I don’t know about everyone else, but this month literally flew by. It seems like the month just started! Now in 2 more days, we enter March. Which means Spring. Which means denim jacket weather! Well, in April it is.
Anyway, it surprises me that for such a short month, a lot of cool things happened, a lot of new things I became obsessed with, and a lot of life lessons were learned in the 28 days this month provided us.
So, without further ado: here are some of the highlights and favorites of this month!
So, December was actually a really good month for me, and I truly believe that it was because I actively got myself to do things I wouldn’t normally do. You know that expression that people say; something along the lines of “say yes to every opportunity”? I’ve pretty much have been saying yes to a lot of things in life, and because of it I’ve been on many adventures and made tons of memories doing so. Also in my time of exploring, I’ve gotten to try many new things, some in which are now some of my favorite things of the month.
So without further ado, let’s get into some of my favorite moments!
1.) SparklyWarTanks “Mighty Mic” Event
Participating at Nina’s open mic event about anxiety and depression allowed me to share my story and my journey through my own personal anxiety and depression. For the event, I read “It’s My Turn”: A Dear Jane Letter, which was posted on the blog a little over a month ago and it has become one of my favorite pieces I’ve written in 2018, to be honest. Listening to other people discuss their stories and journeys were powerful, and I’m immensely proud of Nina for providing a safe space for people to open up and speak out about mental health.
2.) Weekend at Tori’s in Pennsylvania
I won’t go too much into detail about this highlight since it’s already written as a travel diary on TNTH, but seeing my college friend after not seeing her for a year and a half was such a great and amazing experience. Like I mention in my travel diary, this was my first time ever taking a solo trip, so I was so glad that it was a successful trip. Our friendship is one that I know will last a very long time because even after all this time, nothing changed between us. I honestly can’t wait to make this a regular thing in the upcoming year!
Now for some favorites!
3.) Girls’ Generation (SNSD)
Ever since discovering TWICE earlier this year, I’ve slowly started to immerse myself into the K-Pop world. Groups that are in the business right now are considered to be third generation boy/girl groups, so it was weird that I started to gravitate towards an older group, Girls’ Generation. Girls’ Generation debuted in South Korea in 2007, during the era that boy bands were superior and more well-known. They definitely played a major role in putting girl groups on the map, and I could understand why the group was so well-received. They were a group that was able to grow with your audience as they got older, as well as experiment with different concepts without looking or feeling awkward. They were also all well-rounded international speakers, two in which were born in the United States. Although 4 of its members left the agency and the group, Girls’ Generation will probably always be the girl group, and this month I found myself jamming to their hits.
4.) Joanna Ceddia
If you are a hardcore YouTuber like me, you would’ve heard about Joanna Ceddia’s unique uprising within the past couple of months. Joanna Ceddia is a 17-year-old Canadian YouTuber that gained 1 million subscribers in three weeks. Three weeks, yes, you heard right. Whether or not you heard of her, checked her out and found her content annoying or too “Gen Z-ish”, I found myself obsessed with her content. With people comparing her to “relatable YouTubers” like Emma Chamberlin and Tana Mongeau, I find her to be nothing compared to them, in all honesty. Yes, she makes an extreme amount of silly and mindless type of videos, but she carries this aura that lets her videos know that she’s most likely this quirky and weird in real life as well. When she’s not DIYing her wedding dress or Christmas Tree costume, she gives her viewers a pretty clear image that she’s a pretty smart teenager for her age. She raves about books she reads, she is an athlete, and she has a vocabulary much superior to mine, to be honest. She really does represent the type of YouTube that was before the sponsorships, fancy cameras, production companies, and the business YouTube really is nowadays. Say what you want by her sudden overnight climb to YouTube success; she’s pretty funny.
5.) This Brown Purse
This purse was purchased during my trip to Pennsylvania earlier this month. My friend was showing me around a place called Hobby Lobby, which is basically like a Homegoods and Michaels put into one store (I think for the most part) and I came across this beauty and needed to buy her. Originally, she was 20 bucks, but Tori hooked me up with a 40% off coupon, and this bitch was 12 dollars. TWELVE DOLLARS. Needless to say, there needs to be an NYC opening of Hobby Lobby as soon as possible. My first apartment will be covered in Hobby Lobby decor; I will bet on it!
