Big Bang Theory!

So Friday night was Anthony's last weekend night in Korea, so we all went out to give him a good bye party:

And for mother's day, I sent my mother a bouquet of flowers:

In other news: I have wanted to get Zooey Daschanel type bangs for a really long time now, but knowing myself, I knew I would get uber annoyed by them very soon, so in the last two years or so, I have been resisting the urge. However, when Ø declared that he needed a haircut, I made an appointment for both of us to go to our favorite hair salon, 'By Miga' on Shinsadong Garosugil, and I finally did it!

And they were doing a photo event at the coffee shop we frequent

Then we just sat there and people watched -- Garosugil is the best place to people watch -- some fascinating fashionista

 Then we went to a cool burger place in a street parallel to Garosugil:

Then, we walked to Han-river and people watched some more there:

This is the close-up of the photo from 'CoffeeSmith' 

Then, on Sunday, Ø and I met up and walked to Rodeo Street to have one of his favorite burgers:

Overall, it was such a lovely weekend what with my friends, hanging out with Ø, and very lovely weather! Life is wonderful

-liv, love, laugh

May Day! May Day!

Oh May.... you are just so beautiful. I got to spend this past week with many people I love, so it was a very thankful week:

Monday, it was my birthday (I am 28 years young now in American age, and the dreaded 29 in Korean age- dun dun Duuuuuuun) so my lovely Ø prepared all sorts of cute little thoughtful surprises for me: 

I am one happy gal ^^ 

Then, on Wednesday, May 1, we got to have the day off because it was a labor day. Unfortunately, since Ø is technically a government employee, he did not have the day off. I did get to hang out in his office all day though, like the good ol' days. It was very nice to spend so much time with him during the week. 

Then, on Thursday, I got to see my childhood friends (we have been friends for almost 20 years now!) Also, we all have our birthdays in MArch and April, so we celebrated it together: 

Boyeon got us '29' candles, which was upsetting to Sooae and myself because we want to stay 28 as long as possible :P 

I got us matching rings. Also, we made plans to go to Barcelona next May-- just us girls ^^ 

I love us ^^ 

And then on Saturday, I visited my grandparents because May 8th is 'Parents Day' in Korea:

I also went swimming before going out to lunch with grandma and my aunt and uncle and my little cousin, and I weighed myself after not having worked out for months and feeling quite blubbery, but I hadn't gained any weight (probably, my muscle atrophied), but I was still pretty happy to not gain weight. 

Then, I came back home to take an afternoon nap, then went to hang out with Ø in Gangnam and we watched Ironman 3...and for some reason, Tony Stark was not as cool as I remembered he was... but it was still pretty entertaining. 

Now it is Sunday and I am on Seoul National University campus with Ø just enjoying the lovely May weather

I wish everyone a lovely week! 

-liv, love, laugh

Spring is finally here!

About time too, since April is almost over.... which is just ridiculous, since Spring should've been here like 3 weeks ago.

Today was filled with my favorite things in life: Ø, sunny weather, good food, puppies, and art galleries.

So about 4 months ago, Ø and I chanced upon an artist at Seoul National University who created this experiential art installation where he used every-day objects to create an illusion of being transported somewhere else:

This is where he used radio noise to create a beach sound, with light and fan to create a breeze+sun.... so sitting in this chair with eyes closed, you felt like you were at the beach

Ø and I were very impressed by his work, and made plans to see his exhibition once it opened in April

Fast forward to Saturday, April 27-- we met in Apgujeong station and slowly made our way to the exhibition....and on the way, we saw this fancy puppy-accessory shop, so we had to go in: 

These puppies were SO adorable! I feel so bad whenever i see puppies in a tiny space...they should be taken home and loved!  

I mean SQueeeeeeee~ 

Then we went to Queen's Park for brunch....and we got to sit outside! 

The portions were rather small, and the price way too high, but the atmosphere was quite nice 

Quite pretty blue pancakes.... 

The korean character is pronounced 'you'

We stopped for a quick espresso... 

and finally made our way to Songeun Art Space!

Unfortunately, we didn't realize that there was Songeun Art 'Space' and Songeun Art 'Cube'. We went to the wrong one, where they had 'the French Haunted House' exhibition. 

But since we were there, and I like spooky things, we decided to take a look

A bit disturbing... 

 They did quite a good job creating this eerie atmosphere I think.... oh those French folks....

I'm not sure what I'm doing here... 

Then, we chilled outside for a bit, soaking in the sun 

Then, we ran into these cute little munchkins... i mean look how ADORABLE they are~ 

So.....we had to go in and play with some of them

This one was named 'Jenny' and it was quite friendly. Also, its owner is apparently someone quite famous, but I shan't reveal who, for the safety of the dog ^^ 

Then we walked on, soaking in the lovely April sun 

Saw this group of fashionista roaming the streets of CheungDam 

Flowers~ 

Then we finally found the right Songeun 

'Lapland'

'Greenland'

So basically, the artist takes every-day things like deodorant.... or cigarette box.... to create this image of exotic locations. I think Ø felt quite close to the pieces also because they were northern-european inspired

It also had installations of how each images were captured 

'kokomo'

I asked him to sign my booklet -- I feel like he's going to be really famous one day

I got to take a photo with the artist! 

Ø was quite fascinated with this piece

'Jung Frau'

It was lovely to see the young artist again, and we were able to hear stories of what inspired him, and behind-the-scenes story for each piece, which was really nice. Also, because we were somewhat late, it was almost as if we got a private tour of the exhibition, which was also really nice.

Then, since we were quite close to coex, we walked over and just hung out:

This picture is quite trippy.... 

They were doing some sort of an event for Samsung. I think this guy might be someone famous.... but I'm not sure 

We ended our evening at twosome place, where we shared an affogato and just chilled. 

Oh, in other news, I finally passed my probation at work, and will be visiting good ol' USA in July! I am already so excited for it and planning all the things I'll be doing with Ø:
- eat at the cheesecake factory
- go to IHOP
- visit NYC (see a musical, picnic in central square, visit galleries/museums)
- go on a ducktour
- visit MIT and Harvard
- Martha's Vineyard
- 4th of July celebration
and much, much, more!

I wish everyone happy rest of the weekend, and also a lovely week next week!

-liv, love, laugh