i love skyr.

i have an undying love for skyr - iceland's thick, creamy, protein-filled yogurt (15g per container!). do you think i can get honorary icelandic citizenship?
throw in some blackberries and pumpkin flax granola, and my morning is complete.

is there a food from another country you just can't get enough of? i'm just so glad they finally brought skyr to the States!

iceland.

i kind of wish we would have saved up our money for a new years trip to iceland. could you imagine celebrating the new year under the glow of the northern lights?

we saw them when we stayed in iceland last september. we were in a quiet town just south of Reykjavik, with a few clouds overhead, sitting in a geothermal spring hot tub. and the sky just started pulsating, moving, and changing colors. it was one of those moments in life that make the world seem full of magic. those moments are so precious to me.

and maybe once a week or so i look up airfare to iceland. and maybe today i sent mark an apartment listing in Reykjavik. i can't be the only one who does this - where is your dream place?

Jónsi.

Yes, he is wearing a feather cape and full head dress. Yes I want to wear this every day.
*via dcist*

We went to see Jónsi on Monday at the 9:30 club. Jónsi is the genius behind Sigur Ros, and has now branched out on his own to continue along the same route as the Icelandic band, Sigur Ros. Amazing theatrical and extremely emotive masterpiece. I've been putting this post off for the last couple of days because I'm still processing what I experienced.

Jónsi has the ability to channel your emotions and bring an entire room of people to tears and silence of the "hearing a pin drop" type. Plus, he is perfect for our generation of ADD music listeners. You see, I get bored at most concerts and so I must be carefully entertained by the artist. Jonsi holds your hand with his haunting melodies and pairs it with moving animation in the background.

Like this song, where he had a storm raging on the screen behind him that kept building and building through the song until it was a full blown tornado with branches blowing all around on the screen, with crazy flashing lights that seemed like lightning. And it WORKED. I didn't even know the song was called tornado, but I found myself feeling really sad and broken for people who experience devastation from natural weather events. Does that even make sense?:

I love Jonsi. He makes me want to wear an Indian head dress as a fashion statement, which is really saying something for his convincing powers.

homesick for iceland.

sept 2009 in iceland. funny, we both wore these rainjackets to work today.

yes, i know i was only there for one week, but i'm dying to go back. that place was so magical and i swear anytime it rains (especially like today when its a little chilly), i am totally transported back. i listened to sigur ros on the walk to work and my spirit totally soared. maybe this sounds so iceland cliche or weird, but can you really listen to this song without being completely inspired and changed?

watch our iceland.

we made a movie of our trip. we showed it to some friends on sunday. and now i'm sharing it with you.

watch it here.

adventure in iceland. from julie rowlett on Vimeo.

xoxo.

it took me 15 minutes to get a cab yesterday.

then today i find out there was a possible taxi strike yesterday. yes, that will do it. i felt like such a city novice, standing on the curb forever hailing every cab that passed, but they were all full. the saddest part of the story is that i could have walked there in 15 minutes.

lets turn to memories from an easier, less urban time.
on southern coast of iceland:

having trouble sleeping.

i couldn't fall asleep last night.

remember when you were a kid and you knew you were going on a field trip or to a theme park the next day, and you just couldn't settle your mind down to go to sleep? well...i'm 7 all over again.

i am so looking forward to this trip. my first trip since finishing grad school. my first vacation since nicaragua 1.5 years ago. my second trip with TH (third if you count london. first was new mexico).

i think the most exciting part is that i really have no idea what to expect. sure, i've been researching and reading my lonely planet, but i still feel like this trip is such a wild card. i'm usually such an AR planner, but because this trip had to be planned by two, and TH is not plagued by the same need to plan as i, it's all very much up in the air. besides my heart palpitations and dizzy sweats, i'm excited that we have no plans. (did it read like i'm freaking out? cause i'm not. nope, i'm juuuust fine.)

and a trip with the boyfriend is so badly needed, too. our parents are both kind of like - uhhmmmm are other people coming with you to chaperone? and we're like - puhlease we are in our late 20's and old enough to make our own decisions on cohabitation travel. (but inside i'm like - wait, SHOULD we bring other people with us? the need to please my parents is deeply ingrained in me, what can i say.

tomorrow we fly out of nyc, so we are taking the train up a bit early to have about 3 hours to play in new york. then its an early thursday morning arrival in Reykjavik. i'm so so excited!