That was my big plan after my year of lots of crazy, but fun travelling.
I decided I wanted to NOT work in December! At least only from home. I just wanted my life to be about lazy cozy days in front of the fire…some boxing and preparing just the right Christmas presents for everyone…..
I also wanted to take time off to reflect about the future – my dreams and plans for the coming years.
Sometimes plans have a way of turning out completely differently than first intended. Like when Philippe and I decided to move to Denmark with our little baby boy, start Rice and a quiet lifestyle in Denmark – away from the hustle and bustle of Paris.
So my December has been filled with our very own pop-up restaurant at Rice and it has been wonderful!
I love the restaurant business and I am highly attracted to it…. Something about happy people who come with open minds looking for a good time with friends, beautiful food, nice music and perhaps a few cocktails. And now in our own Rice world of colour……
Such a joy to be a part of this project! Luckily our participation has just been the set up and the not the daily running of the show… I only went in for a few nights to work, but I did love it though…
Check it out on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madballaden
At the same time we decided to open a pop-up shop in our hometown of Odense. I have a dream about mixing a rice shop with a cafe – but we needed to try out the shop by itself first.
I am loving every minute in that shop…I love the direct feedback from happy people who come into the shop and comment on the colours and how it makes them feel good. I love seeing girls of 18 months attracted to our things and grandmothers of 85 buying stuff for themselves…
It makes it all worth while for me.. I get so much useful information about the products, the packaging etc…
So this December has been double work but ten times more fun! I just have to understand that I am perhaps not meant to hang around and have a quiet time for too long.
Have a colorful and wild wild Christmas out there…
Big love
C
A few months ago I agreed to be part of a Danish TV program hosted by a really lovely guy named Felix Smith.
I only said YES to be part of this show for 2 reasons: I really like his natural style in everything I have seen him do on Danish television and also I love the idea of this feel-good and inspiring program.
The concept is developed by Felix – the idea is to show and tell some stories about people who have started companies and gone from zero to something bigger over some years. Felix moves in to your home and follows you around for a few days.
My kids watch a lot of really stupid reality shows – I am not sure why – but in general I do think there is so much bad TV around and I have watched the other programs of ‘Felix moves in’, and Felix chasing the way to success with a lot of joy. It is inspiring to hear other peoples stories on how they have started their businesses – and I hope that with our story and the story of Rice – we will also inspire some people to JUST DO………
The first 10 minutes of filming were a bit nerve-wracking but then I started to relax and actually completely forgot about the camera – it felt like I had just meet a new friend named Felix and we were hanging out – getting to know each other.
Next Tuesday September 17th is the big day! 8 or 10 hours of filming has been boiled down to 43 minutes………the program will be shown on Danish TV2 channel at 8pm.
Behind the scenes we had a lot of fun – Rikke our sales rep for Denmark is a big Felix fan……. so she had her picture taken officially for her children 
The following day Birgitte our in-house stylist, Joelle our dutch designer and I went of for a work meeting for a few days on a small island south of where we live. Rikke was very envious that she was not invited on this trip…..
We started the morning sending this photo to Rikke -
Then a few hours later this one… with only Birgittes one nail on Felix neck….
Just before saying goodbye… I asked Felix – would you mind jumping into bed with Birgitte…. in a split second he took off his shirt and jumped into bed - look at this fabulous shot…….
Still smiling at the memory…..
ohhh – and by the way… a few days later Rikke photoshopped a picture of her and Birgittes husband in return………
I am back on the blog – not sure why I have fallen completely off the earth in this regard. But I did have a feeling that nobody was really reading me and then during some recent travel I have met lots of lovely people asking me why I stopped blogging…….
I have been having fun on Instagram – I like the quick spontaneous pictures with just a few words… and the very fast response and sharing that comes with it. If you feel like it it you can follow me under Charlotte_rice
Here are some of my Summer shots from Denmark in the past few months….
We have been blessed with some pretty amazing weather in July this year. We go through many, many months of cold and grey, where many of us seriously contemplate the idea of moving south…FAR south! And then suddenly the magic begins….spring is in the air and forgive and forget every cold, grey and rainy day and just fall in love all over again, with our country.
