Seoul Searching

I am a curious person by nature and always wanted to explore the world.  I been lucky enough to visit many European countries, Mexico, Canada, and Costa Rica.  Visiting Asia was on my “To Do” list but with that said, it sound strange to think I never saw myself visiting Korea.  I thought maybe someday I would visit Tokyo or Hong Kong, but Seoul?  I totally underestimated the unique culture of South Korea and what they bring to the table.  My mentality changed when I married into a Korean family.  It wasn’t a question of if but when I would be going to Korea at that point.

I did a fair amount of research on Seoul before our vacation.  We brought plenty of gifts to give family members & friends.  In fact, we had an entire bag dedicated to presents for other people.  If you are being hosted by people I think it is important to show respect and give gifts. In Korean culture gifts are often money and it is expected in certain situations such as children gifting money to their parents.

My first impression of Seoul was that to drive anywhere meant you were taking your own life into your hands.  Throw the rules you learned in driver’s ed out the window because apparently they don’t apply.  The best thing you can do for yourself is learn the public transit system.

My second impression of Seoul was that shopping & eating are central to the culture.  Shopping in Korea is an experience in itself.  We could & literally did shop morning, noon, and night.  There is nothing that compares to Migliore at 2am.  For the deal seeking, size 2 Fashionista this is probably what heaven looks like.  I’m a little big for shopping in Korea at as a solid size 12 currently but it didn’t stop me from looking.  It made my head spin as we ran around from kiosk to kiosk throughout the area.

Since it was my first time in Seoul we visited all the “Must See” places.  Banpo Bridge was among my favorites.  The water & lights show off the side of the bridge reminded me of the Bellagio water fountains along the strip in Vegas.  We took the subway all the way there & back but it was not easy to get to from where we were staying.  In retrospect, we should have taken a taxi there because we barely made it to the last water show of the night.

Another favorite was bringing our family lock to the wall to North Tower.  In reality it is a wall for lovers to lock their hearts together metaphorically speaking.  For us, it was a one of those “we were here” type of moments.  It is definitely a tourist oriented site but for a great view of the city it was worth the walk.  On the way up to North tower there is a place where buses & cars need to let all their passengers out.  Buses can go further than cars but if you are pushing a stroller uphill in the wind & rain like we did that walk seems pretty far.  You have been warned!  Seoul is not always the most stroller friendly or handicap friendly city.

I also highly recommend visiting the Royal Palace to see the changing of the guard ceremony.  It is a very colorful display of men dressed in old guard uniforms.  They carry old weapons, flags, and play drums & horns.  It is quite the display.  After watching the guard ceremony we wondered around the property and explored the beautifully restored historic place grounds.  Construction is continuing on the property so we expect it to change even more next time we visit.

Other must see areas were Insadong, Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, & Namdaemun but it was difficult to keep them straight in my mind.  It was all a lot of eating and a lot of shopping to me.  It was all enjoyable and I know the differences between the areas but they are similar.

There were also lots of parks like Yeoeuido and places to walk like the Cheonggyecheon which has been cleaned up and given an artistic flair.  An unexpected addition to the parks and walk areas was the occasional exercise station.  If you feel like sprinting on an elliptical while people walk by they are free to use for your enjoyment.

There is no doubt we will be heading back to Korea in a few years.  I wouldn’t change much about how we approached our first adventure in Seoul but I would definitely anything about our first visit.

 

Vacationing in South Korea with Toddlers

My plan was to update my blog while I was in Korea but it was more difficult than I expected.  I had my personal laptop but didn’t exactly haul it everywhere.  I also learned that finding a free wireless connection is more difficult than I would have expected.  Next time we will pick up a one month wireless subscription & a pre-paid phone.  It would have been useful so many times.  I am aware of the plethra of internet cafes but when you have a 2 year old & a 4 year old along for the ride this might not be as convenient.  I always envision my kids running up and down pulling monitors off the desks and banging around on the computer mice.  I like to keep our environment as controlled as possible with the toddlers.  It’s organized chaos you could say.   They do well in coffee shops so I expected it would be a good option for our internet needs.  However, I found that most of the coffee shops we visited did not offer a free wireless connection much to my surprise.

