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these past couple of days have been really chill and so refreshing. the weather has been finally turning around and it really feels like fall. we’ve been getting some rain, which i hate to admit, but it’s kind of nice sometimes. i’m getting more and more adapted to norcal weather, which is kind of weird. as long as i’m dressed for it, i like the cold air against my face. and plus, it’s a sign that winter is coming up soon! christmaaaas! i can’t wait for you to come this year. which also reminds me! i need to go to starbucks! they have holiday cups out already!!

it’s crazy how fast this semester has been going by. we only have 4 weeks left! it seems like i just became a junior couple weeks ago, but it’s actually been a couple of months already. being a junior has taught me a lot about responsibility. there’s no time to screw around anymore. everything we do, what we eat, the amount of sleep you get, how we manage our time and money  is much more important now. even though i still struggle in all those categories, i’m definitely doing much better this year. studio is harder this semester for sure, thanks to jean-paul, who loves to pile extra work on top of endless work we already get in studio. but i’ve been trying not to complain TOO much because i’m still content with life. i actually kind of like studio this year. i keep telling myself and other people that this is my last studio but i still have to take the optional studio before i graduate in order to go to grad school. maybe i just can’t wait for the fact that i’m finally going to have a break from studio. next semester is going to be amazing! spanish 3, german r5b, arch 140, and maybe another city planning class? no more monday, wednesday studio from 9am-1pm. weeee! okay, time to go to studio again to spend another 8 hours or so there!

Food blogs

Thanks to Michelle Lee, I’ve been spending hours a day staring at one website.

http://foodgawker.com

Everything just looks so amazing.

Yesterday, Joyce and Hayeon said I should quit architecture and become a chef… thanks guys.

bon apetit!

It’s the simple things in life that make me happy

There are several things that make me happy or just brightens up my day. Let me just list a few things.

1. Starbucks logo. I think it all started in New York City when Esther and I were walking around by ourselves at 1030pm because we were bored and just wanted to find some legit New York Cheesecake. I think we walked by so many Starbucks (or maybe they were the same ones but we just kept going around in circles it seemed like we passed by a lot) we just started yelling out Starbucks every time we saw one, but with a Korean accent (Esther was practicing her Korean). Anyways, this is what started our trend of getting so excited whenever we see a Starbucks. Only Esther understands how I feel.

2. Using a typewriter. Lately at work I’ve been trying to find more excuses to use the typewriter. If you’ve never used one before, try it! It’s so fun! I love the sound of the LOUD click click click it makes every time I type a word. It’s soothing to my ears. And it also takes a lot of skills to use a typewriter. You have to have good judgment at trying to guess where to start the line and make sure you lined up the paper correctly. And of course if you mess up you most likely have to start over unless it’s just one letter. Maybe it’s because I’m somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to these things it makes me happy when I do a good job at typing stuff up on the typewriter.

3. People enjoying the food I make. I think this is why I love feeding Isaac. He seriously eats anything Joyce and I cook for him and genuinely appreciates anything we make him. And boy can this guy eat. One day, Joyce cooked him don katsu and he was still hungry so I made him yaki soba (momil) noodles, and he was still hungry I heated up instant curry for him. He killed everything. I think sometimes he purposely starves himself all day and comes over to ask Joyce to cook for him. Clever. And then of course if Joyce is feeling lazy she asks me to cook for him. But then again, I always make Isaac clean my fish tank.

what’s wrong with watching old movies?

So last night I was bored and decided to watch a movie by myself. Joyce, Hayeon, Isaac, and James were studying pretty intensly in the dining room. I thought it would be a good time to watch Forrest Gump again because I’ve always wanted to watch it over since I haven’t seen it since elementary school. Suddenly Joyce comes in and asks what I’m doing. I told her I was watching Forrest Gump. She pauses and stares at me for a good 10 seconds and starts bursting out in laughter as if I’m some madwoman doing something crazy. She then decides to invite Hayeon to join in on her laughter and they both laugh hysterically at me telling me that I’m probably the weirdest person in the world. Supposedly Forrest Gump isn’t a movie I’m supposed to watch online by myself. It’s a movie that “should be watched with my family when its on TV” whereas it’s okay to watch Bride Wars online by myself. I think they’re just haters. But in the end I ignored them and watched the whole movie and I really enjoyed it! It’s a good movie! You should really watch it if you haven’t. There’s a lot of historical references in there too.

