thoughts

Prepared for Luck?

/ thoughts, traffic safety

One day, on the way home from visiting down town, a friend of mine found himself in the middle of a serial collision during rush hour. In his back seat was his four-year old son. The police arrived and checked on all drivers and passengers. The police were so happy to see his son in a good booster seat with the seat belt properly attached. My friend was prepared for luck.
Way too often, the policemen see the horrifying results of children not using booster seats and/or seat belts when the unexpected accident hits.

Stuffed moose in the back seat with safety reflectors but no booster seat
Our buddy should have had a booster seat to avoid the seat belt across his throat. On the other hand, he’s just a stuffed moose…


My friend and his son were taken in for checkups at the emergency room. Luckily they were both fine, although of course still a bit chocked. He is the kind of person that always wears his seat belt and insists on everyone in the car doing so all the time. So how lucky was he? Of course, he was very lucky!
The cars could have been going much faster when they slammed into each other, he could have got a nasty whiplash injury to his spine, his son could have… On the other hand, he had prepared himself the best he could to get through an accident with as little injury as possible. He had bought his son the best booster seat he could find and they were both belted in properly. He was prepared to be lucky – or as Louis Pasteur expressed it: “Luck favors the prepared mind”.

Shamrock safety reflectors for good luck
Funflector® shamrocks increase your chances of being lucky. One shamrock for each beer…

Prepare for Luck on St. Patricks Day

People used to prepare to be lucky by carrying rabbit’s feet and four-leaf clover. If you are lucky enough to get a couple of beers during tonight’s St. Patrick’s day bar-hopping, how prepared are you to get home safely? Did you know that adult men, who are out walking late at night or early morning after a couple of drinks are at high risk of getting into traffic accidents?  Penn (of Penn & Teller) is quoted as saying “Luck is probability taken personally,” so why not increase the probability and your chances of being lucky by upgrading to a reflective shamrock?

(Psst. If you don’t believe in four-leaf clovers, a baseball or basketball funflector® tag will work equally well.)
Have fun and enjoy St. Patrick’s day!

Elisabeth

Prepared for Luck? Read More »

Uninstalling Winter…

/ thoughts

I was working on a headline for this blog post when the following uninstalling winter image popped up on my facebook wall:

Uninstalling winter
Uninstalling winter

Uninstall Winter—isn’t that what we do in the world of ubiquitous technology we  live in? What a brilliant assembly of a couple of characters! Thanks Ing-Marie!

Along with most Scandinavians, spring is what keeps me going during the dark and cold winter months. We all cherish the returning warmth of the sun this time of year.
The snow piles are melting and March is here with sunshine and rain! What other signs of spring are there?

two boys with baseball and paw print safety reflectors
Safety reflectors for when the evening still comes early


– Baseball spring training has started. The Cubs are in HoHoKam park just east of Phoenix, AZ, while the White Sox are on the northwest side, in Glendale. Little League is also taking off with some indoor camps. Put some safety reflectors on your kids for when they play outside and darkness falls before they notice. Happy time for all baseball fans!

Final countdown to Dairy Dream opens in Libertyville IL
Final countdown week 🙂


– The weekly countdown at our local Dairy Dream is down to zero weeks—just one more day before it reopens! This time the sidewalks were mostly cleared from heaps of snow.
– Despite some recent freezing nights, green sprouts are popping up in my south facing flower beds.

Signs of spring!
Signs of spring!
Shamrock safety reflectors for good luck and spring feelings


– St. Patricks Day is approaching – check out  www.st-patricks-day.com to find events near you. Did you know that adults with alcohol in their blood are at much higher risk than children to get hit by cars in the dark? How about one funflector® tag for each beer?
Enjoy your weekend!
Elisabeth

Uninstalling Winter… Read More »

St. Valentine?

/ thoughts /

We all enjoy celebrations, so of course we will go out for dinner with our love any day. Monday is Valentine’s day, so this weekend you’ll find a lot of good deals at restaurants and get-away hotels. But why February 14th? Isn’t April or May more typical for affectionate love and Valentine’s gifts?

Red Heart Safety Reflector for Valentine's Day
Red Heart Safety Reflector for Valentine’s Day


Curious about the origin of this romantic holiday, I set out with the Swedish “Nationalencyklopedin”, Wikipedia and some google searches to get a trustworthy basis for a blog post. But bah, what a mess! Just like the Swedish Lucia, Valentine’s day  seems to be a coincidence between one or even several pagan traditions and the name in the (old) Roman Catholic Saint’s Calender on that day.

