two years of waiting

Before our big day I was supposed to do what every girl does and get all glammed up in her dress to take photos by herself. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn't want to take pictures alone. I had no idea what I would do with all of those photos of me by myself in my wedding gown. Besides the obvious choice of creating my own shrine to myself. So I did the only other obvious choice. I made the hubs get all dolled up with me again after the wedding to do a post wedding photo shoot. Well, just a short year and a half later, we have the photos from our photographer. I admit, he takes forever, but it's oh so worth it.

After hours of being serious in serious attire, our true side came out.

letters/10

dear korea, i love how all of the rice paddies are no longer muddy patches but instead, layers of green. it's a beautiful reminder of where i live. dear hubs, the other night you asked me to list all of the countries that i want to travel to. you finally made me stop and list my top five. you laughed when i had difficulty narrowing it down. but when i asked the same of you, you had equal difficulty. i love that one of our largest things in common is the love and desire to see the world. dear weather man, (because you're the one that makes the weather right?) please make sunshine on saturday so we can go cliff jumping. i'm all for relaxing at home with a movie while there's a typhoon outside, but not two weekends in a row ok? dear koreans, thank you for finding your slightly used sofa unfit for your apartment and politely setting it outside. it looks great in our living room.

bamboo forest

We heard that a new bamboo forest park just opened up on our island so we jumped in the car with our friends Mike and Alissa and went to go check it out. You can see bamboo trees mostly everywhere you go here but it is in sparse bunches that you would have to hike to in order to go through a few feet of them. So we were pleasantly surprised when we found the bamboo forest to be a thick forest of them throughout the entire trail. I don't know what it is about bamboo, but it's like a 'knock in the head' to remind you where you live but at the same time a peaceful and relaxing feeling when you're walking through a large group of them.

they also included a ropes course through the trees that the boys got to enjoy. i wore sandals that day but brought my keens along in the car. of course i looked down and thought "oh my sandals will do just fine on the trail" and completely forgot about the course. ah well, just an excuse to go back again.instead i hung out with this cutie and waited for our hubs to finish. 

Haute Pink Lips for Summer!

One of the joys of summer is finding lipsticks that pop! I decided to venture away from my Nars “Orgasm” lip gloss offering a more neutral lip for something that shouts, my lips are haute!

While visiting several cosmetics counters recently, I fell in love with Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Fuchsia lipstick. The color is a beauty statement to say the least. It added a bit of glamour and intrigue to my face… and brought my entire look from head to toe alive. I wore Le Fuchsia to a cocktail party at the Mandarin Oriental and the Style Bloggers of Color Conference. I really enjoyed the color, it created a sense of role playing for me. I got a lot of compliments and I have to say, I'm glad that I tried something new. Haute pink lips are definitely bringing the wow factor for summer!



What lip color makes you stand out in a crowd?

letters/9

dear geoje, thank you for your amazing bamboo forest park that is just a short car ride away. oh and the zip line through the trees that hubs thoroughly enjoyed (i'll post more on it later).  dear pinterest, you're amazing with all of your creative inspiration. after one and a half years here, i'm going to finally try to decorate. dear korea, is it so much to ask for a craft store with more than colored paper, balloons and pom poms? when i'm trying to decorate on a budget, anything within the realm of michael's would be useful. dear students, thank you for actually semi behaving yourself this week. makes my life a whole lot easier, especially when it's one of those weeks when i'm falling asleep standing up. dear kikinitinkorea, you have the ability to turn any bad day around. seriously, go check it out. i'm no sure how well this blog will translate to those who haven't lived in korea, but it's pretty right on. a few of my favorites here here and here. dear co-teacher, when i tell you that my sister is having a baby and you jump up, grab me and ask "you're having a baby?!" it makes me feel a) that you don't listen to me and b) that you want me to have a baby a little too much. dear hubs, i'm diggin all the random love notes and random acts of kindness this week. asking if i want you to pick me up chocolate because i'm having a bad day? priceless. not sure what i did to deserve it but i'm not going to question it.

letters/8

dear hubs, i'm so glad that you're able to do what you love on the weekends and go paragliding. i can't wait till you're certified and you can take me with you. thank you for having an adventurous spirit. dear dryer, sometimes i forget how convenient you are. especially since our last two apartments didn't have you. thank you for encouraging my laziness of ironing. dear boss, please stop giving me the cold shoulder, it's making work a little more than awkward lately. dear hubs students, i'm so glad that i got to meet you last night as you took him out to celebrate the last class. thank you for free chinese food and for being sweet enough to remember my birthday and surprise me with a cake. i'm so glad that he was blessed with great students. dear hubs, surprising me by taking a day off to make me breakfast and lay in bed and watch chick flicks is an excellent way to start my birthday.

oh and in case you haven't noticed by comments above, it's my birthday today. i typically don't look forward to this day but thank goodness i have an amazing hubs who always makes me feel special. can't wait to start the weekend in celebration with amazing friends, great AMERICAN food and live music. happy weekend!

sand castle festival

last weekend we headed into busan to check out the annual sand castle festival. word to the wise: never head into a big city on a saturday afternoon. we had plans that morning so couldn't leave until 2 and that meant that we were very unfortunately stuck in 3 hours of traffic. thank goodness we had the company of good friends. they had sand sledding for the wee ones. it was one of the few times that i wish i was a little kid again.one of the of the many sand sculptures at the festival. they were so detailed and intricate. i will admit, i thought that the sand sculptures would be more upright instead of flat against a heap of sand but i'll take what i can get.these girls were so cute while putting the finishing touches on the race car that they obviously did on their own with no help.we ended the trip with a visit to our favorite mexican restaurant, taco señora. always the perfect way to end a trip to the city.

letters/7

dear hubs, you always know how to make a long day end well. like playing reggae music when i get home and dancing with me in the kitchen. dear motorbike, even after not riding you for a week, my deriair is still sore. i think i need those pants with the butt pads in them for our next ride. dear busan, thank you for being only a short bus ride away for when this girl needs a city getaway. dear sunburn, i think it's time for you to just go away. one week is enough, although my students are having fun with pressing on my skin and watching it change colors. dear sunscreen, i SLATHERED you on, and i still got burned. what gives.

letters/6

{heading to haeundae beach this weekend for the sand castle festival! one of the highlights is the hot sand bath where you're buried from head to toe. this will be my first stop of the day.}

dear friday,
thank you for coming so quickly and only making me work four hours. you're also my favorite because you are the one day in the week that the hubs doesn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn for class.

dear hubs,
i love that you know exactly what to temp me with for my bday. and that you know even better to spoil the surprise two weeks early.

dear dehli indian restaurant,
you have me hooked with your delicious spicy chicken curry and generous helpings of nan the size of your head. when i arrived in korea, i could hardly eat anything because it was all too spicy. now, i'm searching for spicy foods to cure my cravings for it. this is one thing that i never expected to change just by living in a different country. (ok, i should say that my spice tolerance still isn't the same as a normal person, but it's a lot better. whenever my korean teacher hands me a snack and swears that it's not spicy, i'm running to the water fountain while she sits there laughing at my weak american tastebuds.)

dear korean holidays,
keep 'em coming. i won't complain about the two weeks in a row that i have a four day workweek.

dear summer,
thanks for the awesome weekend beach weather. you're doing a much better job than last year.

dear costco,
thank you for being a foreign saving grace with all your delicious american food and better yet, the same cheap food court as back in the states.