Gratitude | Jin’s May 2025

This month I was able to do a lot of reflecting and I couldn't help feeling so much gratitude for everything in my life.

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Lifestyle: Travel & Relationships

Friends

Flea Market

I've been wanting to check out the Los Feliz Flea Market for a hot minute and it was suggested by my friend to check it out together! The flea market was huge and there was so much to look around. I was surprised by how there was even a whole pickleball court there! The highlight was a cute little "photobooth" section where there was an artist drawing the people in cute characters! All in all, it was such a fun hang out and made me want to do more fun activities as part of a hang out instead of just grabbing food.

Love

10K

My boyfriend decided to challenge himself and sign up for the 10K with his friends. I was so proud to see him make it to the finish line and it made me want to perhaps join a 10K one day in the future, though I definitely do not see a marathon in my future. I was also excited to surprise him with a sign to cheer for his race!

Mother's Day

My boyfriend and I was able to celebrate mother's day with his mom and it was quite lovely. We got to try a new restaraunt and it was all nicely decorated for Mother's Day, which I believe his mom really enjoyed. It felt surreal because last year I had got some flowers to give to her through him but I hadn't actually met her yet. I can't believe a year has already come by and we were now able to eat and celebrate together.

Family

Laguna Beach

This month was also my dad's birthday! We have a tradition where we go travel during the memorial day weekend as it's also my dad's birthday weekend. My dad has always talked about wanting to stay at the Casa Loma hotel in Laguna Beach and I decided to book it for him for his birthday this year. It was also nice to stay local since my brother couldn't make it on the trip! I felt very proud that I was able to use my big girl money to spoil my dad, especially at a place where we used to come often as a kid. Walking around the area brought back a lot of good memories and I only hope that my dad had a blast.

Work

Hairchella

They hosted a little hairchella at work this month as a fun activity and it was so much fun to take a little break from our desks in the office and get together. We also joked around as I wasn't able to make it to Coachella this year so this was in replacement of it. As a side tangent, I did end up buying next year's Coachella's ticket and I'm excited to be back in the desert after a little break this year.

Cancun

This month, my team was able to go to Cancun for an employee retreat. I was able to bond with my coworkers a lot! Some of the highlights have to be the boat/ snorkeling ride, yacht party, and making titkoks in the room while our coworkers went out to clubbing. Another fun moment was when my Gen Z coworkers and I were sat down during the songs at the yacht party since they were older songs we couldn't recognize but we were finally able to sing our hearts out when they played Pink Pony Club and Espresso. I want to reflect on the trip a bit more on the next section but all in all it was such a fun trip!

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Lows & Lessons:

Life has still been busy and chaotic with lots of back to back trips that I'm still trying to find a balance of my solo/ personal time and spending time with family/ friends. It's been a little tough to find time to do all that I want, while making sure that I don't feel burntout. I've also started sleeping later and later again, which I think all the different time difference/ jet lags has not been helping with. I definitely want to work on it a bit more next month, but not sure how it'll go as I have another trip that will impact the time differences/ jet lags. I want to make sure I get good enough rest/ sleep each night, but for some reason sleep becomes the last thing I want to do and I end up scrolling through tiktok for way too long before I end up actually sleeping.

Besides that, I wanted to use this time to reflect on my work trip. It honestly felt so surreal to be in Cancun for a fun employee retreat and I felt so grateful. I specifically remember a moment at night where I filled up my bath tub for a little bath and I spend the time reflecting and feeling gratitude. It was only a few years ago where I felt so lost in my career and I wasn't sure that I'll ever make it to where I belong or where I wanted to be. Since then, I worked really hard to get to where I am and it's always hard to find time to feel grateful when you're busy with work. However, it was a moment where I really was able to take the time to feel grateful for all that I had and worked so hard for. I'm also so grateful to have the friendships I do at work. I used to be a big seprate work from life and that I didn't have to make friends at work. However, this job showed me how fruitful it is when you actually like and get along with the people at work. This trip would not have been as fun if I didn't like the people I was going with. All in all, I was very proud and thankful for the opportunity.

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Songs on Repeat:

party 4 u - Charli xcx

Pink Pony Club - Chappell Roan

Thinking Of You - Katy Perry

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My Pick of the Month: Homemade Ginger Shots

I've always been a huge fan of ginger shots and I usually got them from Trader Joes or Wholefoods. However, this month I had leftover ginger from cooking Hainan Chicken as well as tangerines and lemons that I needed to use before my next trip. Therefore, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make some homemade ginger shots and they turned out so great! I honestly for some reason realize how easy they were to make and it's been so fun making a batch! I also would give them out to my friends for health and it's been really fun! I think it's something I would definitely continue to make homemade even after my trip.

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All in all, I'm feeling grateful for all of the relationships in my life and I'm thankful for myself for working hard to keep them strong. I think it's hard to reflect in our daily day to day lives, but this month was a great time to pause and reflect. I was able to thank myself for my hard work as well as rejuvenate to keep going.

Talk to you next month,

-- Jin