October

I'm writing this while snuggled into bed, wearing a sweater, listening to She and Him, and waiting for the rain while I enjoy my new 'Sweater Weather' scented Wallflower- not a bad start to October! September is supposed to be the 'beginning' of fall (except in Texas where it doesn't cool down until November!), but here in New York we've had a crazy Indian summer- I definitely did not bring enough summery clothes for this!

However, when October arrived yesterday it came in full force, with chilly temps, clouds, and a little drizzle. I'm not really one of those girls who is completely and utterly obsessed with fall, mostly because I know that fall just means winter is coming (that Game of Thrones reference is for you, Kenz). Before I can even pull out all of my sweaters, Long Island dumps some snow onto us and goes and ruins my fall!

But I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts! Fall, after all, means apple picking, #pumpkinspiceeverything, flannel, riding boots, and new sweaters. I may or may not have purchased 3 different kinds of pumpkin-flavored yogurt at Target along with a pumpkin spice latte....speaking of which, if you're looking for a less-pumpkin-ish, lower-calorie PSL, Summer Wind has the perfect latte hack (trust me, it makes it even better!).

Fall is a pretty great season, I'll admit. I do love how everyone gets so excited, and it seems like every social media site and blog is full of autumn-themed posts with pumpkins, Starbucks, and Hunter boots galore. So while I may complain that the weather is finally turning colder and we'll soon be buried under snow, I'm going to enjoy the season while it lasts, down a few more lattes, and cuddle into my new fall clothes. I hope everyone has a fantastic fall!

p.s. this sweater is actually from the men's section of Forever 21 and it's amazing- definitely my new favorite sweater for the coming months!

The Perot

After months of driving past and saying, "I want to go to the Perot museum!" (because I do say that), we finally visited! For those of you who don't live in Dallas, the Perot, or Perot Museum of Nature and Science, opened in 2012 and has become one of the most popular museums in town. Probably because it houses a lot of exhibits that you can touch, which is a draw for both small children and a group of rowdy college kids.

The view from the museum.

We stopped for lunch before heading to the museum, and since we all share a mutual obsession with Mexican food (we're Texans, it's required) we headed to Velvet Taco's Dallas location; I have already blogged about my love for Velvet Taco so I had to introduce everyone else.  

Reece sat across from me in the 3rd grade and we've been friends ever since!

The beautiful Allie (her tacos don't look too bad either).

SO glad Jessi is finally back in America after living in Peru for 2 years!

In the Earth exhibit you could go through this little tunnel and pretend to be a prairie dog- we were waaayyy too big to fit but that's never stopped us before!

Channeling my inner weather girl. 

Whaddup, buddy?

Aaaand the frogs. There are a bunch of 'leapfrogs' set up right outside the museum in a sort of park, so naturally we had to climb on top of them. It makes for a great photo op and gives us all an excuse to act like little kids. 

You gotta kiss a few frogs to find your prince, right? Unfortunately this little rascal was just a regular old frog!

Outfit details: Dress, bought in Korea. Sandals, Tommy Hilfiger. Sunglasses, Urban Outfitters. Bracelets, all Charming Charlie. 

I had a blast in Dallas for the day with the crew, as we have taken to calling ourselves (even though some of the crew is missing!). I could not have survived high school without these crazy people, and I'm so glad we have all stayed friends. 

The Perot is a blast, especially if you have kids, or you can be like us and act like kids! It's fun to be able to play around for a day and pretend we're not almost-adults in the real world. I'd love to head back to the Perot and explore a little more!

South Korea Part 4

Hello! I've wrapped up our first week in Korea. Our second week was mostly spent in Seoul bookended by weekends in Suwon. Week 2 was just as crazy a little less stressful and without as much traveling, so here is our first day in Seoul. Enjoy!

Crazy murals like this are painted all over the city, but surprisingly I didn't see any graffiti, just real art!

This is dak galbi- it's basically an entire chicken with glass noodles (new obsession), vegetables, and a lot of spice! It looks like a single serving but this was actually a massive bowl- there were four of us and we could barely finish it!

Making new friends in Hongdae. 

Our first full day in Seoul we ventured out to Deoksugung, one of the five main palaces built during the Joseon Dynasty. The palace is smack dab in the middle of Seoul, across the street from city hall!

I love all the little figurines on top of the buildings- they remind me of the gargoyles in Paris. They are placed on the roof to ward off evil spirits. 

I told you it was in the middle of the city! But I love the mixing of old and new. 

What's that big European looking building? Let's investigate...