And that’s about it!
December was such a fun month; I hope January is just as fun!
This “monthly favorites” is going to be quite short; I didn’t really have the time to explore new things or pick up some new hobbies during the month of May, but a lot of exciting things did happen!
So without further ado, here are some things that happened/I enjoyed in the month of May:
1.) Twice
In a world where K-Pop boy band BTS is winning the hearts of millions all over, I found myself obsessing over a K-Pop girl group, which they call themselves Twice. Twice was formed through a survival show competition entitled Sixteen where 16 female JYP trainees were fighting for the 7 spots of JYP Entertainment’s new girl group. JYP is known for forming groups such as GOT7, 2PM, Miss A, and The Wonder Girls. After deciding to make the group 9 members, the official Twice members (according to the order on the photo) are Tzuyu, Jeongyeon, Sana, Jihyo, Nayeon, Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Mina, and Momo. I first heard of the group actually once while in the laundromat in my neighborhood, and the music video (as well as the song) were both very catchy, and I decided to look further into them. When I tell you that their fanbase is massive… it’s insane. Although they aren’t as mainstream in the U.S. as BTS, Twice is internationally known and have the potential to become just as big here as the boy band. I don’t know what it is about K-Pop groups, but they work immensely well compared to American groups. So yeah, check them out if you like cute, girly, catchy K-Pop songs!
2.) Highlight #1: Submitting my Thesis
The submission of my MA Thesis was a bittersweet one. Even weeks after doing so, it’s only until now that I feel like the piece is officially complete. Working on my thesis for two straight years is something I never did with a body of work in my academic career, and letting it go to officially submit felt like sending off my 18-year-old child to an out-of-state college. No, I don’t know how that would feel, but I can imagine it felt like the way I did when I submitted my thesis. At first, I was really determined to get honors on my thesis, but when it only passed, I was grateful that it did even that. My thesis was a controversial one, and there were professors that fit the criteria of the “type” of Professor I wrote about who had to read it. I’ve got comments back having them feel quite defensive of my words, but in the long run, I spoke my truth and now that truth will be published as a scholarly work, which is unreal to me.
3.) Highlight #2: The Graduate Research Conference.
After submitting my thesis for review, I quickly had to put a 5-minute presentation together of it and discuss it in front of an audience. It was an extremely stressful week to say the least, but I got up there and possibly did the best presentation I’ve done in my entire academic career. I was so beyond proud of myself for getting my thesis out there, and for having my thesis advisor support me while I was doing it. It was a great way to end my studies as a grad student, and it’s a moment I won’t be forgetting.
4.) Highlight #3: My Mental Health Journey
I decided to add this in here because my journey towards positive mental health played a major role in May. In early May, I got diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and I’ve been going to therapy every week. I decided to seek out professional help because I felt myself not being able to handle my anxiety by myself anymore due to the fact that my anxiety was now about long-term things I had no control over. Grad school made my anxiety a lot worse, and it’s not going to go away now that it’s over. It’s a process to overcome certain obstacles when there’s anxiety involve, and having to speak them out loud instead of having them circulate in my mind has been extremely helpful. Therapy and going to get your mental health checked isn’t always about getting meds and calling it a day. It’s about taking ownership of your own life instead of allowing your disorders or illnesses take ownership of you.
5.) Highlight #4: Graduating Grad School
I won’t speak about this in detail since there’s already a post on this, but it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t include the most important day of 2018 for me. Almost a week later, it still feels surreal that I’m a Masters Grad, and I’m considered a “Master in English”, and it probably won’t feel real until I get my Masters Degree in my hands but it came, it went, and I couldn’t have had for a better graduation. Despite the weather being rainy and cloudy, I have to say this graduation was a lot better than my undergraduate one. It was seriously just one to remember and cherish as my last graduation ever… that’s if I ever go and pursue my PhD, which isn’t in the picture anytime soon.
