Sunday Stickies // 20 December 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

Oh wow, we have reached the last Sunday Stickies post of the year. Waittttt a minute, last Sunday Stickies post? Yes, we are taking a rest from 24 December 2015 to 10 January 2016. The honey&gazelle Design Studio and all our online stores will be closed during that period, so we will be missing two Sunday Stickies posts (27 December and 3 January).

Christmas and New Year’s Eve always gets us in a reflective mood. We look back on the past year and recall all our achievements, failures, happy moments, blue days, and blessings. This year, we are feeling extremely blessed, as we started 2015 incredibly stressed and low but are ending the year a million times happier 🙂

We thought it would be apt for our last Sunday Stickies post of 2015 to be all about gratitude and thanksgiving as it is important to end and start the year positively with humility. So here it is, our list of five things we are most grateful for in the year 2015 ❤

Min: What a year it has been. 2015 has been a year filled with new and crazy adventures, beginnings and commitments for me. The year started in a crazy blur as I was drowning in work and its daunting datelines. It was a living nightmare and guess what? The health department signalled a red card and that was when I really panicked. Beep beep boop!

So if you’re asking me what exactly I’m grateful for this year, I’ll certainly say that it is LOVE. Love from our heavenly Father, for His providence and protection on my loved ones and myself. Love from my family and fiancé, because I’ll be a total empty shell without their constant care and encouragement. Love from my truest friends, no matter the distance and time spent apart. And love from my fellow honey&gazelle co-founder aka best friend, Jia. I’ll be nothing without my pillars in life. I love all of you 🙂

Jia: I can honestly say without exaggeration that the first four months of 2015 were the most terrible period in my work life ever. I felt like my soul was slowly disintegrating due to the toxic environment I was in. The ideology and belief of working for something you really believe in had never truly resonated with me until this year. I am so thankful that I managed to leave my previous job with my morals intact and my faith stronger than ever.

It is difficult (and pretty lonely at times) to start up a business and I really wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support and encouragement from my loved ones. I am so thrilled at this new path that I have been led to and I cannot wait to see what other opportunities and surprises come my way in 2016. I am all buckled up and ready!

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To everyone still reading: thank you so much for your support for the past 7 months – in fact, exactly 7 months today! – since we started honey&gazelle Design Studio and this blog. We are really amazed that there are customers and readers who are interested in what we do and our rather mundane Sunday Stickies posts. We will strive to bring you better content and designs in the coming year 🙂 Much love!

Now, tell us – what are you grateful about this year?

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 13 December 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

As creatives, we tend to get spontaneous bouts of inspiration and ideas that we have to immediately work feverishly on. Well, we had two such brilliant ideas this week and spent most of our waking hours trying to bring them to life.

One of the ideas was to bring back hand-cut stickers to our pop-up booths. The last time we sold stickers was probably 5 months ago and we thought it was a good time to design some fun Christmas stickers for decorating presents or cards.

On hindsight, we remembered why we stopped producing stickers in the first place. The cutting process is simply put, tedious. We probably spent four days cutting all the stickers by hand and driving each other crazy in the meantime.

Although the process was so strenuous, we really love the end results of our little stickers in neatly-packed sets. Ah, we are such suckers for stickers. Next up on our to-invest list for 2016: a die-cut printing machine for our studio!

Min: Let the countdown begin! I’m officially a year away from getting married. And it’s also 12 days to Christmas! December is my favourite month because of Christmas. There’s so much to be thankful for and I can’t help but to count my blessings twice during Christmas. I hope you’re feeling as merry as me!

This week is all about singing and reminiscing Jia and my favorite childhood/teen-hood songs. We were cutting our stickers all week, and singing made the job a little easier. Think along the lines of Cinderella and her forest animals… I’m pleasantly surprised at how good our memory is when it comes to remembering those song lyrics…

Jia: Do you know what happens when half of your family goes away for days? You have one majorly whiny ginger kitty who insists on following you everywhere you go, 24/7. I guess I just found out that Trooper has serious separation anxiety and boredom issues. It was like having a really cute bodyguard all the time. Boba, on the other hand, was totally chill as usual. Ah, seeing him nap always makes me feel so sleepy and envious. Oh, a cat’s life is a dream life.

For the past few days, I have been in a very good mood because my birthday is approaching! Birthday celebrations have already begun in-between work and pop-up market booths, and I am feeling all the love from my family and friends (: I can’t wait for Monday as I finally get to rest and enjoy a lazy birthday with my boyfriend. After that, it will be time for Christmas celebrations! Happy swoony sighs all around as I just love December so much!

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How have you been spending your week?