This is Seokjojeon, which means stone house. If it looks a little out of place, here's why: the building was designed by British architect G.R. Harding, but was used by the Japanese after their invasion and colonization of Korea in the early part of the 20th century. After Korean independence it was used for talks between Americans and Soviets, and eventually became the National Museum of Korea after the war. The building was under construction but I would love to visit the museum on my next trip. 

The garden in front of the stone house. 

"People are going to think we went to Europe!"

The yellow ribbons, which can be seen all over Korea, but particularly in Seoul, are to remember the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster. The sign on the older part of the city hall building (the newer half can be seen right behind it) reads, "We are sorry."

I wish we had something like this is the states! This is Cheonggyecheon; in 2003 the mayor of Seoul (who later become president) wanted to revamp the old stream that had run through the city and encourage more eco-friendly spaces. The result is this half-natural, half-man-made stream that runs through the city, where people can relax, hang out, or walk up and down. It's sort of like the High Line in New York.

This was our first full day in Seoul! That night we headed back to Suwon for the weekend, which you can expect on the blog tomorrow, so stay tuned!

South Korea Part 3

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July full of fireworks and great food! Now that the long weekend is over it's time to jump back into my trip to Korea!

Right after Gyeongju we jumped back in the car and headed for Busan, way down at the southern tip of the country and the second largest city after Seoul. 

We met up again with Lydia's cousins from Daejon for dinner at a traditional restaurant- think sitting on the floor and taking your shoes off at the door. Busan is known for its special version of galbi, or spare ribs (again, made right at the table!). A bunch of side dishes are usually set out before, with everyone getting the same, and then you grab the meat as it cooks. When the meat is all gone they used the same grill to make potato noodles- the combination of the noodles and the flavor left from the meat is delicious. 

Each little doorway leads to a different private room within the restaurant.

On a beach in Korea with my best friend? This trip was insane. 

This is where the Busan International Film Festival is held.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Westin Chosun, and this was our view! One wall of the restaurant is completely glass and looks out over Hayeundae Beach. 

After breakfast we ventured down to the Jagalchi fish market, but first we had to stop for a little street food: hotteok is like a fat pancake stuffed with syrup and nuts. It's almost like a beignet but not quite as good (still pretty good!).

Jagalchi is the largest seafood market in South Korea and seemed to offer every kind of fish you could want. It's all caught in the morning and set out at both the outdoor and indoor portions of the market. I'm not gonna lie, I thought this would be a little gross or the smell would be overpowering. 

The smell? Not that bad, possibly because everything is fresh or that we were mostly outdoors. The market actually ended up being a lot of fun, and definitely something I would recommend for being visiting Korea for the first time- it's an experience!

Yep, that's a bucket of LIVE octopus. One of them tried to escape and decided to jump out of the bucket while we were taking a picture in front of it. Lydia and I both felt a splash on the back of our legs and turned around to find a pretty big one slithering towards us. Before we could freak out the woman at the stall had promptly thrown him back in with the others.

The rest of our day was spent shopping at Busan's outlet malls as well as Shinsegae, the largest department store in the world. 

This place never ends...

Just before sunset we headed out to these adorable twin lighthouses off of one of Busan's rocky beaches. It was such a strange view and I felt like suddenly we were in Newport or Nantucket, not Busan!

Busan's most famous spot is probably Haeundae Beach. It was pretty empty when we went, but during the summer it becomes a mile-long wall of people and umbrellas. The weather was perfect and reminded me of California during spring break!

We then jumped over to the Nurimaru APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) House, which houses conferences but mainly boasts incredible views of the coastline. The conference center is situated along a pathway full of runners and dog walkers that leads to a little observation deck where you can see a big part of Busan's skyline as well as, on a clear day, a few of the outlying islands. 

Then (getting tired of jumping from place to place? Imagine how we felt!) we went for dinner and more Busan-style galbi. The view wasn't too bad, either.

Speaking of views, after dinner we drove up to the top of one of the many mountains that surround Busan. After spiraling around the mountain for about 15 minutes we reached the top, and our reward was a complete 360 degree view of the entire city! If you have ever been up on Mulholland Drive in L.A., forget it. This view will blow your mind. At the top of the mountain there are also old fire pits used to warn other cities of coming attackers. 

Busan may have been my favorite city that we visited (but it is tied with Seoul), and I would love to go back and visit again. Busan has everything and is filled with so many sites to see and things to do (and delicious food). While I was sad to leave Busan, our next stop was Seoul, so stay tuned!