A Surprise Package

Part I: The Package

Phil and I received a package yesterday from his mother in Charleston. She just returned from a trip to Japan and Korea last week, and she brought back a few things for Phil and me. We get one or two packages from Korea each year, and they almost always include dried seaweed and squid. Fortunately, this was no exception, but it also included a few bonus goodies and gifts that I'm excited to share here.

From left to right: seaweed, microwaveable fish, and two different kinds of squid. 

I don't know if you can see it, but there are two small boxes at the top of the photo; one red, the other yellow. They are Morinaga's Milk and Azuki caramels from Japan, and they're freaking amazing! Phil and I lay in bed this afternoon sucking on a couple of pieces, seeing who could make theirs last longest. I won, for the record, and since they're only 35 calories a piece, I was able to enjoy them without feeling guilty.

Little wooden figurines and a postcard from Phil's mom. :)

Phil's aunt and uncle also purchased these wooden dolls for us in Kyoto. I'm not sure what they are exactly, but they're cute, if you ask me. It's a shame we don't know what the placards they came with say, but maybe we will find someone who can translate for us one of these days. In the meantime, I think I'll just leave them on display with the dolls.

Part II: A Day Away from the City

We made another trip to H-Mart this morning! For those of you who don't know, H-Mart is a Korean supermarket/mini-mall in Niles, Illinois. We try to make it over there every couple of weeks to stock up on authentic Korean foods. Phil could probably spend an entire paycheck in one trip if he wanted to, but there's only a handful of things that we absolutely cannot leave the store without: 

Brown rice green tea, bulgogi marinade, kimchi, and HooRoo Rook instant noodles.

I'm not a fan of kimchi, myself, but it's hard to pry Phil out of the kimchi corner empty-handed. He can't get enough of the stuff!

No, this isn't our fridge.

That about covers our Saturday outing! It's really nice to get out of the city every now and then, even if it's only to go grocery shopping. I think now we'll spend a quiet evening at home. Have some brown rice tea and go for a walk, maybe.

More later...

500 sq.ft. of Awesome

I think, for my first entry, some introductions are in order.

I'll start with Woodstock (a.k.a. Wood, Woody, Dog, etc.):

In all his splendor.

Wood and I have been friends a long time. He was given to me by my mom for my fifteenth birthday. Being the fattest of his litter, he was the clear choice for me, and as soon as he was old enough, mom brought him home with her one evening after work. We've shared many a misadventure since then, and after bouncing around the continental U.S. for the last five years, we've finally settled down in Chicago, Illinois.

The photo above is one of my favorites of him, and even though it's only a few months old, it's a tad misleading. Shortly after moving to Chicago, Wood developed a limp which we later discovered was caused by a malignant bone tumor. To prevent the cancer from spreading, we decided to go ahead and get his right foreleg amputated. He's in the recovery process now, and I'll be sure to follow-up on his progress in subsequent entries. 

Home from the hospital on October 6. Happy birthday to me. :)

But enough about Woodstock. It's time to introduce Phillip (a.k.a. Pil-lip, Pip, Pipop, etc.):

Phil and Phil's hair.

Phil's my sweetheart, my boyfriend, my best guy, and a number of other things (most of them flattering). Originally from South Korea, he and his family immigrated to the United States when he was nine or ten years old. By the time Woody and I stumbled upon him, he'd been living in Charleston, South Carolina for a number of years, and the rest, as they say, is history...almost three years of history to be semi-accurate...

Maybe Phil's intro is a little underwhelming after Wood's, but my fingers are getting tired and I still have one person left to introduce, so forgive the brevity. These people (yes, Dog's a person) are the cohabitants of my 500 sq.ft. slice of Heaven (pictured below), and my purpose in sharing them with you is to provide some faces to go with the names that will likely resurface again and again and again.

The living room/bedroom (a.k.a the only room).

And that leaves only one: yours truly. If you don't know already, my name is Kirste, but I'll talk about myself plenty in entries to come. Suffice it to say that, since moving to Chicago, I've become a student (sometimes), a painter (other times), and a live-in girlfriend/chef/maid (at all times). 

I think that about sums it up. More later...