Hey guys, how’ve you been?

It’s been a minute since I last published here so I thought I’d give a semi life update. Even though summer officially starts in some days, I hope you already feel like summer, hope you feel better than this time last year. Life is slowly easing into something akin to what it used to be - more people are splitting with the official and unofficial rules from last year like little human interaction and more online associations; moving slightly more freely but also cautiously as it’s not over until it’s over. Anyways, the last couple of weeks were a bit overwhelming so I did a few things to rectify that and remove stress from the equation.

I decided to mix this little catch up session with the Recommendations category to add stuff I listened to and watched not just places I went while on the blog break- hope you enjoy this!

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some almost summer songs-

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So, on being MIA - It’s funny because the one thing people say about college is that the stress and the workload is very much alive and can checkmate whenever it wants to. It was challenging balancing everything at a point. At least, that was until breaks in between: a rather familiar technique I came to terms with as the school semester’s end was approaching. So, breaks in between work, in order to realize that there’s still peace despite anxiety or stress; an incentive to keep going. This resulted in a field trip, crocheting, even more grocery shopping, strolling by flea markets, etc. Here, I’ll show you.

The Field Trip to the Little Red Lighthouse: yeah, I’m calling this a field trip - it’s the closest thing I’ve had to one in a few years. Took 3 trains (could’ve been less but Grand Central and Time Square are not the same place!! I don’t know why I always forget this - New York travel tip lol), a couple thousand steps, water, willpower, etc. but eventually got there.

I initially planned the trip weeks ago, except it wasn’t going to be just the Lighthouse but other places around the area as well, but doing one part of the plan was actually sufficient for the day. Pretty sure it was planned in March but didn’t happen till early May (I know), It was worth the wait though. It started raining out of nowhere but thank goodness the rain wasn’t so much and I had a parka on. The rain made it feel like an actual camp/field trip vibe. Can’t lie, at a point, I wasn’t seeing the lighthouse and thought that google maps had pulled a fast one - which would’ve been really bad since I was leading the trip - but turns out we just had to walk even more. I hadn’t hiked in a while so this trip to one the few remaining lighthouses in the city felt so rewarding.

First pic: yup, that’s someone paddle boarding - the rain is only an impediment if you want it to be.

When walking, stop by places and things that fascinate you - yes fruit fascinate me but the last picture is actually from grocery shopping. On the way to a park, we spotted this van that looks like it came straight from a cartoon and I just had to immortalize it in a photo. The middle picture was also something spotted en route to the park - a lovely part of the flea market, the only part I captured.

shout out to the lovely people who bought from the mini store! (Depop: chiomadp)

I’ve been experimenting with colors throughout the year because (and please don’t quote me on the science behind this), colors just make you happier, in my opinion. It makes me want to be more creative, it challenges me to make sense of colors that never made sense to me (together or separately). THERE’S VIVACITY IN COLOR!! Even when painting, *especially when painting, I make sure to prioritize using different colors, sometimes without limits. I may dedicate a whole blog on color because there’s so much more to say and explore with it. Apparently COVID-19 brought in a variety of new entrepreneurs who specialized in handmade products. It makes sense, I mean being confined doesn’t mean one shouldn’t create, right? Anyways, I’ve always loved crocheting and started doing so years ago until a long hiatus but as you know, quarantine brought the habit back. So yeah, I sold some on Depop (username listed above; for now, shipping to US only)— It actually started out as something I did to get rid of all the yarn I had to make moving out of my dorm less stressful but it was mad fun so I shall continue.

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TV: Squeezing this in because this needs to be said - retreat to those old shows that made you feel warm! A piece of advice I willingly adhered to after one strange Netflix show - I atoned for it with cartoons till watching shows became an inconvenience due to a fresh new stack of workload.

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Lastly, some feel-good videos I thought I’d share:

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