This is really pure magic and a great lesson in forgiveness as well….
Enjoy some lovely summer shots and see you around very soon
I am still very much interested in and looking for posts from friends, readers etc. Anything that you think is part of everyday magic moments for you is worth sharing. We do have most of the everyday days… may as well share the magic and inspire each other.
Warm smiles
Charlotte
I am happy to introduce todays guest blogger – Michelle Kristensen. We met last year – we share common love for food. color – fun and sports…… She has a Facebook page called SHUT UP and EXCERCISE…. I love it… as I have been so full of great excuses for many years…. and now I mostly try to shut up and just do it…. Enjoy her version of everyday magic. I need to make that watermelon cake for sure……xoxo Charlotte
Magic summer cake
I my everyday I work with a lot of people, especially women, who get together on a body bootcamp. They all want to be inspired and get motivation to change their body and mind – both mental and physical. Every time I have had those women on a 9 week camp, I see something powerful in the eyes of every single woman – the power of MAGIC! They have fed their body with colorful – and real food, been training in the nature and then 9 weeks later they are a new version of themselves – a magic version filled power and self-confidence.
To make a body transformation, every day needs to be happy, not boring! Happy for me is among other things related with colorful and lovely food – not boring steamed broccoli with a fried chicken breast – but healthy food with a lot of veggies and fruits, which is prepared in a funny and tasteful way. A healthy lifestyle is not about counting calories but about preparing healthy and delicious food. And then you can always spice up the color with the lovely RICE collections if you need more power on your plate J.
I love sweet things – they make me happy. Luckily you can make sweet healthy things and I’ll give you a recipe on a magic cake – every bite is filled with good nutrients for your body. You body will love it – so will your mouth and I hope you can see the same magic thing as I can, when you are preparing and tasting the cake – that real colorful food is everyday magic! You can transform your body to become the most magic edition of yourself. LET THE MAGIC BEGIN TODAY!
Recipe:
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
½ watermelon (seedless)
1/3 cup pistachio nuts (unsalted)
80 g 70% dark chocolate
200 g mascarpone
200 g skyr (or greek yoghurt if you don’t have skyr in your country)
½ tsp stevia (or 1 spsk akacie honey)
½ tsp vanilla powder
Garnish: edible flowers and pineapple cherries
Peal the watermelon, and take a towel or paper and wipe the watermelon on the surface. Then mix together mascarpone, skyr, stevia and vanilla and put it on the cake, so the watermelon is all covered. Cut the pistachio nuts and chocolate in small pieces and sprinkle it on the cake. Garnish the cake as you wish. Voilá – magic bites ready to eat.
Enjoy and bon appetit
Michelle J
Lovely words by Roald Dahl – and now on a notebook in our Automn Winter collection.
I do believe in magic – and I feel that I find it all around me on a regular basis. Of course I sometimes fall out of tune and forget to believe…
Last year has been really hectic on so many levels for me – and I have tried to hang onto trusting myself – trusting the future – and also believing in magic. I have had some really wonderful people come into my life – and I have also lost some really wonderful people that I thought I would never loose.
A few years ago I decided that each year I would go away, 1 week by myself, to do a course of some sort. First year I did a detox in Venice – it was nice but not much FUN….. Then my good friend Fiona mentioned a place called ‘The Hill that Breathes’ in Italy – they do a course called ‘F**k it!’
It is a lot about breathing and energy work, and it was such a mind-blowing fabulous week. It was a lot of fun and laughter as well. When I came back I felt so strong, bubbly and happy. I met some wonderful people from all over the world and we still stay in touch and visit each other.
On Sunday I am off again – this time to the little volcanic island of Stromboli – doing a course run by Gaia from www.thef**kitlife.com. the title is ‘MAGIC TRUST’….. How funny is that – I am looking forward to the mix of trust and magic and the energy of a volcanic island. My focus will be to enjoy every minute of the week and hopefully I will come back full of energy and ideas for new magic moments.
I am a fun-loving colorful person – always looking for Everyday magic in everything I do.
Charlotte, Founder and creative director of RICE.
Joëlle Wehkamp
