Typhoon Week!

Seoul has been under heavy rain this week with the typhoons, Bolaven and Tembin, moving through the peninsula, and I thought it would be appropriate to do a typhoon week fashion post.

I work as an English teacher in a nearby Hagwon (private school), and I like to keep my dress casual and functional during the work week. I work primarily with younger kids, so I have to be ready to rock and roll, picking up 5-year-olds, wiping noses, and tending to scraped knees, but I like to do my best to keep my school outfits interesting and fun.

Here is a look at today's outfit, which consists of dark washed skinny jeans, a loose red and white striped top, denim jacket, and rain boots. Since I live in Korea, and my feet are too big for Korean sizes (I wear anywhere from a 9 to a 10 US), I had to get my rain boots online, and I got an amazing deal on these all-black matte finished Kamik rain boots. My rain boots are 100% waterproof, and I LOVE THEM! I feel invincible. I jump in puddles and even teach my kindergarten age students in them.

I am a sucker for accessories, and any chance I get to add any to my outfits, I jump at it. Today's outfit was made complete with my favorite bubble umbrella, messenger bag, thick frame glasses, and Texas necklace. I also have a love affair with nail polish, and I own an obscene amount that I love to play with to brighten my day. Today, I did a spin on the ombre trend that I have been seeing everywhere. I chose to add a bright gold glitter at the tip rather than simply a darker color; a tutorial on how to achieve the look is in the works.

I have managed to stay fairly dry, but time will test that trend with Tembin approaching tomorrow morning! I may have to step up my rain gear to a more heavy duty approach, but I am hoping that my umbrella, specs, and rain boots will do the job.

Umbrella : Totes- Adult Clear Bubble Umbrella from Amazon $21.00
Rain Boots : Kamik Jennifer Rain Boot from Amazon $59.00
Denim Jacket : Denim Jacket from American Eagle $50.00
Top : Billabong, similar top here at the Top Shop
Messenger Bag : Fossil Two-Tone Outlet bag is no longer sold by Fossil, but they have similar styles at www.fossil.com

Texas Necklace : This necklace is one of my favorite purchases! I am a proud Texan and it helps alleviate homesickness. I originally bought the necklace from modcloth, but it is currently sold out. You can find a similar necklace here on Etsy.

Breakfast : Asian Pear Honey Oatmeal

I love breakfast. 

Hands down, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and I love to keep switching up what I start my day with.  If you haven't had Asian pears, then prepare to have your mind blown! I usually HATE pears....the texture...the taste, bleh. However, when I moved to Seoul, I saw the enormous fruit that is an Asian pear and decided to give it a whirl.....DELICIOUS. I love the crisp, light, clean flavor and the satisfying crunch you get when biting into a piece of that pear.

Here is a favorite way of mine for spicing up oatmeal with Asian pear!

Asian Pear Honey Oatmeal

Ingredients:
 1/2 cup of quick oats
 1 Tbsp Honey
 1/4 cup of Asian Pear

Makes 1 serving

I chop up my Asian pear before I get my oatmeal going because I like to have a delicious piping hot bowl of oatmeal, and I find that sometimes I take too long to cut it and my oatmeal gets gummy. I like to cut the Asian pear in half and then in fourths, from here I slice them into matchsticks.

My husband and I love to make this breakfast when we have a lazy Sunday together; you can see him helping with the slice and dice action.

 Next make your oatmeal as directed from the instructions on the container. I really love using Quaker Oats Quick 1 minute oats, but you can use any quick oats that you prefer.
Serve up the oatmeal, top with pear, and finally drizzle the honey over the top. Stand back, admire your work, and eat up!

I hope you enjoy this healthy and filling breakfast, which will be sure to keep you going until lunchtime!

Nutrition
Fat: 8g
Fiber: 9g
Carbs: 59g
Protein: 4g

  
Weight Watchers points +: 8 for 1 serving

Things I love : Luxy Hair

When it comes to beautiful hair and lovely tutorials that make me spend the day locked in the bathroom armed with rubber bands and bobby pins, Luxy Hair takes the cake! Here is a great video on how to get a versatile and eye-catching layered twist braid.

Luxy Hair is the product of two creative and lovely sisters, Mimi and Leyla, with a passion for hair. Dissatisfied with the price and availability of quality hair extensions, the sisters set out to create quality products for a growing audience of hair lovers everywhere.

Visit Luxy Hair's website here and their amazing youtube channel packed full of tutorials here.

Banana Blast Smoothie

I am a fairly healthy person, and something of a fitness junkie, but I love food. So, when I started being health conscious I refused to sacrifice taste and variety. One of my limitations concerning smoothies and cooking is that I am lactose intolerant and for the most part most of my smoothies consist of a soy milk base. In search of the perfect smoothie, I started playing around with different smoothie combinations and came across a classic and simple recipe for an amazing banana smoothie.