Upon arriving in Seoul we were picked up by my in-laws at Incheon airport.  Our first experience with the transportation by car left an impression.  It involved lots of honking and braking with random lane changes.  At one point a car missed their exit and was backing up against traffic to get there.  Parking garages were even more confusing.  I don’t get sick easily but I was wishing I had taken dramamine.  Obviously it is necessary to take a car to some places but your best bet is relying on the buses & the subway system.

Relying on the subway & the bus can be more challenging when you have 2 toddlers in tow.  We walked a lot so bringing our stroller was priceless.  We often found ourselves buddy carrying the stroller up and down flights of stairs because we couldn’t find an elevator.  I debated bringing our fancy UppaBaby stroller because it could carry both children but was thankful we had a single small umbrella stroller.  It is much easier to carry it up and down stairs and the fold it quickly to get on the bus or in a taxi.  However, most moms had the fancy strollers so you won’t be out of place if you bring a nice one.  Yet another option is borrowing a stroller.  It seems like a lot of stores would loan them out but I’m not sure how reliable it would be to depend solely on this.  I highly suspect there is a place a tourist could borrow a stroller to use for a week or so also but I would research that before going next time.

Eating in Seoul was pretty easy even with children because food is literally everywhere.  Just be aware of anything with chili paste for the children because it might be too spicy for their little mouths.  Adding more rice or watering things down to lessen the spiciness is often an option if necessary.  My daughters particularly enjoyed the black bean noodles, roasted seaweed, marinated beef, and some of the street food.  They definitely did not starve and we never had to rely on the more familiar McDonald’s.  You can be adventurous or play it safe pretty easily when choosing your meals.

One of the more awkward things about now having toddlers in Seoul was the attention the kids received.  People are very friendly when it comes to children in Korea.  A few times during our stay strangers kissed our girls on the cheeks while handing them candy. The most awkward award goes to the guy who bent down to look at my 2 year old in her stroller and kissed her on the lips.  I honestly didn’t know what to say at that point.  People were simply curious about them from what I could tell.  The girls are mixed race and the younger one “looks like a living doll” we were told frequently.  As I was taking pictures while sightseeing I would sometimes catch people taking pictures of my kids out of the corner of my eye.  Sometimes they were trying to be sneaky and other times they were a little more blatant.  For the most part I just ignored it and moved along.  No harm done right?

Many of the activities in Seoul are adult centered but there are good options for children also.  I highly suggest visiting Lotte World for a day which is a disney like amusement park.  It was perfect for our 2 & 4 year old but would have been a highlight of the trip for an older kid also.  The amusement park happens to be indoors and is open until 11pm so you really can make a day out of it if you choose to.  Another good option is walking around parks and running paths so the kids can burn off a little energy.  The kids went to the “forest” one day with their grandparents.  I missed this excursion but it sounds like they visited to a little petting zoo while they were there and my oldest was telling me all about a deer she saw.  On one of our last days in Seoul we visited the Aquarium at the Coex mall.  The tunnel was simply amazing in the aquarium and both girls were thrilled about a flirtatious little penguin that seemingly wanted to play with everyone through the glass.  The kids really enjoyed themselves.

It was a very exciting vacation for them & for us.  I will have to devote more blog time to this later since there is simply too much to show off in one post.  I can’t wait to visit again!

Literally Working My Butt Off!!!

 

 

 

This was me 2 years ago.  I have trouble finding full body shots because I hated the seeing myself so much.  There is so much disappointment in my face even when I am smiling.  I really was having a good time in this picture but my cheeks overshadow my smile.  This was 2 months after welcoming my second daughter into the world.

versus

 

For the sake of representing myself accurately, I literally took this photo from my laptop as I was writing this post.  I look at these two pictures and see how hard I have worked to get here. I know people wonder what the heck I’ve been doing but it’s no secret I workout.  What is less talked about is how I have adopted a new way of eating entirely.

 

The hardest thing to wrap your mind around when you are trying to lose weight is actually your mentality.  I’ve always had my heart in the right place but my mind wasn’t going along with the plan.  I attribute a lot of this to my lack of balance in my life.  I took back my morning this year by starting the day even earlier and I haven’t looked back.  I love being at the gym by 5am because it makes me feel like I have done something.  If I get back to the gym a second time in the evening it is like a bonus workout that I don’t feel guilty about missing.

