It's very cliche to say that 2015 has been "a big roller coaster ride" for me because every year is a roller coaster ride. But the past year was something big, a chapter ended and another one started halfway through the year - it was a mixture of sheer joy and utter confusion but hey, I survived such an amazing year!

The past year, I was able to scratch off to of my biggest goals in life: first was to graduate and earn a Bachelor's Degree and second was to be employed with a job related to my field of study. I must admit that in the middle part of the year, I felt so much self-doubt, fear, anxiety and worry. Negative thoughts pulled through as I slowly venture into the reality of being an adult and getting myself out there together with thousands of new graduates competing to earn a slot in the corporate world. Rejections came here and there, but I feel blessed to finally be hired. The first few months were tough (some of you might have seen me rant and vent out over social media), the adjustment period  took so long and there are so many times that I felt like giving up because I was looking for something else. Amidst all these trials, I feel so proud of myself to have been able to achieve two big things in a year. 

I'm 21, and I'm so far from reaching my big-ass life and long-term goals (financially and experience wise). 2015 might not have turned up the way I imagined it to be, but I know that this year, is going to be something far better for me.. I will stop myself from being stuck with comfort and I will start hustling towards the things that will make my heart leap with joy and satisfaction. 

This year 2016, I won't make so many resolutions but I will focus more on building myself, my dreams and working harder to achieve my long term goals. I will make things right until everything falls into place.  This year, I'm going to make things happen.

Have a great year my loves, and I wish you all the best this 2016! Let's all turn our dreams into a reality this year! 

Before anything else, I'm wishing everyone Happy Holidays and I hope that you enjoyed the short vacation that you spent with your loved ones this week! 

The Christmas week was full of fun and celebration with my workmates and loved ones. We had an intergalactic adventure in the office as we had a Star Wars marathon in lieu of "Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens" (Man, the movie was so good! I'm glad that they maintained the original feel of the franchise! Okay, no spoiler here!). It was pretty great since it's the first time that I have actually had the quality time with my workmates which isn't work related at all.

I caught up with my crochet lessons at home while on work leave, it's a hobby that requires A LOT of patience by the way. It's been weeks that I've been working on this beret but still I'm not even halfway the project! Also, I have been very busy finishing my Tumblr art gallery - I'm very much excited to open it and show my digitized typography and hand lettering.

How was this week for you guys? 2015 is nearing to its end, and I can't wait to welcome 2016 with a smile!! (I'm thinking of doing a short vlog to wrap this year up!)

Have a great New Year's week!!

I always believe that there's more to life than social media. We have always been stuck in this dimension that most of us forget that we have a life to live in that is more real and authentic than the life we project on social media. I must admit that the internet scares me (sometimes), because of making me feel as if I'm obliged to "curate" the things that I do, it bores me to see recurring issues and rants of different people and it limits me to see the beauty of experiencing the real world.

Weekends are the days where I spend the least hours offline and I try to spend them wisely and productively in accomplishing other activities other than endlessly scrolling my phone screen online. I'd like to share to you my life offline, and what I do on chill days:

Catch-up on my journal writing - When I find a hard time thinking about topics to blog about or when I need to release things that bottle-up my emotions and thoughts, I write on my journal. They say that journal writing is a good therapy for people who are stressed and for those who can't express their emotions. It really is a great thing having this buddy around!!

Read a book - Call me crazy, but I'm currently reading 3 books! "ABC's of Hand Lettering", "Vagina Monologues" and "Da Vinci Code" (by the way, Books for the Soul blog series will be back soon!!) . I can't stand finishing a day without reading at least 2 chapters of a book. Reading will always be a part of me that I cannot stay away from. It widens my creativity and imagination which is very helpful in my design and blog work.

Design work (water color typography and illustration)- I usually do this at night when all my creative juices are kicking in. When my materials are not around, I draft my ideas on paper first to keep track and not lose the momentum and that's where I'll start conceptualizing the design and layout when I get home.

Play video games - I may not look like I'm some gamer girl, but trust me, when I press that start button and get engrossed with the game play, I cannot be disturbed. I"m currently finishing "Harvest Moon" on my Nintedo DS Lite and next on my list is to finish "Five Nights At Freddy's" (I'm ready to scream my lungs out....)

How do you spend your life offline? Enjoy life offline, and stay authentic!! 

This week was pretty intense for almost everyone in the city workforce! The APEC Summit just finished and people on social media (including me, who has posted endless rants and protests on Twitter and Facebook.. so sorry!!) are on fire because of the huge struggle we dealt in going to and fro work, impatiently enduring the long lines at the terminals and hours long of traffic. Yes, it was a stressful adventure.  While waiting for my dad to fetch me, I explored Baclaran (a prominent part of Manila known for its church and thrift stores) alone, at night, without being familiar with the place itself. It was scary but I somehow enjoyed it because of the thrill of exploring an unfamiliar place. 

On a positive note though, there were two days of rest and relaxation from the past few days of negativity. I caught up on my favorite series (aka HTGAWM's heart-rate raising mid-season finale) and watched some Wes Anderson films. Pretty chill days, and it made me realize how much I missed being at home. (And my dog missed me a lot too, she's been so sweet and clingy to me the past few days!!)

And, I've got some nice internet reads/blogs to share to you:

Catherine's lifestyle blog
A recipe to the peanut butter balls I did a week ago
Slowly turning into a Belieber because of this song that's stuck in my head for a week now
Getting my feels trip with Adele's "Hello"

Anyway, last week was a pretty busy week for me most especially in doing some preparations for this blog and my social pages. I need to make a concrete time table as to when I'll draft and release posts, and to make it a habit to release at least 2 blog posts a week. Also, I was faced with such a huge decision about something (I don't want to disclose it here) that would entirely affect me, it was a week long of thinking and prayers and I've come to a decision of rejecting something promising. Man, I still haven't adjusted to this "adulting phase" and it's really really tough!!

And oh, I made some no-bake guilt free dark chocolate peanut butter balls last Saturday, and I have to brag about it because they taste like Reese's! I'm pretty proud of it so I promised my mom and some of my friends that I'd make another set for Christmas!! 

How was your week, dear reader? :)