Winter wonderland

This is a satellite picture of Iceland taken two days ago. And right now it's snowing outside, the biggest, fluffiest, most beautiful snowflakes you ever saw, the stuff of only Christmas dreams! Wanna come?

Travelling to Iceland?

And looking for stylish accommodation on a budget? The newly opened KEX hostel is a "trendy social hostel" in Reykjavík and makes me want to play tourist in my hometown. With various choices of rooms, from dorms to hotel style double rooms with private wc's, they cater for every preference. They have an organic café (their breakfast doesn't look like anything I've had in hostels around the world, and I've been in a few!), a gym, a hair salon, a restaurant and a music venue that recently hosted some of the events of the Reykjavík music mess.

The Kex logo  

Kex means biscuit. The building used to be a biscuit factory.

A dorm room

A hotel room 

From one of the hotel rooms

Yoghurt with fresh berries and muesli served in a vintage jam jar... Wouldn't it be perfect when you get friends over for brunch?

I'm guessing you're itching to book your room pronto, so head on over here quick! They're on facebook too.

Geysir shop

Most of us have started planning our summer wardrobes, but as I sit here and listen to the raging snowstorm outside my window, I dream of all the wonderful things available at the Geysir shop in Reykjavík. Things like:

Knee high wool socks...

A wool cape and a white horse (not available at the shop though - the horse that is)...

The wonderful and witty cool and clever designs of Vík Prjónsdóttir...

A Vík Prjónsdóttir blanket to curl up under (I'll take that whole bedroom)...

A cozy Farmer's Market knit...

The classic Hunter rubber boots...

And this lovely piece of clothing.

Ígló kids

Ígló is an Icelandic kids' clothing label and their designs are just adorable!

Don't you think they're adorable?

From their website:

Comfortable & stylish: This is the motto of Scandinavian design company Ígló, which specializes in great quality clothing for boys and girls from newborn to eight.

Ígló is the brainchild of Lovísa Ólafsdóttir and Helga Ólafsdóttir, two friends who happen to share a last name. Both having children of their own, they founded the company, inspired by their own views on what children clothing should entail – and what the children themselves would pick out from their closets.

 

Ígló kids go out in blue, pink, red, purple and yellow clothes, sometimes just one color but often all mixed

Ígló kids love to play outside

Ígló kids do not ask if their clothes match or not - they know they always look good

Ígló kids are our hero's!

And you can even shop here!

Harvesting

I love autumn for so many great things. Autumn/winter collections. Cozy nights in. And harvesting. I've made two variations of rhubarb jam with the rhubarbs from my garden, and I have a kilo (2.2 lbs) of rhubarbs in my freezer I'm going to make rhubarb chutney out of.
I've gone berry picking twice, for some blueberries and crowberries. I think I'll just make plain blueberry jam from the blueberries, or maybe just use them in smoothies. With the crowberries I'll make crowberry jam, crowberry chutney and crowberry schnapps.

Regular rhubarb jam

1k g chopped rhubarbs (2.2 lbs) 

0.8 kg sugar (1.75 lbs)

Simmer until brown (about an hour)

Rhubarb jam deluxe

1 kg chopped rhubarbs (2.2 lbs)

2 apples

0.8 kg sugar (1.75 lbs)

4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

Simmer until brown (about an hour), put in clean jars, close.

I'm proud to say that me and mum came up with this recipe last year!

Blueberry jam

1 kg blueberries (2.2 lbs)

0.7 kg sugar (1.65 lbs)

Simmer for 15-20 minutes, put in clean jars and close.

Crowberry jam

same as blueberry jam

Crowberry chutney

600 gr crowberries (1.3 lbs)

1 red onion, chopped

1-2 apples, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2.5 cm ginger, chopped (1 inch)

1 dl raisins (1.4 fl oz)

2.5 dl brown sugar (8.45 fl oz)

1 dl wine vinegar (1.4 fl oz)

.5 tsp salt

1 tsp mustard seeds

Simmer for 30 minutes, blend lightly with a hand blender, put in jars, close

This is heavenly with cheese!

Crowberry schnapps

Rinse the crowberries carefully.
Leave them to dry in the shadow - on paper towel.
If your berries are frozen - defrost them in the vodka.
Use a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid.
Fill the jar with berries.
Fill up with clear, unflavoured vodka - 40% alcohol content (80 proof).
Steep for 1-3 months or longer - in a dark place at room temperature, 18-20°C (64-68°F).
Shake lightly and taste it from time to time.
Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.