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 6 December 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

This week has been a whirlwind of firsts and heartwarming emotions for us. We had our first private event engagement and it was just pure fun. We bumped into old friends and a repeat customer (hello!), and had really awesome free music and food, all while manning our booth in a very cool location.

We are also pretty pumped to announce that for the month of December, a selected range of honey&gazelle Design Studio’s products will be stocked at VainGloriousYou as part of their Winter Wonderland In A Boutique event. We did up our little space on Thursday and want to hear your thoughts on it! Please do go down to take a look at it. The boutique is at 42 Haji Lane and they are open everyday.

When we first embarked on this adventure together, we did not expect to make many new friends nor experience such heartfelt emotions with people we barely know. Fast forward to six months and in the present, we have formed supportive friendships with fellow lovely + super fun vendors and met so many customers who are just the sweetest.

Just a few days ago, a customer came by and gave us handmade keychains for Christmas! To you: We are so sorry that we don’t know your name and barely had the time to get to know you! Please do come by our booth again so that we can really thank you in person. We are so touched by the pretty keychains and your sincere thoughts!

All the love and kindness in the air… it is really beginning to feel like Christmas!  ❤

 

Min: This week is about new adventures and taking bold steps. I can be quite a pessimist so a lot of considerations will be thought through before I actually give a thumbs up to anything. New adventures are fun but they can be really scary. However, I am learning to trust and let go. You know, let go and let God! 🙂

Even though it is just a year to go to my wedding, I boldly snipped off half my hair and now I’m back to my mushroom bob! Jia loves my short hair and so does my mum. And if you guys were to see us at our pop-up booths, please say hi! It’s still me! 😀

Jia: I am so behind my work, yet I am starting to really anticipate our break at the end of December. With the multitude and onslaught of projects and events, I am starting to feel it. Exhaustion. A few years ago, I fell super ill to exhaustion while I was on a vacation to Taiwan with my friends. Prior to that, I had a ton of things going on in my life and the break came just in time. It was a bummer that I had to stay in bed while my friends went around the city. This is a reminder that I need to get sufficient daily sleep, if not I will be spending Christmas in bed, and that is one very sad thought ):

In happier news, I cut my hair too! Let’s just get this straight (haha), my haircut came a day before Min’s. I am loving how breezy it is but hating the hassle of daily blow-dries. But this is also the first time ever that my clique of childhood friends and I have similar lengths, so I can’t wait for everyone to be reunited for the holidays. Just 19 days and counting!

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Round-up of November’s Sunday Stickies: 1 November // 8 November // 15 November // 22 November // 29 November

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What are your plans this December? Do share with us in the comments section below!

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 29 November 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

As usual, the studio was buzzing with various activities all week and we were actually pretty tired once Friday came around. Our weekend can be summed up in just one word: HUMIDITY. Oh yes, we are typing this at our pop-up booth again!

We have been at the outdoor Christmas Carousel Market at the Capitol Piazza for the past two days (Saturday and Sunday) and the muggy weather is totally messing with our brains. Besides being sticky and icky, we can feel our brains melting into mush which in turn, leaves us blabbering gibberish to each other and our customers. And that brings us to this public announcement:

Hello new friends and old customers! We are sorry that we continually fumble on our words and lose our train of thought while talking to you. Thank you for your patience, your purchases, and also for all the lighthearted chatter and good will 🙂 

Min: Phew, I’m glad I made it through the week. I had quite a bit of plans but somehow life got in the way and I ended up getting confused with the changes. My aunt’s 15 year old Chihuahua is terribly sick and we had to cancel lunch plans because she wanted to spend every moment with her dog. I hope all will be a-okay soon. Losing a dog (or pet) is the MOST heartbreaking thing ever. 

On to other pet news, I think I have finally won over (a wee bit) of Jia’s cats. I got them a new cat toy and I think our friendship is blossoming! I am a major dog person so I’m very new to cats. After a gazillions years, I’m finally getting somewhere with zee cats. Yesssssssa!

Jia: It is such a cliche, but it is so true: time and tide waits for no man. I was having lunch with one of my best friends this week, and the topic of conversation suddenly shifted to our old schoolmates. We were really tight with a bunch of classmates but as the years passed, the group naturally drifted apart into two different cliques. After a bout of Facebook stalking over lunch – omg, everyone is either getting married or having kids – I was a little disheartened at the realisation that the group had really dissipated, and my best friend and I were all we had. Ah well, this is part and parcel of life, right?

I am super fortunate to still have so many groups of good friends whom I have met at different stages of my life. Starting up a new design studio has really taken up my entire life this year; I have not been meeting all my different groups of friends as frequently as I used to in the past. I seriously need to carve out more time for all my friends!

