My name is Erica and I'm in my 30s.
Since I turned 35, I noticed perimenopause symptoms slowly creeping up onto my aging, decrepit body. One symptom that truly gave me pause was the brain fog. Days felt my head was always full of cotton. I always caught myself fixing typos in my work conversations. It felt like my hands were not working well with my brain. People on the internet recommended I take creatine. The fog lifted. I felt…
Saw this tag from Plant Based Bride on Youtube and having surpassed my reading goal for 2026 in the middle of the year (36/25), I thought this would be fun. Best book you've read so far in 2026 There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm My Storygraph review: 5 stars, I went into this expecting a no-nonsense scifi, but it also broke my heart :( Best sequel you've read so far in 2026 Morning Star…
Having adult money, my 30s is just spent rediscovering hobbies I enjoyed when I was a kid and somehow stopped doing when life got in the way. I picked up reading again, relearned how to crochet, used my camera again, and now I've been drawing with oil pastels. I saw someone on youtube draw these whimsical landscapes using soft pastels, but I couldn't find soft pastels in nearby stores so I settled…
This blog is mostly photos now, huh. I've been trying out a new editing style, in addition to my camera presets, aiming for a softer, brighter look that almost feels dreamy.
I've recently been aggressively targeted by compact camera ads and in turn have been looking into getting a Ricoh GRIIIx. But that is an expensive camera, and I am a complete hobbyist just taking photos of my cats and the surroundings while I go on walks. While looking into camera reviews, I've just found out about film recipes/picture styles which you can set in your camera and have pretty jpegs…
Sakura season in Okinawa starts at around late January to mid-February. We like to drive up to Mount Yaedake in Motobu for the Sakura-no-Mori Park . No drive up to Nago during the sakura season is complete without stopping by Sacchan Soba .
There’s a tradition in Japan to view the first sunrise of the year. Now tell me why on the first year we decide to partake, the weather did not cooperate. Let’s try again next year.
Therapy would have done wonders for her. But that't not the point. The point is what a severely traumatized person with no strong support system will do the most insane thing when given a lot—A LOT—of money. Not gonna lie, I would do the same, probably. Who needs healing when I can escape into a TV show.
I’ve been making multiple variations of banana bread for a few months now, trying to find the perfect balance of tasty, moist, and not too sweet with just enough calories to tide my husband over lunch (in addition to a serving of yogurt with granola). And if I could sneak in some additional fiber in there, too, it would be great. I think I found the perfect recipe earlier today. Based on this…
I got into crocheting because I saw a colorblock knit cardigan and I wanted one but it was expensive. Why not learn a new hobby and spend much more on yarn and personal time than the original clothing item that drew inspiration? My first ever crochet wearable: I’ve made a couple of bucket hats and headbands to learn the skill before making the cardigan. She has beginner mistakes (like just simply…
I really should be better at posting all the photos I take.
She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa This was a silly little book, and (I think) the perfect follow-up after reading No Longer Human. The cats in this book can be a little goofy (one cat thinks his owner is his girlfriend) but it's a feel-good book, and I might have cried a little bit. But, overall, all I could think about was, these people should really just keep their cats…
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai I think I first heard this book from a Youtuber reviewing Junji Ito's works. I can't relate fully to Yozo's complete alienation from society, but the book is haunting. His trauma and unchecked mental health issues, especially at the time the book is set in, makes you feel for him but he still lived a pretty shitty life with the choices he makes. Would he have had a…
On our trip to Osaka, I found out postcards still exist so I bought a bunch for my own personal souvenirs from the places we visited. I then bought a photo album for my favorite ones when I got home. The ones I got from the Fukuda Art Museum were prints of the current exhibit we just saw so they were a perfect souvenir for that pocket of time we got to experience. Of course I got a bunch of the…