these are a few of my favorite things

did you have a good weekend? 

we felt really productive and proud of ourselves for plowing through our "to-do" list bright and early. we had so much time to just relax around the house, cuddle with piri, catch up on some tv {although we were probably the only ones not watching breaking bad on sunday} and read. 

and can i also say how incredibly awesome i've been feeling for cutting our grocery budget in half by starting our meal planning again? i can't believe how much food we wasted before. i'm also getting a bit more bolder with trying new recipes. i've been sticking to making a lot of korean food {thank goodness for maangchi} and have surprised myself a few times when a certain dish actually tasted like it's suppose to {i'm seriously really bad at cooking so these moments are a real high for me}. 

here's to life's little big moments! have a wonderful week ahead.
we're heading into october! wow.

ps - our giveaway with olive green dog closes today! get your comment in for a chance to win $50 store credit! 

gentle reminder! "our life" giveaway with olive green dog closes monday, 9/30!

a gentle reminder that our giveaway with olive green dog for a $50 store credit closes monday, september 30! if you haven't entered, head on over here and leave us a blog comment for a chance to win. 

thank you to those who left such wonderful comments about olive green dog. we really love their products and we're happy to share their awesomeness! 

have a pleasant weekend + links

we love finding these green foxtails during our walks with piri lately. in korea they are called "gang ah ji pool", which literally means dog grass. a dear friend i met on instagram said that in japan they are called neko jarashi, which means cat grass. 

do you have anything planned for the weekend? 

we're using our groupon deal to head on over to a self bathing place to give piri a good wash {he's also getting a facial. part of the deal. woot.} and i think we'll also see if we can find a good thrift find for the home. we haven't done this in a few weeks so i'm looking forward to it. i hope we can find something nice. in the past i used to be in a hurry to buy everything for the home. but now i'm practicing a little patience and slowly finding pieces here and there. i am rather enjoying this process. 

have a pleasant weekend and hope you enjoy these links. 

 // so we started counting down. a bit early? yes. but we just love christmas. 

 // want to know key metrics about your instagram account? try this. 

 // speaking of instagram, i met the cutest beagle. 

 // a plethora of ways to add color to your kitchen.  

 // i wish i was in brooklyn to attend this. 

 // a nice collection of fonts. {i seriously downloaded every one}

 // s'mores. but not just any s'mores. expresso salted caramel s'mores. 

 // a great meeting of analog photo with the smartphone. 

 // must have for fall. 

 // polka dots. flowy. mid-calf. love.

xoxo, 
jane 

ps - don't forget to enter our giveaway with olive green dog ($50 store credit)! closes monday, september 30th! 

pps - in case you missed it! piri's q & a is over at the grinning labrador! 

hi! we're over here today!

we're stoked that lindley over at the grinning labrador is featuring piri today as part of her dog of the day series! we had a lot of fun answering these questions while learning more about her adorable lab, morgan. 

head on over to read our little q& a! thank you!

** and don't forget to enter our giveaway with olive green dog for a chance to win $50 store credit! closes 9/30! ** 

life lately, according to my iphone

what the camera didn't, the phone did. 

***don't forget to enter our $50 store credit giveaway with olive green dog! closes september 30th!***

xoxo, 

jane

"our life" giveaway with olive green dog! (CLOSED)

today we are tickled pink with excitement as we host our first giveaway! we've teamed up with one of our favorites, olive green dog, for a fantastic $50 store credit to one lucky reader!

olive green dog has really great products for dogs {and the wonderful humans in their lives, too}. piri's enjoyed his birthday items, has looked quite dapper in his bow tie and his favorite thing to do after a grooming session is to sport this bandana. he even has a pinterest board featuring some of his favorites from olive green dog.

for a chance to win, please visit Olive Green Dog and leave us a blog comment below telling us what your favorite item is {please make sure you have a way to include an email address, either as part of your blog account profile or at the end of your blog comment, so we can follow up should you be the winner!}. 

you can also enter for a second time on instagram! share with us a photo on instagram of your dog and tell us what you are looking forward to doing most with your pooch this fall by using the hashtag #myolivegreendog. 

