Whoa whoa whoa, it's August what the heck is going on. Well, my life is going pretty awesome so there's that. I can't believe how long it's been! So sorry, my babies.
You guys have no idea have often I have thought, I need to make a blog post and just haven't done it. And here is the honest truth as to why. Usually, when I want to watch TV here, I have to download shows and/or stream them on my computer. Then I connect it to the TV and project to a second screen (tech genius here) and then my computer is stuck across the room so I can watch my show. Yes, I am technically able to use the second screen for other things BUT the cord that connects it to the TV is finicky and has to be in there just so and doesn't really like being moved. Yes, I could also use SY's computer but we don't have the cord to connect his to the TV. Yes, I could get one of those new-fangled chrome-cast thingamabobs but seriously, looking all over Seoul for the connector cord and failing and then getting SY to purchase the correct cord took all my strength. So right now, I am forgoing TV (you're welcome) and just listening to music instead. This is actually more productive on my end because I can't actually do visually stimulating things at once, so now I will focus on this.
I am angry, though, because my night person tendencies want to take over and let me stay up all night working on my new exciting blog project I have in my brain. But, my new, STUPID ASS work schedule is not going to allow for that. Ugh, I seriously am so angry about my job. I just started at this job in March. I knew they had summer classes but I was under the impression that they were "just a few weeks" and also that I didn't have to actually be at work at 9:00am EVERY FUCKING DAY. What, 9? That's not bad! Uh, well it wouldn't be if I didn't have to stay there until 7:30!!! Dammit people, it's the worst. And if anyone has ever worked at a Korean hagwon you KNOW. You know how shitty it actually is. There is not enough time to explain all it's shittiness, but you are just going to have to trust me.
Um, ok, so yes, I did say my life is awesome but that paragraph would lead you to believe otherwise. Point is, someday, in the near future, I am actually going to get my random blog project going and I am going to do posts about all kinds of fun things, including, but not limited to...
Baking!
Korean beauty products!
Vietnam vacation!
Japan vacation!
Wedding planning!
Getting dresses made!
Being in my thirties!
Trying to, and failing at, losing weight!
Decorating!
Cocktails!
Traveling in style (kind of)!
Vital information for your everyday life!
All the fun things, guys. It's coming. Just give me some time. And all the coffee. Because goddamn, 9-7:30 with kids all damn day is soul sucking business. Send me strength.
Dream big people!
08 August 2016
Cooking Devil
This weekend, I got inspired to start baking in a big way. I didn't take that many pictures because I was seriously like a person possessed by the cooking devil and it had no time for photo ops. Having recently acquired a rice cooker, I found a lot of recipes online that use a rice cooker instead of an oven or stove. I told my friend about one for bread and he insisted it couldn't be done. Telling me something is impossible is basically like throwing down the gauntlet and of course I had to defy him. Turns out, the bread recipe takes 4-5 hours to make (2-3 hours is for the bread to rise) and I just did not have the time or patience for that mess. So, I opted for banana bread instead since I had some bananas just taking up counter space. It wasn't that difficult to put together, but I will never be doing that shit again. First off, I have an oven! What the fuck was I thinking? I don't need to make things in a rice cooker, other than rice. And I don't know what kind of rice cooker the recipe person had, but my cooker was being a dick and refused to stay in cook mode. After wedging a pencil in the switch to make it keep cooking, it started burning. So I took it out only to discover that it was burned to a crisp on the bottom and literally still dough in the middle. I had had enough of that piece of shit's attitude and refused to let it win, so I plopped it into a cake pan, cut off the burned bottom and stuck it in the oven to finish baking. It is NOT pretty, but it turned out rather tasty. Slather enough butter on something and it it'll taste amazing.
Then I decided I was going to bake some salmon I had as well. Jacky, why didn't you just cook it in the pan like you always do? It turns out great and SY loves it. I DON'T KNOW. Again, the cooking devil had taken hold and it refused to let me take the easy way out today. I think it partly had to do with this book I had just finished reading. It wasn't about cooking, but was about love that prevailed through the Holocaust and I don't know, I just felt like I needed to step up my wife game. Not that my life or my love even remotely compares to what those people went through, but you know, I still aim to please. I of course got carried away, like always and today will probably be the last time I try to make anything fancy.
