iceland (hotels)

here are my three picks for places to stay in iceland.having grown up with an interior designer for a mother, i find myself always looking for interesting spaces, especially when i'm travelling. architecture and style can tell you a lot about a place. in the case of iceland, a lot of the spaces take on the expansiveness of the landscape. there's a somewhat weathered feel to icelandic style too. rusting metal doors. turntables and feathers. bookshelves filled with vintage treasures.

ion luxury adventure hotel, near thingvellir national park : sparse yet striking. nestled in a volcanic mountainside, with a dramatic bar and outside spa overlooking the landscape. if (like us), it's a little out of your budget, it's worth still checking out for lunch.

héradsskólinn boutique hostel, golden circle : once a girl's dormitory, which comes through in its nostalgic, homely charm. northern lights by night, diy waffles by morning. we stayed in a private room with a shared bathroom.

kex hostel, reykjavik : kex is the icelandic word for biscuit. this hostel in the middle of reykjavik is the epitome of cool. so much so, that its industrial bar and live music fills up most nights with travellers and locals alike. we stayed in a private room with a shared bathroom.

iceland

from top: the blue lagoon, aerial view of the jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, the aurora borealis over thingvellir national park, budir church (the only black church in iceland), héradsskolinn boutique hostel in the golden circle, driving in the the snaefellsnes peninsula, the wreckage of a crashed dc plane on vik beach, jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, hallgrímskirkja church in reykjavik, the exterior of the harper (concert hall) in reykjavik & an iceberg in jökulsárlón glacier lagoon.

cashew creme

cooking plant-based naturally requires you to be a bit more creative in the kitchen. but as a foodie, i love the challenge. what's really helped me is the discovery of a few staples that become the base of countless dishes, both sweet and savoury.

the first one i want to share with you is one of my favourites, cashew creme. it's rich, velvety and delicately sweet, it's a wonderful substitute for dairy, and it's only made with two ingredients, cashews and water. it seems a bit much to call this a recipe (given how simple it is) but nevertheless, this is how i like to make cashew creme. 

ingredients:

~ 2 cups raw cashews

~ fresh water

method:

~ soak cashews in plenty of water for at least three hours. (this softens them up and makes them easy to blend.)

~ drain and rinse

~ blend with 1 cup of water (i tend to start with a ratio of 2:1 for cashews to water, just because it makes life easy) then add water gradually until desired consistency is reached. 

notes:

~ this will make about a mason jar of cashew creme and will last around 4 days in the fridge (when it starts to taste a little tart, it's time to make a new batch). give it a quick stir before you use it each time. also, you really do need a high-powered blender to get a velvety texture like this. it was always bitty with my old blender, but now i have a vitamix it's so gorgeously smooth. 

beautiful brands (cleaning)

consciously trying to consume less means i find myself putting more thought into the products i choose. after utility and quality, the two main qualities i look for in a brand are ethics and aesthetics. i want to support businesses with sustainability in their story, which i'm learning can take so many forms. the branding and design that goes into a product is also something i value highly.

in short, i'm looking for brands that are beautiful inside and out. and knowing that they're often not easy to find, i'm going to start sharing my discoveries with you.

let's begin with the basics: everyday cleaning products. these two beautiful brands are made locally in my new home of dublin. 

bi : recycled hand soap :

made in dublin 7 from premium waste and locally foraged ingredients. this beautifully packaged product is also part of a much larger community initiative called the lifeline:

"the lifeline will provide educational, healthcare, training and employment opportunities for residents and reinvigorate the profile of dublin 7 through a series of ecological products which will make imaginative use of currently wasted resources." from the bi website.

lilly's : eco cleaning products : 

what started as a one-lady enterprise has now grown to a range of over twenty refillable cleaning products for the home. based out of dublin 12, all products are biodegradable, using sustainably-sourced, plant-based ingredients. kinder to our health, our home, and the environment.

"caring for the environment starts from the home." from 'a letter from lilly'

if you know any other 'beautiful brands', or perhaps are making one yourself, please share them with me at morgancfiebig@gmail.com

amsterdam (stores)

i recently escaped to amsterdam for the weekend and came across a few gorgeous stores i wanted to share. for this short trip i focused on an area called de negen straatjes (nine streets). 

it's the kind of city you can explore on foot and by whim, by which i mean, it's made for getting lost. here's what i found...

pluk : part homewares store, part cafe, everything here is exquisitely wholesome. think stained wood, marble and banana pancakes.

the darling : fashion and interiors via a white spiral stair case. vintage and new, hanging from roped branches. spot the rocking unicorn.

gathershop : a curation of hand-made treasures, all with a story. delicate jewellery, soft tones and fair trade.  

the elegance of the everyday

wild flowers from wicklow. i get a small bunch every sunday from our local farmers markets.

wooden pegs that feel lovely in my hands and tend to fall apart, but maybe that's why i like them.

a pair of glass bottles. once for cloudy apples, now for rosy auras. 

my style centres around simple objects like these.

for me style is not sophistication above the ordinary. it's finding sophistication within the ordinary. 

this is the elegance of the everyday.

 

 

forgive me for i have sinned

 

i have sinned

my love has thinned

for the very one

with whom i belong

i'm ever aware

of my affair

but how do i end

or transcend

my flirtation

this temptation

to transgress

and undress

with my mistress fine

and true love of mine

we're all entwined

but not aligned

and thus never free

for "we" 

are not three

(each one is me).

 

 

 

all shots were taken at st dunstan church in east london which was largely destroyed in the second world war and has since been restored as a public garden. 

petersham nurseries (store)

sun-dappled greenhouses, sleeping cherubs, misshapen ceramics and crystal chandeliers. this is the magic of petersham nurseries, a homewares haven in south-west london. it's also a gardening store, a teahouse, and a sustainable restaurant. come get your seedlings for spring or peruse the gardens after a long lunch.

 

 

petersham nurseries / church lane / off petersham road / richmond, surrey / TW10 7AB

 

sacred sunday (bath, uk)

every world heritage site, regardless of its location, belongs to us all. 

i wonder, what if we replicated this idea on a smaller scale? what if each of us, regardless of our location, was given our own list of one (or few) things to preserve and pass on?

our heritage on earth is one and the same. so if we share the privilege, surely we should share the work?

all shots taken in the english city of bath, which was heritage listed in 1987.

our natural history

monsoons that mature into magnolias

stones that grow like spines

oak that fossilises into opal

everything is just another incarnation of itself

 

our cells are not our own

our birth was before our blood 

and when our breath leaves our lungs 

we get to become the very air.

 

all photos taken at the natural history museum in london.

she is only a promise

i fantasise about someone i will never feel. 

with but a whisper of my arrival, she retreats into the distance again.

i linger in her wake.

waiting. wishing.  

she is precious. she is perfect. but she is only a promise.

if i listen, i can sometimes hear the plea of the present. faint, but faithful.

come back to me, she says, i'm right here. 

only when you let go of the future is she one day all around.

sacred sunday (barnes, london)

sunday is sacred for me.

i have a series of little rituals that ground me for the week.

taking pictures is one of them.

it's like an invisible string that binds me to the present. 

as my eyes skip around a space, my mind focuses, my breathing slows, and my lungs expand. 

 

sundays are for still life.

these shots were taken at my aunt and uncle's home in barnes, london. they're renovating the whole place soon, so this was my way of honouring it before it disappears.