 

I also have discovered the wonders of coffee and how helpful it is for appetite control.  Beyond dulling my appetite, I have also found it partially kills my sugar cravings which is something I have always struggled with.  I think I eat sugar to keep me going especially on the days when I miss out on a half decent night of sleep.  Coffee seems to work just as well.  Lack of sleep is an issue I’m still dealing with for 10+ years at an average of 4 hours per night.  I want more sleep too but as long as I’m awake I might as well be at the gym early.  Adopting better sleep habits is an entirely different post since I really need to seek out some real help for that.

 

My eating is characteristically “paleo” or “caveman” or “clean eating” or just plain being healthy and eating real foods.  It sound stupid that I even have to say this but granola bars from Quaker are processed junk.  I generally avoid these sort of things.  If it comes in a box and the shelf life is extended by a wrapper I’m generally not choosing it for a snack or a meal I will feed my family.  It is very difficult to get my kids on board with the plan but they are coming along.    Just look at how happy Mina was last year when I gave her Broccoli!

 

 

Obviously she is over the moon with this plan but at least she didn’t throw it on the ground so I see this as progress.  For the most part my kids are not afraid of green.  Jada, age 4, has even taken an interest in salad recently to my surprise.  I’m very proud of girls and will continue to work with them on being healthy young women someday.

 

My approach to eating is that I eat to be healthy and the building blocks of my life are proteins and carbohydrates.  The carbs come from my veggies with occasional fruit, oatmeal, and brown rice.  Protein is pretty much anything meat even if it means the dreaded bacon.  I finally understand the bacon everything trend although I’m not completely on board with making it into health food.  It is still far better than gnawing on that prepackaged granola bar though.  The most controversial thing I do with my new lifestyle is water fasting on Sundays.  I make an exception for a cup of coffee but other than that I feel like it lets me clear my mind, rest my body completely, and gear up for another week.  I don’t plan on changing this up even when I feel like I’ve reached my goal weight because it works for me.

 

Hopefully this summer will take away more pounds so I can keep up with my family better. Young bikes 20+ miles frequently and the toddlers are little bundles of energy that need to be run down.  The best way to get myself in shape is by playing.  I’m headed off to Korea to do a lot of walking, hiking and exploring.  I can’t wait to share pictures from this adventure with everyone!

 

Kelly

 

Cooking with the help of Pinterest

I’m a busy part-time working mother who tries to be prepared for every possible situation.  Every night I set out my toddler’s outfits & daily backpacks, prep my gym bag with my work clothes & set out my gym clothes.  If I were more organized I would have breakfast on the table every morning but I haven’t quite gotten to that place of perfection.  I have found that being prepared in advance makes a huge difference and Pinterest has helped me to better achieve that.  Aside from inspiring a few craft projects, home improvements projects, and letting me live by vicariously shopping without buying, Pinterest has helped me pick recipes quickly so I can prepare dinners in advance on Sunday to grill, slow cook, or throw in the oven when I get home.  Some of these recipes have been awesome & other’s have been so-so, and I’ve had at least one great flop.

On the days I am home with my kiddos I sometimes surf the web for recipe ideas and link them back to my Pinterest site.  I categorize my recipes by dishes that are Paleo or Clean Eating oriented in the “Recipes – Things I Should Eat More Of” catagory versus the carbolicious sweet tooth recipe collection at “Recipes – Comfort foods and other Delights”.  Over time I have developed quite the collection.

I wish I was organized enough to take pictures of everything I’ve done since I don’t feel it is right to just steal pics from other people’s blogs and websites without permission.  I did take time to take pictures of a couple though.  

The very first recipe I attempted was a crockpot version of Buttered Chicken.  I recently discovered Buttered Chicken at a local Indian Restaurant.  I loved the aroma of curry that filled the kitchen as the pot simmered.  The plan was to make enough for a party of 8 people but when one of my daughters became sick the plan changed to eating buttered chicken for every meal for half the week.  Luckily this recipe was amazing!  It was difficult finding some of the spices but well worth the effort and despite the fat content we had no trouble eating this at our house.

