Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ This week went by kind of fast as I took the time to recover from my trip. Plus there are two kids to kind of entertain so we’ve been going out to the mall, hitting some arcades, and my daughter has all these art projects she wants to do so we’ve been working on that. My son is I think FINALLY kicking the remnants of the cold or virus he caught at the end of May. I’m bummed that he’s been congested for almost a whole month! He only has 7 more weeks of summer vacation left. It’s kind of crazy to think summer vacation is so short now.

+ I definitely miss being on vacation and having buffet breakfasts all week! 😅 Back to cooking for the family.

Blog Posts:

I didn’t post much this week it seems!

• Embrace the Serpent by. Sunya Mara | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Books on My Summer 2025 to-Read List | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 6/17/25
• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 series I wished never ended | 6/17/25
• New Book Releases This Week | 6/17/25
• WWW Wednesday | 6/18/25
• Enigma by. RuNyx| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Den of Liars by. Jessica S. Olson | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Summer in the City by. Alex Aster | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Let’s Talk Bookish:  All About Audiobooks | 6/20/25
• A Magic Deep & Drowning by. Hester Fox | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Stacking the Shelves | 6/21/25

Books I Finished

• Warrior Princess Assassin by. Brigid Kemmerer
• House of Hearts by. Skyla Arndt
• Enigma by. RuNyx
• A Magic Deep & Drowning by. Hester Fox
• Summer in the City by. Alex Aster

Currently Reading:

Throne of Secrets by. Kerri Maniscalco

The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce

Wrath of the Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling

You Between the Lines by. Katie Naymon – audiobook

The Knight and the Moth by. Rachel Gillig

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ I had two Saturdays yesterday. I ended Saturday in Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, boarded our flight home at 9pm, Saturday. And landed in Hawaii at 9:45am, Saturday. So I was all messed up and dealing with jet-lag!

+ I was in Seoul, South Korea all week – and I LOVED it. What a fun tour group we had, a mix of retirees, families, some seniors (which was kind of hard on them with all the walking). But it was a great group!

• Making our own Tal Masks (to ward of bad spirits/ghosts) at the Bukchon Art Center – made this one for my hubby! Then a walk through the neighborhood, it had lots of hills but loved the old traditional Korean houses.

• DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza) – we had a chance to explore, while most of the group went shopping in the area.

• Cheonggyecheon Stream – my sister and I at this really pretty stream.
• Gyeongbok Palace – my sister and I again at the palace. It was a warm day, glad we brought our umbrellas for shade but wow did I sweat and my feet were killing me after this long day.
• Girls in the Hanbok dresses at the palace! They looked so pretty!

• After the a day of going to the stream, Gyeongbok Palace, the National Folk Museum and the Blue House and walking a LOT – we were all so hot and tired BUT we still had one more thing to do. We had a cooking class with Food & Culture Korea. The woman who runs this class, Ellie is the food styler for shows like Squid Game (Season 3), Pachinko on Apple TV and other K-drama shows. She is amazing, full of energy and so much fun! We learned to cook japchae (we cooked this) and bulgogi (we watched a demo). Everything was delicious and we got a copy of the recipes and a certificate with our names written in Korean on it.

• For one of our free days on the tour, my sister and I booked us hair appointments at Juno Hair in Myeongdong (I think she says there are 3 of them in that area alone). We had a haircut at the scalp treatment which was over a fun and relaxing experience! Judy (@juno_judyy on instagram) my stylist was the sweetest. Then we did a LOT of shopping before m sister had a facial at Muse Clinic. I sat and waited with all our shopping bags. After dropping the bags off to the hotel we ended the day with dinner at bhc Chicken to eat some fried chicken and my sister had beer.
• Our last free day we went back to Namdaemun Market (which is across from our hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Namdaemun. We did our last minute shopping, but we also checked out the smaller palace up the street called Deoksugung. It was another day of a lot of walking but we ended the night with our last tour group farewell dinner which was a buffet.

It was such a great trip, and I definitely want to go back again to explore even more!

Blog Posts:

I didn’t post much this week it seems!

• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 series I wished were shorter | 6/10/25
• New Book Releases This Week | 6/10/25
• All Paths Lead to Paris by. Sabrina Fedel | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Let’s Talk Bookish:  Traveling for Literature | 6/13/25
• Birthstone Book Covers: June – Alexandrite/Moonstone/Pearl

Books I Finished

A Spell to Wake the Dead by. Nicole Lesperance

Currently Reading:

A Magic Deep & Drowning by. Hester Fox

Throne of Secrets by. Kerri Maniscalco

The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce

Wrath of the Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

• Movies I watched on the airplane:
  • Wicked
  • 27 Dresses
  • My Best Friend’s Wedding
  • Inception (but I fell asleep for parts of it)

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ Today I fly out to South Korea with my older sister and we’ll be gone for a week. It sucks to lose time traveling, because it’s a day ahead there so even though we leave on Sunday we get there Monday night. So we’re only really there for 4 real days to explore. Then fly back on Saturday! Hopefully I’ll have some interesting things to post about South Korea next Sunday.

+ My son’s piano recital is today and I’m sad I’ll miss it. He is still getting over a cough, so I hope he does okay. I know he’ll do great.

+ Did my annual breast MRI on Wednesday and everything looks good – thank god! Being in an MRI machine is like being in a rave lol…it’s so loud and the beats are thumping. I always choose Taylor Swift for my playlist in there but this time around I could barely hear the music and at one point something was tickling my nose – grrr…and you can’t move for like 25 minutes! But I got through it…at least I don’t have to worry about it for another year.

+ My son picked up his new Nintendo Switch 2! He saved money for and he’s been having a blast playing the new Mario Kart game. And yes he has been sharing it with his sister, but she’s not as much as a gamer as he is. Her ipad is still her favorite thing to play Roblox on. Though she does have my old switch, which I actually want back because I want the Hello Kitty game! 😅

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

I didn’t post much this week it seems!

• The Beautiful Maddening by. Shea Ernshaw | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Summer Vibes Book Covers | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 6/3/25
• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 standalone books I wished were series | 6/3/25
• New Book Releases This Week | 6/3/25
• WWW Wednesday | 6/4/25
• Pigeon-Blood Red by. Ed Duncan| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• On Wings of Blood by. Briar Boleyn| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Bond That Burns by. Briar Boleyn| Book Review ⭐️⭐️💫

Books I Finished:

I haven’t been in the mood to read much – maybe because I had so much to do before my trip.

Where the Library Hides by. Isabel Ibañez (audiobook)

Currently Reading:

Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox

Throne of Secrets by. Kerri Maniscalco

The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce

Wrath of the Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

• Addison by. Addison Rae – I need a few more listens but I love New York and Diet Pepsi

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ It is JUNE! 😳 How?….lol

+ My daughter received her academic award (so proud of her)🥰. And she had her class party and had just the most relaxing and fun last week of school. As for my son, he came home from school with a fever on Tuesday, stayed home on Wednesday and Thursday – so he missed his Lilo & Stitch movie field trip with his class (the fever was over but he was dizzy still and didn’t want to chance the school bus ride to the theater). But he did go to school on the last day of school. So what a week…

+ I’ve been packing for my S. Korea trip. My sister wants to book a scalp spa treatment that seem to be very popular there. She also wants to do some skin treatments but I’m skipping that, I’ll just do the scalp thing and I think the deal she found on klook comes with a haircut. I honestly don’t know what to do with my hair – I use box color because I still can’t handle all the white hair around my temples 😅. So my hair frustrates me and I don’t even wanna deal with it! I might get bangs. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But I don’t want to get something done in S. Korea (because it’s affordable) that’s going to be hard for me to maintain when I come back to Hawaii (because of cost – why are hair services so expensive these days?).

+ This week is going to be busy before I leave for S. Korea next week. I have a breast MRI appointment, I have to pick up my son’s Nintendo Switch 2 and then bring him to the orthodontist and buy him clothes for his piano recital that I’ll be missing. I feel a bit anxious – and have been having such weird dreams lately I think because of the anxiety. But I’m sure I’ll be fine by the time I go to the airport because by then it’s all out of my hands and my hubby has to watch the kids for a week 😅. And mind you he was gone for 2 years…and here I am worrying about him with the kids for 1 week. This is the longest he will be alone with them since I gave birth to the both of them!😂🙄. He’s lucky they are older now and mostly self-sufficient!

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

I didn’t post much this week it seems!

