Eve of Christmas Eve!!

For the sake of it being the eve of Christmas Eve..the 23rd.. here is one sample/preview of my homemade Christmas card collection! So far I have made 12.



I used to make Christmas cards with watercolor every year when I was kid because I took art lessons and that's what we did when the Holidays rolled around. I should go find one of my old ones and compare ... it's almost 10 years later..heehee.

Today~ My friend Jane comes back home from Korea!! wEEEee I have to wake up in 5 hours lol~~~then I must get ready because I'm going to dinner @ Joey's...FINALLY! Never beeeen there!!

Anyhoo, goodnight and I will post the rest of my cards next time. ta-ta!

Love After Love

Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

-Derek Walcott

testing new brushes!

Rest in Peace Daul Kim

I read her blog a lot.... I found almost every post she wrote interesting... I could tell she always seemed lonely... it's so tragic she let go. This is one of her posts from about a month ago, it stuck to me.

2009/10/08

i dont care about being remembered
i dont care about being forgotten

i dont care about being loved by everyone

i just want to be loved by someone who can

i want it to last
--------- Daul Kim

Rest in Peace
김다울

fall leaves

My little brother was raking leaves with my mom and he said he looked and it was shaped like a heart! He ran to my room, grabbed my camera and took a picture of it! Good job little bro, it looks pretty!!

coloring

Apple Cream Pie

Carol 사모님's style! I always loved her apple pie so I asked for her recipe, and made it today. Came out splendid!!

Crust:
1 box 15 oz Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I only put 1/2 cup, you can decided how much)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (6 medium)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon coarse sugar or sugar


Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees, Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-crust pie using 9-inch pie pan

2. In large bowl, mix granulated sugar, flour and cinnamon; gently stir in apples. In small bowl, mix whipping cream and vanilla. Pour over apple mixture; stir gently to mix well. Spoon into crust-lined pan

3. Top with second pie crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust. Brush top with egg white; sprinkle with coarse sugar.

4. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown, covering edge with strips of foil after 15 minutes or baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool 1 hour. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo

This is my book collection (some of it, or at least the pretty ones haha) in my room. These are the ones where I've probably read more than once because they're my favorites. They wouldn't fit into one picture even though I set it to wide so I just smushed them together myself haha.

But anyways... It's National Novel Writing Month... 50,000 words by Nov 30th. I'm determined to do it. I probably won't reach 50,000 exactly but I'll be proud if I even get 30,000... I'm only at about 2,000 right now...haha so we'll see. I'll probably fail but ... we'll see how far I get =)

I'm running out of names though...for my fictitious characters lol. I think I already have a title for it and a title idea...but no real plot HHAHAHA. Oh well. That's what literary fiction is right? Plus the always 'dysfunctional' father in the story lolll. Wish me luck...especially since I still have school.. midterms and all...

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

kpop bonanza

1. 2pm my #1 lovers. i miss them!!
2. big bang i'll always love them. big bang songs = jjang!
3. DBSK they seem at a different level of maturity...sexier & manlier..lol
4. wondergirls they're so cute and seem genuinely chah-kae. best songs.
5. brown eyed girls i personally don't consider them an 'idol' group... they're all actually really talented artists. not just alright like the rest of the idol girl groups.
6. 2ne1 anticipated them for too long. <3>
7. 4minute i can't believe i like them. well i like jiyoon and i think hyunah is so effing adorable i wanna squeeze her! plus i like their songs

the Coutryside of Washington State-- Yakima

I consider this my last trip of the 2009 summer...sad to say I am now back in school with the life of dreaded mornings, coffee, textbooks, exams, papers, hw, etc--yueeeeck! Anyways, my parents decided they wanted to go to Yakima just because, well to get some fruit I guess and for a quick last road trip (for me, Aaron was already in school haha). Monica's family went too (excluding Jessica since she had school too haha), thus we were off to an exciting SCENIC adventure! Haha, this was also when I had my weird back pain phase so it was hard to enjoy the trip in the car pretending like I wasn't in pain to my parents but nonetheless it was a nice finish to my summer. For some reason I really, really like the countryside lol. I don't know why but it just makes me really calm or feel like I'm at peace with my life hahaha. I dunno maybe I just like scenery and calm landscapes? We stopped by a couple of stops for the view because we took highway...I forget but it's the one that goes through the mountains. I must say I LOVE Washington air...it's simply....clean. and so CRISP!

Anyways here are couple of photos I took!

This song makes me want to sing "take me home...country road...to the place that I belong..West Virginia...mountain momma..." hahaha my dad likes that song.

Beautiful. I call it... Looks Like Tuscany. Lol. No really though. This picture doesn't even do it justice. Monica and I were so breath taken by the scenery, it was really, really pretty. (P.S you can see the moon!)


These next ones are raw images.




This is the home of the people who sold us apples.

The apples we bought!

Oh my gosh I'm not even kidding I so wished I had a dslr when I was taking these...the sun setting was SO pretty.. no joke. It was purple and then we'd drive a bit more and then it'd be BLUE...and ahh it was pretty...and these are blurry cuz I was in a moving car and the window is not opened when I took these sunset pictures!

