I say tomAto, he says tomato!

During the afternoons at work, Aaron or I will always message the other asking, "What should we make for dinner tonight?"  Just like clockwork, the same conversation happened this afternoon and Aaron asked what I thought of this recipe for roasted tomato soup!  I obviously had absolutely no hesitation, especially since I'd never had tomato soup!  Yay for firsts!

Aaron got right to work on the tomatoes when he got home (while I visited a car rental place to see if we could rent a car for Aaron's birthday weekend next weekend. Sadly, they said no to me because I'm not Korean. Boooo!)  When I got home, the tomatoes were roasting in the oven...

... and Aaron had 2 glasses of cabernet tempranillo wine poured for each of us to drink while we cooked dinner together!

After pulling the tomatoes out of the oven, we poured them into our lil blender and pureed them for the soup! 

After they were pureed, we poured them into a pan and added thyme and red pepper flakes and let it simmer for 20 minutes while we played with Maverick!

Can you believe this fat cat?  As we were cooking, I looked down and Maverick was laying with his arms literally wrapped around his food bowl waiting for us to fill it for dinner time!  Such a fatty!!

After the soup was finished pureeing, we scooped it into our bowls!  Look at that delicious tomato yuminess!

Tomato soup is never complete without a side of bread to dip it in, right?!  Well, Aaron took it to a whole other level and whipped up gouda and mild cheddar grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it!  

I couldn't have thought of a better meal to cook up for the first snow day of the year!  

***Yep, you heard it right... It snowed today! :)

Getting creative during the freeze!

Korea's winter freeze has definitely set in and the days of hanging out outside after work have quickly fled! With the change in weather has come a change in entertainment around the Osteen abode!  Our shopping in the markets, hiking in the mountains and photo walks around the neighborhood have been replaced by nightly games of Jin Rummy

(which, as you can see, I sometime dominate) ...

... and Christmas movies!  We've begun a new tradition in our first year of marriage, to...

So far, it's been really fun, and who doesn't love having a Christmas movie on while they sit and play cards 

on their heated floor!?

Aaron has an unhealthy obsession with peanut M&M's, probably because they're few and far between in Korea, so when he sees them, he practically squeels!  So, when I found a giant bag of fun size peanut M&M's at our grocery store, I quickly swooped them up, hid them away in my apartment and slip one into Aaron's Christmas stocking once in a while!  I always do it right after he's done something extra nice, like washed all the dishes or cuddled with me during our movie!  Then when he finds the M&M's in his stocking, I tell him, "Oh, Santa must have seen it when you...." :)  He loves it, and sometimes will ask me if Santa saw it when he did something.  LOL

A couple nights ago, the weather had warmed up enough to not have to completely bundle up in 5 layers, so we took a little walk around the neighborhood. I'm going to miss living this close to the harbor.

and then over to dinner at CHAM!  What's new, right?!

Last Sunday afternoon, I met up with Gill and Sam for "Tea for Three" and Gill whipped out this stamped leather pin that says, "I make stuff" and told me that her and Sam found it at a cute little boutique shop in Nampo and had to buy it for me, since "I make stuff" described me to a T!  hahaha.  Now, it sits proudly on my Christmas tree!

So, speaking of making stuff... Aaron and I have been busy in the kitchen, almost every night, cooking dinner together!  This was part of our taco salad that we made on Tuesday night!  We even made tostada bowls by wrapping flour tortillas over our cereal bowls, dusting them with a little oil and baking them for a couple minutes!  To. die. for!

Then, on Monday night, we decided that we're going to send out a Christmas card to family and friends to celebrate our last Christmas in Korea!  So, I decided to make a little banner to hold in our photo!  This is just a little glimpse, but the whole things says, "Merry Christmas" in Korean (메리 크리스마스)!  The best part is that I used an old brown and gold tweed dress that I was going to give away for the triangles, and a nice pair of dark blue jeans that were too big for me for the lettering!  Custom, fun, and free!  Be looking in your mailbox soon!

Last night, A and I met up at a yummy Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, then had coffee at Angel in-us coffee shop, did some shopping in Lotte, and then headed over to DAISO to pick up 2 coffee mugs for a little Christmas date night art project!  We each decided to decorate a Christmas mug for each other!  

As you can see, Maverick was curious as always!

After designing and coloring our mugs with the permanent markers I brought with me from America, we threw them in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, and wala!  Now we've got ourselves 2 custom Christmas mugs, from each other, that we can use and reuse every year!  Can you guess whose is whose?! 

Yep, you guessed right!  Mine is the one that is a bit over decorated!  Can you blame me?  I love this kind of stuff and I only had 1 cup, so I had to take advantage of every square inch!

I'm usually partial to my own designs, lol, but I personally LLLLUUUVVVV Aaron's cup for me!  Simple, classy, and sweet, just like him!

Today is TEST DAY for elementary school's in Busan, so I've got the morning off, but just when I thought it was going to be the best day ever, I was asked to grade the tests!  SAD!  This weekend we're heading to a traditional Korean dance performance with Jestine and Bobby, then over to a Christmas dinner with Gill, Sam and Salome!  Then, Sunday we've got a photo shoot scheduled with Meagan and Dave from Ulsan! Should be a fun weekend full of friends and entertainment, and maybe, just maybe, some snow!!

Wine, Cheese, Photography & Friends!

Last night, Aaron and I met up with seven of our friends at the Go Eun Museum of Photography in Haeundae for a night full of French red wine, delicious cheese, fancy finger foods and photography!  Our friend Juhye took a french class last year and found out about this event, Beaujolais Nouveau, through her old French teacher.  The tickets were 25,000 won and covered unlimited wine and food from 7pm-10pm! We all had the best time, and may or may not have had a couple moments of swankiness while we mingled with artsy French people! :)

Cheers to a fun night with friends, yummy red wine and more cheese than I've eaten in the last 4 years!

Bobby + Jestine

I am so excited to reveal our engagement photo shoot with Bobby and Jestine from a couple weeks ago!  They were so much fun to work with and were complete naturals in front of the camera!  I think my friend Katie Olson said it best when she said, "I'm in love with their love..."  They really are the sweetest!

To: Jill, From: Aunt Barb!

I think it's fair to say that I have one of the most generous aunts out there!  

Today, she struck again, with a surprise package in the mail!  

Look at all that delicious caramel?!  Looks like I'll be making apples dipped in caramel for the next month!  Woot, woot!

MY aunt Barb knows me so well and knows that I love stuff for my feet - it's the ultimate way to relax in my opinion, so she threw in some mint blossom "foot fizzies" and foot scrub, an awesome pink lip gloss (which I immediately applied) and some perfect for wintertime - red nail polish!  I already have my nails painted today, so I grabbed a wooden chopstick and dipped it into my new nail polish and painted a little heart on my left ring fingernail. :)  Why not, right?!

Thank you aunt Barb! You totally made my day, once again! :)