Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013 Recap

Since tomorrow is the beginning of a new year, it's natural that I find myself involuntarily rewinding back the most memorable moments of the past year. To be honest, I'm not sure how anyone can do it so easily since I can hardly remember what I did four hours ago. But I still think it's worth a shot.

I remember, the beginning of the year I was in a very weird place with how I felt with the people I called my closes friends for the past 5-6 years of my life. I remember feeling a lot of anguish and I was very troubled by the fact that I no longer meant anything to them. But as the months went by and the very vague motto "college happened" came true, I began to accept that sometimes the people we set ourselves to spend our future with will not always turn out that way. For some reason, I found this very difficult to accept and in turn, I found it very difficult to find new friends to replace them. However, now I'm glad to say I'm on a new plane of acceptance. I realized that it's not that I needed to replace anyone or that anyone had done me wrong. Friendships don't lose meaning but only gain a different definition.

But in between all that bitterness, I found a new obsession with Les Miserable which now has a special connotation for me. I was taken a wonderful Valentine's Day date. I attended my first concerts which included Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. I finished my first year of college. I got my first job. I found a new love for yoga. Had a great summer. And had another successful semester. 

I'm very thankful for a wonderful year and hope for nothing but better and bigger things in 2014. Here are a few (not all) of my resolutions that I'd like to share...

  1. Do More Yoga - Now, I understand yoga is not for everyone and the thought of twisting in ways you never thought you could twist sounds terrifying. But personally, whenever I attend a yoga class or even do yoga by myself at home, I find myself more at peace with myself. Whatever stress was aching in my shoulders or whatever worrisome thought that made me take mindless shallow breaths suddenly dissipated. I become more mindful and aware and it doesn't even have to happen during a "yoga" session. But it can happen even in simple meditation. 
  2. Write More - I truly do enjoy blogging. It's saddening how much I neglect it while I'm in school. But this year, I want to make it a goal to still keep up with my blog. It may not mean to blog every day but to blog when I feel the need to blog rather than putting it off and off until I forget about it.
  3. Do More of What Makes Me Happy - I met a special person this year, Johnny Cupcakes. And I never really took what he said and applied it to my life. But after reflecting of this past year, I'm going to make it part of my resolutions.
  4. Let Things Go - I have a nasty habit to hold onto thoughts until I become brittle with bitterness and I break. Which is such an unhealthy habit. I need to learn to let things go and know that I can't control everything.
  5. Shop Less, Window Shop More - I was taking a look around my closet the other day and the amount of clothes I have in my closet that I no longer wear is almost disgustingly selfish that I just want to grab my entire closet and just donate it. Growing up in middle school and high school, I felt some sort of desire to constantly buy new things for super cheap prices. As a result, I have a bunch of cheap clothes that don't even look good anymore because they're so cheap. Most of them I just bought because I was so lured by the cheap prices that I just couldn't pass them up. Which is just so plain ridiculous, I don't know why no one stopped me.
With all of that said, 2014 awaits! Happy New Year's Eve! :)

Monday, December 30, 2013

After Christmas Sales



I got a late start to my day today as usual. I've been finding it difficult to get out of bed even before 1 lately. My mom and I decided to take a trip to Target to see if any of the holiday sales were good. Turns out they were. We ended up buying a huge amount of lights that were 70% off to replace some of the burnt out lights on our Christmas tree and also to add onto the lights outside our house. I also picked up purple lights for my own room because my walls are purple. Since purple isn't very festive, they turned out to be $1.40 for a 100 bulb string. Needless to say, it was a steal. I also grabbed this last set of snowflake lights. I turned them on and they were so pretty. I'm not sure where to put them in my room yet. But when I do, I'll be sure to share a picture. I prefer warm white colored lights personally. But I figured I had two string lights of those at school. So why not change it up a little.

I also think these Japanese green tea mochi is my new obsession. They are so delicious and they are definitely a great snack. I picked them up at my local Korean store for a $1.50 for a pack of 6.

My mom also found me this electric hand held mixer that I can use for baking my cookies next time. This new tool will make my life so much easier and make baking cookies so much faster. I can't believe how difficult it is to stir the batter with a tiny little whisk! Maybe this new tool will help solve my flat cookie problem as well.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

New Bookshelf!







Thank goodness for Ikea! I was able to grab this fancy little bookshelf for $25 to replace my old one that was only three shelves. These are a few pictures of how I decided to arrange the shelving unit for now. It's still a work in progress because I'm still looking for things to fill it with since I'm not used to all the space. But I kind of like how it is right now. I decided to donate a lot of my old books and keep only the most recently ones I enjoyed. Since I got a kindle, I've been less likely to buy new books.

I've finally finished Allegiant and I can just say it was satisfying and it was definitely different from the rest of the trilogy. I can't wait to see the movie interpretations of the series and I hope they do at least some justice.

I wasn't able to blog much for Christmas but I mostly spent it at home with my family. I was able to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch for the first time. For some reason they came out really thin but still tasty nonetheless. I hope that the next time I make them, they come out a little bit thicker. I'm suspecting that it had something to do with how much I mixed it or the eggs I used wasn't room temperature. But if you're looking for the recipe, I used this one. Benji's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Monday, December 23, 2013

1 year anniversary of Boss Daily!!!



Today, I'm happy to say that today is the 1 year anniversary of my blog! I honestly did not think that this blog would last this long. I started this blog on a whim and I kind of knew that I wouldn't be entirely consistent with it. Running a blog is a lot of work and can become a full time job - which it is for many people. However, I find it as a enjoyable hobby.

I can't believe Christmas is coming up so close and soon after that the year is nearly over! But I'm personally proud of myself for getting all of my Christmas shopping done last week and to reward myself, I enjoyed this yummy slice of Peppermint Bark Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I don't have much of a sweet tooth and I usually prefer the classic cheesecake as my go-to choice but I figured it's the holidays and the flavor won't be around for long.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Christmas Tree in NYC!




Last night, Mark and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to the city to see the tree. Traffic was absolutely crazy and there was a ton of people milling about, taking pictures, and seeing all the extra lights and decorations that get put out during the holidays. It was hard getting a picture by the tree just because everyone was moving but luckily, we found another couple that needed a picture as well and we did a sort of trade off. The weather was absolutely perfect with a nice breeze. We saw a street performer that jumped over four people with no help from a trampoline or anything but his own momentum and skill. Which was pretty impressive to say the least. It was a lot of fun and I finally was able to grab some chicken and rice which I more than satisfied with. You simply can't beat street food sometimes. It was another long trip back home because of the never ending traffic but it was worth it. :)

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Settling into winter break

Finally! The fall semester has ended and I can now breathe a little easier. Although, majority of the people I know still have their heads buried in their books prepping for this upcoming week of finals I figured I would take this time to have for myself.

I got a chance to start reading Allegiant, the third book to the Divergent series. I have got to say, it took a really unexpected turn. It's as if The Hunger Games and Divergent were running parallel all up until this third and last book of the series. I wouldn't be surprised if the author took some of the comparisons to heart and changed the book up a little before finally publishing it this past October. Yet, I still have to form an opinion on it. So far, since it has taken a huge left turn I feel the whole lot of it is a bit overwhelming. A little too much to ingest for the last book but I'm anticipating a cleaner ending. I'm only halfway through.

With Christmas coming up, I've been frantically trying to conjure up some gift ideas. You would think that thinking of a present for someone you've known for more than ten years of your life would be easy. But when it comes to it, you're stumped. If only everyone could be satisfied with a nice pair of Victoria's Secret yoga pants...