tongue & cheek

The Casual Dinner Party

June 29th, 2012 { 1 response }

I want you to have a dinner party.

Part of making a big life change is this sense that while you’re constantly questioning and revising life as you go along, you’re also sure. Sure about where you’re going, what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it. That you took the risk for a reason.

I thought I knew.

Everything she would say would create a wide gaping smile across my face and that slow, strong resolute nod of a head. I was confident, complacently so. And then, I slowly stopped being able to answer the questions. Do I think differently now about the where, what and why? No. But do I think differently about how? Yes. I’ve struggled before at communicating my passion for Design, but now I know I can start at the dinner table.

Soup for the Seoul

April 12th, 2012 { 0 responses }

The fringes of my scarf whip around my head as I pull my collar up around my ears. A cold gust of air presses the edge of my coat against my legs. The bright sky hints at the oncoming season but the chill still seeps into my skin. It’s the kind of day that calls for lingering over a steaming bowl and the rich and spicy pork bone soup for two at Seoul Restaurant fulfills that craving perfectly.

Side Step

March 27th, 2012 { 2 comments }

Soft hills, tall pines, a glassy lake and locals outfitted in faux fur rimmed coats, it’s another world at the top of Vietnam. The winding roads are silent for stretches of time, my presence is hardly acknowledged by people going about their days, and even the few moto-men puttering around barely make an effort to convince me to take a ride. It is serene, it is surreal. Dalat’s reputation as a tourist trap confounds me. The tourist guidebooks push restaurants with Western food, the lake is fake, and the kitsch activities are available everywhere, but the locals seem willing to let me blend into the crowd. I wander more slowly, pause more frequently, and venture a little deeper into the nooks and crannies of the city. I find a surprise in the steps.