Aug 10

After returning home from school, I took one of those useless kind of naps for a couple hours. I couldn't really sleep, and yet I wasn't able to function, so I was sprawled out on the sofa zoning in and out. I think my body just decided to let out because I had been so tense the past couple of days.

Anyways, its been so long since my last cross-stitching update. When September comes, I'm gonna stop cross-stitching cold-turkey style. Reason being I'm going back to school. Fortunately, I draw with a lot of embroidery, so I won't be totally deprived.
This is the lastest of the projects:

Helen Bell's Multiplication Table

The instant I saw this, I just knew I had to get it. So I got it and I started! I made some adjustments to the placement of the numbers and I also made a couple mistakes on the grid so I need to rip that out.

I'm feeling 홍경민 (Hong Kyung Min) Tonight. hahahahahahha! Everyone starts cracking up when I rock out with this song. I wonder why :P

"아름다운 그녀가 어어어 어어어~
나에게로 다가와
흔들리는 머릿결 어어어 어어어
나의 숨이 멋는다"
(from 홍경민의 Tonight)

Yay!

So I'm sitting in front of the computer still in my pj's with bed hair. It feels quite gross but I just slipped in the last pages of my drawings into the itoya folder and I'm done! Now I just need to drive to school in the morning to turn it in.

My brother is back from his retreat and he seems to have been deprived of sleep, he totally conked out after he came home. Anyways, it good to see him back safe and sound! Whenever he's gone, I usually get bored and lonely, but this time around I didn't feel his emptiness because I was totally focused on finishing the class portfolio. Actually, I kind of enjoyed it cause I got to hog two computers and sit on the comfy chair while dominating the living room and the study. hahaha

Now I'm planning to unwind with a cup of hot tea listening to music, but first I must take a shower! Oh how I would love for some hot apple cider right now. It was so, so good, especially with the beautiful view. I usually don't like whipped cream but this one was so light and fluffy, I was licking it off the stir stick. Yum!

"흘러가는 구름따라 어디론가 떠날볼까
시원한 바람따라 두팔벌려 달려볼까
화창한 햇살보며 파도소리 귀기울여
그대의 미소와 함께 꿈을 싣고 여행을가"
{from 이승기의 Paradise}

So sweet.

"Oh~ You and I, oh you and I
왜 이렇게, 왜 이렇게 좋아요
I can see the sunlight through your eyes
Everyday, oh everyday
웃게 해줄게
서툴겠지만 그대위해서만"
{from 박정현의 달아요}

Listening to sweet love songs feels so nice!

Insomnia

I can't seem to fall asleep. Maybe it's the pressure of putting together my portfolio or maybe it's because I'm alone in the darkness. It's just one of those nights when I'm so immersed in my thoughts and emotional. I will eventually drift off to sleep and I will wake up and tell myself I was being silly. But tonight I'm feeling rather down.

이럴때면 가끔 한번씩 생각난다.

Up and Down

I miss Carmel. There's something soothing about being near the waters. Although I can't swim, I could spend hours just watching the waves glide towards me, while skipping along the shores and kicking the sand beneath my feet.

I dug up more photos from our trip. E and I decided to make a lovely sunset dinner for the last night. It was picture perfect, a five * dinner with a five * view, with my best friend!

Now I just needed my 승기<3 to serenade me away to 결혼해줄래 and I would've said yes to him in a split second! And I'm sure E had Mr. Nick Khun drifting around and about in her head. But that is a different story to which I would have to devote a whole blog post to, or maybe two or three or even a 100.

We set it out on the balcony on top of E's picnic mat

Steak and seafood kabobs on a bed of orzo.

Now that is one sexy plate!


I love how our glasses frosted up!

Cheers to a wonderful week! :)

Staying cool in the summer is easy peasy!

Juicy. Sweet. Refreshing!



What's better than winding down with a mouthful of watermelon on a hot summer day!
I've been hooked on making su-bak hwa-chae (수박화채) Basically the same idea as a fruit salad except using watermelon as the main.
For this one I used refrigerated watermelon, lychee, and peach, that way you can eat it right away and it'll be nice and cold!
1. Split the watermelon in half.
2.Cut the edges in a zig-zag, and scoop up the watermelon with a spoon (a melon scooper would be ideal, but I couldn't find one) Keep all the yummy juices.
3. Cut open fresh lychee, or open and drain a can of lychee
4. Slice a peach into 1/4" thickness, then press the peach with a cute cutter. (Stuff the leftovers in your mouth while singing merrily)
5. Toss the trio in the juices and voila! YUMMMMMY!

I think I'm gonna go make myself one right now! Ciao.

How do you stay cool in the summer?

I'm BACK!!

I've been MIA for a long time! And that comes with a large update! I've started a painting project on the first floor of our house last month which is still running on. I'm taking it slow and doing one room per week, or so I'd like to think. ;) All our walls have been cream/ivory/off-white for the past 10 years or so, so yes we needed a change! First off was the living room, which went from cream to a lavender colour. Our choice was Olympics 'Ancestral' after seeing it on the paint swatches. In the beginning it took some getting used to, because it changed so drastically throughout the day, depending on the light situation. But after a week or so, our family totally fell in love with it. The colour brngs a feminine and romantic feel which complements the dark chocolate furniture. I also stained the wooden mantle above the fireplace from a colonial maple to a dark chocolate. It's uber sexy, in my honest opinion. ;) hahaha! And then I painted a large mirror that was hanging on the wooden panel to a white and gave it an antique look. Those two additional changes (mantle + mirror) really transformed the living room, in a good way and we love it! It so interesting how a coat of paint makes all the difference!
Unfornately, silly me forgot to take before photos, but I do have an inbetween shot. :P And I haven't gotten to the after photos.

The second project was by far the easiest, we painted the entryway and the stairway wall, from an ivory to a light sage colour. It looks good and it makes our white door stand out from the walls now.

Then I tackled the third project with my mom, "THE KITCHEN, including all the cabinetry". It went from a yellowish cream to a organic basil colour, and the cabinets are now wearing white, and we love it! I under-estimated the work that comes with it... Well... let's just say I made a mental note to self that next time we will have that professionally painted.

The fourth project was the family room. We had the ugliest varnished wooden panels on the walls and it was my wish to get them re-painted... but I did not get my way till now. Now I love myself some wood, but these panels were so varnished to the point of cheapness!! Yes!! Feels so great to have it covered up in a nice natural taupe!

I know a picture speaks a thousand words, but after all the painting my body went into lazy mode so I skipped out on the photos. :P Perhaps in the near future~ But I did go up north to Carmel and had the most relaxing week by the waters!

Asilomar Beach

We made Baby Baby Bertha @ Asilomar Beach

Point Lobos (China Cove)

Point Lobos (China Cove)

Point Lobos (China Cove)

Cannery Row - "Candy Barons"
I was fulfilling my sweet desires with salt water taffy!

Sunset view from our suite