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In this month of the spooky season, I luckily had such a smooth month that nothing was ever indeed that spooky. This month wasn't a crazy month but it was still filled with small bursts of good memories that'll be fun to look back on. Keep reading to see how my October 2022 went!
Lifestyle: Calming Month
Joshua Tree
This month I went on a girls' trip with Kelsey and Elizabeth to Joshua Tree and it was the relaxing getaway that my body has been craving. It was truly the most chill and relaxing trip I've done in a while! It was filled with lots of rest, coffee, and good food. Some memorable moments were walking around Joshua Tree park and eating Sonic for the first time ever lol. Also, it was crazy because one of the nights there was actually a storm that happened and we ended up being locked up in our Airbnb. We had planned to go out to a nice dinner but when we attempted to drive through the rain, there was a huge puddle of rain and mud that we were not able to drive through and there was no other way around. Luckily, we had brought ramen and leftover lunch that we were able to eat. The dinner was, in fact, delicious and the night ended with us trying to attempt multiple TikTok dances lol. The next day, the weather also luckily cleared up right when it was time to leave so the timing ended up being perfect. I always love coming to Joshua Tree for relaxing getaways so this will definitely not be my last time visiting.
Museum
I also was able to go to the Orange County Museum of Arts that recently opened up and it was so nice visiting a museum in a long time. The museum itself was relatively small but there was still a lot of interesting art to look at. I also really enjoyed the little cafe or "fueling station" as they called it there. It inspired me to go to more museums as well as venture out in my hangouts outside of my usual boba and food hangouts.
Halloween
My friend Calvin had invited some of our friends to a hangout at his place for the Friday of Halloween weekend. He had invited us to some of his hangouts previously but our friend group was always so busy that we were unable to make it out to a single one. Therefore, we were super excited to be able to finally make it out to one of his events. It was so much fun dressing up as the contestants of Love Island with Kelsey as well! The night was indeed a memorable one for many different reasons and I'll indeed laugh looking back at Halloween this year. Today is actually the day of Halloween as I am writing this and I'm tucked into bed resting and writing this blog. I would not spend Halloween any other way, especially because I got my Flu shot after work today.
Family Time
This month I truly got to spend more time with family and for that, I'm so grateful. I always seem so busy in life catching up with friends that sometimes I forget to spend quality time with family. However, I was able to enjoy some family days this month and I'm happy about that. This month was also my brother's birthday so I had a fun time celebrating him!
Lows: Itaewon
I luckily had not a lot of lows in my personal life and it hurts to think that not everyone had a pleasant month as I did. This month, there was a tragedy that happened on the weekend of Halloween in Itaewon in South Korea. Hundreds of people were crushed to death while hundreds of others were fatally injured. I first heard of this news from a call from my brother and my heart dropped. I had a friend studying abroad in Korea that had told me that she was going to Itaewon for Halloween. I quickly reached out as soon as I heard and I'm lucky to say that she was safe. I know that not everyone was as lucky that night and my heart truly hurts from this incident.
Rest in peace to the victims.
Lessons: Listening to Myself
Last month I talked heavily about feeling burnout in life. I am happy to say that this month I truly listened to myself and decided to take it a lot more chill. Through this, I was able to collect my calm again and the sensation of being overwhelmed has luckily left. I'm more ready now to socialize again and be more present in my hangouts with family, friends, or coworkers. However, I hope to not jump too quickly and find myself too overwhelmed again. It's definitely all about finding the perfect balance - which is always hard to do.
I also learned the importance of listening to myself when I was on my girls' trip to Joshua Tree. One of the main reasons I love visiting Joshua Tree is watching over the beautiful and clear stars in the sky. On the first night, I was really determined to go out to our little deck with the hammock and open sky to see the stars. However, my friends were already cozy in the Airbnb with the movie on. I decided that I still wanted to step out and look at the stars even though no one else wanted to. I totally understood and respected that everyone has a different way of how they want to spend a vacation. I also honestly had a really great time listening to music and staring at the stars all by myself. I'm also so glad I listened to myself because my friends wanted to join me the second day but the stars were not as visible because of the storm earlier on. I would have been so sad to leave Joshua Tree without looking at the stars. Therefore, it's important to do things you want to even if no one else wants to join you!
Songs on Repeat:
Top Songs -
Will It Ever Feel The Same? - Bazzi I Don't Care - 2NE1stargazing - Kygo, Justin JessoMy Pick of the Month: Reminders of Him
I finally finished another book called Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover! Kelsey had landed me the book before my NYC trip with Stephanie last month. I had read a couple of pages on the flight back from NYC but haven't touched it until a couple of weeks into October. I'm glad I did because I thoroughly ended up enjoying the book. I don't want to spoil anything but the book definitely brought up a lot of different emotions.
This month definitely made me reflect back on everything that I'm thankful for and grateful for. Sometimes the spookiest thing is actually how easily we forget the things we should be thankful for or how easily we take things for granted. This month was my wake-up call and definitely made me reflect on everything I'm thankful for. What are some things you are thankful for or take for granted?
Talk to you next month,
-- Jin