Theories about Valentine’s Day

One, and probably the most popular, legend is about the priest Valentine who was martyred about AD 270. He had befriended and fallen in love with his jailer’s daughter and left her a letter signed “from your Valentine”. However, there are several saints named Valentine connected with this day. In 1969, they were removed from the Roman Catholic saints calendar. There was too little known about their deeds and lives.
Another theory is that the traditions of Valentine’s day come from the Roman celebration of Juno, Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses, which was followed by the Festival of Lupercalia. By drawing names from a jar, girls and boys were randomly paired to be partners during the festival and or course some partnership turned into love affairs. Later on, the church tried to tone down the tradition by using saints’ instead of the girls’ names to be drawn.

Funflector safety reflectors make perfect Valentines gifts for those you love and care about
Funflector safety reflectors make perfect gifts for those you love and are easy to send with a Valentines card.


“Nationalencyklopedin” states that today’s celebrations stem from a pagan belief that the birds started to mate on this day. However, reading in wikipedia make me think that the pagan belief might have originated from a poem written in 1382 by Geoffrey Chaucer. Parlement of Foules was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia and not really about mating birds. In more modern English line 309-310 would be
“For this was Saint Valentine’s Day,
when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”
After quite some digging around, the only conclusions seems to be that no one really knows. Without big parades and serious speeches, this day is for you and your loved one to do something special. So just enjoy it your way!
Elisabeth

St. Valentine? Read More »

Ready for SPRING?

/ thoughts

Right now, all of the Midwest is waiting for the BIG BLIZZARD. They say it’s going to be worse than in ’67, and the shelves in the grocery stores have been emptied in no time. The only positive sign is that the groundhog is very unlikely to see it’s shadow in only two days, so hopefully spring will be here soon despite the weather forecast. After two unusually cold and cloudy months, I’m definitely ready for spring! The yearning for spring and the return of the warming sun, budding trees and sprouting flowers is deeply rooted in the Swedish soul, but it turns out, I’m not alone.

Shamrock four-leaf clover safety reflectors
Shamrock safety reflector (Update 2017: discontinued, but check out our globetrotter collection)


1. Our blog dog Maggie does not like walks in the snow, especially on sidewalks with salty snow. Leather shoes look terrible after walking outside, so it is easy to imagine that it is uncomfortable if it is your skin. However, Maggie is no longer a puppy and needs plenty of exercise so everyone in the house is looking forward to long walks on dry sidewalks.

Dairy Dream Libertyville - Sign

2. Right after Christmas, stores get rid of their remaining mittens and winter hats at bargain prices to make space for swim suits and short sleeved shirts. Have they never heard about kids loosing their mittens or hats? Or wearing them out? The kids at our bust stop don’t need swim suits in January, they need more mittens. A whole bunch of them are wearing non matching mittens this time of year to keep their fingers warm. Kids grow and some kids grow fast. No matter how long their snow pants were in October, by now they are short enough to slip above the edge of the boot and let snow in. You might be able to find new ones on sale, but most sizes are gone by now.

3.  Treadmills and cross trainers are a blessing to keep in shape this time of year when sidewalks often are bumpy and slippery. However, a walk through a forest or a neighborhood with trees, bushes and flowers, singing birds and fresh air will make your entire body feel more relaxed and refreshed.

4. Nature has an amazing effect on overactive kids as well. Even if playing in the snow is fun, spring and warmer weather brings the play-outside-from-dawn-to-dusk that very few kids enjoy on cold days.

Dairy Dream Libertyville closed

5. Six more weeks until Dairy Dream open their windows again! The old railroad, turned bike path, offers a relaxing environment for a family walk or bike trip and it goes right by Dairy Dream. Hopefully, the snow and the puddles are gone in six weeks. March feels far away, but we are closely monitoring the count down!

heart safety reflectors for valentine

While we wait for spring at the glimling office, we enjoy ourselves with some cheerful new funflector™ tags! The hearts come in many red and pink shades and you can still order in plenty of time for Valentine’s Day. We have also stocked up for the first big spring holiday (at least in the Chicago area), St. Patrick’s Day! Our shamrocks come in three green shades. Show off your Irish spirit and improve the odds of coming home safely after celebrating at the pub… (Update 2017: discontinued, but check out our globetrotter collection)

The funflector team

Ready for SPRING? Read More »

Sustainable Neighborhood?

