Looking back at 2024~

Hello 2025!⭐

Last time I wrote an "end of the year" post was back in 2021 and, even tho I went through so many changes at that time, no one prepared me for what was coming. I haven't really talked about some things here but, these past few years had been hard. I won't go into details but when my dad got sick in 2022, everything I was worried about or feared back then felt small. Losing my dad has to be the worst thing that has happend to me so far. Yes, I've lost other loved ones before but, losing a parent definitely hits differently. Especially when everything happens too fast. I felt kinda lost without him, my life as I knew it changed 100% and, even tho I was not going around talking about it, things just didn't feel the same even if I tried. Of course I had amazing people there for me, supporting me and never leaving me alone but also respecting when I needed my space. I'm so thankful life gave me such an amazing dad but, I miss him everyday and it has been hard living a life without him and realizing how much things have changed in just a couple of years. 

By now, we all now I'm not good with changes...

Somehow things felt a little better in 2024, of course I do have regrets and wish I could've done things differently before but, there's not much to do about that. Last year I definitely tried to take better control of my life and make smarter decisions even if they were scary or not easy. I really tried to let go of the things and people that were not contributing anything to my life anymore or just didn't feel good. 

One of those things was quitting my teaching job at school. Some people didn't know but, I've had 2 teaching jobs for the longest time (one at a school and one at a language center) and, it was exhausting. Of course, that was not the reason why I decided to quit, I wasn't happy with some of the things that were happening there and, it just didn't make me happy, I wasn't motivated and honestly? I don't loooove working with young kids anymore. I just knew I needed a change. My friend was right, I was putting up with all that because I wanted to, not because I had to, I had a choice. I was stressed and running all the time. So yeah, I quit. Which was terrifying because my biggest income came from there and I always need my stability. I finished the school year and, during the Summer, everything fell into place. I kept my job at the language center, more hours opened which made it easier for me to work in one place only, commit 100% to it and being able to pay my bills, hehe. Yes, I was scared at the beginning but, I don't regret it. I'm much happier now, less stressed, I enjoy working where I am, I'm still motivated and love my students.

Another thing I started doing this year was setting limits and boundries on toxic people. Especially those who don't really meant anything to me or didn't have a close relationship with. In the past, I didn't use to do it because I'd feel bad or cuz it wasn't that bad because they were not close to me. Truth is, I'm tired of being a people pleaser, I was like that for such a long time and I just got sick of it. Having to be a "good girl" just to make others happy doesn't resonate with me anymore. I have to put my feelings first and if they are not ok with that, they can just leave. I definitely distanced myself from some people and even blocked others, I hate drama, haha. In a way, I realized saying no is not such a difficult thing anymore and it's more than needed sometimes. 

Same as for everyone, the year was full of ups & downs, some bigger than others but I think those two would be my highlights because I wouldn't have done those things before. Let's be honest, it would've been easier to stay in my comfort zone for another year. 

Not everything was challenging or scary tho, I feel like I also started genuinely enjoying things again. It's not like I didn't enjoy anything before but, it just didn't feel the same. In 2024 I got my first tattoo, reconnected with old friends and met new fun people, my sister and I are close again, she became my fav drinking buddy, I shared great moments with my best friends and I love how we're still part of each others' stories, I've seen my mom grow so much in just one year, my grandpa turned 94, I became more responsible when it comes to my car, learned how to do and fix new things in my house, my apartment feels like my home and I love it so so much, I cooked more and actually improved, I regained my love for sharing with others, became a better plant mom, felt more creative, romanticized my -ber months, had the happiest Christmas in years and basically found a reason to celebrate even the smallest things again.

I learned to pat myself on the back for the good things I do, I realized I don't have to be running and be productive all the time (not that I loved it but sometimes life felt like that) cuz, there's something sooooo good about slow mornings and lazy days are just magical.

I'm thankful for all the experiences and memories but also for the lessons. I do believe everything I've experienced in the past couple of years had made me a stronger person and have helped me to be way more comfortable in my own skin, and with who I am. There are so many things I still want to work on and imrpove but I know that some things just take time and I'm in no rush. Life is all about learning, anyway~

In a way, I didn't want last year to end. Was it perfect? Not at all! But, it felt good. I'm so ready for 2025 and whatever it brings. Who knows? Maybe I'll be more open to new things~ you never know. 🤭

How was your 2024?

