Walking a full life | Stephanie’s May 2025

And just like that, we’re at the start of another month. May, I expected a long anticipated East Coast trip with my bestie Ashley, what I didn’t expect - was a full month beyond the trip, each day in life seems to fly by and I continue to be grateful for where I am at in life. Let’s recap on how May went — Stephanie 

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Lifestyle, Lessons, Lows

Professionally, as I reflect back at this month - the biggest high would be becoming the mentee buddy of our summer intern. It’s been refreshing, and I can already see being around her presence has been contagious. I’ve always seen mentorship going two-ways, where while I enjoy being able to give back and help her grow, I’m also equally learning a lot from her creative ideas, and her young energy that hasn’t been quite jaded by the inner workings of corporate enterprises has revitalized and reminded me of my younger self. I am excited to work with her at the SF office and I hope to make this the best internship summer ever for her. Unexpectedly as I had my walk and talk with my Director, we actually ended up yapping so much we went over the 30 mins to 1 hour - I had been feeling a bit out of touch lately but this long chat about impactful work beyond our team (we were talking about volunteering and such) made me feel warm but also inspired about how to combine our passion for giving back, with the marketing work we do on our team - more brainstorming needed hmm. Beyond the intern, to be frank - I haven’t felt that much ambition lately in the work I do, and I’m surprisingly okay with it. It’s bittersweet. It’s funny because for the longest time, I was always so ambitious, and to an extent I still will always have that in me - but as I reflect on May, I’ve also grown to be okay with just continuing to do things as is - as I focus my time on other aspects in my life and that my job gives me the means to fund my lifestyle while not being too anxiety-inducing like my first job. I truly am thankful. While I can’t help but compare myself today to how driven I once was, I’ve also learned to be okay with my current journey, and that when the right time comes again (and it will) I can be crazy ambitious again. 

Fitness wise, I can’t believe I officially completed my one month of corepower yoga! It has been a nice one month reunion with my first love yoga sculpt - from refalling in love with the practice of yoga and sculpt especially, to trying out many different locations in SF (and lots of street parking lessons and struggles), to unexpectedly getting closer to Tammie’s partner who also joined - and also unexpectedly really missing hot Pilates while enjoying Yoga Sculpt. What was also a nice extra touch was the 2 buddy passes that my membership came with, I love spreading the love of hot yoga sculpt to two people in my life who probably wouldn’t have tried it otherwise. That and being able to go to CPY like everyday in Boston because it was only a walk away was quite awesome (more on boston later). It truly does feel like a first love, this reunion also made me realize how much I truly did find my home and community in hot Pilates. I can’t wait to get back into it in June. 

Relationships wise, this month felt so full in all types of relationships. Family wise, I say this each month but I truly mean it more than ever as we all continue to grow older - I sincerely wish there was more time in the day to spend more time with my family, but it’s also hard to give up on other aspects of my life - it’s also bittersweet, but I can’t drop everything like I used to, so I try my best to make ends meet where I can. Since I knew I would be out of town for mothers day, I took my mom out a week earlier (and the fam) for them to try baekjeong, and then a shopping spree. A success I must say. While it was a success, my grandmother unexpectedly got sent back home from the nursing center (another story for another day) right before mothers day, and unfortunately I was out of town, so the whole fam had an impromptu mothers day dinner the weekend she got sent back home. I’m so happy that my grandma was able to have this dinner with everyone, but a part of me does feel guilty for being MIA. Fast forward memorial weekend, I was able to spend a well thought out (shout out to my cousin for creating an itinerary, I am quite surprised tbh he aint ever done this before lol) for our parents up in Sac. Growing up I used to be envious of families who were able to spend these long weekends together with their extended family, but this outing continues to remind me that it’s never too late to create future memories even if you didn’t have it as a child. We were able to take out parents to do things they usually wouldn’t otherwise, it really felt like roles reversed during this outing, in a good way. It made my 5 hour round trip (lol)  drive very much worth it all. (more on this another day as it is slightly off topic), but as I was celebrating someone’s birthday this month, I was sharing how my dad put me in perspective a couple years ago about how while birthdays are often fun celebrating the person born, it’s also a day to be thankful for those who give you life, especially the mother. That humbled and put me in perspective each year. The birthday person then responded with how much they agree and that birthdays are happy, but also the most difficult day for the mother. That hit me hard in the heart and made me even more thankful for my parents and family, I truly love them so much and wish to spend more time with them. While I was out of town this month, my mother and aunt had stoked my fridge with homecooked meals. My father (without me asking) noticed a tree that has been bothering my backyard and chopped and cleaned it up while I was out of town. To have experienced the unconditional love and support of my family, has been my biggest privilege and blessing.

Friendships wise, after the highlight of visiting Jin last month - this month I got to go on another trip and milestone, my first trip with my bestie Ashley. This has been long long overdue, but I am so thankful we were able to make it happen. We had spent the week in NYC and Boston, filled with lots of inside jokes and mems, food, reunions (got to see a HS friend I havent seen in almost 10 years, and also Michelle - my first college roomie), and lots and lots of walking. This trip defo took our friendship to the next level, and it also taught me more about the type of traveler I am, and how much I’ve grown with navigating cities unfamiliar than my own. While we did so much, rather than one big thing -  my favorite memories are a conglomerate of ones where we’d walk, shop, and yap for the longest times. This trip was definitely a milestone in our friendship, and another core memory unlocked. Beyond this trip, the month was also full friendship wise. From celebrating my dear friend Christina S’s birthday, to yoga brunch and therapeutic yaps with Christina W, and snakehips for the free with Ashley and Tammie. 

Romantic relationships wise - I’ve continued to see the person I’ve been writing about in my last entry, and things have been going well! My motto is to still proceed with caution as there are still things I am trying to better understand and get to know with this person, but that’s something I need time, words, and actions to tell. While there are still concerns, no one is perfect - I won’t get too into it, but I have been enjoying getting to know this person and regardless of how things turn out, I am thankful for this experience as well - it’s rare for me to enjoy getting to know someone on a romantic level, and to genuinely want to as well. While I won’t get too into it, i’ll share that this month we did make things exclusive, which is quite a step for me. For now, I’ll continue to live in the present and enjoy things one day at a time. 

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My pick of the month: Besties take on East Coast

While I’ve been blessed with so many full mems for the month of May, my top pick would have to be my East Coast trip with Ashley. Beyond the traveling piece itself (yes indeed did enjoy eating, shopping, and roaming the streets of NYC and Boston) - the trip made a mark on our friendship as we always talk about going on a trip, but we finally made it happen (and that we didn’t come back hating each other lol). Jokes aside, I understand how it’s not easy to actually make trips happen with friends, so I am extra thankful for Ashley for making this trip happen and willing to spend time and money for us. Here’s to many more. 

I look back at my journal entries and every month since March has been so eventful, even on weeks when I am not going out of town on a trip. I feel so blessed to be walking such a full life in all aspects. I also reflect back to late last year and early this year - things were so tough (I won’t get too into it), but from going from that tough time to now feeling full, has me feeling so privileged. I know June has started, but the first few days have already got me feeling full. I know it’ll be another great month, I wish you all a full life as well - and a fun filled June as we welcome in summer. — Stephanie