Iceland. Aka Land of Ice.

It's finally here folks: my blog about ICELAND. I went back in November 2010 (4th - 7th) with my buddies Justin and Monica.

We had a fab time and Iceland is a really beautiful place. Key adjective: vast. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. Warning - there are a lot of pictures to follow...

This was the sunrise: at about 10am (it'd set around 4pm)

This is what I'd probably look like if I were ever to get drunk

Monica = seductress

















This seemed like an appropriate place to practice Yoga. You know...being all close to nature and stuff.


Couldn't resist the temptation to reenact this sculpture. We weren't really sure what it was, but later found out it's ancient wrestling form...


At the Geyser. The original one. The one that gives all other Geyser's their generic name.

Iceland's favorite holiday drink!!! Those suckers probably cost like $5 each. Did I mention yet that Iceland is EXPENSIVE





Frozen ginormous waterfalls = cool. Literally.

Sunset around 4pm. It always felt like late afternoon when there was any light in the sky.

The lonesome road. Did I mention Iceland is vast? Yeah...it's super vast. And super empty. We saw very very few people around.



We hiked to these hot springs, and took a dip. It was cold outside, and moderately warm in the little stream.

Engagement shot!

We thought this was the famous Blue Lagoon. It was not. It's the power plant right next to it.

This is a portion of the Blue Lagoon. It was really blue. It was also very cold outside and moderately warm in the water.

All in all, a gorgeous place for a fun weekend. Check that country off my list :)

Christmas Eve London Style

Christmas Eve 2010, I headed off from work and took a bus down Oxford Street. It was pretty calm (things actually close down around here - no such thing as midnight shopping), and gorgeous with the lights all down the street.

I couldn't help but stare out the bus window, beaming while desperately trying to savor the ride and the soak up the moment.

And then I arrived at the Royal Albert Hall for a festive Christmas Eve concert. Our tickets were perfect, in the chorus seats so we could see the stage and the entire audience. We listened to lots of Christmas music, and sang lots of carols, rounding out the evening with a powerful rendition of Hark the Harold Angels Sing.

'Twas the night before Christmas. A night to remember.

It snowed in London

And the timing was impeccable: the day my bosom buddy Monica moved out (Dec 18), the sky was shedding tears. More like dandruff flakes.

And while it did cause some chaos, it was absolutely beautiful. Got to her new place down south and it was really coming down hard (yet soft...) It's strange seeing a place you're so familiar with transformed by being covered in a blanket of snow. Absolutely magical. The city felt quiet and peaceful. And I loved it.

This shot is of my street a couple days later. Yes, a but slushier, and dirtier, but still lovely in its own way.

Thanks for the treat mother nature!

When I grow up and have teenagers

They will drive this van to school as punishment.

Driver's side:
Passenger's side. There is no hiding from this embarrassment.
Although I will secretly think it is awesome and drive them everywhere in it anyway.

Cambridge: 5 Stars

December 11, 2010. A day to remember. It was a celebration for my day of birth twenty something years ago.

We went to Cambridge. While it was chilly, it was sunny and beautiful. We walked around the town, went into King's college chapel, had a lovely pub lunch (with delicious sticky toffee pudding for dessert), then walked about some more and stumbled across a lovely family Christmas service in one of the other chapels where we lit candles and sang carols.

Overall, a lovely day. Sorry in advance for the many many photos, but I liked too many :)

King's college chapel

Emma and Morgan

Monica and Erika

Me and Monica making our "happy" faces

This is the definition of a quaint pub: one with historic and relevant pictures like this on the wall.

Monica. This picture would have been complete if she'd been wearing a wedding dress. Alas, that may have been weird as well.

Erika. This little lady is such a gem!

Engagement photo #1 of the day

Dave's iphone photo, just lovely

I love this hallway. I love the lighting.

Of course, we took jumping pictures.

Monica's awkward hand #1

Monica's awkward hand #2

The carols by candlelight