Vegan Eats | Reykjavík: chilli, crêpes and hot chocolate

Having heard of the different places my friend had been to during her longer stay in Reykjavík, I was somewhat prepared to be taken around the city and eat tasty vegan food at different locations. The restaurants and cafes she took me did not disappoint and I was nonetheless positively surprised just how many places offered vegan options on their menus, despite Iceland being a country where meat, fish and dairy are consumed rather heavily. I decided to pack two places into one post and dedicate a third, entirely vegan place we had brunch at its own post. 

Before I get into where you can get the world's best veggie chilli, a comforting hot chocolate and great crêpes, I do want to disclaim that Iceland is expensive. No matter where we ate or how much we ate, eating out easily added up to fifteen to twenty euros, especially if we had a cup of coffee with our meal. That being said, we typically had lunch in the city and ended the day with big bowls of pasta at home to avoid spending too much money.

Interning at a fashion brand

After an initial couple of weeks of pinching-self-excitement that came with assisting at a LFW event, sitting front row at a fashion show (yeah, still can't believe that actually happened) and getting to assist during the filming of a new TV show, the hectic first impressions of London settled down and I started an internship at a fashion company. A good two months later and I've slowly picked up a routine of living and working in London, with the odd weekend trip to Brighton or abroad. Coming to London has somehow thrown me into the world of fashion magazines, show room events and volumes of clothes that leave me dizzy, and even though I've started to get accustomed to my role as an intern, some things still feel slightly crazy and perfectly normal at the same time... So here goes an attempt at giving you a glimpse what it's like to intern at a fashion company.

• Someone at Jimmy Choo was charming enough to send a thank you note for sending over clothes samples. Yes, people working at Jimmy Choo are regular people as well, but I smell "frame-and-hang-on-bedroom-wall" potential for this one.
• These jeans are not "destroyed", they are super loved destroy with a let our hem, mind you. Did you see the signature shirt in fatigue? No, not my current state - the colour, obviously. And what do you mean this t-shirt is black? It's caviar and the one over there is washed black oh and this one is true black. Got it?
• Dumbbell bicep raises are overrated. Just steam a couple of hundred shirts and you'll be on your way to arms made of steel!
• No need to pull an Andy and appear at work in a jumper too large and your grandma's skirt but when it comes to dress code, chances are that more people will be wearing jeans and trainers at the office than heels and lipstick.
• Not-so-vegan-fact: steaming cotton shirts is an absolute pain. Silk ones, however...
• Knowing what Ellie Goulding's perfume smelled like at last week's performance isn't unusual, sitting at your desk sniffing the shirt she wore, however... Serious question: does touching clothes Anna Kendrick wore bring you closer to immortality? Thought so.
• Saving cash has never been easier than when reading magazines isn't an option but compulsory as part of your job description.
• Instead of wearing a wrinkly coat that you can't be bothered to iron or get professionally treated, you can make the de-wrinkling-process a DIY project and steam it at the office once you're done with every other piece of clothing in the show room. Give it three to four hours.

A weekend in Reykjavík

Having some of your oldest, and often closest, friends live in a different country than you comes with the downsides of seeing them only around Christmas and maybe summer when it boils down to it. However, the beauty of having loved ones spread out all over Europe is that you get to plan weekend trips (or longer ones if you're lucky) to countries or cities you've never been before. Over the past three years, since I first moved away from home to go to University in the UK, I've been to Berlin, Amsterdam, Zurich and Hamburg - meeting old friends in each city. On top of getting to see dear ones and discovering new places to tick off your travel list, comes the benefit of occasionally being able to stay at said friend's place, making the trips easier on your bank account as well. 

Last Friday, I got on a plane to visit one of my closest friends - and long established travel buddy, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Whereas the two of us had previously visited the cities I just mentioned due to our common friends and living together at University, we no longer live in the same country (for now) but being the travel lovers we are, we're using this as an excuse for weekend trips to see each other. The fact that I was able to visit a country which I otherwise might've not gone to in the near future by visiting one of my closest friends was the cherry on top of the cake.

We spent a long weekend catching up whilst walking through the city of Reykjavík, eating delicious vegan food (Icelandic Vegan Eats edition? I've got you covered), fighting the rainy, grey and at times crazy windy weather, sitting in 40 degree outside hot tubs in chilly 4 degree temperatures and watching movies wrapped up in blankets, eating too many cookies. 

Even though I will get to work on a Vegan Eats post soon, I didn't plan any other specific Reykjavík related posts. I've decided to simply pull together some of my favourite photos that I took during my stay in this adorable city and share them with you.

