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Welp, we’re a third into June, but I’m finally sharing May’s recap!

The first of the month was hectic, and I spent most of it with having anxiety because of the tick bite. Lots of Googling, psyching myself out, dumping my worries and absurd scenarios onto my loved ones, you name it. I was a big mess. I’m chilled out now––for the most part––so let’s get into it!

If you wanna skip to other parts:

• books
• tv shows/movies
• music
• orders

Daily Life

May 1: I really needed to get some work done, and Mr. Darby was not creating a productive, peaceful environment for me, so I went to work at Boots and Good Co.! I got my usual iced Snickerdoodle with cold foam. So delicious, I am obsessed!

For lunch, I had a beef bowl from the Kroger sushi area. I liked this one! It didn’t have too much spicy mayo.

The Drama King, continuing with his shenanigans and nonsense:

He just wanted to roll over in the road like roadkill! Corgis are so stubborn.

May 2: I’m back at Boots, and I ordered the same thing again! Only, they didn’t have any more vanilla extract, so the barista made strawberry cold foam instead. Interesting combination, but it worked!

This drink is so addicting, and I absolutely love coming here.

May 3: Darby was treated to a pup cup! He’s still barking at employees, but we’ll get there.

May 5: The day of the Taylor Swift Eras concert, woohoo! Alexis came down and watched Darby for us. He was a good boy, thankfully! Alexis arrived at our place around 1 PM. She and I went to The Eastern Peak for lunch.

We split the gyoza, Alexis ordered Pad Thai, and I ordered the Orange Chicken! We at everything, and it was delicious! After lunch, we went to Ross in search of fishnet stockings. I didn’t find any, but I found a cute black romper (shown later) and olive green jumpsuit! Once our lunch settled, we went to Sweet Sofia’s for dessert!

Since it was Cinco De Mayo, they were having a special: buy one paleta, get one free! I wanted to also try the crepes, so we got an order of those, too. We tried the Dulce de Leche crepes. I tried a watermelon paleta and Alexis got a strawberry one. We also split a hibiscus tea. It was really good!

10/10 would buy again! I need to try all of the paletas, so I’m working on it!

We left for the concert a little before 4:30 PM to catch the bus to the main station downtown. It was my first time riding, and it wasn’t too bad!

An obligatory mirror selfie just to mark the ocassion.

It was like a 15- to 20-minute walk from the bus station to Nissan Stadium. A kind fellow Swiftie offered to take a photo of us in front of the stadium!

She deserved a tip for taking the photo! I’m so bummed that our shirts were covered. I didn’t even think about it! My shirt said “this is me trying,” and Stephen’s said “It’s me, hi. I’m the husband. It’s me.”

We ordered pizza and hot chicken for dinner. We had like an hour or so until the openers went on, plenty of time to eat.

Until I get the videos organized, here are the photos I took at the concert:

I told Stephen that my life has peaked now, and I don’t know what to do, haha.

Meanwhile, here was poor Darby at home:

The announcement of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) was the best news! I was really hoping she’d sing a song from Speak Now and Taylor Swift as her surprise songs, and she did! SN is my absolute favorite album. It’s so nostalgic and really brings out the angsty teenager in me. Now I have to patiently wait for July 7th!

Also, I didn’t know we could keep the light-up bracelets (😭). Whenever we saw the recycling station, I thought we had to give them up. Big mistake and regret. The bracelets were really cool, and I’m amazed by them.

The concert ended around 11:30 PM, and we hurried to the bus station to make it to the 12:15 AM bus. We didn’t even need to rush because evidently the last bus of the night has to wait until another bus arrives; we had to wait on the bus for at least 50 minutes before we left the station! We didn’t get home until 1:30 AM. I was a wee bit irritated and my patience was thin.

A girl at the bus station gave me a “Long Live” bracelet! Before the concert, a lady gave me the threaded bracelet. So nice. I’m regretting that I’m not crafty and I didn’t make bracelets to exchange with people, but that’s okay.

I really love that my shirt says “this is ying” whenever I was trying to show off the bracelets because that’s my middle name! So cool and funny.

May 6: The original plan was to wake up early and drive to Chilhowie, spend the day with Stephen’s parents, then drive to Raleigh, North Carolina, to visit his friends. We ended up leaving around 1 PM and stayed the night at his parents’ house.

This trip involved a ton of driving, and Darby was such a good boy!

He was bummed out that Luna and Teddy didn’t want to really play with him, although Luna did play with him more than she has in the past.

