journal entry on february break
highlights of my life from 2/11-2/21
hi. hi. hello. this is a journal of everything fun that i did over february break. i think it’s pretty ironic that my first substack was on how i was horrible at formalistic writing in a very formalized way, and then my second is now just a glorified journal entry on the highlights of a fun week i had. but here it is anyway <3
1) Friday, February 11 - Got dinner with friends
Ever since second semester started, my friends and I have started having weekly Friday night dinners at the Korean restaurant across the street from school. It really is the perfect way to end my week–especially when we follow it up with a boba run. This tradition is only three weeks old, but I’ve already tried soft tofu soup, bulgogi, and bibimbap. It really doesn’t get much better knowing that no matter what happens during the week, I’ll be squeezing into a brightly lit tiny restaurant with six of my friends, gossiping about the boys’ soccer team’s latest escapades as we pass the water jug around the table, with not a secret left unspoken. As my friend put it, “what happens at Tofu House, stays at Tofu House.”
2) Monday, February 14 - Went to the dentist
I haven’t been to the dentist in 2 years! I’ll admit it was definitely a bit depressing getting scanned for cavities first thing in the morning of Valentine’s Day, but there’s not much else you can do when your dentist is only free on Monday, you don’t have a day off again until April, the last time you’ve been to the dentist was in February of 2020, and your wisdom teeth are growing in. I did get to watch Big Hero 6 while there, though, and it was a bit embarrassing trying to hold back tears from Tadashi’s death while my dentist asked me how many times a day I flossed.
3) Monday, February 14 - Made chocolate covered strawberries
Despite wanting to make some cute vday themed baked goods, I didn’t have the motivation to actually open my oven and thus opted for a microwaveable alternative. After spending 30 minutes scrounging around my house for various chocolates we had left over, I dumped them all into a giant bowl, microwaved it until they melted, stirred, and dipped my strawberries in. Definitely jankier than it should have been, but they still tasted good :)
4) Monday, February 14 - Went out for dinner with my friend on Valentine’s Day
Oops… My third (and final) entry for the 14th. My friend and I got ramen and bingsoo together, and I gleefully sent the pictures to my rather irritated boyfriend (who got dragged on a week-long trip to visit colleges all across the country while I was having fun on my galentine’s date). I won’t lie and say it didn’t make me a little bit sad that I was spending my first Valentine’s day in a relationship not… with the person I’m in a relationship with, but hey. At least I wasn’t in below-freezing Indiana.
5) Tuesday, February 15 - Made pottery
Not sure if “made” is the right verb here, since I didn’t technically make the pottery piece, only paint it. My friend chose an adorable little whale, and after walking around the store twice, I finally found a little heart-shaped box that I was absolutely obsessed with. I’m definitely not a professional, but I’m really happy with my wonky strawberry-print heart box. It’s currently sitting on my desk, holding a piece of rose quartz and a claw clip. Not surprisingly, my heart-shaped collection grows once more.
6) Thursday, February 16 - Baked heart-shaped cookies
Did you think I was done with heart-shaped things… If it were up to me, Valentine’s day would last the entire month of February. My friend came over to my house, and we spent the day making cookie batter, baking the cookies, and frosting them.
After almost five hours (we’re either really bad at this or made a LOT of cookies, whichever explanation you prefer), we finally settled down with the finished product and ordered dinner. And so I laid there on the floor, eating my poké bowl, rewatching an episode of Kuroko no Basuke from our sixth grade glory days, and reminiscing with her–I’ve known her since we were two, and we crazily, magically, luckily, both got into our same dream college for next year. I hate the idea that our fates are predetermined for us, but it’s these crazy strokes of luck that make me think sometimes the world falls into place a little too perfectly.
7) Sunday, February 20 - Took a day trip to a nearby city with friends
This trip was my literally my baby <3 From seeing a cat cafe on someone’s Instagram story months ago to making the Google doc itinerary to making sure no one got lost at the train station, I’m so happy with how this day turned out… even if it did mean waking up before 10 am on a break day. After our ~2 hour train ride to the city (during which I learned that Word Hunt is the only Game Pigeon game I’m competent at), we took a Lyft to the cat cafe. A CAT CAFE!!!!!!!! Literally the best hour of my life, even if one particularly cranky cat scratched me (completely worth it).
Afterwards, we quite literally spent 2 hours going on what Google Maps told us would be a “13 minute walk” down the street. Significant stops/sights - a thrift store (bought a trench coat, a lacy top, and a pastel pink cowboy hat ring that reminded me of “Pink in the Night” from Mitski’s Be the Cowboy, all for less than $50), a used bookstore, a crystal and herb store (got a piece of rose quartz!), a very… strange man who walked past us on the street chanting “looking for a wife, looking for a girlfriend,” a “pirate supply store” (they had an adorable love letter collection, got one with strawberries in the shape of a heart, a card modeled after a plane ticket, and another modeled after a carnival ticket stub), and a girl who wanted to interview us on our outfits for her fashion tiktok.
After getting boba and dinner, we–foolishly–decided to go to the beach (Yes, in February, but we’re Californians…). The sunset was gorgeous, and we’d brought everything–beach towels, snacks, card games, a volleyball, only to arrive and realize that not only was it cold, it was windy. I’m writing this on Wednesday (four days later) and my shoes literally still have sand in them… Our ride to the train station didn’t come until 30 minutes later, so if anyone had walked by that particular beach between 6-6:30 pm, they would have seen 9 girls huddled together on the sand, trying to shield their faces from the sandy wind. I’m pretty sure that’s not what David Hugo was imagining when he wrote the song that we were blasting, but I really did feel like I could die right there.
At long last, we made it to the train station, and we spent the ride back sleeping, eating the chips and salsa that had been intended for the beach, and getting tarot readings from our friend (which prompted discussions about our impending graduation, the feasibility of long distance relationships, and college). By the time I was home, warm, and not covered in sand, it was 11 pm and I was exhausted. So worth it though.
8) Monday, February 21 - Had an exactly 1-week late Valentine’s Day date
I’m way too much of a hopeless romantic to leave this out <3 Pretty ironic that I have 2 Substack posts, one about Valentine’s Day and one where half the entries are… also somehow related to Valentine’s Day. Either way, my boyfriend finally made it back from his cross-country trek, so we got lunch (ironically at the same ramen place that my friend and I had dinner at on the 14th) and ice cream. He also managed to rescue my phone after I dropped it down a crack in a bolted down bench (I was definitely not already panicking about how I’d have to call a mechanic to unscrew the bench and tell my parents that I lost my phone from.. not sitting correctly). And so my break concluded sitting on the roof of the empty parking structure with him, eating our ice cream, and enjoying the sand-less breeze. I really couldn’t have asked for a better week.
anyway! this may have been way too specific to my experiences to be an enjoyable read, but i hope you had fun reading this strangely-formatted digital journal entry about my escapades nonetheless. see u next week!