Rediscovery

jumper: pull and bear trousers: h&m boots: faith

Before moving into my own flat (well, a bedroom in a flat with other people) next week, I flew home for a weekend visit to stuff a suitcase full of autumn and winter clothing to take back with me to London and to see the family before being away again until Christmas. During my first four weeks in London, where I only had one suitcase of clothing available to myself, I started to realise just how many clothes I have that I wanted to wear that were still at home and fantasising about all the different combinations I'd be able to wear with the cooler temperatures appearing all of a sudden once I would bring more clothes to the UK - I got inspired to be more creative when it comes to combining and wearing the things I already own instead of buying new things. Now, I'm not saying that I didn't/am not buying new things anymore (Topshop is a ten minute walk from my office, help?) but being at home and filling a suitcase with jeans, boots and jumpers (all the good autumny stuff) has made me incredibly excited to wear my own clothes and find new combinations.

One of the pieces I rediscovered during my crazy packing session were these great checked trousers from H&M which are a wonderful alternative to the usual skinny, potentially uncomfortable jeans and the simple pattern and colour scheme make them easy to combine with jumpers in neutral colours as well as brighter ones - these will definitely become a staple in my autumn/winter wardrobe this year!

Fall Must-Haves

The new season is officially underway, bringing with it the promise of cooler weather, rainy days, and, of course, jumpers - can I get a "yay!"?. While autumn is well-known for having its tried and true staples (aka skinny jeans and riding boots), it also provides the perfect opportunity to switch things up a bit. I've personally been loving these eye-catching pieces this season with their unexpected colours, flattering silhouettes, and modern design details - all of which I spotted when clicking through ELLE and VOGUE's NYFW street style photo album.

Vegan Eats | Rome: Universo Vegano

If I had to sum up my stay in Rome in one sentence, it would be "lots of walking and lots of eating." Whilst I've already started covering the walking part with my When in Rome post and will be sharing more photos soon, I thought it was about time to address the (obviously) more important part of the trip: food. As before any city trip, I had spent some time scrolling through HappyCow's Rome selection and marked a few good food places on our city map so we could check off as many restaurants as possible during our stay. Universo Vegano had also been recommended by a friend of mine who is from Rome, so that was at the top of our to-eat-at-list.

When in Rome...

Denim and ruffles

top: h&m shorts: vintage shoes: converse backpack: primark

When I was still in Rome a few days ago, I was certain that the hot summer days were coming to an end for me this year, with Autumn and new adventures approaching. It seemed to be one of the last occasions on which I could throw together an outfit consisting of a summery top that I've had for at least five years, vintage denim shorts and pre-worn converse but who would've thought; next week is bound to be hot again, and get this: in the UK, too! That being said, I'm currently in the process of struggling to pack all the clothes I want to take with me to London into a 20 kilo suitcase as I'm trying to find a balance between thinner clothing items I can layer and jumpers I can wear when I'm out and about in the evening and it starts getting chilly. After having wanted to live in London ever since I was sixteen, I'm finally (somewhat) moving there tomorrow and hopefully staying for longer than just the initial month I have planned out to stay there so far. 

Thankfully, I have a few Rome posts I want to write up and publish over the next week or two (or three.. depending on how much time I actually have to blog) which'll help me keep this place updated when I'm probably too busy running around the city like a tourist (I really do need to start memorising what's in which part of London) to take outfit pictures or come up with other ideas. Keep your eyes peeled for some Rome tips and of course some Vegan Eats posts because one does not go to Rome and not spend 90% of their time eating, right?

Simplicity

shirt: h&m shorts: topshop shoes: zara

The past week has been a strange mix of being busy catching up with friends or applying for numerous internships but also spending hours laying in my garden or near pools with the temperatures having gone up to 35 degrees. Somewhere along the way, I popped into ZARA (obviously) and picked up these stunning powder pink trainers. They immediately caught my eye and I figured a pair of trainers would be a good investment (my favourite word to use when buying something I don't actually "need") for my time in London when I'll be walking around all day and not willing to wear heels. The crazy heatwave has inspired me to borrow my dad's straw hat for tanning sessions (aka hiding it my room, hoping he forgets about it someday and it magically becomeing mine) and it once again reminded me of how great of an accessory hats are. Note to self: finally invest in a nice hat and actually wear it. 

On another note, I'll be off to Rome for a few days in the early hours on Friday, which I yet have to pack for (5 days - hand luggage only - interesting to say the least) but I'm beyond excited as I've spent my entire summer in either Brighton or Luxembourg, so it'll be nice to play tourist for a few days again soon. I will probably live off pizza and sorbet and do all the touristy stuff, but on the odd chance that you have any recommendations for me, make sure to drop them in the comments!

