Welcome to November

November🍂

We are on the second to last month of the year. We will continue staying strong, meeting our goals, and if you are a student, remember to push through. Do not give up!! This month will be full of amazing memories and adventures. 

There are some plans that are pending for the month and a few that are almost finalized. One thing I am not looking forward to is working on Black Friday. Thankfully this is the month where I'll be getting more hours at work. Besides work, I'm still continuing my goals for the winter arc even though I am struggling. Publishing blogs has been a little difficult but I am slowly trying to bring that up.

My bucket list is still the same. My TBR list is going to change and hopefully I can still meet my goal of reading 12 books before the year ends. If I remember correctly, I think I only need 4 more books to reach my goal. I have been slacking on my current book but I am going to try to finish that as soon as possible!! I am planning to continue meeting up with my friends as I haven't seen them in almost 2 months. Waiting for November to be the month of opportunities before the year ends.

WIML

Lake Arrowhead🌄

First time going to Lake Arrowhead and almost decided to not go last minute due to an unexpected family situation. I did not want to leave my family member's side but he insisted that I should still go and enjoy life. It was a really tough decision for me and even though I went, I still bugged him as I was away for the weekend. I told him every chaotic moment that happened at the Airbnb and let’s just say that it was a good laugh.

Days before leaving was the packing process and I’m happy that the sorority retreat experiences helped me in this situation. Only took a carry on full of clothes and costumes and a small duffle bag that had my boots, hygiene products, and makeup essentials. It was a little hard to choose the ‘going out outfits’ as the weather range from 40ºF to 50ºF and most of my clothes were summer clothes/LA winter clothes. Good thing I was able to figure out an outfit and they were perfect for the days that I was there. 

The drive to Lake Arrowhead was not bad at all. Traffic was decent and nothing chaotic. The drive through the mountains was the end of me. I am not a fan of hills or rain and the days that my group and I were there, it was filled with hills and rain. Quite a scary moment if you ask me. Imagine driving up hills with rain, thick fog, and at night. One of the worst moments of my life!! Will I do it again? Probably. During the day there wasn’t much fog which was beautiful when you can enjoy the view. Especially when arriving at the cabin. Felt very homey and cozy. One thing that I kept telling my sister was that I wanted to see a bear as there were signs saying “Beware of Bears”. Never saw one throughout our stay which was probably better for us. Exploring Lake Arrowhead was beautiful but cold. It didn’t help that the wind would move the fog fairly quickly but when there wasn’t any, it was beautiful to enjoy. We all kept saying that it feels like we were in one of the Twilight movies. Definitely planning on going back during the autumn season.

Book Review📚

Book Review: 2

Title: Threshing Day

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Rate: 5/5

Date Started: 10/22/2026                                                Date Finished: 10/24/2026

Genre: Fantasy                                                                 Number of Pages: 204

Summary:

If you have read Fourth Wing and the rest of the Empyrean Series, you are going to love this book!! You get to read the stories of 13 characters and learn more about their dragon bonding process and how they felt before and during the moments that their dragons chose them. Can't say a lot of what happens in every story because I will be spoiling a lot but all I can say is that it is a perfect release before the 4th book is complete and published.

Recommendation:

I recommend reading this book for anyone that has read books 1-3 from the Empyrean series!! This book is an easy chill read and one that can give you a break from other book genres you are reading. Every story is different but they are stories that you will enjoy. 

College 101

Post Midterms

During college you get to learn and experience the amount of midterms you are and will be taking depending on your major. You are studying like no other and trying to find a schedule that works for you but one thing you only get to experience after your very first midterm is that there are more than just 1 midterm per semester. Some classes have 2 per semester, others have 3 and some might have more. There is a lot going on and sometimes you have to remind yourself why you are doing this. 

After the first week of midterms, you'll feel drain. If you did not do well on the first set of midterms, do not bring yourself down. It is easier said than done but remember, you are going for a degree that will be used in the future. If you are feeling down after taking your midterm, that is normal. Sometimes it may feel like you didn't study enough or might've missed a topic and that is normal. 

