Thursday, December 31, 2015

2016 (and a look back)



I just reread last year's post and am a little surprised by how different this year ended up being compared to what I expected. It was and wasn't the uncomfortably stagnant year I predicted - I lost my job and started a new one (with a good bit of downtime in between), but I also built up high hopes that we would figure out a move out of SF this year and there was almost no progress on that front.

This year also felt like the return of some of the anxiety issues I had marked as "dealt with" last year (ha - as if it were that easy). If nothing else, it's a reminder that most things in life aren't quite that easy to put a tidy checkmark next to.

Going into 2015, I wanted to cook and bake more, make my home a prettier place to be, vacation, see some chilly weather, and get better at taking photos. I ended up picking up sewing in place of spending more time in the kitchen - not a bad tradeoff, and I'm really pleased with how far I've come, given that I barely knew how to sew a year ago. (Side note: I really want to photograph and blog the million things I've made and not shared.) I totally dropped the ball on the house goal, but I'm feeling pretty checked out here and am not sure it even makes sense to give this rental some love if I'm going to resent it the whole time. We'll see. In addition to knocking off vacation and winter in one go, I also took two trips to Portland and a work trip to New England - not bad! And I finally started spending a bit more energy on learning to take better photos with my real camera (and subscribed to Lightroom + Photoshop earlier this month, totally forgetting I'd mentioned that last year). As a bonus, I started a little photo a day project on my instagram, which is encouraging me to photograph more of my daily life. Only a few months in, I'm already enjoying looking back at the snapshot of my life.

In addition to hitting a few of my predicted goals, I started doing yoga and meditation - the former I'm really excited about and hope to really keep up and improve going forward, and the latter seems to be good for sleep, even if it hasn't totally changed my life.

Of course life is not measured by how many of last year's boxes you tick, but looking back like this helps when I'm starting to feel "stuck" (a feeling I have more often than I should).

2016! The year I turn 30, and I'm totally one of those people who miiiight freak out a little bit about that. Here are my hopes and dreams for the year!

  1. Face, don't avoid, the anxiety that comes up in my daily life. This includes certain aspects of work and relationships, as well as stuff like my kinda sorta hoarding tendencies (I have so much trouble throwing things out!). I want to make serious progress facing and overcoming this in many ways, while keeping in mind that there is no magical goalpost to arrive at.
  2. Make progress on moving - somewhere. This one is not totally in my control, but I'm hoping to make some progress here (with Tim's help). I'd still like to gtfo of California at some point, but Tim and I have also started talking about moving to a bigger place within San Francisco if he needs to stay here for work. Regardless, I'm hoping we can move to a home I'm more excited about, or at least come up with a concrete plan, this year!
  3. Be a little less antisocial. I am 100% an introvert and will always need a lot of alone time. But lately I've started pulling away from people (basically... all of them) more than is healthy even for me. Groups may not be my thing, but I can make more of an effort to see or even just talk online with the people I like the most. And I think if I do, it'll help me feel less isolated and maybe make #1 a bit easier to cope with.
  4. Keep doing things I love. Sewing, yoga, hanging with my little family, making food, continuing to improve my photography skills... Get better at but mostly just enjoy the stuff that doesn't stress me out.



Sunday, December 13, 2015

Reykjavík recs

I recently took a December vacation to Reykjavík, Iceland with my boyfriend, Tim, and we had a fantastic time (see more photos here). We aren't really the tourist attraction types - my travel philosophy is basically "do what I would do if I lived here and it was the weekend". This meant we had plenty of time to explore downtown Reykjavik and try tons of food, coffee, and beer! Here's a giant compilation of links and recommendations based on our research and experiences. I definitely recommend a visit, and I hope this is helpful!

Coffee & breakfast



Reykjavík Roasters. Pretty sure this is objectively the best coffee in Reykjavik. We have high coffee standards (thanks SF) so it was nice to have some really good espresso drinks and pourover here, in a really cozy atmosphere. I recommend a cappuccino or latte so you can appreciate how amazing the milk tastes in Iceland compared to America.


Stofan Café. Closer to where we stayed, and incredibly cozy as well. It feels kind of like someone's (giant) living room! They have food, too, which we never ended up trying, but we had plenty of coffee drinks. It was a wonderful place to warm up on the walk between our apartment and the main part of downtown.