• Animal Companions | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 5/27/25
• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 books with no pictures on the cover | 5/27/25
• WWW Wednesday | 5/28/25
• Fallen Court by. Geneva Lee | Audiobook Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Books I Finished:

Mayra by. Nicky Gonzalez

Fallen Court: Filthy Rich Fae by. Geneva Lee

Arcana Academy by. Elisa Kova

Love at Full Tilt by. Jenny L. Howe

Currently Reading:

Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox

Throne of Secrets by. Kerri Maniscalco

The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce

Wrath of the Dragons by. Olivia Rose Darling

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

• The Wild Robot is on Netflix! And I loved this movie so much last year but it made me cry a lot in the theater. Even watching it at home made me emotional – all the themes of motherhood and found family. UGH…my heart.💜 This movie will always make me cry I think.

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ 4 days of school left! Me and the kids were feeling it last week, we just didn’t want to get out of bed lol…

+ My daughter is getting an academic award, my son got into advanced math for 7th grade (he really wanted this because he loves his math teacher) and he also got into the e-sports team for Super Smash Bros. he tried out for. There were 2 spots and a bunch of kids who tried out and he got one of the spots. SO proud of him. So so proud of my kids. 🥰

+ This week is about class parties, my son has a field trip to watch the Lilo & Stitch live action with his class, lucky him and then my hubby’s birthday is on Friday. May is always so busy.

+ I’ve been looking at weather apps for Seoul, Korea and it says it’s getting hot. Lucky thing I live somewhere hot huh? So it shouldn’t be a big deal for me. I’m getting excited! Anybody been to Seoul? Any recs? For our tour we are going to the palace, we are making tal masks, we are going to learn to make bulgogi and japchae (yummy!!!), we will visit the DDP (design plaza?) and of course all the shopping areas and markets since it is a shopping tour.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

• Enchantra by. Kaylie Smith| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 books with a ballgown on the cover | 5/20/25
• Books that Feature Travel | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 5/20/25
• WWW Wednesday | 5/21/25
• Bound in Inked Flame by. Ava Larksen| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• A Forgery of Fate by. Elizabeth Lim | ARC Review⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Let’s Talk Bookish:  Literary Palette Cleansers | 5/23/25

Books I Finished:

Bound in Inked Flame by. Ava Larksen

Love Unmasked by. Becky Dean

For the Record by. Emma Lord

The Jasad Crown by. Sara Hashem

Thorn Season by. Kiera Azar

Currently Reading:

Fallen Court: Filthy Rich Fae by. Geneva Lee

Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox

Throne of Secrets by. Kerri Maniscalco

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ We are counting down the school days. Only 9 days left for my kiddos so yes they are excited and are sleeping in later, not wanting to go to school haha. But 9 more days!

+ Didn’t do much this week but the usual. My hubby’s friend’s husband passed suddenly last week so it’s been that kinda vibes – sad, reflective – and we got not so good news about my mom’s bladder cancer. She still is stage 1 but they are worried the cancer cells are moving towards her one ureter/kidney that she has left. She’s 72 years old and it’s not news we want to hear. She’s still in the fight of it though, but aging doesn’t help, she just gets so tired of going to the doctors, and doing chemo or procedures to remove the cells.

+ I’m counting down to my South Korea trip – but I have so many things to do days before my flight that ugh…that I’m just checking things off my list on by one and trying not to stress.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

• King of Envy by. Ana Huang | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• The Love Haters by. Katherine Center | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 books with a star on the cover | 5/13/25
• Shield of Sparrows by. Devney Perry | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• WWW Wednesday | 5/14/25
• A Fate Forged in Fire by. Hazel McBride | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• BLOG TOUR} A Campus of Fire by. Patrick O’Dowd | Book Excerpt
• His Mortal Demise| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Let’s Talk Bookish:  What is one book that everyone else seemed to love except you? | 5/16/25
• Wandering Wild by. Lynette Noni | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Books I Finished:

Maid for Each Other by. Lynn Painter

Give Me a Reason by. Jayci Lee

Well, Actually by. Mazey Eddings

Den of Liars by. Jessica S. Olson

Tenderly, I Am Devoured by. Lyndall Clipstone

Enchantra (Wicked Games, #2) by. Kaylie Smith

Currently Reading:

Bound in Inked Flame by. Ava Larksen

Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox

The Jasad Crown by. Sara Hashem

Love Unmasked by. Becky Dean

Throne of Secrets by. Kerri Maniscalco

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

• Damiano David – his new album FUNNY little FEARS – why is he so hot? Like he is the vampire of my dreams! And his voice – beautiful.

