Tag: books i read

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/26/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

+ I have TikTok back yay…but boo? Because it may be gone in 75 days again (less than 75 now) unless someone buys it so at least now I can prepare myself.

+ It’s been a LONG week. TikTok was shut down for 12 hours. My nerves were shot and I couldn’t watch the Eagles/Rams football game without my heart feeling like it was popping out of my chess. And then the doom and gloom feeling the morning after the game (Eagles won-yay) because of the Inauguration (I didn’t watch, just saw clips here at there on TikTok). I can’t believe only one week has gone by…January has felt like a whole year has gone by.

+ And because I need to escape – my sister asked me if I want to join her on a shopping tour in South Korea. It’s in June and I just paid my deposit woohoo! It’ll be nice to get away and enjoy some good Korean food. My parents and I are also trying to plan a visit to the Philippines. My parents are in their early 70’s and I want my kids to visit the Philippines with them while they can still travel. That trip might be at the end of December, so we shall see!

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football – BARELY…I couldn’t watch the Eagles/Rams game, it was too close but I’m glad the Eagles won.

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!

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/19/25

Aloha friends!

Another week is over and here’s what happened:

  • Went to lunch with an ex-coworker. I met her back in 2005 when we both worked at a college library. So we’ve been friends for 19 years? I’m always amazed when I add up the years how long I have been friends with someone ❤️ even though we only worked together for 5 years. And we only see each other once a year but it always feels like we’re back in 2005, chit-chatting about life. I was happy to see her and exchange, birthday and Xmas gifts lol.
  • Friends I am SAD and stressed about the Tiktok ban. I joined during the pandemic and honestly it got me through those stressful times. I’ve always wanted to post my book reviews there but I never did. Only one of friends are on there with me and we send videos back and forth to one another but it’s my entertainment. It’s so much fun! I love booktok, the pets and animals I see on there, the funny comedic videos, or just seeing how people are living wherever they are. So I am sad. I’m still on Facebook – VERY HARDLY, I don’t scroll much because there is too much ads and I want to delete it but my Mother in law and mom and relatives international are on there). I’m on IG too but again…I found myself mostly posting to Stories (because it disappears) and once again, it’s to show my relatives pics of my kids. But I want to delete that one too lol. Twitter (X) SUCKS now. SO tiktok was my fave. Sigh…😞.
  • Kids and I had some appointments this week, so yay got that done but my daughter will need braces or aligners. 💸. My son is almost done with his aligners thank goodness so yeah…daughter will be next!

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football

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!

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/12/25

Aloha friends!

What a week. Here’s what happened:

  • My daughter had her 8th birthday party at my mom’s house and it was SO nice seeing my cousins and their kids. It was chaotic and it’s funny how we always had parties there growing up with more people than who was there last Sunday and we were wondering how we had parties like that before because the space looks so small now (even though it’s not!). We had a blast and my body/legs/feet hurt so much after. I think my body knew that was it for the holidays and I felt it!!
  • We had two days to relax before kids went back in school. Took the decorations down (Bye Christmas and 2024)…Kids went back to school on Wednesday so back on the routine…can’t believe they will be done with school again in 5 months!
  • Had to check on so many friends because of the Los Angeles fires. I went to college in Los Angeles and I had the best 4 years there and my stomping grounds were Santa Monica, Sunset Blvd, all of it. The Palisades fire was near my college and a friend of mine was near the Altadena/Pasadena fire – her friends’ schools burned down (she’s a teacher), many lost their homes. I was on the phone texting her to make sure she was okay and had a plan just in case she had to evacuate. She has no family so I was very worried and she was freaking out too. What a scary situation. It reminded me of the Lahaina, Maui fire where we had high wind warnings all over Hawaii that day, and one little spark caused a raging inferno. 2025 has not started off so good with so many tragedies! My heart has been sore since the New Year. 😩
  • Went to lunch with 2 friends and 2 of our elementary school teachers! 🤯

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football
  • Wicked – again and listened to the soundtrack

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!

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/5/25

Aloha friends!

