korea - day 7

Day 7, our last full day in Korea. By this time, Jenny and I were so tired from walking everywhere, dealing with the heat, and adjusting to the time difference. All we wanted was a mellow day but my mom wanted to see a few other things before heading back home. So, our "mellow" day was spent walking around Seoul with the momma.

 But first, I had another friend to meet at Caffe Bene (again)!

 

Meet Jacob! He was a fellow English teacher out in Korea when I was here. He introduced me to the Korean gym and would force me to work out; what a great friend.  After working out, we'd often grab dinner together. I didn't have very many friends in Korea, let alone English speaking friends, so it was nice sharing a meal with another English speaking human. He'd try his best to get me to go out to Seoul with him, until he realized I was a major hermit. :) He is still living in Korea and now is married and has an adorable chunkster son, Jude.

Said bye-bye to Jacob, then I was off to meet my mom and sis in Myoungdong. MYOUNGDONG, my fave place in Korea!




It's stinking crowded, like everywhere in Korea, but it's so much fun! Random cart vendors, great shopping stores like Zara, Uniqlo, Skin Food, and amazing street food!  It also has my favorite place - the ear piercing kiosk. This kiosk is run by this oppa that has been there forever. Whenever I am in Korea I go to the kiosk. It's just so fun to go back to the same place and I was so curious to see if the oppa was old, fat, and bald now! Ha! My cousin, who has gone with me before, was curious too! So was Jenny! He's our earring guy! But no earring guy this year because the huge mall (where he has his kiosk) was CLOSED! They close every other Monday. I didn't get the memo. So sad. Maybe next time. :(

Jenny and I rode the subway back out to the boonies aka Gwacheon, where my aunt and uncle live, while my mom stayed out there to meet her friends.

As soon as we got home, we went out to our last dinner in Korea. Our aunt took us to an "American" style buffet and we stuffed our face.

 *Side note: They had all you can eat bibimbap, which I thought was interesting. I, personally, do not like bibimbap but I thought it was an interesting concept. Grab the veggies you want for bibimbap, maybe a new restaurant concept in CA?!

Moving on, that was the end of our final day in Korea!

Day 7 weather - Hot and sticky. No surprise there.

Day 7 high - Spending the day with my mom. While in Korea with her I can see that she's (noticeably) getting older. I can see a lot of my grandma in her... It was nice spending time with her, shopping in Myoungdong.

Day 7 low - Myoungdong mall closed. BAH! No ear piercing guy!

korea - day 1

Our first full day in Korea started early! With this amazing jet-lag nonsense, I was up at 6 am and hung out with my sis until my cousin woke up. We had to wait for her as she was our designated tour guide for the day.

It's been a while since I took the bus in Korea, so I was not confident in taking it alone! Thankfully, my amazing cousin spent the day taking us around. We headed out to Shinsadong for some shopping, eating, and people watching.

Kind of embarrassed  to post this picture - I wrote the top line, lil sis wrote the next line, cousin wrote the last line.  My writing looks like a kindergarteners.

   

 

 

 

Matching bracelets from street vendor!





 Before and after.  Can you tell we loved it?!



 There was a whole lot of eating. I'm for sure going to be rolling back home at the end of this trip.   We finished the night having some good ol' bbq with the rest of the family.

I am exhausted but I'm having so much fun exploring Korea and playing with my cousins and my aunt and uncle.  Love it here!

shopping time!

I don't remember the last time I went to the mall with the BFF without her 4 babies! Yesterday, I was her date for the DailyBuzz Style event at the Madewell event and I felt like we were in college all over again!

Here are some fun pictures from the BFF's instagram.

Top row: (left) Ruby successfully completed the scavenger hunt so we celebrated with a cupcake! ... Several cupcakes, actually. (right) I really really really like the dress she has on. I tried it on, but they didn't have my size. It's super cute and perfect for the spring! Anyone want to buy it for me?! *cough* John *cough* Are you reading this?

Second row: (left) Sparkly! I'd like 20 of 'em for some major arm swag! (right) Cute flats that are perfect for a simple work outfit, no?

Totally had a fun night with the BFF! I had fun trying on the clothes and hanging out in the dressing room, but I think I spent the majority of the time checking out the other bloggers outfits! Creeper status.

goodbye week-long thanksgiving break

Thanksgiving break has come to an end. What?! Already 9 days? My goodness, it seriously flew by. Spent a majority of the 9 days with the lil sis as she recuperated, and if I wasn't being "nurse-lady," I was chillin' with the hubby. Check out my sister's cute lil video she put together, here.

After our church gathering today, John and I went to the Grove for some nice goodbye-vacation-shopping! Any excuse to shop, right? Kidding. I had to make a few returns at Zara and then a quick stop at the Farmers Market, then back home so John could study for his finals.

FYI - John's green apple is a normal size apple. It looks ginormous compared to my teeny tiny apple. Isn't it the cutest thing ever?!

Great way to end my week long vacation. Excited to get back to work! 12 more work days til winter break; not that anyone's counting. ;)