My Christmas Pressies 2024 🎁

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. For me it was pretty good. Honestly, I think I enjoyed it more than other years. We had delish food, drank a lot and sang karaoke until 4:30am. We also built a gingerbread house for the first time. It was something I wanted to do since forever and, the time finally came. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be and I just loved how it turned out.

Obsessed!

Of course we exchanged some pressies and, that's why we're here. I'll share what I received this year cuz you know, it has kinda become a tradition around here, hehe.

Let's do this!!

I'll start with the pressies I received from my boss, she always spoils us.

From left to right: X-mas reusable cup with a cute topper, butter cookies and tequila Don Julio.

She also gave us this box with cute small soaps in holiday shapes. They smell really good.

I have to admit that since most of my classes are online now, I do kinda miss receiving pressies from my students. Maybe that's one of the few things I miss about working in a school.

The bestie gave me some Pop Tarts that I love so much. I got s'mores pop tarts and a cute sakura hand cream.

Mom gave me 2 sweaters. The first one is this pastel blue fuzzy sweater. It is super soft and perfect for this cold weather. I looooove the color.

The other one is this silver sweater. I know it is not the best pic but, I love the puffy sleeves, it is a cute detail to it.

My sister gave me this NERV hoodie. I'm a big Evangelion fan and I always wanted something like this. It is already full of cat hair in the pic cuz I already wore it. Oops, cat mom problems.
It is a little oversized, which makes it super comfy to wear.

Lastly, we have this Gilmore Girls fill in book. In this family, we are bog GG fans so, it was a cute and fun gift. 

Really bad and blurry picture but, my babies also received some pressies. 💖

And, there you go guys, my pressies this year. I also received other yummies but, I already ate them. 

This will be the last post of 2024. Thank you for taking the time to read my (sometimes) very random posts, thoughts and obsessions! 🩷

Hope we all have a happy and magical 2025! 🌠

Winter Tag! ❄

Last month I shared a Fall tag and I thought it'd be a good idea to answer a Winter tag to welcome the season. It is shorter than the previous one tho. Still I hope you enjoy.

Here we go!

1. Top 2 Winter Beauty Essentials?

A good moisturizer for my face and hands and a lip balm. My skin and lips get SO dry this season so yeah, it is a must have. I'm not really into hand creams that much but they are defo an essential during winter.

2. Top 2 Winter Fashion Essentials?

Cute and warm coats and knee-high boots.

This pic is a couple of years old but, I still have those boots and I love them too much.

3. Favorite Winter Accessory?

Really long, soft scarves.

4. Favorite Winter Nail Polish?

I don't think I have a favorite one but, I usually go for dark reds or something super sparkly.

5. Hot Cocoa or Apple Cider?

Hot cocoa with marshmallows.

6. Favorite Winter Candle?

Huh~ I don't have a favorite Winter candle. I am the kind of person who lights Fall candles all year round, hehe. But I like cinnamon scents and, to me, those smell like Christmas.

7. Does it snow where you live?

Sadly, no. I love snow tho.

Beautiful snowy day back when I went to Spain 😍

8. Have you ever made a snowman?

Nope, never. 😢

9. What is Your Favorite Holiday Movie?

I'm not a big Holiday movie fan and the first one that comes to my mind is The Nightmare Before Christmas. To me, it's the perfect Halloween and Xmas movie. I've watched some this month tho, most of them are recommendations from my students. 

10. What’s your favorite holiday drink? 

Eggnog and ponche. I look forward to drinking them every year.

11. Candy cane or Gingerbread men?

Gingerbread men

12. What’s your favorite holiday/Christmas song?

Kiss me for Christmas by Jessica Simpson and Santa Baby (I like different versions of this one)

13. What is most important to you about the holidays? 

Good question... cuz, honestly? I'm not a religious person so, in a way, that makes me a person who just celebrates it for celebrating it, haha. When I was younger it was spending it with my family, cuz all the cousins would get together at my grandparents' and it was a lot of fun. You knew you'd meet everyone on Christmas. But, so many things changed and I guess now I'm just trying to find the magic of it again? If that makes any sense. So, I don't have an answer for this question, yet.