The best way that I found myself motivated after midterms weren't just mini rewards but also a change in scenery. Taking a break in between studying was something that helped me. It kept me distracted for a bit and helped my brain retain information that was being reviewed. It also helped my mental health. That is a topic that not a lot of college students talk about in public or on the media and I am here to touch upon this topic for every college student. Yes midterms, exams, projects, research papers, or any other heavy assignment can be draining and sometimes we are not aware of it. Next college blog entry will be touching on this topic more and the best ways to take care of yourself as a student!! For now, do not give up!! You will pass those exams and you will do amazing this fall semester!!

WIML

Knotts Scary Farm

This year was my first time going to Knotts Scary Farm with loved ones and let me just say that it was something I didn't fully expect. We did get to spend time in the theme park before the Halloween festivities but we did have to leave the park at 5pm. I found it a little odd that everyone in the park had to leave before the start of the festivities and can I just say that I was so shocked with how many people were making line to enter the park. Entering back to the park wasn't as bad as leaving but that is where the real fun began. 

Riding roller coasters at night is always better. The adrenaline is felt more and it makes the roller coaster experience a lot better. The wait times were not bad since almost everyone was waiting in line at the haunted houses. That is where most of the people were at and the best part about these haunted houses is that it is free. The haunted houses were also pretty lengthy which was such a good feeling because it makes the experience worth it. There was one haunted house that I wanted to go to and it is a new one that has been added called 'Inked'. Since this was one of the newest haunted houses it was a packed and it was close to an hour wait. 

Through all the walking that we had done, we did get to stop by at an outdoor theater and enjoy the shows that they had. It gave a good break in between the walking that almost everyone enjoyed. The dance performances and acrobats were the ones that we really got to see and it was amazing to watch. Even if it was the last couple of minutes that we got to enjoy. 

WIML

October Nails

If it is one thing about nails in October it is the variations of autumn and Halloween nails. I am saving all the ones that I see and like on a Pinterest board to recreate them on press on. One nail design that I really want to recreate are the Nightmare Before Christmas. There have been many different designs based rom the movie and I get the urge to do all of them but I will be cutting it down to one design and implementing cat eye polishes. 

The next set I want to work on is on a Coraline inspired set. After watching the movie and getting a lot of Coraline nail videos on TikTok, I want to recreate some of them. Well perhaps just one but I'm indecisive on which one I want to do. I have been leaning more towards Mr. Bobinsky's circus as there are a lot more decorations that can be added onto the nail.

Last set I want to do is an autumn set. There are a lot of these kind of inspos and it is hard to choose just one. Although I do have quite a few ideas, it is just a matter of which one do I really want to work on.

WIML

Winter Arc🖤

As October officially begins today, so does winter arc!! I’m looking forward to it and excited to make my goals part of my daily routine. Based on the goals that I set for myself, I am doing pretty good but the one that I have been struggling with is sleeping early and waking up early. As I have been reading again, I tell myself one more chapter and that turns into me reading 10 chapters. Starting today I am going to try to set a better time for me to read and won’t be keeping me up all night. This is something that is affecting the time that I wake up and I will be modifying my morning alarm to allow my body adjusted to a new transition. There will be no new goals added to my winter arc as I have seen that I have set out a lot for me. If you are starting your winter arc now too, let’s do this together and not lose motivation!!

Welcome to October

Start of October🤍

It is officially October and I am so excited for what is to come!! Many more book shopping days, the fall drinks, Halloween!!! Hopefully the weather starts calming down in Los Angeles. I am tired of 80-90 degree weather. I am trying to wear hoodies and crewnecks when I am out with friends and family. I will patiently be waiting for the weather to start calming down because I am not happy with summer weather. On the bright side of things, Winter Arc officially starts today and so far I am doing pretty good with my goals. 

October is going to be filled with many more books (meeting my reading goals), more job applications (hopefully I get to hear from one soon because this waiting game is not it), enjoying night outs, and hopefully I get to go to more theme parks this month!! I am itching to get on a rollercoaster and feel the adrenaline. October is going to be a month of more opportunities not just for me but for you as well!!

