Highlights
☾ My grandma came back home from Philippines!
☾ The blessing of having a rare 5 days off of work in a row (that I requested lol). Although it'll hurt my paycheck come next pay period, I needed it to rest and spend time with the family now that my grandma is home.
☾ Amazing publishers reached out with some awesome diverse and #ownvoices e-galleys that I've been excited for and some I haven't heard before but sounds incredible.
☾ Mail-in ballots for the primary elections came in this month!
☾ Payday landing on Valentine's Day. Makes coming in to work that day worth it.
☾ Did a little early spring cleaning and decluttering, and sold some things I had but never used/wore. Might as well pass it along to someone who'll use them and make a little commission off of it.
☾ Scheduled tax appointment. Okay, it's not exactly exciting but it was a feat to finally get in touch with my tax person to finally set up an appointment and not stress about it anymore.
☾ Finding new bar shampoo + conditioner that comes in recyclable packaging to try.
☾ A coworker whom we call "Tia" fed us a whole feast at work on a Sunday shift with nachos, homemade cheese and salsa. Plus, Mexican cookies for a sweet treat.
☾ Volunteering with local orgs/movements to textbank, mail postcards and canvass for Elizabeth Warren, and seeing old mentors from poli-sci courses we took and from volunteering with ACLU of NorCal in 2018. It was so good to see them and volunteer with them again.
☾ My debit card was declined while I was buying some cold medicines and soap for my parents after work one night, and I was $5 short in cash then a kind man behind me covered the difference for me in a random act of kindness. So grateful that there are still some kind humans out there.
Lowlights
- Missing out on the Love N Queen Mary author signing event in Long Beach, CA this month. I will have to make their next event Love N Vegas in Vegas this coming October. Someone hold me up to this!
- Pre-booking/planning flights and accommodation for YALLwest next month is looking expensive and stressing me out. I don't want to book anything yet until after I do my taxes and know that I can afford the trip after paying taxes. Fingers crossed it pans well.
- Someone in New York had charged my debit card somehow, so I had to file a fraud claim and my bank blocked my card for a week until they issued me a new debit card. Not having $ to get gas for work or a few essential items until I got my card was HARD. It was definitely an exercise to go for so long without funds. I couldn't even get cash from the ATM because my card no longer worked. Lesson/pro tip: always keep some cash handy in case of these situations or emergencies.
- Family got sick and I managed to avoid contracting the cold for a week until I finally caught it. Luckily with the help of zicam, emergen-c, electrolyte water, ginger + turmeric soup and honey tea, it only lasted for two days.
- Even though my grandma came back from Philippines, we've only had her back for a week before my auntie stole her away from us for two weeks. The little siblings were especially bummed about this.
Book Haul
The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell [eARC from Netgalley]
Tigers Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry [eARC from Netgalley]
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles [eARC from Netgalley]
Private Lessons by Cynthia Salaysay [eARC from Netgalley]
The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke [eARC from Netgalley]
The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall [eARC from Netgalley]
East Flows the River by Michelle Kan [bought on Kobo]
The Deep by Rivers Solomon [bought on Kobo]
Mermaid Moon by Susann Cokal [eARC from Netgalley]
Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud [listened to on cloudLibrary]
My Fake Canadian Wife by M. Hollis [bought on Kobo]
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong [bought at Half Price Books]
Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again by Dan Pfeiffer [bought at Half Price Books]
A Time for Dragons: An Anthology of Philippine Draconic Fiction by Vincent Michael Simbulan, Andrew Dilon [gift from grandma from Philippines]
This Is My America by Kim Johnson [eARC from Netgalley]No True Believers by Rabiah York Lumbard [bought on Kobo]
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim [borrowed from a friend]
What I Read
Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell
East Flows the River by Michelle Kan
The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jiminez
Private Lessons by Cynthia Salaysay
The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke
My Fake Canadian Wife by M. Hollis
Sola Musica: Love Notes from a Festival by Ines Bautista-Yao, Mina V. Esguerra, Chinggay Labrador, Marla Miniano
The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Tigers Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again by Dan Pfeiffer
What I Listened To
Know Your Worth // Khalid x Disclosure
Pretty Brown Skin // Diamond White
Be Okay // Jordan Fisher
Do Better // Lil Donald
Only the Young // Taylor Swift
Forever // Justin Bieber x Post Malone x Clever
Power Trip // Klassy x Ruby Ibarra
Heartless // Diplo x Julia Michaels x Morgan Wallen
Reminds Me // Kim Petras
[full list on my February playlist]
Adventures
I went to San Francisco with my mom to pick up my grandma from the airport but we didn't get a chance to stroll/explore anywhere outside of the airport or the Tanforan shopping plaza before we drove the two-hours back home.
Posts This Month
February 2020 Playlist
{Watch, Read, & Listen} Gentefied, Say Her Name, & Jordan Fisher
{Story Diary} East Flows the River by Michelle Kan
{Watch, Read, & Listen} P.S. I Still Love You, Yes No Maybe So, & Only the Young
{Story Diary} Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra
{Watch, Read, & Listen} Just Mercy, Black Girl Unlimited, & Khalid
January 2020
Looking Forward To in March
- Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco
- Getting back into volunteering/political activism more again.
- Booking flights + accommodations for YALLWest (fingers crossed I can afford to do so).
- Longer days and sunlight!
- Getting my taxes out of the way already.
♥ How was your February?
Share your recaps in the comments! ♥
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