The next recipe I tried was another slow cooker concoction called Santa Fe Chicken.  Santa Fe Chicken brings to mind one of the only frozen dinner entrees I actually like.  I think I expected it to look and taste somewhat similar.  It looked like a big pot of slop and it was too bland.  It was a big thumbs down.  It took forever to eat the leftovers of that mess.  The picture on Pinterest was so appetizing so I was completely disappointed.   

          (Picture to come!!!)

By contrast & with much credit to Epicurious, I tried a Beer Marinated Flank Steak with Guacamole & Aji Sauce and I followed that up with a Balsalmic Marinated Flank Steak recipe from the Pointless Meals Blog.  I split a 2 lbs flank steak into 2 portions so I had two different but equally easy meals during the week.  Both my husband and I preferred the Balsamic Marinated Flank Steak but I would definitely make both of these recipes again.  

             (Picture to Come!!)

Thanks to Pinterest, I also discovered Nom Nom Paleo.  She has an amazing picture blog and a whole list of recipes I wanted to try.  To make my life easier I bought I bunch of chicken legs in bulk and started with two recipes that I found particularly interesting.  The first was Super Easy Tandoori Chicken.  I may have undercooked this recipe but it was alright after we put it back in for another 20 minutes.  I am on the fence about trying that one again.  The second recipe was a slow cooker Lemon Grass & Cocount Chicken.  I’m putting that down in my list of recipes I will definitely make again from Nom Nom Paleo!  The Bacon Guacamole Sammies however are on my list for tomorrow :).  Which reminds me of a random shirt I saw today that stated “Bacon is Meat Candy”.  It made my day.  I’m not in love with the bacon everything trend but I must admit that sometimes bacon is pretty darn tasty!

There you have it, 5 recipes I’ve recently tried from Pinterest!  My next posts will be about taking toddlers to Seoul, Korea.  Until then… Goodnight!

For the Love of Pinterest

Pinterest.com has been more addictive than coffee & checking news on my smart phone lately.  I started last fall and just can’t seem to get enough.  I’ve made recipes, I’ve had my husband build stuff, and I’ve picked up some cleaning & organizing tips that I wish I would have known years ago. My friend Mark recently commented on my latest addiction last week saying “…I just don’t get it.  People act like it is the biggest thing since Facebook.  Hasn’t anyone ever heard of Evernote?  I have been using that and I don’t see what makes Pinterest so different.”  After an exhausting back and forth I sold Mark the Pinterest like I was a used car salesgirl & this is my pitch. 

Evernote is great!  I love it and use it to shared documents, pictures and other things with my husband.  However, it is a more personal program and it is not nearly as visual.  Humans are innately visual and I am no exception as I sit there mindlessly adding to my collection of things I want to remember.  I piggy back off of strangers as I browse their images & have learned about so many cool websites that I never even knew existed by simply clicking on the pictures.  It is like googling for things I didn’t even know I wanted until it was presented to me on a golden platter.  I then share these things with my friends who are also “my followers” as it is called.  How special is that?  Just build me a throne now!  Seriously though, it is fun to share the things I’ve found with my friends.

Recently it came to my attention that I can be a careless Pinterest user though as I sometimes forget to link the original image to the site where the information is located at.  Who wants to stare at a picture of a delectable dish and not be able to link back to the website where they found the recipe?  Certainly not me!  This seems straight forward but when I upload my personal images that I actually took from my smart phone of camera it isn’t particularly helpful to my friends who like the pretty picture but want to actually make it.  Case in point:  

I took this picture on my smart phone of freshly juiced “Mean Green” that I made after watching the movie “Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead”.  I know I shamelessly linked picture to my blog which is about to get very interesting but the credit for this concoction goes to Mr. Joe Cross & Phill Staple who was featured in Mr. Cross’ movie.  This is where I give you the link now that I have rambled on about the greatness of Pinterest & pinning etiquette.   In my defense, this was probably one of my very first personal “pins” to Pinterest.com ever.  I have come so far since this picture as taken.   On a side note, if you haven’t seen that movie it is eye opening and for inquiring minds, this drink takes like an mix of apple juice & lemonade with a hint of ginger if you can get past the bright green appearance.

