Saturday, March 26, 2011

Greek Independence day & First OOTD!

Greece celebrated its National Day yesterday (March 25) to commemorate the war of independence by the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire. The National Day is also a religious holiday for Greek Orthodox Christians observing the Annunciation of the Theotokos.

Many Greeks go out to watch the parade, and enjoy their day off in a taverna, with good company.

So, with good company, we had a beautiful seafood lunch at Almyrida.

We had a great afternoon with mouthwatering food.
Kalamari, Fried Mushroom/Zucchini/Eggplant, Salad, Grilled jumbo shrimps, Squid, Octapus, and fried potatoes.
It's tough NOT gaining weight in Greece!!


So now, on to my Outfit Of The Day:

Among many gifts that I received on my b-day, I got a cute shirt from BENETTON which I had to return, but exchanged them for 2 items that I LOOVE!


Love love love this! It can be worn as a shirt, or a dress!

Makeup and F21 ring


F21 ring and Tiffany&co. necklace. I love the zipper detailing of the shirt!

Paired it with a brown belt, dark jeans, and some black ankle boots.


What a lovely afternoon.

Hope you enjoyed this post :)
Have a good weekend everyone!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Spring/Summer 2011

Spring/Summer is *almost* here!!!!!!!!
I've put a couple of looks together for you guys, I'm loving the soft pinks right now! Enjoy :)



Pink Lunch with the Gals
Yves Saint Laurent, Victoria's Secret, Pour La Victoire
http://jooyeonjen.blogspot.com

Monday, March 21, 2011

Vintage Chanel Giveaway

HOOOLLLLYY CRAP

Was just on bloglovin'..... and found this so I had to share!

VINTAGE CHANEL GIVEAWAY
Check out Diana Kang's blog to enter!
560 entries and going...but who knows? You might end up sporting a pink vintage Chanel just in time for spring!


Sunday Movie

Today was the perfect Sunday.

We woke up to the sweet sound of raindrops this morning and we both knew we weren't going anywhere today. My man loves his rainy days because that is a sign that it is still "winter". (We work many, many hours in the summer. He works every day in the winter too, but not as physically demanding as the summer.)

So, we love to stay in our PJ's and cuddle on the couch on rainy Sundays.




We watched a movie on TV that we both haven't seen in a while- "Click". I had forgotten what the movie was about, but was intrigued and decided to see it after my man commented that the movie reminds him of his life.

It is a story of a workaholic architect who has a lovely family, but often neglects them due to work. One day he gets a universal remote control that can control all aspects of life, letting him pause, fast-forward, and skip chapters of his life. Eventually he skips through so many aspects of his life that he loses all of the important memories. He then realizes life's true meaning: enjoying life with his loved ones.

Throughout the movie, we both cried a few times. The movie illustrates so powerfully what many people go through on a daily basis. Living life on a fast-forward and not really paying attention to our family members. Mainly because they are "always around".

But what if they are no longer around one day?

I had to ask myself:
How many times have my mother asked me to do something but I replied in an annoyed way? Or not even bothering to answer? How many times I've said hurtful things to my brother, just because I was angry at the time?



That movie made me so sad in how I may have affected my loved ones, but also a good slap-in-the-face towards reminding myself of my actions in the future.


So, now I ask you:

*How have you acted towards your loved ones in the past, and how do you feel about it now?
*What would you do to change it?
*What if you had a universal remote that could control your life? What would you do?


Friday, March 18, 2011

Yeah... CRETE!

Planning your next VAY-CAY?

Come check out  Crete!


I stumbled upon this video again today, after discovering it last year.
What a beautiful video of the wonderful island I live in! :)
The story is fantastic also.

It is one of many videos that uplifts me, and reminds me of how I met my hunky Greek boyfriend. ;)
It brings me all of the sounds, smells, and memories of my first trip to Greece.
Now I live here!!
It makes me feel so thankful for the new life that I've begun here.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

TOGETHER WE CAN HELP JAPAN!


Hour after hour, we are exposed to more footages of Japan.
It's truly heartbreaking.
How and what can we do to help them?

There are many organizations setting up to help Japan, such as the Salvation Army, Red Cross International, and Samaritan's Purse , but I think the best way is to send our donations to Japan directly (via Japanese Red Cross) , so they can help their people without delay.



Visit the website to make a donation.

We may have to cut back on the weekly coffee, eating out,
 ( __ fill in the blank __ ), but what is that compared to the lives we are going to save with the donation?