So yeah! Hopefully, there are more things to try & to do in June; I mean, I definitely have all the time in the world now. ^__^
I’m aware it’s April 3rd and I’m talking about March things. Looking back at the past month, I realize that with the time I spent away from the blog and social media, I spent it learning new things and finding things that I really enjoyed throughout the month. So, without further ado: here are some of the things I found interesting/unique/awesome in the last month.
1.) Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad
This book has recently been added to my collection of books on my bookshelf so this isn’t included in next week’s post, but one of my classes this semester required us to read this book and when I say it’s so good, it’s amazing. The story follows 17-year-old Cora, a runaway slave who decides to escape her plantation by taking a literal train called the Underground Railroad. When she finds herself in each city destination, she comes face-to-face with a horrific time in history that historically wasn’t possible in 1850. Of course, Whitehead’s purpose of doing so explains more than it being a storyline; it portrays how American history is told and how the ideology of America really is just this big ole delusion that we still believe isn’t really there to this day. It’s a great book that will teach you a lot of history you weren’t taught in grade school during social studies. I recommend this book to everyone. Seriously.
2.) Original Gummy Factory Sour Gummy Worms
Okay, I don’t know where these gummy worms came from, but my campus started selling them in their vending machines and I’ve been hooked on them ever since. They’re super sour which I’m not even a big fan of! These gummies just taste really good and since I started getting them, I’ve been eating them on the way home from class at night and they always hit the spot. Haribo who?
3.) Fat Boy
I swear I’m not a cat person! Ever since we brought home Babygirl, I began to gain a liking for cats, and when I saw this cutie at my job a couple of weeks ago, I instantly fell in love. (p.s: he’s my screensaver). Fat Boy is a 6-year-old black cat that lives at my mother’s workplace. He’s the sweetest and friendliest cat I’ve ever met in my life, no joke. He loves attention, he loves people, and he loves to be petted. It’s crazy to see how different he and Babygirl are; she’s a bit more introverted and skittish and doesn’t trust people until you show her you can be trusted while Fat Boy is friendly to literally everyone. It was really hard to leave and go home that day because I just wanted to spend more time with him!
4.) Chloe x Halle’s album The Kids Are Alright
You might know them from their YouTube covers or you might know them as Beyonce’s prodigies, or you might know them as Jazz and Sky on Freeform’s Grown-ish. Wherever you heard them from, you know them from somewhere, and they are a force to be wrecking with. Chloe x Halle, both sisters but not twins, debuted their first studio album two weeks ago and I could confidently say this is one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in a really long time. Almost every song on the album could be on the radio and their sound is so unique and grown. Plus, you can definitely tell they get their inspiration from Beyonce herself. At the moment, I am highkey obsessed with “Hi Lo”, “Everywhere”, and “Happy Without Me” and I know once I begin to play their songs out I’ll be back on their album on Spotify to gather some new favorites. It’s definitely an album people should give a chance and listen to.
5.) “Dumpster Diving” YouTube Videos
One night, I was surfing through the suggestions section of YouTube and came across this. Now I don’t know what the fascination is with these videos, but I think it’s the fact that I didn’t know people actually went to department stores to “dive” in their dumpsters and pick up thrown away products. I was even more shocked that many of these products were perfectly fine and untouched yet thrown away in the garbage. I’ve seen a couple of these videos and it’s insane how many things people find within these dumpsters. It seems like many dumpster divers target Ulta Beauty stores the most, but it’s crazy to see how many other department stores really just throw out perfectly good products. I mean, have you ever heard of donations? Like an entire box of flip-flops would’ve been beneficial to those who can’t afford shows in the first place. These videos are just intriguing to watch and for a straight week, I was hooked. I still am; who am I kidding?
That’s all for now! Hopefully, April introduces me to a lot of more favorites!