Last night I also tried to get a little fancy with dinner and decided I would take on Japanese food. Like, wtf was I thinking? I am not that great at American cooking, or Korean cooking and I've been here for 4 years! Whatever, I've been to Japan 3 times, am 1/4 Japanese and have eaten at numerous Japanese restaurants. Obviously I can cook Japanese food at home in my tiny Korean kitchen. Thank you, internet, for foolishly allowing me to believe I can make anything other than rice. I had this super amazing beef rice dish thing at a Korean/Japanese fusion restaurant a few weeks ago and I was like, well certainly I can replicate that, it was so simple! Long story short, I couldn't. Even though I bough authentic Mirin (Japanese cooking stuff), it wasn't anywhere close to what I ate. It wasn't terrible, because you can't really go wrong with grilling up some beef, but I stupidly decided it needed cheese at the last minute and that kind of ruined everything.
I have had quite a lot of cooking adventures since then. Have I taken pictures of any of them? No, I haven't. But you are welcome to come over for dinner at anytime and I will whip up something fantastic for you. Not any sort of Japanese rice dish because that was embarrassing, but I have gotten pretty good at "Japanese style" (in quotes because it's a recipe from a westerner living in Japan so the authenticity is questionable) baked salmon, so come on down!
Dream big, people!
Then I decided I was going to bake some salmon I had as well. Jacky, why didn't you just cook it in the pan like you always do? It turns out great and SY loves it. I DON'T KNOW. Again, the cooking devil had taken hold and it refused to let me take the easy way out today. I think it partly had to do with this book I had just finished reading. It wasn't about cooking, but was about love that prevailed through the Holocaust and I don't know, I just felt like I needed to step up my wife game. Not that my life or my love even remotely compares to what those people went through, but you know, I still aim to please. I of course got carried away, like always and today will probably be the last time I try to make anything fancy.
Last night I also tried to get a little fancy with dinner and decided I would take on Japanese food. Like, wtf was I thinking? I am not that great at American cooking, or Korean cooking and I've been here for 4 years! Whatever, I've been to Japan 3 times, am 1/4 Japanese and have eaten at numerous Japanese restaurants. Obviously I can cook Japanese food at home in my tiny Korean kitchen. Thank you, internet, for foolishly allowing me to believe I can make anything other than rice. I had this super amazing beef rice dish thing at a Korean/Japanese fusion restaurant a few weeks ago and I was like, well certainly I can replicate that, it was so simple! Long story short, I couldn't. Even though I bough authentic Mirin (Japanese cooking stuff), it wasn't anywhere close to what I ate. It wasn't terrible, because you can't really go wrong with grilling up some beef, but I stupidly decided it needed cheese at the last minute and that kind of ruined everything.
I have had quite a lot of cooking adventures since then. Have I taken pictures of any of them? No, I haven't. But you are welcome to come over for dinner at anytime and I will whip up something fantastic for you. Not any sort of Japanese rice dish because that was embarrassing, but I have gotten pretty good at "Japanese style" (in quotes because it's a recipe from a westerner living in Japan so the authenticity is questionable) baked salmon, so come on down!
Dream big, people!
01 February 2016
It's Monkey Time
Hello everyone! I have been severely lacking in the blogosphere lately (is that still a word?) but it's the end of Lunar New Year vacation, and perhaps the monkey spirit has inspired me to do something semi-productive and write this blog post. There are actually about 500 other productive things I need to be doing, but those require getting off the couch and I'm just not feeling that right now.
I am not quite sure why they observe Lunar New Year in Korea, but I am not complaining because I got a 5 day vacation. Most people refer to it as Chinese New Year, but obviously we are not in China, and are still celebrating. It's kind of nice here, because we still get vacation for Buddhist holidays, even though it's not a predominantly Buddhist country. In fact, most of the Koreans I know are Christian (and a bit on the crazy side of Christian, if you know what I'm saying). Also, Koreans are not really a celebratory people (from my observations) and don't treat it with the same reverence and enthusiasm as other countries I've been to and seen/heard about. For example, when I went to Vietnam and Hong Kong, they were still celebrating a month later and have all kinds of fun events happening. In Korea, you eat, you bow, you clean graves and that is pretty much the extent of it. In past years, the holiday has only been 3 or 4 days, but thanks to the calendar gods, we got 5 days this year. And not that I'm in any place to judge, but Korean holidays seem pretty boring and tame compared to literally, everywhere else. My theory is that everyone here is so focused on working EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY (seriously, the work ethic here is borderline insanity), that they are either busy working or too tired from working all the damn time to do anything fun. Maybe it's just the people I've been hanging out (SY and his family), but most of the time seems to spent being stuck in traffic and/or complaining about the traffic.
