happy new year! / 2014

2013 was a bittersweet year for me if anything. If it wasn't for electronic dance music and the events, I don't know how I would've gotten through it. I went to Los Angeles with my best friend to see Swedish House Mafia, POP the Dream where I got to see Gareth Emery for the first time (who completely blew my mind; I wouldn't mind seeing him for the third time at all and hopefully I'll be seeing him again sometime in 2014!), Beyond Wonderland in August which was a two day festival (and it was so amazing, nothing has topped it yet), and so many other events. And I can't even begin to imagine what 2014 has in store for me. There are so many DJs on my "I must see this year!" list!

For new years eve, I went to POPNYE with my best friend and we danced all night with strangers. And it was amazing. Good vibes all night and everyone I met that night was really nice. Even though it didn't feel like 2014 when they had the countdown, I was glad I was there with all those people in the crowd. I even gathered up the courage to hug the people around me. I'm also really glad that I finally got to see New World Punx! I wanted to dance during their whole 3.5 hour set (which was amazing and I wish it was longer), but my feet were killing me so I had to sit down from time to time but every now and again I had to jump up and start dancing. Some of the people who were sitting down were cheering me on for dancing, but I'm shy and I get embarrassed when there's too many people around which made me want to sit back down. But it's really nice when people come up to me and tell me they like my shuffling. ^~^

I went to sleep at about 4 am (when I finally got home). And we woke up at 6:30 am to try and catch the sunrise which according to the Internet was at 7:22 am, and it was a 20 minute drive to the park. And to both of our surprises, we made it just in time! The small walk up to the park was exhausting, as you can imagine the soreness from a night of dancing (approx. 8 hours of dancing, shuffling to be exact). So sometime after 7:30 am, I got to see my first sunrise of 2014. Actually it was my first sunrise ever. I've been trying to wake up early enough to see a sunrise for years, but I've never been successful until now. I'm actually very proud of myself for this.

I also made breakfast for my friend and I while my waited for and watched the sun rise. Acai berry base with granola and muesli, yum!

After that, we went home. And we slept until 2 PM. Then lots of Netflix, eating, and resting/relaxing happened for the next eight hours. (Oh yeah, and of course lots of complaining about how sore we were like after every event we've been to. You would think we would be use to this by now.) Speaking of which, I'm really hungry so I'm going to go make myself dinner. I hope you all had a wonderful new years eve and new years day! 

Happy new years!

• How was your new years eve? Did you celebrate it with someone special? Family? Friends?
• Did you do anything special on your first day of the new year?

reflecting back on the year / 2013

It's almost time for the new year again. My friend and I were up late talking last night about how life seems to become more and more stressful as we get older; a lot of people may say that we're still young and maybe we are, but time is flying by either way. And it's a little scary. Well actually it's really scary with college debts, loans, trying to pay rent, trying to learn to live without your parents, having responsibilities (especially financial responsibilities), finding a job, starting on your career, etc. And it got me thinking, about a lot of things actually, like where I want to be one or two years from now, and whether I'm where I thought I would be when I thought about my life a year or two ago, about how my life is progressing (or well, not progressing), what I actually want to do with my life, etc.

Reflecting back on this year, it wasn't a good year for me. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I still don't. And that freaked me out, a lot. A lot more than it should have. But I'm finally starting accept that maybe it's okay. Why do I need to have my life all figured out now? Well, maybe I don't. I don't have to figure out my whole life now. I mean I do have my whole life ahead of me after all, right? And isn't life about living anyway? I want to live my life, not plan a life to live.

So what exactly are my plans for 2014? I'm not entirely sure, but instead of freaking out about how I don't have a successful job yet, how I'm not in a traditional four year college like everyone else, or how I'm not at a party every weekend like most people my age, I'm going to do things I want to do and I'm going to accomplish things that are meaningful to me. Life isn't about doing the same things as everyone else, it's about doing what you want to do. And that's what 2014 is all about - doing things that I want to do, living the life I want to live, and being proud of it.

I'm going to work on loving my body instead of wanting to lose weight as an outlet of anger, I'm going to work on being kind to myself every time I want to hate myself over something small, I'm going to work harder on my studies and learn more things on my free time, I'm going to work on getting better and doing more of things like running, hooping, cooking, studying and learning, etc. My plan is focus on the positive for 2014 and build on things that I can actually change and improve on, rather than feeling hopeless about things I don't really have any control over (like not knowing what I want to do with the rest of my life. Eventually, I will figure it out, right? And if I don't, what's the big deal anyway as long as I'm enjoying my life?)

Here's to hope, change, and self acceptance! Cheers!

• What about you? How was your year this year? Did you accomplish the things you wanted to do?
• And what are your plans for the new year? Will you be making new years resolutions for 2014?
• Do you have any tips for a 20 year old who has no clue what's she's doing with her life?

Talk to you soon! Hope you're having a wonderful holiday season!