 

Book Review📚

Book Review: 1

Title: Midnight on the Celestial

Author: Julia Alexandra

Rate: 3.8/5

Date Started: 09/02/2026                                                Date Finished: 09/30/2026

Genre: Horror-Fantasy                                                     Number of Pages: 336

Summary:

I have been looking forward to reading this book based on the cover. Starting with the introduction to the main character herself was straight to the point. Perfect explanation to her morphic powers and how it is to live in a world where not everyone has a morphic power. The entire plot had smooth transitions as you start a new chapter. I will say that reading about a cruise ship that contains morphia to give that experience to those who were not born with it was something quite interesting. There is a lot being discovered about the cruise ship and its flaws regarding the mistreatment on the workers. As I read this book, there were a lot more creepy situations going on in this ship that the main character was being kept out from. The main character Roe finds out that the ship is not what she thought it was and while she confronted her Father, there was a lot lies she grew up with and truths that were hard to take in. 

Recommendation:

I do recommend reading this book!! This book is an easy chill read and one that can give you a break from other book genres you are reading. 

SCS 💐🤍

Solo Dates🤍

Showing yourself a little bit of self love is important. Nothing drastic, just a solo date can never go wrong. I occasionally take myself on solo dates and I have been implementing them on myself a little more now. Sometimes I go shopping, a mini drive, or taking myself for a little treat. There are a few things that I enjoy doing when going out solo.

Mini Coffee Runs

It cannot be a solo date without a coffee or matcha. Depending on what your favorite drink is. For me, the drink that I get depends on my mood. Sometimes I want to get a coffee, there are times where I get a matcha, or I switch it up to either a tea or refresher. Going to a coffee shop close by or trying a new one is the perfect way to get this started. They can be local coffee shop, a pop up, or small business. 

Skin Care Shopping

One of my favorite solo dates is skin care shopping. Whenever I run out of products to use, I go shopping to get a new set. The number one thing that I can never run out of is face masks. These are my favorite thing to add in my skin care routine and shopping for these is what I enjoy the most. Eye masks are another thing that I enjoy shopping for and one that runs out fairly quickly. Of course there is my moisturizer, cleanser, toner, and sunscreen that I go buy. Even getting a new body wash, exfoliator, lotion, or body cream. Going solo to purchase these is even better when I get to take my time to enjoy looking around the store and smelling the new fragrances. The stores that I go to when buying my skin care or any hygiene product is Ulta, Target, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or Bath & Body Works. You can never go wrong with any of these stores!!

Flowers

There was a time where I wasn't a big fond of receiving flowers. Then again I was a kid and was a little to focus on school and volleyball. Starting my sorority experience and buying flowers for the newest members that we helped throughout there process changed my mindset a little. Going out with my friends to local areas around campus and coming across flower shops was another step. We would all purchase little bouquets for ourselves and there was one that was always our favorite. There was a shop where we were able to chose the flowers we wanted for our own bouquet and that made it special for me. Now, when I get the chance, I take advantage on my solo dates to buy myself some flowers as a sign of self love and enjoying the day. It also makes your home look lively.

College 101

Midterm Season

Right about now, you are reaching that time of the semester where midterms start happening. Well at least for some of you. You might be stressing and worrying about your midterms starting or they are coming up. Some of you are probably studying like crazy for not just 1 but for 2+ courses (depending on how many you are taking). Let this blog post help you relax and ease your mind for a bit. I will be giving you my tips and tricks for getting comfortable with midterms.

Resting

No matter how long you are willing to stay awake, you need rest. Your brain needs to rest and process everything that you're studying to retain that information. Your body also needs that rest. If you are a commuter, best believe your body gets drain. It is on a constant move that you may forget but your body does feel it. Resting also involves your health. When you stress, your body stresses and when your body stresses, it starts affecting your health. Resting 8 hours can do wonders for you.

Study Methods

Main study tip is to not try and review every material the night before. Rookie mistake and that probably won't be saving you in any class. Space out the material. If there are classes that you feel more confident in and the information is easier to understand then you don't have to prioritize those classes as the main portion of your study session, heavy info classes might require more than just 3 days to review. The best way to help you is making a study schedule. If you have time in the morning to review or study, use this time to study for the heavy classes. Your brain is going to be highly active in retaining information. At noon (or around that time) you can focus on classes that you are not 100% confident in but still understand the topic. You are already awake and fueled up to get you started on these study sessions. In the evening/night you can review what you have studied throughout the day for 30 mins, take a 10-15 minute break and then review/study for the classes you already feel confident in. If you are taking 5 classes, space them out evenly in your study schedule. Assigned certain days for these classes that also align with your personal schedule. You can do:

Active recall: Allowing your brain to retrieve information that was taught. This method can be done by writing on a blank piece of paper, white board, or speaking out loud.

