Summer 2013

Pusheen had a way better summer :P

Guess who's back??

That's right, me! I'm back and ready to blog again!

Due to my test and unexpected family issues, I've been on bit of hiatus for the past two weeks. Sorry for the hold-up, I swear I haven't abandoned you all!

Since I'm at the airport now and not really in any mood to blog about food, I guess I kinda wanted to write a short thing about my first summer away from school.

Here it is in its full glory:

Summer 2013
Can't believe it's over. Can't believe I am a junior and heading back to New York in under two hours.

These past three months have kind of been a surreal experience for me. Having been away from home for most of the past year, it was quite...disorientating to find myself back at home for the next three months with nothing really to do except study. And study.

At first, I hated being home. I hated being shut up inside libraries and Starbucks cafes and having to study while everyone else got to travel and experience things. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents. I miss them to pieces already. But I hated being home and not being able to do anything by myself. That's SoCal for you. You literally can't get anywhere without a car or a willing chaperone.

But after thinking about it and spending some time with my family and friends, I realized that it probably wasn't a bad idea to take some time off from school and think about other things for a change. Plus there's free meals and rent.

Things got marginally better then. Not much, but just enough. It's amazing, really, how much circumstances change when you change the way you view them. Perspective is everything, folks.

Here are some of the things I learned this summer, some of which are pretty obvious and are just for my future use and some of which may or may not apply to you:

1. Do not study with your computer or phone. Or in your room. Or with anything/anybody that can distract you.
2. Do not study without taking a break.
3. Do not take excessive breaks or excessively long breaks. 
4. Taking endless pages of notes on endless pages of review books is not the best way to study
5. Sleep. 
6. Drink coffee. Lots of coffee. 
7. Don't stress-eat. It makes you fat and makes working at the gym really difficult later.
8. Work off your stress by either going to the gym or doing something you enjoy, whether that be baking, excessively shopping online, or watching endless marathons of Modern Family. 
9. Cardio-kickboxing is the best thing ever. You burn calories and you get to be as violent/angry as you want. 
10. Remember to bring water/fluids into the steam room at 24 Hour Fitness.
11. Listen to/watch Ellen Degeneres whenever you are sad/stressed/sure the world is going to end. She can cheer up anyone. 
12. Do not end up on Ellen's side of Youtube. You will never make it out alive. There are literally 4,000 videos on there you really shouldn't but need to watch.
13. When you have time, take a walk. Enjoy the sunshine. Smell the roses. Hear the birds, chirp. Whatever. Just remember to put on sunscreen.
14. Chinese reality television is way better than American reality television.
15. iTunes playlists are awesome.
16. Short naps are also awesome. At only 45 and 90 minute intervals.
17. Baking is soul-saving. So is laughter. And gelato.
18. I really, really need to get my hands on some macarons.
19. Do not panic when stressed. It's not the end of the world. 
20. Enjoy your family, eat good food, and enjoy your free time while it lasts. 

So, that's it folks! Hope you found my advice marginally useful/enlightening. I have to board my flight now so it's adios for now and I will see you all in New York!