Again, maybe I'm not hanging out with the right people, but I've never really seen any type of BIG fun other Asian countries seem to be having, especially during Lunar New Year. Even regular New Years in the Phillipines was a million times more exciting than here, EVEN with a free PSY concert involved. They do have a cool parade here for Buddha's birthday in May, but I was discussing the oddity with a friend the other day and we both came to the same conclusion. Yes, they have the parade and it is cool to see, but we don't personally know any actual Koreans that participate in the festivities. We have both been here a few years, have Korean fiancees, and have been to the parade and seen all the people participating. But we both wonder, who are these people?! How can we be friends with them? No Korean I know and/or interact with on a regular basis goes to or has any interest in being part of said parade. This realization lead to another realization, which is that I am exposed to such a small slice of Korean life and it's kind of unfortunate. Working in an English language environment limits my interactions with real Korean culture. Even having Korean in-laws really only allows me to participate in their life and their traditions, which are certainly not representative of all Koreans' lifestyle. I feel like most of the people I interact with are kind are on the boring side. Maybe it's because I myself am also boring? How did this happen?! I used to be so fun! I have no idea, but whatever, here I am. It's exhausting trying to make new friends, but not sharing a language makes things decidedly more difficult. Yes, I could learn Korean and go around trying to befriend more authentic Koreans but learning a language is also exhausting and Korean people, like many tight-knit ethnic groups, are not overtly friendly. Of course, this is just my opinion. I come from the "friendliest city" in America, so I am used to smiling at everyone, talking to complete strangers at any and all times, and having people offer to help me at the first sign of distress. I would assume that most big cities are not as open. Oh man, I could go on forever about this, but I'll move on to what this post is really about-my very singular experience this Lunar New Year.
The holiday passed pretty uneventfully, but I did have my first bowing to the elders experience, and it was a bit disappointing. Mainly because you are apparently supposed to receive money after bowing, but all I got was used make-up and an absurd amount of eye cream. I knew from my preschoolers that they bow to their grandparents, but beyond that I wasn't really aware of Korean traditions for the Lunar New Year. However, after speaking with multiple people, I have come to the conclusion that I was slighted and my new Korean family took advantage of my ignorance. SY claims that only young people receive money after bowing, but he's full of nonsense. First off, I'm young! At 30 I'm basically a spring chicken and secondly, I have 4 reputable resources that claim otherwise. In fact, we had to give away a good chunk of change! Both his parents and his pastor (to my chagrin) got money from us.
SY's mom is well-meaning, and I have heard Korean mother-in-law (well, general in-laws I guess) horror stories, so I consider myself lucky. However, she made some comments recently that did not sit well. She offered to buy us a "running machine" (treadmill), citing she was "worried" about my "health." Which is code for you're fat and need to lose weight. It's a whole freaking thing, but basically most Koreans believe that skinny equals healthy and fat equals unhealthy. Being fat also usually means you are ugly and overall unfavorable, but I have a small face, so I can get away with it, up to a point. Whatever, I could go on forever about this country's weight-ism (is this a word?), but let's move on. And yes, America has it's hang-ups about weight and generally thin is beautiful, but at least in that country, there are clothes available for people that aren't a size 4 or under and there is a MUCH higher cut off before you are considered too fat to be socially acceptable.
