MONDAY

I like seeing the world changing just slightly each day in response to the season.

After taking this exact shot 57 times over the past 16 months, how did it just occur to me at this moment that I should take a picture of this view every day for a year? It’s such a good view…and I won’t have it forever.

TUESDAY

Nature is winding down for the winter.

WEDNESDAY

Veteran’s Day so no work. Yay.

THURSDAY

That time it wouldn’t stop raining.

FRIDAY

A favorite candy from my time growing up in Los Angeles. I’m always so excited to find it here in NY (which is rare).

After work I had some gift shopping to do so I went into the little neighboring town to an old school candy shop and my favorite gift shop. Now I smell pretty like the store – sort of spicy autumnal cinnamony. I like it.

I finished up the Workday Wardrobe post then gave myself the rest of the evening off. I started rewatching “One Night in Spring,” which was the first thing i watched with Jung Hae-In. I’m generally not a repeat watcher. Once I know how the story works out I have no desire to watch again. But this? Him? These love stories? I’ll be watching them over and over.

SATURDAY

It was my girlfriend’s birthday so we went to some of her favorite places out east. The cool, blue-skied day was a gift after almost a week of rain.

We stopped at a nice farm stand; she dropped some donation items off at a cute lil pantry…and I learned of the existence of canned potatoes.

Potatoes? In a CAN?? Mind blown. Maybe this is what I’ve been looking for all my life to make perfect (or at least not horrible globs of starchy mush) hash browns.

We saw some weird fish. Had a fabulous lunch on a patio. She knows I NEVER praise EVERYTHING. But I liked EVERYTHING.

It was her birthday so I bought myself a ring 🙂 and some stocking stuffer items for those on my stocking stuffer list. I so rarely go INTO actual stores, I was like a kid in a candy shop, I wanted everything. Ironically, yesterday I was in a candy shop and I feel like I DID buy everything.

We went to a nice little beach way out in sort of the middle of nowhere. It was perfect for a photoshoot with all its different settings. I’ll definitely be going back to do something for real. I’ll share more photos later this week.

There was chocolate and donuts and laughter. It was a good day. Happy Birthday, Friend <3

SUNDAY

Slept until late. My long nights of watching dramas caught up with me and I was in bed last night at 9pm. Caught up on blog work. Looked at the sinkful of dirty dishes. Considered my options. I’ll get back to you on that.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

Okay, this is just me being cruel because I’m sharing something that is not streaming anywhere for free. Not that anyone is watching any k-dramas on my recommendation anyway, but…I just…even if you don’t watch it, I wanted to talk about it.

Another good series with a not-good trailer. The series itself was positively poetic – both visually and…dialogue-ly (!). I literally took notes on the most beautiful phrases. And of course, Jung Hae-In brings all the lovely human feels.

I learned a new term: banbogi. It means “meeting halfway” or meeting at the mid-point. It traditionally refers to families who don’t live near one another, meeting at a mid-point between their villages.

In the series, the two lead characters who were…almost falling in love, but not quite yet…they kept just missing one another and had outside influences pulling them apart. One time the JHI character called the girl to say “let’s banbogi,” and they met on a bridge halfway between their two workplaces just long enough for a “brief and affectionate look” at one another. Literally, like 3 minutes. But they both felt…calmed…after the short meeting and then could go about their day without the anxiety of missing one another. It was such a lovely concept and I can imagine how good it would feel. Sometimes when you have no time, just seeing Your Person for a minute or two is enough.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO

Part of my…uhm…new reality (?) (forgive me, I’m in a weird dimension these days) is a return to music. I go in and out of music phases. When I’m in a grey place, I crave silence. No tv, no music. Silence. Maybe the occasional melancholy song.

I was in that quiet, grey place for a long time. Lately though…I want to be surrounded by music. Emotional music that gives me all the feels, and powerful energetic music. I’ve been listening to a lot of new things, introduced to me through TikTok, and yes, k-dramas. I could (and probably will because my mind is so full of words lately and I have to get them out somewhere) write an entire blog post on music. The power of music.

But today I just want to share a few new songs/artists I’m especially enjoying and listening to a lot. 

Anson Seabra had his heart broken and now shares his lovely, quiet voice and soulful tales on YouTube, TikTok/Instagram at @ansonseabra, and Spotify.

Paul Kim (Kim Tae-hyeong…not to be confused with BTS’s V, Kim Tae-hyeung…just sayin’) is another gentle, lovely voice and piano player who writes his own music. I first heard him when he wrote a song for one of Jung Hae-In’s (how many times can I repeat one person’s name in a single blog post??) movies…and when I googled him I discovered that the two of them did a duet (be still my heart) – above – and JHI also SINGS?? COME ON! This is almost more than one person can bear. You can hear more on YouTube and Spotify.

And last, but certainly not least, is The Truth Untold by BTS. In about a month I’ve gone from “What is a BTS” to BTS-curious to BTS UB-SESSED. I’m still learning about them: their stories, their history, their music. But this might be my favorite song of theirs (so far). It literally squeezes my heart when I listen. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have an “official” video, this one seems to be clips strung together from other videos, so it doesn’t really make sense, but…it’s better for listening to the song than the live concert videos. So. If you just want to hear the song, it’s here.

And that was my week. Full work week ahead but only two days in office.