/ thoughts, traffic safety /

Earlier today, I took a short walk to shoot some pictures for the next blog post. Normally, the walk takes about 5 minutes and I looked forward to getting away from my computer and getting moving, so taking the car was not even considered. Little did I think about all the unshoveled sidewalks along the busy highway. Not only were the sidewalks not shoveled, but they were also used to pile up the snow from the thoroughly cleaned driveways.

Cross walk to nowhere (actually to unshoveled sidewalks)
Cross walk to nowhere

The footsteps I followed on the bumpy path told me I wasn’t the only one attempting to walk there.

Sidewalk for happy pedestrians.

We often read and hear about the need for building a more sustainable society. This isn’t something that just “others” need to do in big bold moves. Everyone can contribute by adding one little habit at a time. Reuse, reduce, recycle are the obvious pillars, but the connection between shoveled sidewalks and a sustainable society might be less obvious. If you build a house according to the LEED standard, you get quite some bonus points for a location that makes it easy to walk or bike to stores, restaurants, libraries, churches etc. What’s the point of that if the sidewalks are full of snow and ice?
Next time you shovel your driveway, please add a few minutes for a cleaner sidewalk. It would be a very appreciated thank-you gift to the pedestrians who are not polluting the air we all breathe!
Elisabeth

Sustainable Neighborhood? Read More »

Happy New Year!

/ thoughts / , ,

A very exciting year in my life has come to an end. It’s not the first time I’ve done a one-of-a-kind job without a given path. However, launching a business and a new line of stylish safety reflectors on the American market has certainly been (and still is) more challenging than any endeavor I’ve taken on before.

Shamrock safety reflectors for good luck when launching a business

I’d like to send a huge thank you to everyone supporting this  project of launching a business!!! Without customers, we would already have closed our doors, so thanks to both individuals and store owners for buying our funflector™ tags! Thanks also to Village Green Montessori and the Red Rose Childen’s Choir of Lake County, who gave us the privilege of organizing very successful funflector™ fundraisers. It has been a pleasure to work with our sales representatives and we are looking forward to expanding that cooperation in 2011. Our blog readers, facebook fans and twitter followers mean a lot to us, so thanks for staying tuned. The factory in Sweden is a great partner, patiently answering all our questions and discussing our ideas. Thanks also very much to family and friends for promoting our fun safety reflectors and giving a helping hand when needed. THANKS!

Heart safety reflectors in reds and pinks for valentine

While the Champagne is cooling, we are busy shipping some new funflector tags to our sales reps. The basketballs arrived yesterday along with shamrocks and hearts. What better way is there to tell your loved ones that you love them and want them to stay safe than with a funflector™ heart for Valentine’s Day?

Basketball safety reflector for jackets and bags

The new funflector® safety reflectors will be available in our web shop next week. If you want them immediately, just contact us and we’ll ship them on Monday.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Elisabeth

Happy New Year! Read More »

Little Christmas Eve

/ thoughts / , ,

Finally, Christmas is almost here! In Sweden, Christmas countdown has arrived to “lill-julafton” – little Christmas Eve. The fact that even the days before Christmas have names, may tell you how important Christmas used to be – and still is!

The countdown starts with the first Sunday of Advent (this year Nov. 28) which kicks off adventsfika (afternoon coffee with Christmas cookies and sweet buns), Christmas concerts and – by now long ago – Christmas shopping.

Paper advent calenders are still popular and starts on the 1st of December. You open a little door every day from December 1st to Christmas Eve (24th) to see what is drawn on the sheet behind. There are available in America as well, but most commonly filled with a piece of candy instead of pictures. The most popular Swedish advent calender is, however, “Julkalendern” a kid’s TV show with one short episode every day. Every year is different and most of the shows are by many considered to be the best Swedish TV productions for for kids. It started in the 60’s and caught on quickly in the neighboring Scandinavian countries. For another few weeks, you can catch up with this year’s Swedish julkalender on SVT play.

Lucia is the next big event, celebrated on December 13th as I described in our previous blog post.

After Lucia, Swedes get busy getting their Christmas food, bread, sweets, trees and gifts ready. Rooted in the times when most people were farmers and had to prepare all the meat from their Christmas pig, there are many dishes on the “julbord”, a Swedish smörgåsbord with the addition of a Christmas ham.