OMG ANYWAY. In addition to being a little mouthy, his mom is very....practical and obviously doesn't see the need to waste money on gifts that aren't useful or help you lose weight. She does, however, like to find random unwanted items in her house and pass them on to me. I have no idea where she gets all this stuff, but after doing a little more investigating on this trip to the house, I've realized they are basically hoarders. Like for real, there is SO much stuff in their apartment. I don't know what they're waiting for, but they are well prepared for an apocalypse, zombie or otherwise. In past visits, we got bagfuls of mini L'Occataine toiletries and my favorite, the polly pocket toaster oven. His mom is also a big fan of giving me used make-up, so I have a collection of half-used lipsticks. She also gave me her shoes because once I complimented them. I appreciate the thought and definitely know she is just trying to be nice, but it gets to be bit much. Especially since we don't wear the same size shoe, so as much as I like hers, I can't even wear them.
WOO-don't get me wrong-his parents are generous and wonderful and I love them a lot. They are just so...Korean in their gift-giving ways, and to me, it's hilarious, baffling, annoying and appreciated all at the same time. Koreans love being helpful and generous, almost to a ridiculousness. I've talked about Korean gift-giving before and I think it's just going to be a cultural difference I'm just going to have to accept, even if I never understand or am comfortable with. Normally, I am all for free things. I am the queen of handouts and generally can't say no to anything offered to me. But Koreans definitely take re-gifting and handouts to the next level. It is generosity to the uncomfortable degree. His dad asked if I liked soju, now I have a 3 gallon jug of, basically, Korean moonshine. His pastor asked if I liked gim (dried seaweed), now I have enough to last me the year.
His mom asked if I liked lotion (of course?) and now I have 4 bottles of lotion that smells like a grandma and 4 tubes of eye cream. I am FOREVER getting eye cream from Koreans. Seriously, I currently have at least 5 tubes/jars of it and I have never once bought it for myself. I know I always look tired, but I don't think any cream is going to help the dark circles. We also got two HUGE packages of beef and a box full of apples from some of his students. These things will actually get used, but they do take up quite a bit of space in our tiny fridge.
So, in addition to coming home with used make-up and tennis shoes, SY's mom also always sent us home with an absurd amount of food. Our fridge is literally packed to the brim. Sadly, it's full of Korean food that I don't like and smells bad. I am trying to think positive, but I get a little frustrated sometimes because SY doesn't appreciate my culinary genius and would rather eat kimchi, boring rice and instant noodles. He actually does eat a lot of my food, but I am grumpy and often feel like he only claims it's delicious so I don't get angry. It's a testament to what a good person he is, but I'm the opposite and need to be showered with praise and enthusiasm to feel like life is worth living.
Oh my, so this just go so whiny so fast. Again, these are my experiences and in no way an affront on Korea. I am going to have to write about all the lovely things I get to experience living in this country some day. But, I think that any person that has lived in another country for an extended period of time can understand my frustrations. I try to make SY feel better sometimes by telling him that honestly, if I lived anywhere for five years, I would probably be just as frustrated with the cultural differences. Probably doesn't help, but his time will come after we move to America. Just you wait, my pretty!
Dream big, people!
I am not quite sure why they observe Lunar New Year in Korea, but I am not complaining because I got a 5 day vacation. Most people refer to it as Chinese New Year, but obviously we are not in China, and are still celebrating. It's kind of nice here, because we still get vacation for Buddhist holidays, even though it's not a predominantly Buddhist country. In fact, most of the Koreans I know are Christian (and a bit on the crazy side of Christian, if you know what I'm saying). Also, Koreans are not really a celebratory people (from my observations) and don't treat it with the same reverence and enthusiasm as other countries I've been to and seen/heard about. For example, when I went to Vietnam and Hong Kong, they were still celebrating a month later and have all kinds of fun events happening. In Korea, you eat, you bow, you clean graves and that is pretty much the extent of it. In past years, the holiday has only been 3 or 4 days, but thanks to the calendar gods, we got 5 days this year. And not that I'm in any place to judge, but Korean holidays seem pretty boring and tame compared to literally, everywhere else. My theory is that everyone here is so focused on working EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY (seriously, the work ethic here is borderline insanity), that they are either busy working or too tired from working all the damn time to do anything fun. Maybe it's just the people I've been hanging out (SY and his family), but most of the time seems to spent being stuck in traffic and/or complaining about the traffic.