May 7: We left around lunchtime to get to Raleigh, and I can’t remember when we arrived at Phillip and Kayce’s place, but luckily the drive wasn’t too bad! It was like a 4-hour drive.

Outfit of the day:

The romper from Ross was only $9! I could not pass it up. I also bought the Hey Dude shoes from a woman on FB Marketplace (brand new!) for only $20! They are so comfortable. I will be wearing the shoes and romper a lot.

The flowers on the side of the interstate were super pretty!

For dinner, we went to City Barbeque.

I just ordered a brisket sandwich, and Stephen was so hungry that he ordered two pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw! I don’t know what Phillip and Kayce ordered, but they had so many leftovers!

Low-quality photos, but these sandwiches were inhaled! The sauces were really good, lots to choose from, and I definitely would eat here again. The banana pudding had cinnamon in it, which was interesting.

May 8: We had lunch at Bowlba Cafe, and it was wonderful!!

I tried the Black Sesame Latte and Bowlba Ramen. I was going to get Taro, but I’ve never seen black sesame as an option, so I went for it! I was a little worried I’d have a bunch of seeds in my teeth, but I was spared.

After this delicious lunch, we went back to Phillip and Kayce’s because Kayce had to take care of something and we had to get Darby so he could walk around at a park. The park we wanted to go to didn’t allow dogs, so we went to this little center instead and drove around.

We went to Jubala Coffee. I ordered an iced Almond latte, and Stephen got an iced Mocha (not pictured). They didn’t have caramel, so I tried the almond, and it was really good! This little shopping center area was nice to walk around. It wasn’t busy a busy area for a Monday.

Darby is shedding so much! Goodness. I’ve brushed him numerous times, yet where does all the fur come from!?

He sat on me in the car, and his nails dug into me! A super painful time, but he was so happy to be out and about with us!

We drove around downtown, then ended up at Phydeaux pet store. I loved the name, but it’s unfortunately going to be renamed as Feeder’s at some point.

Darby got some treats and a toy!

Around 7:30 PM, we headed to Kingsport to spend a couple of days with my family. I tried giving Darby the popcorn cookie, but he wanted to hide it instead.

May 9: Outfit of the day, brought to you by Lizard Thicket. I bought it whenever it was on sale for $30 in January. Total: $15 for the bodysuit and $15 for the skirt. It’s so cute! I’m still unsure about what shoes to pair with outfits, so it’s a work in progress.

My mom took Tuesday and Wednesday off to spend time with us. On this day, my mom, sisters, Brandi (Callie’s friend), Stephen, and I meet up with my dad to eat at Giovanni’s since I was craving their garlic knots. We had two orders of these. I think there were five of them left. They are scrumptious!

I just ordered a side salad and spaghetti and meatballs.

After lunch, we went to Habitat for Humanity Restore in Johnson City to browse around.

I ended up buying these three items for $2.70! The little cup will be perfect for a succulent.

We then headed to the Johnson City Mall.

This mural is new (to me). I haven’t been to this mall in a few years. I bought 4 items from Forever 21 for less than $20! They were having a buy one, get one free sale.

I was craving an almond pretzel from Auntie Anne’s. Since the pandemic, I haven’t been able to order one!

For our final stop, we went to Books A Million.

I did not buy anything, but gosh, I sure miss browsing the bargain deals! I was so close to purchasing a few books that were less than $5, but I restrained myself. Maybe I’ll start going and buying a book or two once a month. I’m still working through my current books I bought years ago and donating them afterward.

May 10: More food! Mom, Callie, Stephen, and I went to Lowe’s so Mom could purchase flowers. Separately, Haley and Brandi met us at Stir Fry Cafe for lunch around 12 PM.

My Tofu Curry Basil noodles were perfect this time! They had the right amount of spice to them. I didn’t know the Philly Roll had the spicy mayo on it, which I’m not a fan of, but it was okay. Stephen just ordered a Spicy Tuna Roll and California Roll.

I stopped by Hibbert-Davis Urban Brews and ordered an iced Caramel Macchiato. Haley said the coffee has been a hit or miss lately, but mine was good that day.

Not pictured: Callie and I ran to Target after we returned to Mom’s house, then we went to visit our mamaw for an hour. Callie wanted to buy the Puss in Boots: The Last Wish movie.

Haley, Reece, Callie, and I went to Haley and Reece’s house that they’re building. It’s almost complete! It should be finished by this summer. On the way back, we had a coffee break. Reece ordered a Mocha frappe from McDonald’s, while Haley and I ordered iced Blondies from 7 Brew. YUM!

