Foodie Friday: gin and tonic cake

Last Friday I made this recipe for a gin and tonic cake for a friend´s birthday. It was only fitting since it is her favorite drink. I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous making this cake,  worried that it would be too boozy since there is gin in the cake itself, the glaze and the frosting. 
In the end I could not have been happier with the result, a slightly boozy (and delicious) gin and tonic cake. 

here is the lovely  picture that came with the recipe...

 

.....and this is mine(a slightly less styled photo, as you can see) 

Have a great weekend!

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-A 

 

Landscape

Hey!

Found these amazing landscape photographs online the other day. These are all taken in Iceland by a photographer named Andre Ermolaev and the photos are taken from a plane or helicopter. Simply stunning!
We also had the some very beautiful northern lights lighting up the sky last night - unfortunatly I was not able to take any photos as my camera battery was empty.

 

 

 

 

 

 Looks more like art than natural landscapes. All photos in this post belong to Andre Ermolaev

and I strongly suggest that you check out his work in the link here above.

Happy Monday!

 

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-A



Weekend road trip part 2

Hey guys,

A little while ago I did a post with photos from when I went to the sheep round up in Grindavík . Since the round up was delayed for one day we ended up going sightseeing and came back the next day for the round up. We didn´t stay for long to see the round up, since the weather was horrible. It rained non stop so even though we (and everyone there) were dressed appropriatly in rain coats and pants, after 15 minutes everyone was wet to the bone.



 

 

 

 

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Iceland goes GAGA

Hey guys,

Lady Gaga has landed! In Iceland !
She will be attending a ceremony at Harpa concert and conference hall to receive an award from the Lennon/Ono fund. Here  I found a quote from Yoko explaining why she chose Lady Gaga for this award, where she is described as  " one of the biggest living artists of our time. She is not only an artist, she is also an activist, using her art to bring better communication to the world. She is being acknowledged for her activism, and how her album Born This Way has widely changed the mental map of the world. And how it has made us deal with the future world, which happens to be here already."
Not to shabby, eh ? Congrats Lady Gaga!
The ceremony is being held in honour of John Lennon´s memory,on his birthday which is today: the 9th of Oktober. Among other recipients of the award from the Lennon/ ono fund are: Rachel Corrie and Christopher Hitchens. Tonight the Imagine peace tower in Viðey will be lit and will stay lit until December 8th. If you are interested you can see a live feed from the lighting of the peace tower here

 

 

Have a peaceful day everyone !

 

 

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-A

 

 





Airwaves

Hey guys,

My favourite event of the year is coming up!
 Iceland Airwaves starts in less than a month, October 31st to the 4th of November the streets of Reykjavík will once again be filled with music lovers, artists, photographers and journalists alike.I really love the unique atmosphere the festival brings with it. To me this is (almost) more exciting than Christmas. Last year I did a countdown, a series of posts where I introduced you guys to some interesting artists coming to play at the festival. I am going to try to do something similar this year.
The first artist that I really look forward to seeing live is native Ásgeir Trausti. He is twenty year old and sings in icelandic.Ásgeir is quite knew to the scene here in Iceland, if I remember correctly he was discovered just last winter and already he has become wildly popular among Icelanders. His first album was released in september and sold out very quickly. He is a must see for me at the festival because I really enjoy his soothing, calm voice and  his songs are very beautiful. Here below is one of  his song Dýrð í dauðaþögn (Glory in silence). Make sure you also check out my favourite song,  Leyndarmál.

 

 

How many of you are going to Airwaves this year?

 

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A seperation

Hey guys,

I went to the movies last night and saw an Iranian film called A Seperation.
The film has won several awards including the Golden bear 2011. I was not disappointed.
This a lovely unpretentious film, that chronicles real life, real emotions and the hardships we have to go through. I was really pleased  and I reccommend that you see it!
In other news, I am very excited  about this weekend. My family and I are going to take part in a sheep roundup, a traditional event here in Iceland each fall. The sheep run wild during they whole summer and in the fall we round them up to get them inside for the winter. This is also really fun because you get to mix in with the locals, hear their stories and eat warm soup.
I´ll take tons of photos and post them next week!

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

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-A

 

 



I want to get away..

I don´t know why but come fall I always start craving a getaway from everyday life.
 It just  seems stupid to me to leave Iceland during those precious few months when we actually have daylight, so my ideal summer is spent traveling around my beautiful country as much as possible. However my ideal fall/winter would be spent traveling to interesting cities and faraway beaches(preferrably with a cocktail in hand).
 When I start thinking about traveling my mind automatically wanders off to Paris. In my heart Paris is (and always will be) like  my second home and I discover something new each time I go there. Maybe it is because I have family roots in France or maybe this admiration of the city of love is built upon fond memories from my time spent there as a child. No matter the reason I always look forward to going back "home".
Unfortunately I have no trip to Paris planned for the near future, but in a little more than a week I will be in Copenhagen, paying a long overdue visit to some friends. Can´t wait!

A picture from my last trip to Paris - My favourite bakery in Le quartier Latin

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Culture night

Hello there,

Just got back home yesterday, after a wonderful and relaxing week  with family in France.
Now I have an exciting weekend ahead of me  as tomorrow is culture night here in Reykjavík.
Culture night , or Menningarnótt as it is called in Iceland is a full day packed with art related events ending with a fireworks display in the evening, right before midnight. There will be concerts, art exhibitions and a couple of outdoor ( and indoors) fleamarkets that I know of.
I will likely be participating in a fleamarket at Faktory bar from 13 - 17, so if anyone is looking for new clothes, I can promise that I have some juicy stuff I´m  looking to get rid off !
Tomorrow is also the official inauguration of Harpa, the new conference and concert center.
Have a happy Culture night in Reykjavík guys. I´ll post pics from Paris after the weekend 

Happy weekend!

   -A

P.S. If you´re in Reykjavík for Culture night I reccomend that you check out unseen and unheard in the Nordic house from 17 - 19. My friend Katrín Braga will be showcasing a video project collaboration between her and Rakel, the singer of icelandic band Útidúr.