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Hello hello! It weirdly feels like it’s been forever since I last wrote a blog post but it’s been the same amount of time that it always has! I think it must be because Stephanie and I took a break over July and did not post any other content except a June recap blog in July. Not going to lie, sometimes making these blog posts can seem like a hassle because I have to make time out of my day to write it out. However, I always feel grateful afterward because I truly get to reflect and live through the memories I made in the past month. I also get excited over the fact that it will be something I can always look back on and reflect on!
Lifestyle: Aloha Hawaii
The highlight of this month has to be my trip to Hawaii with Stephanie. Stephanie and I have been talking about wanting to go to Hawaii for a little bit but I wasn’t really sure whether the plan was actually going to push through or not. Luckily, we were able to find a plan and time where Stephanie was able to come down to LA and stay over with me so that we can go to Hawaii together for a week and a half.
The fun started when Stephanie and her friend Ashely came to visit Los Angeles over the fourth of July weekend and I got to show them around. Even in the short time of just a weekend we got to do a lot of things such as explore coffee shops, go on a picnic, and go to our first ever escape room! Stephanie and I also had the fun experience of visiting Santa Barbara for a day. We got to explore the new coffee shop that came in after we graduated and walk through the UCSB campus while reminiscing on the good old days (although we only graduated in 2020 lol).
Once we were off to Hawaii, we were really determined to make the most out of the time that we had. Both of us decided to work remotely in Hawaii without taking days off, which meant that we were up at 5 am to start working and ended the workday at 3 pm. As tiring as it may sound, it really was not bad at all! We even started to have our own set routine of waking up, doing some work, going to a coffee shop around 7 am, and picking up our complimentary breakfast in our hotel to go back to work. Once the clock hit 3 pm, we were off exploring Waikiki whether that meant going to the beach, going shopping, or going to a park! We also made the most out of the weekend by going to North Shore, Kailua, and more. Although, I would love to write more about this trip in detail - I’ll just save it for my vlog that will be up in August! All in all, I had a blast and made so many memories I know I’ll cherish forever.
Lows: Goodbye Good Habits
As much fun I had this month of traveling and exploring with Stephanie, I think it made me shove some of the good habits that I used to pride myself in - whether that’s journaling, praying, or etc. However, I didn’t let myself stress over it because I knew that it was habits I could pick back up when I had the motivation to and I wanted to have fun without the worries of not ticking off something I HAD to do. Although I love these habits, I know that I’d want to do them more when it’s something I WANT to do and not something I HAD to do.
However, the only bad thing I realized about myself was that I always tend to rely on something to be a motivator to start these habits again. I came back to Hawaii by the middle of July where I think I had plenty of time to pick these habits up again yet I let myself slide because I wanted to start on a Monday - fresh start of the week and if I missed that it would have to be the next Monday until it was close to the end of the month so I just pushed it off to the start of August to start fresh again. I think I need to learn to not just let Monday or the 1st of every month be a motivator and the only way to “start fresh again” rather I can pick up a habit anytime I want.
Lessons: My Strength
I always knew I loved organizing and planning things but it really showed when I decided to plan out the entire vacation for LA and Hawaii. I had what time we were waking up to what activities we will be doing and what restaurants we were going to. It definitely helped that my friend gave me recommendations for all the places I had to go to in Hawaii and Stephanie also gave me a list from her friend.
Although I love planning things out, I also don’t get stressed when things don’t go according to plan. There were definitely times where we couldn’t go to a restaurant because it was reservation only or where we wanted to do a different activity than the one listed. I think it’s important to be flexible when going on vacation - especially with a friend because you want to enjoy your time in the present and do what feels right at the moment. But, planning things out in advance definitely helped us keep organize and make sure that we got to do everything we wanted to do in a quite short amount of time we were there.
This month I liked the quote:
"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today"
It's important to be at peace with where you are now and stop looking back in hopes that you could change them. It's definitely something I have struggled with in the past but I am truly trying to learn to focus all of my energy on today and what's to come.
Songs on Repeat:
Kiss Me More (feat. SZA) - Doja Cat, SZASTAY (with Justin Bieber) - The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieberforever&more - ROLE MODELMy Pick of the Month: Ali’i Coffee in Honolulu, HI
I am a big coffee fan, which meant that I had a lot of coffee shops to explore in Hawaii. Lucky for me, Stephanie is also a huge coffee fan so we basically had a coffee break every day. However, my favorite coffee shop has to be Ali’i Coffee because their iced taro ube latte was the best I’ve ever had! Both the ube and coffee flavor was prevalent in the drink, which I felt was rare compared to other ube lattes I’ve had before whether either the ube or coffee flavor overpowered one another. Therefore, I definitely recommend checking this coffee shop out if you are ever in Hawaii!
The month of July has been a great month of amazing memories I know I will cherish for months and years to come. However, I am very excited to be back home in August to pick up my life where it left off and try to keep up with my routine and habits again. I don’t know exactly what August has in store for me but I’m still excited to figure it out.
Talk to you next month,
-- Jin