I complain about Washington a lot but it really is a pretty state...very GREEN...which I LOVE!

N. Korea's first fast food restaurant

So... bland. Lol.

Vancouver, BC

Capstone Tea on Robson Street in Vancouver, BC is the cutest little place ever. They sell bubble tea, teas, coffees and of course fondue! Second time going back for me and Zena, except this time they had ice cream balls! Woohoo! It was somewhat of a spontaneous trips again, actually it seems all of my trips I've blogged about on this blog are spontaneous haha. I think that's just how I roll. What's next? Out of the country I hope? Europe? I was telling my brother this but I think everyone living on this planet needs to take a backpacking trip across Europe in their lifetime-- preferably alone or maybe with like one companion. Do some SEOUL searching lol.
But anyways, Robson Street is like... a mini Hong Kong? Lots of asians...lol. With the setting of a calmer NY, since it seemed like no one really went to sleep there either! It's super clean, and there were like no creepy bums I swear. I think we only saw one bum but he wasn't even that creepy lol. Endless stores of shopping from name brands to cheap accessory stores...millions of cafes, bars, and CREPE places! Yummm I want some crepes ahh!! I had a nutella + fresh strawberries + vanilla ice cream crepe. It was delish! I don't know why I have so many food pictures haha and like none of the city ><. Anyways-- I had a sex on the beach, killer kool-aid, and some B2 coffee liqueur thing. Oh alcohol lol. Anyways I turn 21 in ... 9 days! Yipeee.

Seaside, Oregon...the cutest little place in the PNW

I've been to this place multiple of times since I live in Washington, there isn't a lot of exciting nearby places to go except Ocean Shores, Seaside...and... yea. Lol. One night trip with the fam. It was actually a pleasant trip. Nothing crazy exciting happened but nothing bad happened. I think we really needed it. Anyhow~ We got there without making any reservations at a hotel, my dad's style lol. Everywhere was booked but we found this place called Seashore Inn. Right next to the Shiloh Inn, which was all booked. It was about $150 cheaper than Best Western which wasn't even on the water. Our Seashore inn was RIGHT on the beach I absolutely loved it. The walls were ugly, the bathroom was small, the pool room was in a different building, but it was that much cheaper but right on the water. Plus all you really do is sleep in the hotel room for a couple of hours, right?! Anyhoo, so we got our room and explored Seaside, which I must say is the cutest little vacation town ever! We went to the Aquarium there, which was kinda gay but whatever it was cheap. Ate a $5.00 elephant ear which probably cost them a bout $0.10 to make lol. For dinner we went to a place called Bigfoot Steakhouse, we had to drive because it was a couple of miles away, but the prime rib there was deliciosa!! After dinner we all changed into our swimsuits and went swimming for a bit.

To end the night we went back on the sand and had a bonfire... yes we arI think I really am a beach person though. I can't imagine not living by a coast... I think I'd feel really dap dap hae. The sand there was SUPER soft it felt so good. And it wasn't even freezing out there, and the fire made it exceptionally perfect. My parents are so cute haha. My brother brought his guitar so him and my dad were switching off haha. It is so true though, nothing beats family. Your blood. I miss going on vacations like this. I wish I was more grateful when I was younger...we used to go on so many trips. I love being in good company <3.

And p.s Seaside beach is MUCH better than Canon Beach. Canon beach is the one with the huge rock. It's gorgeous but too windy. That's why they need those shield thingy's like you see in this picture! =)

Anyhoo~ it was a fun, relaxed trip. We stopped by the outlet mall on the way home, bought 3 Northface jackets for $150 (amazing), ate at a random sushi place called Izakaya Sushi which had really nice Korean owners haha. Check it out-- if you are ever in Beaverton, Oregon! Ciao!

MLIA -- Summer 2009 so far...

MLIA= My life is average. Lol. Anyways...I'm horrible at keeping two blogs...it's just too difficult! Lol. Well here is a summary recap of my summer so far through pictures!



1. Drove down to downtown Portland, OR with Jane & Jenn to buy our MacBooks...however I returned mine the next day. But Jane is undoubtedly enjoying hers so it wasn't a waste of a trip =)!


2. Camping at Wenberg State park up north... not the most pleasant experience... bad weather + rain + tensioned up people + inexperienced campers = epic fail. Haha no more camping for me.


3. Point Defiance Zoo, Tacoma. There wasn't a lot of animals.... =( but this polar bear was extremely cute! And right outside the zoo, there is this pretty park... it looked like we were in Thailand or something. So pretty!



4. The sky has been ridiculously pretty here though... these were taken on differnt days.


5. Seattle skyline & Gasworks Park, Seattle. The city skyline is actually pretty breathtaking!


6. Ok...so I know I said MLIA but I guess I must admit--- It's a rather awesome average life haha. I thankfully got the honor of meeting my one and only favorite idol, Park Jaebum... I hate to say this and sound like a 6 year old but it was a dream come true. HAHAHA. How many obsessed crazy fan girls get this kind of chance? Thank you God!! It was truly a blessing, I never get lucky with stuff like this :) This was probably the highlight of my summer as sad as that may sound lol.



I don't want summer to endddd!

All photos taken by me, Doris Jeong.