I didn’t realise how quickly November had passed until I was scouring through my laptop to find photos for the “lately” section of this blog post but found the folder for this month virtually empty, except for the few iPhone photos I had already posted for my week-in-review blog posts. Life has been really, really good except for having to write my senior thesis. It’s exciting to think that when my December-in-review blog post goes up at the end of this month, I’ll be done with my fall semester, and more importantly, done with my frickin’ thesis!
Thanksgiving 2017 +vlog
Meet the squad: Georgina, Grace, Victoria, Ami, and me! You might have seen their names appear on the blog here and there. They’ve stuck with me since freshman year, but over the years, as we’ve been getting deeper into our majors (all different!), we haven’t had as much time to hang out as before. If the squad wants to all hang, we need to plan weeks in advance to coordinate everyone’s schedules. But Thanksgiving is the one time of year we can all count on. It’s our most sacred tradition to spend Thanksgiving in NYC, during which we storm Georgina’s house, her parents cook us up luxurious spreads, and we pop by Koreatown a hundred times in one weekend.
Chocolate, TV, Christmas // weekly update
The first half of the week I spent trying to finish up my thesis draft, and the second half of the week I spent on Thanksgiving break! Now I’m back at school and on the academic grind. We’re getting closer to the finale of my senior thesis. Which means the next few weeks are gonna suck, but I can’t wait to be over and done with it! Honestly, I could handle the chaos that the end-of-term brings to all my classes, but this senior thesis is just… so much…
Jazz brunch at Walnut Street Cafe
A new restaurant opened up in Philly this summer! And of course, Jennifer knew all about it; she always knows about the most beautiful cafes, bakeries, and restaurants. She, Victoria, and I were planning to have Sunday brunch, and the two of them recommended Walnut Street Cafe; Jennifer had already been there twice, and Victoria had already been there once (with Jennifer). It was high time for me to make a trip over as well!
Christmas albums & warm drinks // weekly update
For the most part, I’ve been pretty good about making time for friends and I’ve been more spontaneous with our time together. But lately I’ve been turning down activities because “I have to work on my thesis.” I don’t really feel bad about it because I do need time for my thesis and I also need time to myself, although I could definitely be more efficient with my productivity. But anyways, I mention this because my friends are always asking me how my thesis is going, especially around times I have deadlines. For example, I had my thesis presentation last week, so my friends would ask me how it went and stuff. If you read my weekly update last week, you’ll know that it was rough. But when my friends asked me in person, I’d reply with, “It was chill. It was fine.” And then maybe a few days later they would check in with my blog, then come back to me, lay a somber hand on my shoulder, and be like, r u ok. I think the contrast of my feelings and expressions online vs. in real life is interesting and kinda funny. I think I respond more superficially in real life because it’s tiring to go through those emotions again and explain them, whereas online, I have time to sort out my feelings and it feels clarifying and cathartic.
United By Blue: tour + tasting for their new store
I was invited to United By Blue’s tour and tasting preview for their new store! Ethan — who you probably don’t recall was my point of contact for Lokal Hotel but he’s now over at United By Blue — emailed me out of the blue (ha ha ha) to invite me to their preview event, and after checking that I was indeed free that evening, I wrote back immediately to RSVP. I love United By Blue, their cafe, their aesthetic, their graphics, and their mission, so it wasn’t a hard decision. I stop by their cafe almost every time before my UPenn class if they’re not already full! I also asked Ethan if I could bring my friend Jennifer along because I knew she would be excited to check out their new shop; she’s been following their story for way longer than I have and appreciates them on a whole nother level. Also, I needed the company to support me through this social endeavor! (She was my company for Lokal as well!) I was nervous about asking for another invite as it was a closed event, but Ethan was so kind and quickly put me down for two.