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This month, I really felt the summer energy. I've mentioned before that weather affects my mood a lot and I feel happy when the sun is out. Therefore, I think I was definitely feeling the happy girl summer energy with the sun out all the time.
Lifestyle: Making Memories
Santa Barbara
At the beginning of this month, I got to visit Santa Barbara to see some of my friends before they graduated from UCSB. It was such a weird feeling because I literally saw them grow up since I met them when they were freshmen in college while I was a junior. It was also weird visiting my little college town again but visiting there always reminds me of how things will never change there. I love that everyone at UCSB can share a similar experience no matter how many years have passed by. The place never changes even if I might have changed since my college years. IV will always have a special place in my heart and it was so much fun visiting the little gem again. The weekend was also so much fun as we visited Sandunes for a sunrise. A lot happened that day from going to the wrong place to getting our car stuck in the sand. In the end, we all made it safely and it's definitely a memory I will never forget.
Beach Day
This month I got to do a classic beach day with my friends and it really reminded me that it's summertime. We brought out a yummy poke that we bought nearby and shared some snacks that we brought. It was also a nice catch-up with my friends as well. I'm excited to do more beach days this summer.
Catalina Island
I was able to go on a family vacation at the end of the month to Catalina Island. The little island was so much fun and reminded me so much of Europe. I loved that it was so close by because it was only a 70min boat ride from Long Beach to the island. Once we arrived, we explored the little town and stopped by a cafe. We took long walks to admire the beautiful view and ate some yummy seafood by the beach. It really made me miss Europe all that much but it was the perfect day trip. I'd love to come back again soon and do more beach activities.
Lows: Sunburnt
This month I got my first sunburn in years. I never really got sun burnt growing up so I forgot how painful it was. I went through the whole stage of it being red to dark red to peeling. The funny thing is that I got sunburnt at the beach and I had brought sunscreen with me. It was also a foggy day and I had a whole conversation with my friends about how it's easier to get sunburn in this weather because you can't really tell how strong the UVs are. However, I got too distracted by eating food and talking to my friends that I neglected on putting on sunscreen. And boy, did I learn my lesson. Sunscreen will be my best friend for the rest of this summer because I do not want to go through that again.
Lessons: For Me
Family Time
This month, I really got to spend a lot of time with family. Although I live with family, I've been so busy with personal plans with friends over the weekend that I haven't been able to spend too much quality time with them. I loved that this month, I really focused more on hanging out with my family. I definitely get a different type of happiness and comfort from hanging out with them compared to my friends.
Friendships
Since I focused more on my time with family, I took a step back from hanging out with friends this month. I've been mentioning in previous months that I've been getting burnout on friendships as much as I love hanging out with them. I've kind of figured the cause was the fact that I was constantly the first person to ask to hang out or hit someone up in a lot of friendships. As much as I love doing that because I am a planner, I realized that friendships have to go both ways. So this month, I decided to focus on my time with family and hang out with friends who asked me to hang out. It was nice changing it up and I definitely think I need to do that more often.
Songs on Repeat:
Top Songs -
Glimpse of Us - JojiYou Were Loved - Gryffin, OneRepublicNumb - Marshmello, KhalidMy Pick of the Month: Xiao Long Bao
If you know me, you would know that I am the biggest fan of Xiao Long Bao, aka soup dumplings. I went to two different restaurants this month for them and they were both super good. Din Tai Fung will always be a classic go-to for them but I also love trying local restaurants that sell them. If you're also wanting to try it but don't want to commit to a whole restaurant, an easy option is the frozen soup dumplings from Trader Joe's!
This month, I truly felt the happy girl summer energy. I hope everyone is having a happy start to their summer as well and I'm so excited for all of the memories to come this summer.
Talk to you next month,
-- Jin
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