May 11: I had to get a photo with my boys! What a huge difference it is from picking up Mason and then Darby! Mason is king for cooperating with me.

I still weep a little at the fact that Mason will be 13 this year!! I miss him so much.

Because Darby is always wearing his harness outside, here is a photo of naked Darb! So handsome.

We spent Thursday with Stephen’s parents since we didn’t get to spend much time with them on Saturday. Stephen’s mom, Stephen, and I met up with Stephen’s dad at Macado’s for lunch.

For once in my life, I got a wrap at a restaurant! Specifically, I ordered the Oriental Shrimp Wrap. I was going to order the salad version (Stephen’s dad did), but I thought I’d get a little funky and order a wrap. It was incredibly messy, so I don’t think I will be ordering it again, but it was good!

Around 6 PM, time to head back to Nashville! Darby slept the whole time, thankfully. There was construction/possibly a wreck going on as we headed into Nashville, so that was 40-some extra minutes on our drive.

May 12: We got back late, a little after 12 AM, and Darby must have missed his chair because he stayed downstairs for a few hours before going upstairs for bed!

This is definitely his chair!

We slept in but also had a productive day! I did some work for a couple of hours, we ran to Walmart to purchase a new storage cabinet, and we had lunch at an Asian restaurant! The sesame chicken was tangy! I had the rest of it for dinner that night. Stephen ordered the filet mignon, and he finished his meal at the restaurant.

May 13: As a reminder, Darby lets me know that he sees all and I cannot escape him!

May 14: Stephen snuck out of the apartment to fill up my car and get me some Dunkin’!

May 15-19, 29-31: My friend, Louise, is gone for a bit, so I checked in on Luna!

So cute! She’s got a lot of energy. I know Darby is missing her a lot.

May 16: I met up with my old college friend, KaSandra, at Good Boots & Co. because we haven’t seen each other in like two years! A lot has happened with her, and it was so good to see her! I got a 24-ounce cup, which was so kind of them to do—especially since this size is not available or on the menu! I’ve been getting the cold foam lately, and it’s the perfect touch.

May 17: I have a free drink coupon expiring soon, so I went to Dunkin’ to try the new Signature Iced Turtle Latte. It was good, but I’m going to keep butter pecan.

Presentation on point!

May 20: We took Darby to Pups & Pints!

He got to hang out with some of his friends, and with Birdy of course! The beginning was a bit rough because Darby got excited and we had a messy cleanup, but all went well afterward! It was a wee bit awkward, especially since we didn’t have enough napkins and we were in an open area, but no one paid us any attention! Poor guy was so excited.

I had to get some coffee, it my second time at Sump Coffee. It was a bit too milky and overpowered the coffee taste, but it was still good. I may have to switch up my order for some of these places.

May 23-38: I watched our neighbor’s dog Pepper while he was away! She is so strong, but she’s a good girl with the prettiest eyes!

I’ve had Stephen handle Darby whenever he and Pepper play, and Darby sometimes feels the need to lead Pepper around.

May 23: Charlene (Birdy’s mom) went to the May 7th, night 3, Taylor Swift concert with a friend and her daughter, and she wound up getting a VIP box. She didn’t want it, so she gave it to me!! I am so excited and grateful for her kindness! I’m going to try to be crafty and make some type of shadow box with it all.

The lanyard makes me feel a little better with recycling my bracelet at the concert.

May 25: We took Darby to the SandBar for a corgi meetup!

There had to have been at least 30 corgis there. I ordered a piña colada mocktail for the first time from here. It was really good! Maybe I’ll order more mocktails since I’m not that big on alcohol. It was a refreshing beverage!

May 26: Darby and I hung out outside in the parking lot, so that lead to a mini photo shoot. I’ll spare you all with the overload, but here’s one of my favorites. He’s so handsome!

May 27: Stephen and I tried a new Vietnamese restaurant that opened near us called Han’s Deli. It was so good, and we’re super stoked that it’s so close to us! We typically get Vietnamese food whenever we go to the Asian market.

For drinks, Stephen ordered the Strawberry Lemonade, which I ended up drinking because he wasn’t a huge fan of it. I ordered a Taro bubble tea, and I should’ve ordered the coffee flavor since I can make taro at home. The taro flavor wasn’t super strong, but it was good!

Stephen ordered the beef pho, and I ordered pork vermicelli. Theirs doesn’t come with a spring roll, but I loved the pork! We did not have any leftovers.

We definitely will be back!

