Unemployed, pregnant and thriving (Happy New Year)
Picnic Journal #25
Hello, welcome back to my channel, please subscribe, like and click the bell for a big announcement that I already put in the title of my… what is this? A newsletter? A blog? A cry for help? I’m not sure but it really helps out my channel.
Yes, I am with bun in oven. I am expecting. I am your new favourite mummy blogger. I have just successfully lived as a human for the last week without throwing up the entire contents of my stomach. I have been keeping it on the low down mainly because I haven’t had the physical strength to sit at my computer for more than 10 minutes for the last two months. Baby is almost 18 weeks old and I finally have an appetite for food! How good is food? Really missed that stuff. I am so excited for the year to come and I can’t wait to meet our baby boy who is honestly going to be an illegal level of cute.
What I’m reading
One side effect of my first trimester was that I became allergic to reading but I read a quote today that tickled my fancy:
"Happiness is simply the absence of desire... Happiness is not about the achievement of pleasure (which is joy or satisfaction), but about the lack of desire. It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state."
via James Clear’s newsletter via his book Atomic Habits.
This sums up my mental state over the last few months. Despite the chaos of my current financial and physical condition (unemployed and pregnant), I’ve been pretty much the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. What a privilege and a beautiful thing. (The throwing up three times a day part was pretty gross but at least I was content).
I’m also reading The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera, it’s the prequel to They Both Die at the End which I really enjoyed.
Rapid Fire: Things I have Been Watching/falling asleep to
Gilmore Girls (obviously)
Love is Blind Season 3 (Terrible, 1.5X speed necessary)
Every Christmas movie ever made (even that new Lindsay Lohan one)
Every Harry Potter movie (a new Christmas tradition)
Fantastic Beasts - watched this for the first time after our HP marathon and I really wasn’t a fan. The beasts were fantastic but the humans ruined everything.
Emily in Paris Season 3 (why do we keep watching this show) - There is not a single character in this show that I am rooting for. Maybe Alfie? Maybe Mindy? I want to root for Luc but he has absolutely no 눈치 (noonchi).
The Crown Season 5 - This was my first trimester afternoon nap show. It put me to sleep in under 5 minutes without fail. I love the Queen and her Corgis and her poise, but Prince Charles is just not it.
Avatar: The Way of Water - Really enjoyed this. Obsessed with the visuals in this film, particularly the little Avatar babies and the marine life. I fell asleep in the middle but I didn’t feel that I missed anything.
Hell’s Kitchen - Now that I can eat food again I am really enjoying this show. I had never watched it before but I finally get why Gordon Ramsay is actually a huge deal.
Korean TV/Film
재벌집 막내아들 (Reborn Rich) - I am loving this show. Its got everything: chaebol family drama, reincarnation, modern Korean history and romance (bit of a stretch).
Money Heist: Korea on Netflix (Season 2) - I enjoyed this!
형사록 (Shadow Detective) - Loved this show on Disney Plus with one of my fave actors Lee Sung-min (also in Reborn Rich)
Singles Inferno Season 2 - We’ll need to unpack this once all of the episodes have been released but right now I can’t keep track of who likes who or who went to which prestigious university.
Things I loved recently
Revisiting Sangha Farm for an overnight getaway
Jean Julien at DDP
Leeum Museum in Seoul
Getting dressed up in a Hanbok and walking around Gyeongbokkung
Minju Kim’s Pop-up store
Getting our first Christmas tree in Korea
Recent Doodles
I’m so excited to be back at my desk and doodling my heart out. It’s even more exciting that I get to look at my cute baby belly while I work. If only I could sit down for more than 30 minutes before needing to grab a snack.
Merry Christmas, Annyeong 2022, HNY etc.
Wishing you all a happy festive season and hoping you are staying warm in this wild weather (or staying cool for my Australian readers). 2022 was a wild ride and frankly, I think we’re all glad it’s over. My favourite way to reflect on my year is to read through my journal entries and scroll through my camera roll. Sometimes life can feel like it’s not really moving forward and we’re just kind of just a stuck little marble in a Rube Goldberg machine. I recovered from a miscarriage, travelled to Australia after a 2-year hiatus, my company went bankrupt, we had family visit us in Seoul, we took amazing trips around Korea, I did an intensive 10-week Korean course at Yonsei and found out I was going to be a mum. What a cool year. Here’s to another wild ride in 2023.
I’ll leave you with a link to my first YouTube video in 4 months
Thanks for reading, have a great day, and peace out.
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