20th Birthday!

On Monday, I turned 20 years old. So long teenage years, I'm now embarking on my twenties. It's kind of frightening actually. Because I act like I'm 14 and I look like I'm specifically 12 years old to the average person. But I'm actually 20.

You can say I am a scrooge when it comes to my own birthday. Especially after my Debut, my Filipino 18th birthday instead of the popular Sweet 16, I've grown a bitter resentment to my own birth date. Part of it is due to my minimized freedom and large dependency when I'm at home but another part of it is that I often compare myself to my peers. I have friends that have traveled to Italy for months, toured the west coast of the U.S., and have probably experienced a lot of experiences that I haven't even encountered. Basically, I feel like I have yet to live my life. But maybe that my path. It's just hard for me to accept since I feel like it's not entirely my fault. But every year I turn one year older and every year, I haven't done anything extraordinary that I had expected to do.

I traveled back to college for spring semester on my birthday. I was welcomed with greetings and a very nice surprise with cards, gifts, and a movie night out when I hadn't expected anything! I can't wait to go back home this weekend to celebrate my birthday with my family :)

Last few days of winter break

The last few days of winter break has been bittersweet as always. That itself is an understatement. I finally got a chance to catch up with Alex, after being stood up twice for yoga class which I will forever tease her for. But she knows it's all good. ;) We had our usual date at Panera where we always spend at least two hours just talking. She ended up showing me a local coffee place where I fell in love with their green tea chai lattes after having previous bad experiences with chai lattes.

Today, my family and I decided to celebrate my 20th birthday a little early since I have to get back to school for the semester tomorrow. We went to an all you can eat buffet which was just delicious. I always look forward to their green tea cake which is favorite! I kinda hate how it's a buffet because then I can never take any food to go.

Happy Birthday To Me! :)

Today I turned 19! Although it was a rough start to my day, I went to a local cafe with Daisy and Mark. We had a late lunch there and we ended up playing video games and watching The Possession the entire day. I particularly like scary movies unlike Daisy and Mark, but it didn't end up too scary. I love the gifts they got me! Although in the picture, the blazer looks coral, it's actually bright fuchsia. I've been trying to build my collection of blazers and Daisy got me a perfect pink one to add to my collection :) Mark got me a digital picture frame that is filled with pictures of us over the years! At first, I thought it was just going to be a blank picture digital frame that I would need to fill myself. But good thing he did it already. :)

Tonight is my last night at home and winter break is actually over. It happened so fast, I don't know where the time went! I mean I'm already 19 and life seems to be going too fast... Tuesday, I'll be embarking on my second semester in college and it feels like just yesterday it was the summer before college before anything changed between friends and lifestyles. It's crazy to think that my first year at college it already halfway over. I hope spring semester will treat me as well as my first fall semester did. :D

A day of firsts!

Today my family and I grabbed lunch at PF Changs for the first time and it was really good! We did some grocery shopping and went to church while we went out. As soon as I came home, I went to a friend, Andre's, birthday gathering. We went to a small, cute restaurant where we all had Soondubu for the first time. (Well except for Andre) Soondubu is basically a tofu soup mixed in with whatever meat you choose: pork, beef, or seafood. Then we went to grab dessert at Dunkin' and I had mint chocolate chip ice cream for the first time! I've always figured that I wouldn't like mint chocolate chip ice cream because I really hate it in candy or chocolate bar form. But I was wrong! It was sooo good. I'll definitely indulge once I get back to school.

I haven't been able to keep up in my daily photos lately. But here's an update on my life through my Instagram! After watching the movie, Les Misérables, Daisy picked up the soundtrack! And I have my own copy of the soundtrack through Mark's own renditions of the songs each night. My absolutely FAVORITE ear cuff is this simple gold band and I think it looks so cute! I love how subtle it is. A picture my pork tofu soup with a side of rice is also included. Soondubu! And my very first scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream is also there. Never too late to start try something for the first time ;)

MARK'S BIRTHDAY WOOT

Today was pretty busy. This morning my mom and I headed out to the mall to check out the after Christmas sales and see if we can buy any Christmas gifts. My family doesn't really do the big parties on Christmas. We just all wait until New Year's. And I would say our shopping trip was pretty successful since we bought about 4/7 gifts. Once we got out of the mall it was snowing like crazy! Traffic turned our 15 minute ride home to 30 minutes. Today was Mark's birthday!! So a group of my friends ate at a small restaurant to celebrate :)

I had a weird encounter with a cat today. My neighbor has a cat and ever since I can remember the cat practically lived outside. I think it even reverted back to its wild instincts. My first memory of that cat was when I was playing in my backyard and there was a little toddler player in my neighbor's backyard. The toddler tried to make his way back to the house but the cat didn't let him on the deck to get into the house. The toddler would run try to dodge it but the cat would run faster than him and hiss at him. The toddler cried and eventually the mother came and carried him into the house. But I swear that cat is crazy. I remember times where I would find the cat chillin under my cars like it owns the place. I've also seen it kill birds and eat it and drink from the rain water puddles after a rain shower. But today as I was getting out of my car and walking towards my front door, I saw that cat run at me, then past me, then cuddle up under the car near where the engine would be. I realized it has been snowing and the cat must be cold so it realized that the car generates warmth. I mean I wouldn't blame it. The wind is strong tonight and the ground must be ice cold. Poor cat :(

Photos above are a box of lindor chocolates that my mom's company gifted to their employees for Christmas! Yummy!