So maybe I used a Korean travel agent recommended by Jin who was definitely not a native English speaker.
Maybe I just authorized the travel agent (“Kate”) to charge my card for over three months-worth of pay. This covered plane tickets for me to go in May and for the boyfriend to come meet me in Seoul in August.
…Fingers crossed that this goes smoothly. Going to Korea, Summer 2012!
Did you watch The Oscars last night? I did…or did I? Wow, they were super unmemorable. Check out everyone’s (blurry) reactions in this photo…even Bodger’s:
Despite the sub-par awards ceremony, the evening was far from a bust! I am lucky enough to have friends who will come over on short notice for an impromptu Oscars viewing party. (To be honest, I think Cassandra wanted to play with Bodger, and Ryan was enticed by cookie cake.)
Actually, I’m pretty sure Jin hated the Oscars.
I’m feeling sleep-deprived, and I got up early this morning to perform torture exercises with Jessica. (Lat pull-down machine, you will haunt my dreams!) Thus, I will tuck in early for the evening.
Today, I was sitting in the office when the boyfriend called from downstairs, “Do you want to come see what our charming dog has done?”
Reluctantly, I walked down the stairs:
(Please don’t judge our really suburban-looking living room. We live in a government-subsidized co-op.)
All week, Bodger has been playing this “fun” game called “Hide the milk carton.” When unsupervised, he would take the empty carton out of the recycling bag and stuff it under the boyfriend’s chair.
The boyfriend immediately recognized bits of the milk carton, but we couldn’t figure out where the rest was right away.
…There’s Bodger, cuddling up with his decapitated milk carton.
Bodger, I know you can’t read this, but you are such a goober!
Like a good hypochondriac vegetarian, I recently got some bloodwork done to see if I had any deficiencies. The results showed that my serum ferritin was a little on the low side of normal, so with the recommendation of my doctor, I started taking an iron supplement last week.
Also, I am trying to boost my iron intake with nutritional sources, especially since iron pills are pretty rough on the body. (I have since ordered a liquid form.)
Unfortunately, some nutritional sources of iron make me look like an old person:
And here’s the kicker:
Also, I recently acquired a tub of this:
쌈장 or ssamjang is a spicy fermented soybean paste. It is delicious and my new favorite topping for everything (Okay, not for GrapeNuts). Also, 1 tbsp has 8% of your RDA-recommended iron and, like, 500% of your sodium.
Despite the fact that the kitchen cabinets make me look like a constipated geriatric, my new haircut does not. In fact, today I took it “live” on campus. Sun Joo, the Korean GA across the hall, said that I looked younger. And my Korean teacher? She said I look like a doll.
Since I am averse to change, I don’t get my hair cut very often. I am also lazy and don’t like paying a lot of money to get the same style (long, sometimes layered, swoopy side bangs) over and over.
But today, I kissed my same-style of six years good-bye and…returned to the same haircut that I rocked in my childhood: straight bangs!
The boyfriend’s reaction? “You look soooo Asian!”
…What? Really?
Also, the stylist at the salon tried to tell me that he was from North Korea today. Then he laughed at how gullible I was…but seriously, he was very skinny.
Because the boyfriend watches the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show with me, he deserves a special Valentine’s Day treat.
Tagalongs…in bar form! They are much easier to make than the cookies, but they taste just as good. Three layers–short bread, peanut butter, chocolate!
And here’s my very special Valentine. Awwww.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day!
In honor of this special holiday, Jessica is coming over, and we’re going to watch a movie, eat Chinese take-out, and dip fruit in chocolate. (The boyfriend is going to his usual weekly Townie Poker Night.)
I feel weird that we’re not doing anything, but I’m becoming increasingly disenchanted with many of the Valentine’s Day trimmings. The boyfriend used to get me flowers, but I found out that their transport is really expensive and bad for the environment. And love-themed gifts are pretty anti-minimalist, so we nixed those as well.
That being said, I will wear my festive heart-and-Scottie dog print sweater tomorrow, and I sent cards to my parents.
Do you like Valentine’s Day? Do you have fun plans? If so, please share (unless they involve private sexy time, in which case, keep that to yourself). Let’s be honest here. I may be ambivalent about Valentine’s day, but I do love gossip and living vicariously through others. Let the Facebook tally of Valentine’s engagements begin!
Yesterday, Angella was wearing these glasses in the computer lounge. Upon closer inspection, I realized that there were no lenses in them.
What do you think?
친구의 안경을 입었는데 어때요?
On Friday, Jessica and I gave blood at a university blood drive, and it really knocked me for a loop. After donating and cramming my face full of free snacks, I freaked my students out by nearly passing out while teaching. Then on Sunday, I barely made it three miles with Jessica on Long Run Sunday.
Subsequent Internet research revealed that some people react worse to blood donations than others. I hope that I bounce back by the end of the week. Gasping for air when I run is no fun at all.
Blood donation did not, however, affect my mental faculties too terribly.
See this puzzle? The boyfriend got it from Dad and Pat for Christmas. The challenge is to get the two pieces unhooked:
Now look…tah-dah!
To be honest, I solved it by accident and then had to look up the solution on-line.
For the Superbowl, I ended up grading papers while Jessica worked on her thesis. However, Brian and Kya had some people over for a game-day party, and I couldn’t show up without contributing something.
Enter COOKIE PIE:
The skillet is genius because it retains heat so well and keeps the cookie gooey and warm for a long time!
The recipe actually calls for a 10″ cast iron skillet, and mine is 9″. This resulted in an obscenely thick cookie pie. And the boyfriend pointed out that there was just enough batter to hold together the chocolate chips.
Dan ate a large slice and proceeded to get cookie sweats. You have been warned.