Give us our freaking daily bread.

I am currently on a 10-day no-carb diet. See also: Imprisonment. Torture. Death sentence. (All brought to you by my Personal Trainer, aka Satan in a muscle tee.) The saying is true: you don't realize what you have until it's lost. Being Korean doesn't help, because rice and noodles are EVERYWHERE, making it difficult for my parents to understand just why I would impose such a terrible thing on myself. (Of course they don't consider the fact that it was THEY who suggested 8 months of baguettes, wine and cheese weren't *ahem* the best for my physique..)

So here's a last look at you, Carbohydrates. See you in one week (currently on Day 3)! In the meantime, it's meat, dairy and veggies galore. Thrilling.

Independence.

Spent the holiday weekend with my parents by Lake Allatoona, an Army reservoir up I-75 just past Marietta. Didn't do much aside from lazy naps by the lake and taking a short hike through the Allatoona Battle Pass, which was the site of a Civil War battle. (Could it be from anything else in Georgia? I'm so rusty on my Southern history..) We caught some fireworks just down the road above Lake Acworth and spent the night at this cute B&B that came with a Southern breakfast and skittish kittens.












I didn't take any photos of the fireworks because my camera is absolute shite at nighttime shots (or, more likely, I just haven't figured out the right functions). Just take my word for it, it was an awesome display of fireworks, even if I had to be surrounded by rednecks and Republicans to see it.

We also made a pit stop at Piedmont Park on the way home for some lunch grub and a walk in a park, something I haven't done since high school.





Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th as well. God bless America!

Inspiration ...

... where have you been? Here are some of mine from this week. I'm feeling generous :)

A carefree & lovely melody by Esther Audrey Kim:



This really good essay explaining why we travel, published some time ago, but like anything well-written, remains utterly timeless:

"Why We Travel" by Pico Iyer

And art by Dan-ah Kim that I found on I Am KoreAm and is making me itch with wanderlust all over again:




Dan-ah Kim's website

Fourth of July on Sunday. Hope everyone finds a fun way to celebrate our awesome country. Cheers!