The julbord is served on the 24th. It is also the day when tomten (the Swedish Santa Claus) visits late afternoon to give gifts to all nice children. The blog “Celebrate Christmas like a Swede” has a wonderful description of what we do. Look under the heading “Things we do and dates to remember” except that they forgot “annandag jul”. Literally it means “second day Christmas” and it is another holiday to do nothing or shop for bargains at the first day of the Christmas sale.

Christmas tree on Little Christmas Eve

This Christmas tree has an eclectic mix of ornaments from Europe and America. With that we thank you for being our reader and wish you

Merry Christmas – God Jul – Frohe Weihnachten – Joyeux Noël
Hyvää Joulua – Glædelig jul – Buon Natale – Feliz Navidad

the glimling team

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Lovely Darkness

/ news, thoughts / , , , , ,

Imagine early morning before sunrise when the darkness of the season feels heavy. All of a sudden, there is a faint singing in the distance and the doorway is lit up by a woman in a long white gown, wearing a wreath with candles on her head. Lucia, her maidens, and the “star boys” follow and bring light, joyful singing, coffee and sweet saffron rolls.

A "star boy" in the Lucia procession add some light to the darkness.
A “star boy” in the Lucia procession.

The night of the 13th, the day of Lucia in the saints’ calender, was the longest night in the medieval calender. To the fend off the darkness and the dark forces, one had to eat several meals before dawn. Feasting on food from the Christmas slaughter eventually turned into Lucia who brings light, coffee and saffron rolls before dawn.

Swedish saffron buns for Lucia by the glimling blog
Swedish saffron buns (“lussekatter”) for Lucia.

This year’s Lucia on Swedish Television has a beautiful mix of traditional Lucia carols and modern songs and is available until January 13. In the Swedish neighborhood Andersonville in Chicago Lucia will be celebrated tonight at 4.45 and at 7. See The Swedish American Museum for more info.

Lucia choir by the Swedish School in Chicago.
Lucia choir by the Swedish School in Chicago.

Lucia is no longer the darkest day of the year: we have another week to go before it gets brighter again. Fend off the dark forces and especially pedestrian traffic accidents with some joyful safety reflectors!

How dark is it where?

If you belong to those who tell us that you are never out in the dark, please think again! This is when the sun sets today in a few cities – and remember that dusk starts earlier!

Anchorage – 3:41 pm

Montreal – 4:11 pm

Boston – 4:12 pm

Vancouver – 4:14 pm

Chicago – 4:20 pm

Toronto – 4:21 pm

New York – 4:29 pm

Minneapolis – 4:32 pm

Denver – 4:36 pm

Washingotn DC – 4:47 pm

San Fransisco – 4:51 pm

Indianapolis – 5:20 pm

Dallas – 5:22 pm

Honolulu – 5:51 pm

Of course, none of these places are as dark as the Nordic countries—Oslo (3:11 pm), Stockholm (2:47 pm), Helsinki(3:12 pm), but if your kids have any after school activities or you work normal office hours, you are bound to be out in the dark in most of these places. Get sunset and sunrise in your own city at timeanddate.com. Once you have your city, click the “Sun & Moon” tab.

Enjoy the darkness and stay safe!

Elisabeth

Lovely Darkness Read More »

Cheerleaders, School Mascots and Spirit Wear

/ thoughts / , , ,

To a non-American, the culture around the school mascot, the school colors, the spirit wear, sports teams and cheerleaders is fascinating.

Libertyville High School spirit wear banner with paw print
LHS Go Cats banner

Here, kids grow up with it from kindergarten and it follows all the way through college and, more often than not, they never let go of “their” team. In Europe, for example, all of that is non-existent (believe it or not) and sports are rarely connected with schools or colleges.

Paw print and football spirit wear safety reflectors
Paw print and football safety reflectors

Living very close to a high school football field gives my whole family large doses of all of this fine American culture. The week of band practice in August can be tough on our nerves, but other than that, we truly enjoy it. We know when “our” team scores—who in the neighborhood can miss the Wildcat roar? My kids adjusted to all of this in no time after our transatlantic move. The first season we lived here, they would stop their outdoor play at the beginning of every high school match and stand with their hands on their hearts for the entire national anthem. Luckily, that has worn off after a couple of years.

Libertyville High School homecoming parade 2010.
Libertyville High School homecoming parade, October 2010.

