Greetings From Reykjavik!

Today is our last day in Iceland. It's been a helluva trip - nature, coming at me from every angle! Waterfalls, volcanoes, glaciers, you get the picture. Yesterday we moved from the countryside to the capital. Reykjavik has an amazing collection of shops, it's not like any other city centre. I have not spied a single franchise anywhere! There are so many independent shops and vintage stores, you are guaranteed to get an original here.
I swooped down on this pair of leopard-print booties with great enthusiasm. They are ridiculously comfortable and I plan on living in them as soon as I get back to Edinburgh.

Photos of rural Iceland to come!

A Summary of Boston and New York

So, after two weeks on the Eastern Coast, I'm back! I had a tremendous time, saw and did lots of things, read a lot of books, ate a lot of food, spent a lot of money! Above you can watch the video for our five days in Boston, and belooow, you can check out what we got up to in NYC!

On this trip, I...

fell in love with iced tea - read 6 books - went to Boston Aquarium - stroked a sting ray - cruised around in a DUKW - watched 4 films at the movie theatre - ate amazing sushi - got caught in heavy New York rain - stood on top of the Rockefeller Centre - got lost in a Hasidic Jewish neighbourhood in Williamsburg - saw Bill Bailey live in a small comedy club for a mere $15 - read in Central Park - spent a lot of time on the subway - sunbathed and swam in the sea at Coney Island - saw dinosaur bones the Museum of Natural History - had a tiny burger that was deceptively filling - cooled off in so many different Starbucks cafes - queued for an hour to get tickets to see the musical Avenue Q - took three showers a day in Boston just to keep cool - sang praises when we discovered the New York hostel had air conditioning - burnt my feet while sunbathing and consequently had swollen red cankles for half the trip - had the best steak ever - had the worst Mexican meal ever - experienced Manhattanhenge - spent a lot of time in Union Square and Madison Square parks - spent even more time perusing the shelves at Barnes and Noble - visited Harvard and sat reading in the quad - walked the Charles River in Boston and longed for a boat - tried beef jerky, yeuch! - lusted after Pinkberry frozen yoghurt - sneakily caught up with Doctor Who episodes in the internet cafe - coped with my hair going frizz-tastic in the humid heat - wore holes in both pair of cheap flats I brought - got a very, very, very light tan!

Now that I'm back and it's officially summer for me, I've got a lot of time to dedicate to music and blogging, so I'm going to catch up on my guitar and songwriting as well as keep posting great content - watch this space!

Boston and New York

Things I want to do in Boston:

See Harvard

Eat great seafood

Visit MOBA

Explore parks

photo credits

Things I want to do in New York:

Sit in Central Park

Explore East and West Village

Visit LF Store in Soho

Eat amazing food!

So, as you can tell, I'm off to Boston and New York in about two weeks' time! It's terribly exciting, this will be the first holiday I've ever gone on by myself (I say myself, my boyfriend's coming with me!). Needless to say I am as nervous as I am excited. I've never been very good on planes but I should be able to deal with the flight. If anyone has any tips on how to cope with long-haul, let me know!

So we're flying into Boston and staying at the YMCA (it's fun to stay at the YMCA!), student style. I've never been to Boston before and I'm not quite sure what to expect. Every guide online is telling me to go on the Freedom Trail, I think it will be inevitable! Of course Boston is big on seafood, so I'm definitely going to get stuck in, I do love fish. We'll also take a look around Harvard Square but apart from that I'm not sure what else we will do!

The plan is to stay in Boston for about four nights and then get a train into New York. I was in New York with my family in the summer of 2009 and had a great time. We'll do some touristy things such as go up some tall building (I don't particularly enjoy that bit!) and eat pretzels in Central Park etc. Two great free things we'll do is hop on the Staten Island Ferry and go to the MOMA on a Friday afternoon. Of course, we will make sure to eat some great food as well (I'm writing this post on an empty stomach, okay?)! I'm also excited to revisit the LF store in Soho, I almost died the first time I went in - it is basically my dream wardrobe in a shop! Last time I was there I bought a headband and a Michael Jackson watch (!?). I am itching to get in there again.

I have been shopping (maybe a little too much), trying to get a perfect combination of clothes ready for this holiday. I've just bought these shorts which are going to look divine with that sheer shirt I got a couple of days ago. I am debating about what kind of luggage I should take - I'm going for two weeks and don't want to crush my clothes! Maybe will have to stop at a laundromat in New York and get some washing done. I am excited about this because I can just imagine bumping into Brett and Jermaine...

Team building exercise ninety-niiiiine! 

Anyway I am now probably babbling... if any of you have tips about packing, flying, holidays in general (!) it would be greatly appreciated! And yes I will try to get an outfit post up soon, after my last exam on Thursday, so things might be a bit quiet around here until then.... anyway, have a good Monday (what's left of it, at least..)!

England, Part 2

This post should really be titled "Dogs", because that's all it features!

While down South I stayed at my boyfriend's house, and he has these two lovely girls, Bella and Daisy, both black labs. Daisy is an old girl and Bella is young and rather mad - she loves to stare at you with those wild eyes!

I've just handed in a massive piece of work for music. Remember that piece about the swans I blogged about a month ago? It's done, all ten pages of it! I always seem to surprise myself with the length of the stuff I write. Now that that's done, I can maybe stick in a couple more posts before the end of the week and I have to get back to the revision books!

Lastly, here are a couple of songs by Patrick Wolf. I saw him live in Glasgow about a month ago and almost died of elation - he is amazing live! Here are two from his new album, Lupercalia, out soon:

England, part 1

For the past week I've been down in England, having a wee holiday. My boyfriend and I visited Oxford for the day, and it's beautiful! There are so many beautiful buildings, and it has a real 'university' feel to it. Lots of tourists, though! 

It's back to Edinburgh for now, though. Unfortunately I still have a lot of work to do, including revision for May. I have more photos to put up from England, though, and a couple of songs I'll share as well.

Happy Thursday!

January Weekend

My mum and sister came to visit this weekend, it was really good to see them! We met up to have a bit of brunch and go shopping. Harriet (sis) totally managed to upstage me on the outfit front. In my defence, I was not expecting a tiny top hat. Doesn't she look ridiculous(ly good!?).

Little necklace shots:

We went to Heller's Kitchen for brunch, they always have yummy food!

Later on in the day we headed into the city centre for a bit of retail therapy. Look at this cute little gingerbread man necklace Harriet picked up in a vintage shop.

I went a bit shopping-happy and bought a fair amount myself. By the end of the day my feet were killing me-- so please explain to me why I then put on five-inch heels in the evening and went out dancing? (Looking good hurts). I limped home unceremoniously with my boyfriend's shoes on and a box of salty chips in my hand. Glamorous, no?

Anyway, Monday is creeping up on me, I've got to tidy my room because clothes are everywhere and it stresses me out!

Enjoy what's left of the weekend!