments about the weather, the food, and some of the glowing remarks about life in Sweden (and across Scandinavia) that we've all been hearing recently. What he got, several weeks later, was a job offer.

Primary Sidebar

About Jodi

I just repatriated from Sweden to the US with my British husband and three young kids. I started this site while living in Sweden to build the conversations and community we've had with loved ones around the world, and to create a space to share thoughts about life, beauty, motherhood, and everything else. read more →

Connect & Follow

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Receive the weekly newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd )

Recent Posts

On Having Imperfect Pictures of Myself on the Blog

August 11, 2016 By Jodi 10 Comments

unkempt-mama-talking-to-baby-picking-blueberries

One of the most common critiques of the social media world--a world most of us find ourselves entrenched in--is that it presents us with edited and often idealized images of other people's lives. We see more of others' aspirational lives than we do of their real, everyday lives. While we might lament this, we often tend...

Read More

Why We Moved to Sweden

May 9, 2016 By Jodi 3 Comments

Gamla stan stockholm

When James asked his previous boss, who has professional ties in Sweden, what Stockholm was like, he expected some comments about the weather, the food, and some of the glowing remarks about life in Sweden (and across Scandinavia) that we've all been hearing recently. What he got, several weeks later, was a job offer.

September's First Autumn Weekend

September 26, 2016 By Jodi Leave a Comment

apple-tasting-table

While it may have officially become autumn just last week, here in our part of Sweden it's felt like fall since early August. Still, we wanted to herald the new season with an outdoor weekend--and a trip to an apple orchard.

(Meandering Thoughts About) Settling In

September 18, 2017 By Jodi 2 Comments

Corvallis hike view

Finally, after nearly a month in our new home, we’re starting to feel settled. The boys have been at their new preschool (the local Montessori school) for just over a week, James has been going to his office every day and LOVING it, and Zoë and I are working out our routine together. She mostly...

Read More

Categories

  • Beauty
  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Miscellany
  • Thinking

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Follow

Instagram

Footer

About Dear Sabrina

Welcome! Dear Sabrina is a lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man, if men read lifestyle blogs). I hope that visiting this site gives you something to think about, makes you laugh, or shows you something new. If you want to further connect, find me on one of networks below or send an email.
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. More about me…

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Jodi Elliott