Hope everyone had a great holiday season! Here are some pictures I took about a month ago when I went hiking with my family. It seems to have become our family tradition to go out and hike whenever we celebrate holidays. :)
Mel
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| "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on." -Robert Frost |
There are only 4 more days until my fate for the rest of my life is decided...
Just kidding! Although, honestly, sometimes this entire college app process feels that way.
In 4 more days, I will be hearing back from the college I applied Early Action to. The chances of success are very slim. Seriously, the chance that I'll be admitted are so abysmal, I don't know why I still hope. But for some reason, I just can't let go of that hope. I keep fantasizing about getting in, the quickening of my heartbeat in excitement when reading the word "Congratulations" and the pride I'll see on my parents' faces.
Sometimes, I can't distinguish between what I want more: admiration and approval from those around me or to attend the college of my dreams. I mean, isn't my dream college my "dream" because it will win me validation from others? There are undoubtedly things I love about the college I've applied to. Yet, I have to admit, what I love about it the most is the prestige it carries with its name.
Another part of me wants to be admitted purely out of fear of being rejected. Being rejected would lead me to question myself: am I not good enough? What have I done wrong? Do I need to rewrite my application? What is wrong with me?
Getting into a certain college won't guarantee any success later in life. Yet, in my mind, success and a prestigious university almost seem synonymous. Truth is, I'm insecure. And getting into a brand name college would validate my ability to succeed.
Everyone fails. It's common knowledge that everyone fails. And it's inevitable sometimes. Yet, failure is petrifying. Because what if we fall down and can't get back up? Does it signal the end?
Ultimately, what sets apart successful people isn't their immunity to failure but rather their ability to recover from failure. That determination, that undying desire to achieve is the most powerful, not a famous university's name on a resume.
I'm still deathly afraid of opening that decision next Thursday. But if the results are less than satisfactory, it doesn't signal the end. Far from it.
Two months ago on the way to Knott's, we made a stop at Healthy Junk to grab some vegan and gluten-free comfort food.
OUR ORDER:
- 3 Classic burgers
- Skinny Fries
- Crispy Chick Wings
- Mango Tango Salad
While munching on the burger, I realized how familiar the taste was; it tasted almost identical to the In-n-Out burgers my mom and I used to eat every weekend before I went vegan. I don't know how they did it, but the sauce in the burger was spot-on. The fries and chicken wings were also amazing—I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!
Unfortunately, after several rides, I threw up at Knott's—Healthy Junk left me very full and not at all in good condition to go on roller coasters.
Overall, Healthy Junk was a great stop for a vegan who loves junk food. I would love to go again, though wouldn't recommend going on any rides after.
Before my last post, I hadn't updated my blog for a good 2 months (not at all surprising considering my track record at this point).
I'm so excited for my sister and now brother-in-law.
Since then, so many exciting things (hence the title) have happened/are happening.
1) Perhaps the most exciting...
My sister got married to her true love!
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| lovely photo taken by the photographer |
I'm so excited for my sister and now brother-in-law.
2) Got my SAT score back...
This had been something I was stressing about for pretty much the entire summer, so when they were finally released, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
I did fantastic on multiple choice but completely bombed the essay which I was pretty surprised to see. Disappointing, but overall, I'm very happy with my composite score and hard work!
I have SAT Subject Tests in less than a week, wish me luck. :P
I have SAT Subject Tests in less than a week, wish me luck. :P
3) Family
My grandma and aunt are currently staying with us in America, which I am so happy about. I love having more opportunities to spend time with them and have some company in our usually empty house.
4) Fun stuff
I'm currently in the college application process which is very, very fun. It's kind of surreal to even be at this point in my high school career; I always dreamed about going to college and what life would be like.
I'm 90% sure my hair will either a. turn gray or b. fall out by the time decisions time rolls around. I'm already always on edge.
5) Virgos!
My English teacher, myself, my father, my brother-in-law's brother (who is also my brother-in-law but I'm just being specific), and my dog Gremlin all had/have our birthdays during September. I had an awesome birthday with my family, eating delicious vegan Thai food and celebrating with a chocolate cake from Whole Foods (vegan, of course).
