It’s finally summer break! Is it still called summer break if I’m out of school now? It’s been an eventful month, starting with the stress of finals, followed by the elation of graduation, and now I don’t know how I feel. I don’t have any real plans this summer (just staying in Philly until my lease is up mid-August), so I’ll have to have a lot of initiative to get my life together. To encourage productivity, one of my summer goals is to get out of the apartment every day, and one way I’m motivating myself to do so is with a-photo-a-day challenge, which I created a new Instagram account for. I just started towards the end of this past month, and if it turns out to be something I want to continue, I might share it on the blog!
Books
Currently working my way through The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton but it’s a thick one. I bought it at a secondhand bookstore in San Francisco last summer but didn’t get around to reading it. I usually only ever read one book at a time (short story/essay collections not included), but for this one, I’m thinking to pick up some light YA books as I make my way through it. I’m hoping that it’ll ease me back into the rhythm of reading.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins // ★★★★☆ // Picked this up for a fast read and it’s pretty much what you’d expect of any YA novel. The context is an American sent to boarding school in Paris who falls for an unavailable dude with an English accent. Definitely lots of American/French stereotypes and miscommunication due to dramatic jumping of conclusions, but enjoyable nonetheless. Teens will be teens.
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green // ★★★☆☆ // I’ve come to realise that there’s not always a lot that happens in John Green’s stories, but I love his writing style and I get wrapped up in the characters. I wasn’t all that taken by Aza though, and her cracked finger pad made me feel icky. A lot of the story was Aza spiraling in her thoughts, which I guess was the point, but I never really got into it. Thought Davis’ house was super cool though. Is that shallow of me?
Movies & TV Shows
I binged the first season of The Tomorrow People in two days and there’s only one season. Pretty people. Also watched the documentary Twinsters and was basically holding in tears for the first thirty minutes.
Music
Spotify has been failing me lately. What have you been listening to? I think that because I listen to such chill music (some might even venture to call it depressing), it’s hard for me to find songs for the summer. Spotify’s Indie Pop playlist looks promising though.
Cafes
Just got into the Huji app and the novelty of it hasn’t worn off yet. I’m obsessed with Pho Street‘s Vietnamese coffee (and would go more often if it were a cafe and not a restaurant), am still frequenting Green Engine Coffee, had a chopstick mishap at the campus cafe, and hit up Minella’s for late night fries and shakes with Kat and Claire before graduation for old times’ sake.
Wishlist
Couldn’t find the majority of these items via Shopstyle, so we’re forgoing the snazzy widget this month (•̥́_•ૅू˳)
Looks like I’m really into one piece outfits this month! This Bershka strappy romper with swiss embroidery in cream reminds me of my May Day dress, which I bought freshman year of college and wore for all four years of May Day (“all four” because it’s a college tradition and there are four years in college). I love that it’s a romper rather than a dress, making it feel more casual and wearable. I also found this Bershka strappy jumpsuit in mustard. You know I love mustard, and vertical stripes are never a bad idea. I also don’t own any jumpsuits, so I really like the idea of them. They seem sophisticated.
I stumbled upon these Soludos palma platform sandals in walnut when Georgina was showing me the new Soludos espadrille wedges she bought for graduation. Thick strap sandals are so my style. I love an espadrille, and they’re especially suitable for summer. The height is never a bad thing and they look so comfy.
Love the loose fit and bright colours of this & Other Stories tropical print wrap dress in yellow. I also appreciate the sleeves, which look loose enough to let in a breeze but long enough so that I could skip a shave ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I’ve never shopped at & Other Stories before because I always assumed that they were a super expensive brand for some reason, but I browsed their site and they’re not that bad. I mean, I still wouldn’t buy anything full-priced but it’s aight.
Discovered Auguste The Label off Instagram and it looks like I’m falling for summer florals: Auguste The Label super bloom valley wrap maxi dress in natural, Auguste The Label daisy love wrap maxi dress in blue, Auguste The Label bell cuffed mini wrap dress in natural, Auguste The Label desert dandelion grace midi dress in emerald.
Lately
A snap of my fabulous notes from Theory of Computation. Had to get myself excited about class somehow. Willing things into existence is a thing, right? Anyways, so glad that that’s over. Thankful for Steph and Chloe who struggled along with me and kept me entertained with note-passing.
A few shots of me and friends from May Day (click link to see full post with all photos). In all four years of college, this was the only May Day that I wore a flower crown for, which I borrowed from Georgina. It was the flower crown she wore freshman year! She kept each of her crowns from every year, and I picked out the yellow one to borrow because… yellow! The only real dress code for May Day is white clothing and an optional but highly suggested flower crown, but we also all unintentionally matched in denim jackets because it was a chilly day. I guess everyone thought denim jackets matched well with white!
Senior week! At the end of spring semester there are two weeks of finals, but for seniors there’s only one week of finals, followed by senior week. I figure it’s a treat for the seniors and also guarantees that professors can get senior grades in early. During senior week, there are one to two activities every day, and each senior is allowed to register for three activities. My friends and I chose to sign up for Skyzone, an indoor trampoline park, Booze Cruise, basically a must for the senior experience, and Evil Genius Brewery Tour, which I thought would be a tasting tour, but was just a tour of the brewery plus two free drinks. I did manage to taste a few different beers from friends though. I don’t think I like beer. The nachos weren’t bad though.
And finally… graduation!!! It was rainy and it was long, but I’m just glad that we sat in the front row of the audience rather than on the stage, because that meant I could text friends throughout the ceremony. I was careful not to open Instagram during the ceremony because it would have killed my battery and then I would have been bored to death. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even gone to graduation if my family wasn’t there. We didn’t even get our diplomas during the ceremony; it gets mailed to us later. I was listed as a computer science and linguistics and languages double major, though I’m pretty sure I’m a computer science and linguistics double major (they’re different), and I got honours in linguistics and languages too (no idea how lol). I also got cum laude, which I’m sorta embarrassed about, but hey, computer science was rough. I plan to write a senior year recap or undergrad recap for the blog eventually!
My mom, dad, and one brother flew in for my graduation; the other brother was stuck in Beijing for a school event of his own. Because my roomie left for summer break before graduation (she graduates next year), my family was able to stay in my apartment and didn’t need to book their own place. Even though I wasn’t hyped for the ceremony, I was touched that they came for it. Despite all the stress and uncertainty about my future — my own stress and undoubtedly my parents’ stress for me — everyone was so supportive and so proud and I felt so lucky to be so loved. There’s a picture of my mom lying on my bed (with a cuppa bubble tea of course) claiming, “Your bed is too comfortable.” She’s right. Now maybe you can understand why it’s so difficult for me to leave my bed every day. If you’re curious, it’s IKEA‘s Hemnes daybed with a Zinus memory foam mattress. Not sure what I’m going to do with my daybed once I move out of my apartment at the end of summer…
How was your month?
PS: april 2018, may 2017