Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2024

December 2, 2024December 2, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads14 Comments

Do I even remember what I did in November? Not really, LOL! Honestly, this month just flew by and I have no idea at all where the time went.

Most of the month’s highlights had to do with material things. I bought a bunch of stuff online and my parents were able to bring it back from Japan including keycaps for my keyboard and vinyls. Plus, they surprised me with two bags from my favourite brand! I must admit I am a material girl and I love the goods, so these things made me very happy (especially the vinyls)! 🤭

I also went to see Wicked and I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried buckets. I think what surprised me most was the scene that made me the most emotional because while it made me sad when I saw it on Broadway, the movie scene hit so much harder! I won’t share when exactly but it has to do with a certain ballroom (iykyk) and wow, how the tears flowed! 😂 I was trying hard to not be a sobbing idiot in the theatre, haha (I think I succeeded).

Monthly Wrap-Up: October 2024

November 4, 2024November 4, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads28 Comments

October passed by in a blink of busy work days/weeks, but thankfully, it was massively less stressful than September. I’ve felt slightly jaded lately about my work—what we do, our impact, and the purpose of everything. It’s been making me feel quite demotivated but I’m hoping to shake it off as we near the end of the year.

Other than that, it was a quiet month. I got into a new hobby (mechanical keyboards), bought new vinyl (Gracie Abrams + Sabrina Carpenter), started a new anime (Re:Zero), and made minor upgrades to my desk setup. I also went to the cinema for the first time in years to watch The Wild Robot and loved it so much! 11/10 would recommend. 🥹

My room is beginning to get overcrowded with too many things, especially all the books lying around, and I feel like it’s high time I start trying to reorganize everything. Perhaps I’ll even do a proper unhauling? Let’s see if I can swing it before the year ends!

Monthly Wrap-Up: September 2024

October 21, 2024October 19, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads29 Comments

I’m well aware that there are a little less than two weeks left in October and I’m just now posting my September wrap-up. Better late than never though, right? 🫣

Going into September, I knew it would be a hectic month but I couldn’t have predicted the amount of stress I would endure or the impact it would have on me physically and mentally. It was a lot and I spent the tail end of the month coping with illness as the stress and adrenaline that kept me going throughout was let go all at once. It wasn’t all bad though! I got to watch Wicked on Broadway and I did a whole lot of retail therapy to get things that aren’t available or would cost 2-3 times as much in Indonesia. I know it’s not much but sometimes it is those things that make me feel better when I’m feeling overwhelmed, lol.

Monthly Wrap-Up: August 2024

September 2, 2024September 1, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

What was August? Where did August go? I have no idea. All I know is that it was a stressful month and I’m sorry for whining about it all the time in my weekly wrap-ups! 😂 This month was consumed, as usual, by work and stress due to increased workloads and organizational changes that impacted my whole team. I have to be honest, the latter months of the year are not off to a great start (and I’m saying this on the 1st of September, lol)! I want to say that I hope September will be less stressful but I know it won’t be… So let’s just say I’m looking forward to October! 😄

Monthly Wrap-Up: July 2024

August 1, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads21 Comments

I just got around to posting my June wrap-up and it’s now time for July’s! This month had more going on than June but the latter half slowed down considerably. My brother’s wedding reception took place at the start of the month and that was lovely. I wrote a bit about it in this post if you want to see some pictures from the day! 🌻 Unfortunately, after that I got knocked out by a severe throat infection for a week. I couldn’t swallow for days and it took much longer than anticipated for me to bounce back. I’m doing okay now though and for the rest of the month, I’ve just been focusing on getting through the work days and restarting my Animal Crossing game play! 💜

On the gaming front, I’ve also been loving Potion Permit, an open-ended cosy fantasy RPG where you play a chemist from the big city stationed in a small countryside town. There are tons of quests, ingredients to collect, areas to explore, potions to brew, and friends to make. It’s got Stardew Valley style pixel graphics and a similar game play (also to Harvest Moon/SoS). I’ve been playing it on Switch and taking my sweet time with it cos I don’t want it to end! 😂

