Every year in Utah my family goes to celebrate Swedish Midsommar with the Swedish Heritage Society at the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake City. Now that we are in DC, Jeff and I were forced to fend for ourselves and host our own midsommar party.
One of the more central ideas of Midsommar is actually getting out of the city - heading off into the country and celebrating nature. Of course, we live in the very heart of the city...and our flowers all had to be store-bought. However, we are so lucky to have a lovely little backyard perfect for a few tomato plants and parties!
You don't need much to throw a delightful midsommar celebration! Just invite a few good friends -
Have a table laden with simple, delicious food -
and of course, a big decorated maypole!
Ha - got ya! That is actually a bit of trick photography! Our maypole was actually only a few feet tall. It reminded me some of mine and Jeff's first Christmas tree, small and dainty but a promising start for the years to come.
We got creative in order to fashion our own maypole. Our friend Ross (an engineer - the perfect person to approach with a problem like building a maypole in our backyard) brought some pieces of wood that we nailed together, and we used the stand from our Christmas tree as a base.
We used wire to attach our foliage and flowers. True height shown here..not quite even waist-high!
Once the pole was complete it was time to work on our flower crowns.
There is something so special about wearing a flower crown. I always feel so beautiful, happy and creative as long as it is on my head - maybe I should be wearing one every day?
Decked out in our floral headpieces, we sat down to dinner.
On our menu was meatballs, potatoes with dill, cucumber salad, knäckebröd with cheese, blueberries and strawberries with cream, a delicious fruity drink, mazariner and pinocchio torte. 
Eating outside with good food, good friends and good conversation is the best part of summer.
After dinner it was time for dancing! We danced all of our favorite Swedish songs, Små Grodorna, Karusellen, Mormors Lilla Kråka - and Jeff and I even attempted to teach everyone a bit of Schottis. 
Boys can wear crowns too -
Then, as the beautiful light we are celebrating grew dim we sat around eating dessert and discussing big ideas and dreams.
Summer is so wonderful.Labels: Scandihoovian & Scandinavian