Bern baby, Bern

Just got back from a trip to Switzerland. I was in Bern for a week teaching, which was wonderful because aside from the success of the classes, Bern happens to be just about the cutest city in the world.


And they have bears!


This is papa bear, who had to be separated from mama bear and the two cubs, because apparently otherwise he would have them for supper. Handsome fellow, don't you think? They were all in this little park just by the river, so close you could just hop over the little fence and hug them. If you were so inclined.

I was very well taken care of in Bern, lots of great outdoor dining and seeing the sights, a jazz concert and an outdoor movie thrown in the mix too. It was really a great week. Also stopped in to see what Swiss H&M had to offer, and they offered me these (in exchange for money of course):

They may not look like much, but these are dreamily soft (made of spiderwebs perhaps?) cropped dropped crotch sweatpants that are perfect for the rest of the hot hot month of august. (Are they sweatpants if they're not fleece? Because they're not. Fleece, that is. I guess they're just pants. Sporty spice perfection pants.)

I also visited a super fun place that the folks I was staying with referred to as The Store That Has Everything You Don't Need. Wrong. I totally need a knit bambi covered mini hot water bottle for the winter. And beautiful japanese paper tape (also known as washi, check out this great site). And a magnet of a deer head.

See? I needed it all, right?