Monthly Mumbles #3

Hi, friends! On the last Sunday of March, I am back with more Mumbles. March has been a whirlwind of a month to say the least. I cannot believe w’ere already done with 1/4 of 2021 but I am really looking forward to what the rest of this year will bring. With this month’s Mumbles, I tried something different and set it up more like a photo diary—let me know what you think!

My little sister Sujung and I were featured by Tabletop Media as this month’s Friends of Tabletop! We were so flattered and honored to be asked by the Tabletop team. Sujung has been my inspiration and motivation since the very beginning of my blogging days (she is literally the reason why you’re reading this blog right now haha) so it felt so special to be featured along with her. We both were overwhelmed with love and support from friends following this feature so thank you all so much! ☺️

Sushi Mon has been my favorite sushi restaurant since they opened a few years ago. Since they closed temporarily at the beginning of quarantine last year, I had been having serious withdrawals. They finally opened back up at the beginning of March, and I have already been twice because I needed to get my fill haha. Pictured here are two of their bento boxes. The other time I went, I got their nigiris! I want to try some of their takeout menu items so I will be going back again soon. ☺️ They have moved to a temporary location on Glenwood Avenue (with FREE parking!!) if you haven’t been recently!

Alex and I took a short trip to Beaufort a couple of weekends ago and we had the loveliest time! I consider myself more of a mountains person than a beach person so I hadn’t been to the beach in literal years, and I enjoyed it so much. Beaufort especially was a great low-key weekend getaway with spots with a ton of great food. We went during one of the last off-season weekends which was quiet and slow but I want to go back during the season to fully appreciate all Beaufort has to offer.

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With recent events, I have been inspired to share my stories and my family’s stories as Asian immigrants in this country. It is hard to be vulnerable, especially on the Internet and especially when you don’t know who will be reading/listening to your story but it’s been cathartic to tell these stories and the responses I have been receiving have been all positive and understanding. Thanks to Linda for allowing me to share my mom’s story in the above video.

Y’all, I am (partially) vaccinated for COVID-19!!! I didn’t think this was going to happen for a while so I am incredibly grateful that I was able to get my first shot this month. FYI, if you’re in North Carolina, COVID-19 vaccine appointments will open to all adults starting April 7. Seeing friends and family get vaccinated has been giving me so much emotions, and I have so much hope for the latter half of the year.

I have been much better about taking my PTO this year, and it has been making such a big difference in my mental health. This past Friday, Alex and I were both off and we hung around downtown Durham a little bit like we used to! We started with croissants from Loaf (my first time actually going inside Loaf!), got coffee at Cocoa Cinnamon (I used to go at least once every week 🥺), and had lunch at M Kokko (our first time eating their food since quarantine began)! We also had an impromptu visit to u-pick tulip farm. Basically a perfect day.

In last month’s mumbles, I mentioned how I am looking forward to seeing some of my friends this month. I was able to meet up with a few college friends recently and I feel like a whole new person (or I guess my old self)! If you’re looking for outdoor hangouts in the Triangle area, I brunched outdoors at Humble Pig (covered + heated patio) and hiked at Umstead/went for beers afterwards at Loneriders. Above photo is from Bull Cityciderwork’s new Greensboro location! It is more spacious than the Durham location and has an actual parking lot!