My girlfriends and I have taken frequent day trips this summer and Dongdaemun seems to be the highest on our list. We spend hours wandering the unending aisles of fabric, ribbon, beads and notions for many different reasons. I am trying to get a handmade business off the ground, Ashley’s trying to find items for her February wedding reception, Megan just finished some curtains for her home and some of the gals just come along for the fun.

Me, Ashley, Megan and her cutie pie, Timothy, Kat and Ally. Check out the hordes of ribbon behind us. 5 floors, spanning 3 blocks, it’s craft heaven.

We can only wander aimlessly for so long before getting hungry and bored so we headed to Insadong for lunch.

Timothy has quite a vocabulary and Ally wanted to know if “pease” (his version of please) was every American child’s first word. No, we told her, Megan is just a very sweet mom who instills her courtesy into her 18 month old son. He made friends on the subway with a young teenage girl who wanted to take pictures of the “migguk” baby on her camera phone. A few strangers on the subway took pics of Timothy and I asked Megan if it bothered her. She told me that she was used to it, after spending Timothy’s first year in Misawa, Japan. Many American children are scouted to be models in Korea and most of the Korean children’s clothing companies advertise their clothing on American children.

Lunch in Insadong, at Shinpo, our favorite inexpensive Insadong restaurant.

A trip to Insadong isn’t complete without a stop to Ssamzie market.

And a relaxing stop at the Tea Museum.

And I thought I would leave you with this fun piece of subway advertising. If this slogan doesn’t make you want to use this face cleanser, then I don’t know what will.