the giveaway is open to readers with mailing addresses in the united states only and will close on monday, september 30th. the winner will be chosen at random and announced shortly after. 

thank you and good luck! 

piri's fall wish list for him {and me} -- 
01. charm bracelet (for humans) // 02. elephant hemp dog toy // 03. bauer ringwear dog bowl // 04. stainless steel dog water bottle // 05. billy wolf sully dog jacket // 06. grandma lucy's sweet potato thins // 07. checkered dog bed // 08. conditioning animal shampoo // 09. hemp stars dog harness

ps - you can find olive green dog on facebook here

*** the winner of this giveaway is vintageloveandphotographs! congratulations! and to those who also shared photos of your dog on instagram, we really enjoyed reading about your fall plans with your pooch! thank you for participating! ***

a random number using random.org was generated to choose the winner 

i purged my closet and my hat found a new owner

remember when i decluttered our home? well, last week i purged my closet. it felt doubly good. we donated a few bags and sold a few pieces at buffalo exchange. i'm so glad that our closet feels like it can actually breathe now. now all that is left is to put away our summer clothes and bring our warm sweaters down. 

while purging, i came across this hat. yangkyu got it for me when we were still dating. i loved it and i don't think i can ever part with it. but someone else decided to claim it as his. how can i say no? this just made it on to the list of my favorite things for fall. piri in a knit hat. 

happy monday! and have a good week! 

hey fall, you're finally here! we're looking forward to a few things with ya..

fall is finally here. i've been dreading this season for some time now because i just love love love summer. but now that it's officially fall, it's not as bad. i think what i was dreading most was not the changing of the leaves, layering or the pumpkins, but more .. daylight savings. i love my morning and evening walks with piri when it's actually still bright out. but during the fall and winter months, mornings and evenings are so dark. and add the cold to that and it's just a bad mix all around. 

but! there are things are are definitely looking forward to in our little home. things like.. 

1. mornings like this 

2. stepping on crunchy leaves 

3. apple picking 

4. wearing sweaters and stealing yangkyu's on extra chilly nights

5. finding the perfect pumpkin & carving them {and we'll make sure we have piri represented this time}

6. lighting candles. lots and lots of candles. with fall scents. 

7. halloween and seeing this friendly, furry ghost 

8. possibly catching "the worst witch" on tv {or just 13 nights of halloween on abc}

9. keeping up with thanksgiving traditions with the sound of music {the hills are alive!}

10. going to see the pretty leaves at shenandoah national park 

11. making warm pies

12. plaid flannel

13. eskimo kisses {to warm the tips of our noses}

14. high boots

15. making pancakes on a crisp morning with warm house slippers 

16. scarves {i love them so!}

17. taking out piri's "dog" sweater {it's our favorite}

18. krispy kreme halloween donuts

19. smells of herbs during thanksgiving cooking

20. keeping up with more traditions like playing christmas songs right after thanksgiving and putting the tree up, too {we're thinking of cutting our own this year at a christmas tree farm}

have a tranquil weekend + links

i took this picture inside of our car in the earliest of mornings on monday while on our way to arlington, va. it was chilly, no other cars on the road and there was just something very calm and serene about the whole scene. something i needed at the moment. 

do you have anything special planned for the weekend? 

i think this is a first weekend where we don't have anything planned. planned together that is. yangkyu is going off kayaking with some folks he met through a community baseball club. i think i'll maybe have my nose in a book {currently reading the night circus} and make hot ginger tea. 

hope you enjoy your weekend and these links if you are interested. 

 // we're big fans of hayao miyazaki. and these vine clips are just amazing. 

 // gah. this just makes my day. 

 // so pretty. 

 // a great idea for selling cards. 

 // transformed! and it looks great. 

 // i would love one for my little family. 

 // so want this. would wear it with a nice warm scarf. 

 // if you're looking for a furry companion, consider this. 

 // fan of the diana f+? try these tips. 

