Goodbye, 2015

Yes, I know that we’re already a good 7 days into the new year, but since I never did any sort of a recap/reflection on 2015, I thought I’d jump on the top-nine bandwagon. At least this is a way to relive the GOOD memories of 2015 (mostly, haha). These are from my personal Instagram, btw, since I didn’t create the one that is now linked to my blog until just a couple of months ago. 2015 was definitely a year of ups and downs–filled with lots of uncertainty and anxiety. But where I stand today, the future looks a lot brighter, and I have the past year to thank for that. So here are some of my most memorable moments (according to Instagram) from last year–hope you enjoy the stories!

1. Honeymee arrives in NorCal: Not Honeymee exactly, but close enough. For those of you who don’t know, Honeymee was like my second home in LA (I went there THAT often). When I moved back to NorCal, I was always on the lookout for something similar. Thankfully, Milkcow opened up in Fremont at the end of summer, and since then, it’s become my NorCal Honeymee. Milkcow has a lot more flavors too, so that’s a plus. Although one word of advice, the cotton candy topping, I swear, is only there to make your pictures look better. It does not add to the dessert taste-wise, whatsoever.

2. Rediscovering avocado and soft-boiled eggs: So….pretty sure this was like the first time I’ve cooked something in forever, and even then, the only things that are “cooked” in this dish are the soft-boiled egg and quinoa, both only using water. But hey, I’m still proud at how good and healthy it came out! I think I’ve become an expert at picking out ripe avocados, and also a master of the soft-boiled egg. LOVE LOVE soft-boiled eggs. Tsujita in LA still has my favorite one, but mine is getting close 😉

3. Graduation photoshoot: This picture wasn’t actually from my graduation day…it was from my graduation photoshoot day. I had so much fun taking pictures with friends I met during orientation way back in freshmen year. It’s cool how we all managed to stay in touch. I do remember that it was pretty cloudy that day…and the outside of Royce (the famous UCLA landmark in the back of the picture), was PACKED because there was some performance going on. So I didn’t get a picture in front of Royce…:( But it was still a good shoot nonetheless.

4. First half-marathon: Omg. Such a bitter sweet memory. I kept getting sick the last month before the race so I definitely wasn’t at the level I wanted to be at on race day. And my stomach was NOT cooperating–I was stuck in a porta-potty for a good 10 min. during the race. And that’s so much worse than walking because I wasn’t moving at all and my overall time went down by quite a bit. Although in all honesty, I’m just happy I finished. The last hill at mile 11 was a killer, and I remember thinking about just quitting at the next water station. After crossing the finish line, the rest of the day was a blur. But I’m happy I got to cross off something else from my bucket list!

5. Dessert night: This was the night that I had the best burger of my life (The Black Sheep in downtown LA). Great prices and DELICIOUS burgers. Watched the Clippers win on TV during the meal and then decided that because they won, dessert was justified. So we made our way to Syrup Desserts (also in downtown) where I had this yummy Belgian waffle with ice cream. Ate it all for the Clippers. Regretted it the next day.

6. Slapfish @ Newport Beach: This was lunch the day after my half-marathon race. I remember this so clearly because it was so freaking expensive. It was good though. The chowder fries are delicious and if you check-in on Yelp you get a free cup of clam chowder (which is also delicious). Lobster roll…even though it was good…was not really worth the price…

7. Impulse hair dye: So…I had dyed my hair a red-brown color like 2 months before. And I REALLY liked that color. But me with my short attention span, I decided I wanted to try something new and go lighter. The picture doesn’t make it look that light, but the color faded after a few washes and I ended up looking blonde. I freaked out and 3 days later during my weekend trip down to LA I dyed it back to my natural hair color. Sigh. My poor hair. Staying away from hair color for a while….

8. Ziplining in Vancouver: This was SO much fun. It was freezing on the mountain and I’m so happy they let me borrow a jacket for free. I remember I was initially disappointed that there was so much fog. But ziplining through thick white mist is probably as cool as it gets. I felt like I was in a scene from a Harry Potter movie. I couldn’t see much, but I felt like I was 100x higher off the ground.

9. Goodbye UCLA: What an appropriate 9th picture. Honestly, it still feels weird not living in LA anymore. Even though I grew up in NorCal, I find myself calling LA my home. I remember being almost in tears as we left for NorCal that afternoon. It was like the UCLA bubble that held my college experiences and memories had burst, and I was now drowning in my new freedom. While I’ve finally settled down in grad school, I’m still trying to find a way back to LA. Someday, it’ll happen. Someday, I’ll find my way back to the city that helped me find myself.

So with that, goodbye 2015! So excited for what this new year holds!

XOXO,