Overall, this month so far has been a crazy one, one of the most exciting and hectic, that's for sure!
mel
mel
Here's something I wrote about a month ago after I finished watching the movie version of Before I Fall. I had so many thoughts swirling around me head I needed to transfer through my fingertips onto a blank Google Doc.
. . .
When is time ever on your side? I can probably count the times time has been on my side. Time is either always running out when you’re having fun or taking too long when you’re not, counting the seconds as they pass.
Right now, I’m at a stage in my life when I just want time to pass by quickly. I just want to speed time up and move on to the next chapter of my life. There are many stressors that affect me on a daily basis; and I’m tired of living sometimes. But every instant I spend wasting life wishing it would go by faster, or stay still, time still has an agenda of its own. Time flows in one direction, at a certain pace. Frustrating as it is, time is undeniably precious. Every drop of it should be salvaged and savoured for each second.
I had a terrifying yet relieving realization: at any given moment, our lives can change drastically, for the better or for the worse. There are so many variables that can occur in one day-you never seem to realize just how life could change within an instant until it alreayd has. To be blunt, at any given time, our given time on earth could be cut short, erased to zero. We have absolutely no idea when that time will come, but we certainly know it’s inevitable. But are we conscious of it? Look at the number of people working jobs they hate or pursuing a degree they couldn’t care less about. How many of us are truly living meaningful and fulfilling lives?
There are times life is full of darkness. It’s so dark that you can’t see the light at the end of that darned tunnel. And there are times our lives are full of radiating light. Truth is, everything is temporary. Both the dark and the light, the bad and the good. Time flows in one direction, and one direction only. Time flows according to its own pace. For now at least-perhaps there will be a day us humans can manipulate its flow. But for now, we can rely on the passing of time can to be both reassuring and depressing. It’s so interesting how much time can vary and change depending on the circumstance.
One thing is undeniable. Time is limited. As each day passes, only some of us are lucky to see another. How we spend our time is up to us. What indeed shall we do with it?
(My sister asked if these photos would make it on the blog, and indeed, they did!)
I've missed blogging so much—I was looking back on my old posts from when I visited China, and I was just reminded once again of how much I enjoy blogging.
Unfortunately, I haven't had much to blog about, and as a result, the steady stream of content on my blog has been conspicuously... nonexistent.
A few weeks ago I did travel to San Francisco with my mom for my sister's bridal shower (hi Audrey), and she took us to an absolutely divine vegan Mexican Restaurant called Gracias Madre.
We ordered the Bowl Uno, Bowl Dos, Coliflor Frito, and a chorizo and potato dish (I can't find the name). I loved the food—the closest thing to Mexican food I usually eat is a sofritas bowl at Chipotle. This restaurant's food was amazingly flavorful and wonderfully bright and aesthetic, and it's always a great day when I can pick anything on the menu and not worry if it's vegan or not.
That's it for my very quick update, I plan to be back soon!
XX, Mel
One of my absolute favorite cuisines is Thai food. Of course, I'm not claiming at all that my palette is any bit refined: I'm that generic girl who orders a Pad Thai every single time at every single restaurant.
That being said, I've recently tried two different types of Pad Thai... (wow I know)
The first was at My Vegan, a vegan Thai restaurant. I, of course, got the Pad Thai, while my dad got the spicy ramen, which he much preferred to that nasty salad situation at Veggie Grill. His words (not exactly), not mine.
Not to mention, the day we happened to walk into this restaurant, there was a buy one get one free Thai Iced Tea deal, which made me just about the happiest girl in the world. It had been such a long time since I had Thai tea, and it was delicious.
I loved this restaurant: the taste was on point. This Pad Thai was probably the best Pad Thai I had ever tried.
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| Don't you just love this lovely low quality pic? I know I do. |
The second was from the Royal Siam Cuisine Thai Restaurant. My family and I stopped by to grab some lunch on our way to Joshua Tree Park. This restaurant is not vegan, but the dishes, for the most part, can all be made vegan.
While this Pad Thai was quite good, it wasn't my favorite--the sauce and noodles just weren't quite to my liking.
All in all, both restaurants do serve up some pretty nice dishes, and both would be a great stop for some Thai food.
Now I'm very hungry.
mel
For months I had heard of this heaven for vegans called Veggie Grill. So many people had told me of its glory. And I finally got to savor its splendor... about a half a year ago.
