ode to lovely

exhausted

• I caught a cold. Sore throat, runny nose, headaches. Ugh.
• I am picking up my ring at 4pm. I am giddy with excitement. 
• I wish I could spend an entire day watching bad tv in bed.
• I bought scrapbooking supplies. First time in over a year. 
• I can't believe I only have 8 more days here. Sad.  

busiest week of my life. period.

I haven't stopped moving since I arrived home one week ago. This is both good and bad. Good cause I'm getting shit done. Bad cause I just want to sit in my pajamas for a day, baking carrot cupcakes, eating home-cooked meals, and laughing with my sister about nothing. Considering I'm booked up and full of plans until Tuesday, it might be some time before I can just SLOW DOWN. 

Tomorrow is a big day. I'm going to check out wedding dresses for the first time ever. Very exciting. And, in addition to that I'm driving to Jersey to meet up with some of my favorite crafty lady friends. Back on Saturday.

no time

Trying to plan a wedding in 3 weeks is absolutely insane. I'm way to picky for this shit. I mean, hello, it took me 4 months to find a setting! In addition to the wedding, I have to...buy a million things to bring back to Taiwan, see my family, hangout with friends, eat lunch with a million different people, baby showers, girl's night out, farewell dinners, and birthday parties, all while trying to workout on a regular basis. I'm going effing crazy. Anxiety is starting to creep in and I do not like it one bit. I need a margarita. And a facial. And a wedding planner too. 

home

oh man it feels good to be home. 

the smells, the tastes, the feeling.

three more weeks of this and i might not want to go back.

but i do miss my boy. and i know he misses me.

the wedding details are slowly falling into place.

a ring has been ordered (finally!)

and it will be here in two weeks.

but the wait is killing me. 

seriously, driving me mad.

patience. patience. patience.

more soon. now it's time for a Target run. :)

a few more goodbyes

One of the things I love most about living here are the people I meet. Christine is from South Korea, and Tony is from Liechtenstein. Never heard of that country? Yeah, I hadn't either until I met him. It's the fourth smallest country in the world, and after meeting Tony, I am dying to visit. Tony is probably one of the most fascinating people I've ever met. The guy can speak 5 languages fluently. I want my future kids to grow up to be just like him. Multi-lingual, cultured, well-traveled, intelligent, humble, and adventurous. These two are my lunch buddies from time to time and today we had our last meal together. It was sad to say goodbye. 

pretty shoes on pretty floors

Dresses. And more dresses. I can't wait to go home and stock up. I want to donate the shit I don't wear and buy new girly clothes. I wear t-shirts, shorts, and flip flops everyday to school and I'm so over it. I'm ready for a closet makeover. More heels. More tights. More skirts. More cardigans. More dresses. More fun.  I don't want to look back on the best years of my life and see that I was wearing frumpy clothes. I can't really afford the look-book that lives in my head, but I'm hoping to score some good deals while home to get this clothes party started. So, who's down for some shopping?

buenos dias

Things I love:

• Waking up before Matt and enjoying the silence.
• Opening Bloglines and finding good reads 
• Oatmeal for breakfast 
• Morning workouts 
• Smell of clean laundry 
• Wedding inspiration  
• Emails with my sister 
• The magic of the internet 
• Songs that match my mood   
• Clean and organized craft rooms 
• Three-day weekends 

wheeeee!

• No school for me
• No work for matt
• No yoga, no gym
• Just rain, wind, and more rain 

It's a Typhoon Day!

So, we'll be spending the day indoors. Watching movies on HBO. Cooking home-cooked meals with whatever is in the fridge. I'll be quilting. And cleaning my craft room. He'll be playing video games. And surfing the net. It's going to be lovely. And relaxing. And my idea of a perfect day with the boy. I heart typhoons.

end of an era

For the last 13 months, chinese has been life. But next week, this will all change. As my last day nears, I'm finding it really hard to let go of a daily routine that is now such a part of me. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't study. Some days I study as much as 6-7 hours. And even though I'm not going to completely stop studying, its just never going be like it is right now. Chinese has been my number one priority and everything else in my life, including my boy and our wedding, has taken a back seat to my schooling. When you pay as much tuition as I do, and you put your career on hold, it becomes an obsession more than just an interest. A total and complete obsession to conquer a language that is difficult beyond words. But also a language that I hope will open doors and bring new opportunities. So cheers to you, Chinese. Thank you for the joy ride. 

yoga, i thank you

Today, I've been reflecting on the past month. I made a list on July 1 and I actually accomplished most of it. Maybe not perfectly, but close to my standards. I took a picture a day for 29/31 days. I kept a diary of my daily endeavours. And I worked out for 26/31 days...which is probably what I'm most proud of. I feel healthier, physically stronger, and excited to keep going. I thank yoga for my new motivation.  It's helped me regain my balance, flexibility, and will to be active again. As someone who used to be incredibly flexible as a child, it is frustrating watching others do yoga moves that once came easily. But it's also the motivation I need to get back to where I used to be. The days of the splits, back-bends, and press handstands are way in the past for me. But I am going to use yoga as the tool to get me to move towards new goals. So thank you yoga. And thank you to uncle sam, yet again, whose generous tax refund helped pay for my yoga membership. 

purple + polka dots

New purple polka dot chucks. For 800NT these were love at first sight. Now I gotta get them dirty cause they are wayyyy to pretty and clean.

On the schedule for today:

• Make new chinese flash cards
• Lunch with my boy 
• Manicure at 2:00 
• Finish watching this very interesting Chinese movie
• Dinner at Gordon Biersch (LOVE their cobb salad)  
• Searching for wedding inspiration online 
• Take my Fuji Instax-7 out for a spin