Homecoming is another phenomenon that’s part of all of this and that takes some time to grasp for a foreigner. According to Wikipedia, “Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back former residents and alumni of an institution.” A parade through town, a football game at home and a dinner ball are often the main events during homecoming weekend. In Libertyville, the highschoolers also help with painting most store windows downtown with scenes from their sports, theater group, etc, in orange and black before this special autumn weekend.

Together with all of this goes the “spirit wear,” that is T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, pants, caps, hats, scarves and sport bags in the school colors and with logo or mascot to pinpoint a specific school. Wristbands, key chains, earrings, hair bows, tea mugs and much more are also standard stuff and don’t forget fleece blankets, seat cushions, earmuffs and more that are needed to enjoy the late fall football games. Often parent’s organizations run the school store as a means to bring in money to support the team.

All the Wildcat’s roars and the paw prints on my kids school papers from their buddy the Bulldog has inspired the funflector® paw print design. With so many Bulldogs, Lions, Tigers, Bears, Wildcats, Cougars, Huskies. Wolverines, Badgers, Jaguars, Wolves and Panthers (did we miss anyone?) out and about this time of year with all sorts of team colors we decided we should have paws in all sorts of colors as well. We have launched a good handful of color combinations and there will be more. If you don’t find your team colors, just let us know!

Why not be safer leaving school, leaving the game or anytime you are out after dark and show your school spiritat the same time? And don’t forget to be proud of your North American school spirit culture!

Elisabeth

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Favorite Places to Put Fun Reflectors 3 – on Halloween Costumes

/ thoughts, traffic safety / , , , , ,

The number one Halloween hazard by far is kids being hit by cars. That’s what we were told on Good Morning America the other day where they urged everyone to attach safety reflectors on Halloween Costumes. The funflector® safety reflectors will do the trick! They are high quality reflectors, fulfilling the European standard E13356, which means they can be visible to drivers from about 500 ft. Earlier this week, we did a funflector fundraiser at a local preschool. One of the teachers, who had happened to drive by during the photo session along the highway commented: “Wow, were they bright! Now, I really understand how useful the safety reflectors are.”

Best Halloween safety tips - attach safety reflectors to your costume
We have equipped this nasty witch for Halloween with several high quality reflectors!

The ball chains that come with funflector® safety reflectors are meant to be attached to zipper pulls and loops. So what do you do when the robe of your grim reaper has none of that?

Attach Safety Reflectors with Safety Pins

Even if we don’t recommend it for everyday use, safety pins allow us to temporarily put the reflectors wherever we’d like them. Put the safety pin through the seam (through as many layers as possible) of the garment to avoid the Halloween costumes tearing and reflectors getting lost. Low down is good—that’s where headlights shine the most. On the witch’s dress, we attached it at the bottom of the side seam to let the funflector® safety reflector dangle below the hemline. With one cat on each side, she should be visible from all directions.

Attach safety reflectors with a safety pin
Our witch is wearing one of her black cats at ankle height. It dangles nicely below the hemline making her visible from multiple directions.

Attach Safety Reflectors on Mesh Material

It is easy to stick the chain through the mesh material that some costumes are made with. Put it through several layers or around a seam to avoid ripping. The witch’s hat has a large bow made from mesh material, so we just put it through several layers.

Attach safety reflectors in the mesh material of the Halloween costume
Attach safety reflectors in the mesh material. Put the chain through several layers for strength.

Attach Safety Reflectors on Belts and Straps

Many costumes have a belt. If the belt is too wide for the ball chain, put a loop made from a piece of string around the belt and slip the ball chain trough the loop. Please DO NOT replace the chain with a string! The chain is designed to break if it gets firmly hooked on something, so that the wearer doesn’t become stuck. A strong string may harm your child.

Attach Safety Reflectors on Eyelets

Our witch’s dress has some eyelets on the front which came in very handy for a few more safety reflectors.

Attach safety reflectors through the holes of any eyelets.
Attach safety reflectors through the holes of any eyelets.

Attach Safety Reflectors with Tape

The ball chain can also be taped to handles of light sabers, scythes, brooms, swords or magic wands, alerting drivers when your kids are busy fending off evil spirits on the loose.

Beyond that, use your imagination and common sense to find suitable places to attach reflectors and let us know what original ways you come up with! The glimling team wishes you a fun and safe Halloween. 🙂

Elisabeth

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