favorites

i wasn’t all that obsessed with much of anything this month UNLESS YOU COUNT BOOKS! bah dum ts. i’m always obsessed with books so i don’t want to count books but….

the raven king & a court of thorns and roses

these two books consumed my entire being. THE RAVEN KING took up the first half of my may while A COURT OF MIST AND FURY consumed the rest. even though everyone was praising about how fantastic these titles were, i’m still surprised by its fantastic-ness. THESE WERE SO GREAT. and by great i mean these-hurt-my-soul-and-made-me-an-emotional-wreck.

podcasts

i’ll admit that i didn’t start listening to podcasts until almost the end of may but since then, i haven’t been listening to much else (except for maybe hamilton). it all started with me needing to catch up on eight episodes of A Novel Chat (which is my FAVE) (totally not biased because the creators are the loveliest internet friends). after that, i found another bookish podcast hosted by sarah enni entitled First Draft. i love the way she interviews authors because they don’t necessarily feel like interviews but conversations? anyway, they’re great. if you have any podcast recs, please let me know!

spigen’s style ring

okay, i haven’t exactly been obsessed with this but i definitely have become attached to it. spigen sent me a few of their style rings and i decided to try it out because WHY NOT? and now i’ve become unexpectedly reliant on this strange ring that keeps my phone from falling and also holds it up as a stand and hangs from hooks. it’s weird and it’s great. (although spigen sent this product to me free of charge, this is my honest opinion on it and by no means a review or anything. i just really like this ring.)

farewell, may

looking back, i always feel that my months are never enough: didn’t dance enough, didn’t study enough, didn’t read enough, didn’t blog enough. this month is no different, but it also felt a little refreshing to take a step back and NOT force myself to study, dance, read, take pictures, and be productive™. in doing that, i felt myself get inspired again. by taking a small pause in the routine, i realize that it’ll help me be more productive in the long run.

aside from not-really-doing-anything-in-my-daily-life, a few exciting events did happen. i passed my driving exam (luck was truly on my side), registered to vote (because i won’t let trump become president on my watch), hosted my first monthly bookstagram challenge (with the help of celine and monica), took annual ballet photos (which haven’t been released yet), attended a ballet competition (more on that later), and qualified for another ballet competition i was really anxious about (it’s olympic style and held in varna, bulgaria; also more on that later)! when i list things out like this, it looks like a lot happened. but honestly, it felt like i did the occasional productive thing and mostly just bummed around. but sometimes, it’s okay to bum around.

the last weekend of may was super duper hectic because 30+ students at my ballet studio were going to a ballet competition. in addition to dancing/competing myself, i was in charge of helping out which includes doing makeup, organizing warmups, schedules, and overall support. honestly, helping out is so much more tiring than dancing itself. i often feel like my efforts aren’t appreciated, but it was fun nonetheless.

read this month

• THE RAVEN KING, by maggie stiefvater – ★★★★★
• THE WRATH AND THE DAWN, by renee ahdieh – ★★★✩✩
• P.S. I LIKE YOU, by kasie west – ★★★✩✩
• A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES, by sarah j. maas – ★★★★✩
• A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, by sarah j. maas – ★★★★★
• KINDRED SPIRITS, by rainbow rowell – ★★★✩✩
• HOW IT FEELS TO FLY, by kathryn holmes – ★★★★✩
• A MYSTERIOUSLY FANTASTIC BOOK, by unnamed author (i can’t say right now, but i will SOON!)

on the blog

bookish:

• REVIEW + DISCUSSION: a court of mist and fury, by sarah j. maas
• REVIEW: a court of thorns and roses, by sarah j. maas
• REVIEW: the raven king, by maggie stiefvater
• five tips for new bookstagrammers
• A SQUARE ROOT OF SUMMER BLOG TOUR: this is where i am now

other:

• the balancing act – a guide on time management
• farewell, foresight, favorites: april 2016

favorite search terms:

• please i still love you books – it’s okay i’m still waiting for the day when books love me back too
• any redemption for tamlin – HAH
• who does celaena end up with in queen of shadows – READ IT AND YOU WILL FIND OUT. spoiler she ends up with herself because she is a strong independent woman who don’t need no man. (maybe)

foresights for june

june is going to be filled with long hours in the studio doing nothing besides dancing dancing dancing. (which means i most definitely will be blogging less *sigh*) i’ll be participating in my ballet studio’s summer program which consists of four-hour classes per day (mon-fri) plus rehearsals for my competition in varna during the month of july. i need to prepare eight solos (six classical, two contemporary) so that’s a looooot. on the weekends, i’ll be assisting ballet classes/teaching so that should be fun. ?

aside from ballet, my sister is visiting for a week! i’m also celebrating my birthday, finishing up exams, and hopefully going to kayla itsines’ LA boot camp. although it’s going to be very overwhelming and exhausting, i’m excited for the upcoming weeks. (i also kinda want to just get it over with but HUSH NEGATIVE PART OF MY BRAIN.) my only goal for next month (this month? i keep delaying my monthly wrap-ups ugh) is to stay alllliive.

how was your may? do you have anything planned for june? let me know in the comments!