Mustard

top: bershka pants: miss selfridge jacket: zara shoes: h&m

As I'm working on my shopping habits, being more selective and buying pieces I know I'll get a lot of wear out of, this beauty of a (fake) leather jacket is beyond perfect. Don't get me wrong, I still buy silly t-shirts (I bought a t-shirt with a pizza slice on it the other day - don't ask) but eye catching, yet somewhat versatile pieces like a mustard coloured leather jacket are something I can never say no to. During the move out of my Brighton home, I came face to face to the fact that I really do have a shoe problem (my dad just shook his head in disbelief for three days) and I definitely have a weak spot for coats and jackets, but then again, those are the things I seem to get most wear out of! A pair of shoes or an interesting jacket are complete game changers. Exhibit A: I've had these striped pants for over a year now and only wore them a handful of times but the simple adding of a colourful leather jacket immediately gave the whole look that extra oomph.

Vegan Eats | Brighton: The Almond Tree

Even though I've finally moved out of my Brighton home for good last week (cue the waterfalls), I haven't quite finished - and probably never will - with the city that was my home for 3 years just yet. I'm already planning trips down to the most charming seaside city but meanwhile, I thought I'd share my latest food discovery for those of you that are lucky enough to pay Brighton a visit soon or just enjoy my posts about mouth watering vegan food (anyone?). 

5 things University has taught me

Even though it's been almost two weeks since my big graduation ceremony, it still hasn't quite hit me that my time as an (undergraduate) student has come to an end. It seems like only yesterday that I moved into my tiny on-campus room, experienced Freshers' week and got lost in Brighton's busy streets. Whilst I'm still trying to figure out what my next steps are, I can't help but compare my 18 year old pre-Uni self to 21 year old me now, having just finished her Bachelor's degree abroad. University has changed and shaped me, which sounds oh so cliché but it's also taught me a few things that I thought I'd share, including bits that might help you get through your own studies or work life.

Second hand finds

t-shirt: asos skirt: secondhand shoes: h&m bag: primark

Even though eating a plantbased/vegan helps towards living a more ethical and environmentally friendly life, I yet have to work on my shopping attitude. Even though I know that the fashion industry has more than just a few faults - excluding things like the use of leather, fur or silk, which I avoid already - I'm easily sucked into high street shops like Topshop and ZARA and the vast majority of my clothing is "made in China" or Bangladesh. I've been able to adapt my shopping habits slightly by being more selective with the clothes I buy, so that I at least end up buying less, but it's still a work in progress for sure. One thing that I'd been doing in the past and which I picked up again a bit recently, is going to second hand stores instead of H&M and during my last stroll through some of Brighton's best second hand and vintage stores (Brighton is quite literally heaven for second hand lovers), I picked up what is now one of my favourite skirts. I'm not sure how authentic the Tennis look to it is (any fashion experts want to chime in?) but I love everything about it, from the colour and style to its ridiculous shortness - inviting me to wear shorts underneath to avoid flashing half the city when Brighton's being windy again. And to add to its awesomeness, the skirt's waist is adjustable, so you can make some space for a food baby, he he he...

Vegan Eats | Brighton: Brunch at Brewed

With being free from any kind of Uni work and only working a few days a week, comes the urge to go out for brunch, coffee or dinner as many times as my bank account allows me. Over the past few weeks, I've been discovering and trying out places I hadn't eaten at yet in Brighton (there's just so many!) and with things like vegan doughnuts still on my to-do list, I had the chance to try out a new uber cute place on Lewes Road last week. It's situated dangerously close to my place here, as it's only a 10-15 min walk away and even though it's not a vegan (or even veggie) place, their vegan options are amazing.

Environmentally friendly, safe & comfortable periods: menstrual cups

Periods are a tricky business. On top of their monthly visits making you feel uncomfortable, moody, hungry, tired or simply in pain, they are also really damn expensive and wasteful. Whether you use tampons or pads (or a combination of both), the amount of waste that is produced every month, resulting not only from the product itself but also its packaging, isn't only potentially icky to dispose off but extremely bad for the environment. Apparently, the average woman uses up to 11 000 tampons during her lifetime, which all take centuries to degrade! With a box of tampons or pads costing between £2 and £5, the use of disposable feminine hygiene products amounts to a lot of money spent on periods during a lifetime, money that would definitely be more enjoyable to spend on a cup of coffee or a magazine.