Sandholt Bakery. Amazing pastries. We got these to go more times than I care to admit, and we also sat down for breakfast twice, although I'm not sure if you can get pastries to eat in - the menu seems to be totally different than it is for take out. I'd recommend stopping in for a custard-filled pastry and eating it as you window shop at all of the adorable little stores nearby.


The Laundromat Cafe. A great place for a more substantial breakfast/brunch. They have a few homemade juices, which are a bit pricey but taste incredibly fresh and almost smoothie-like. We tried pancakes and a smoked trout bagel, as well as coffee drinks, and everything was really solid.

Lunch & dinner


KEX Hostel. There is a bar/restaurant in this hostel and it was one of the best meals we had! We went late-ish (8pm) on a Thursday night and it was very bustling, but we managed to get seats at the bar. We both got great fish dishes and Icelandic beers, and the warm, lively atmosphere (despite a blizzard outside) made it a really comforting night.


Fish Company. Our fancy date night dinner! Make a reservation (we did it online the day of and had some back and forth via email to nail down a time). They specialize in fish, with various countries represented, including many "Iceland"-inspired dishes. There is a bit of molecular gastronomy at play, and it's clear that they put a lot of thought and creativity and thought into the food. It was a great meal, but the definite standout was the dessert. So glad we each got our own, as they were very different and both amazing! This is definitely the priciest place we went to (~$150 USD for two), but great for a special night out.


The pizza place with no name. This is in the same building as Mikkeller Bar (below). The menu is super interesting, and the food was good but I wasn't blown away - maybe because we're spoiled by such great pizza at home? We got a strange but good appetizer of gingerbread with mulled wine jelly and blue cheese (!) and the bbq pork pizza. All tasty, but I think we messed up by leaning a little too heavy on the sweet side of the menu, and the pizza wasn't as substantial (read: protein-packed) as I had hoped. I'd totally give it another shot if I had more time. (Side note: we're like 90% sure Mastodon was at the only other occupied table in the restaurant when we ate here.)


Snaps. This got rave reviews from the Reykjavik Grapevine and from locals we talked to. It's a bit on the nicer side and is apparently packed at night. We went for lunch right at opening one day, and the menu seemed a bit sparse, but the food was really solid. Steaming fresh-baked bread came out first (yum), then Tim's chicken caesar salad and my fish of the day dish. Despite feeling a bit confused by the selection (there was way more listed online than in the restaurant - unsure if this was an early lunch thing?), everything we ate was just really nicely done all around.


Hamborgarbúllan (aka Burger Joint). A nice casual dinner for our first night in town. The burgers are a little more substantial than a fast food chain without being gourmet. The restaurant itself is small and laid back and was very festively decorated for Christmas. The burgers and fries weren't necessarily something we can't get at home but were nice after a long day of travel and jet lag and would be a good break in a week of fancier sit down dinners.


Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. Hotdogs will never be my favorite food, but as they go this one was alright! It was a quick (but very light) lunch and I get the impression it's a bit of a "must try" - so why not!

Beer




Mikkeller & Friends. We already know and love Mikkeller Bar in San Francisco, so we knew we wanted to come here. Go up the stairs from the pizza place, and you're in Mikkeller & Friends! There's a fantastic selection of beers, with a bunch from Denmark, particularly Mikkeller and To Øl. It was really packed on Thursday night, complete with middle aged Icelandic men singing, but totally dead on Sunday evening around 7, so time your visit based on what vibe you're into.


MicroBar. A great little basement bar with lots of beers we don't see at home, including many from Iceland. We visited this on our first night, when we were incredibly jet lagged and exhausted, and I wish we'd come here in a better state! They offer flights of 5 or 10 beers (with very heavy pours!) so it's a great chance to try something new (or several).

Skúli Craft Bar. We went here twice. It reminds me of some of the fancy beer bars back in SF, but way less crowded and featuring lots of Icelandic (and other European) beers. There is a little side room that we got to ourselves on both visits, so it was a great place to sip a brown ale and talk about our trip so far.

Other



Hallgrímskirkja Church. A very tall, iconic church at the edge of the main downtown area (and near Reykjavik Roasters!). For about $6 USD you can buy a ticket to the top and look down over the city. Definitely recommend!



