Trader Joe's Bibimbap

Look what I found the other day! I couldn't believe my eyes. I swear, I'm falling more and more in love with Trader Joe's. Not only can I find korean kalbi and bulgolgi, but now I have a solution for a quick lunch on the go. The only thing they're missing now is the kimchi. :)

As far as taste goes it still doesn't compare to a nice homemade bibimbap. I found the beansprouts a little over powering and the sauce was more sweet than spicy. But for under $4 can't really complain. The rice is just the right amount and the meat is actually pretty good.

Good Riddance, Clothes

It took me a week after we got back to finally find the motivation to unpack my suitcase. It was packed jam tight and the last thing I wanted to do was sort through it all over again. Looking at my suit case though, I realized that I could live with just that amount of clothes. That 62 inch knapsack was the right amount to rotate a 21 day vacation. Being that I only have 7-8 days off in a month that's more than enough clothes I need. I mean, sure, I like to have different colors of the same style shirt or what not. But do I really need them.......not really. This helped me to realize that my closet is just a storage space for unwanted/unnecessary articles of clothing. Why keep them imprisoned here when someone out there could be enjoying them more? And I feel like didn't I just go through this recently?? How are there still "too much" clothes?

My rule of thumb was if I hadn't worn in it in the last 6 moths it had to go out. There was no looking back or second guessing. That pretty much meant 3/4 of my closet. *yikes* I winded up with a pile ip to my hip. It felt good though to tidy up my shelves and closet. I could now see my clothes thoroughly and actually remember what all exactly I had. Don't you love when your going through your stuff you find little surprises- clothes you forgot you had. Some of the things I found still had price tags on it. It was a shame because I bought some of these clothes thinking that I would save them for some "special occasion." Well, that occasion never came and now I'm out of that $40 I invested on the thought. In the end my closet finally saw the sunlight and the extra clothes were donated and never missed again.

Hiking in the desert

The weather here never really cools down. When is there ever a "good" time to go walking/hiking/running?? Today we decided to leave around 8am and get started on our scenic hike into the mountain. Doing cardio at the gym was getting a little repetative for me and I wanted a different scenery. Even though there's ac in the building doing cardio in there gets boring to me after 15 minutes. Our hike was a good hour or so and it defiantly got me exhausted. I'm planning on getting more involved with the outdoors and staying active. It's just that the sun never sleeps in AZ and the rays have a tendancy on darkening my skin..........even more :( I'm already tan so the rays can go offer their services to someone else who's looking for it. You know, that's one thing that always gets me. There's so many people here that pay to fake bake when they can get it for free by just walking outside to check their mail. Not only does it save a couple bucks, but the results actually look natural and not so.......... orange.

Annoyed.....

*Siiigghhh*

So, you know how there's facebook right? And you know how there's certain people on there that rarely contact, message, "like it", or even write you. Well, today somebody decided to message me. She never ever writes me, but today she decided to slip me a hello. The hello was short and straight to the point. She was basically asking for a favor......a favor that needed my assistance (in which it pertained to my job.) Of course that makes sense on why she would even continue to keep me on her friend's list.

I mean, I can understand if we were like second cousins, besties in school, or close colleagues. None of those examples apply to this relationship we have. We actually met through a middle person and just casually got to know each other. Nothing serious....nothing more.

It just annoyed me seeing her message in my inbox. Seeing that the only way I come across her mind is if she needs some type of "hook up" or "discount." Then...here's what put the cherry on top of all this. I actually wrote her back (after contemplating with myself for 2 hours) and replied with a short answer as well. I offered a little bit of my assistance and came up with a cheaper alternative to the favor she was in need of. I send the message.......(hoping that would be that.) Nope. She writes back a couple hours later and asks, "anything cheaper?"   What??! Are you serious? First you have the nerve to write me after what seems like 3 years of no type of contact. Then the contact that's made is just for your convenience with no intention of even the slightest type of compensation for me. And then lastly, I reply back with a solution and it's received as unappreciated.

*humph* 

I know normally this situation would be easy to address with a simple "delete" off the friends list....or even just the cold shoulder. But this situation is somewhat awkward. This person knows too many people we know...which equals too many chances of us bumping into each other. I rather save the awkwardness and suck it up....Oh, did I mention this was the second time within this year. Hahaha.......Y-e-a-h.....no more favors for her. I came to the conclusion that she'll just have to get the good ol classic white lie- "Oh, you did?? *acting surprised* I never received a message in my in box. Hmmm, FB must be acting up again." Then I'll cross my fingers and hope they won't still need that favor....

Has this ever happened to you? What do you do or say?

Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) video

My music video of the year 2011

Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) is for me the video of the year 2011. I think Katy is one of the best pop singers we have currently and I prefer her any time over Gaga. Her videos are funny and fun to listen to. Her songs are very melodic and easy to understand... and Gaga is something completely else. The T.G.I.F. video features several famous actors and musicians and I feel that especially Rebecca Black, who was so often mocked, surprised many people. She's funny and talented and I feel that soon they won't remember her from the song Friday, but from video appearances like this one and I'm sure many more will follow. Enjoy this awesome video, that will bring you back to the glorious 1980s!

Hummus Breakfast

Lately I've been looking for different breakfast options that are quick and simple in the mornings. With going to the gym, getting ready for work, and squeezing in school I don't have time to actually cook a full on breakfast. I hate to skip breakfast too because my hunger pang always hits me shortly after I leave the house and my stomach growls like an animal in a cage. (Imagine that in a quite classroom when doing exams........*embarrassing*) Trader Joe's hummus and artisan bread was a great discovery and got me through my morning hunger. :) I like how the hummus wheel had flavors that I actually liked. My favorite was the spicy flavor and devoured that in the first 2 days.

Seoul Subway Station

While we were in Seoul the weather decided to bring in the rain. We had plans to go Pyeongtaek but that didn't happen. We went to see other attractions nearby instead. The subway station was our best way of transportation that weekend (and cheapest :) While Anthony and I are scanning our little orange cards at the turnstile, Anthony's mom has this cute hello kitty charm that's actually a subway/bus card that can be scanned instead that's rechargable.Cleaver disguise. It was nice to see cute little boutiques scattered here and there in the subway station and food carts conveniently placed around the corner. *No excuse to skip breakfast on the way to work. :) One thing I noticed was they now have glass doors that separates the ledge of where you're standing and the actual open railing where the subway comes through. Hmmm....pretty smart. No one will be able to jump out accidentaly or plan a movie stlye suicide.......

 

Starting our Korea trip

Our first day was very tiring and stressful. Our flight got delayed which led us to miss our last connecting flight into Seoul. We were put on stand by and even then it wasn’t guaranteed that we had a going out flight. I was so stressed!! I just wanted to go to Korea already. But anyway we made the next day flight (due to some cancellations fortunately) and we were on our wait. The 11 hour flight is never fun but at least the food was decent with some pretty good movie selections.
 
Once we arrived into Seoul we hopped into a taxi and made our way to our hotel. For a courtyard the level of service was far more that what I had expected. It felt like we were in a 5 star resort or something. The staff was so hospitable and their appearance was so professional. I didn’t know whether or not to tip the bell man so we just did anyway. I know in Korea it’s not customary to tip but we were staying at a Marriott soooo I wasn’t sure if the same rules applied when to an American corporate company. ??
 
After we looked around the area we got dinner (which totally hit the spot) and walked around the time square plaza. We were so exhausted from our flight we had to call it quites pretty early into the night. (around 11pm) We had to save our energy for our journey ahead of us in the next 20 days........