What a week. Here’s what happened:

  • Finally got a haircut – it’s been since February I think!
  • New Year’s Eve – Hawaii always goes crazy with fireworks. I think there were MORE fireworks this year, it started early and my dog was miserable. We stay home on NYE because of him, keep him comforted. We watched WICKED at home and loved it! Watched the fireworks show outside our windows (there’s a professional fireworks event near us and we had a lovely view) – but since the whole island lights up, we pretty much can see fireworks outside every window upstairs. It’s like a war zone out there.
  • New Year’s Day – Woke up to news there was a bad fireworks incident in town, 3 people died with 20+ injured, horrible fireworks accident. It was my nephew’s 17th birthday so we went into Waikiki and had lunch with the family at Hard Rock Cafe.
  • My daughter turned 8 on Friday. She got to open presents from me and her dad in the morning. We also had a passport appointment – theirs only last 4 years because they are kids and it expired in July. So I wanted them to have new ones just in case we go to the Philippines this year. After the appointment we went to eat at Wendy’s because she loves their nuggets. Then we went to Kids City which is like an indoor playground.
  • My son is back to piano lessons on Saturday – so we did that then picked up her ice cream cake for her party today.

I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football
  • Wicked – again while I’m cleaning

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!

Monthly Wrap Up | December 2024

December? I just realized (in January 2025 because I copy and change things before I post things that this DECEMBER post was still in my November post wording. That’s how you know December was just tiring. LOL

Here is how my book ratings went in December:

What I Posted: 9 Books

5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

4 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫:

3 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️:

2.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️💫

2 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️

Book Tags:

Birthstone Book Covers: December – Tanzanite | Zircon | Tourquoise

How was your month?

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/29/24

Aloha friends!

Christmas is over. We went to a family party Christmas Eve night and had tons of fun. We went home with so many prizes! Gift cards, treats and I won a whole pot and pans set which I shared with my mom since I didn’t need most of it 😅. My kids had a blast but let me tell you we were so tired on Christmas day lol…so we opened only stocking gifts because we had to head out to my mom’s for Christmas lunch. My daughter was overstimulated and had one break down at the lunch but I get it – the party the night before, the anticipation for Christmas and presents and being tired! Lunch was nice and you know with my mom having stage one bladder cancer and my sister’s sis-in-law dealing with stage 3 breast cancer this year, and my hubby being gone and finally home for good…it was nice to be around family and knowing we got through a challenging year.

Kids enjoyed their gifts and I enjoyed my gift (a kindle from my hubby)! We also had Hanukkah to celebrate the night of Christmas and let me tell you, I was struggling to stay awake. I was done and didn’t even have caffeine the whole day. But I ate so much all day (I have left overs for days in my fridge) that I decided to go on youtube and do a Just Dance workout before bedtime. My son got up and joined me and we had so much fun, so it was a long day but a lovely day.

Then we went to a Shabbat service on Friday night to celebrate my father-in-law’s anniversary, he passed 2 years ago. Thing is the service was a potluck Shabbat/Hanukkah party. So there was a lot of people and it was festive so the kids had fun and we got to honor their grandpa which is where their Jewish side comes from.

Now onto the New Year – and planning my daughter’s birthday!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • Breath of the Dragon by. Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee

Currently Reading:

  • Unhallowed Halls by. Lili Wilkinson
  • Nature Frost by. Jus Accardo

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football
  • Beyonce Bowl Halftime NFL Show – she was gorgeous and ethereal all in white! What a performance. I need to get myself to a Beyonce concert.
  • The Polar Express – my daughter mentioned this was her classmate’s favorite movie and I said okay let’s watch it. She lasted 20 minutes and left the room. I never watched it because I always thought the animation looked creepy and I stick to my opinion after sitting through that whole movie. The animation is creepy! It was an okay movie.

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!

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/22/24

Aloha friends!

It was a long week at school for the kiddos and we can’t wait for winter break which starts this Saturday! Are you all feeling in the Christmas spirit at all? It’s still warm here so for me, I feel like it isn’t the holidays at all.