Practice tests: Using any practice tests that are given to you in class or generating one with the lectures that you have been taught. This is a perfect way to prep for a midterm (or any exam) and you are able to create tests on the topics that you struggle with the most.

Spaced repetition: Reviewing material at different time rates to fight natural forgetting. This can be by reviewing lectures from your first class and going ove4r them every 2 days to allow your brain to retain the information and makes studying easier before an exam/midterm/final.

Feynman technique: Teaching someone else what you are learning in simple terms. You can teach your topics to a family member, friend or your pet. As long as you understand the topic, teaching this to someone will be easier.

If you need extra help, watch YouTube videos that correlate to your topics. Attend office hours with topics that can be challenging for you and ask your professor to teach it in simpler terms.

Proper Meals/Snacks

Having a proper meal before an exam is important. It is not just fueling your body but it is also fueling your brain. You cannot work on an empty stomach when doing an exam, speaking from experience, I have dozed off on a few midterms/tests. Learned my lesson and make sure to have a proper breakfast or lunch (depending when you have class). If you have 2 midterms back to back in one day and both are in person, take snacks. It can be a fruit, a yogurt bowl, or a granola bar. If you have an hour or 2 hour gap, a snack will do but you might want to accompany that with a mini lunch.

Mini Rewards

After completing a midterm, don't forget to reward yourself. No matter if you did good or bad. You finished and studied for that midterm, you deserve a reward!! It can be something small like buying snack or a drink. For most of my rewards, I bought myself drinks (lattes, matcha, or a smoothie). Most of the times I would get a smoothie no matter how hot or cold it was, a smoothie after a midterm was always the best reward for me. There are some midterms that tend to be a heavy component to your grade and for those I would reward myself with something a bit bigger. The most "expensive" reward I would get for myself was a book. For my undergrad courses that were very important (all of them were) there were some that retained a lot more information than others. Those courses were biomechanics, disease and plasticity in neuromuscular system, physics, anatomy, and physiology. I did spend a lot of my time studying and memorizing certain actions and terms that wouldn't just appear in the first exam but in multiple and for the rest of the year. Depending on how heavy the course is, you can then choose your rewards with things you like. 

WIML

  Fall Favorites📚

It is now officially autumn!!! My favorite season of the year!! The autumn inspired drinks, lip combos, weather, clothes, ughhh I am so happy autumn has officially started!!! I have been getting Tiktok videos about the autumn season and let me just say that it has been very enjoyable seeing everything. Gets me a lot more excited for the rest of this season. 

The main videos that I get are fall lip combos. They are the ones that get my attention the most as I try to experiment these color combinations when I go out or go to work. Every new lip combination that I have come across have been saved and can't wait to try them out!! Perfect to have when trying to take aesthetic pictures with an autumn inspired drink. 

Any autumn inspired drinks or food are the best to have. That is something that I have looked forward to at the start of the year!! Now that autumn has begun, there is nothing better than a pumpkin theme drink with pumpkin pie cold foam!! Don't get me started with food now. Soups are the ones that I look forward too the most as they give comfort on a perfect crispy day. Teas are the ones that I am excited about the most!! Trying new teas or making my comfort tea, cinnamon tea is the best on any morning!!

From drinks to food, you can never go wrong with fall activities. Pumpkin patches, apple picking, picnics, going to theme parks, and painting/carving pumpkins. With perfect weather these activities can be with friends and family. My personal favorite is going to theme parks as they already have their Halloween decorations out and getting a good scare sets the adrenaline for the night!! Then we have Halloween which is really exciting, my favorite holiday of the year!! Obviously not forgetting about Thanksgiving and the food that comes with this holiday.

