Things I Learned In 2025

1. A random woman will sit at your table while having Thai food. 
2. It’s not "Boomerang F-U" it’s "Boomerangfu”. 
3. I’m not allowed to tandem kayak ever again.
4. You can get a friendship out of a dating app. 
5. The French guy you matched with on Hinge will give you good bar recs in Le Havre.
6. Pharmacies in France close early, but condom dispensers are 24/7.
7. Europeans wear cool eye glasses. 
8. Commercial spaces should not be converted into AirBnB’s — unless you want the plumbing to leak into your lighting fixtures.
9. My mom never fails to send me on a fool's errand — even when I'm in Paris.
10. My mom doesn’t understand that nothing is made in their country of origin anymore. 
11. Most of Longchamp's bags are made in Vietnam.
12. Concerts in France end at 10:30 p.m. on the dot.
13. DON’T WALK ALL DAY WITH A HEAVY TOTE BAG because you WILL have chronic shoulder pain.
14. Charli xcx’s “Boom Clap" is the ultimate needle drop for puking in public — bonus points if it’s in a Brussels metro. (No, this wasn't me this time.)
15. Your random Thread about White Lotus will blow up.
16. Miami Heat fans leave before the fourth quarter in the same way Catholics leave after communion. 
17. Hellen Obiri is apparently not Irish.
18. Termite colonies remain dormant five years at a time.
19. Protect your lower back at all costs.
20. Stretch. Always. 
21. A man loves to friendzone me.
22. No one actually owns their own Hulu account these days.
23. Therapy comes for all of us.
24. Pennsylvania has sexually explicit town names.
25. Some dogs actually dream of climbing trees and who are we to stop them?
26. I STILL AM NOT ALLOWED TO BUY CONCERT TICKETS.  
27. Ticketmaster is the worst.
28. Sitcom-worthy run-ins at Bob’s are inevitable.
29. I cannot kayak but at least I can white water raft.
30. It takes three women, an ethnically ambiguous IT man and needle nose pliers to fix a hair claw.
31. Probably should have owned a bike sooner. 
32. Cuerenta is the game of Ecuador.
33. Canadians only cook their burgers well done.
34. You can get the world’s gnarliest bruise from barely touching a table. 
35. Un clavo saca un otro clavo.
36. All my Hinge dates lead to an Irish pub.
37. I can do karaoke if I get drunk enough.
38. If I get drunk enough, I also think that I can climb anything.
39. Jusqu’ici tout va bien.
40. Tape is a moving essential.
41. All is possible with a spreadsheet.
42. I can never use foaming cleansers ever again.
43. Heathcliff should have just stayed away from the Moors.
44. The Girlies love a fictional love triangle to dissect into oblivion.
45. I can only lift my friends up emotionally — not physically (RIP Kadeem).
46. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that people get married in batches so plan accordingly.
47. Miami weddings are funny.
48. Never schedule your ham to be picked up the day before Thanksgiving unless you want to wait in line for three and a half hours. 
49. Double check that your Drybar appointment is booked in the right STATE. 
50. Also, I really need to learn how to curl my hair. 
51. Don’t assume that the fancy Russian guy in a suit at the FOUR SEASONS IN SURFSIDE is the valet boy.
52. Stop parking in the yellow zones. This isn’t college.
53. I am capable of doing the things that scare me. (See: solo travel and moving)
54. Accept what it’s not.
55. To be desired will almost always feel better than pining for someone who doesn’t want you. 
56. Find the through line.
57. Grace costs nothing.
58. Identify your priorities and the path will be made clear.
59. Baby steps are still important progress.
60. Stop committing to things based on what you want your future self to handle. 
61. Don’t wait for people to speak up for you.
62. Advocating for yourself is not selfish.
63. Lean on your network. 
64. Sometimes you need to make your own opportunities.
65. My friendship is a privilege.
66. Learn how to invite more people to do things with you in your life. 
67. Pace yourself.
68. Heath is wealth. 
69. "How we die creates the period at the end of the sentence, but it is the period that makes it a sentence at all."

Nothing severely humbles you more than the scrutiny of a high quality digital camera. Earlier this year, I discovered I had acquired sun spots after my friend took a photo of me. The image resolution was so detailed, I thought I saw minuscule specks of dirt on my cheeks. Closer inspection revealed they were actually small brown flecks of raised skin that had not been there before. 

I don’t consider myself a particularly vain person. I don’t know how to curl my hair or tweeze my eyebrows, and I hardly wear makeup. But never before had I run so quickly to a mirror than when I saw that picture. Suddenly, I saw a glimpse of a future — one where the same sun spots found on my mother’s cheeks, and the generations of Filipino women before her, became superimposed on my own. Time bent for just a split second. For once, I felt the terror of getting older. 

At a young age, I made a personal decree to age gracefully. But that did not prepare me for the reality of it. It did not prepare me for throwing out my back after ONE solidcore class. It did not prepare me for dry patches that would turn into dark scars on my skin. It did not prepare me for $300 night guards and crown replacements. And it certainly did not prepare me for fibroids.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take some pride in roughing it. But I imagine there must be a healthy balance between rigid self maintenance and an insouciant lifestyle, right?

To invoke the wisdom of a journalist whom I hold in high regard, maybe I can find freedom in making the process as smooth as the product. Maybe it’s a matter of learning how to be more intentional with my mind and body without being so precious about it. Maybe that’s the key to aging gracefully. To be kind to myself, to accept my physical form, to embrace my fears and still move forward even when the path is bumpy.

This year, I felt terribly aimless, and I have not been very patient with myself. Any progress I have made has felt painfully incremental. No one talks about the frustration of trying to identify your desires while simultaneously trying to realize them. Because how can you take the next step if you don’t know where you want to go? And the physical limits I have experienced this year have only ratcheted up the urgency to find an answer sooner rather than later. 

Twelve months later, and I still don’t have a clear answer. But I'm trying to be ok with that. I don’t have life figured out at 29. Surprise, surprise. Then again, I have never ever liked being rushed. If anything, I’m trying to take this feeling of uncertainty as a reminder that I’m still young. Sure, my body may say otherwise, but where the mind goes, the body will follow. 

If I am fortunate enough to live a long life, then the pursuit of a meaningful one is a gracious act. And I can live with that.