Since my first Santa Fe Crispy Chicken Sandwich, I've been to Veggie Grill twice more: once for my friend's birthday and once when I was touring colleges in LA.
Here are some lovely foods I've tried:
Buffalo Wings
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| Yes that is my finger on the left because I am indeed a professional blogger. |
Koreatown Tacos
Santa Fe Crispy Chicken Sandwich
Beyond Burger
I included shots of the food the people with me ordered as well. The last two shots are of the "burger that bleeds"--the first which was enjoyed by my friend + co. and the second by me during my LA trip.
During my LA trip, my dad also ate a tofu salad sort of situation that he did not like one bit,
Besides my dad's unfortunate dish, all of the foods above were great choices from the menu. The fake meat is spot on and their fries are super yummy.
Stay tuned for more of my food diaries!
mel
I'm not sure how to start off this blog post.
For a while, I felt the drive to post every day on this blog, and you saw how that turned out.
It's been many months since I've posted on this blog, and I can't promise this will be my last hiatus.
But for now, I am back, and I've missed blogging a lot. Through this blog I've been able to express my mind's inner workings, and I've been given a platform to document my memories and experiences.
Let's get this summer started!
Hello everyone!
I started this cleaning project during December and haven't quite gotten around to finishing it. However, I wanted to post what I did manage to accomplish so far.
This was my room before...
I started this cleaning project during December and haven't quite gotten around to finishing it. However, I wanted to post what I did manage to accomplish so far.
This was my room before...
I decided to try out the Konmari cleaning method. I made some mistakes along the way, but I followed the general guidelines. Here's how it went...
The Konmari method requires that we clean in this order: clothes, books, papers, and miscellaneous. We must focus on categories as opposed to certain areas (i.e. clothes instead of closet).
This post will tackle clothing. I gathered up all of my clothing from my drawers and moved them to the middle of my room. I made 4 piles of clothes: keep, sell, donate, and return (there were a lot of clothes in my room that I had "borrowed" and never returned). The Konmari method requires us to keep only what sparks joy.
After sorting through all my clothing, I was left with several bags of stuff to be donated. Here's where I strayed from the Konmari method a bit; I also started packing up toys that were in my closet as well.
I also started rolling my clothes, which I was not accustomed to; I usually would fold or just stuff that shit in.
So that's what I managed to accomplish so far; there is still much to be done, and I'll be sure to update you as I go along.
Thanks for reading!
mel
Thanks for reading!
mel
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| I noticed that all of my recent blog posts are picture-less and boring, so I wanted to spruce things up. Here's a random, unrelated picture of a flower I took weeks ago. I also added some photos to my other posts. :) |
Ciao~
Today was a pretty chill day—I lazed around most of the day, which I regret now. A quick summary of some really interesting things I did today:
1. Woke up, played computer games
2. Some SAT practice
3. Watched Youtube videos
4. Went for a 10 minute run with Gremlin
5. Took a bath
6. Ate dinner with my mom, aunt, and cousin
7. Went on a walk
8. Did math homework
And now I'm blogging. I wanted to ramble about some of my favorite books, as well as what I'm currently reading.
A couple blog posts ago, I mentioned that I had given up on Isla and the Happily Ever After (that book was wack), and it was a good decision, as I have been assigned to read Huckleberry Finn for school.
I'm also rereading To All the Boys I've Ever Loved Before because the series' final book is coming out in a few months. I'm so excited—To All the Boys I've Ever Loved Before is definitely my favorite contemporary novel I've read so far. I absolutely adore Lara Jean and love her quirky, vintage style.
That's going to be it for my ramble today, thank you for reading!
mel
Hello everyone,
I hope you've all had a great day today. I'm about to go to sleep but wanted to give my thoughts on Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.
Before I begin this review you should know a) I didn't finish the book (as the title of this post suggests) and b) I do love Stephanie Perkins' writing—Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door were both charming reads.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Isla and the Happily Ever After. Oh my gosh, reading this book was so frustrating I couldn't get through all of it. Here are the notes I took while reading...