Blue Lagoon. This seems to be the thing to do if you only do one tourist attraction (or at least... that was how we did things). It's definitely full of tourists, but the natural thermal pool is still really amazing and a fun way to spend a morning. An hour and a half was plenty for us, but definitely worth the visit. Buy tickets ahead, plan to drive or book a bus (it's about 45 minutes from Reykjavik), and go early (we went at 10 and it was great, but it started getting pretty busy by 11!). Lots of people recommended booking this right next to our flight in or out, since it's close to the airport, but I'm glad we broke up our week in town with this in the middle.


Our adorable penthouse airbnb. Melkorka's apartment is one of those picture-perfect airbnbs that make me dream of decorating my own home to be half as lovely (and is just as beautiful in person). This is her actual apartment, not a landlord with a full-time airbnb rental, and I felt so at home all week. She was really helpful with recommendations and answering questions, and she met up with me one day when I locked my key in the apartment (doh!). All in all, a fantastic place to stay, in a residential area but definitely walking distance to the shops and restaurants downtown.

Tips & things we learned


  • Buy snow boots. I got a nice sturdy pair and I'm so glad I did. Walking through the city, I stepped in snow up to the top of these boots more times than I can count, and my feet were always perfectly toasty even with regular-weight socks on.
  • All other winter gear can be fudged a bit - I wore yoga pants and leggings every day (these are my fav). I got a medium-weight parka, which worked just as well for Iceland as it did for rainy Portland in October. I layered those with some long sleeve tops, and a scarf, gloves, and hand-knit wool hat I already had (all too warm for daily wear in SF, but nothing really intense). I was set for the snow, rain, wind, and chilly temps, which never dipped below 20°F and were often above freezing -- no worse than the eastern US.
  • We rented a car and I'm glad we did, but I wouldn't recommend it if you've never driven in snow. Parking was the worst part - it was easy to get our sedan's tires stuck spinning in the snow. But we appreciated the freedom and not having to crowd onto a tour bus with tons of strangers. If we hadn't gone during one of the worst weather weeks ever (blizzards and hurricanes, oh my!), I think we may have used it to explore outside of town more.
  • Find a grocery store and get some skyr and muesli for breakfasts! It was a nice change from all the heavy food we ate at restaurants, and damn the yogurt is good. And if you have a kitchen where you're staying, buy some whole milk -- the milk in Iceland is so much tastier than in the US! -- and cook the muesli up like oatmeal.
  • I personally love gloom, cold, and snow - I swear I have RSAD. This trip was delightful and slightly made up for all of the year-round heat and sunshine I deal with in California. Tim is less of a winter enthusiast but still enjoyed the change of climate for a week. In early December, the sun rose between 10 and 11, stayed low (often covered by clouds) for most of the day, and slowly set from 3:30 to 5. The pitch black hours weren't significantly different from home (California), but there was way more dusk and overall gloom. It may be rough for someone with winter SAD.

Stuff we didn't do


Tim and I are very chill travelers - we don't like a lot of pre-booked plans, crowds of tourists, or going on guided tours. This means we missed out on some beautiful and interesting sites and spent most of our time eating, drinking, and relaxing in town. The internet is chock full of tours and adventures you can book (and I've heard mixed reviews on them from people who have done them). Here are a just a few things I had wanted to do, if weather and planning had cooperated:
  • Glacier cave tour. These looked super cool and I was really hoping to do one. Unfortunately, the options seemed to be a 36-hour guided tour with tons of activities and other visitors, or we would need to drive round trip in a day (about 4 hours in each direction), mostly in the dark. Combine that with needing to book ahead, with no idea of what the weather would be like, we skipped this one. Maybe on a future visit I'll give in and do the big tour!
  • Drive the golden circle. We were hoping to do this one day but the weather never really settled enough for us to feel safe driving out of the city. I'm not horribly sad, but it could have been a fun day trip.
  • See the northern lights. A lifelong dream of mine, but unfortunately it just didn't happen. A combination of cloud cover, auroral activity, and darkness all have to work out at once, and the inclement weather (and tons of clouds) meant it just didn't work. I'm hoping to come back someday and give it another shot! (If you want to try - track cloud cover here and the aurora here.)