Ingredients

2 frozen bananas (I usually just grab a couple of bananas that are very close to being too mushy and brown, peel, and freeze them)

1 cup of soy milk

1 tbs of honey

This particular smoothie is a snap to make. Simply put bananas, soy milk, and honey in your blender and mix for about a minute on the puree setting. Within 60 seconds you will have an amazing and nutritious breakfast that will keep you going all morning!

Nutrition
Fat: 4g
Fiber: 7g
Carbs:40
Sugar: 23g
Protein: 11g

Weight Watchers points +: 5 pts for 1 serving

Tip: If you find that your bananas are to much for your blender to handle when frozen, just make sure to let the bananas thaw for a few minutes before using them. The more frozen your bananas are the creamier your smoothie will be.

New Inventory

Here a few of our newest listings in the shop. I absolutely love our newest items and I am super excited to share them with all of you. We will be refreshing and revamping the store in a few days and this is just a sneak peak of what is in store.

GUAM

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went on an amazing adventure in Guam for our first vacation together since moving to Seoul. We had such a great time that we did not want to come back to Seoul and extended our vacation time by an extra day(so worth it)!

The vacation got off to a great start when we were bumped to the second floor of the 747 and into what I liked to call, mega-first-class. We had an enjoyable time and then Rich checked us into our traveler's club where he found a free Asahi beer vending machine. He was a happy camper during that 7 hour layover.

              We bumped around the airport in Japan and loaded up on beer, food, and trinkets!

When we got to Guam, Rich and I both lost our minds and ran around on the first patch of beach we came across!

After we finally regrouped, Rich and I made a dash for a beach we heard was amazing and had a blast doing some night swimming and diving.

After that first night the trip just snowballed into a nonstop beach party, and here are some shots of the highlights.

My husband and I had the good fortune to have 6 unbelievable days exploring the island, diving, boating, eating everything that crossed our path, swimming, hiking, and sunbathing. We were met with friendly people and beautiful weather and we are urging everyone to consider Guam as a must-see destination.

We are back in Seoul now, and we are very glad to be home, but we sure do miss the beaches, food, and general island feel of Guam. We cannot wait to go back!

Summer Skin Care

I just got back from an AMAZING vacation to Guam (photos to follow) and while I am one of the lucky ones who does not sunburn easily, I have friends and a husband who have to tread carefully around the sun. After having a few friends start to complain about sunburns in the recent summer months I went looking for a way to help them out and came across The Beauty Department's amazing tutorial on how to treat a sunburn.
If you are suffering from a sunburn, I urge you to give this DIY a try. It is an easy and affordable way to relieve the discomfort of a sunburn.
Instructions are from The Beauty Department and are not my own!

"Let’s start this post off by saying you should always try and avoid being in the sun without proper protection in the first place. See HERE. But sometimes you just can’t plan for it and you can unexpectedly find your skin baked beyond belief-especially if there’s an overcast. One of the girls in our office turned a nice shade of lobster over 4th of July. I remembered something we used to do as kids when we’d get burned and I must admit– out of all of the home remedies I’ve ever tried, this one has been the most consistently relieving. It takes away an incredible amount of the stinging pain that comes with a burn and here’s how it’s done:

1. Tea bags aren’t very big, so you can’t cover a lot of sunburned skin with individual bags. Take 8-12 BLACK TEA bags (I’ve used Earl Grey and plain black and both have worked well), cut the strings in the middle + tie them all together.
2. Soak them in black tea concentrate. (Concentrate: add 6-8 tea bags in 1 cup of boiling hot water and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Pour this concentrate into a jar and let it cool to about lukewarm and then add your tied tea bags to the jar. Let those sit for another 2-3 minutes.)
3. Fan the tea bags out on your shoulders, face, back, wherever it stings the most. Personally, I prefer that the tea bags not  be hot or cold but room temp to lukewarm.
4. If you’re skin is extra sensitive from the burn (you may want to check in with your doctor), put the tea bags in a soft t-shirt that you’re willing to ruin. Dip the t-shirt in the concentrate.
   

Leave the tea bags/t-shirt on the skin until you feel it has soaked up the majority of the moisture from the bags/t-shirt. Do these compresses over and over until the pain dissipates (typically 5-10 compresses will do the trick) and take an aspirin to keep inflammation down."
 The Beauty Department

New Inventory

We were recently on vacation in Guam, but we are finally back and here are a few items from the latest inventory refresher!

I hope you visit Seoul Sold on Etsy and take a look at everything in the store! I am very happy with the latest items that I found in my adventures in Seoul and I hope that everyone loves them just as much as I do!