Tomorrow night I am going to review some of the recipes I’ve used from Pinterest.com so far.  I have some other interesting plans for this blog also involving some traveling we have done & are about to do with the toddlers.  So if you feel like reading a little bit about Korea, Europe, or a trip down the coast of California feel free to come back.  I also have a couple home projects I wanted to show off one of these days.  

Looking for that Travel Deal – Be Your Own Travel Agent

I have had some great vacations and the one question people ask me more often than anything else is how I find such great deals on travel & lodging.  Depending on the situation I will sprawl my search all over the internet if I’m in a hurry to get somewhere quickly or watch the ticket prices & wait for the deals to roll in.

One of the more useful sites for a great hotel deal is www.hotwire.com if you are willing to take a chance on purchasing a hotel room without knowing where you are staying until the purchase is complete.  It is imperative that you know the area of town you would like to stay in when you do this.  If you are familiar with the city or have a relative who is staying at a hotel in the area you can make a strategic guess about the hotel you will be purchasing.  For example, my uncle was staying at an all-inclusive resort in Cabo San Lucas.  He got a great deal by purchasing it in advance.  However, I got a better deal when I matched the amenities listed to match the resort as it was described on the website.  It was partly luck but when I narrowed down the possibilities offered blindly to me on hotwire.com I was able to deduce which resort was his & we paid less to stay there.  Normally I would have bought our room at the same time as him but he has already purchased his room & the cost of the resort when I looked it up was more than I wanted to pay.  I’m thrifty/cheap/savvy that way.  You choose your adjective.

So you are probably wondering how I learn about the amenities of a particular hotel in comparison to others in the surrounding area.  The best way to get an overview of the area hotels is to cross check hotwire.com with a site like tripadvisor.com and start deducing.  When you start to guess which hotels are being described in the listings it is then time to visit the home sites for those hotels.  There are no guarantees but you will increase your odds of getting what you want if you do a little cross referencing.  Tripadvisor.com is also a great reference for finding forums & things to do in the city you are about to visit. 

When it comes to lodging, hotwire.com is not the only website I frequent but it is one of my favorites.  I’m open minded and will try anything once.  You have to be a risk taker to get a deal though.  On our most recent trip to Las Vegas I got a great room by using Groupon.com and could have easily done the same through LivingSocial.com, Jettsetter or any number of deal sites out there.  The downside of these websites is that you need to act quickly after purchasing the deal to contact the hotel or resort to ensure you get the dates you want.  If you drag your feet you may be stuck having to change your plans to match the leftover availability.  It can be overwhelming.  When I traveling I often look up the Groupon & LivingSocial sites from the places I plan to visit for food deals & other fun things.  It is a great way to familiarize yourself with the place you are about to visit.

It wasn’t that long ago that I could always find great deals on airfare via hotwire.com, hotels.com, priceline.com, expedia.com, and travelocity.com.  Sometimes I will still find great deals on these sites but most of the time I’m better off looking at these sites and then going to the home page of the airline that appeared to have the best deal.  Often the price is the same at the home site.  When it is possible you are always better off purchasing something without having to involve a 3rd party.  

When you are in a time crunch there are two other sites I recommend.  The first is hipmunk.com and the second is lastminute.com (formerly site59.com).  Both are geared towards buying that last minute ticket to get out of town.  Lastly, if that ticket involves trying to get to a funeral & your a family member of the deceased, sometimes airlines will have “bereavement” tickets set aside for a lesser price.  If this is your situation you must be able to prove you are headed to a funeral by providing some information such as the funeral home and it is unlikely you will be able to purchase more than one or two bereavement tickets.  Therefore, the rest of the family will need to scramble for tickets on these last minute travel sites.  

Awesome Website List

• Hotwire.com
• Travelocity.com
• Expedia.com
• Priceline.com
• Hotels.com
• Travelzoo.com
• Hipmunk.com
• Lastminute.com
• Lastminutetravel.com
• Groupon.com
• TripAdvisor.com
• LivingSocial.com
• Jetsetter.com
• Kayak.com
• Frommers.com