1. Thought Josh was Max for some reason...? Wow, my memory is great.
2. I really like Kurt!
3. Wait a minute... Josh, Isla's crush of 3 years who Isla has obsessively stalked, likes her back? What is this?
4. Don't mean to drag on poor Isla, but does she have a life outside of Josh?
5. THIS BOOK IS TOO HEART FLUTTERING.
6. How is Isla the top student at this competitive boarding school? She literally spends all her time thinking about Josh.
7. WOW THIS RELATIONSHIP ESCALATED FAST.
8. Isla claims to be this shy, timid girl, yet she wasn't too shy with Josh on their first date.
9. Is everyone in this book extremely attractive and wildly talented or brilliant?
10. Debating if I should give up on reading this book...
11. "When it's Josh looking at me... I don't mind..." what?
12. What even is book? Fairy dust and rainbow sparkles? Where is the substance?
So it's safe to say I was not the biggest fan of this book. There was just too much fluff, and the characters were such boring, privileged little twats.
Again, I know many people absolutely loved this book, so I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade but this just wasn't my taste.
Thanks for reading!
mel
P.S. I always pronounce "Isla" as "Iz-la".
Hi everyone,
These past few days I've been feeling as though my content on this blog has not been at par with what I wanted when I first decided to daily blog. I was pretty satisfied with my first two blog posts that I put up this month, but this week has been very gray.
By gray I mean dull, monotonous, and even depressing. My family is currently grieving a loss, and I've been feeling long bouts of anxiety. Practicing mindfulness has helped, but I still feel the anxiety creeping up on me when I'm not paying attention.
Even though I feel as though my life is in shades of gray these days, I want to document these times. I don't mean to be cheesy, but before every rainbow, there will always be a rain. Right now I'm not going through the most pleasant time of my life, but as always, things will get better. We just have to wait for the storm to pass.
For now, I will continue to practice mindfulness on a daily basis while waiting out the storm.
Thanks for reading,
mel
Hey everyone,
Right now I'm going through a rather dark time in my life, so I've decided to add another daily practice into my life—mindfulness.
I've been very stressed out the past few hours and really needed to recharge myself. So, naturally, I searched up what I should do on Google.
This website was very helpful for me to learn more about mindfulness, and I'm going to implement it into all parts of my life starting today, right now. I listened to the 5 minute meditation just now, and I'm feeling much more at ease.
I still have a long way to go, but this is a start. We all have to start from somewhere, so don't expect to start meditating for hours on end!
I'll keep you all updated as I continue my practice—let me know how you are faring as well.
mel
I'm writing this blog post on January 30th, but it will be posted tomorrow. Before I published my previous blog post, I hadn't known that today, I lost someone in my family.
I haven't been able to spend as much time as I'd like to with this person, but I mourn the lost of this person, and it's jarring seeing the pain and suffering of the people around me.
I'm not a religious person, so I don't take comfort in knowing that this person is in a better place, and that is definitely something no one should say to another person during a time of lost.
I'm still in shock; this doesn't seem real. This death was so sudden and abrupt; I don't know how I'm feeling right now.
Just a quick update on my thoughts.
mel
Hello everyone, I'm back!
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, today I will be reviewing Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.
This review will contain spoilers, but I'll begin with a basic review of the book.
In short, I absolutely loved this book! I finished within a few days—Cath is such a relatable character. Even though I would say I'm extremely different from her, there were so many moments I saw my past self in her. The characters in this book are all quite wonderful and lovable, and it was nice to take a break from all the dramatic books I've been reading and read something fun.
If you love contemporary books like me, I highly recommend this one; it's one that I really enjoyed reading. Now onto the spoiler section!
SPOILERS BELOW
a. Dialing 911 into my phone and holding my finger over call is totally something I'd do while walking back home alone.
b. Cath (and a lot of the characters in this book) seems to have unhealthy conflict resolutions—she literally just pretends like nothing happened instead of addressing the issue, something I did a lot as a kid.
c. Wow, Nick is freaking annoying.
d. Abel is annoying too.
e. I really like Reagan; she was one of my favorite characters.
f. I've never been a fan of fan fiction, but its interesting to see Rowell's take on Harry Potter with Simon and Baz.
g. What even was that ending though? I thought part of the book was missing or something... There was a good chapter or two that I still needed to get some closure.
h. What an amazing professor!
