I would just like to share something positive in the current situation we live in today...

• Traffic is gone
• Gas is affordable
• Bills extended
• Kids are at home with their families
• Parents are home taking care of their children
• Fast food is replaced by home cooked meals
• Hectic schedules replaced by naps, rest and relaxation
• The air seems cleaner
• The world is quieter
• People are conscious about hygiene and health
• Doctors and nurses are being praised and recognized instead of athletes and celebrities
• We now have the time to smell the roses

It seems to me like this was God's way of telling us to slow down and stop destroying his world!

A question I get pretty often is how and why I moved from my hometown and my family to The USA. I am about to do a Q & A video and one of the questions I got was exactly this. I figured I will make a separate post about this because it will be quite lengthy!

So in the picture below you can see me at the farm I grew up on. I think I was about 9 years here.

My hometown is Söderköping, located about 2 hours south of Stockholm on the east coast of Sweden. I had such a happy childhood and I come from a big, loud and very opinionated family. I am the youngest of 6 siblings and since as far back as I can remember, I have always loved animals. Horses, cats, dogs, sheep, pigs, lambs, cows and rabbits. All the animals I grew up with and spent time with every day.

Truly a country girl at heart!

I was never the cool kid in school. A bit dorky but friends with everyone. When the others in my class started to go out at night I never had any interested whatsoever. All I wanted to do was to be home on our farm and ride my horses.

Driving tractors was another thing I always loved.. The bigger the better! For you who don't know me, I actually drove one of these (John Deere) to school. That is how country I am!

But in my teenage years a dream was growing in me. I wanted to go to America. That has been my goal for the longest, I really wanted to go to the states. I visioned a big farm in Texas, or maybe a life in Colorado. Anywhere in the states was my goal! Never did I think that I would end up in New York City LOL

My dream became a plan when I was turning 21. At the time I had worked in a beauty shop, similar to Sephora (Kicks) and I was not happy there. Not at all. I just decided to explore my options and pretty quick I found the "Au Pair" program. At first I was supposed to be gone for an entire year but unfortunately my mother got diagnosed with breast cancer and my world broke apart .

When my mom eventually was healthy again I decided to go to America and become an Au Pair. I found a summer program and that felt much better. I didn't want to stay abroad for an entire year with my mothers health in jeopardy so I decided to do the 4 months. It was perfect. This is a good & safe option if you are young and want to live in America for a period of time. The agency will arrange a visa for you, there will always be someone making sure you are OK and safe, you won't have any bills to pay and you can always go back home if you don't like it!

When you sign up for an Au Pair program you can not decide where/what state to go to. If that was the case everyone would probably pick LA, NYC or Miami. So this is truly like a lottery. My ticket got me a family in Baltimore, Maryland.

As an Au Pair you have to spend a week at the "Nanny school" in Long Island and learn some basic info about American law, driving with children in the car, culture, safety etc..

I found some old photos from the beginning of my adventure! This is a photo from the airport with other Au Pairs!

The school in Long Island NY where we spent a week. One day the teachers brought us to Manhattan and I fell in love right away with NYC!

I gained so much weight this summer! OMG, I was eating everything I never had before. Taco Bell, molten chocolate cake, Cheetos, dipping dots, Eggos, Reeses peanutbutter cups etc etc etc. America sure knows how to make you fat!

These are the 3 Swedish girls I met who lived nearby me. Emma, Cecilia and Sandra. We had so much fun this summer and we are still friends today!

As an Au Pair you work when the parents work. So typically Friday by 5 pm you are off for the rest of the weekend. Me and my newfound friends always spent the weekends together! I had a car so I picked up the girls, then we drove to the closest liquor store and stocked up on the cheapest box wine for the weekend!

We never had any money, I believe we earned about $60/week and that was all spent on partying of course!

Along the way we found additional Swedish girls to add to our gang!

That summer was quickly over. Time flew by so fast and suddenly it was time to fly back home to Söderköping.

By now, I knew I wanted to live in America. Not only be here for few months - I wanted to find a way back here and continue my American adventure.

It took me a year but I got very lucky. It just happened, I guess it was meant to be.

A friend of a friend knew somebody who was looking for a flight attendant for a private jet. Somehow my name had come up in conversation and I decided to interview with the pilot, Daniel. He is truly the reason I ended up in NYC and I am forever grateful for the opportunity I was given! THANK YOU DANIEL!

As many of you might know I have a severe fear of flying. But I saw this as my ticket back to America. I applied for the job, was flown to St Tropez to meet the crew and from there I was sent to NYC for an interview with the owner and management.

The owner of the airplane is a Swedish billionaire who also owns a vodka company. I instantly clicked with them and was also offered a position with the vodka brand. Imagine that!

It was a no brainer for me!

This was back in March of 2007. I went back home to Sweden, packed all my belongings and made the big move to New York City the following week. Everything happened so fast and I can honestly tell you that I had no clue what I was in for.

Now, looking back I think I bit off more than I could chew and if I had known the challenges waiting for me I don't think I would have had the balls to go. Luckily I was clueless about what was ahead of me! A week later I was back in NYC with 2 suitcases, $500 in my pocket, nowhere to live and a job to start the following day - at an office I had no idea how to get to!!

The first week I stayed in the guest room of my bosses bosses boss in Greenwich CT. It is about 1.5 hour north of Manhattan. A very very wealthy town and I loved it there. But of course I couldn't stay long. I had to find my own. A few days later I found an apartment on "Craigslist". It is like the Swedish "Blocket".