Their lives are as precious as ours, and they are in desperate need of our help.
Please find the compassion in you to donate.

Let's pray for them to be united with their families, to be healthy, and eventually get back on their feet again.


Get some info here on Google Crisis Response.



Monday, March 14, 2011

World ending in 2012?

What are your thoughts on the Mayan prediction of 2012?

I've been thinking about this for a while, ever since watching a show in Canada back in December.
They showed a special of Nostradamus and his predictions on the World Wars, Hitler, World ending..etc.

If you take a look at what's been happening ever since 9/11, we have been getting some crazy natural disasters.
Hurricane Katrina, Earthquake in Chile, Haiti, etc (As noted in my previous post) and just yesterday in Japan.

So I went on google, hoping to find a list of natural disasters in the last couple of years, and I found this on Jesusblog.

 A Recap of the disasters which occurred within just 12 days of January 2011:
  • Earthquake magnitude 6.9 Argentina-January 1
  • Earthquake magnitude 5.2 - Southern XinJiang, China-January 1
  • Earthquake 7.1 magnitude Chile-January 2
  • More Than 1,000 Dead Birds Fall From Sky in Arkansas-January 2
  • Dead fish cover 20-mile section of Arkansas River-January 2
  • Uganda yellow fever outbreak kills more than 40-January 3
  • Earthquake Near Japan Triggers Tsunami Warning-January 3
  • Powerful earthquake hits south-east Iran-January 3
  • Earthquake 7.0 magnitude hits northern Argentina-January 3
  • Hundreds of dead blackbirds found in Louisiana-January 3
  • 10,000s of Birds found dead in Manitoba-January 3
  • Thousands of Birds fall from the sky in South America-January 3
  • Major Flood in Rockhampto,Australia-January 3
  • Dead Birds Found In Kentucky-January 4
  • 100 tons of dead fish wash up on Brazil's shores-January 4
  • Hundreds of dead birds found in East Texas-January 5
  • Dead birds in Sweden, millions of dead fish in Maryland, Brazil and New Zealand-January 5
  • Shift of Earth's magnetic north pole affects Tampa airport-January 5
  • 40,000 crabs found dead on England beaches-January 6
  • Heavy floods leave at least 35 dead in Brazil-January 6
  • Earthquake 4.5 magnitude in California-January 12
  • Huge Waves Destroy Homes in E. Indonesia-January 12

USA lost many lives on 9-11-01 and now Japan has lost more lives on 3-10-11.
Add the 2 dates together and you get ''12-21-12''

So, What does this mean?

Recently, the leaders of Egypt and Libya made the news and we got some insight on their power and greed when their countrymen are dying of starvation.

Are our negative actions somehow connected to these natural disasters?

Do you think the world will come to an end in 2012?
Share with us your thoughts.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Tsunami in Japan

"JEN COME WATCH THE NEWS, JAPAN HAD AN EARTHQUAKE AND EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!"

I bolted out of bed this morning, in complete shock.

After watching the news for about a minute, I dialed my mother as fast as I could, with tears streaming down my face. My immediate thought was, 'What about my family in Korea??'

Even after learning that Korea has not been affected, I was still astonished at what went on in Japan.

This tsunami was created by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded. As I watched cars, houses, and buildings being swept by a vast wall of water, I couldn't help but to think that we are such small part of this universe , and that everything can be taken away in a matter of -seconds!


Images from BBC news



 
How silly of us to fret over small things- when there are tragedies happening all around us.

We were in class today, and as if the book knew about what happend, we were reading a story of volunteer work, and were asked if we would go to a third-world country to serve without getting paid.

Each classmate told their reasoning, but one replied that she liked her luxury and needed to be comfortable and have all her things at hand, and that's why she wouldn't volunteer.
I can sort of understand what she was saying (each to his or her opinion), but on the other hand, I found that inhumane.

I would hope that the majority of the world do not think like that. I would hope that most of us feel compassion and feel the need to reach out to those in need, to get their hands dirty to help another human being.

Imagine that this happend in your home country- home town even, and your family lost everything.
How would you feel? What would you do?
I feel deeply anguished today.


Look around us, in the past year, with earthquakes in Argentina (6.9) , Chile (8.8), Haiti (7.0), Flood in Brazil, volcano eruption in Iceland.... So many things have been happening with little gap inbetween, and I feel like the nature is trying to tell us something.

