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.

First day of school.

Assignments from Analysis of Form, fall 2011. 

Today was my first day back at school, hence the late post. I was really excited and I felt good about being back. For my first class of the semester I had Introduction to Anatomy. The teacher seemed really nice and for the first time I had a class with someone I knew. I was a bit rusty, but I guess that is understandable since I have not worked with charcoals for over a year. All in all the day was great, especially because Marinó sent me pictures of Ylfa all through the day. Then I came home and took a look at my online classes.... I am not as confidente about this semester anymore. The work I have to put in every week for the online classes is intimidating. The classes seem interesting and I have already begun reading the book for one, but I don't know where to find time to finish everything. Maybe when the semester has really started and I get a better sense of how this works it will be a lot easier than it looks. I will give it my best. My next on-site class is on Wednesday. I am excited to see how that will be.

Mother daughter thoughts.

Me and my mamma by Dolores Park in 2011.

These past days, Ylfa has begun showing a lot of affection and love towards me. She has been in such a kissing and hugging mode that I sometimes can't keep up with all of her kisses. It has been wonderful to see her starting to have such strong emotions. She has not quite gotten the hang of who is mamma and who is daddy but she is getting close. At least she knows that if she's feeling bad she wants "mamamamamama". It gives me a giddy feeling to feel how much she loves me. This has gotten me thinking about how our relationship will be in the future. Will we be friends through her teen years? Will we be close? Will we be like me and my mom?
My relationship with my mom has not always been wonderful. I have to admit that I was a horrible teenager. I did everything to show resistance to my parents. But deep down I had this huge respect for them and was so proud to be their daughter. It was just really hard for me to show it to them. Slowly as I grew older me and my mum started building our relationship again and I admitted to my follies. We are now very close. I speak to her as often as I can, almost every day and she is always the first I seek advice from. When I became pregnant I moved back in to my parents house so I could have my baby in Iceland. When I was alone and sick with a one week old baby she was there to help me. When I moved back to the states after having Ylfa in Iceland she came with me to help me adjust to living in a different country with a baby. I am so grateful for my mom.

Ylfa super excited over her Lotso teddy last christmas.

I hope one day to be this close with my daughter.. crossing my fingers that she will be a nicer teenager than I was! 

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.


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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.