Here is when I ran in to my first problem. Moving in with a male stranger who was trying to date me. He waited for me with wine, candles and flowers every night and it got really uncomfortable. I was young, inexperienced and lost in the biggest city in the world. Now living with someone I just wanted to get away from.

At the same time I had just started a new career, a new industry I knew nothing about. I was running out of money, talking English 24/7 was a challenge of its own and I didn't know a single soul in this massive concrete jungle.

This apartment was also located very far away, deep in Brooklyn in a bad neighborhood. Walking around at night was not safe and it was too pricey to take a yellow cab. I could not afford that. Subway was the only option of transportation. It was scary and I was starting to wonder what the hell I had gotten myself in to...

Everybody at work was so nice to me though and I knew I would like it there but it was just so much to learn at once. First of all, getting comfortable with the language was a big one. Learning how to get around in the subway system. That was very important. Christiania vodka and the liquor industry was all new to me. I had to learn everything from scratch, how to sell and where to go and so on. After the first meeting at the office that Monday I was sent out on my own to figure it out. And I sure did!

Christiana Vodka was my first love in America and it taught me so much! Kevin was our CEO and I remember being so intimidated by him. This tall, über smart guy who knew everybody in NYC! I felt like I was a grey little mouse next to him.

Kevin is today one of my closest people I have in my life. I consider him family and he has been my mentor through all these years!

I found myself in an ocean of bars and restaurants with a bottle of vodka in my bag to sell. Creating cocktail menus, training bartenders, planning events and rubbing elbows with "the creme de la creme" of Manhattan was my new life and I learned to master it pretty quick! One of my first "accounts" was "Nikki Beach". This is now about a week in and I am still living in that creepy place far out in Brooklyn.

I suddenly got some wind in my back. The manager at Nikki Beach was moving to Florida and he had to figure out what to do with his apartment. It was a studio apartment in Astoria, Queens. Furnished with a 53 inch TV, mountain bike and rent paid for 3 months by Nikki Beach. George who owned NB was a HUGE reason why I was able to get up on my feet so quick and actually was able to feel like home here. I will never forget your help George!

A year later I had met a new girlfriend (Alexis) and we enjoyed each others company so much that we decided to move in together! We found a 1 bedroom apartment right across the street from my first own apartment and we lived there for a good year together!

30-34 was our door!

Me and Alexis in 2008. We had a major falling out and I never saw her again...

This picture was taken at my birthday 2008. Christiania Vodka gave me an unforgettable birthday party at a loft in SoHo. All my friends were there, open bar, hors d'oeuvres, DJ, photographers, videographers and even a surprise performance!

This is Cecilie and she was my direct boss. This picture was taken in Las Vegas 2008. Love her to death!

After Christiania Vodka I had a period of time that was not that great for personal reasons. But if I fast forward a bit to my next job I was single again and back on the right track.

The rapper "Fat Joe" had started a vodka brand and I was hired as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Kevin was the CEO and we were working as a team again!

Working in the liquor business has been an amazing journey (that I am still on). I am a social butterfly and I am so grateful for all the opportunities I have been given + all the people I have gotten to known over the years!

I have a million crazy stories and I have met so many interesting people I would never even dream of meeting if I stayed in Sweden!

I played poker with Al Pacino one night. It was just the 2 of us and 3 more of his friends in his apartment. We played as a team and he was super cool!!!

Erykah Badu and I travelled together in Africa few years ago. We were invited to the birthday of The King of Swaziland. This is a long story and could be a blogpost of its own!

Mary J Blige and I at "The boom boom room"

This is me and Rihanna on my birthday 2010

One of the few moments I was REALLY star struck! AXL ROSE!!!!

Another story that could be a blogpost. This is me and "Mini Me" Verne Troyer on a plane on our way to Pittsburgh. RIP

Living in a different country is a lot of fun if you feel like that that is what you want to do. But trust me when I say this. It is not always easy to be far away from your family. I have been in situations when I just wanted to be in my mothers arms. I have felt very lonely from time to time. Missing out on birthdays, funerals, holidays and not being there while my nieces and nephews grow up has been a hefty price to pay.

I have been sick, gone through a deep depression and dealt with bad anxiety problems. Just moving apartments without my brothers to help carry anything or any family member just to be there when I need a shoulder to cry on. It has been very difficult at times, so don't think life has always been a party and or an easy dance. Still today it can be hard.

In New York I am Swedish at heart and I do have a way different upbringing and values than people who are born here. It can be very very hard to find close female friends and people to trust. I don't have many and to be very honest... outside of my marriage I am kind of lonely.

Another thing I want to mention is that visa is a tricky situation! I am sure many of you have questions about that. For me, when i first started with Christiania Vodka I was on tourist visa. I had to go every 3 months which was pretty nice but that is NOT to recommend at all. I eventually got a business visa through Christiania and that was valid for 10 years.

Today my status is permanent resident and I plan to continue to be a Swedish citizen!

I hope sharing my journey has been entertaining for you to read and for you with questions, maybe some of them has been answered.

Please put a comment below, I welcome questions and notes from you guys!

First responders, healthcare workers and other essential workers in the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic were honored yesterday by the air force flying over our city, Philly and NJ! Super cool! America strong

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, I had to go to the city and all the way up to northern Bronx to drop some stuff off for work. I enjoy driving through NYC when there is no traffic at all!

Cash and I went to the park, per usual and she can not wait to jump in to the water! Both our dogs love to swim!

We have started watching Ozark on Netflix. So far it is pretty good! If you have any other series or movies that you think I would like, let me know:-)