To my friends who love me so much: thanks for always being so supportive and understanding ❤

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Now, tell us about your week!

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 22 November 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

Hooray!! This is our 100th post! -pops a lot of confetti!!!- If you are reading this and have been following our Sunday Stickies or blog in general, thanks for sticking around!

We are writing this from our pop-up booth at Millenia Walk. It is the last day of our stint at the MW’s Crafters’ Market and we can’t wait to call it a day to get some rest.

Thank you to our lovely customers who make every pop-up experience very warm and encouraging, and an especially huge thanks and hug to our special ‘gold/platinum members’ who have come by so often that we really feel like friends! You have no idea how happy we get to see a familiar face during a day filled with unfamiliarity 🙂

It has been a pretty awesome week and we are so ready to start the next! We will be setting up shop outside of Capitol Piazza this coming weekend, so please drop by if you can!

Min: Started this week with alarming news that made my heart sink. And the week ended with the court verdict on a case from a local church. I guess everyone’s been paying attention to the news this week. It has been a tough week on the news front and there were barely news of joy. I hope that we’ll be able to spread more kindness and love through our words and actions so that we can make this world a happier place. It doesn’t take much. Just a whole lot of compassion, patience and respect. Shall we work together to spread a little joy and kindness? 🙂

Jia: It happens every now and then; I get into a total creative block area. My hands shake and refuse to cooperate when I paint, draw, or write. My mind is a blank when I’m staring at Adobe Illustrator. I can’t even write proper sentences. Yes, I’m in a creative standstill. I’m not too worried about it though, I will probably be back to normal after some rest and TV binge.

With it being the holiday season and the realisation that I have a ton of weddings to attend next year, I have been scouring Nordstrom, ASOS, and Shopbop for pretty dresses to add to my stagnant wardrobe. Oh my, there are so many gorgeous clothes currently on sale that my heart has been beating so quickly these days. “Be still, my shopaholic heart”, my logical brain said. “There are too many nice stuff but you have too little money.” Decisions must be made… (tbc till next week?).

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Are you looking forward to Christmas? How was your week been?

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 15 November 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

So much for “heading into a more successful week”, as we said last week.

We are going to sound like weaklings with terrible immune systems, but we spent most of the week sick. Our studio was operating at the slowest speed ever, as we battle terrible-sinus-turned-flu (Jia) and body/headaches-turned-flu (Min).

Working with foggy brains is never a good nor efficient idea and thus, we foresee a very busy week ahead as we scramble to pick up the pieces and get back to serious business. -cough, cough- We can do this.

On a more solemn note, our hearts were so heavy when we heard of the senseless ISIS attacks. All our prayers are going to everyone in Beirut, Baghdad, and Paris. What the world needs now is love.

Min: This week’s all about awkward and embarrassing ‘hellos’. With that, I think there is no guessing which song is currently stuck in my head. ‘Hello’ by Adele is growing on me. I didn’t quite like it when I first heard it, then slowly and surely, it’s now stuck. Maybe the overly attached and emotional lyrics resonated with me? I’m a big fan of emotional songs, and that’s why I declare myself a big fan of Rachael Yamagata! She’s finally coming back to Singapore to perform, but I wouldn’t be able to see her! Boo.

I am also terribly glad that we had a public holiday this week! I managed to watch Star Wars episode 1,2,3 again and now I’m having Star Wars withdrawal symptoms. There’s so much buzz going on about conspiracy theories and what nots. I’m still trying to understand the theories that online fans are pitching, but I’m not sure if I want to believe them all. Christmas, why are you so far away! I can’t wait for Christmas to come so I can watch episode 7 already. Please let it be awesome. Pretty pleaseeeeee! 😀

Jia: Despite naming my two kitties after Star Wars characters, I had never really been the biggest fan of the series. Before our Star Wars marathon part 1 on Deepavali, I had not even watched episodes 1-3. However as most of the loved ones in my life (siblings, boyfriend, best friends) are huge Star Wars fans, I organised the marathon and decided to educate myself in the ways of the Force.

Well, maybe it was because I was sick, but episodes 1 and 2 were so boring that I really wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. It all ended well though, as said loved ones were really happy at the end of the long day and episode 3 got me hooked and awake. Now, I just need to find another day for part 2 of the marathon for us all to conquer the remaining 3 episodes!

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Are you a Star Wars fan?

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 8 November 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

We have totally fallen in love with filming gift wrapping videos. Our set up is so ridiculous that we are pretty shocked and gratified when the video turns out looking decent.

