Getting pregnant is now cute!

One of the challenges I faced when I got pregnant was trying to get my clothes to fit as long as I could (yes, I did the rubber band trick) and finding cute pregnancy clothes. It was either Peapod (expensive!) or Motherhood, a cheaper version but fairly standard.  And although Target and Old Navy had some options as well, some of the styles were a little more basic for my liking. Now, I'm seeing more and more retailers like Ann Taylor Loft and now Forever 21 tapping into this 1 billion dollar industry and coming up with maternity wear that's cute, hip and affordable. So go on, get pregnant, and still look cute! Although...there's nothing cute about vomiting, swollen feet and mood swings.  Unfortunately, there's no way to cover that up~

Ready...Set...Eat

I've been getting lazy and frankly too tired to update my blog with pictures of what I've been cooking but trust me, I have been cooking. Since my husband is now a full-time student, we had to cut back on our eating-out and using food out of our pantry..GASP! I usually leave my pantry food for blizzard days. It is satisfying to know what one is capable of making with a can of chickpeas and some spices. Here's a collection of meals that I made and since I only have a minute to scarf down my food before Ethan pulls me away to play, I took them with my iPhone so they're not great quality. Enjoy!

Pulled pork tacos

Braised chicken with gnocchi and mushroom sauce

Fish chickpea curry over rice and naan

Chicken Donburi

Mandu Guk

Full belly

Hi Ann Taylor Loft..when did you become so cute?!

As I was browsing my favorite blogger's pages, I noticed a lot of people posting super cute outfits and all of them were linked to Ann Taylor Loft. Now, I'm not a regular shopper but they've revamped their entire line. The clothes are perfect for that stage where you don't want to look like a tween and you're not ready to go into Talbots, just yet. I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of them...

Kidorable Wear

I hate rain, so anything that makes a rainy day seem a little better, I will buy! And eventhough today is a gorgeous and sunny day, I justified my purchase of this adorable rain coat with the fact that I can never find anything cute for my 19 month old son to wear. This is a painful but true statement. I don't know how many more years of torture I can handle of walking into a store and seeing rows of cute dresses and pink and green outfits and then you find the lonely boy section which consists of the same plaid shirts and khakis. This blog would be a lot more interesting if it was filled with pictures of a cute Asn girl dressed in a pink and green dress, with a white cardigan, white tights, and pink Hello Kitty shoes. Yes, I have thoughts about this!

Korean cooking: quick and yummy

My typical working day is comprised of me getting up, get Ethan ready for his day, go to work, come home, and start cooking dinner for my husband and I while I'm feeding Ethan. And the rest of my week is the sentence before times 4. Then weekends fly by as we try to fit in "family time" and leisurely activities such as grocery shopping, cleaning, and walking Blair (our dog) for more than 5 minutes at a time. This is where Korean food comes to the rescue. It is by far the simplest way to eat. Just about every dish requires these main ingredients: garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, and sugar. But in my case, I usually go to Korean Korner and pick up some pre-seasoned galbi and panchan and voila, dinner in 15 minutes.

Doing the flap...

With mother nature finally coming to her senses and giving us sunshine all of this week, I decided to think about spring and everything that it means to me - cleaning, allergies, Easter, pollen, skirts without tights, Claritin, pastel colors, and did I already mention allergies? One of the trends I want to try is the girly flaps that I've been seeing on a lot of celebrity looks and magazines. Here are a few of my favorite: