Back into nature

I was in Denver this past weekend visiting with Chris' parents!

I've been to Denver at least 5 times now, but I still feel like I only get glimpses of its supposed beauty.  I think mainly because we used to go in the dead of the winter and the roads are too treacherous for travel.

We've started to visit in the fall and now I get to see a lot of fall foliage, which I'm a very big fan of!
Next year, I will go in the summer and get a proper visit of those Rocky Mountains!

Though we headed up the mountains, we got caught in a random snow storm and suddenly...moving from sunlight to heavy snow and clouds. I still found it breathtakingly beautiful.

Also, yay to being active and yay to Chris' parents for planning an extremely active weekend.  Everyday was an adventure and I had so much fun.  I wasn't ready for today and to be back in the office.

Some pictures that make me smile-

Niagra Falls

We spent a day at Niagra Falls before heading to Sacket's Harbor last week.  I had never been and I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I wasn't disappointed.

Nature is so amazing and the strength of water is unbelievable. Of course, I forgot our passports while we were rushing out the door, so we didn't cross over to the Canadian side, but we still got a good look at a lot of the falls. I had so much fun watching people get drenched by the waterfalls and I was shocked at how brave the first travelers were initiate the process of making the park what it is today -- a place that everyone can enjoy.  On the other hand, I also was thinking about the Native Americans who probably inhabited this area and what their history is around these falls given the name,  Niagra, which is a derivative word from the Iroquoian language, and seems most people agree it means "the Strait".

Just some thoughts as I witnessed the majesty of these water falls.

Until we meet again - ABQ, NM

With the training winding down, I tried to squeeze some sightseeing on the last two days in ABQ.

I met some friends at the training who were nice enough to take me along their trip to Sandia Peak--one of the number one tourist sites at Albuquerque. Sandia means watermelon in Spanish and the peaks turn a beautiful watermelon color at sunset.  We rode a 15 minute tram up the mountain and were greeted by beautiful skies and mountain peaks. 

My last day, I visited the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.  I was really moved by the poems displayed throughout the museum, the love and respect for nature, and the resilience of these people who have really endured an unjust history by the Spaniards, Mexicans, and worst of all the Americans. And the injustice continues. 

A couple of my favorite poems: 

Child of beauty

  Are you ready?

Return my healed heart to earth

Bring with you seeds

  Of a new generation

Begin

Only when it is safe

And plant wisely

I will guard these seeds 

  with my life 

--Veronica Riley, Laguna Pueblo

"Grandfather said, 

'At school things are different. There the white man teaches you his way.

He wraps his feelings up in words and puts them with marks on paper for you to see. 

Here we keep our feelings in our hearts. To know them you must live them.'"

-Sun Journey, Zuni Pueblo 

Also, I learned that in Pueblo culture, people don't say good bye, they always say "Until we meet again". I thought that was really beautiful. 

Some images from the museum: 

These patterns are drawn by those yucca leaves that they used as paint brushes! 

A week in Albuquerque, NM

Hello! I'm in Albuquerque, New Mexico this week attending Stat Camp! Stat Camp is an intense, INTENSE, one week 9am-5pm training on different statistical models and methods. I'm taking the structural equation modeling class, and boy, is it a lot of information at once.  Usually at the end of the day, my brain is fried. 

But! I'm really enjoying my time in the evenings visiting Albuquerque and learning about the city through my many Uber drivers and my AirBnb host.  

1) Albuquerque is beautiful - so much history, few high rise buildings, quiet, and beautiful skies. 

2) Look at all these murals!! I walked around the area of U of NM and snapped these pictures. 

3) The food here is delicious - I'm eating green chilies with everything and also ...wow, sopapilla is such an awesome dessert. 

4) People are so kind here- a restaurant owner gave me a free sopapilla because I had said I never tried one before.  I didn't know people still did nice things like that and I was so heartened by it and grateful. 

5) Old Town, Albuquerque is a preserved area of the city that capture ABQ from its past. It is beautiful, yet somewhat saddening at the same time, as I'm seeing lots of Native American gift stores that looked a little run down or I suppose it felt like hyper capitalization of the culture. 

Some pictures from the first few days, two more days to go and I'm very excited for what I have planned for the rest of the week. 

What happened this May

As you may notice, I'm playing some major catch up in the blog realm.

Instead of my usual, things I can't let go of for the month, I'm doing a month of May activities! 

Some of my May highlights include: 

1) Weekend in Chicago and South Bend Indiana! 

Chris and I spent a weekend in Chicago and South Bend, IN at the beginning of May for Zach's wedding.  (Yes, I went to ND twice in one month - re: my reunion first weekend in June). 

In Chicago, we met with Sun Joo, visited a museum at U of Chicago, went up the Willis Tower (I'm terrified of heights), had dinner at the Publican (delicious) with my cousin Grace and her husband Jason, and had deep dish pizza.  Did you know that if you walk around Chicago---you will smell a scent of dark chocolate?  Chris kept saying it was sewage, but it smelled like dark chocolate cookies to me... haha, and guess what! It was dark chocolate coming from a chocolate factory downtown. 

We then drove to South Bend for a beautiful wedding at the Basilica and a fun, intimate reception in South Dining Hall.  Zach and Crystal are such thoughtful friends, of course, all of the people we met at the wedding were just as thoughtful, kind and devoting their lives to doing good work.  It was also Chris' first time at ND, so that was fun seeing his reactions to my four years living on campus and just how random ND customs seem to an outsider! 