Kudos to Min for polishing up her wrapping skills and making the presents (and our Petite Wraps) look so pretty! Do head on over to our Instagram to watch the short and super sped-up videos. We will be uploading more in days to come 🙂

The other working hours of the week in the honey&gazelle Design Studio were filled with trials. Sigh, if at first you don’t succeed right? After a week of design/production fails and a pretty slow night at our MAAD booth, we are so ready to recharge over the weekend and head into a more successful week.

Min: Love is waking up on a lazy morning and have your boyfriend cook breakfast for you. Greater love is when he serves you coffee before breakfast. And even greater love is when he says he has no idea what he just cooked. Takes a lot of true love to eat that huh? But that’s my week in a nutshell – lazy, blessed and well, clueless.

We have finally made some progress with the wedding plans and settled our budget spreadsheet. Planning a wedding is so hard. Boo. I am stuck because I have no idea what theme or colours I would like at our wedding. Or if I should cut my hair short? I still have some time for it grow back… Any ideas?

Jia: I love my iMac to death,and it has become clear to me that it is seriously reaching its death. My iMac is 5-6 years old and has attained a new level of sluggishness. The waiting time whenever I start up Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop has been steadily increasing and it is making me all kinds of sad ): Just the other day, Min gave an off-hand comment about how she was nearly done with all her lives in Pocket Mine 2 while waiting. That says a.lot.

In other falling-apart news, my skin has reached new depths of dryness. It has clearly been a week of “new levels”. My nose has been flaking constantly for the past 7 days and my hands are covered with small bleeding cracks since Friday. I should just submerge myself in a bathtub filled with jojoba oil and emerge a silky-smooth human being. Okay, that sounds really gross.

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Come on, share with us some wedding ideas and recommendations for good life-saving creams!

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 1 November 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

The last week of October was a sleepy and lazy one. Monday and Tuesday went by really slowly and we decided that we needed to rest after a long and hectic week. And rest it was. We ended up taking cat naps in the middle of the day and we woke up feeling slightly better. Hmmmm… Work life balance sure is very important to us!

All that rest was needed for our weekend at Fort Canning. A big shoutout to everyone who  dropped by The Local People x Noise Singapore Art Market on Friday and Saturday! Thanks for coming by despite the humidity! 😀

And… Hello November! Can you believe we are just one month away from our favourite month in the year – December? Say what?! 2015 is ending already? Sometimes we wish time will slow down a bit for us to catch our breath!

Still, November is looking good a the moment with pop up booths throughout the month. Do keep a lookout for us and come by to say hi! 🙂  We are also going vegetarian for lunch (again) in November to keep our bodies and minds healthy for the year end celebrations!

Min: If I had to sum up this week in a word, it would be ‘blur‘. This week went by in a rather slow and lazy fashion and I can’t seem to pick up. I am actually looking forward to Vegetarian Lunch November! More vegetables and lesser meat = healthier body = lesser junk and goo stored in the body = healthier state of mind = more productive = lesser lethargy. I hope I’m on the right track with this healthy information.

My parents and I went on a little trip to Penang, Malaysia over the weekends. I was pleasantly surprised at the hospitality and sincerity of the locals and my heart swelled with thanksgiving. The food in Penang really suited our taste buds and we were seriously stuffing our faces with every single bit of good tasting and earnestly cooked food. From Penang’s delicious food to the beautiful sights of George Town (my favourite!), I have to say that this was indeed a very good short trip! 🙂

Jia: I spent my entire week working in a very tired blur. If I had the time and if I could, I would have slept the entire week away. But alas! That was not meant to be, thus I can only sleep and catch up on Gotham episodes today (Sunday).

As our Christmas collection has been released at our pop-up booths and will be launched online shortly, I am starting to feel all Christmassy… yes, in November. Not a bad feeling though, as Christmas and December are my favourite time of the year! Hohoho, let’s all have a jolly last two months of 2016, shall we? (:

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Round-up of October’s Sunday Stickies Posts: 4 October // 11 October // 18 October // 25 October

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How was your week? Tell us all about it!

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 25 October 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

This week was all about preparations for the Public Garden Consumer Trade Show. We were packing non-stop for five days, plus squeezing in a few hours here and there everyday for photoshoots and video shoots.

We were fighting food coma and mundane sleepy zzzs for hours on end, trying to strike off our to-dos (written on our Jiffy Jot notepad) before the evening of Friday. And yes, we made it happen! It felt like such an achievement on Friday when we were done with preparations; we were so tired but very pleased 🙂

Note: This post was written on Saturday night, after the first day of the Consumer Trade Show. The first day was GREAT and our new products were really well-received. We love seeing the smiling faces of our customers when they look at some of the punny designs 🙂 It really brings our slogan – happiness by design – to life and warms our hearts.

