Winter essentials

A bit of a boring post, but this is what I look like 85% of the time these days. I lived in New York for 5 years without a real substantial coat. I've owned coats and parkas before obviously, but they weren't sufficient for the freezing winters here and often times I'd sacrifice staying warm to looking good. Well, SCREW THAT, especially since I now have a dog who loves his long walks! I invested in a great Moncler and I live in this thing pretty much, it's ridiculously warm. The boots I also purchased this season and they are major heavy duty!

But no matter how miserable slushy sidewalks are or how bitterly cold the wind is, I prefer this to melting in the summertime! I may be the only one who thinks this..

Coat - Moncler
Scarf - Zara

Jeans - Citizens of Humanity
Boots - Miu Miu

I had to include this gratuitous photo of Ezzie. This was last week after we went hiking by my parents' house and he was sleeping in a bed that he's clearly outgrown and with his tennis ball that he protects with his dear life, haha.

That coat

Coat - Elfee by Jindo

Dress - Helmut Lang
Shoes - Alexander Wang

There has been a major lack of outfit photos since I haven't really put effort into getting dressed these days. It's too freaking cold that I kind of just wear the same thing because I want to be warm and comfortable. I'm looking forward to slightly warmer weather (still not a fan of summer) so I can wear open toed shoes and dresses without tights!

Wearing the coat that I posted previously and a new pair of shoes I've fallen in love with. Actually I love the entire Alexander Wang shoe collection but especially these Noemi's that I got in Hong Kong from Lane Crawford. I think I'd like to get my hands on a pair of nude Kasia's next, they're gorgeous!

Three things

1. A gorgeous leopard printed fur coat by Elfee. I don't know what type of animal this is, the Korean sales lady didn't know the English name for it but it's in the feline family. My friend called it my house cat coat..awful.

2. Van Cleef & Arpels vintage alhambra earclips. Totally classic.

3. Chanel earrings. There was a variation of these that I saw in Korea but waited until we got to Hong Kong to buy them. Unfortunately they were completely sold out in HK and when I got back to Korea they were all gone too! Came back to New York and got this pair, which aren't as beautiful as the other pair, but still gorgeous.

Quinoa stir-fry

I was never one to make resolutions, I'm REALLY bad at keeping them so I stopped making them. Once 2011 hit and I was in Korea, there was a moment when I caught myself gorging on total junk I made the decision that it was time to get back to eating better foods. My diet was total shit for quite a while and I couldn't even remember the last time I had a healthy home cooked meal, something I used to do by making large quantities and keep in the fridge to keep me going during the week.

When I was a kid my diet consisted of about four different items: pasta with tomato sauce, chicken fingers, ice-cream, rice. I was probably the pickiest person ever and my parents indulged me in this bad habit (tsk, tsk!) so it took me a very long time to appreciate things like a zucchini. I still don't like vegetables very much but if I eat them they need to be prepared a certain way and with certain flavors. I found this quinoa recipe on Epicurious and adjusted it a bit to make it better (by adding more veggies, who woulda thunk!) and it's become a staple for lunch or dinner. I tried quinoa last year and my first impression didn't go over very well, I thought it tasted awful but that's probably because I ate it plain as a side with my chicken. Now that I've mixed it with other ingredients it's soooo good and I can't get enough!

Uncooked quinoa

After it's cooked little springs are released from the grains.

One of my favorite veggies, I try to add mushrooms to everything.

I sautee the onions and garlic first and then add the rest of the veggies after.

Add red bell pepper.

I like the texture of shredded chicken so I cook it in a separate pan, cool, and add it to the quinoa and vegetables.

Original recipe from Self magazine and my version:
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 small carrots, julienned
- 1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 zucchini, halved and sliced
- 1 cup snow peas, trimmed
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 4 ounces chicken breast, shredded
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Enjoy!

Hong Kong

This was my second time visiting Hong Kong, my first time was about 15 years ago so I didn't remember much. Since designer items in Korea are insanely expensive, the trip to HK was sort of our time to go shopping :) The city was a lot more diverse than I expected and one major convenience was that almost everyone spoke English so communicating was easy. I was really looking forward to eating some great Cantonese food but only one experience was memorable, we seemed to have bad luck with the restaurants which was really disappointing but at least I got to find one of my favorite dishes, xiaolongbao! Mm mm, soupy goodness.

I'll slowly but surely be posting my purchases, there are some things that I'm REALLY excited about so stay tuned! Also, a big thank you to everyone who left a comment with recommendations in both Seoul and Hong Kong, I definitely followed some of your advice and it resulted in a fantastic trip!