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you mama’s out there, whether it be to your own child, furbabies, other pet babies, your nieces/nephews – if you are a mother figure, Happy Mother’s Day. I told my hubby I wanted books as my gift, so he’s giving me money to buy some YAY. I think I’m going to use it to get the Legendborn books (I only have Legendborn in hardcover – or should I wait until the whole series is out? 🤔). Anyway I’m excited to add to my collection. We are going to my mom’s house today to celebrate Mother’s Day and my sister’s birthday early.

+ It was a long week because my son’s “cold” turned into a fever/cough/he basically was fighting some virus. And yet he went to school because he had an advanced placement test he didn’t want to miss, then a National test the next day and then he has been waiting for e-sports try-outs. I was trying to hard to get him better! Made him tea with honey and lemon, picked him up from school on the days he went (usually he walks home). So I was being nurse mom all week and then we also had to go to his orthodontist because he is done with his invisalign (yay!) and will be starting retainers soon! And yes they knew he was getting over a cold but it’s so hard to reschedule these things so my son toughed it out and did well! Didn’t have to cough or sneeze while his session.

+ I did go to my Korea Shopping Tour luncheon last Sunday and it looks like a fun group. It’s 29 of us – 4 of them men (husbands lol). The 2 bigger groups are families with kids, parents, and a grandparent – so cute! So I’m just counting down to that trip.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

• May 2025 New Book Releases
• Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by. Kylie Lee Baker | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 books with a heart on the cover | 5/6/25
• Books Featuring My State – Hawaii | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 5/6/25
• WWW Wednesday | 5/7/25
• Nightshade by. Autumn Woods| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Monthly Wrap Up | April 2025
• Of Earthly Delights by. Goldy Moldavsky | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Let’s Talk Bookish:  Motivation to Read | 5/9/25
• Birthstone Book Covers: May – Emerald
• Silver Elite by. Dani Francis| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Books I Finished:

Silver Elite by. Dani Francis

A Forgery of Fate by. Elizabeth Lim

King of Envy by. Ana Huang

Currently Reading:

Shield of Sparrows by. Devney Perry

Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox

His Mortal Demise by. Vanessa Le

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

• Beyonce , Cowboy Carter concert on Tiktok (thank you to all for your service!!!!🥰)
• Kendrick Lamar/SZQ – GNX tour on Tiktok – I appreciate all these streamers!

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

April Monthly Wrap-Up Journaling Video

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ My kids have 4 weeks of school left! They are so excited. I am too only because I have two trips coming up – one being South Korean in the 2nd week of June with my older sister. Today we are going to our tour luncheon so I can finally find out our travel information!

+ We went to Shabbat service on Friday because it was led by the kids and my son was going to have speaking parts – which he needs and is good practice for his Bar Mitzvah next year (he is NOT looking forward to it 😅). Speaking of Bar Mitzvah – I have a party to plan for next year I guess! My daughter’s class did go up to do the candle blessing and a song so that was nice.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

• The Amalfi Curse by. Sarah Penner | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• Books with the Word “Night” in the Title | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 4/29/25
• Top 5 Tuesday | Top 5 books set in Africa, Australia and New Zealand | 4/29/25
• The Twisted Throne by. Danielle L. Jensen| Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
• WWW Wednesday | 4/30/25
• BLOG TOUR} The Amalfi Curse by. Sarah Penner | Book Excerpt
• The Thrashers by. Julie Soto | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Most Anticipated Book Releases | May 2025
• BLOG TOUR} Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by. Kylie Lee Baker | Book Excerpt

Books I Finished:

The Love Haters by. Katherine Center

Wandering Wild by. Lynette Noni

The Twisted Throne by. Danielle L. Jensen

Embrace the Serpent by. Sunya Mara

Nightshade by. Autumn Woods

Currently Reading:

The Rivaled Crown by. Holly Renee

King of Envy by. Ana Huang

Smoke and Scar by. Gretchen Powell Fox

His Mortal Demise by. Vanessa Le

A Forgery of Fate by. Elizabeth Lim

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

• Beyonce , Cowboy Carter concert on Tiktok (thank you to all for your service!!!!🥰)

Videos I Posted to Youtube:

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Instagram | Tiktok | Youtube