Alexa's Adventures #6

It's been forever and a day since I've had the chance to talk about what's been going in my personal life on this little blog of mine the way I used to. Of course, you still get a glimpse of what's happening in my monthly recaps and you also got a chance to see everything that went on in my yearly recap. But because it's a new year, and I'm feeling the urge to share, here we are, talking about what's been happening so far in the first few weeks of the year.

This show is my new shōnen obsession, y'all. | photo credit

Here's the truth: I really haven't been up to all that much so far this year. I tend to hibernate during winter, as I'm not the biggest fan of the cold (and it always makes me feel extra sleepy). We had a quiet New Year's Day at home, just me, Macky and my sisters, which was a lovely break after our very busy Disney Christmas. After a single day back in the office, I got so sick for three days. It was not fun to start off with a stomach bug and then have it turn into the flu. *shudders* I could barely eat or bring myself to get out of bed for the entire time I was sick, so I wound up just binge watching tons of episodes of Friends with my sister (that show still makes me laugh and cry), binge watching episodes of Bleach with Macky (which totally revived my spirits) and sleeping a lot.

This movie was so much fun!
The cast was phenomenal.
photo credit

Thankfully, I was sort of recovered by the weekend, enough at least to go and see my first movie in theaters for the year - Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I have a soft spot for the original film, and I was slightly worried that this one wouldn't do it justice but slightly optimistic because of the cast. And you know what? It was a delight to watch! It was funny and lighthearted, and I giggled a lot during certain scenes. But it also had a lot of heart, as the characters each have their own troubles to face or obstacles to overcome by the end of the film. I definitely enjoyed this film, and would highly recommend going to catch it if you can.

In other news, my sisters and I decided to start maintaining a Korean skincare routine this year. It's an investment we've been thinking of making for some time now, and Mel and I finally took the plunge and picked up the basic products we needed to make it happen in December. We convinced Rachel to try it alongside us, and we've all been really into it so far! It's calming to go through the routine each night and morning, and to do it together. I've noticed that my cheeks feel smoother to the touch, and the skin around my eyes is a little less dry. I'm going to wait till at least a quarter of the year has passed before I go into specifics about the products we use, but I hope the routine continues to help improve the quality of my skin.

I love collecting editions of Grimm's Fairytales.

As for other beauty related things, I have a new lipstick favorite! I decided to try out Jeffree Star Cosmetics, specifically their liquid lipsticks in the shades Christmas Cookie and Rose Matter. I love how they look on me, and I'm excited to try the red shade I picked up as well to see how I feel about that one! The one thing I will say is that my lips tend to feel a little dry, so I usually swipe on a bit of my Balm DotCom from Glossier to remedy that.

Another new thing I've been getting into is thrift shopping, and that's mostly because of my youngest sister Rachel (who has the best Instagram game of us three and also has her own blog). I've only gotten to visit Urban Jungle in Brooklyn with her (twice, and both times were A+ because I snagged awesome things), but I definitely see thrifting becoming a part of our sisterly hangouts every month. It's fun to try and find a good deal, and it's always great for the wallet too. Of course, you have to be extra careful about how you wash the stuff you get before using it, but that's not so difficult to manage.

Rachel also inspired me to step up my game on Instagram, and I've been having so much fun with it. I've always wanted to improve the photos I share on that platform! I'm still learning the ropes when it comes to flatlays and creative ideas, but it's definitely something I'm glad she's around to give me advice on. Here's to continuing to learn and improve at things I genuinely enjoy doing in 2018!

We had dinner at Outback last Friday - yum!

Anyway, speaking of my sisters, I think it's been so fun to start this year off just living with both of them under the same roof as Macky and myself. It's like having an even bigger little family unit in New York, and that makes me less homesick (though I miss our family in the Philippines, of course)! Since Mel finally got her car last December, we've taken advantage of that by going to get Korean BBQ, running errands at Target, and just generally driving to places that are now within reach. Because the car is now a staple in our lives, the rest of us are determined to practice driving so we can all get our licenses and drive it as well.

The last thing I want to mention in this already long and rambly post (and if you've made it this far, thank you, thank you, thank you) is that Macky, Rachel & I went to see Mary and the Witch's Flower during its premiere event last night at the theater near us. It was such a delightful little film, and the animation was lovely! The story was simple but heartfelt, the characters were wonderful and though there were definitely odd elements, it was fun to watch. I'd wait until this one came out on a streaming site (like Netflix) or until you could rent it, but I'm glad we went to see it.

Whew, okay, that's the end of this rambly update from me! I didn't realize just how much I wanted to talk about, but I'm not complaining. I'll be back in two weeks or so (if I stick to my planned schedule, which reminds me that I also wanted to talk about the planner and journals I'm using this year at some point) with another round of this, so you'll have that to (hopefully) look forward to!