Crazy Times.

London has been proper busy since I got here. Exams, visits, gigs, work, party, job interviews, ect. I can't wait till after next Monday to catch a breath.


I like this song.

cos I'm a material girl...?

Lists are fun. My favorite Christmas presents, all from some random strangers. Well, that is not entirely true - I did buy some myself. They are not in any particular order because you do not favor your babies. I know, I know, I know. I prefer words in a blog over google skills as well, but here I go. I promise my next post will be all intellectual and pretentious and full of words.

Harrods Diary

I love diaries. This year I decided to get me the Rolls Royce of diaries. I have never gotten into the habit of using my phone or computer for a diary, I am retro like that.

Lipstick

This color looks fab on me. For the first time ever I actually put stuff on my lips. I have not since ninth grade when I tried constantly to wear lip gloss. Who ever has been out in wind with lip gloss with long hair knows why. In Iceland, it is always wind. I was never big on the lipsticks till now, I love them! I really want to wear dark and edgy colors now. Back to the eighties. LOVE IT.

My Doc Martens

I have actually had these for a while now. I just like them so much! Most amazing shoes ever. They are comfy, cool and my feet are not all wet and freezing like every other winter. One word, AWESOME.

Headphones

Proper headphones! These are not exactly like mine though, but really really close though. Finally I do my great music some justice. When ever I walk I feel like I am in a movie. You know, because in a movie you never hear the background noise and then there is some song playing. That is exactly the experience. It is great.

White Fur Coat

Just got this lady, am not sure to do with her.

Casio watch

Yeah, I did. It is awesome.

Diljá Björg design

My fav designer in the world! I do not have a photo of mine but it is these one's cousin, it is pink and has five circles, not just one. It is fab.

There were more lovely presents I got that so belonged here on that list, but I could not find a picture of, for example Royal Extreme jacket, Iceland design earrings, my eighties jumper and a little pink bracelet made by my gorgeous little sister.

Please don't be hating because of all my fab things. Lol, who am I kidding, why did you think I posted this here?

Loves to you my friend.

PS. bottom line, thanks for Christmas everyone. I did not even make a wish list this year. God, my people know me well. It was wonderful. Plus it is really just a favor to everyone that knows a girl my age - these presents will rock their world. Promise.

Happy New Year

I am now back in London after an amazing time back in my lovely Iceland. I will not make you jealous you with details of how awesome it was meeting my lovely family, lovely friends, having lovely food and reconnecting with my lovely Reykjavik. Instead I will be making you jealous of the amazing wonders of the sky I witnessed.


(photo by Sævar Helgi Bragason)
Truth to be told, unfortunately I did not see any of the amazing Aurora this time, but I have seen them many times and thought they belonged here.


(photo from wayfaring.info)
I did however witness, one morning - for the very first time, an amazing phenomenon they like to call Nacreous Clouds. They are really cool. The Icelandic word for them is really beautiful as well, it would directly translate to something like glitter clouds. I saw them at the crack of dawn along with an amazing sunrise.


(photo by Gunnlaugur Júlíusson)
I also witnessed a lunar eclipse. Apparently it could be seen from all over the world though so you might not get that jealous. Oh, I chose that picture because I live right next to that hideous building. So this was almost exactly how I saw it.


(photo from visitreykjavik.is)
Last but not least, only my favorite time of year, experiencing the craziness of Reykjavik City when it hits midnight on New Years Eve - with the sounds of explosions like you are in a war zone (bless us, being the only nation that gets excited about that noise - it makes us so innocent) and the sky painted in the colors of the wind aka. fireworks.
(I know I have used this photo already, but it was in an entirely different context, sort of. Plus, it is just really cool and grabs the feel of NY pretty well)

Yeah, Iceland may be small and far away and people may not know where it is or may not be able to pronounce just about any words in Icelandic (read: my name) but damn does our sky kick your sky's ass.

That's all folks. Happy New Year.

10 Best Albums of 2010.

I love lists! I'm going to borrow this one though from this list of the top ten albums of 2010. I'm not going to pretend I know them all but I will go on and explore them. Yeah, I'm still sick and quite bored.


10. Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)
Yeah, I'm going to be honest with you guys. I have never heard of this person before. To have this post educational, I'm checking this out. It's got a unique sound and is kind of lounge like. This lady is obviously talented and this album is worth looking into if you want to listen to something that isn't really typical. Personally not music I'd look up to listen to myself, but it grows on you.


9. LCD Soundsystem - This is happening.
Personally I prefer LCD Soundsystem's previous albums. That might just be me though because they are less electronic rocky-ish and more melodic. Definitely good album though and I'd recommend whoever that's not familiar with this band to go check them out. It's sort of elcetronic meets rock meets humor (everyone knows North American Scum, on this one there is a piece of lyric that goes like this: "you wanted a hit, that's not what we do"). So the lyrics can be quite comical. It's a bit too much for me to listen to only them, so I recommend to mix them in a playlist. Are probably great live though. This song emphasizes my point quite clearly. Good song, but a bit too electro for my taste.


8. The Black Keys - Brothers
I've never listened to this band before. I have it on my computer though, as I've been collecting music this year from some very tasteful people, but haven't managed to listen through it all. I don't have this album, I have another one. Now I want this one! As I'm exploring it now it immediately made it to my bands-worth-listening-to-list. This is proper rock. Plus the video is supercool.


7. MGMT - Congratulations.
Up until recently I always used to think that MGMT was this super old band that was just a guilty pleasure of mine. I know I probably should know this stuff. But my music knowledge is well below average. I know if I like it or not, and that's about it. I don't know the name of the music guys, I don't know what they look like, normally I don't know how old the music is, and even when I'm listening to my own music on shuffle I'm not always sure what band it is, even though it might be one of my preferred ones. But I still like the music though. That must count for something. I quite liked to find this album on this list though, so now I can listen to them all I want. I'm still not sure though if any of the singles on it are as strong as their previous ones, like time to pretend and kids, that are oh so catchy.


6. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
I think it wasn't till I read that Gorillaz was on this list that I realized they are still making good music. It's just I was such a huge fan of their early stuff that all their new stuff is no good compared to that. I mean, how are you ever going to make a better song than Clint Eastwood? But that's what I thought about Demon Days as well, that I in the end actually enjoyed. So I just have to get over myself. I suppose what I've heard of this album is alright. It's their own fault really, why would you set people's expectations so high from the start? I love the concept of this band though, plus Damon Albarn has a house in Iceland and used to party at Kaffibarinn! See, I know him, maybe I'm not completely useless.


5. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I'm going to admit that this type of music is not really too my taste and all sounds the same too me. Kanye West jokes that have taken over the internet recently are not really motivating me to drown myself into this album. As a part of this top ten research I'm doing though I'll give it a try. It definitely sounds professional for starters and he is working with some pretty impressive names on this albums. He is the only rapper that has made it on this top ten best album list since his own album, The College Dropout ranked fifth as well in 2005. I'm going to admit I've quite enjoyed exploring his album. I can't find a video for one of his songs though, but this one is a pretty good one.


4. Vampire Weekend - Contra
Finally a band I've listened to quite a lot. How can you not love these jolly fellas? I've heard they are fantastic live. I'm actually a little bit sick of them at the moment due to too much listening, but if you haven't listened to them, do! They are great. This song was like my favorite for months.


3. The National - High Violet
Again, I prove my anti-music nerdiness. I can't believe I have never heard of this band! It completely goes with the rest of my music, this is their sixth album and they rank quite high on these list I'm using. This is going to be my next favorite band. Does anyone have their music?


2. Beach House - Teen Dreams
Ok. This is my all time favorite album. I've listened to this album countless times. I love it. If you haven't listened to it, do it now. It's good for good times and bad times. There's nothing more to say.


1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Ok. This is my all time favorite album. I've listened to this album countless times. I love it. If you haven't listened to it, do it now. It's good for good times and bad times. There's nothing more to say.

I know I said the same things about 1 and 2. But I've been listening to these albums all year long. Definitely my favorites.

Hopefully you find it within you to read through it all, and find it useful. There are countless of other lists out there, and a lot of other music out there to explore. Anyway, I can't really write anything more, this is quite long as it is.

xx

Last Weekend in London.

