2025 has been another year of change, coming right on the heels of 2024. This year has brought a new house (technically, this happened in July so I won’t go into details here), a new job, friends moving away, meeting new friends, figuring out my workout routine (still in progress), and continuing to adjust from a lifetime of being a student to now being a cog in the wheel.
Did
Went to San Francisco
We spent President’s Day weekend in SF visiting our friend Cindy! The weather was a little cold but we had a great time wandering the city, eating good food, and checking out the Palo Alto/Mountain View area. We found this lamp on the street and carried it with us all day and packed it in our suitcase for the flight home. We stayed at the Queen Anne Hotel in the Japantown area. Though a bit dated, this hotel was very unique and charming. We enjoyed the daily “sherry hour” with cookies. Our stay also included a continental breakfast but we didn’t partake because, honestly, there are too many good bakeries in SF to be messing around with some boxes of cereal.
We discovered a new (to us) coffeeshop called St. Frank, and went there twice over the course of the trip (I loved the pine latte). We also took a walking tour of North Beach, which is a historically Italian area, and visited Alcatraz for the first time. We revisited some favorite spots, including Smuggler’s Cove, Rich Table, B. Patisserie, and Hog Island Oysters. The Friday of that weekend was Valentine’s Day, which Axel and I celebrated in our hotel room with caviar and champagne (very romantic!) Our anniversary is the day before Valentine’s Day, so we had gone out to Felix Trattoria the night before and wanted to do something lowkey for the holiday. Flying in and out of Oakland Airport was a breeze and we had a very fun weekend overall.
Fostered a Dog for the First Time
We had been toying with the idea of fostering for a little while, since, every once in a while, I get it into my head that I want a dog. We were at a street fair in March and there was a foster group (Pup Culture, based in Pasadena) there and we had the opportunity to talk to one of the founders about fostering. They were very nice and said that we could specify what kind of dog we wanted to foster, and wouldn’t have to take on anything we felt unprepared for. So we filled out the application, got permission from our landlord, and requested either a puppy, or a cat-friendly dog under 15 lbs. The same week that we filled out the application, we heard from the rescue that they had a dog that matched our criteria: a 17 lb “chiweenie” named Kendall, who was found on the side of the freeway in San Bernardino.
Axel drove to Van Nuys to grab him and brought him home. The poor little guy was very shy at first, diving under our couch like a cat. But by the end of that first day, we took him to the beach and he really started to warm up to us. We decided to give him a new name as well: Mr. Mocha Bean or MMB for short. MMB changed our daily routine, requiring early morning and late night walks, separation from the cats during feeding time, and a lot more playtime than we were used to. There were times it got rough (his whining at night almost drove me to the brink a couple times) and he was scary strong- he could almost pull me off my feet while walking him so I couldn’t really walk him alone. But he also introduced us to the world of being a dog-owner- people are much friendlier and talkative when you have a dog with you. MMB kind of had an it factor going on, where he drew people’s attention and people would constantly comment on how cute he was (even though he kinda looks like every other dog).
We had had him almost a month and we knew our time with him was drawing to a close, partly because we had travel plans in May. The rescue made an Instagram post of him that went semi-viral and he soon had an application. They came up from San Clemente to pick him up and, after a quick meet-and-greet, he walked out to their car without a second look back. Even though there were times where I really wanted him to find a new home quickly (mostly at 2 am when he was howling), I still broke down in tears when he left. I knew that he would soon forget his time with us, and fall into place with his new owners, just as he was able to forget whatever circumstances that lead to him running around on the side of the freeway, but we would never forget him. Even now, we still get a little emotional when we see photos of him that his new owner posts on instagram. I’m happy we got to be the bridge between his former life and his new forever family though. Maybe we’ll foster again sometime (I think the experience did teach us that we don’t want our own dog right now though- we are happy cat pawrents!).
Gotten Really Into Gardening
I started off my gardening with a single raised planter box and a variety of herb seeds that I got for Christmas and have now progressed to three raised beds and a number of pots and grow bags. In fact, it’s gotten bit out of control and Axel has asked me to put a temporary moratorium on planting new seeds because we just don’t have any more space. Most of what I have planted hasn’t been ready to eat yet, but so far I’ve harvested some swiss chard, radicchio, endives, and a ton of herbs. In the pipeline are squashes, peppers, tomatoes, and an assortment of other things that I’m forgetting. We sadly lost some kale to an infestation of tiny green caterpillars and some plants have fared better than others but I love the seasonality of gardening and how rewarding it is to see something grow from a seed all the way into its final edible form. It’s given me a stronger appreciation of just how much work goes into producing the food that we eat and all the human hands along the way.
Went to Hawaii
For my birthday in June we went to Oahu and the Big Island. As usual, everything was amazing. There is truly nowhere I would rather go than Hawaii. My aunt and uncle live on the Big Island, so I grew up traveling there. And yes, I am an Oahu stan. I have yet to go to Maui, which seems to be a lot of people’s favorite, but I feel like Oahu has everything I could ask for- beautiful beaches and less-traveled scenery, as well as great restaurants and bustling city life. We stayed at the Halepuna, a sister hotel to the storied Halekulani, which has become our favorite hotel on Oahu. I will be doing a full Oahu travel guide at some point, with all our favorite spots on the island.