And, that was it! I feel like my answers were not as long or elaborated as my previous tag but, it is what it is, haha.

Have a happy Winter y'all! 💋

Apartment 07 | My Christmas Mugs & Cups |🎄

Months ago I shared some of my favorite pink cups & mugs around here and, in my head, I was going to do that with the seasonal ones I have but, I completely forgot to do it on Halloween so, yeah. 

But we're doing it now, I'm sharing my small collection of Christmas cups & mugs. Honestly I don't have too many Chrsitmas things and most of these cups have been presents. I had to get rid of some when I moved but I'm sure the collection will grow with time.

Let's start in no particular order~

🎄Snowman mug

Out of the Christmas mugs I have, this is the first one I've bought and it's also the newest one. Last week, I bought matching mugs for me, my sister and mom and had them over to drink hot ponche, use the mugs and then everyone could theirs home. I like, not only because it is obviously cute but also because it's pretty big. Perfect for coffee in the morning.

🎄Stainless steel Christmas cup

This is one of my oldest ones. I received it as a gift from a student I think. I'm almost sure, hehe. The design is pretty simple, yet cute. It has a retro vibe to it 

Since it is small, I use it for tea or even eggnog, it's too small for my morning coffee. The only thing i don't like about it is that, since it's made of stainless steel, it gets super hot with the drinks.

🎄Message mug

Even tho the message is not super Christmassy, it is a seasonal mug with holly plant thingies around the "Be Awesome Today & Everyday" quote. 

This was a gift from my sister back in 2018 when I came back from Spain. It is a pretty big and heavy mug that I started using a lot more this year. 

🎄Dallas Cowboys Christmas Mug

So, some of you might already know this, thanks to my dad, I am a Dallas Cowboys fan. Years ago, one of my former students went to the Dallas Cowboys stadium and bought this one for me. It's pretty simple and clean but still pretty and festive. Size is pretty good too.

🎄Santa & snowman red cups

And lastly, we have these two. I think one is my mom's but I'm not sure which one. They were also presents from students. I don't really used them much because they are pretty small. Then again, maybe for tea, eggnog, ponche~ 

Right now they're just decorating my coffee station.

And, that is it! My small collection. I also have some reusable cups, tumblers and mason jars I didn't include here. Let me know if you'd like to see them too.

See you next time~!🤍

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 7.8🍓 | Nana & Hachi Premium Fan Book! |

 It's been a while since my last Nana Manga posts. Like a year I think? I just feel lazy to write them sometimes cuz, for some reason, it takes me forever. Don't get me wrong, I still love it. I need to catch up because by now, all the volumes have been published and I only have half of them. Anyway, Last month I bought the 7.8 volume. Which is not an actual manga, it's more like a guide through Nana's world.

It is slightly bigger than other volumes but as thick as them. We have a cute pic of both Nanas fixing their makeup in front of a mirror.

When you remove the sleeve we can see other characters too with a bottle green background. Really nice!

It came with a cute postcard!

Something I really loved about it is that it includes some color pages, it gives it an extra something. Here's the content you'll find in this volume:

🎔 NANA's Gallery - Memories & Regrets: This is one of the colored pages. It shows cute real life pictures with some Nana deets in them. Love them! 

🎔 NANA's world TOUR GUIDE: This is the other colored part and it shows some of the real places shown in the manga and others that look similar. You know, stores, apartment buildings and certain spots in Tokyo.

🎔 Introduction: It's a greeting/thank you letter from Yazawa Ai.

🎔 Characters relation: Diagram showing the relationship between the main characters of the story.

🎔 Character Profile: Shares some basic information about the main characters such as their age, height and blood type along with some key words that will be part of the next section...

🎔 A to Z of NANA: This is like a dictionary, explaining all the key words we saw before and their connection to the characters or the story.

🎔 Interview to YAZAWA AI: It comes in 3 parts divided throughtout the volume.

🎔 Voices to NANA: These are messages from fans and readers. It also includes an interview with 3 fans.

