A few of my favorite things.

Some of my favorite things lately:

• Chai Tea Lattes from the Coffee Bean. I can't stop. They're warm, creamy, foamy, spicy, caffeinated...it's everything a fall drink should be. And my new discovery of sprinkling the top with a good layer cinnamon adds to the deliciousness. I almost don't mind that they're over $5 a pop.
  
• Shopping. Another thing I can't stop. I think it's due to 6 months of a steady pay check, and the knowledge that at some point in the near-ish future, I'll be in school, not earning money, but adding money to my already large pile of student loans. I gotta get the shopping in while I can. Today, Joy and I went to Hongdae and each had great success. I bought myself an early Christmas present of the most expensive bag/purse I've ever purchased. I'm not saying how much. I like to think of it as an investment piece. I also bought a long plaid shirt-dress, after months of hesitation about whether or not I wanted to jump on board this new trend. Who woulda thought that plaid would come back in style? And who knew the 90s actually offered a style that could be repeated? I sincerely hope that cargo pants and clunky leather shoes do not follow suit.
• My weekends. This one was filled with a seriously cool lantern festival along the stream that runs through Seoul, yummy Japanese food--complete with Sake--with friends, a sleepover at Joy and Rob's place, and strolling through the Hongdae boutiques with Joy.
  
• And at the top of my current list of favorite things is....FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!!!! Oh my! This show was MADE for me! Kristin started watching it, said I would fall in love with it, and I have. OH I have! I'm making my way through season one, and I'm pretty sure there has not been an episode where I haven't shed several tears, several times during the episode. It's just so....GOOD! I'm a sucker for sports movies as it is, but this is so beyond any sports drama I've ever seen. It came at just the right time, b/c I'm still working on getting through the Sopranos (just started season 6!) and finishing before someone gives the ending away. Anyway, after watching a Sopranos episode last Thursday night where one guy hanged himself, one guy got shot, and one guy spiraled into a serious herione addiction, I decided that I'm much more suited to the Friday Night Lights sort of television, where the worst thing that happens is losing the friday night football game. Or getting a serious football injury that paralyzes you from the waste down, diminishing your dreams to go pro and be the best football player that ever lived. (I know that sounds tragic, but Sopranos tragic and Fright Night Lights tragic just don't compare.) Fortunately, Ali has also fallen in love with this show (less dramatically than I have), despite it's super American-ness. (What's more American than a show based on a highs school football team in Texas?) So we can watch it together rather than momentarily breaking up while I become infatuated with this series.