May 29: It’s Memorial Day and Stephen was off work, so he cleaned the apartment. Zach and Kylie went to visit Spud’s puppies, and they made a pit stop at Buc-ee’s and got us some jerky!

Bet you already know which one is mine!

I had Stephen and Darby sit outside on the outdoor picnic blanket for a bit.

What a freakin’ cutie!!

Stephen made us dinner, a spaghetti bolognese meal kit from Home Chef. Stephen wasn’t a fan, so I ended up eating it and he had some chicken nuggets.

It was super season-y, but I liked it! I had the leftovers as my lunch.

May 30 – June 1: My final days stopping by to check on Luna because Louise returned home!

May 31: I came across the viral pepper and cucumber salad on a subreddit and decided to give it a try. I went to Kroger and ordered some things online.

Ingredients:

• mini sweet peppers
• chili crunch (Momofuku is the brand that’s been used, but I use this extra hot one and love it!)
• (mini) cucumbers (I used regular because they’re cheaper)
• ginger dressing (Makoto brand, but whatever ginger dressing you prefer)
• Everything Bagel seasoning (Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Seasoning is what the original recipe calls for, but I used this recipe and love it)

I stopped by Boots for an iced Snicerdoodle latte since it’s been a couple of weeks and I needed my fix!

I ended up making my own Everything Bagel seasoning. I can’t believe how expensive it is! On this day, Javy Coffee released a Cookie Butter Cold Brew recipe, and I was on the search for cookie butter!

I made it, and it’s everything that I could want. So addicting, I’m in love!!

Also, until Saturday, Crumbl Cookies had a Cookie Butter Ice Cream Cookie!!

I’ll save that for the June post, but I miss the first one they had. This one had icing on it, though it wasn’t too sweet.

Books

I haven’t read that much this month. It’s been busy, but I managed to squeeze in a few books!

• Spring, Summer, Autumn, Us by Fiona Collins
• genres: romance, chick lit
• rating: 4
• So, Gabe is the most rare and dreamy American, who is living in small town Jud, North Dakota, to exist—especially in the ’80s!
  • I enjoyed getting the full picture, and the writing was just beautiful, I felt like it couldn’t picked up the pace.
  • As terrible as it is to admit, infidelity was bound to happen in this story. Obviously I’m not for it, but I really loved Gabe and Rachel. Their chemistry just oozed off the page.
  • I shared a little more on Instagram. ↓ 

• The Bite by Z.W. Taylor
• genres: paranormal romance, supernatural, urban fantasy, vampires, werewolves
• cw: PTSD, domestic abuse
• rating: 4
• Well, I did not realize that this novel contained werewolves and vampires, so that was fun! I also learned that it’s going to be a trilogy and will have to wait for the other two novels to be shared.
  • I think the romance is confusing to me. Is she supposed to like Levi, who was described as like 50 years old (unless I missed something where he’s actually a lot younger) or his nephew who’s like 21? I don’t even remember her age, but I think someone said 24.
    • I’m hoping Levi is more of a father figure, but I feel like a romance element is being pushed.
  • I probably have that point all wrong, so I’ll look for the Wattpad version and the rest of the novels whenever they’re published to get some clarity.
  • This first book sets up the premise and mainly covers Charlotte’s trauma and transformation into a werewolf.
  • The numerous times “Charlie girl” was said by Levi got old really fast. I wasn’t a fan of that.

• Beach Read by Emily Henry
• genres: romance, chick lit, books about books
• rating: 4.5
• The funny thing is this book was on low priority to read because I avoid things with “beach” in the title or plot. Turns out, that literally didn’t play a big role at all. From the reviews, it seems like it wasn’t a favorite of Emily Henry’s readers. Funny enough, this is probably my favorite book out of all the ones I’ve read so far.
  • So, we have FMC January and MMC August(us). That is cute.
  • What knocks off the rating is minor, but I really wish January and Gus would’ve gotten to a point in the epilogue where she calls him his full name “Augustus” since he’d wince every time someone called him that.

• The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry
• genres: magical realism, young adult, romance, parallel universe
• rating: 3.5
• I’m still unsure about my rating. This was a really cool concept and plot with parallel universes. There are sad elements to it, some rough childhoods

• You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes
• genres: thriller, fiction, mystery thriller, horror, suspense
• rating: DNF
• I read the first two books and thought I’d try to finish the series, but I cannot. I stopped on page 70. The character and writing are well done, but it’s not appealing for me to be inside Joe’s head. This is my first DNF of the year, sadly. I thought about powering through it, but I’m going to ditch it and move on.
  • I’m just going to look up what happens in this book. I don’t think I’ll ever touch the series again.
  • Again, Kepnes’ writing is brilliant, but I just can’t get into these books.