WIML

Books, Books, oh & Books📚

If you haven’t caught on from past blog entries and the layout of my blogs, I enjoy reading. If you had met be 8 years ago, I would have told you that I hate reading. Right when COVID happened and we were all quarantined, I had a few books lying around that had caught my attention based on the cover. I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but that is the only way it will interest me. Really not the best advice to give but to me if the book does not look interesting through the cover or it doesn’t catch my eye, I will not get it. I do read the little summary of the book to see what it is about and half the time it convinces me to buy them. Now I want to share to you all about the start of my reading journey, favorite books, genres I enjoy, genres that I want to start reading, current favorite bookstores, my reading journal, and a new tab I will be having soon.

Start of My Reading Journey

The book that got me into my reading habits was Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This was also the very first book that had me break down in tears. I will say that I have a soft spot for this book and have reread it a couple of times for comfort. If I remember correctly this book took me 2 days to finish. After reading that book, I had read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall. With The Fault in Our Stars, I remember getting the book because everyone around me told me that the book is really good and I should watch the movie as well. I’ve read the book and have yet to watch the movie. For A Little Something Different, I still remember going to Barnes & Nobles with my family and my sister was choosing books to read in class and I was just exploring. My mom had actually stumble upon this book and told me to get it as the very first chapter of the book was titled “September” and that was the main reason why I got the book. Quite funny to think about now as I typed this but it was a cute love story with a variety of point of views from all the characters in the book.

Favorite Books

One of my all time favorite books is The Giver by Lois Lowry. I read this book in middle school, I believe I was in 7th grade when I read this for a class. Any book given to me for a class was always hard for me to continue reading. This highest chapter I would go to was chapter 7 and from there I wouldn’t continue reading the books at all. Unlike this book, it had me hooked on by chapter 3 that I would read ahead and not read the amount of chapters I had to read. It is a good dystopian book and watching the movie was even better. My second favorite book is Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, third favorite book is actually a series with the first book being Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. It is a romance series with a bit of fantasy. Currently waiting for the 4th book to come out and it has been pre-ordered as well. A birthday gift from me to me. My fourth favorite is A Goode Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. Let me just say that this book had me thinking and with my guesses about the murder case, I was not close on anything but finishing the book. It is a good mystery book and one that I recommend you to read. My last favorite and this is also a series is The Empyrean series. Starting off with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, this book really had me thinking that I was in the book. The fantasy and the way that the plot is had me really attached. Did I cry when I read the book? Yes, yes I did. Is the book a recommendation to you? Yes, yes it is. Am I going to explain what this book is about? No, no I’m not because I fear that I will not be able to contain my excitement about this book and will just spoil it.

Go to Bookstores

Number 1 bookstore that I will recommend going is Barnes & Nobles. It is the obvious choice to go and look for books and see other genres that they have available for the public. I do like to go to new locations and as they sometimes have books that I cannot find in the other locations. My second go to spot for books is a bookstore called Ripped Bodice. This bookstore has a lot of romance books and one that I know for sure I can find my next romance book. I have gotten other stuff from there like bookmarks and stickers. These are the current 2 places that I enjoy going for books and there are many other locations that I can’t wait to check out and add them into my go to bookstores list.

Favorite + New Genres

At this very current moment my favorite genres are fantasy, romance, mystery, and fiction novels. I happened to find myself reading a lot of fantasy and romance lately. There are times when I do read poetry but for sure fantasy and romance are my go to genre's as for mystery and fiction novels are still pretty high up there as my favorites too. There is one genre that I do want to get into a lot more and that is thriller/horror. I did get the book Fantastic Land by Mike Bockoven to start reading in October to get into the spooky season feels and I hope that I do branch out to more genres to have variety in books. I have read a couple of Natasha Preston's book which happen to be thriller but they are not heavy thriller books. I want to be able to get spooked when I am reading a thriller book. If you have any recommendations, please send them my way.

Reading Journal

After reading my books, I start to add them into my reading journal. It is nice to keep record of the books that I have read to remind me of the books that I have read and to also write about what stood out to me or what was it that made me love the book. I had gotten one as a birthday gift a couple of years ago and I am nowhere near done or halfway into finishing it. But it really is nice to have to keep as book reading record.