“My momma always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

“Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out… and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bay. There was always a million sparkles on the water… like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It’s so beautiful.”

“I may be a stupid man, but I know what love is.

aim saves the day

I realized that I have a really big problem, well kind of big. I work 6 hours a day and without internet or rather AIM I don’t think I would be able to go through work every day. Every morning when I get to work, the first thing I do is turn on my computer and open up my gmail. I check my email and see who’s online and then finally I start doing my work for the day. I work at the graduate school of optometry in the dean’s office and everything I do is pretty much mindless work so it’s a really chill job. And I’m actually more productive when I’m chatting. Chatting is what keeps me awake usually for a greater part of the day. Without gchat or if I’m not chatting with anyone, I’m most likely falling asleep in front of the computer. I wonder if my boss notices me when I literally just sit in front of my computer for a good 3-5 minutes with my eyes closed and not making any kind of movement. Yeah, I’m pretty sure she notices but doesn’t ever say anything. Once when I couldn’t hold up any longer I just asked my boss if I could use my break time to nap in front of my desk. It was probably the best nap I’ve ever taken at work before (I kind of nap a lot at work especially when my boss isn’t in on Mondays). Yes, it’s pretty terrible, I know. But what made me realize my problem of relying on aim too much is when the network was down at work. I had to check every 2 minutes to check if it was up again and was getting so bored and antsy. What’s wrong with me?? Help.

rainbows make my day better

sometimes you make mistakes and you regret it but you don’t know what to do to change it back.

i’m just a helpless child.

hopefully time will heal everything…

but on a different note… so yesterday, hayeon, ivy, joyce, and i got starbucks after dinner because they needed coffee to “study”. well after we get our drinks we step out of starbucks and see raindrops falling down. immediately as we get in the car all four of us start complaining about how whack berkeley weather is and stuff like that. but then after a minute we calm down and realize that it’s actually kind of nice to see the rain. we really had nothing to complain about. it was raining but we had nice warm coffees in our hands and we were in a car, not getting wet or anything. and then we see a huge rainbow in the sky. we all got really excited because isn’t kind of odd to see a rainbow at 8pm? and, the way the sunlight touched the buildings made berkeley even more beautiful. and then it made me realize how much i love berkeley. i love being in berkeley and i love the people in berkeley. i appreciate you berkeley. thank you for being so beautiful.

Summer small group

So we had our first summer small group yesterday

Jess is our leader. I love Jess. She is a mom, cleaning Nazi (as Shannon would say), beautiful, shopaholic, and so loving.

One bad thing: We’re going to get fat. We had 2 pans of homemade pizza, momil noodle salad, 2 pans of brownies, cookies, & cupcakes. Jess, you are the doom of my goal for this  summer. Hahahahha, jk.

It’s going to be amazing. I’m really excited even though we’re only spending a month and a half together. <3

hiking

berkeley has this strange way of making me want to wake up early and get things done.

so monday morning i decided to wake up and go hiking. ivy didn’t believe me, but i really woke up at 8 and went hiking. well let me tell you, it felt so good. i used to hate hiking, i don’t really remember why, but i like it now. when you’re hiking you just walk and walk without a destination and time just flies. i don’t really think about anything when i’m hiking. i just listen to my music and admire the pretty trees and amazing views of the bay area. i ended up walking for a good 2 hours yesterday. so if you’re bored and you’re in berkeley, let’s go hiking.

look what i just ran into while reading an article about thomas jefferson on nytimes.com

“The object of walking is to relax the mind. You should therefore not permit yourself even to think while you walk; but divert yourself by the objects surrounding you. Walking is the best possible exercise.” - Thomas Jefferson

small world

who knew this world would be this small??
i was at heyri coffee shop in koreatown today and i ran into a close family friend who lives in new jersey. he was just down in la for the weekend for graduations in irvine and who would’ve known we would run into each other! hahaha, this is a pointless post but i was just really excited to see him.

