Current Reads!

To reach my goal of reading 24 books this year, I need to read 2 books every month. So far I'm off to a great start! The first book of the year was Franny and Zooey. Now I've read this book multiple times before, but I needed a page for a project (that'll post soon!) and I decided to take one from this JD Salinger classic. This book is a great part of my personal history. When my parents were picking baby names for me and my twin Franny was in the running. I'm very glad they went with Remi! BUT ever since I was in high school I thought I'd have a this great connection to this book. Honestly the first couple times I read it I h a t e d it. Its strange, long and kind boring. Its mostly just conversations and obscure references. I kept re-reading it and each time I kept finding more and more meaning. Of course I'm sure its one of those situations where you start to read what you want to read and find meaning that you're looking for. Regardless it was a lovely quick weekend read! I've found this is one of those books and people either hate or love. If you've read it what are your feelings?

The second book of the month was Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim. I chose this one because I knew it was going to be about food and Chinese culture which fit perfectly for the Lunar New Year this month. After reading the bad reviews on Good Reads, I kinda understood why some people might not enjoy it. I happen to really love it. That is probably based on my love of food and soft spot for Asian culture. As someone who has a somewhat trepidatious relationship with their mother this book sank into my soul and found a quiet little home. The descriptive writing in this book is amazing and made me hungry every time I picked it up! For me this book had the perfect mix of whimsy and complexity of relationships. So if you're looking for a book about food, reinventing yourself and processing greif then I highly recommend this book!

I think for next month I'm going with a couple of cute romcom books! It seems fitting for the mushy month ahead! I'm also a little nervous about the short month so something I can read fast is probably a good idea! 

Making. Listening. Eating.

Making: Little drawing I did after feeling the overwhelming love of motherhood around me

Listening: Rewatching Steven Universe has made me fall in love with the songs all over again.

Eating. Guava cake! My top gel layer got a little too thick but over all super yums.

Lunar New Year!

This time of year is one of my favorites. The Lunar Chinese New Year for me always means eating the best food! I get to eat all of my favorite Hawaiian-Chinese comfort foods and spend time with all of my loves. As I've gotten older I've found I think more and more of my ancestors. I wonder if they would be proud of my life, or want me to do better/more. Would they approve of my gluttonous weekend swimming in dumplings and steamed buns? Or would they welcome my weekend of pondering about my Chinese ancestors? Being hapa has always put me in such a conflicted mind space when it comes to cultural practices. Finding a balance between owning your heritage and culture but also being respectful of cultural practices can be tricky. I like to think that any time my family gathers in good spirits our ancestors watching would approve! I feel so full of fortune and love. I'm ready for the new year!

December Art Journal

The beginning of December I started a whole different journal. Then about half way though the month I started to get so much cute holiday mail AND all of my gifts where wrapped in this cool hand lettered paper from my sister. I just new I needed to make a cute home for it all to live in so I made this little book out of scrap wrapping paper and note book pages. I love the way it turned out even though it is more simple than my usual journals. December is always such a whirl wind having this project to retire too at the end of the day really helped me procure more peace in all the madness. Also I adore having a nice place for all the cute seasonal mail that seems to accumulate. 

2019 Recap and 2020 Goals!

This time last year I laid out a list of things I'd like to do and now seems like the perfect time to revisit the list! Also seems like time to scrape together a new list. Last years post can be found HERE! Overall I'm feeling quite elated with myself. I did most of the things that I set out to do. I think if I had done ALL of the items I wouldn't quite be myself. Plus if they were THAT achievable there wouldn't be much to strive for.
Completed items from last years list:

• Learn to cook something new! I picked up baking this past year. When I originally wrote that goal I had in mind I needed to learn to how to cook meals for myself but what ended up happening is I got lost in the world of frivolous baking for pleasure! Because lets be honest you don't dive into a pie because you're hungry, you eat half a pie because you want something warm and comforting! I plan on continuing making bakes this next year and hopefully learning to cook a few dishes for myself!
• Submit stickers designs! This one was quite scary for me if I'm being honest. BUT I DID IT. You can read about it HERE!
• Read more books! This year I read 12 books. Which is not a lot for you avid readers, but for me its an accomplishment! I planned on blogging more about books but it kept slipping my mind. Most of this years books were sappy romantic books. There is something about the predictability that I found really comforting. Eventually I'll expand into a different genre of books, but for now bring on the sap!
• Go to the dentist! This is probably my greatest achievement of the year! I did wait until November, but I did do it! I had a T O N of fillings and now the last thing to get done is get my wisdom teeth removed. I've been putting it off but I think I'll have to face it next year!

Vague Goals for 2020!

• Learn how to make sour dough bread! A pen pal of mine was recently telling me how much processing bread goes though and how it can add extra chemicals that can be hard for your body to process. Which made me think I'd like to start making homemade bread! I think sourdough might be tricky but I have a whole year to learn! 
• Read 24 books! Gonna try to double last years number.
• Make a new zine every month! I'm hoping giving myself some deadlines will help scoot along my productivity. I have a bad habit of making a hand full of zines all at once and then none for a long time. If i'm wanting to get better I think I need more consistency!
• Get my wisdom teeth removed. The only dental thing I didn't get done last year. I've been avoiding it cause it sounds like not very much fun. 
• Cut dairy from my diet! I started to be more mindful of this one the ending of last year. I hoping by avoiding dairy it'll help my hormone imbalance and digestive issues! This might be the toughest one on the list. Honestly I'm not off to a great start, but just being more aware of what I'm eating will help I think! 

Who knows what this year will bring. All I can hope for is the strength and courage to keep going! Let's hope its a good one!

Ready For New!

The beginning of a new calendar year I always seem to dwell on the upcoming year. Something in the air around this time puts me in a m o o d. It is the same tingly feeling I get around birthdays and anniversaries. The reality of time passing getting tossed in your face, unable to avoid the meaning of it all. My goal for the past year was to lean into comfort. For the most part that is how I lead the year. With in the comfort I was still able to do hard, challenging, stressful things. Now that I've had a year to be soft and indulge in my comfort its time to embrace discomfort. It is time to do scary things- unusual things- meaningful things. Now it time to create beauty, feel the feelings and push myself to do more ( f e e l m o r e). 

I hope you too can embrace the feeling of the new year. Shed the shackles of the past and start something new.

Here's to you and yours, Happy New Year.