Sunday Social

1. What is the best trip you’ve ever been on?
I have been on so many amazing trips (34 countries); it is really hard to choose just one. So I’ll just tell you about my most recent trip… I went to Chicago in May and had the best time!! Check out my blog post about it here.

2. What is your best idea for a girls weekend trip?
I have been on girls only trips to New York City and on a cruise to Mexico and Grand Cayman. Oh yeah, and all around Europe, Cambodia, and Thailand, but those weren’t typical girls trips. Although now that I think about it, I would recommend Southeast Asia as a great girls trip destination. Beautiful, lots of good food, and dirt cheap massages! Check out more reasons here and the best places to go here.

Laos, 2012

Oops, just realized the question said weekend trip… In that case, Vegas!

Sin City, 2008

3. What is your best idea for a couples trip?
Italy! I loved it and would love to take a boyfriend/husband there one day. Eat lots of food, drink wine, chill on the beach…

Cinque Terre, 2004

4. What is the best vacation on the cheap?
Southeast Asia!! See above.

5. What is the place you most want to visit?
Peru… Planning a trip there for 2014. 🙂

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Do you play games of luck/chance for money? Have you ever played bingo for money? Visited a casino? Placed a bet on a horse? Bought a lottery ticket?
All of the above! Haven’t played bingo or bought a lottery ticket very many times or in a long time for that matter. Casinos/slots are fun, especially in Vegas! I love betting on horses… I have been to the track in Dallas and Seoul and every year I go to Steeplechase.

Vegas 2008

Lone Star Park 2009

Steeplechase 2010… It’s all about the hats

2. Will you be preparing and/or dining on the traditional corned beef and cabbage meal this St. Patrick’s Day? Mashed, baked, hash browned, french fried… Your favorite way to have potatoes?
No, I will be making bangers and mash and Lucky Charms cupcakes! I like potatoes any kind of way.

3. What’s the last thing you felt ‘green with envy’ over?
Women who are naturally skinny… Not fair!

4. What’s at the end of your rainbow?
A pot of gold obviously… I could really use it.

5. March 12th marks the anniversary of the death of Anne Frank. Anne’s diary detailing her time spent hiding from the Nazis during the war ranks as one of the best-selling books of all time. Besides your blog, do you keep any sort of diary or journal? Was this a habit you developed as a child or is journaling something new for you?
My blog is my journal. As a kid and teenager I did keep diaries though. I have them all in a trunk. It’s hilarious to read through them. I even wrote really bad poetry!

6. What’s an item in your home or closet that contains every color of the rainbow?
I have a rainbow flag that says PACE that I got in Italy. (Pace is my last name but it also means “peace” in Italian.)

7. Write a limerick with you as the subject.
There once was a girl named Jen
She’d been wanting a job since who knows when
Finally she has one
So much shopping to be done
Heck yes, can I get an amen!

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I got a free ARC of Jeanette Walls’ new book in the mail yesterday… Super excited!!

10 Day You Challenge: 6 Places

1. Saluda, NC. My hometown!

2. Bundang, South Korea. Where I lived for two years.

3. Bali, Indonesia. My favorite place in Asia.

4. Italy. My favorite place in Europe.

5. Mexico. My favorite place in North America.

6. On a plane going anywhere and everywhere!

R is for Roatan, Raleigh, & Rome

Roatan, Honduras

I visited Roatan while on a cruise with my mom in February 2012. We took a taxi to the beach where we drank and swam. Couldn’t tell you much more than that! When we got back to the port we had some time before we had to be back on the ship so we ordered a bucket of beers at a restaurant. Mom got a little tipsy and ending up dancing!

Raleigh, NC

As it is the capital of my state, I have visited Raleigh many times. Most recently was May 2011, when I had to go there to get documents apostilled for my Korean visa. My mom and I wandered around downtown while we were waiting.

Rome, Italy

Rome was part of the summer 2004 European backpacking trip. I liked other parts of Italy a lot better (Cinque Terre and Venice). But it was cool to see the Colosseum, Vatican, and Sistine Chapel.

3 on Thursday

Tell us about your 3 favorite vacations,

or any upcoming vacations you have planned.

These are places I have been to and want to visit again!

1. Bali.
I don’t know why I loved this place so much; there are many gorgeous places to visit in Southeast Asia. But I was really enchanted by Bali: the people, beaches, temples, rice terraces. I would love to live there.

me and a curious monkey in Ubud

2. Italy.
I loved Cinque Terre and Venice. Italy is just magical. Wine is cheaper than water! And the food is amazing. I want to go back and visit the Amalfi coast.

gorgeous views while hiking in Cinque Terre

3. Mexico.
Gorgeous beaches, margaritas, Mexican food. If only those drug lords would stop decapitating people than it would be all good. I really want to visit Oaxaca for the Day of the Dead one year.

crystal clear waters in Costa Maya

The Friday 5

1. List your (current) top five favorite food dishes; include photos if you’d like.
These are my top five I like to cook anyway… Top five to eat would get trickier!

• I always make tacos at least once a week. I cook ground pork with spicy taco seasoning, add cheese, my homemade salsa, and sour cream, and throw all the delicious ingredients together in a flour tortilla.
• Spaghetti is the meal I make the most after tacos. My recipe for sauce is here.

• A crowd pleaser is chicken spaghetti. Cook one pound of chicken (on the stove with olive oil) and one pound of spaghetti. Combine in a baking dish with one can cream of chicken soup, one can cream of mushroom soup, and one can of chicken broth. Top with cheddar. Enjoy the fattening deliciousness!

• I have two go-to recipes for parties… pinwheels and Mexican dip. For the pinhweels, combine eight ounces sour cream, eight ounces cream cheese, one cup shredded cheese, and some diced green onions. Spread the mixture over flour tortillas. Roll each tortilla up, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or so. Then unwrap and slice into sections.
• Mexican dip recipe: Spread a can of spicy refried beans on the bottom layer. The next layer is eight ounces of sour cream, then eight ounces of salsa. Top with shredded cheese and diced green onions.

2. List your top five disliked movies of all time and why.
This was a hard one! I usually avoid movies I know I won’t like (action and comic book films).

• The Tree of Life has to be the worst movie of all time. I can’t believe it was nominated for an Oscar this year. It makes no sense and is sooooooooo boring.

• Employee of the Month with Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook. It was just so bad. I had to turn it off after I rented it. Usually I stick it out if I paid money but it was awful! (On a related note, I loved the Dane Cook movie My Best Friend’s Girl.)
• Made of Honor with Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan. Worst chick flick ever.
• Bambi. I never liked it as a kid. And not because it’s sad. Dumbo or Pinocchio either for that matter. I guess I just prefer Disney movies with princesses!

• Shakespeare in Love. Saw it in the theater in high school. Walked out of said theater out of boredom.

3. List your (current) top five favorite TV shows and why.
Hmmmmm I think you might notice a theme here…

• Sons of Anarchy. I am in love with the main character Jax Teller. The show is really exciting, especially the most recent season.

• Dexter. I am also in love with him! 🙂 It’s a very dark, disturbing show and also really thrilling.

• Game of Thrones. I love this medieval fantasy show. It’s hard to describe why I like all these shows. Great plots and characters you grow attached to. P.S. I love Tyrion.

• Homeland. It didn’t sound that interesting to me so I waited awhile to watch it. Then I got so sucked in! The first season is a mystery that you try to figure out while watching; I can’t wait to see what the second season brings! P.S. I love Brody.

• True Blood. Just a fun, campy, Southern, vampire show. My boyfriend always makes fun of it and says it’s just arguing and sex. But I love and it. And… P.S. I love Bill! 🙂

4. List your top five favorite places to visit; include photos if you’d like.
Well, these are my top five so far…

• Bali. Such an amazing place. Beautiful beaches and temples. Read all about it here.
• Italy. Specifically, Cinque Terre and Venice. And the cheap food and wine. I must go back!

• Mexico. Great beaches, ruins, food, beer, margaritas!
• Thailand. Great beaches, temples, islands, and food! Cheap massages too.
• The Grand Canyon. It is simply breathtaking.

5. List your (current) top five favorite songs; include video if you’d like.
Here’s the problem… I don’t listen to music currently. At home I just listen to the radio in my car. In Korea I don’t have a car so… I listen to my iPod only if I’m really, really bored. And all the songs on it are really, really old.

• Lady Gaga’s You and I. This is the most current song I know (and love)!
• Pink’s Sober. I’ve had this on my iPod for years and still listen to it all the way through every time.
• Glee’s Thriller/Heads Will Roll Mashup. I don’t like either of the songs by the original artists but this combo works!
• The Band Perry’s You Lie. The most current country song I know and love (told you I’m behind the times). I like to sing along with a country twang.
• Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time. It’s my karaoke song (duet with Daniel)!