I don’t know about you, but this month has been one of the best months I had in a really long time. We entered a new year, my birthday was this month, and I spent my vacation away from school the way I wanted to. Here are some of my top favorite things that happened or I received in the month of January:
1.) My New Coat!
For my 24th birthday, my grandparents gifted me this amazing navy blue coat. It’s not your typical puffy coat so I’m able to wear sweaters and scarfs with it, and it’s long enough to cover the behind, which is one essential I need my winter coats to do. Since I’ve received it, I’ve been wearing it on the coldest of days (it’s one of those winters) and it’s kept me warm and toasty. I know that this coat will save me from the coldest of nights when I’m traveling home from campus after my late-night classes. I’m ready for the coldest of winters!
2.) Babygirl
This is more so a December Favorite since we got Babygirl in early December, but she’s considered an oldie but goodie in my book. Meet Babygirl! She’s a 10-year-old black cat that was once an office cat at my mother and my sister’s job. Over the years, Babygirl has grown to obsess over my sister, so she decided to take her home where she can live permanently and be around her 24/7! Normally, I am strictly a dog person and the last time my family and I had a cat was when I was little (and she was NOT Nice), so having a cat after having dogs for most of my life was different. It definitely took her some time to get used to me (and me being her treat girl), but Babygirl is such a sweet and gentle cat, and all she wants out of life is to be fed and cuddled with. Welcome to the family, Babygirl!
3.) 24th Birthday & Poughkeepsie Trip
January is my birthday month, and as you guys may know, I turned 24 on the 9th. The day of my birthday, I went to hang out with my partner at his place with a couple of mutual friends and had an absolute blast. I like my birthdays to be extremely chill, but I also like to celebrate by going out and doing something, and to go to his place to chill and turn up was really all I ever wanted. The birthday festivities didn’t stop there! That weekend, he took me to Poughkeepsie and when I tell you that was the best weekend of my life, I really mean it. If you’ll like to read in detail about my trip to Poughkeepsie, here’s the link to that travel diary. All in all, my 24th birthday has had to of been one of the best birthdays I had in a couple of years. I’m glad; a good birthday typically means I’ll have a good year, so let’s see if 2018 still carries this great energy!
4.) “Come on, Wig!”
Yes, I purchased a wig. Wigs are becoming more and more socially acceptable that I finally felt comfortable going on the internet to buy one to test it out. I bought a simple cheap synthetic one just to try it out, and when I say this wig slays, she slays. Now obviously the wig has its flaws and I’m still contemplating whether or not I’ll wear this outside in public, but for the price, the wig is wearable and not cheap looking. After trying on the wig and using my real hair to create the natural hairline in this picture, I realized that I want my hair to go as long as it looks in this picture. Long hair works wonders for me because not only does it make me feel more like myself, but it definitely helps frame my face a lot better than the short hair I’m rocking. I still love my short hair, but I’m ready for it to grow this long. Maybe in a couple of years? Who knows.
5.) Journal
If you think the L stands for Liz, you’re wrong. It stands for loser. I’m kidding. My mother gifted me this journal for Christmas and since the start of the year, I’ve been using it as a daily journal. Yep, I finally got back to daily journaling! It’s a lot smaller than the one I kept back in 2016, but I forgot just how helpful and therapeutic writing in a journal is. So far, it’s been really helpful in organizing my thoughts even though I’ve missed a couple of days in the past month already. It’s the thought that counts, right?!
Back in July, I was planning to publish a post I wrote about some of the favorite things I used or found in the month of July, and life just decided to happen. Even though half of those things are not currently my favorites, I still wanted to share some of the things I’ve been obsessed with during the month of August!
First official month of 2017 has come to an end and what was once my birthday month, is now gone until 2018. With February around the corner, I wanted to share some of my favorite things this month.
So, here’s “10 things that exhibited some interest to me and kept me from dying of boredom this last month” list! 😀
1.) The Fujifilm Instax Mini 26 Instant Camera.
This camera has been something that I’ve wanted for months now. I love taking pictures and capturing moments with friends and family, and I wanted a way to either keep them and put them in my journal or give them out to my friends and family to keep. It’s the one thing I wanted to make a habit in 2017, and so far it’s definitely been a good one.