New Tab?

As I have a lot of time available (as of right now), I want to add a tab, ”Book Babez”, where I will be writing about the books that I have finished reading. I am currently reading “Midnight on the Celestial” by Julia Alexandria. Once I am done reading the book, I will be giving my thoughts about the book and write a small review. This tab will also serve as book recommendations to anyone that wants new books to read and it will also be a way to not just motivate me but to you as well to meet your readings goals (if any) or motivate you to read a book.

SCS💐🤍

Self Care Day

After a tiring week, you are going to want to relax and enjoy a day off doing what you love the most. There is no better way than doing a little bit of self care. You can be reading a book, watching a series, or doing your skincare. There are countless ways of having a self care day. Here are some of my personal favorites.

Books

For anyone who is a reader, this may be your best way of taking care of yourself. Reading a good book is always the best way to relax and ease your mind. It can be a book that you are excited about or a continuation to a series that you have started. For me, reading is a moment where I can escape reality and enjoy time off my phone. Now choosing the right book is where things change and can sometimes be a little tricky but it also depends on the mood that I am in and what kind of book I want to start reading. Sometimes it is romance, mystery, thriller, or fantasy. Or sometimes it can be something different, like a movie.

T.V. Shows/Series/Movies

Catching up on a T.V. show that you are watching is the best or watching a movie that you have been waiting to see. Some of the shows or series that I like to watch are my go to for comfort. My most recent watch was a Korean drama titled "Perfect Crown". Literally such a funny and cute drama. Even though I watched the drama in 3 days, I'm already getting the urge to re-watch it again as it had me laughing and kicking my feet.

Skin Care

If it is one thing that I love doing the most is my skin care. Researching more on what products I like to use or which ones work better for me has given me a better idea of how to take care of my skin. The best way that I enjoy a good skin care evening/night. After cleansing my face, I like to have 2 options ready. Option 1 is after a good cleanse and toner, I like to wear a face mask. All the face masks that I have work differently. There are some that are for hydration, moisturizing, purifying, irritation, collagen, etc. The list really goes on. The ones that I have always used are hydration (especially during the summer, with sunburns), moisturizing, calming, and irritation. Adding in some eye patches to my routine are always the best and gives the best feeling cooling effect. 

College 101

Study: Hate or Enjoy?📓✏

Study study study. That is probably what you are doing this week, and next, and the week after. You might get burnout from studying too and that is normal. I have gotten burnout from it and if it is one thing that I have learn about studying is that you can either hate it or love it. Most of the time you will hate it. Especially with midterms being right around the corner you might not know where to begin. Let me help you by motivating you and convincing you to at least enjoy studying. The best thing for that is having a good study spot.

Study Spots

Studying can be done at home, campus, or public areas (there are specific ones). Once you find your personal favorite spot, you will be enjoying it. It is even better when you do it with a friend. Even if you are not in the same major, you are motivating one another to thrive in your college education. I will be telling you some of my personal favorites and how it made me enjoy studying for my classes instead of forcing myself to do it. 

Home

I wasn't one to enjoy studying at home. It was a bit hard for me. Throughout the day it was difficult. I wanted to go outside and enjoy my time with friends or go shop. The only times where I knew that I was able to do it was when everyone would be sleeping. I found it peaceful, yet I would listen to music to help me focus even though no one was awake. There was always something about studying at night with the moon being present that made me enjoy it more. Learned my lesson that I wasn't cut out to be studying at home. I needed to be in an environment where I saw everyone focus on their work to keep me going and being at home was not the place. If you tend to focus more at nighttime, being at home with a candle burning and some tea (or coffee) is the best way for you to enjoy a study session.

Campus

One of the most common spots that you will be focus is the library. Depending on how big your university is, that will also depend on which library you choose. There are some that are seen as the social areas and ones that are dead silent that if you drop a pen, everyone will hear it. Don't forget that the libraries are not the only places that you can study. Some buildings (or colleges) at universities have study spots and for me those were my personal favorite. I would find my spot and tackle the most important assignments to get out of the way. Even studying outside is always an option and refreshing as well. Obviously depending on the weather too. On the right day with the perfect weather, makes the studying session even better. Also helps you ease the mind. If your campus has coffee shops, take advantage. Not only do you get to stay in campus in between your classes but you get to reward yourself with a coffee. It sets the environment and helps you focus on your main tasks.

