Good Bday.. Relaxing Weekend..!

My husband always knows how to make my birthdays special!  And this weekend was twice as special because we found out Thursday night that he made Staff Sergeant!!  So congrats to my hubby, I'm so proud of him.  :)  So for our wonderful reasons to celebrate, I made a cake.. which turned out to be freaking amazing.

I used this yellow cake recipe and then a chocolate cream cheese buttercream frosting.  I think it's safe to say that it's the best yellow cake I've ever had.  I even had a piece for breakfast.  I love being an adult for that very reason, ha ha!

So for my birthday my hubby took me shopping in Itaewon all day on Saturday and I bought some really cute tops and a necklace.  He surprised me with a couple of other things and a really sweet card... and he also told me that I can pick out a keyboard so I have something to practice on after my piano lessons!  Getting to Itaewon in itself was an adventure.. but I won't tell that story, for my husband's sake (your welcome, babe.. hahaaha).  Besides the Koreans breathing down your neck to buy something, and every 5 minutes some man is asking you if you want a custom tailored suit, it was a good time!  We even bought some super awesome sunglasses..

 

Ok, I'm so totally kidding... but those sunglasses are hilarious!  I was hoping to actually see someone walking down the sidewalk with them on, but no such luck.  Instead of riding the subway back to Osan... because I had definitely had enough of the subway for one day... we hopped on the bus at Yongsan Army Post.  When we got back to Songtan we decided to take a chance and finally go out for some Korean food (for the first time since we've been here!).  I think the restaurant was called Nobloo?  Maybe.. I'm not really sure.  It was actually really good!  Don't ask me what we ate, because I have no idea.  Coleman called it 'beef on a leaf'... which pretty much sums it up.  It was like a lettuce wrap... beef, kimchi, onion, some sauce... yum yum.. 

Sunday we had a super relaxing day... it was gorgeous outside so we went to the pool, and then we hung out and watched movies all day and ordered in some pizza.  Now that is my kind of weekend!  Had to get all my relaxing in because I have a feeling this week is going to be crazy.  Time to start looking for some flights back to the states so I can be there for when TMO comes to pack up our stuff... FINALLY............

Orangeade

So this past weekend Coleman and I went out to eat at an Italian place called Pasta Vino.. and it was SO good.  I ordered the linguine alfredo with a lemonade and Coleman ordered the chicken linguine alfredo with an orangeade.  I've never had orangeade before, but it was delicious.  It was just like lemonade, except with oranges.. obviously.  They made it right in front of us (yes, they squeezed the oranges and everything!) so I kind of got the idea of how to make it so I could try it at home.  It's delicious and refreshing and perfectly orangey.

 You will need:

• 6 Oranges
• 3 Lemons (or limes, either will work)
• 1/2 cup Sugar Syrup
• Sprite/Soda Water/7up

For this I made a simple syrup, or sugar syrup, kind of  like I made for the fresh-squeezed lemonade.  So you can go take a look at that if you don't know how to make it.

 Then squeeze the juice from 6 oranges (should be about 1 3/4 cup) and squeeze the juice from 3 lemons (should be about 1/2 cup).  Mix together in a pitcher with 1/2 cup of the sugar syrup and top it off with sprite... or soda water, whichever you choose.  You can add some water if it's too tart.  You can always alter to ingredients to your taste!  Add some ice, and you're set to serve!

 It makes about 1 liter of orangeade.  And I put it in my new, cute little Korean pitcher... awww..

Weekend at the Zoo & Learning Korean..

So I've took it upon myself to start learning Korean.  I'm going to try to teach myself, and I think with the right materials it will be pretty easy to do.  When Coleman and I went to Home Plus a few days ago (another place that's kind of like a Wal-Mart), we bought some giant magnetic Korean letters and this weekend we're going with some friends into Seoul to get some workbooks and things.  I think I have the alphabet down.. so that's a start!  Knowing some Korean will definitely make life a little easier around here.  At Home Plus we also got this adorable water pitcher -- I'm going to try to make some orangeade tonight, so I'm excited to use the pitcher haha.  When Coleman and I went out to eat last weekend at Pasta Vino, he ordered some orangeade and it was absolutely amazing.  So I'm going to try to recreate it.. yum.

 This last weekend we also went to the zoo in Seoul.  It was only about an hour train ride and the zoo was absolutely huge.  I'm pretty sure my feet and ankles were swollen at the end of the day from all that walking.  I think it's time for me to invest in some new walking shoes... pumas, maybe?  My birthday is coming up.. sooo.  :)  The trip to the zoo was quite the adventure.  And it's kind of hard to ride the subway when you don't read Korean.. there was an old man on the train who was trying to help us, but of course he didn't speak English.  But he was really sweet anyways.  It was so hot out that day (let me tell you, Korean heat is the worst heat EVER) so I was fanning myself with my hand.  Well the old man was carrying this huge fan and so he started fanning me with it... hahahaha.  Now I know why they carry those things.. I need to get one.. heat & humidity is horrible here. 

I still haven't had any Korean food yet.  I don't know how that's possible, but I haven't.  I've had Japanese, American, Italian... but no Korean!  What the heck!  Maybe we'll have some this weekend when we go into Seoul.

The next couple months are going to be busy.  My birthday is this month, but I'm not sure what we're going to do for it.  I'm sure we'll think of something.. there's tons to do around here, and so much to explore.  I definitely want to go to Itaewon to go shopping, and take a tour of the DMZ too.  Maybe that's what we'll do.. :)  Or maybe I'll get new pumas.. or a kindle.. orrrrr.. who knows.  But I do know that I want to make a birthday cake... I'm thinking this one, yes?  I don't think Coleman will object.  And then September 1st we leave to go back to the states for a month.  I'll get to finish up some things for the wedding, and we will renew our vows on September 25th!  I CAN'T WAIT!!  There are so many awesome wedding websites that have been giving me such awesome ideas (TheKnot, WeddingWire, StyleMePretty, ProjectWedding are some of my favorites).

Ok, well I'm going to go create a recipe for some orangeade.  And maybe watch a little CSI, since that's the only TV show they show here that's in English.  Ugh.