This was just a quick list--I didn't take notes while reading (which I should), so I'm probably leaving out a lot of details. But have no fear, I'm currently reading Isla and the Happily Ever After, and I will be sure to keep track of my thoughts.
That's all for this quick book review—see you tomorrow!
mel
Hello everyone!
A summary of my day:
a. Started off the morning pretty early; I went to the animals shelter and hung out with the cats.
b. Went grocery shopping with my dad and bought a bunch of overpriced vegan food... I might do a haul in the future. :)
c. Came back home, took a shower, and then set off for lunch.
d. Went to a Buddhist temple to celebrate Chinese New Year (which was yesterday actually, yet there was still a lot of people).
e. Came back home, finished Fangirl (review coming soon!), and worked on some homework.
f. Had a lovely dinner with my family and went on a walk.
Now I have to finish the rest of my homework; I'll probably be sleeping late today! Goodnight everyone!
mel
Surprise, it's me! (Actually, this is a scheduled post but it still counts right?)
I haven't been doing much of anything these days which leaves me time to get back into one my favorite pastimes: reading. I used to be quite the avid reader and then school started getting busier and I started to get addicted to YouTube instead.
But this month has been different—I actually finished two books, and I'm working on the third (Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell)! Both of these books I'm reviewing today happen to be the finales to their respective trilogies.
This review is going to be very quick and incomplete; it only contains one spoiler, which I've labeled for your convenience.
The first is The Midnight Star by Marie Lu. I can't remember if I reviewed The Young Elites or The Rose Society, which are the first and second books of this trilogy.
I forgot most of the details from the first two books going into this third book, so I didn't know what was happening and who was who most of the time. A few notes about this trilogy as a whole:
a. I love that the main character is an antihero; it makes her so much more interesting. Granted, I don't really like her (she's really extra) but that's a minor detail.
b. Now that I think about it, I don't really like any of the characters in this book...
c. SPOILER ALERT! I wonder if Enzo did truly love Adelina... I was disappointed when he said the name of some other girl. But I do like Magiano, so it's all good.
d. This book got really confusing and complicated near the end, but I really liked how it ended.
Overall, I did enjoy reading this series; it's very interesting, and the setting it takes place in is so cool. But the characters were kind of bland; none of them were very likable, in my opinion.
The second book I read was The Black Key by Amy Ewing. I definitely remember reviewing the first book, The Jewel, but not the second.
This book is extremely similar to The Hunger Games, minus the actual games and the love triangle. The main character is strikingly similar to Katniss; they could very well be the same person. I also see many parallels between other characters (i.e. Violet and Prim, Lucien and Cinna, etc.)
To me, this trilogy is just another run-of-the-mill YA fiction series (as was The Young Elites). However, the world it takes place in is very interesting; I often found myself imagining what my life would be like if I were to live in this world (which, thankfully, I don't). I often predicted what would happen, but nonetheless, I couldn't stop flipping the pages to see what would happen next. Again, the characters aren't lovable at all, but if you enjoy reading this genre, you would probably like this trilogy.
So that's the end of today's post! Hopefully more book reviews will be coming in the future. I'm almost done with Fangirl, so look forward to that review!
I'd love to hear what you thought of either of these books if you've read them. Thanks for reading!
mel
Hello everyone!
It has been over a month since I've last blogged—is it just me or has this sentence been my go to introduction to every one of my posts these days?
I'm finally back, and it's 2017! I hope you all had a great holiday season and have been having a fantastic new year. To be honest, my new year so far has been extremely tiring—every day is so repetitive and long and dreary and depressing....
Anyways, something I've been considering lately is daily blogging. I know that sounds comical coming from me, considering how this blog post started off. However, I was thinking of posting quick snippets of my life on this blog, so each blog post would be short and sweet. I'm going to try giving it a go and see how long it takes to wear me out.
Even though the weekdays seem to drift by slower than ever, I can't believe the end of January is near. I mean, what?! Where did the time go? The end of this year is going to signify a huge change in my life, and I want to document it right here, on this blog.
Anyways, that's all from me today. I wouldn't blame you if you don't believe me, but I'll be here tomorrow. In fact, I'm probably going to work on some blog posts right now.
Thank you so much for reading!
mel