Instead of focusing our energy in negative thoughts, gossips, and comments, lets all try to do something GOOD in the world.
Let's go out and give a hand to the next door neighbour, let's donate a little bit of our money to the red cross/unicef/whatever cause you support, let's recycle........ Let's take an action to save our planet!

Let's make a difference in this world!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

DIY Costumes

Whether it be Halloween, Carnival, or a costume party-
Every year, each of us go through ideas of what we should dress up as, and often times end up spending a lot of money on last-minute costumes.

BUT THERE IS NO NEED!

How about creating a costume that is inexpensive, and most of all.. unique?

The last 3 years or so I've been creating my own costumes (and I am no sewing expert)

Check it out:

Fairy

Spent $15 CDN at Wal-mart :

-1 metre green fabric
-1 metre white-shimmery tulle fabric
-1.5 metres of dark green stretchy ribbon
- Buy or create your own wings/wand
Those are the basics..
I basically wrapped the fabric around my body to whatever style I wanted, then tied them.
(you can also safety-pin them in place)


Then if you want to add some funk, you can buy some butterflies and glitter at the craft stores to attach to your dress and hair.

Greek Goddess



Materials:

-1 bedsheet
-2 metres of gold rope from craft store
-1 metre of skinny gold string
- 0.5metre elastic band
- fake plant (€1)
- gold jewlery

Total cost of maybe €6  (9 dollars)
Same concept as above, wrap bedsheet around body, safety pin it.

Tie gold rope around waist. Tie skinny gold string around your hair as hairband.

Sew fake plant into elastic band and make arm band.

Attach fake plant to hair, sandals, etc.






Ninja


I threw this on last-minute, as I hadn't decided what I will be for our birthday celebration.
I thought it was a good idea, (as I slaved away in the kitchen preparing all the food) it was important that I wore black (for any spills and splashes!). So why not be a ninja?!
I had a black silky robe from La Senza, and of course black tights.
wrapped around Stef's t-shirt on my face and voila! Ninja with no money spent.

note: I made some ninja stars out of a cardboard box and aluminum foil.
My bf still makes fun of me for that, ha ha!

Ideas that didn't make this year's cut:
Nurse
-White blouse + skirt OR  a 1 pc white dress
- White stockings
- Rubber gloves
- Patient chart
-Make own hat

Sailor
-Blue striped white shirt, or dress
- Add some gold jewlery
- Navy Hat
- White gloves

School girl
This is the easiest to do, as I am sure most of us have these:
- White blouse
- Tie
- Short skirt
- High knee socks
- Glasses
- Books


I say dressing up shouldn't leave a hole in your pocket!
Why not swap costumes with your friends?

This year, my dear friend Carla wore Stefanos' last year's costume,
Stefanos wore Greg's,
and Greg wore Stefanos' wig!

Happy costume makin'!

Another year of Carnival

This is one event that I look forward to each year...
 *Drum roll please*
C A R N I V A L


I posted a bit about it last year on my Tumblr site: http://jooyeon.tumblr.com/.
(Tumblr is great- cool designs and super easy to use. Was experimenting with that last year but I find blogspot has a great community and many fantastic bloggers.)

Instead of Halloween in North America, we have the whole 3 spanking weeks to celebrate it!
Apokries is the preparation period before Lent.

Apokries - Carnival Traditions  

  1. During the second week of Apokries, known as “Kreatini” (Meat Week), we eat lots and lots of meat.
  2. The Thursday of the second week of carnival is known as “Tsiknopempti” (Tsikna Thursday). This is when the festivities begin. Traditionally, everyone must cook meat so that the smoke or “tsikna” fills the air and everybody knows it’s a feast-day.
  3. Usually on Tsiknopempti the first masqueraders make their appearance and the first carnival parties are held. Many go out in town dressed up to cafes/bars.
  4. The third week is called “Tyrini” (Cheese Week) - people can eat dairy products and fish but not meat.
  5. Apokries ends on “Kathari Deftera” (Clean Monday), the first day of Lent, the 40-day fast until Easter Sunday. On Clean Monday, the “koulouma” are held. Everybody goes off to the countryside, eats Lenten food and flies kites.


The last Sunday of the 3-week period fell on March 6 this year. Almost every town organizes a parade for this day, but the biggest one in Crete is in Rethymno. 
Rethymno Carnival is one of the biggest carnivals in Greece, with the biggest one in Patras.

Every year, some 100,000 spectators flock to Rethymno for its well organized parade, to drink a little, and to have a wonderful time. (And usually better weather compared to Patras).

In Chania, you may see a few people dressed up, but in Rethymno, the party and fun goes on for weeks before the parade! They have their own website here.

... Even TV-trash comes to Rethymno to party:
Last year, our group walked right by Julia Alexandratou
(Beauty pagent winner, who turned into a model/shitty singer, turned into a whore pornstar)

This year, Alexandros Petridis (Guy with HUGE, bulging white fake set of teeth who seems to be totally inlove with himself.)
When he saw me and blew me a kiss, I almost threw up.
Do you recognize him?

hahahaha

Next year, I would like to run into a tv-personality who is actually famous for their talent!
Elena Paparizou? Mixalis Hatzigiannis?


We ALMOST didn't make it to Rethymno this year, but so glad that we made it!
Weather forecasted rain, we didn't have fuel (Almost all gas stations are closed on sundays) , and maybe forgot a little of how crazy it is.
But then the sun came out, we found a benzinadiko (fuel station), and we were all pumped up to go!
I don't want to miss a year of Rethymno-- EVVARRR!! It's THAT awesome!

Carla and I- Smiling widely knowing what to expect from crazy Rethymno!

We got right in the action and danced our way down.

floats with grills, so incase you get hungry (while parading!!) you can eat some meat. Ha ha!


Busy streets


I am amazed at what a world of difference Canadian parades are compared to here.
Here, I've seen some sexual images and messages on floats, drinking publicly while mingling with children, loud music blaring on all streets, bars, and cafes, yet it's all in good fun.
 It's always great to participate in a community event where people let loose, everyone is friendly, is not afraid to dance and act silly.

That's why I love the Rethymno Carnival. 
Until next year!






Thursday, March 3, 2011

Dragon's Den

One of my favorite TV shows in Canada is Dragon's Den.

The entrepreneurs go in pitching their innovative ideas to a panel of rich venture capitalists, "the dragons" to receive the amount of money he/she thinks the idea is worth, for a percentage of the company's stock.


I really enjoyed this episode of a teen fulfilling his dream, and getting his $1.25 million!



Wanna know how it unfolded? Check it out here :




If you could invent anything, what would it be?
What would you invent to change the world?

HOT off the press- Ipad 2

WOW!
Apple never cease to amaze me.

After their immediate success wth the Ipad1 selling $15 million (from Apr-Dec 2010), earning them $10 billion in avenue, they went right back to work to come up with something lighter, thinner, and better.
They are true innovators who inspire humankind.
Bravo Apple, you did it again!

What do you think of the Ipad 2? Will you get one?
Do you own any of the Apple products?
Share with us your opinion and experience :)
 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Funny Sh*t

So I came across this site a few days ago, and I can't stop Laughing Out Loud, for reals.
Click on the link above to send your friends a funny msg, or your hubby a naughty one ;)


Happy Birthday to US!


Stefanos and I celebrated our birthdays together on Friday.
Our birthdays are only 5 days apart, so we usually throw some kind of dinner party at the house.
This year, with Carnival so close, we had a carnival-theme birthday.



Red bell pepper hummus, Stuffed mushrooms, Shrimp pasta salad, Potato salad, Tuna roll bake, Galbi (traditioal korean meat), California roll, Avocado-Salmon salad, Devilled-eggs, green salad with bacon, some breadsticks rolled in melted chocolate and crushed peanuts.
Let me know if you want me to post a recipe for any of them!




I love to cook, and I love sharing it with the people that I care about.
It was such a fun evening, surrounded with friends who mean so much to us.



Each guests received "fun bags" when they came in, and one of the lucky bag holders received a prize.
Second prize went to a person seated in a "lucky chair" (I taped something under the chair).
Third prize to who can "blow the fastest" balloon blowing contest.
Forth one was inside the cake,
and of course Fifth prize to the best costume.


It was an evening filled with laughter and love.

I feel so lucky to surround myself with such wonderful friends, and my love.


Birthdays reminds me to reflect on the year that passed.
I reflect on the choices that I've made, the paths that I've chosen.
The good and bad things I've experienced, and the things I've learned from them.
Turning a year older allows me to set new goals, and hope for the future.


I'm excited about what this year will bring, the people that I will meet, and the new experiences that I will feel.

I'm grateful for everything that I have.