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This month consisted of a lot of holiday vibes with events filled out. However, my life took a major pause during the actual holiday season. Life is so full of ups and downs but I'm excited to still share each one of them here!
Lifestyle: Back to Back Festivities
Friends
Girlies Christmas
I got to spend some holiday time with my girlies, Kelsey and Mish for our annual present exchange. Although we took an L when we wanted to go to a boat parade but the traffic ended up being too crazy, it still took a fun turn because we were able to walk around the Beverly Hills area with all the fun Christmas lights. Walking around the area with the girlies got me in a major Holiday throwback because it almost felt like we were walking around London, which is where we all met! It made me miss London as it's the prettiest during this season so I hope to be back there one day eventually!
Family
My favorite time about the holiday time is truly having a lot of time to spend time with my family outside of work or my busy life. I love taking a pause and just feeling like a little kid with no responsibilities whenever I'm around family again. Although our family never grew up celebrating or doing anything special, I'm realizing that even having just family time is enough.
Love
Merry Kiss Me
This month, my boyfriend and I went to our now annual holiday season favorite, the Merry Kiss Me sign at Dana Point. This year was the second year we did it so we decided that we wanted to make it an annual tradition. The holiday season and going back meant a lot to both of us because this is when I think we started to fall for one another truly and we both couldn't help but think back to all the progress we have made in our relationship since we were last here. It was extra special because this year we decided to bring his mom with us and make it a full holiday hangout. We even got to stop at the San Clemente outlet for a little shopping together! Overall, my heart felt so full after this trip.
Las Vegas
Towards the end of the month, we got to go to Vegas to celebrate one of his friend's birthdays! I loved how I didn't have to worry about the planning and details on this trip as usually, I'm the type A planner friend but this wasn't one of the events I had to worry about! We took it to chill and for the most part, took it as a time to relax. Overall, it was a really fun experience and the perfect getaway for us while enjoying it with friends.
Work
Holiday
I couldn't believe that I had not been to my third-holiday party at this job! This year, we took it really easy with a bar hangout near our work and a white elephant party. This felt more like the holiday party from 2 years ago, so I had a nice throwback moment. Jin the newbie in her first holiday party here would not have imagined all the progress and friends I have made in my journey here so I was very proud of all of my efforts.
Disneyland
Some of the girlies in Brand decided to do a Disneyland trip using some of their annual passes as well as my co-worker's husband's free employee tickets perk. Overall, it was such a fun experience hanging out with them outside of work hours as I feel like people got more loose and brought out their fun personality. Not only did we get to have such a fun experience, but I felt extra grateful to have co-workers who truly got along so well with one another.
Lows: Sick
This month, I got sick and by that, I was truly in bed for a few days without being able to move much. I haven't gotten this sick in a long time so it felt extra strange and uncomfortable. I remember reaching my second day of fever and feeling like maybe this is my new life now and I couldn't see how I could get any better. But, time truly heals most things because I am back in good shape as I am writing this a week from getting sick. It was sad that I had to spend most of my holiday break being sick in bed, but it also felt like a good time as I had no other worries to think about and I was able to be a kid getting taken care of by my dad. Whenever I am sick like this, it makes me feel like it's the world's way of telling me to take a pause and that's what I truly did. Although it would. have been nice to not be sick, I still think it ended up being a nice little break from everything that I needed.
Lessons: A Full Circle
I still can't believe 2024 is coming to an end and I can't help but think of all the events that brought this month to a full circle.
Friends
I've got to bond with friends in so many ways whether it's playing pickleball or watching movies with my LA friends. I'm so grateful to have so many friends that share such similar hobbies as me so that we're able to see each other not only on the weekends but during the work days as well. I also got asked to be one of my friend's bridesmaids this year and got to bond with so many of my OC friends that I don't take it for granted. Although it's harder to see them with some distance, I love that we have still been taking some time each month to build up our friendship with quality time.
Love
This month and year was a lot of progress for my boyfriend and I. We hit our first-ever celebrations with meet-a-versary, exclusive anniversary, and holiday annual traditions. I also really appreciate the fact that he is someone who also loves celebrating small milestones. I'm so grateful to have this relationship in my life and I can't wait to truly see what's in store for us and continue learning about one another even throughout the hardships. He's made me realize how fun it is to have a partnership in life to do so many of the activities that I love to do and how sharing life events is so rewarding.
Work
There was a lot of growth in my work life/ career this year as well with getting a raise and working towards a potential promotion in the new year. I was able to gain a lot more confidence in myself and my work now that I have reached 2 years of working for this job. I also gained so many strong friendships in this job, which is something that I never expected to do. I was always a big fan of the work-life separation and thought I didn't need to have friends at work. However, having these friendships made me switch the way I looked at it and realize how great it is to have these bonds as well.
Personal
When people said time goes by faster with age, I didn't understand it like I do now. I think I truly took this year as taking it day by day and somehow it already is the end of it. I want to take this moment to be grateful for all the progress I've made in my life on all the different aspects of my life including family, friends, love life, and career. However, here are some things I want to work on in the new year:
better sleep schedule (sleeping earlier, before midnight)
continue working on finance (building up my retirement funds)
text/ call my family more (not just when I need help or when I want to)
hang out with friends more (without my significant other)
try to lean on others (both ups and downs in life)
learn to communicate feelings better (especially when I'm sad or mad at my significant other)
continue hobbies (yoga & pickleball)
start new hobbies (painting, drawing, & pottery)
Songs on Repeat:
toxic till the end - ROSÉLast Christmas - Wham!A Nonsense Christmas - Sabrina Carpenter My Pick of the Month: Jin's Cafe
This month, I got to host my second-ever Jin's Cafe - Holiday Edition. I tried to make it a bit more festive this time around for the holiday edition with peppermint loaf, fun straws, and blank holiday sweater printouts for coloring. Although it takes so much energy in me to do these types of events, I find them so much fun being able to make fun drinks for friends while being able to mingle with everyone. I also wanted to continue the holiday spirit by doing a raffle for friends and that ended up getting them engaged until the end. I want to maybe host something similar every quarter so we'll see how they turn out!
This month was nothing but the usual ups and downs but I couldn't help me thankful for all the holiday vibes throughout the whole month. I think this season as well as it being so close to the start of the new year makes me feel more grateful as a person. I can't help but be extra grateful for my health and being alive as well as being surrounded by such amazing people in my life. This year was truly one of the best years so far and I can't wait to see what's in store for me in the new year.
Talk to you next year,
-- Jin
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