Blog Post Roundup #6

sunset over Rovinj, September 2015

With just about three weeks left until my final Uni deadlines, I've been trying to focus all my energy on working on my dissertation and essay, hence the quietness over here. Ironically, I have a handful of posts that I want to write up and publish and a few outfits I'd like to shoot, but I simply don't want to work on that now, as I feel like the outcome won't be as good as it could be when I get back to proper blogging after I've submitted all my assignments. Since I don't want the blog to be completely dead, though, I've accumulated three blog posts that I enjoyed reading recently and I thought that I'd share them with you so that you can discover other blogs and topics whilst I'm working away on my Uni work! If you want more regular updates from me, you can find me on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (noraameliie)!

Consumerism & Why I Avoid Primark - Fellow Luxembourg/UK based fashion blogger Kristiana reflects on her consumption behaviours and how she has recently changed them, becoming a more mindful shopper. I could really relate to her writing, as I've also been trying to change my spending habits and save up money for things that are more important to me than clothes at this time in my life.

How to costumize your snapcode - Kaori shares awesome tips (which I haven't applied to my own blog yet, oops..) on how to create your own snapcode which you can then add to your blog's sidebar so that readers only have to scan over it to add you to their Snapchat!

Food photography tips from Anne Faber - Lately, Luxembourg has started to become more and more interesting for bloggers with an increasing amount of cool blogger workshops popping up everywhere. Unfortunately, my being away at Uni most of the time keeps me from participating in most of these workshops, but I can always count on a fellow Blogger_LU member to post about their experiences at one of these events. Not too long ago, Carmen went to a food photography workshop and decided to share her newly gained knowledge with her readers.

Roadtrip #2

I used to think of myself as more of a seaside/beach kinda gal, but I have to admit that I've been drawn to the mountains more and more lately. Since my family had rented a car for three days, we went on another road trip, and it's safe to say that it included some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. Our final destination was the Torrente de Pareis, a torrent leading through a canyon on the north-west coast of Mallorca. To get there, we had to drive all the way up the mountains, treating us with drop dead gorgeous views, only to then drive all the way down again the other side of the the mountain (I can't find out the name of the mountain/s for the life of me). We had fantastic weather on that day, so I even ended up sunbathing in my bikini for an hour in the Torrente. Very successful day, I'd say! I'm going to let the pictures do the rest of the talking now...

Laid back

shorts: h&m top: zara sunglasses: asos shoes: park lane via asos leather jacket: topshop

Packing for Easter can be tricky when the holiday falls into the month of march and the weather fluctuates constantly. Hoping for some sunshine and warmer temperatures here on Mallorca, I also packed a few pairs of shorts and a short skirt or two, and whilst I mainly wore jeans the first few days here, I finally got to wear my more summery pieces for the first time this year when the temperatures started going up a few days ago. I've already worn these safari-style shorts (as I like to call them) in a previous outfit post, but I find them so versatile and easy to wear that I thought I'd show you another way of wearing them, combining them with some very basic pieces like a striped top, black sandals and a leather jacket. Even though I really enjoy more eye catching outfits too, I often like to keep it simple and comfortable, so this outfit was perfect to wear on another road trip I went on two days ago with my family. I found this beautiful platform still on site of the hotel from where you have a great view over the natural reservoir next to where we're staying and I thought it was the perfect backdrop for my outfit, don't you think?!

Roadtrip

I love taking pictures for my blog, Instagram account or even Facebook. However, in a time where Instagram feeds and blog posts seem almost staged or too planned out, I find myself taking pictures with the motivation of getting the "perfect shot" for Instagram or the blog way too often, instead of just capturing a moment in time. Don't get me wrong - I love taking beautiful pictures, editing them and uploading them to my different social media platforms with a witty caption, but I also really like taking pictures just for the sake of taking pictures. I've noticed that I take hundreds of pictures when I'm on holidays but only a small selection of allll those pictures actually ends up on my blog. 

Especially since I got myself a new phone back in February, with four times the storage space and an even better camera with cool features, I've been snapping everything and everyone on it. Admittedly, this has made me lazier when it comes to carrying my camera(s) with me, but it has also led me to take more spontaneous, in-the-moment pictures. My phone is now over flowing with pictures and I decided that I'd like to share them. Whether that'd be for you guys, following and/or reading my blog or even just for myself to look back at in the future. Starting with this post, I'll be using my blog as a platform to share my (at times random) photography, so if that's something you like, watch this space. I'll start off with pictures I took yesterday when I went on a small road trip with my family, as we rented a car and drove around the east coast of Mallorca and I got particularly snap happy.