Public Areas

Throughout my college years, I would go to coffee shops to study or public libraries. There were times where I would go alone, with my sister, or I went with friends. If I went with friends I would go in the afternoon (12pm-4pm) and we would go to local/downtown area coffee shops. These were perfect for lunch catch ups and help each other out with our studies. When I would go study with my sister, we would go out to study in the evening. Most of the places that we went to were in the downtown area of Los Angeles. We both felt safer going together in the evening for the late study sessions enjoying the late night city drives. If I went solo to study, I would go from 10am-6pm. My solo study sessions would be either at coffee shops or at public libraries. These were moments where I wanted to solely focus on my big assignments (midterms, finals, presentations, or projects). 9/10 times I would get 90-100% of the work done.

Don't feel restricted on where to study. There are places that you can go to and enjoy a different scenery. The places that I went to don't have to be the places that you should go but ideas. If you dorm and want to explore the cities close to your campus, this is the perfect time to go explore. You got this and don't give up!!!

WIML

 Winter Arc💪🏼

If you have been spending time on TikTok and have come across videos about "Winter Arc", then you know what I am going to be talking about. If you haven't seen those videos, let me give a brief introduction. Winter arc starts on October 1st and ends December 31st. Some people like to start in September to have that habit slowly being built by the time October comes around. This is a 3 month process of health improvement, goal setting, and building habits. A lot of the videos shown on social media is people going to the gym 5-7 times a week to hit their health goals and maintain a healthy eating habit but there is more to that. As for me, my winter arc will be differently.

Goal Setting

The way that I want to start my winter arc is goal setting. There are a couple of goals that I have in mind and want to transition them into habits.

1. Eat cleaner: This is my main target and by doing so, I will be cutting down on sweets, including sweet drinks. As of recently, sweets have been something that I am not constantly having. I will crave for something sweet once a month but it is not a constant crave. 

2. Working out 5x a week: With my currently schedule, sometimes it is hard to find a time that I want to go workout at the gym. I prefer going right after I wake up in the mornings but then I get schedule for work and it makes it harder when my shifts are not consistent. I might have to start going in the evening when it is crowded or later at night around 8:30pm. This is something that I will be working on and planning accordingly. 

3. Staying active: On days that I will not be going to the gym, I want to continue staying active. This can be going on walks, hikes, or doing stretching exercises at home. 

4. Getting proper rest: My sleeping schedule has been a mess and it has to be fix. Getting 8 hours of sleep is the goal and making sure that I am sleeping early. Giving my body and mind a proper rest will improve day to day activities.

5. Waking up at 7am: I am not a morning person and this one is going to be a challenge. For those that know me, I love sleeping and waking up is the worst part of my day. This is what I need to fix and I know I will struggle but giving up is not an option. Waking up early will also allow me to have more time to tackle all of my tasks that I have planned out for my day.

6. More books, less phone: Being on my phone can be addicting and the books that I have got to be read. I have recently bought more and haven't read half of my book cart. I will have to put myself on a book buying ban soon because that tbr list is getting longer and it is time to shorten it up. This is a habit that I go back and forth with but slowly adding it to my routine by reading a chapter (or more) before going to sleep.

7. Journaling = healthy mind: There are days where I do forget to journal and catch up either the next day or a few days after. I have been trying to work on that in the morning but I keep forgetting. A habit that is still being in the works and I know I will be able to do it. Journaling will help me ease my mind and give myself a bit of self care.

8. Staying hydrated: No matter what time of year we are in, staying hydrated is a priority. I have been able to maintain my hydration pretty well and I know for this winter arc I will be able to keep doing well.