Again, maybe I'm not hanging out with the right people, but I've never really seen any type of BIG fun other Asian countries seem to be having, especially during Lunar New Year. Even regular New Years in the Phillipines was a million times more exciting than here, EVEN with a free PSY concert involved. They do have a cool parade here for Buddha's birthday in May, but I was discussing the oddity with a friend the other day and we both came to the same conclusion. Yes, they have the parade and it is cool to see, but we don't personally know any actual Koreans that participate in the festivities. We have both been here a few years, have Korean fiancees, and have been to the parade and seen all the people participating. But we both wonder, who are these people?! How can we be friends with them? No Korean I know and/or interact with on a regular basis goes to or has any interest in being part of said parade. This realization lead to another realization, which is that I am exposed to such a small slice of Korean life and it's kind of unfortunate. Working in an English language environment limits my interactions with real Korean culture. Even having Korean in-laws really only allows me to participate in their life and their traditions, which are certainly not representative of all Koreans' lifestyle. I feel like most of the people I interact with are kind are on the boring side. Maybe it's because I myself am also boring? How did this happen?! I used to be so fun! I have no idea, but whatever, here I am. It's exhausting trying to make new friends, but not sharing a language makes things decidedly more difficult. Yes, I could learn Korean and go around trying to befriend more authentic Koreans but learning a language is also exhausting and Korean people, like many tight-knit ethnic groups, are not overtly friendly. Of course, this is just my opinion. I come from the "friendliest city" in America, so I am used to smiling at everyone, talking to complete strangers at any and all times, and having people offer to help me at the first sign of distress. I would assume that most big cities are not as open. Oh man, I could go on forever about this, but I'll move on to what this post is really about-my very singular experience this Lunar New Year.
The holiday passed pretty uneventfully, but I did have my first bowing to the elders experience, and it was a bit disappointing. Mainly because you are apparently supposed to receive money after bowing, but all I got was used make-up and an absurd amount of eye cream. I knew from my preschoolers that they bow to their grandparents, but beyond that I wasn't really aware of Korean traditions for the Lunar New Year. However, after speaking with multiple people, I have come to the conclusion that I was slighted and my new Korean family took advantage of my ignorance. SY claims that only young people receive money after bowing, but he's full of nonsense. First off, I'm young! At 30 I'm basically a spring chicken and secondly, I have 4 reputable resources that claim otherwise. In fact, we had to give away a good chunk of change! Both his parents and his pastor (to my chagrin) got money from us.
SY's mom is well-meaning, and I have heard Korean mother-in-law (well, general in-laws I guess) horror stories, so I consider myself lucky. However, she made some comments recently that did not sit well. She offered to buy us a "running machine" (treadmill), citing she was "worried" about my "health." Which is code for you're fat and need to lose weight. It's a whole freaking thing, but basically most Koreans believe that skinny equals healthy and fat equals unhealthy. Being fat also usually means you are ugly and overall unfavorable, but I have a small face, so I can get away with it, up to a point. Whatever, I could go on forever about this country's weight-ism (is this a word?), but let's move on. And yes, America has it's hang-ups about weight and generally thin is beautiful, but at least in that country, there are clothes available for people that aren't a size 4 or under and there is a MUCH higher cut off before you are considered too fat to be socially acceptable.
OMG ANYWAY. In addition to being a little mouthy, his mom is very....practical and obviously doesn't see the need to waste money on gifts that aren't useful or help you lose weight. She does, however, like to find random unwanted items in her house and pass them on to me. I have no idea where she gets all this stuff, but after doing a little more investigating on this trip to the house, I've realized they are basically hoarders. Like for real, there is SO much stuff in their apartment. I don't know what they're waiting for, but they are well prepared for an apocalypse, zombie or otherwise. In past visits, we got bagfuls of mini L'Occataine toiletries and my favorite, the polly pocket toaster oven. His mom is also a big fan of giving me used make-up, so I have a collection of half-used lipsticks. She also gave me her shoes because once I complimented them. I appreciate the thought and definitely know she is just trying to be nice, but it gets to be bit much. Especially since we don't wear the same size shoe, so as much as I like hers, I can't even wear them.