Hello to all our new friends! Thank you for your support and warmest words of encouragement! We can never thank you enough.

Min: Every day is an emotional battlefield for me. I go up and down the emotional rollercoaster so much; I can’t decide if I’m a cheerful bunny or an emotional train wreck. If I were to sum up my week in one word, it would be ‘thankful‘. I spent almost every waking minute with Jia this week. We were up to our necks packing our new products and we are the minions of our own company/factory. I’m so proud of Jia for all the hard work, for designing all the lovely stuff we have in our store. And beyond thankful to be able to walk this journey with her.

I’m also particularly thankful to our customers – online and offline – for every little compliment, encouragement and smile. It adds meaning to what we do and I feel like we’re one step closer to achieving our goal. I always feel very refreshed and energized after every market and I’m thankful for the positive energy from everyone we meet, vendors and customers alike 🙂

Jia: This week was a mixed bag filled with happy but tiring activities, and awful emergencies. I’m really thankful and thrilled with our work week despite us working to the bone. It doesn’t really matter how tiring it gets when you know you have a partner working beside you with a common goal. Thanks Min, for being the heart and cheerleader of honey&gazelle Design Studio!

This week also saw the sudden return of my oldest friend under terrible circumstances ): A sudden loss is always terrible to cope with, and I pray for comfort and peace to be upon her in this time of sadness. There is always this conflicting feeling, when you feel so happy that your beloved friend is home but so heartbroken that it happened only because of horrible situation.

In other bad news, my kitty, Boba, had a seizure relapse today and I am so worried about his health ): Please do keep him in your prayers and thoughts! He is a special needs kitty who is the gentlest sweetest cat ever, I really do want him to have a happy healthy life!

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Tell us how your week went and if you had a terrible week – chin up, things will get better!

Love, Min+Jia.

Sunday Stickies // 18 October 2015

Sunday Stickies is a column where we reflect on the past week and pen those thoughts down on sticky pads. Expect notes to ourselves and others, advice, reminders for the week ahead, quotes, and anything random actually.

Thank God for Sundays! It is the only day we really truly rest, and oh boy, do we really need to rest.

Like our latest free printable, this week was all about making it happen at the honey&gazelle Design Studio. Min was away and WIFI-less in one of the most technologically advanced countries while Jia was buried under a pile of work with no one to talk to and discuss matters with. But yay, we made things happen and we are now on track with our preparations.

Preparations for what, you may ask? Well, we are popping back up at art markets!

We are very excited and nervous to be a part of the Public Garden Consumer Trade Show on 24-25 October. Yes, we will be doing next week’s Sunday Stickies from our booth again. If you are in town, please do drop by to smile at us! We will be at the Suntec Convention Hall 403 from 1pm – 7pm 🙂

Keep your eyes glued to our Instagram account for the next few weeks as that is where we will be unveiling our newest products! Some items are new instalments of our bestselling series, while some will aid in festivities ahead.

Mailing list friends, you will get the news first and maybe, just maybe, a very merry surprise. If you are not on our mailing list, why aren’t you? 😦 Sign up here, we promise we don’t spam.

Min: This week was spent in Japan and it was one relaxing holiday. We decided not to head into Tokyo but instead we drove around and explored other cities and towns.

We spent tons of time looking at trees, rivers and lakes, listening to rain and downing a lot of coffee. It was very therapeutic for the soul. I also had the chance to taste some very exquisite Japanese food and my oh my, it was so so so good. Happy tummy, happy mind, happy me! 🙂

Maybe the lousy wifi (no wifi actually) and lack of data made this trip a rather relaxing and quiet one. So this month, I’ll be completely uncontactable until my data usage gets renewed. Boo.

Jia: I wished I had more time to catch up on TV; I am behind so many shows! For example, I am 2 seasons behind The Big Bang Theory. Even though I don’t think the show is that funny anymore and am thinking of dropping it entirely, I would still like the option of having the time to brainlessly binge through episodes.

I just got started on Gotham (season 1, mind you) and I love love love love love it. My brother brought me up to be a huge Batman fan and I love the easter eggs that they drop around in the show. I can’t stand that I am empathetic to the villains that I feared most when I was growing up (Riddler and Penguin) but I am totally suckered into their origin stories. I want to binge watch Gotham!!!

On another note, my kitties turn 2 this week! Happy birthday to the cutest kitties in the world, Trooper and Boba! ❤ Now, if only the both of you can stop trying to nibble my hair.

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How was your week? Anything eventful happened? Tell us about it!

Love, Min+Jia.