 // i wish i knew these food hacks earlier. 

xoxo, 

jane 

looking back at our summer with flipagram

this is just one app we've been really enjoying lately - flipagram for the iphone & ipad ($0.99). you can create a little video slideshow of the pictures you love and set it to your music you have stored in your phone. for our first flipagram, we decided to take a look back at our summer, {which has been so so good to us - can't believe fall is really upon us!}.

you can create longer videos {i created a test version which was about 26 seconds long}, but must stay within 12 seconds to be able to upload to instagram.

what do you think? you can visit their facebook page for other creations by instagrammers. 

we love this app, and we can't wait to create more of these in the future.

thanks flipagram! 


ps - happy chuseok, or mid-autumn festival, to those who celebrate. in korea, it's a major 3-day holiday and i wish i was there with my extended family to enjoy all the amazing food and family-oriented games. i don't think i have experienced that in over 28 years. yangkyu and i will have our own little celebration with songpyeon {i love the sweet sesame seed and honey filling!).

pps - thank you so much for your messages celebrating 1 year of our blog! 

this lil blog of ours turns 1 today!

i can't believe it's been a year since starting this little blog. this is our third attempt and the best experience yet.

it's been fun writing about the things we love and enjoy here on our life on the (big) computer screen {oh i've been meaning to change this name to just always with yoo because who uses only computers now to read blogs and the name is just too long!}, but it's been really incredible to meet and connect with everyone {so many creative, talented and funny people!} in this awesome online community. and i never expected folks from all across the globe to send heaps of joy when we were happy, extra silliness when we were feeling goofy and much needed support when we were sad or worried. this is a great space and we're so lucky to be a part of it. 

thank you for keeping our little family in your lives. and thank you for enriching ours with your daily tips, ideas and insightful thoughts. 

celebrating on cloud 9, 

jane, yangkyu & piri

if you're ever in dc, try kimchi bbq taco food truck

right after labor day, during that week when yangkyu took off from work, we ventured out to dc and grabbed kimchi bbq taco for lunch. a good acquaintance of ours actually owns and runs it. yangkyu and i followed their tweet and figured out they were going to be in metro center and headed on over when our stomachs were telling us it's time for food. 

i have actually never ordered from a food truck before. i know it's all the fad in other cities as well. the experience was kinda neat. a line of food trucks and a bunch of folks ordering, waiting and eating. the weather was nice enough to let us eat outside.

i got the soft tacos with bulgogi and spicy and yangkyu got the burrito. it was delicious. finger licking delicious {my tacos were oh so juicy}. 

if you're ever in dc and want to try out the taco food truck experience, give kimchi bbq taco a try. you can follow them on twitter to find out which location they will be at {they are not always in the same location}. according to owner, he says that the bibim bap conversion is actually really good. i'm planning on trying that the next chance i get. 

happy eating! 

^^ yangkyu with kibum, or otherwise known as to me, mr. kimchi bbq taco truck owner. thanks so much for the tastiest korean tacos! ^^

a golden saturday: standing in a field of sunflowers

oh man. weekends go by too quickly. and mornings and evenings are getting chilly! i got the shivers!

inbetween running errands, cooking and the cleaning, we packed up our little hatchback again and headed over to jarrettsville in maryland to view sunflowers owned by clear meadow farm. they were beeeautiful {i have to add the extra e's to emphasis just how beautiful they were}. our jaws literally dropped when we turned the street and saw a huge field with golden sunflowers.

^^ we've been taking piri to show him different things - like the beach and the trails. it's fun explaining things to him and him having the face expression like he couldn't care less. like above. oh boy. does this little guy make me laugh or what. ^^ 

^^ we even whipped out the tripod. the scene was just too pretty. thank goodness for self timers and understanding bystanders. ^^

we missed out on sunflower viewings at other locations but thankfully clear meadow farm plants them a bit later and can be viewed in mid-september. there is still one more weekend left for viewing, although i would call to make sure. 

cute moment: one little boy wanted to take a picture of his parents and he was guiding them on how to pose. he told his papa to put his arms around mama. it was the cutest thing ever. budding photographer i tell ya.

^^ i can watch this guy smile all day. ^^ 

thanks clear meadow farm for a beautiful saturday! we will remember it forever! 

xoxo, 

jane