This post could also be called Tulips, plants and a dinner table in various states of tulips and plants.

Oh, Hi!
In January we moved in to our very own apartment. Well, we rent it, but it's our lease and it's not an airbnb like the other apartments we've lived in here in LA up until January.
We've obviously lived in apartments in Sweden but this time around it feels different because we don't have all of those things that you collect over the years just by living. You know, the pots and pans you get from your parents when you move out of your childhood home, the chest you got from your friend's parents because they were going to throw it away but thought of you, the cute chair you bought at a flea market in the tiny village where you studied theatre and then had to carry over your shoulder through the entire said village to your student room, the bed you bought from the family friend who moved to another country and you rented an apartment from. I really could have written "I" through all that block of text, right?
But you get what I mean, a home is built by so many weird and random things you put in it over a long time.
This home is built from scratch though. And that feels SO strange and new and INTERESTING.
Let's talk a little about that, and mix it up with a bunch of photos, okay?

We moved into this place with no furniture but two director's chairs with our names on them that we got from the Lights Out production. David was alone here for the first two weeks because I was in Sweden packing down all our things in our apartment there, so he bought a mattress and stuff for his home office. And stuff like pots and pans and plates and pillows and sheets- from IKEA.
We didn't have money for more than that for a while so for a couple of weeks we ate all our meals in the guest room/office on our director's chairs, or on the empty living room floor.

Love how the large living room window has two palm trees outside but all you can see are their waists...

After a couple of weeks we bought a dining table. We have a Pinterest board for our apartment where we pin things we want to buy/are inspired by, and we had searched high and low for the perfect dining room table. We wanted it to be large and rustic and not cost a million dollars. I'll let you know that it's harder than it sounds to find a table like that. But one day we found it at Nadeau, a place we had no idea existed that we stumbled upon when looking in a super weird furniture store across the street where they sold RIDICULOUSLY expensive and ugly furniture. We couldn't believe our luck when we found our dining table at this random place, and it was super affordable and exactly what we wanted.

The chairs arrived a week or two later. And the rug is our latest addition. Because we have been taking our time with the furniture we really love the stuff that we do buy. We have a clear idea of how we want the place to look and its so AWESOME to see it come to life. David has never thought himself interested in these things before, but now it's like he has understood the fun of it. I think it's because we have thought it through for a long time now, adding pins to our pinterest folder and trying to imagine what things we want, and for every piece of furniture we add it gets clearer and clearer that it's turning out exactly like we wanted it.

I want our home to be filled with plants and one thing that I did in Sweden was to plant seeds I either found outdoors or came from fruit I ate. I think that makes the whole indoor gardening thing more interesting! I had a Mango plant that I loved so the first thing I did in our new American home was to plant a mango seed. They grow insanely fast.

At first the leaves are a purple brown color.

But then they turn green and strong.

I love my mango plant!

This is a little lemon plant.

So far I use the ugly cardboard boxes as plant stands, but the idea is to get a long bench underneath that window. It's not easy to find though, most benches are too low and too short. I'm thinking of making one myself instead.

A window made for people watching.

If you follow my instagram you've seen my hashtag #LottasOverambitiousWaterDrinks where I share photos of what's really just pimped up water in pretty light. I go through quite a lot of citrus fruits...

The blood oranges really turn the kitchen counter into a murder scene (Also: Tiled kitchen counters, America? Are you stupid? It's IMPOSSIBLE to keep clean).

Pretty colors. Water, blood orange and fresh mint.

One day I bought a big fern because I've always wanted one and they remind me of when I was a kid and my parents had one that was huge.

The pretty secretary desk you can see a little of here is my office. I sit at the dining table and work and keep all my stuff in this desk. We found it at an antique store and I LOVE it. It's from the late 50s and it's Swedish, funnily enough.

The vintage tins are actually from my collection in Sweden. I brought them with me filled with jewelry making stuff and other things I didn't want to live without. I've collected old tins for years and these are some of my favorites.

