Ever since I moved out of my family home, I’ve never been able to sleep past 8AM. No matter what time I fall asleep, I automatically wake up. A part of me still thinks my mom is in the kitchen cooking breakfast still.
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Summer Vacation: Day 1 Burlington, Vermont
First vacation of the summer!
Last year, my friend who I was a bridesmaid 2 summers ago gave birth to a beautiful baby. I finally made plans to see this little munchkin. Last I saw my friend was when she was at the early stage of pregnancy still at a condo. This time, she is a mother and a homeowner!
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Have Happiness, Will Travel
My goal in life has never been to have a family or get married. And it’s still pretty true. I want a child, I want love, but if I don’t have any of them, my life doesn’t end there. It goes on.
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First 5k Run
When I was 12, I was in a car accident. I broke my hip and was in a body cast for almost 4 months. When I recovered, it took an extra 4 months of physical therapy and even taking a special Charm class to learn to walk without a limp. Once in awhile, when the weather changes, it would hurt so much that limping is e only way to get me across a room.
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A Weekend of Food at LIC & Celebrating Bastille Day
It was another hot and humid weekend, a heathen summer, thus far. I can count the many hours the heat has hindered me and held me down to slumber. This weekend was not going to be another wasted weekend.
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Jazz Cruising into Her 30th
“The training wheels are officially off,” said my friend on her 30th birthday.
It’s true because I found the 20s was just an extension of one’s teenage years, full of angst, uncertainty, self consciousness, and self loathing at times. But something clicks when you reach a certain point and life changes, in a very good way. Work is still hard and loathsome at times. But life appears more vast and more exciting, if you don’t have regrets and longing for the past. It has open-doors everywhere and any of them can be great if you took a chance, instead of holding on to memories.
My friend hasn’t always been the type of girl to put herself out there. But in the past couple of years, she’s been slowly moving out of the shell she encompassed herself. She ventured out of several doors, sometimes running through them, and seeing the world! And I found I love her even more, admire her strength to face her fears, and am encouraged by her outlook on life. She may not have been the outgoing, rambunctious, party goer, drinker, and average 20 years old but she has always been a constant friend even with distance.
I was so excited when she invited me to her 30th birthday party on a jazz cruise on the Hudson River. I didn’t know anyone save her parents who I haven’t seen since sophomore year in college. But the moment they saw me, they all hugged and kissed me, enveloping me into their family. I felt so loved and welcomed. There was no pretension or ingenuity.
Her family and friends are loving, respectful, and just so much fun. They never made me feel like an outsider or the random friend who wanted brunch buffet on a cruise with them (the company makes the food and the entire experience amazing!).
I feel so grateful to know her and her family and friends.
Prepping the cruise with some motion sickness pills and keeping hydrated in the heat.
Arriving at Pier 40. Fortunately, there was a sign to the ship.
Amazing venue for a great price!
They seated us to a large table for 13 as a jazz trio played music as we entered.
I think I overdid my first plate.
Dessert was overfloweth!
Hanging out with the birthday girl on the top deck as we arrive towards the Statue of Liberty.
Ending the cruise with cake and view of Statue of Liberty. Did you know her parents have been together and in love for over 30 years? I can’t wait until that’ll be me one day.
Traveling
Curiosity seems like a natural thing when you see babies giggling and following mobiles and playing with simple block toys. They crawl to reach for things, for places they don’t know. It seems so natural to want to learn, we want to know and we want to grow. So when I hear that someone dislikes traveling, I start to question their childhood because traveling is a form of curiosity.
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A Berry Happy Afternoon
Every year after Father’s Day, my mother used to take us all out of the house, after a long winter hibernating at home and school, to go strawberry picking. It was an annual outing that I loved! To be out in the sun, in the field, eating fresh fruits, and listening to wild birds and bugs chirping. Massachusetts’ farms are the type that are deep in the towns, hard to find places, surrounded by thick forests. So I imagined it would be much like that when my roommate suggested going strawberry picking in Long Island. It’s not as romantic as when I was a child but it’s the company that makes it memorable.
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Castle Williams & LMCC Open Studios
Memorial Day weekend came and went like a blur. Every time I have a three-day weekend, I say to myself, why can’t it always be a 3-day weekend? Wouldn’t that be perfect? Of course, it’s never truly a 3-day weekend when you inject work into one of the day to prepare for the week in advance. In any case, I didn’t want to travel far this time and decided to just keep it close to home.
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Poughkeepsie: The Houses of FDR and the Vanderbilt’s
The Northeast isn’t known for its mountain and beaches like the west nor is it known for its great plain like the Midwest. Instead, it’s known for its quaint historical towns littered with historical estates that rivals that of the chateaus of Loire Valley in France. Having grown up in New England most of my life and then moving to New York for college and eventually staying for my career, I’ve seen and done my fair share of tourism and historical walks. You cannot visit Massachusetts without doing the Freedom Trail, remnants of the American Revolution. Likewise, you also cannot visit the Hudson Valley without visiting the buccaneers’ home from the Industrial Revolution.
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