LIFE IN SEOUL

As I scroll through my iphone camera roll, two months feels like a year in photos. I suppose that is the overwhelming fast paced nature of Seoul. That and, you know when you cross the threshold of photo disorganization, there's no going back. Thus, a big fat photo dump! And I'm leaving it at that. Enjoy my lovely friends...Korea has been blissfully saturated with meaningful conversations + extreme swings of introversion and unforeseen social storms. May the photos do the talking.

NYE

Happy New Year! Everyone is overzealous with New Years resolutions while simultaneously letting loose in the celebrations and I'm still trying to get myself out of the house more. There is a cloud of introversion that has kept me towards the likings of books, movies, and hand lettering in the comforts of my tiny Korean villa. I don't know, going out has been somewhat tiring these days.

At 27 years old, you come to really get a good sense of who you are, and it's the full embrace of it that makes it all the sweeter. This year, I've come to accept the paradoxes of my personality — the contradictions of my openness, sensitivity, insensitivity, preferences for depth as well as my very real struggle to let people into my life (as absurd and outright untrue as that might sound). It's okay, I've also surrendered the need for people to understand me and could care less, much less, than before. Contradictions aside, I've also learned that I am quite simple...that I love fun in the form of food, aesthetics and good vibes or...a really good conversation. When those things catch my attention, all the complexities unravel quite easily. 

NYE was thrilling in the sense that it marked the end of one chapter and the start of a new one. I wrapped up a job which gloriously ushered me in the middle of a big fat transition where I currently stand. The rest of the evening was well spent with friends followed by an epic praise countdown at New Philadelphia Church. WHOO. In the new year, I feel as though the hold up for some major things have lifted and I am being called forth to run. I sense a lot of big changes, and while fog that lies ahead is only slightly intimidating, there is perfect peace. Zachariah 9:12 says "Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double." Dear prisoners of hope, we're going all in for 2016. I want to go on tour. Shrug. Just watch.

MOMENTS IN CHICAGO

photojournal winter 2015

Home was really sweet this time around in particular. It was busy with family and friends,  guests from out of town, spiffy dinner parties (as shown above), and yes, as the tradition still holds strong, morning runs to The Doughnut Vault. All the mundane aside, relationships were unraveling quite beautifully, and I suppose that's what meant the most. 

Chicago is always characterized by a sense of 'delving deeper.' This winter fell nothing short as I had the luxuries of spending time with people I love in a city that is unceasingly amazing. For those who can't quite grasp what I mean by 'amazing,' let me just say that Chicago comes in layers. It initially presents itself as very refined and simple with big streets and big-hearted people. But stay a season longer (and or live through a brutal winter if you dare) and you'll find a much more intricate tapestry of subcultures pocketed within each neighborhood — Logan Square being my current favorite. I'd say it is hardly accessible for a first timer, but every true Chicagoan knows that there's so much more than meets the eye. It is resilient, annoyingly close-minded in a sense, but absolutely rich in the most mysterious, charming way. 

I think to enter a city with fresh eyes is what makes any place enchanting and exquisitely wonderful. Those are the eyes I should choose to hold onto tightly as I make my transitions back in Seoul. It has been exactly one week since coming back and already it has been quite the ride. Decisions made, risks being taken, and plans in the making. Here's to living through the transitions into the wild unknown and with that hopefully will be accompanied by more winter adventures.

PLANTS + TOAST

Same Day Cafe, Logan Square Chicago

I am absurdly jet lagged right now, so at 6:09 am I'm taking it upon me to share some photos and thoughts. To keep it brief, "Same Day Cafe" (opened 6 months ago in Logan) has the best avocado toast in Chicago and the best plant collection I've seen in a while. Enjoying the company with Sammy Boy and Petey Green talking about security and art and life made it that much better too.

My other avocado favorites include "Two Hands Cafe" in NYC and "Bartavelle Coffee and Wine Bar" in Emeryville, California. I haven't had anything outstanding in LA, but I guess I haven't tried one too many. Anyways, Same Day Cafe has a simple but delicious menu along with some classy old-fashioned tunes spinning from a record player in the far back. Absolutely heartwarming. It also has inspired me to become a plant owner for my little home in Korea. Who's excited to go plant shopping? Me.