I've gone cuckoo for tulips this spring. It's partly because of this dream of turning our home into a jungle but until I have all the plants I want I'll just fill it out with fresh tulips.

Kitchen window still life. Tulip in glass bottle, hair tie and a jacaranda seed pod on a jar lid.

And then the tulip died and I documented that too.

I probably should throw out these tulips now...

...but it's like confetti on our table!

Last sunday we bought the big plant to the left. I think it's some kind of Schefflera. It's bright and happy!

And then this morning. Too much stuff on the table, a sweater hung to dry on a chair, and now we really do have a jungle on the table. I have bought so many plants online. Mostly on Amazon. It's actually really good plants! I have two Monstera's, one Rubber plant, two Schefflera's, one Prayer plant, one heart fern, one Fiddle Leaf Fig and some other plants I don't know the name of that we bought on a flea market.

I really enjoy documenting the journey this apartment is on. All these photos were taken with my Nikon D7000 over the course of four months. We've lived here for quite a while now without a lot of furniture and it makes the changes we do to the space feel bigger. Think of this as The Slowest Interior Design Program EVER.
I'll probably be back in a few month with an update, so I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our home.

/Lotta

Hej!
Sometimes time just goes and I realize I've been doing things and my blog hasn't felt it. I'm not even talking about you guys reading this because I know you won't care. But I don't want to hurt my blog's feelings, you know? Okay, maybe you don't know, but anywhoooo.
I was looking through my photos and thought 67 pics are probably like... 37... pics too many? So I tried to find a theme and when I couldn't do that I decided to make up a completely dumb theme and just roll with it.
So here it is: three things or places or stuff that happened maybe a month ago. I know, I know: I'm SO up to date here. But humor me, okay?

You remember when David and I were in San Francisco, right? The long drive there featured a bunch of truck stops in the middle of nowhere, and on one of them I decided to look around a little and maybe snap some photos.

I struck gold with this car cemetery in the desert!

AND it was also the home of a whole bunch of feral kittens!

I mean. That is Truck Stop Gold right there.

I also convinced David that we needed to take some jumping photos, so you could say I was happy already- not even close to San Francisco!
I actually really like driving places with David. Well, I don't drive because I don't have a driver's license (I KNOW!) but so often when we're going somewhere by car and we're in the middle of nowhere and there's music and just roads and we are in frickin' USA and life is so wonderful and I'm just STRUCK by this magical feeling of happiness and I don't even KNOW because it's not like it was any different the morning before but it's like the open road gives me perspective or something and yeah, this was one long ass sentence so I'll put a period on this now.

And our hotel in SF was old and decorated in a wonderfully freaky way. I mean, this photo is proof enough, right?

We had a wonderful couple of days in SF and it felt awesome to be able to stroll around in a city where it's more people than just me and the homeless out walking. (Seriously LA! The sidewalks are meant to walk on! Try it for once!)

Pretty view and loveydovey us.

Around easter my sister, her kids and their friend Rebecka came to visit us. I was so excited! Here I'm sitting and waiting and listening for sounds of a jet lagged bunch of Swedish people tumbling up the stairs.

It was so great to have them all here! I took them to all the great spots.

My niece Hilda- Already a star in Hollywood.

We went to LA Zoo of course!

And I took a selfie with a giraffe.

And we went to Santa Monica pier where it was windy as all hell.

Alfred running on the beach!

I took my sister, Sara, to UCB for a musical improv show that I love- and she of course loved it too!

When they had went back to Sweden again I felt a little like this. So tired. And the apartment was so quiet. And strange. And happy that it went so well- now we know they can come back many times!

The last thing/place/whatever is a Sunday hike to where they shot the tv series M*A*S*H. It was quite the long walk there and when we reached the spot it turned out to be the least exciting part of the entire hike.
But that doesn't mean it was boring because OMG this was a beautiful place!
I found an abundance of spooky trees, for one thing!