Resources


Some other sites and posts that helped me find all of these great places (for once I didn't use Yelp at all!!)
  • Almost all of the recs we got from friends and google searches also ended up being on this 2015 Grapevine "Best of Reykjavik" list. This seems to be the source of truth for everything great in Reykjavik - the tab was open (and referenced often) during our trip, and this post is mostly duplicates from there.
  • Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess went in September (and may have been the ones that actually planted the idea for me!) - they had a few recs in this blog post.
  • My internet friend Marssy visits Iceland often and left a great comment with food recommendations here
  • The I Heart Reykjavik blog was really helpful when I was figuring out what to do / how to prepare for our trip.

winter Reykjavík trip



Tim and I have taken very few vacations. Like... two over the course of 6 years together. And he ended up having to work during most of one (Hawaii), and the other (Portland) was a bit of a stressful mess because it happened to fall right after I got laid off work and Tim's grandfather died.

I wanted to take another big trip - somewhere that we would both enjoy and find interesting. Nothing too touristy (Hawaii had more gimmicky luaus and gift shops than we were really comfortable with). And I get far more sunshine and warm weather than I want in San Francisco, so my criteria was: someplace colder than home. After a bit of brainstorming, we landed on Iceland!

I've seen lots of people visit Iceland (specifically Reykjavík) over the past few years, although they mostly went in summer or fall. But I really wanted to get some real snow, bundle up against freezing temps, and (fingers crossed) maybe see the northern lights. (Side note: did anyone else obsess over the Golden Compass trilogy as a kid?)

So we booked tickets and an adorable airbnb for early December, to avoid both the Thanksgiving and Christmas travel rushes, and off we went!





view of Reykjavik from above



one day of sunshine







the blue lagoon







coffee




the atlantic ocean





Monday, December 7, 2015

Autumn 2015 photo summary

I'm currently stuck in a hurricane-strength storm in Iceland (???) and it seems like as good a time as any to go back through my October/November and share here. I already posted about our Portland trip the last week of October, but there's plenty more from those months that I haven't shared here.

Birthday: homemade dress + homemade cake.


I bought this fantastic real spider web necklace from a Portland friend via instagram!


The annual October corgi beach day happened. Tumbles had a blast and wore herself out, and we had fun watching her too.





I sewed some stuff - almost all stretch! Which I'm getting the hang of, but it's a nice change to go back to regular woven fabrics sometimes.


... including matching skirts for me and Tum. These were going to be our Halloween outfits, but it was a rainy Portland day and we stayed inside in our PJs and birthday suit, respectively.


I got dressed up to celebrate my pal Jessica's engagement at the most instagrammable flower shop.


I hosted an extremely late and very small Oktoberfest party, and Tumbles made sure to bring her photogenic side(s) for sure.


 



And then, later that same week, Thanksgiving. I planned extremely last minute and celebrated with only Tim (and Tumbles), but I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out.


On the menu: the Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes, a childhood recipe for sweet potato casserole (it's a photo of a recipe card in evernote), Smitten Kitchen's pretzel parker house rolls, and coffee crusted beef tenderloin from the Crepes of Wrath. Not bad for a "low key" Thanksgiving, eh?
 

Thanksgiving beef, because I've never been a fan of poultry as a holiday meat.


Oh and dessert. What the what? I took Joy the Baker's Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream Cake and made it even more obnoxious (wonderful) with some marshmallowy 7 minute frosting swirled through and spread on top between the ice cream and marshmallows. So into it.


And just before my early December trip to Iceland, I met up with a former coworker, Kate, and had a lovely quick drink before rushing home to pack. She and Tumbles are just adorable together.


And finally.. saying goodbye to this pup before a week away in Iceland. I miss her tons but I think she's having a great time at her boarding place (also her daycare, so she knows and loves them). See you soon, Tum!

 

[Edit: These posts feel a little silly - like a duplicate of things from social media (which are already duplicated across platforms sometimes... sigh). Not really sure where I want to go with this blog. I'm going to think about it and I guess do what I feel like in the meantime.]

I'm hoping to be back here before too long with Iceland photos and favorites from Reykjavik, and I have high hopes that I'll actually learn to edit photos a bit before that (ha), so we'll see how this goes!