“Summer summer summertime….Time to sit back and unwind” The Fresh Prince said it best in his summer hit from the early 90’s. Any excuse to celebrate warm weather and pretend I’m abroad is my summer jam. This weekend, the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce invited me to a Midsummer party in Santa Monica to celebrate one of Sweden’s national festivals. Since I can’t be in Stockholm celebrating with my Swedish besties, this is the next best way to enjoy this summer solstice; this event usually happens between June 20 and 26.

Getting into the spirit of it all, I wore a flower crown. Why? In the Swedish culture, the flowers make you look more attractive. And where are my single ladies at? Legend has it that if an unmarried girl picks seven different types of flowers and place them under your pillow, you’ll dream of your future husband. (SOURCE) In this case, I may need to place one hundred flowers under my pillow for better luck in that department. Haha.

Not only was the event filled with gorgeous looking people wearing flower crowns, but we celebrated with some singing and delicious snacks (meatballs with lingonberry jam and gravy courtesy of Ikea) and drinks; pickled herring and boiled new potatoes with fresh dill, sour cream and chives are traditional dishes served for this holiday. (SOURCE)

Who’s up for celebrating with me next year?