• First Five Chances by Sarah Jost
• genres: romance, chick lit, time travel, magical realisim
• rating: 4
• This was a fun story, and I loved how the small details in one life would show up in another life. If you ever read this book, pay attention!
  • Example: The first chance, she mentioned how if a dog was at Yuki’s birthday party, she’d be petting it. Well, the second chance, Chomsky was around and she did that.
  • What’s really cool is Lou caught glimmers of one life as she was living in her current one. It made me pay closer attention to each detail in her five chances.

• The Restoration Program by Mary Dublin and Anne Kendsley
• genres: dystopian, romance,
• rating: 4.5
• This was my first ever ARC opportunity, and I’m so grateful for it! The kind authors reached out to me on Instagram, and they sold me on the idea that this book is for fans of Black Mirror and Westworld! This is the first of a trilogy, and I’m bummed that I’ll have to wait a bit for the other two to be released.
• Here is the Instagram post because there is so much to say about it but I don’t want to give anything away; I am stupefied by the ending! It’s available for pre-order tomorrow, June 3rd, and will officially be released on July 1st!

TV Shows/Movies

The Middle –– 2009

Stephen and I haven’t watched this series all the way through, so we are now! We just now made it to season 2.

Silo –– 2023

Stephen just finished reading the books, so we’re starting the series!

So far, so good.

Music

“When You Think of Me” — Single (2022) — JP Saxe

It was actually the first day of May when I found out that she and JP Saxe broke up. I’m very late to this news, but I’m still sad for them.

After learning of their break up, I listened to this one first.

This was a super sad, emotional song.

“I’m Sorry To Me Too” — Single (2022) — Julia Michaels

I really love Julia Michaels, and I’m still obsessed over Not in Chronological Order.

This is definitely an angry song, and it really makes me sympathize with her.

Julia Michaels cannot write a bad song; I’m pretty sure about that. This song makes me want to sing/yell it at the top of my lungs, then cry once I process the lyrics.

Both of these songs help paint a picture of what maybe went down between them. They are definitely telling two different sides, but there are some of the same elements in both.

Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition) (2023) — Taylor Swift

• “Hits Different” — I listened to the leaks on YouTube, and I’m so glad we can stream it! It’s sad to imagine being in this perspective, but the song is super catchy.

• “Snow On The Beach (Feat. More Lana Del Rey)” — The original song isn’t a favorite of mine, and I’m indifferent to Lana right now, but I’ll listen to it.

• “Karma (Feat. Ice Spice)” — I really wasn’t a fan of it at first, but it’s growing on me. Might still prefer the original one, but this was fun, and we got a new music video to dissect!

Side note: I reaallyyy can’t wait for “You’re Losing Me” to be available for streaming because it will be on repeat.

Orders/Purchases

May 2: Stephen and I ordered some earbuds for the TS concert. They arrived three days before, and we wore them to the Covet concert to try them out. I ordered Loops earplugs, and Stephen ordered Vibes. We both liked what we chose. The earpieces that were already in the plug(?) thing (M) fit my ears, so I didn’t need to use any of the other ones in the box. I should’ve bought earplugs years ago because they really make a difference!

They were perfect for the Taylor Swift concert. They blocked out most of the screaming, but I was still able to hear and enjoy the songs that were being played.

May 4: My succulent ordered arrived! I’m a little sad that I had to leave them the next day, and for a week! They at least had time to grow and establish more roots while I was gone.

• Echeveria Sang A Special
• Echeveria Choco Cookie
• Echeveria Laui x Trumso
• Echeveria Monroe Queen leaf props

I missed out on the last sale to buy an E. Laui x Trumso, and my seller was able to bring more in! I love that it has a little bit of color stress in the middle.

The Sang A Special has been one I’ve been going back and forth on, but I’m so happy to finally have one! Give me all the Echeverias!

May 14: I was excited to try this Dunkin’ iced coffee. What sealed the deal was it was on sale! Now, if you asked me what flavor this was before trying it, I have no idea. It doesn’t taste super sweet or like butter pecan, but for $3, I’ll take it. It’s pretty good!

May 24: I’m back on my dalgona coffee kick, and I found this instant coffee that I like! It looked fancy, and it does not disappoint! I will say that the espresso by itself is a bit bitter, and incredibly bold, but it’s good as a coffee!

That’s all for May! How was the month for you?