Change of Plans.. Again.

The past couple of months have been interesting. I've been busy and completely uninspired, therefor I've been quiet. I finished last semester with pretty nice grades. Marinó came home shortly before Christmas and we spent the holidays with my family. We celebrated the New year in my family's cabin in the countryside and took a pretty big decision in the first days of 2014. We will not be moving to Copenhagen. At least for now we will live in Reykjavik. On the 4th of January we moved into a small apartment in downtown Reykjavik, and have slowly been making it our home. We are content, and I am filled with a sense of security that I have not felt in a long time.

In other news.. We did take a trip to Denmark. My sister Telma came with us over a weekend, and then Marinó joined us for a week, before we headed home together. It was extremely nice and extremely cold. We took a trip to the ZOO, walked Strøget again and again, took a tour around Christiansborg Palace and rode our bikes all around the city. The highlight of the trip was visiting my old daycare, and meeting up with my childhood friend for a cup of coffee. We had not spoken since we were seven, so it was fun to catch up!

Now the vacation is over and it's back to school!

Los Angeles.

A few weeks ago we rented a car and drove south to enjoy a long and sunny weekend in Los Angeles. We really wanted to spend a little quality time just the three of us and we had never really been somewhere on a holiday just us. The drive down went much better than we expected and we did not have to stop as often as we thought we might do. Ylfa was a joy most of the way and we parked the car by our hotel seven hours later. The days were spent strolling around Venice, Rodeo drive, the Botanical gardens by the Huntington Library and the farmers market in Beverly Hills. We ate good food and had a blast playing Sequence every evening at the hotelroom after the baby fell asleep. The weather was wonderful the whole time and I actually managed to get a little tan. (That never happens to me). Poor Ylfa was teething at the end of the trip, but over all she had a great time, specially at the petting zoo they had at the farmers Market. She made friends with a pig, bunnies, goats and a goose but definitely was not on good terms with the hens. The drive back home on Sunday was a little bit more difficult because of Ylfa's first molar trying to burst out, but after she fell asleep half way through to San Francisco, the drive went smoothly. I can't wait to have more family trips in the future. 

It was so sunny at the Huntington Library botanical gardens.

Tired, going to grab a coffee and Handsome Coffee Roasters.

The petting Zoo at the Beverly Hills farmers market was the highlight of the trip.

Me and a handsome man.

Breakfast at 3 Square Café.

Loving the view.

Aquarium of the Bay.

Marinó's parents came for a short visit last weekend. They were traveling to a few places in the US and decided to have a layover in San Francisco so they could spend Saturday with us. We wanted to do something special and preferably something we had not done before in the city, so we ended up in the Aquarium of the Bay. We had never been there but often thought about it and Ylfa has been so excited about animals recently. It's not a very big aquarium, but we liked it. The best thing about it is the glass tunnels that go through a big tank filled with all kinds of fish. There were a few monsters that were freakishly big. Ylfa was thrilled and we had a good time.
It is always fun to get a visit from family. Since we live so far from Iceland it is not easy for people to come for a visit. We really enjoy it when someone manages to cross almost half the globe to spend some time with us.

Farmers Market frenzy.

The weather was wonderful this weekend! Finally we got some break from the cold. We took advantage of the beautiful days we got and spent them mostly outside. We took a walk around Marina both Friday and Sunday, had some french toast and lemonade at the Grove on Chestnut street, drank some iced coffee while we walked around and did some shopping. It was really nice. Yesterday we started the day at the Fort Mason Farmers Market. I had never been there and was happy that we finally went. It was so clean, the people were friendly and not to mention all the delicious produce they had to offer! We had a dinner party for some friends in the evening and left the farmers market loaded with all kinds of goodies for the evening.
Marinó showed his skills in the kitchen and made a really tasty dinner. We started with some elderflower-blood orange margaritas with homemade lemonade. The appetizer was asparagus soaked in butter with parmesan and the main course was a delicious mushroom risotto. For dessert I made my mom's carrot cake. After dinner we played Munchkin. We had such a good time. I can't wait to throw another dinner party.


Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY!

A trip to the park.

We took a trip to the park yesterday. I know it is sad but we have only once taken Ylfa to the park before and she was extremely tired and grumpy so it was not very enjoyable. But yesterday she had just taken her nap so she was not sleepy at all. There is a really nice park on 25th avenue between Lake and California and it's only fifteen minute walk from us. She was so happy! She got to try the end of the slide and a little rocking sheep but the swing was a favorite. It was such a fun thing to do with her, I loved seeing how much she enjoyed flying through the air! A trip to the park will likely become more of a regular thing now, and especially when she becomes a little bit older. I also think it's good for her to be around other children. She has not been around any children since we left Iceland in September. I really want to take her to a class the Waldorf school in San Francisco has for children and their parents. It would be good for both of us to get out there a little bit more and meet people.

Anniversary.

It was our third wedding anniversary last Sunday. We don't have any family living close and we don't have a nanny so we can't go to dinner or the movies just the two of us. But we did have a wonderful day out all three of us. We decided to go have brunch at Outerlands. I knew it was a popular place, but apparently I had no idea! There were so many people waiting for a table. I had wanted to eat there for a while so we were fine with waiting a bit. We took a stroll down to the ocean, checked out some really nice stores that are close by the restaurant and sat in the sun chatting while Ylfa took her nap. Two hours later we finally got a table. The food was worth the wait. It was so good! I had the dutch pancake with bacon and ricotta.. mmm. We will definitely eat there again.
After brunch we took a walk through Golden Gate park and then up to the Cliff house and the Sutro Baths where we watched the sunset. It was a really nice day.