WOO-don't get me wrong-his parents are generous and wonderful and I love them a lot. They are just so...Korean in their gift-giving ways, and to me, it's hilarious, baffling, annoying and appreciated all at the same time. Koreans love being helpful and generous, almost to a ridiculousness. I've talked about Korean gift-giving before and I think it's just going to be a cultural difference I'm just going to have to accept, even if I never understand or am comfortable with. Normally, I am all for free things. I am the queen of handouts and generally can't say no to anything offered to me. But Koreans definitely take re-gifting and handouts to the next level. It is generosity to the uncomfortable degree. His dad asked if I liked soju, now I have a 3 gallon jug of, basically, Korean moonshine. His pastor asked if I liked gim (dried seaweed), now I have enough to last me the year.
His mom asked if I liked lotion (of course?) and now I have 4 bottles of lotion that smells like a grandma and 4 tubes of eye cream. I am FOREVER getting eye cream from Koreans. Seriously, I currently have at least 5 tubes/jars of it and I have never once bought it for myself. I know I always look tired, but I don't think any cream is going to help the dark circles. We also got two HUGE packages of beef and a box full of apples from some of his students. These things will actually get used, but they do take up quite a bit of space in our tiny fridge.
So, in addition to coming home with used make-up and tennis shoes, SY's mom also always sent us home with an absurd amount of food. Our fridge is literally packed to the brim. Sadly, it's full of Korean food that I don't like and smells bad. I am trying to think positive, but I get a little frustrated sometimes because SY doesn't appreciate my culinary genius and would rather eat kimchi, boring rice and instant noodles. He actually does eat a lot of my food, but I am grumpy and often feel like he only claims it's delicious so I don't get angry. It's a testament to what a good person he is, but I'm the opposite and need to be showered with praise and enthusiasm to feel like life is worth living.
Oh my, so this just go so whiny so fast. Again, these are my experiences and in no way an affront on Korea. I am going to have to write about all the lovely things I get to experience living in this country some day. But, I think that any person that has lived in another country for an extended period of time can understand my frustrations. I try to make SY feel better sometimes by telling him that honestly, if I lived anywhere for five years, I would probably be just as frustrated with the cultural differences. Probably doesn't help, but his time will come after we move to America. Just you wait, my pretty!
Dream big, people!
17 January 2016
2016...Same As It Ever Was
Only not really. The total opposite, actually.
Ummm, whaatt? Well how did I get here?
No idea. And it's so far gone I can't even begin to explain. I started to explain in another post, but there were so many twists and turns, it would probably be more like a novel by now. Maybe I'll write one of those one day.
Oh, Happy New Year! I celebrated with PSY. Hope your start to the year was awesome as well.
Anyway, since I'm so far gone and I don't feel like catching everyone up, I'll just pretend I've been posting all along and write about current things. Which has been my home make-over! And by make-over, I mean we moved here in January with literally nothing and now I have a lovely, cozy, super cute little house with SY. It's seriously so precious, everyone come visit me now and see it for yourself. And it has been hard work. Trying to decorate in this country has been difficult. Korea, obviously, has different (and somewhat singular tastes) when it comes to home decor, from what I've seen. I won't get into all that, but let's just say without a Ross, TJs or Target to visit, getting my place looking cute on a budget has been a challenge. But I'm awesome and slightly crazy, in an impatient and driven kind of way, so I have risen to the challenge.
In some ways, I'm motivated and determined, and in other ways I'm the laziest goober ever. Or maybe not lazy, but suuuper impatient? For example, I made hummus today, along with preparing all my lunches for the week. But, I was so lazy/impatient that I didn't drain the water from the can of chick peas even though I knew I should. I literally was just like, no, I want to start blending these bad boys RIGHT THIS SECOND. So I did and now my hummus is crazy watery. Stupid.
I'm going to pretend for a second this is a DIY blog and share with yall how I made some new awesome wall treatments. I am seriously so proud of these and they cost around 5,000 won ($4.50) to make. and this is the laziest of all laziest DIYs, if you are ever looking for a way to jazz up some walls. Oh, and the laziness extends to photo taking, so these pictures kind of suck and are also the only project I had the patience to take step-by-step photos for.
Here we got!
I got these pillow cases on clearance from H&M:
Ummm, whaatt? Well how did I get here?