🎔 NANA's Story: Here we see their story through Hachi's eyes. It's like a short summary of the story until volume 8.

🎔 Rock on Japan: 700 word interview with Trapnest. One of my favorite parts of this volume!

🎔 NANA Carte: This is a very random part that has this type of award show thing for the characters and a personality quiz to see which female character you are most like. (I got Misato, btw. 😅)

🎔 Misato's Report: Misato's reports are really cute. You can find some throughtout the volume too. She shows both Nanas' rooms and manga covers around the world.

🎔 Character Room: This one has different categories featuring different characters:

    Nana's makeup class.

    Hachi's delicious and popular food

    Yasu's telephone consultation room

    Nobu's I LOVE PUNKS

    Shin's sweet drams

    Aiming to be Junko: The path of a good woman

    Sachiko's secrets and popularity (I didn't read this one~)

🎔 Junko's Room Special: a longer version of Junko's room. 

🎔 Dear NANA: Guess this one is like the closure? Just a small quote from Hachi to Nana.

I love everything about this volume! I feel like it gave me the feels all over again and the excitement to go back to reading and sharing about the manga around here. Plus, I want to buy the volumes I'm missing. If you're a Nana fan, you should defo get it, even if you don't collect or read the manga.

I want to include this before I wrap it up, I don't really own too many Nana goodies cuz they are hard to find here were I live but, these are some of my precious things, haha. I don't think I've shared them around here before. First is the NANA Best CD, which has to be one of my fav OST ever! It includes music from both, Blast and Trapnest and I could play it over and over again. On the bottom left we have an Osaki Nana keychain I received on my birthday and next to it is a cute Nana & Hachi pin my bestie gave me not long ago. ♡

This post will be a little out of order cuz I got it late, haha. Here are my other Nana manga posts in case you want to check them out. They are long tho, you've been warned. 

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 8🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 7🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 6🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 5🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 4🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 3🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 2🍓

Manga Reading: Nana Volume 1🍓

🛒 Walmart Finds | September / October / November 2024 |

Posting completely unrelated pics to the topic as the cover of these posts is my passion, lol.

I've realized it takes me forever to put these posts together for some reason. Plus, there are also fun and delish things I don't buy at Walmart that I don't share here. I'm thinking about changing these posts to "food / supermarket finds" or something like that. Dunno yet~

Anyway, last Walmart post of the year will be super duper short. Here we go!

I've been buying lots of jelly lately, it is easy to make and D'Gari has released some fun flavors and I'm here for it. I am a big marzipan so this was something I had to try. It is milk based and it's defo worth it if you like marzipan. Sweet, creamy and just... yummy.

Continuing with the jellies, I found this new "neon" line with flavors such as lavender lemonade (this one), lime and bubblegum (I got it but haven't tried it yet). This one was pretty good, it didn't have that perfumey(?) touch I thought it would. I forgot to take a pic  of the actual jelly but the color was just beautiful. Not neon tho.

I don't think these are in stores anymore but I was obsessed with them when they came out. Liked them a lot more than the drink. I won't go into much detail cuz I have a separate post talking about them. You can read it here.

I wish they weren't limited edition~

These Tostitos were also limited edition. They came out last September because of Independence day (I think) and they were just SOOO GOOD! literally tasted like esquites, which have to be one of my favorite things ever. I couldn't enjoy them as much as I wanted but, i'm still glad I tried them. Hopefully they'll be back next year.

And, that will be it for this post. Super random and short but, yeah. I wanted to post it before the year ends. 

😘

Starhaus Berry Cardamon Scented Candle 🕯️

I've been into candles a lot lately, Idk, there's something magical and cozy about them. Especially now that the weather is getting colder. 

My mom gave me this one as a pressie last Halloween. As the name says, it is a  raspberry & cardamom candle. It smells delish, it is sweet, but not super overpowering.

The candle comes in a nice glass container, it is pretty big too, which makes it feel fancier somehow, hehe.

Plus I think the color goes well with my normal decoration so, I can keep it on display all year round. They work as cute decoration pieces too!

This might be the shortest post ever but, I just wanted to share this cnadle with y'all.

See you next time~! ♡