I’m gonna try make some Christmas cookies for a Christmas eve party we got invited too. Maybe that will put me in the spirit!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • The Lotus Shoes by. Jane Yang

Currently Reading:

  • Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue by. Kate Pearsall
  • North is the Night by. Emily Rath
  • Breath of the Dragon by. Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Football

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!

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/15/24

Aloha friends!

It’s been a long week. My son had his piano recital and did well. I had to drive my hubby around to get his car fixed. It was a long week at school for the kiddos and we can’t wait for winter break which starts this Saturday! Are you all feeling in the Christmas spirit at all? It’s still warm here so for me, I feel like it isn’t the holidays at all.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • Not Here to Be Liked by. Michelle Quach
  • A Song to Drown Rivers by. Ann Liang
  • Get Lost with You by. Sophie Sullivan
  • Blood of the Gods by. Sapir A. Englard
  • The Girl Most Likely To by. Julie Tieu

Currently Reading:

  • The Lotus Shoes by. Jane Yang
  • Breath of the Dragon by. Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Listened to GNX by Kendrick Lamar
  • Listened to Rosie by. Rosé
  • Watched Football
  • It Ends With Us (Netflix) – this was okay, I read the story years ago so I went into this with fresh eyes, but it was just okay.

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!

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/8/24

Aloha friends!

I survived the week! My hubby came home yesterday morning – I cannot believe two years have gone by that quick. I feel like we saw him every 4 months so it wasn’t too bad. Being a single parent was exhausting enough that the days went super quick. We need to wait for some of his new furniture (furniture that he got in Okinawa that we are replacing some of our older furniture with) but it’s been a bunch of unpacking and organizing. Kids love that they have another parent to bother again though and I love it! I can get some quiet, unbothered time!

Today is my son’s holiday piano recital and the first one that my hubby gets to watch so it will be great! Then he has a break from piano for a month for winter break. Kids have 2 more weeks of school until winter break – so they are really looking forward to that! Can you believe 2025 is just around the corner?! I can’t…

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • The Darkness Within Us by. Tricia Levenseller

Currently Reading:

  • Get Lost with You by. Sophie Sullivan
  • A Song to Drown Rivers by. Ann Liang

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Listened to GNX by Kendrick Lamar – LOVE this album! It’s on repeat, can’t wait for his Superbowl Halftime show.
  • Listened to Rosie by. Rosé – such a great album, no skips!
  • Watched Football

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!

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/1/24

Aloha friends!

Well we got through it! Thanksgiving lunch at my mom’s was nice. I made green bean casserole, corn bread, and pistachio cake. I also bought pumpkin crunch and custard pie. There’s only three of us that really eat turkey so since my hubby isn’t here and he was one of the three, we opted for Popeyes fried chicken instead. And since I’m Filipino my mom made lumpia, pancit and pinakbet (a veggie dish). My dad cooked some steak so my tummy was happy! We (me, my bro in law, and son) had an intense game of Monopoly because my son is so competitive. I think it lasted 2 hours before I had to call it done because my daughter wanted to go home lol. On “Black Friday” we just hung out at home because I’m not doing all that anymore lol…and we don’t have any piano lessons or Sunday school this weekend so it was a real break from everything which is so nice.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

  • What the Woods Took by. Courtney Gould
  • Bloodguard by. Cecy Robson

Currently Reading:

  • The Darkness Within Us by. Tricia Levenseller

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

  • Watched NFL – football
  • Watched Our Little Secret on Netflix – the one with Lindsay Lohan. I thought it was over a fun movie, but I felt like it lacked in the romance department. It’s a second-chance romance but I felt no chemistry between the two characters.
  • Watched Dash & Lily on Netflix – I watch this once a year it seems. I love it! I just love how it’s set in New York City and starts at a bookstore.
  • Listened to Wicked Soundtrack – love it! I really need to go watch this movie. Just don’t know if I should wait until my hubby comes back so we can watch it together.
  • Listened to Number One Girl by Rosé

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!