2) Cinespia with Juan and Christian 

We saw North by Northwest, a Hitchcock classic and apparently the beginning of all mystery movies! I love Cinespia and after last year's fun summer movie experience, we made it a point to go again this year.  It was basically Juan's last full weekend in LA before he moves to Washington, DC so I'm glad we got to do something iconic LA together.  Chris and I made kimbap and salad, and brought all sorts of foods to picnic with.  OF course, I forgot blankets in the car so I froze a bit. 

3) We bought a sous vide! 

Is this something all married couples do?  It seems that way....well we took the plunge using a gift card someone gave us and got a sous vide! Here we come, world of sous vides, hahaha

4) Meditation

I've started a class via UCLA called MindFit. It's meditation class twice a week. So far, so good. I find myself joyful during and after meditation and so incredibly restful. It really is a tool that requires practice and a lot of discipline, but the reward seems worth it. 

5) May Gray

It's cloudy and cold here this month, but it hasn't stopped us from visiting the outdoors!  Here we are at Leo Cabrillo hike and Paradise Cove in Malibu with Chloe and Chris.  The day lightened up by the time we got to Paradise Cove as you can see here! 

Do you remember that commercial with the dad from Modern Family throwing fresh smelling laundry into the ocean? It's a laundry detergent commercial...it is filmed here! Do you recognize that beach? 

6) And finally...SOONIE!! the Morning Glory character notebook.

My sunbae unni, Sue, found an old notebook as she was helping a family friend clean out their home, of the Morning Glory character Soonie!  This character's lifeline was about 1 year when I was in middle school in Korea. I bought up all the notebooks, erasers, pencils with her character on them...cause how could I not! She wasn't popular enough though and she was quickly discontinued. Anyway...here it is!  It's cut off a bit in this picture, but Soonie's byline is that she  is generous and loves to take care of animals, hahaha! 

San Luis Obispo

This past weekend Chris and I drove to San Luis Obispo for Kathy and Scott's wedding.

San Luis Obispo or SLO as locals call it is a city right smack in the middle of L.A. and San Francisco. It is a small college town surrounded by vineyards and wineries and not far from Pismo Beach. We drove up early Saturday morning with one of Kathy's friends and had lunch at Firestone Grill - a delicious, casual, BBQ sandwich place that is clearly a local and tourist favorite. The tri-tip beef sandwich is to die for, and it is less than $10. It was amazing, just be sure to ask for extra BBQ sauce. 

We took a stroll around SLO downtown taking in the boutique stores and coffee shops and came across...Bubble Gum Alley!  I don't really understand why this is here, but I had to take pictures and contribute my gum to the wall.  It is literally a wall of chewed gum. Strange and disgusting, right? 

 Main street is very artistic, and I was intrigued by this bench and how you could grow plants on the sides of the seat!

Afterwards we got ready for the wedding and headed to Madonna Inn. Madonna Inn is a huge SLO tourist attraction and a place to stop by if driving through the city for a drink or dinner. It is such a unique place! Let's just say, lots of hot pink, very colorful, and one-of-a-kind experience.

In many ways, I feel it was the perfect place for Kathy and Scott's wedding- it was classy, yet quirky and thoughtful, new and at the same time familiar, and so unique and truly different. Kathy came down that golden stair case, instead of walking down the aisle, which I thought was a great twist.  It's the first wedding we went to after our own, and I'm not going to lie, it was great! being a guest and I definitely felt a deep sense of appreciation for all the thought and detail that goes into hosting a party.

I also got to wear the skirt my mom bought me from Thailand, so double yay!

Congrats to the new couple :)

Sunday morning, we woke up early and headed to Scout Coffee Co. for some delicious tea and a pumpkin muffin. This coffee shop was so adorable and you could tell the owners really cared about the product and people's experience. They control every process of their coffee/tea from growing beans to serving the drinks. We took some early morning photos-- 

 Huge bowls of honey tea with homemade almond milk!

Good morning! There were NO cars on the street, this is what I imagine living in a small city is like. It's nice and quiet, no hustle and bustle.  

 Love the high ceiling and clean look of the coffee shop!

After a quick breakfast we headed to Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort for a dip in their outdoor private hot spring and Swedish Massage therapy! I don't have any pictures of the outdoor private hot springs but it was so much fun being naked outside surrounded by nature in a hot tub. Neither of us had had a Swedish massage before and were both in desperate need for some R&R.  I think it was a great close to a relaxing weekend in SLO! 

As we drove back to LA, we stopped by a very very small town (literally one street with stores/restaurants and two gas stations) for some delicious flatbread pizza at Full of Life Flatbread. We found this restaurant in a NYtimes article and reviews were outstanding. It did not disappoint. 

Before we went to SLO for the weekend, I read many blogs and travel articles about the city and how to make for a good weekend getaway. I wish we had had a chance to ride ATVs on Pismo beach sand dunes- but with Chris' neck condition, we thought massages would be smarter. It was a very relaxing weekend and nice to getaway from LA traffic and noise, and to really see the landscape of Central California. I never get sick of driving along the PCH and looking out into the ocean and I'm thankful for happy excuse to spend time in SLO.