2.) Ombre Hair color.
A little fun fact: I was once the Ombre Queen before I decided to dye my hair all black for the past year. It was such a great change, but after a while, I did miss having some other color than black in my hair. Because of the build up of black dye I had in my hair, it was literally impossible to make my hair lighter without it instantly turning to a brassy red/orange color. It took me a while to get the somewhat desired hair color I wanted, but that’s a different post for a different day.
3.) Wordpress.com! Excuse the horrific cropping.
Ever since I started TNTH in the beginning of January, I’ve been on the blog site non-stop writing future posts and checking out the stats on published posts. In some sort of funny way, it’s becoming more of a reflex to go on my computer and check out the site, and it’s been a way to kill time during my month-long break.
4.) Laptop. Funny story, I was watching a YouTube Video when I took this.
So, I got my new laptop for Christmas because the one I previously had been not working anymore. I needed a new laptop before the semester started back up because these papers and thesis’ for my grad classes are nothing to joke around with. Before this became my “school” laptop, I regularly would use this everyday to watch videos and write-up blog posts. I don’t know why, but I’ve been obsessed with being on this all day, everyday. Sadly, it’s not going to be so easy to relax on it anymore because of school.
5.) Journal.
Last year, I used to carry around this big, pink journal and wrote something in it every single day for an entire year. I realized towards the end of 2016, my entries weren’t as thought out and entertaining like they once were in the beginning of the year. I still wanted to daily write, but I wanted to make it only when something was worth writing about. Lately, it’s been a book mainly for ideas and scheduling for TNTH, but it does have the occasional entry of an awesome day.
6.) Spotify. My cropping skillz need improvement.
I’m forever on Spotify listening to music no matter where I’m going. I’m a Spotify Premium User, which takes care of the hassle of not being able to listen to what you want on your mobile device. I’m currently listening to A LOT of nostalgic playlists mainly because I’m not really into the mainstream music that is out unless it’s really good.
7.) Wonderstuck by Taylor Swift.
Another Christmas gift that I’m highly obsessed with. Typically, I’m not a perfume person; I just wear some body spray and call it a day. When I first sprayed this perfume on me, it literally stayed on my skin and on my clothing all day long which surprised me because nothing ever stays on me. It’s a new scent and my “beau” likes the smell of it too, so it’s a win-win situation.
8.) Ava & Viv Blue Denim Jacket.
This one is an oldie, but goodie. I got this at Target way back in November, and I still consider it as one of the best buys I’ve made. I still wear it in this cold weather with a lot of underneath layers, and it makes me feel like a 90’s kid all over again. This item will probably make its comeback in another monthly favorites. 😉 It’s just THAT good.
9.) Ava & Viv Marble open Cardigan Sweater.
Another oldie, but goodie. I got this sweater in October, and although I can’t wear it outside that often because it’s too thick to put under a coat, I still wear it as much as I can. You can dress it up or dress it down; it still feels and looks great with whatever you pair it with. Maybe in the future I can buy myself another one in a different color, that’s how great this sweater is.
10.) Miss Jessie’s “Quick Curls” & Neutrogena’s “Triple Moisture” Deep Conditioner.
Because of my now color treated and bleached hair, I need to take extra precautions to take care of it so it doesn’t became too brittle and dry. With any type of bleach in your hair, your hair will show some damage. To keep my hair wavy and soft, I use these two products. The Quick Curls is like putting a softer, more gentle mousse in your hair. The curls don’t feel crunchy like regular mousse does, but yet a soft and moisturize texture. The Triple Moisture deep conditioner has been a holy grail of mine for years, back when I was a blonde. This stuff is amazing for both color-treated and bleached hair; it kept even the most damaged hair of mine soft and easy to manage. It’s definitely a must-buy for all my hair bleached obsessed readers!
And that’s pretty much it! Stay tune for next month’s favorites as I begin my journey to find some new favorites!
Letters From Liz. 