I have fantastic friends.

How does a girl get so lucky to have the most fantastic friends?  I will never understand, though I'm certainly not upset about it :)

Friday night, six of us met for shabu shabu in the Gwangj. A great meal continued well into the night at our favorite noraebong (Yes, three weeks in a row!  I can't get enough!) for Throwback Night - we made a rule that no one could sing any songs that had been released since 2000.  Let's just say, awesomeness ensued.  We paid for two hours but, since we were literally the only people in the joint, they kept tacking on extra time.  Three and a half hours later (and a long nap for Miss Desiree :) ), we strutted all the way home with sweet old school Mariah Carey melodies floating through our heads.  Awesome night with some of my faves.

Saturday, we ventured to a flea market in Seoul with Dionne and Scott.  Sunny and I learned that we are not flea market enthusiasts (although I think it was no surprise to him - he's such a good sport!), but the people watching was top notch.  As Scott went on a treasure hunt (PS - people know him there - like on a hugging, long lost friends basis - sooo cool to see him and Dionne interact with people there!) and Dionne talked to a random Korean man about the bad direction he thinks Korea is headed, Sunny and I saw (but didn't have the stones to take pictures of) a child with a mullet, an old man with lavender hair and countless obnoxious flea market items that no one would ever buy - or would they?  Ohhh flea markets.  We continued on to dinner in the same neighborhood as last week - more delicious Uzbek food.  Scott was so enthralled to listen as Sunny ordered our food in Russian.  A delightful marathon of a meal ensued (I'm talking a few hours of great conversation and so much food that we had to stack the plates soon after we finished parts of the meal to make room for more) and before long, it was dark outside.

After we parted from Dionne and Scott, Sunny and I headed to an open air market. Of all the markets I've encountered in Seoul, this one is my favorite so far - maybe because it was food focused :)  There were the usual traditional market shops selling kitchen wares, socks, etc., but then in the middle were little makeshift restaurants serving street food and booze.  Awesome.  After scoping out the situation, Sunny was (quite literally) dragged into a tiny establishment by a woman who I thought knew him based on the way she manhandled him.  It turns out that's how she gets people into her restaurant.  Whatever - she was delightful.  Anyway - the market was so fun - a loud, obnoxious, totally Korean environment.  I loved every minute of it - even watching three drunk old men raucously consume raw beef.  Fantastic.

Sunday, I woke up to the most delightful surprise:  my pal Ashley got married Saturday and I was pretty bummed about missing it.  But, thanks to some real clever pals at home (Andrea - you don't even understand how much this made. my. day!!), I did, in fact, attend the wedding.  See the above photos and connect the dots - I cried a little when I saw those pictures!

Later in the afternoon, Diane, Desiree and I went to a really cute neighborhood in Seongnam for a late lunch of fantastic Mexican food.  I forget how much I love Mexican food.  YUM.  And, punctuated with delicious margaritas, how could a girl go wrong?  Amazing.  (This was also the scene of a fun fall photoshoot...  I LOVE my new camera, in case you couldn't tell :) )

Last night, the Husteds, Diane, Desiree and I went to the infamous Chinese restaurant.  There were too many of us to eat in the restaurant proper, so the woman in charge led us to the back room.  Hotdamn!  We ordered sooo much food and ate every morsel.  And, let me just tell you, this food is what dreams are made of - seriously.  I'm not exaggerating.  Not even a little.  Several food babies later, we got pumpkin cheesecake ice cream from Baskin Robbins.  How could that taste good?

So - after a food marathon of a weekend (actually, let's just be honest here - my Korean lifestyle tends to become a food marathon...), I am counting my blessings.  I am one lucky lady to call so many amazing people friends.  One lucky lady, indeed :)