I climbed a few of them. And balanced high up and hoped that I wouldn't fall before the self timer had gone off so I at least would get a nice photo before I'd break all the bones in my body.
I didn't fall though. Surprising everybody (well, David), but mostly myself.

The mountains and green fuzzy hills give me so many creative ideas, you have NO idea.

Just like road trips with this guy makes me indescribably happy, seeing wondrous nature like this together makes me smile from ear to ear. It just smacks me in the head: the beautiful surroundings, the adventure, the love. And that's how you know it's kissing selfie time!

That was all from me today.
And, can we just pretend the theme was solid and perfect and you bought it completely? Okay? Thanks.

/Lotta

Hej!
High time for a new blog post, right?

These past couple of weeks have been a constant stream of reminders of how crazy our lives have become. Since Lights Out went viral we haven't been able to stop and think and I believe that it'll be years before we know for sure what all this meant for us.
When I was a kid I used to hope and dream for something like this. I wanted to be an actor, I wanted to be recognized for my work. And sometimes I dreamed of being famous. You know in that childish way of thinking; that being a celebrity must be the best thing ever. Being adored by fans, going on talkshows and having you're name in all the big magazines. I don't want to be famous in that way anymore, not really. It scares me to think of the lives huge celebrities have. Never being free to just go outside without paparazzi chasing you, always having to be a perfect version of yourself- a version that probably isn't even real, always being judged on your appearance, and so on.
I just want to act and make movies.
But I can't lie and say that these two couple of weeks haven't been awesome. Because they have made that child in me scream "DREAM COME TRUE!!!". It's been lovely, no scary side effects- just crazy fun!
So let me tell you about it, okay?

A couple of weeks ago we went to CinemaCon in Las Vegas to promote Lights Out. We flew in a private plane filled with celebrities. Samuel L Jackson, Alexander Skarsgård (yay, fellow swede!), Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Eddie Redmayne and like twenty other famous actors were on the same flight as us. My mouth was turned into a huge smile the entire trip. And then we arrived in Vegas and realized almost all of Hollywood was there, and we were the only people invited that no one recognized. It was a crazy day.
I was introduced to Jared Leto and I can't remember a single thing we talked about. We did a press line- that's when journalists stand in a line and the actors and directors walk from interview to interview and answer the same question a million times over. David and I sometimes had to wait a little after we had done one interview before going on to the next, because we're not nearly as interesting as Amy Adams or Will Smith...

And then we took press photos on a red carpet thing. Almost like the press line when we talked to journalists, but here it was the photographers that stood in line taking our picture. We look so calm and collected here, but let me tell you- it was nerve wracking!

It was so cool to see the Lights Out teaser poster at Caesar's Palace!

This picture is here to demonstrate how tired we were after that day in Vegas.

Last saturday we were tagged in a photo on instagram from the event Monsterpalooza in Pasadena just outside of Los Angeles. It was a photo of one of the displays there, one that was a tribute to our short Lights Out. We found out it was going to be there the next day too so on sunday we drove to Pasadena. Happy and excited, as you can tell.

Look at this thing! It's a sculpture made by The Scary Closet and it's so incredibly detailed it's crazy! The guy who made this, Mark, was super nice and we were so happy to be able to see him and his work in person.

You do know that I am both the woman and the monster in the short Lights Out, right? Yep, it's true! That's me!
If you don't believe me you can see this little clip on how David altered my face to look like the monster.

We got to sign the doll in the back of the head, and then some fans came up and wanted to take pictures with us, which felt really cool.

Then on tuesday David and I were guests on the podcast Modern Horror. It's actually been a real dream come true for me to be on a podcast. As the daughter of a radio journalist I think it's now in my genes to love being on the radio. Every time I've had the opportunity to be on Swedish radio (three or four times, because of Lights Out when it went viral) I've loved it so much and podcast has a more relaxed and casual tone to it that I really like.
Anyways, the guys over at Modern Horror were awesome, and if you want to listen to the podcast you can do that here. We're on at 32 minutes into the program if you want to go right to our part of the show. We talk about the entire journey of turning a short into a feature and the crazy adventure we're on right now.