This will be perfect for Christmas!

When I was berry picking I found a lot of this wonderful herb, Mother-of-thyme. I grabbed a whole bunch and dried it and have been using it for tea. It's supposed to calm the stomach, cure colds and coughs and even hangovers... again, perfect for the holidays!

Picture credits: Rhubarb, Blueberry, Crowberry, Mother-of-thyme.

Emami

Another design team I can't believe I haven't told you about before is Emami, a "fresh Scandinavian design team cooperating with young, innovative designers in making unique, quality clothing. The design is very avant-guard and is based on the theme of limitlessness and multifunction. Emami wants to encourage young women to give way to their creativity and create their own individual style", as they say on their website. It was started by two young Icelandic women a few years ago when they launched their "limitless dress" and the collection has been growing bigger and bigger ever since. All their pieces are multifunctional, a dress becomes a skirt, becomes trousers, become a top! Check out these pictures and have a look on their website, you will be amazed!

Here's a video that shows the many ways to wear the "limitless dress". I have it in black and I wear it all the time!

Varius Iceland

I can't believe I haven't blogged about the fabulous designs of Varius Iceland yet! Two of my very sweet friends design and make these by hand. Aren't they gorgeous?

I especially love the shoulder pads/decorations(pic 1 and 3), perfect to make a plain dress into a statement piece. Also their earrings, necklaces, wall stickers... 

Check out tons of more photos here and shop here.

Summertime indeed!

We're back from our visit to the summerhouse. My friend's parents have had it for about 30 years and have created a little haven just a short drive from Reykjavík, the perfect getaway place. We had such a fantastic time, had fun with the kids, ate humongous meals, sunbathed, went for walks, visited the nearby little town of Laugavatn... The picture describes just the incredible atmosphere of this place.

A wonderful day!

I just had the greatest day today. I decided to cycle to work and take Sam, my littlest one along for the ride. He had a blast on his first real bicycle ride ever, and after I dropped him off at his daycare, I rode down Laugavegur, Reykjavík's main shopping street, where I love to window-shop in all the different vintage and unique design shops. I had a good day at work but decided to leave early because the weather was fantastic. Cycled home, picked Sam up on the way and being a little hot and flustered after riding uphill suggested we all go to the beach (yes, really, we also have beaches in Iceland!). We threw some drinks and finger snacks in a bag with towels and blankets and were off (the beach - Nauthólsvík - is about 10 minutes away from where we live by car). We picked George, our older one, up from school on the way and I found out that tomorrow is Pirate Day and I didn't have a costume sorted! Decided to worry about that after the beach. When we got there I quickly got the cool-down I was after, in fact we were all freezing so we decided to go home and cook a nice meal instead. After eating I hung up my grandmother's old clock that my father inherited and I'm just keeping for him. It looks great in our living room! Pictures later :) George played with his friends from next door in the garden and I called my friends to find out if anyone had a pirate costume for a 4 year old. Luckily my friend Ingibjörg had one and she lives close by, so after the kids finally went to bed at around 11 (another story) I decided to go for a run and pick up the costume. Got a nice girl talk with her as well and wasn't home until midnight! When I finally sat down by the computer, I had no idea what to write about. So I decided to tell you about my day :) How was your day, did you do anything fun?

Oh, and the photo shows the service facilities by the beach we went to, a really nice little piece of architecture by an all female architecture office, Arkibúllan.

Summer solstice

Summer solstice in Iceland by *Ice on Flickr.

Loving

Handmade and renovated bikes from Kría cycles

Loving

Theresa Himmer's mountain tops, volcanoes and waterfalls

(Pictures borrowed from pingmag)

Reykjavík street style

Still not feeling super and my littlest one still has the stomach flu... so just a few pics of the stylish girls of the streets of Reykjavík

Above - nice details on Ynjunet

Mother and daughter on Sagasig

Floral frocks on Wardrobe Wonderland

I'm heading to the countryside tomorrow, that is if everyone has stopped puking (sorry) so hopefully I can transmit tranquility and chilled out vibes over the weekend... have a nice one!

Did I miss the party?

By my auntie Begga. This one and more beautiful Icelandic scenery here and here. 

I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so no more blogging tonight... see you tomorrow.

Come to Iceland!

It's gorgeous!


Inspired by Iceland Video from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo.

Adorable!

The dresses by Birta Björnsdóttir of Júníform are beautiful and when she launched her baby collection, I was thrilled. Now I just need a little baby girl!