👋 Hello everyone!
In just a matter of weeks, I learned that j-hope would be headlining Lollapalooza, I bought tickets for me and some pals, I booked hotel rooms, I booked flights, I learned lyrics in Korean, I planned multiple amazing meals in Chicago, and then… I found out my little black kitty cat has kidney disease, I took her in daily for IV fluids, I cancelled my flights and reservations, I barely slept at night worrying about whether she would eat anything, I moped around the house, I cried, and I basked in the love and support of friends and in the gratitude that we still have some time with her. We hear that we may have weeks, or months, with her in “good health”—so we’re just going to soak it up and give her the best life we can.
We’re reminding ourselves that this is what happens when you commit to loving and owning a pet; when it’s time for them to move on to whatever comes after this life, you have to deal with that loss. Our little black cat (named Little) is a trooper, attempting to eat her renal diet food, rallying energy to pounce a bit on her favorite toys, and taking every opportunity to snuggle up with us. Who knows, maybe she’ll grace us with her presence for many months more! Hug your pets, friends.
What have you been up to lately? I’ve been…
🥑 Eating + Drinking
We like to eat carbs with our carbs. This is tuna jumeokbap (rice balls) and ramen with cheese. I threw some cucumbers in there, you know, for health.
We’ve been on a wrap kick lately. (These are our faves.) I usually add hummus and romaine, and then just a whole lot of whatever we have in the fridge. This one has a leftover chicken tender, leftover steamed broccoli, sliced roasted beets, and leftover comeback sauce from some takeout situation. 😁
I’m also currently obsessed with these whole wheat English muffins. They’re SO delicious. For this lunch, I toasted one and topped it with avocado and kimchi.
If you have an air fryer, do yourself a favor and toss some drained, rinsed, and dried chickpeas (or other bean) with olive oil, spices (these have garam masala, garlic powder, and ras el hanout), and salt, then stick them in the air fryer for a while until they’re crispy.
I’ve been craving a cold noodle soup situation ever since we had mul naengmyeon on our trip to Houston. So I just threw this together, and it was SO good. Cold mentsuyu-ish broth (made with this), soba noodles, cucumber, kimchi, julienned egg white and egg yolk, and a gochigaru sprinkle.
We had lunch at Elizabeth Street recently and loved the spicy green mango and cucumber salad. It’s been a while since we’ve had it!
We pretty much always order tofu spring rolls and tofu banh mi.
We had cherry pie and lemon-lime macarons for dessert, but they just tasted like sugar. 🤨
📺 Watching
Korean Cold Noodle Rhapsody. You will want cold noodles after watching this. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Money Heist Korea. I’ve actually watched four episodes of a show! It’s only taken me like, a month. I’m loving it so far!
j-hope Live at Lollapalooza. How many times is too many times to watch a concert? Asking for a friend. 😬
😂 Laughing
That’s it! Thank you for reading—hit reply and tell me what you’re up to.
--Crystal