Annapolis!

My, my. This post is way overdue. I don't even exactly remember when this day trip happened - I think it was sometime in late October. Some friends from work and I had been dying to go visit, so we set a day to go explore the tiny harbor town! The weather was absolutely perfect - it was sunny with some cool breeze, and lots of fall colors.

Excuse some of the grainy + underexposed photos. This was my first time trying out the Minolta X-700 with a cheap roll of film I bought. Most of it all turned out fine except Walgreens sort of messed up processing the film a bit so you'll see dark streaks on the photos everywhere.

And here are some iPhone shots:

Also. We finally satisfied all of our crab cake + seafood crave! These are the beautiful people I have the privilege to work with every single day.

So yes, that 45 minute drive is totally worth it. We also caught a glimpse of all the craze for the Navy vs Pittsburgh game that was causing some MAD traffic congestion.

#Plaidride DC

So if you happened to be in DC on Saturday and saw the nerdiest gang of bicycle riders all wearing plaids and beards (many of them fake, of course) blocking the entire east bound Pennsylvania Ave, here's a bit of context. It was my very first group ride and I had the most amazing time ever. It's funny how the whole mob mentality thing completely takes over when you're in a situation like this and all fears are gone as you weave through the zig zaggy streets of DC. I seriously need to stop neglecting my bike and ride more often before it gets too cold.

After about an hour and half of riding, we ended up at this place called Kingman Island for lumberjack games, food, music, etc.




Oh, and lots of bacon eating. Lots and lots of bacon.






Oh, and also, this maple syrup dark chocolate pecan pie was probably one of the best pecan pies I've had. Ugh. I could seriously eat a whole pecan pie by myself every day.


Also, if you're curious, here is me attempting to vine while riding my bike. We took over the capitol!

Meet my new friend, minolta

Got lucky with this impulse buy on Ebay. I bought a used Minolta X-700 body along with 3 different fixed lenses and shot everything in its aperture-priority setting with a Kodak Gold film as a the first test roll. I'd say Walgreens did a pretty good job of processing & scanning the film. Here are a few shots:

"All gave some and some gave all"

Vietnam War veteran Hank Van Laarhoven watches as volunteers help him find each name of all those he served with. Van Laarhoven was one of the squad leaders of the 2nd Battalion 1st Marines during the Vietnam War.

On Saturday, November 9, 2013, Van Laarhoven visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the first time in his life. This was also his first time seeing many of those whom he served with since 1967.
When asked to describe some of his emotions, he solemnly said, "Deep sadness. It's overwhelming. It's not just a single name on the wall...we know too many here. They need to be remembered."
He stayed at the memorial for more than an hour, searching for every single name of those he served with.

Autumn Getaway

I love indulging in autumn, especially when these beautiful hiking hot spots are only 1.5 hours away. Few shots from the top of the mountain w/ the Yashica Mat-124, few weekends ago. Wish I could do this every weekend!

Every time I go on these hiking adventures and try my best to enjoy the nature, I always think of this quote from one of my favorite books, Walden:

On signs of life

Many moons ago, this girl right here received a beautiful succulent as a birthday gift. She nurtured it with love and care - well, who am I kidding. Without knowing absolutely nothing about raising succulents, I basically managed to drown the thing in water and direct sunlight and it eventually withered and died, to my obvious surprise, because I had been informed that succulents are practically indestructible. Then, when I moved to DC, I thought I'd get some nice little companions by my window, so I purchased some orchids at Whole Foods. And that relationship lasted about two healthy weeks as the poor thing was neglected most of the time, left all alone.

So there's a bit of context for my over-appreciation of this healthy succulent who managed to survive for the past three months in my apartment. My tiny, dusty apartment that's strategically placed in a corner where no rays of direct sunlight ever hits. But to my credit, I did some research and asked around to make sure I provided a good enough environment for my succulent to not die. I told it: look, you don't have to enjoy your life here, just stay alive so I won't have to spend another $6.99 at Trader Joe's on what's not a bottle of wine. (yes, TJ's 6-7 dollar bottles of wine are not that bad and that's honestly all I can afford at this point)

But in all seriousness, I love my succulent. I've gotten attached to my little green pet over the past few months as I scrambled daily to adjust to my new life in a new city. I look at it every morning as I open my blinders so it can bathe in some kind of natural light while I'm at work. And every time I see it, I'm sort of bewildered and excited that it's still showing me a healthy and strong green, that it's so plump and beautiful. It's a sign of life and existence that I get to see every single morning -- and as corny and dumb as it sounds, it gives me a sense of hope and encouragement.
I know, it might seem like I'm making a big deal over a succulent for crying out loud, but this is important to me. Ever since I've been here since July, I've been learning a personal lesson on the importance of being alive. What does that even mean? It's something really simple. It was something that I never thought about and took for granted all my life. Yes - it's important to go to work everyday. Yes, it's nice to have adult responsibilities so we can finally say we're feeding ourselves independently. Yes, it's nice to accomplish some work you're proud of. Yes, it's nice to have a title and gain some sort of entitlement through being a part of an organization. But what is all that ultimately for, if we don't feel alive?

What makes us human is not complicated at all. It's rather in the small, simple things. Look, I have my dreams and goals and aspirations, but I wouldn't say they're far more superior than the little things I enjoy in life -- like that smell of coffee in the morning or the genuine laughter you share with someone who understands you or receiving small but incredibly heartwarming gestures or even seeing a succulent thrive all strong and healthy when you feel so miserably weak. At least that's how I appreciate life anyway. I get that we all have different ways of dealing with everything, but this is just my way.

So all that to say: succulent, thanks for being strong for both of us.

Sunday Brunch - 14th St NW

I feel weird talking about splurging on Sunday brunch at some cute place because brunching is just something that I don't really do (I like eating two full meals - both breakfast and lunch, why eat only one meal for both...? don't judge), but we'll talk about it here today because I actually had a great time brunching with some friends few Sundays ago. We hit up a cute little place called Cafe Saint-Ex in 14th street area, and I gifted myself some delicious brisket hash. The best thing about Sunday brunching is that it's so relaxing -- it always feels like that nice little deep breath you take before freaking out about another week starting on Monday. Anyway, we walked around 14th street area of DC afterwards, and whew, glad we managed to enjoy the last warm Sunday of the year properly.