Fashion is War

That's Doota's new slogan. I visited the newly renovated Doota in Dongdaemun today and was very impressed with the new luxurious feel...not so impressed with some of the new luxurious prices, but it's still an awesome mall. There's a new Coffee Bean on the second floor with an outdoor terrace. Lots of nice stuff. Lots and lots of people, but what did I expect from Dongdaemun on a rainy Saturday?

Today was also a major wakeup call for me -- I don't fit into any of this stuff anymore! Ahhh, the days when I could wear Korean "free size"! I was fawning over some of the cute little dresses and outfits which I used to fit in a little over a year ago. There is no better motivation to lose weight than to walk around Doota and look at the beautiful clothes...not to mention the beautiful people. Of course I can't go on a hardcore diet since I'm breastfeeding, but I can do such things as cut out the daily ice cream I've been eating.

I had gone out today with the intention of getting myself few cheap new T-shirts to wear this summer while I shed the pounds... instead, I got nothing for myself and Grace got a new dress, a skirt, T-shirt, cardigan, and sun hat (all in basement Migliore). My budget is shot, I've got nothing to wear, but I've got one well-dressed baby!

Back on track

This is why it took me so long to write the listening books:

Total pages: 396

Number of listening passages: 540

Number of questions: 828

Number of vocab test questions: 540

But they are finished and I had a great sleep last night, so it's time to get on with life! I'm going today to get my hair cut for the first time in what seems like a millenium and I'm going to hang out in Edae after that until my class at 8:00. I have to write the forward for the books, and I'll bring some knitting with me. And I need new shoes, as my current ones are literally falling apart. It'll be a nice afternoon.

As for knitting, I finally finished the baby kimono I was working on. I decided to use buttons for closure rather than ties. It's really cute, but really small. It will probably only be good for the first couple of weeks. Actually, it'll probably just be a photo-op.

I started working on this really cool folk-arty doilie while finishing up the books.

And the other night I started a really cute ribbed baby sweater.

I'm not even sure about this project. I just want to use up some of the cheap yarn I got when I first started knitting. Depending on how this turns out, it might become a cat blanket for toto rather than a baby blanket. It's kind of scratchy and stiff. But I've heard that this type of yarn softens up a lot after a few washes. Fingers crossed.

So I'm much happier now that knitting is back in my life. I still have lots to do, but it's totally manageable. I'll be starting a new project shortly, a conversation series for pre-schoolers. I'm looking forward to this one because there's more creativity involved, and of course, and it'll be much easier on my brain.

Yesterday was fun. My friend Amira is visiting from Australia with her husband and her 1-year-old son, Noah. Noah's a cute little guy who was totally obsessed with the fan in my apartment! After he left I realized that my fan now makes funny noises when running. Kids... At least it still works. Amira brought me a few baby things, including the cutest little booties with kangaroos on them. Love them!

After hanging out here for a while, we went to Doota, to the kids clothing floor. It's much more pricey there than other places, but it's still fun to look. Noah got a cute outfit for his first birthday party this Saturday. I took a spin through the maternity shops on the same floor and ended up getting a cute long sleeve T-shirt that says "The bun is done." Most of the maternity stuff up there is just way to huge for me. I think I'm going to place an online order soon.

Well, guess I should get moving. It's a beautiful day out there.