I'm still here

Hello, it's me. After a a more or less unintentional break in all things blogging, I'm back. I spent most of the past two weeks in the library, trying to push through my last term and all the work that comes with it. Between trying to understand strange theories and coming up with ideas for my dissertation, I often felt uninspired and quite frankly, lazy, when it came to blogging. If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat (noraameliie), you know that I am alive and well, but blogging simply hasn't been a priority lately. Right now, I'm on a 10 day holiday in Mallorca with my family, which doesn't mean I won't have to do any work, but I'll at least have the chance to unwind a little bit before going into full on work mode for the last couple of weeks of University. I've packed alllllll my spring clothes for Mallorca, so fingers crossed that the weather will play along and I can take some nice outfit pictures. Do you have any requests of posts that you'd like to see from me? I'm feeling very low on inspiration at the moment but I don't want the blog to become too one sided, so do let me know!

What I Eat In A Day: my very first video!

The first thing I did when I wanted to learn more about veganism, was watch YouTube videos as if my life depended on it. I went through hours and hours worth of videos of people talking about why they eat a plantbased diet, how they transitioned to it, I watched one documentary after the other and most importantly, I watched tons of What I Eat In A Day videos. Seeing what someone eats on a regular day on a vegan diet not only inspired me to try out the diet (and ultimately the lifestyle) myself, but also provided me with lots of ideas of what I can eat when I felt like all I could come up with was veggie pasta or Chinese stir-fries. It's been over two years since I started my YouTube journey and today, I'd say that at least 90% of the YouTube channels I follow are veganism related and a lot of them feature multiple What I Eat In A Day videos. For the longest time, I've felt inspired to make a video like that myself, so after filming some footage yesterday, I finally decided to give it a go and after almost an hour of cutting, inserting and playing around, I finished editing my very first What I Eat In A Day video! It's quite short, my editing skills are still in the baby phase and I filmed the whole of it with my phone (I don't have my tripod here to use my camera to do it) but this is it! I'd love to get some feedback on what you think about it, and of course do tell me if you'd like to see more of these kinds of videos from me?! Likes, comments and subscribes would obviously make me one very happy gal too!

Vegan Eats | New York: Dun-Well Donuts

Doughnuts are one of those foods that I've always rather liked when younger (and still do) but for some reason didn't eat very often. Since going vegan, I finally hadn't had one for two years, but I never realise how much I enjoy biting into a good doughnut until I'm actually doing it. 

CURRENT FAVOURITES

Stripes in London

skirt, leather jacket: topshop sweater: monki shoes: adidas bag: primark sunglasses: asos

After having lived only an hour away from London for almost three years now, my friend and I finally got around doing a day trip to London during Fashion Week. As usual for the A/W Fashion Week, the dates of LFW happened to be around my birthday, and since we're not swamped with Uni work (yet), we decided to go to London for a day yesterday and got the chance to do some fashionable-people-spotting and to attend a free talk as part of the events that were on offer. A day in London usually also means that I have the time to take some outfit pictures, so I decided to dress up a little bit and take my Topshop skirt which I got back in November for a walk. So far, I'd only worn the skirt on Christmas Day, so it was about time for me to wear it out and about! Its neoprene-like material gives it a really fun shape and turned out to be perfect for the windy weather we had yesterday. Combined with one of my current favourite turtle neck jumpers, a leather jacket and white trainers, I felt at least a little bit stylish between all those well dressed people, but most of all, super comfortable to explore the city once again. 

When in New York... #3

Black on black - the perfect bargain

sweater: monki culottes, bag: zara shoes: adidas coat: camden lock scarf: asos

To my own surprise, the only piece of clothing I bought during my New York trip was a pair of culottes. Less surprisingly, I spent the majority of my money on food - all for the blog of course - writing Vegan Eats posts takes a lot of effort and time, ok? However, the one thing I bought I love dearly (so much that I forgot them in Luxembourg, ha). Back when I got my first pair of culottes last summer, I knew that I'd like to get my hands on another pair (or two), ideally a black one so that I can wear them with tights too. When my friend and I had some time to spare before going to watch a Musical, we had a stroll through a ZARA and I found these perfect culottes on sale for 20$, ka-ching! The perfect bargain: a piece I've wanted for a while, which is also the perfect basic/classic piece to add to my wardrobe, what a no-brainer. Though I had wanted to take pictures in Soho but never really got around it, I'm really happy with the outcome of these pictures. We took them on the Liberty Island (where the statue of liberty is standing) and the skyline of lower Manhattan adds a little something to the pictures. Ah, I already miss hunting for cool backdrops for outfit pictures in New York...