With a total of 7 goals, I know that it may be a struggle to stay consistent but I will not be giving up. I am starting this upcoming week Sunday to build these goals into habits by the time that winter arc officially begins. There are days where I will struggle but I will be reminding myself that these habits are not going to be built overnight. They take time and that is okay. If I can do it, so can you!! 💛

SCS💐🤍

  Journaling✨

Past blogs you may have noticed that I journal. Well in almost every WIML and Self Care Sunday. Today I'll go more in depth of what materials I used, how to structure your journals, and what benefits it has to you. This isn't something that you should be forced to do. Use journaling as your safe space to vent, give gratitude, or write whatever thoughts you have wandering. There is no right or wrong on how to journal. What I have on this blog are ideas based on how I journal.

  Materials

Honestly, any sort of writing material works when journaling. You can use any journal or notebook that you have lying around in your room. Personally for me, I like to have a journal with a minimal or modern design to remind me to write my thoughts. Most of the journals that I own, I have bought them at Marshalls. You can honestly find pretty covers with minimal or modern designs for pretty cheap. I recommend to start with a small journal to get you adjusted to a new routine.

When it comes to highlighters, pens, or pencils, it does not matter. If you are new to journaling, lets keep it simple to the supplies you have at home. The writing supplies that I use are gel pens (color and black), regular ballpoint pens, and highlighters. It is very rare when I do use pencils to write. I do make mistakes and use white out. Sometimes I just cross out the words I misspell or don't want to use instead of using white out. There are no specific brands to what I used, it is mostly the stuff that I have lying around or impulsive bought items. 

  Types of Journaling

There are many different types of journaling. I'll be breaking the ones that I know.

Junk Journaling: This can be a way to scrapbook with items that you collect along your day. For example you can have a page set for a restaurant that you tried. On the page you can add in the receipt, pictures of the food that you had, a piece of the napkin that you took (believe me, I have seen people do this for this type of journaling), and pictures of the place you went at.

Self Care Journaling: You personalize this journal to your liking. This can be where you have self care prompts that you want to respond to and better understand yourself. You can add your self care goals that you set out for yourself and how to improve on becoming a better version of yourself. 

Morning/Night Journal: I have seen people and this journal myself. It is called "The Five Minute Journal" and it will already have the prompts for you. Every page is dedicated to the day (the start of your day) and night (to rewind and prepare for the following day).

Reading Journal: This is perfect for all the readers. This journal can be bought or made on your own. After finishing a book, you have a page dedicated for each book you read and fill out the information such as name of the book, author, genre, pages, start/end date, format, etc. These are perfect to write what you like about the book you read and your favorite quotes.

Journal a Day: One journal that I started to work on during my last semester of college was a small reflection entry daily. This was tied in with a poetry book that I have. The 3 questions that I would add is "what line stood out to me?", "why?", and "how to incorporate the line to my lifestyle?"

Benefits

There are a lot of different benefits to journaling. One of the main reasons that I like to journal is for improvement on mental health and reduce stress. Writing down my thoughts or answering prompts have helped me from stressful moments. There is something about writing that makes me feel better after a tiring day. 

College 101

 Study Tips

Throughout college you will find that not everyone studies the same. Finding what study method works for you is important but also pay attention to the subject/major. Every major shares different information regarding the topic you are learning. There are some students that review their notes and rewrite them, others make flashcard, some summarize their lectures and make annotations. For my major, most classes required a lot of memorization and active recall. My best study method was making flashcards, reviewing & summarizing my notes, annotating readings, and active recall. Work with what is best for you. If you don’t know, let me guide you.

Flashcards: works best when you are focusing on memorization (nursing, kinesiology, science)

Practice problems: perfect for any math topics, chemistry, and physics. 

Writing notes: listing down important point from lectures or readings. (Psychology, sociology, social work, science, business, nursing, history, etc)

Active recall: writing, teaching, or talking out loud on the topics that you have been taught on (any major, if you are a science major, works perfectly).

Staying Organized

When working on your notes, make sure you are staying organized. The best way that I was able to keep them organized on my iPad or laptop was by making a file of my major and small folders under that file of all courses that I took. Best way to label them is by splitting them up as “general education courses”, name of major (example, “psychology), under the major folder i personally like to add the number (example 200’s; ECON 201, ECON 202, ECON 203). This made looking up all the lectures and midterms. In each class I had them split by “Term 1, Term 2, Term 3, etc”. This depended on how many midterms I had for a class and the lectures leading up to that term made it easier to look back of when the topic was taught.