riddles are really fun. today, jennie, michelle, paul, steve, and i ordered one dessert and spent 2 1/2 hours in the coffee shop trying to guess riddles.

i made/helped my little sister clean out her desk today. being clutter free is the way to be after i clean, i just feel so much better and accomplished. life is so good.

oh, one other thing. i really hate the weather in socal. i wake up every morning hoping it’s sunny, but it’s just always gloomy. maybe that’s why i don’t want to wake up sometimes. sigh. i really wanted to enjoy the beach before i left for berkeley…

i’m back from texas y’all

you know, it’s really a privilege that my friends and i can go on so many trips together. not only is traveling fun because we get to spend time with each other, it’s also an eye-opening experience wherever i go. it’s pretty amazing to see the differences in each state even though we are one nation.

from the 5 days and 5 nights ivy, joyce, and i spent at hayeon’s house in dallas, this is what i learned about texas:

1. it’s not only hayeon who says ‘y’all’ a lot. everyone in texas says ‘y’all’ excessively like people in norcal say ‘hella’. and you know, ‘y’all’ sounds so much more friendlier than ‘you guys’. ivy also mentioned how hayeon sounded more texan when we called her after we landed in texas. it’s kind of true. but, we got used to it.
2. texas land is very flat. when i was looking out the plane window right before we landed, i noticed they have a lot of trees and lakes but no mountains.
3. they have a million different highways which sometimes make it really confusing to follow google maps directions. we got lost and missed highways plenty of times while we were there.
4. you have to take the highway to get anywhere. at least gas is a little cheaper in texas. at first, i was amazed by the fact that there was traffic on the highways like they do in LA, but it all makes sense when everyone takes the highway.
5. there’s a lot of unnecessary things about texas. like how all the buildings are very spread apart. the buildings there are also really big and there were traffic lights for every lane. texas just has too much land and money to spend.
6. no matter what state or city you’re in, korea towns are always in sketchy areas.
7. the weather in texas during the summer is really hot and humid. during the day it was around 90-100 degrees while we were there.
8. ivy, joyce, and i were really amazed and confused by the fact that people in residential areas park their cars on either side of the road, sometimes facing each other.
9. texas girls are obsessed with collecting vera bradley bags and can’t get enough of michael kors.
10. texas is so chill and peaceful.
11. i love texas and we’re going back to try Babe’s.

i’ll update with pictures.

hayeon’s lovely house and her new car. see you in berkeley russell.

welcome to texas.

this is sonics. you park your car, order, and girls in roller skates come with your food. so tight.

at the galleria mall. we can never get enough of shopping.

these are snow cones from bahama bucks. the best shaved ice i’ve ever had in my life.

this was at dave and busters. we looked really ridiculous in our dresses and heels.

ivy’s such a cutie one of the worker there was trying to holler at her. he gave us free points when we were playing a shooting game.

then jess came! she really really wanted to play this boxing game. she was good. i sucked.

joyce: hayeon take a picture!
hayeon: can we please stop with the pictures!

we were on a boat! weather was perfect. texans live the good life.

meet hayeon’s friend sarah. her dad owns this boat and he was selling it that day but he took us out on it right before. they were the nicest people ever.

this thing is intense! we held on for our dear lives.

we went to the fort worth zoo, one of the best in america.

my babiesss

joyce looooves water

this is for stella, her favorite (but it wasn’t a white siberian, it was a white peruvian?) anyways, it was so pretty, like stells.

these bears should be called sloth bears. they were so lazy! look at them!

malnourished deer.

hehe, lion! so cute!

at houston’s steak house

yummmm

welcome to downtown dallas. oh did i mention how clean everything is in texas?

then we went to sambuca’s for dessert and live entertainment

mmmm tiramisu, my favorite

they were pretty good!

best for last. :] the bow on her head has been a long tradition.