Bought
As usual, I’ve been shopping. This post covers the first six months or so of the year, so it’s not quite as severe as looks, but I will focus on my purse shopping in order to keep this section to a reasonable length.
MZ Wallace Micro Crosby Sling (in Magnet)
I’ve been on a mini bag kick. I refuse to carry larger purses, becuase I get shoulder pain quickly, so I was on the search for the tiniest bag possible that still held my essentials (phone, wallet, sunglasses, hand lotion, lipbalm, and mints). I was using the Topo Designs Mini Shoulder Bag (which is still a great bag that holds a surprising amount) but wanted something that looked a bit less sporty. I have another purse from MZ Wallace and like that their designs are a bit elevated while still being practical and lightweight for daily use (i.e., not leather). This bag lives up to its name by being truly tiny, but it still holds everything I listed above (holding car keys is harder- it takes some shoving to get everything inside). It comes with three different straps, which gives you the option to keep it as a crossbody or turn it into a shoulder bag. So far, I am really happy with this purchase.
Uniqlo Round Ultra Mini Bag (Black)
1URight after I bought the MZ Wallace bag, we were at Uniqlo and I happened to see that they had a new, smaller version of their Round Mini Bag, called the Round Ultra Mini Bag. Sure, it looked like a great size and was a steal at just $9.90, but it felt extravagant as I had just bought a new purse (for context, I typically buy a purse once every 3 to 5 years). However, Axel was the little devil on my shoulder, saying, “how would this not be useful?” And he was right. This bag fits quite a bit more than the MZ Wallace bag, such as keys and AirPods, in addition to what I listed above. I have used it numerous times since purchasing. I particularly like it for travel, since I don’t; have to care about it getting dirty. I have the original Round Mini Shoulder Bag, but I really never use it, as it’s just a touch too big for me to comfortably carry, so this was the perfect purchase.
Mansur Gavriel Mini Candy Bag (Rose)
Okay this last one was a birthday gift, but it fits the theme so I am including it. The only shoulder bag I owned was one I had gotten from Amazon in a pinch and it served me fine, until I took it out to a gay bar one night and someone complimented me and asked where it was from and then looked disdainfully at me after I said Amazon. I decided that I needed a respectable shoulder bag. Mansur Gavriel is a brand I’d heard of before, as a decent mid-priced option, so when I saw that their Mini Candy Bag was on sale in the Rose color (now sold out), I asked Axel for it for my birthday. It had quite the journey getting to us for some reason, and went all the back to New Jersey after reaching LA, so I only received it about a week ago. I haven’t had a chance to take it out on the town yet, but so far, I think it is adorable. The pink color has a pearly finish and the bag is very structured. It easily fits my phone, along with my wallet and a pared-down set of essentials. The pink color might be a little hard to match with some outfits, but I think it works fairly well as a girly neutral. I plan on taking it to New York at the end of the month, so I’ll give it a test-run then.
Read
I’ve read a spate of historical (albeit recent history) nonfiction books this year that have taught me a lot about subjects that I previously knew nothing about. These are a bit out of my usual wheelhouse of books, but I really enjoyed the writing styles and interesting facts that I learned through reading these books.
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green: Tuberculosis is the world’s oldest disease, and apparently John Green’s (the The Fault in Our Stars guy) hyper fixation over the last few years. Obviously I’ve heard of tuberculosis before, and got tested for it prior to starting college because I was never vaccinated against it (born in Japan things), but I did not realize how prevalent it still was in many poor countries. John Green has found a way to relate many aspects of daily life back to tuberculosis, and why some countries still struggle heavily with it. The book follows a young boy in Africa named Henry through his battle with the disease and examines the many factors that compound to turn a disease that is curable and rare in wealthy countries, to a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.
There’s a lot of John Green in this book, which became a little wearing at times, but it was a pretty short, engaging read overall. 4/5
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah’s autobiography, all about his life growing up in South Africa. I know very little about South Africa, particularly firsthand accounts, so I found this book fascinating. It’s a good mix of personal anecdotes and explanation of what day-to-day life was like during apartheid, while he was growing up. It’s really wild to think that this was something that was happening so recently. The book doesn’t really cover how he went from a poor kid in South Africa to a world-famous TV personality, but maybe he’s saving that for another book. (I can’t reasonably rate memoirs)
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder & Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Redden Keefe
This book covers The Troubles, the period of conflict in Northern Ireland between the 1960s to 1990s. If you’ve seen Derry Girls (one of my favorite tv shows ever) you’ll be familiar with the later stages of this conflict. This book centers the narrative around the story of a woman named Jean McConville, a mother of ten who disappeared in 1972. It was widely known in the area that the IRA was responsible, but she remained missing until a set of bones were found on an Irish beach in 2005, over thirty years later. The story weaves in the origins of the conflict and covers many of the most famous participants in the conflict, including . This was an amazing read that taught me so much about things I knew very little about before.4/5