Monthly Wrap-Up: June 2024

July 26, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads11 Comments

Yep, I know it’s the end of July and I’m only just getting my June wrap-up posted now. I honestly can’t even remember what I did in June other than work. Outside of work, I was facing a lot of stress and anxiety due to family drama that did not put me in a good place mentally. Other than that, it really was an uneventful month… I think… Cos I literally, honestly, can’t remember much of it now! 😂

Monthly Wrap-Up: May 2024

June 3, 2024June 2, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

Where did May go? I don’t know 😂 Honestly, I’m thinking back on this month and I can’t really recall much of what happened. It was obviously birthday month (also, shoutout to fellow bday baby, Leslie!) but as usual, it was a low-key affair. I treated myself to some goodies including four new Switch games, plus the 10th Anniversary Edition of Song of Achilles and the 5th Anniversary Edition of Circe.

One set that I was highly looking forward to arriving this month was the Bergman Brothers set from Illumicrate. I received it and the art is stunning, as I expected, but I was disappointed to see that the sprayed edges were not in book order. From their website and other people posting their sets, the edges should align with the order of the books, which makes sense, so I’m pretty bummed my set is like this. I know it’s not a life-altering issue and I normally wouldn’t raise anything but considering the set’s price (+ international shipping fees) I did send an email asking about it. I’m not really expecting them to do anything but I don’t know, I guess I was just really disappointed… 🥺

Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2024

May 6, 2024May 5, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads18 Comments

April was… a month, I guess? I honestly have no idea what to say about this month other than it has been a rough mental health month but my soul was fed by the new double album TS released mid-month. To say I’m mildly obsessed with all 31 songs would be… Accurate, if not an understatement, lol. 😝 In other news, there really isn’t much and I don’t want to get into the anxiety, increased sleepless nights and work stress so… I’ll leave it there! I just hope that May will be a better month. I’m also going to start job hunting in May and we all know how tough that always is.

Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2024

April 4, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads13 Comments

I feel like I just wrote my February wrap-up and now it’s time to write one for March. This month passed by so quickly, lol! It was a month of travel and get-togethers but sadly, it ended with illnesses in the family. Thankfully, everyone is now well on the road to recovery but it certainly wasn’t the ending we expected, especially since we had big plans to celebrate dad’s 70th on the 30th, but couldn’t due to him being sick.

Other than that, I actually don’t have much clue what went on this month. 😂 I feel like I spent half of it getting back into the groove of things after my Japan holiday, while the other half was spent passing days at work counting down to the Eid holidays next week, which is a big deal here in Indonesia.

If any of you reading this celebrate: ✨ Eid Mubarak! ✨ I hope you have a wonderful celebration with your family and friends! 😊

Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2024

March 18, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads28 Comments

It’s mid-March and I thought I would be a lot more proactive even while I was off on holiday but that definitely didn’t happen so I’m just now getting around to posting my February wrap-up…

There wasn’t a whole lot that happened in February and the biggest thing I had to look forward to, which was a big deal, was my holiday to Japan at the end of the month. It was great! I ate lots of amazing food although, towards the end of my trip, I did get a bit of an upset stomach and left the country feeling rather poorly (I blame all the poor food we binged at Disney, lol).

Other than that, I spent a whole lot of money on Studio Ghibli, Disney and Nintendo (Zelda and ACNH) stuff and although my bank account is looking fairly pathetic right now, I don’t regret it and would probably do it all again, haha. 😂 Friends, I got so many cute things! I was in heaven and it was impossible to resist, though to be fair, I didn’t try very hard! And I mean, this is why I work my tail off, right? Because I like expensive things, I have a hard time telling myself no, and I love to treat my loved ones to all the good things, too. Overall, I wish my trip could’ve lasted longer but I will be back within the next year so I’m saving up good for that!