iceland | Pomelo girl thoughts

6 Scents 6 Selves

Posted on October 15, 2015 by elemonated

These are all male-leaning or unisex, but I have no problem wearing Fils de Dieu or Le 3’ Homme myself and I am a tiny, rather unimposing female. The Jungian personalities that I decided would be best suited to each fragrance is also just my opinion. I would never discourage anyone from wearing what they like unless they ask for it explicitly! Mr. Chokkattu and I decided that these were the most versatile that we collectively own, so the list is obviously biased in our direction.

Nearly all of the fragrances in mentioned in this list come from Twisted Lily’s The Sands sample collection which I purchased for him a few months ago. I would like to take this moment and congratulate myself on being able to choose gifts really well, and also bask in the smugness of getting Mr. Chokkattu’s older brother in on the fragrance game without actually having to interact with him. (He basically stole the sample of Tom of Finland Mr. Chokkattu had received from Scent Trunk.) Anyway.

Enjoy the list!

Fjallkonan: Iceland

Posted on September 1, 2015 by elemonated

Check out this wonderful video Mr. Chokkattu made of our time in Iceland!

Both Jonsi’s Helmgilas and Phoenix’s Love Like a Sunset were songs we played over and over driving through the country and I think Iceland’s beauty can really only be underlined by someone from there. We both miss Iceland dearly, and personally, for me this video is a tribute to happiness.

(If you see some Asian dork in blue, it is 100% NOT ME. NOT ME AT ALL.)

Cocoapuffs

Posted on August 19, 2015 by elemonated

I said I wouldn’t make a directly Iceland related post, so this post is not about Iceland (though I am absolutely going to use a ton of the same tags.) Instead I wanted to make a little tribute to my level-headed and adorable travel mate, Mr. Chokkattu.

In the kayak, Seyðisfjörður

Not only was it his idea to go to Iceland despite my original hesitation and ignorance, he helped make the trip worthwhile by being his kind, patient, sweet, wonderful self.

However. That’s not quite all he did…

Things I adored about Iceland

Posted on August 18, 2015 by elemonated

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A picture Mr. Chokkattu took of me while we were on a kayak.

This will be my last post explicitly about Iceland!

So we all know now that I adored the country of Iceland, and I want to go back some day really, really badly, with maybe a job long enough to support me for a few months or just some more cash in my pocket. And that the scenery is beautiful and the landscape breathtaking, etc. But I have to share some of the specifics I jotted down. Some of them are important, some of them are surprising, some are less about Iceland and more about trips in general, and some are pretty stupid but whatever they seemed important enough to write down at the time. This list is a little long, so let’s get started:

Iceland Day 6: Penultimate Post!

Posted on August 16, 2015 by elemonated

This will be the second to last post about the most beautiful and refreshing place I’ve ever visited. I will miss a number of things about Iceland, which I will enumerate in my last post, but can be summed up as: how the hell did this little island slip my travel plans. It was only because of Mr. Chokkattu that I thought of this place at all as a potential destination and that’s insane to me now.

We filled our last full day in Iceland with Snæfellsjökull and rounded the trip out back in Reykjavik at the Settlement Museum before we bid the country adieu the next morning. My last glut of pictures, 60 altogether:
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Iceland Day 5

Posted on August 15, 2015 by elemonated

After the mild debacle the other night, we woke up bright and early and headed to Myvatn under the advisement of the two young women we had met the day before even though we had planned to skip it because of the time we lost. Also as a result of the night before and how lovely and helpful everyone was, we decided to pick up two hitchhikers heading to Dettifoss as we were going to drive in that general direction to Myvatn anyway.

They were a couple that met in Sweden at a landscaping and architectural school, a young man from France, and a young woman from the Czech Republic and beyond comparing our experiences in school (it costs too much, and you learn way more working) and discussing summer employment in Iceland (they both worked at Jokulsarlon, him a boat guide, and her a waitress at the cafe), they recommended us head to the Nature Baths in Myvatn, which is similar to the famed Blue Lagoon except much less expensive.

Iceland Day 4

Posted on August 14, 2015 by elemonated

This was both the best and worst day of the trip. We started out wonderfully with a lot of time in my new favorite town, Seyðisfjörður, where I finished the Iceland Day 2.2 post in the Hotel Aldan restaurant and had my first taste of reindeer, which was delicious. We kayaked for a couple of hours and met Mr. Hlynur Oddsson, our guide (the kayak guy, as informed by a waitress at Hotel Aldan) who was as kind and as funny as he was educational. Mr. Chokkattu was also able to wash our car for free, which is good because our little 2×4 was definitely begging to get clean after being covered in mud and dust from our drive. We also got to sing in Tvisongur, which we were told means “Double song/singing” and Mr. Chokkattu lent his lovely bass to the environment and I pittered out my minimally trained alto as accompaniment.

Later on, we had a delicious dinner at the Skaftfell visitor’s center, which also housed some interesting local art I recommend checking out if you go. Read More

Iceland Day 3

Posted on August 13, 2015 by elemonated

Obviously, I didn’t really go through with the updating every day thing because of the lack of strong WiFi and time, but I have finally finished editing day 3 pictures, so here you go! It was a little chillier on day 3 than the previous two days, and we saw a little less civilization and a few more sheep, which Mr. Chokkattu and I enjoyed. Day 3 consisted mostly of water and ice, but there were lots of rocks and mountains as well, and I’ll include a bonus gallery about mountain flowers too!

Iceland Day 2.2

Posted on August 8, 2015 by elemonated

This will be quick because our day’s already started, but I just wanted to finally share some of the things I saw Thursday now that I have some decent Wifi. I don’t have a chance to edit, so you’ll see my awkward photography skills in all their raw glory (check out Mr. Chokkattu’s blog for better pictures)! Names and everything should show up in the captions, I hope you all enjoy!

And for my scented folk; I’ve been wearing Annick Goutal’s Eau de Camille this entire time. Light, crisp, beautiful, and slightly sweet; just the thing to counteract the Seltun sulfur field and blend in with the grassy meadows and stony fields around us! Also, there’s a lot of lavender in Iceland, so while you’re walking through the fields, you’ll randomly get hits of sweet and spicy real lavender. It’s gorgeous.

Onto the pictures!

Iceland Day 2.1

Posted on August 6, 2015 by elemonated

Guesthouse Drangshlid's curried vegetable soup, served after houra

It’s a little too late to do a whole post now since we’re hoping to see Skogafoss at sunrise, but I just wanted to say I was blown away at the kindness shown today. We’re sleeping in the car tonight and tomorrow we’re waking up to a beautiful waterfall! Good night, everyone.