Albatross accessories

Earlier this week I got my application and live scan steps to begin the foster parent process. The 20-hour adoption training begins in the fall and I’ve already been pre-registered by the agency. I have the summer to complete the application.

How’s the weather?

It has been a month since BIL #1 moved out of my house. I’m not going to lie, it’s been peaceful but I am still pretty annoyed about the way he left. A lot of people have expressed their version of bitterness too. You would think it would be an opportunity for him to step up and help out around the house doing chores, but no, he chose to leave as soon as he can. Perhaps choosing to flee and avoiding to engage in anything to do with his brother is his way of coping with grief?

Seattle Food

Here are some of the foods we had in Seattle. I would say majority of the foods below are restaurants selected by H’s cousin. Shoutout to her for taking the week off to take us around town.

Seattle recap

Here I go: reflecting a January trip in February. We woke up very early to get to catch our 6 AM flight to Seattle. It was my first time flying with Lana. She did very well and slept the whole flight both ways.

Weather. Very grey. Not as wet as LA surprisingly. It is as though we left for Seattle to take a break from the rain. I heard the rain got really bad in LA that my administrator said it was optional to go into the office.

“You’re a travel deals wizard, Julie” (Personal finance journey)

Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser. This blog post is strictly for entertainment purposes.

When one of our couple friends was getting married, they were trying to put together plans for a honeymoon in Europe. My husband said something like, “You should ask Julie. I don’t know how she comes across these flight deals. One time, she booked a roundtrip flight from LAX to Rome for $250 per person.”

We’re already planning for summer travel

And just like that: it’s February! Usually, I draft my weekend coffee share throughout the week (snippets here and there) but it’s been so busy. I didn’t even do my daily writing for two days! Do I set aside a couple of hours to write to make it up? I’ll not worry about that and move on.

Austin food

The last of my Texas trip recap, some of the foods I ate around Austin.

The Salty Donut (2000 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704)

These are the best donuts I’ve had in a long time. They are also very expensive donuts — around $4-$5 per donut making them premium donuts. The star-shaped donut is a churro donut stuffed with dulce de leche cream. The white cream donut is the horchata donut. The chocolate donut is Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake.

Austin trip recap

We drove from Houston back to Austin since we are flying out of there. I glad we did that rather than spend time in Austin and drive to Houston and drive back to Austin to fly home. I felt like we already drove so much in Houston due to its sprawl, it was nice to keep things (relatively) close in Austin. Austin was the more laid-back leg of the trip, we did a lot more walking and food crawling.

Starting the New Year off with a vacation!

If we were having coffee we’d probably be sharing — yes, sharing! — this cup of coffee. This is an $11 latte — the most expensive cup of coffee I’ve ever purchased. They recommended the mocha, but I’d imagine it would be even more expensive. The barista explained that they make their own chocolate or something like that. There were no prices posted on menu so I was price-shocked when I was about to pay at the counter. Was this latte worth the price tag? Unfortunately, no. But the coffee shop was beautiful.

Galveston half-day trip recap

We did a day trip from Houston to Galveston. In retrospect, I think we should have gone to the space center first and then spent the afternoon and evening in Galveston. It rained the whole day wherever we went. My friends and I noticed people wearing high rainboots — I guess they must get a lot of rain and it must be really high. Thankfully, I was wearing my waterproof hiking boots that day. My hiking boots got a lot use during the trip even though we only went on one hike.

Houston trip recap

I’ve been meaning to write and reflect on my Texas. I recalled I promise to release a post the following week when I returned but that clearly didn’t happen (haha).

My friends and I met up in Austin and we drove straight to Houston first. It was about a 2.5+ hour drive. When planning for the trip, we thought it was best to go to Houston first rather than Austin because we wanted to get the long drive out of the way.

Pops of pink (PPAC #70)

I know it’s a late post. Now that I have a kid, coming back to a normal routine after a vacation is quite a juggle. Before having a kid, I would be able to get back into a routine as soon as I returned from vacation or a business trip. Now looking back at that girl, I think she might be addicted to being busy. When I came back from my trip, I wanted to enjoy the pause, plan quietly my next thing, read, and watch the newest season of The Crown. I am forever a recovering busy-holic.