No idea. And it's so far gone I can't even begin to explain. I started to explain in another post, but there were so many twists and turns, it would probably be more like a novel by now. Maybe I'll write one of those one day.
Oh, Happy New Year! I celebrated with PSY. Hope your start to the year was awesome as well.
Anyway, since I'm so far gone and I don't feel like catching everyone up, I'll just pretend I've been posting all along and write about current things. Which has been my home make-over! And by make-over, I mean we moved here in January with literally nothing and now I have a lovely, cozy, super cute little house with SY. It's seriously so precious, everyone come visit me now and see it for yourself. And it has been hard work. Trying to decorate in this country has been difficult. Korea, obviously, has different (and somewhat singular tastes) when it comes to home decor, from what I've seen. I won't get into all that, but let's just say without a Ross, TJs or Target to visit, getting my place looking cute on a budget has been a challenge. But I'm awesome and slightly crazy, in an impatient and driven kind of way, so I have risen to the challenge.
In some ways, I'm motivated and determined, and in other ways I'm the laziest goober ever. Or maybe not lazy, but suuuper impatient? For example, I made hummus today, along with preparing all my lunches for the week. But, I was so lazy/impatient that I didn't drain the water from the can of chick peas even though I knew I should. I literally was just like, no, I want to start blending these bad boys RIGHT THIS SECOND. So I did and now my hummus is crazy watery. Stupid.
I'm going to pretend for a second this is a DIY blog and share with yall how I made some new awesome wall treatments. I am seriously so proud of these and they cost around 5,000 won ($4.50) to make. and this is the laziest of all laziest DIYs, if you are ever looking for a way to jazz up some walls. Oh, and the laziness extends to photo taking, so these pictures kind of suck and are also the only project I had the patience to take step-by-step photos for.
Here we got!
I got these pillow cases on clearance from H&M:
I loved them so much and wanted them in my house somehow. I really wanted some gold AND they are a nice, subtle nod to South Carolina. I didn't really want them as pillows because we already had enough of those, but I knew I could figure out something.
I ripped out all the stitches with scissors and and a razor blade...
...and now had two sets of fabric. (You could also do this with any old piece of fabric, but fabric shopping in Korea is NOT an easy task, with or with Korean skills)
I original plan was to cover two pieces of canvas, but after going to the art store and seeing how expensive it was, I decided to buy this thick piece of foam board instead:
Forgot to take a pic of the original board, those are them cut to the size of the fabric. Well, about 1/2 inch smaller on all sides. Sawed through it with my tiny razor blade and used a box for a ruler, but it could probably be done faster and more efficiently with a legit box cutter and ruler.
Didn't take any pictures of the process, because it's hard to hold fabric, staple and take pictures with only two hands, but here is the back after I stapled the fabric on. This was the ultimate in lazy. I literally just used my regular, dollar store stapler. I feel like a staple gun and/or glue would have been smarter but I didn't have the patience for that nonsense. You kind of have to finagle the corners, but it's kind like wrapping a present. Sometimes the staples wouldn't take because it's foam, but when I slammed on it, it seemed to work better. Sorry if that's not helpful, but if you can't figure out how to wrap corners and staple, you should probably just give up on DIY and go buy art for your walls.
And here are the final results:
Ta-da! So freaking proud of myself. Crazy cheap and crazy cute.
BONUS plus to these lazy ass pieces of art...
...they are so light, you can just hang them up with a teeny tiny stick-on hook! Easy freakin peasy.
And, they look pretty fab in our room, not going to lie...
This picture sucks, but just come see them for yourself, ok?
Yes, yes, thank you, I am the cheap decoration master. They should make a TV show about me. Mainly because I watched a Korean home make-over show the other day and it was THE WORST. I could do way better. Won't get into all that now, but 2 teams of men redesigning a woman's room is stupid and an excellent example of how sexist and ridiculous TV (and the rest of the world) is here.
And I didn't do any more step-by-step projects, but have put together lots of other projects. Of course I'm too lazy to take proper pictures, but maybe one day I'll share. It took me 3 weeks to even write this post, so don't get your hopes up.
Like I said, just come see it in person! Cheers to 2016!
Dream big, people!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