Just wanted to share with you what a great weekend I'm having, as this is my last weekend in London this year.

Yesterday I wasn't feeling so good. I was invited to a party though in Soho, and decided to quickly just check it out. So I went to a a party at a bar in Soho. Which happens to be my favorite thing to do. I had two perfectly reasonable priced pints, that turned out to be half water, half beer. Tasty. Meanwhile I could witness a ginger guy fully getting it on, on the dance floor, with a girl that thought if she would wear a short, sleeveless and super tight dress no one would notice that she could lose a kilo or two, or you know - fifty. But you know, the music was so great anyway I barely even noticed. The volume of it was, as to be expected, spot on perfect, you could not hear the person next to you shouting in your ear. But I mean, who likes to talk to their friends anyway?
Someone canny might think to themselves, well, maybe you should try to avoid Soho. I will from now on. I just happen to be invited to parties there. Next time I might have to consider saying: "thanks, but no thanks".
(Or you know, not be sick and actually be in the mood to go out. That might work as well. Saying that just doesn't go with my crankiness)

I remember when I first moved to London and people that had lived in London for more than five seconds bitched about Oxford Street, Soho and all these "famous" things to do in London. I thought they were just pretentious twats that were trying to make me feel shitty about myself because I used to like all these things! But dear, oh dear! No pretentiousness. Those people just knew better. Now, I don't only know, because I did know - but my theory has been tested thoroughly and is now to be considered as a law of nature.

As of today, I've been standing outside for six hours (at a café, just to clear that up, don't get any ideas) with fever, headache and just in general pain. I almost said to every single customer I had (unless they were working in the area): "so seriously, why would you ever be here in Soho, in London, in December, on a Saturday?".

(Which is only partially true, because today was my last day at work for a while and I actually really enjoy chatting to customers who are all happy and excited about Christmas. Some of them go and do super glamorous stuff for Christmas which is sort of cool to hear about. But I can't write that here, as I'm being bitter and edgy.)

Cheers,
Hrefna that feels horrible as she has the flu and can't go out and play and is taking it out on the rest of the world. Plus I had two parties to go to tonight (note, not in Soho!) and there is no way I am going to make it. Plus there's a party downstairs in Spanish. Just to go and get some soup means to be in the loudness. Plus I love not being invited to a party by default (I don't speak Spanish). It's way better than if you had a possibility of going, but they just didn't like you.
PS. They've migrated from down stairs to outside my door and are singing. Sorry, but I'm going to go lie down and die.

PS2. oh wait. I've just been diagnosed. I have the men flu. It is quite rare for women to get it, but it must be it, as I have all the symptoms. A little bit sick but act as, rightfully so, the world is coming to an end as of now.

5 year plan - Cities.

Okay. If I were to live the perfect life it would happen in these places:


First of all I'd finish my degree here and live in London.


I'd go home every Christmas though, because lets face it, we are the only people that know how to celebrate Christmas and New Years.


Before I finish my degree though, I'd spend a summer in San Francisco.


Once I've graduated I'll be so exhausted after all these academics, I'll visit all of my gorgeous friends that will be living in Sydney.


Then, when I become a fancy career lady I'll be living in New York.

Fingers crossed!

December!!

Hey guys,

sorry about the last pots, it was a bit of a bail on my part. I wrote this super long blog and posted it and everything. But then I read it again and it was just super pretentious and weird. So I took it out again.

But yay! It's December now. It's great. It's snowing here in London, and as always, the locals here act like they live on this tropical island that hasn't seen snow in million years. Every single year. Ah, bless'em. It's really weird, trains are not running, there are so many accidents and all in all, it's just a bit bizarre. Walking outside yesterday was like being inside a snow globe, though! You know, with the big lazy snowflakes that just take their time falling down and when the sky turns purple-ish. It felt like being back home!

I was going to write Christmas cards today and watch Love Actually, but with my new job and my homework and my social life that has to wait till the weekend. Anyway, I'm running late enough as it is, surprise, surprise, so I'll catch you guys better next time. Here's a little Christmas song for you guys though:

This is going to be my favorite Christmas song this year: