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This month was feeling extra grateful for everything and everyone in my life. I think it's so easy to take things for granted, but I realized even through the overwhelming times, there are so many things that I can be grateful for.
Lifestyle: Back to Back Festivities
Friendships
Girlie's Book Club
Mish, Kelsey, and I reunited for a girlie's book club recap as well as our version of our Halloween celebration. We've all been so busy so we were not able to celebrate Halloween together unlike last year when we spent basically the whole weekend together. Though it was unconventional, especially having to celebrate it in November, it was fun to dress up and paint on our pumpkins.
Besties Reunion - SF
I can't believe that this time came around so fast! I got to celebrate Stephanie's birthday and visit her in SF. This trip was packed with fun and memorable moments as usual. Some of the highlights include reuniting with our friend, Homen, and making a funny tiktok at SF Chinatown where we all have fun memories together. Back when we were all together in Chinatown was almost 6 years ago, which felt surreal but it was a good feeling that we still had our silly side together. Another highlight will have to be visiting Stephanie's new home that she's been telling me about and I was so happy that I could be a part of her housewarming as she starts this new chapter in her life. It was especially nice seeing all her friends some old and new friends that I haven't seen come together to celebrate her all together! Another highlight that I can't not mention is the one where we said we'll take it chill but ended up staying up until 5 am and somehow at a random man's apartment that we met at the bar the same night just yapping about life together. The funny and miserable part of it all was the fact that we had to get up the next day to do hot pilates together, but I couldn't be more proud of me and all the girlies including Stephanie for pushing through the class together! There's so much more including our yap session, random haircut in Chinatown, and tarot reading session that I can't fit into words but it was so memorable and special as always. I can't believe we naturally started this tradition of celebrating birthdays together each year and I can't be happier for the strong friendship we've built throughout the years. Happy birthday once again, Stephanie! Cheers to 26.
Family
Balance
This month was also a lot about balancing work with my family time. I wanted to spend as much time with family while my mom was here, but it was extremely hard because it was also the busiest I've been at work. No matter how difficult, I think I still was able to make it work as much as possible and realize how thankful I am to have a stable job as well as a healthy family. Although I couldn't shake the feeling that I could be doing better and that I was not the perfect daughter or worker, I realized at least I was trying my best.
Thanksgiving
I got to spend Thanksgiving with our family and friends as we did last year and it was so much fun! I end up getting super busy with my schedule and don't get to see them so often so it was nice to reunite. I'm so thankful to have grown up with such caring family friends around me and I start to feel extra grateful to them around this time. Growing up in an immigrant family with no other family members around during the holiday and especially with my mom apart for most as well, it could get lonely. Although I've come to love our unconventional small immigrant family traditions as well, it's always nice to get invited to celebrate with other smaller immigrant families. I've also grown up with them together so they truly just feel like an extension to my family so it's always nice to see them and catch up. Also, as I'm growing older I've started to realize no matter the celebration, the important part is being able to come together and spend quality time with the people you love.
Love
Gladiator 2/ Wicked
I got to watch the most anticipated films, Gladiator and Wicked with my boyfriend! The movies were quite literally the opposite of each other but both were extremely well made that it was quite highly ranked in my letterboxd. I was surprised at how much I liked Gladiator 2 considering I wasn't the biggest fan of the first one and because it's not usually the type of genre that I love watching. I think the difference was truly being able to watch the action happening in the movie theater. On the contrary, I was quite excited for Wicked and it lived up to the hype with the songs and acting. I couldn't stop playing popular on repeat after and it was stuck in my head for a few days straight.
Christmas Tree
I got to set up the Christmas Tree with my boyfriend in Long Beach, which holds a special memory for us. We got to do it together for the first time last year and it was so special because he had prepared all the material by myself and brought it out as a surprise. We both grew up not celebrating Christmas or having Christmas trees around so it was so fun to start our very own tradition. I think this was the moment when I truly started to develop strong feelings for him so it was so great to relive the moment together. We were not official at the time last year, so it was also emotional to see how much we've grown together. I can't wait to put it up again in a few weeks in December because we're moving the Christmas tree to my apartment in LA as he's moving out soon. We wanted to set it up for the Christmas gathering (White Elephant) he's going to be hosting before he leaves.
Work
Austin
This month, I had the opportunity to travel for work in Austin. At first, it felt a little overwhelming because it was asked of me super last minute, but I almost felt like I couldn't refuse as I had to turn down a different travel work event previously as it didn't work with my schedule. I was able to luckily move things around in my schedule and make this work event happen! I'm so blessed that I was able to attend because it was so much more fun than I had anticipated and it made me grateful for the job that I had. It was the first time where I got to travel for work with so many of my coworkers and I truly felt like I got to bond with them. I also got to Austin a day early and was able to spend time with my friend, Emily, who I had seen last year when I was in Austin. It was so nice to catch up with her and even see her apartment + her cats! Work has been super tough the last few months, but this was a great work event to attend, and made me realize how grateful I am for the job I have.
Mental Health Day
I was able to take a day off on a weekday because I was in Austin over the weekend for work. I used this time as a true mental health day and did all the things I've been wanting to do when I had my alone time. I woke up and went to a pilates class, made some food for lunch as I watched a movie I've been wanting to watch on Netflix (Woman of the Hour), went to get a massage (using the Class pass points), and then went on a double date dinner. This day was exactly what I've been needing and truly made me feel recovered.
Lows & Lessons: Take a Break
I feel like this is all I talk about nowadays but I truly felt like I was at the edge of a true meltdown and burnout the past two months with trying to balance it all. I think luckily towards the end of this month, things started to slow down for me. Also, I was able to take the mental health day during the work week and that was truly life-changing for me and exactly what I needed. It truly made me realize how badly I needed this and need more of this. Instead of saying that I needed to take more breaks, I decided that I needed to implement it more in the future. I decided to take Tuesdays as my solo days next month in December where I don't make any plans with anyone else and use it as my day to do whatever I needed to do whether that was to rest or do chores. I realized I needed to physically block those days off my calendar and I'm excited to see how much it helps me with my mental health.
Songs on Repeat:
POWER - G-DRAGONPASSENGER PRINCESS - Nessa BarrettPopular - Ariana Grande My Pick of the Month: Class Pass
I downloaded a class pass so that I could sign up for Stephanie's pilates class at a discount. Still, I also then decided to renew for one cycle as it was the same amount (if not, slightly cheaper) to do a massage for my comp day and I got to use the remaining points to try out new workout classes. I got to revisit the pilates studio I've been to twice in my neighborhood and tried new yoga studios in Orange County. I've never been to so many different yoga studios before and it was so much fun trying out different styles of yoga! I also got to revisit the Corepower studio that I used to go to all the time when I was living in OC and it made me nostalgic. However, visiting other local studios made me realize how much I grew to love the cozy vibes of local studios as it's similar to the one I have a membership in back in LA. I think the past me would be surprised to know I've come to love yoga that's not hot or all sculpt! All in all, I am not going to keep my class pass membership as it's a little too much on top of the yoga membership I have already. However, I'll renew it every couple of times to switch it up.
This month was a month of gratitude - for my friends, family, boyfriend, and job. I can't express how grateful I am for the life I live. It's so easy to complain and feel sad over all the things you don't have (which I can be guilty of), but no matter how busy and overwhelming life can get, I realize how grateful I am that I have things that keep me busy and the people that give me their time of day. How lucky I am to be healthy and my loved ones healthy to spend time with. So thank you to everyone who has made me feel loved and to everyone who allows me to love them back.
Talk to you next month,
-- Jin
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