On Wednesday David and I were invited to our first Hollywood Movie Premiere. It was for the Key and Peele movie Keanu. We really looked forward to seeing what happens at an event like this, since we have our own to attend in July when Lights Out premieres. We saw it as studying for the finals, sort of. So obviously I wanted to look like I fit in.

I love how David sneaks into my super glam selfie!

And then last Thursday David and I went to California State University Fullerton. The film students there (CSUF FMAA) had organized a screening of all of our shortfilms and behind the scenes videos and then we did a Q and A. It was absolutely wonderful!
We felt so welcome and like our story could actually inspire them in their future work. That is the best feeling for us. After the Q and A we took pictures and selfies with almost everyone and we even signed a few autographs. I've never felt more like a celebrity!
When we drove home afterwards it was with warm cheeks and hearts, and I can definitely say that THAT night was the best Dream Come True moment of them all. It was real and honest and just perfect.

Every day we are struck by this feeling of WOW! But every day we are also just living our lives. And I think that the thing that has hit me the most in this adventure is how we experience all of it the same way we would everything else in our lives. We are (obviously) the same people we were before we made a short that went viral, and every day that goes by I realize that I'm never going to turn into someone else. So if I someday end up on a talkshow I will probably, most certainly, be a total wreck before and during the interview, and I will have red cheeks and I'll talk a little too fast, and snort when I laugh, and I will for sure tell a story that is a little bit embarrassing for myself, but you know what? That's how I want it to go, because that cool and collected person from my childhood dreams just isn't me. And the Dream Come True moments wouldn't feel as huge if I wasn't acting like myself. Horse giggle and all.

Hej!
What a weekend!
David and I went to WonderCon for the Lights Out marketing and first reveal of the Lights Out trailer and the internet went bonkers.
Let's take a look at all the shenanigans we were up to!

(David and I even made t-shirts!)

But first things first: The trailer!

It feels really great that there's actually proof of this movie out in the world now. And that I'm in it too! AWESOME! I'll be in the beginning of the movie and as you can see in the trailer it's a big nod to the shortfilm.

The official Warner Bros upload is here and if you want to tweet about it, make sure to hashtag with #LightsOut.

Like I mentioned earlier David and I went to Wondercon on Saturday. It was such a blast! We sat on the stage of the HUGE Microsoft Theatre and talked about how Lights Out went from a short to a feature. Maria Bello was there (she's in the movie!) and James Wan who's producing Lights Out. It was so much fun to be a part of all that.

After the panel David and I talked to a whole bunch of journalists in a Press Line. FUN and quite exhausting.
David also spoke one on one with a few journalists, and then we could roam around WonderCon! A few fans came up and talked with us and that felt so lovely! To see some of you for real.

My sister and her kids are in LA for a week. It was so great to have her in town for this crazy Hollywood experience, and to be able to show her all of it!

When the trailer was uploaded to the internet comments started to pour in.
Because this entire journey started on the internet we love to read all the comments, and we try to keep up with everything that's happening. This time it was harder because it was just EVERYWHERE!
I have seen a lot of wonderful comments mentioning me though and I thought I'd share some of them here since they've made me so happy.

I want you to know that even if my part in the Lights Out feature isn't a very big one your comments make me so happy and sure that this is just the beginning. The fact that you want to see me on the big screen, that you root for me, makes me very hopeful and warm inside. So THANK YOU for that!

I am so proud of the journey that David and I have made so far. From making 0 budget shorts in our apartment in Sweden, to being in LA turning our shortfilm into a feature film for a big Hollywood studio. It has gone so fast!
And this is just the very start. We have more shorts to make, and we have more full length movies to make. And it is so lovely to have all of you supporting us along the way.

Love
/Lotta