Faith

Have you seen these?

These photos by photographer Kim Kyung Soon for the October 2007 issue of Korean Vogue have been popping up on several blogs lately (found via Design Mom.) I think they’re great.

The models are dressed in hanbok, traditional Korean dresses. I have a few pictures of me in hanbok (that sadly don’t look anything like this). But if I can find them I’ll scan and post them sometime.

Usually hanbok are more brightly colored (older women wear more muted colors) but I love the soft colors and stillness of these photos. Looking at them makes my eyes happy.

I found some large images of these over at Simple Blueprint

The other thing floating around the ol’ internets I wanted to share was this video by OK Go. I know a lot of you have probably already seen it but I’m posting it just in case you haven’t and because it’s a happy Friday-type-of-thing.

Have a great weekend!

From the front door

I know I shouldn’t have, but I totally got suckered in by the very nice spring-like weather we had all week. I had heard that we were supposed to get snow but deep down I didn’t really believe it–it was nice enough yesterday that I took E to a park and he probably didn’t even need a jacket.

So I was still surprised to wake up to this today. I shouldn’t have been, it’s happened before and I’m sure it will happened again, but…

Utah, why must you break my heart like this? You’re such a tease.

Oh well, at least they already plowed.

Thanks, IS•LY!

I enjoy following Melissa Esplin’s craft blog IS•LY and so when I saw that she was having a handmade craft challenge in February I entered pictures of one of my cutting boards.

Lo and behold, Melissa selected my cutting board as first place! I’m very honored and excited about winning this great hand-bound book and stickers.

I’ve been meaning to put together a slide show of how I make these cutting boards and now seems like an apt time to do so. (The photos are from the making of two different boards so you might notice some differences but the process is the same.)

Thanks again, Melissa!

Obligatory Photos of Pike Place Market

I know it’s a tourist trap, but I still have soft spot in my heart for Pike Place Market. When I was in high school we would sometimes take field trips there.

Photographically speaking I had a hard time finding anything unique to say about the market. But it was still fun snapping photos.

I think flowers are basically the only thing that’s worth buying at the market. They’re really inexpensive here.

I had a moment of deja vu standing in front of this fortune-telling machine…but then I realized I was just remembering the scene from Big.

If you walk down the ramp in front of the market and around the corner you will find this: a building covered in wads of used chewing gum!

In other news, I have woodworking class tonight. I missed two classes while I was out of town so I’m anxious to make some good progress tonight.

Oh, the food, the glorious food! (part 1)

N and I like Korean food and usually eat it at least once every couple weeks or so. We would eat it more often but I only know how to make a handful of dishes. But I have ambitions of becoming better at cooking Korean food, especially because most dishes don’t contain things that E is allergic too.

Anyway, any visit to my parents’ house is guaranteed to feature some delicious Korean food since my mom is a great cook and we also usually grab a bite to eat in Koreatown at least once or twice.

(I can’t remember the Korean name): Buckwheat noodles in fish broth topped with egg, sesame spinach, dried seaweed, and kimchi.

Ojinguh: squid served with spicy dipping sauce (not pictured).
This is one of my favorite Korean snacks and has been since I was a kid.
(Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!)

Ddukbokki: spicy pressed rice cakes with fish cakes

And the spread at the Korean BBQ place Honey Pig in Tacoma.
(I really like this place. It’s the only BBQ place I’ve been to that serves you rounds of pickled daikon and chewy wonton wrappers to wrap your meat up in. The crunchy+chewy texture is delicious and addictive–yum!)

*Sigh*…looking at these pictures is really not helping with my Korean-food withdrawal.

We’re Back!

We’re back: a little tired but happy (and behind on laundry). Poor E was so tired that he sacked out shortly after take-off and didn’t wake up until descent.

It was a wonderful trip and now I feel energized, happy to be home, and ready to tackle my goals re: spring cleaning and getting in better shape. And I have lots of pictures and things to write so I’m going back to daily posting.

It’s great to be back!

Some Photos of Baby D

The concert was AMAZING. I haven’t downloaded the photos off my camera but will post them once I’m back home. I’m hoping they turned out; if they didn’t it was entirely user error. It was a lot of fun shooting with the lens N gave me for Christmas.

While I’m waiting to post the concert pics, here are some other photos I took with my new lens. My friend Emily had an very cute baby boy in January and I snapped a few pictures of him before I went out of town. It wasn’t anything fancy; we just set him down on a towel on a couch facing a window but I liked how these turned out.

I hope you have a great weekend! We’re going to kick around Seattle some more and then head home. This trip has a blast but it will be nice to get back home and into the swing of things.

Super Psyched

Today should be a fantastic day. We’re staying at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law‘s house which is always fun, I’m going to see N for the first time in over a week, and tonight we’re going to see The Magnetic Fields, one of very favorite bands, perform. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited to see a show.

This song of theirs is a favorite of mine:

I like their new album, Realism, but if you’re interested in listening to their music I would recommend starting with their 1999 release 69 Love Songs. It’s on the pricey side because it’s a 3-disc set but it’s great. (My favorite disc is volume 2.) If your local library’s pretty good I bet they have a copy. Check it out if you get the chance!

Puppies!

E has been in heaven this week playing with my parents’ two Maltese dogs. They’ve been really good with him and will accommodatingly follow him around as he runs from room to room shrieking with delight. It’s pretty darn cute.

Right now the house is full of dogs. My parents’ dogs had puppies on Christmas day and they’re now ready for new homes. Malteses are good for allergy sufferers (even though E is very allergic to dogs he’s been doing fine so far).

Aren’t they cute? It’s been a lot of fun cuddling with them while watching the Olympics on tv. I’m going to miss the little guys when I go home. I’d love to take one home with me but it’s not really the best time for us to add a dog to our family right now. *sniff*

Spa Day

So yesterday my dad (whom E has dubbed “PeePa” to go with “MeeMa” which is what he calls my mom) graciously offered to watch E so my mom and I could to to the Korean spa or mogyoktang. As I’ve mentioned before, I love going to Korean bathhouses and visiting one is always a highlight of a trip to my parents’ house. And having a child makes any opportunity to sit around for a couple of hours pampering myself seem that much more decadent.

Anyway, I had a wonderful time. Afterwards my mom and I stopped by a restaurant for jjajjangmyeon and then we rounded off the day by trying out a new foot massage place. (I know, I know–I’m still trying to recover from the hardship.)

The only thing missing is N. I miss him like crazy.