Swedish Heritage

My mother was born and raised in Sweden and I am so grateful to have inherited such an amazing culture. We pretty much only speak Swedish at home! I go to Sweden every Summer and my Swedish family comes to visit us in the United States every Christmas. I feel most myself when I’m in Sweden with my family. I love celebrating all Swedish holidays, including Christmas being on the 24th, not the 25th and Midsummer. Midsummer is the longest day of the year and comes with many special traditions. We eat fresh potatoes with pickled herring, pick flowers that we turn into flower crowns, with lots of singing and dancing around a mandyång. 

I find that my sense of fashion, culture, and my values are very aligned with my Swedish heritage. I particularly love the ethos of fika, a Swedish tradition of taking time out of the day to pause and enjoy a cup of coffee and a pastry. I also love to cook typical Swedish meals with my grandparents such as: Swedish meatballs, with potatoes and Swedish gravy, smörgảstảrta, cinnamon rolls, and a dish that consists of pasta and hotdogs! 

We grew up only having candy on Saturday, called lördagsgodis. It comes from a tradition of saving your candy and only eating it on Saturday. The practice is about waiting to savor the small pleasures in life and also that you should enjoy in moderation (also known as langom which translates to “just right” or “not too little, not too much”).