Hi Everyone!
It’s been a while since I last posted a blog and I do apologize for that. A lot has happened in 2022 and I am writing this post to give everyone an update on how things are going from my end. Along with what my 2023 plans are for this blog.
So, what should I talk about first?
On February 2022, I welcomed a pair of adorable kittens named Nimbus and Cirri! They are such adorable fur babies and sharing my space with them made my apartment a happier place.
With the world recovering from Covid, I was finally able to attend my delayed graduation ceremony. I graduated back in 2021 but because of Covid, the ceremony was delayed and I graduated in-absentia. It was wonderful that the school offered graduates the chance to attend a delayed graduation ceremony. Wearing the toga and visiting the school campus, brought back a wave of nostalgia when I was still pursuing my Masters Degree.
Thirdly, I got bitten by the TikTok bug! I decided to create a Tiktok account for my kittens. Initially, it was daunting because the platform is very different from Facebook. However, after learning how to make my own videos and posting a few of them online, I got hooked! So I decided to create my own account with creative make-up looks. Some of these looks are purely from my imagination whereas others are inspired by fictional characters from books, movies, anime, video games, or manga.
Below are the make-up looks that I have done so far. Two of them are based on fictional characters: Lucy Gray Baird from A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Can you guess which ones they are from the picture below?
Creating my own TikTok account helped me to rediscover my passion for make-up and cosplay. As the year progresses, I plan to create a few more looks. If you’re interested in seeing more of my make-up looks, follow me on TikTok by scanning the QR code to my TikTok account:
My kittens also have a TikTok. So, if you are a cat lover and you want to see their antics as they grow, you can follow them by scanning their QR code below:
Last but not least, I’m now happily engaged! They say that things just fall in place when you have met the right person. So when my boyfriend went down on one knee and asked the question in June, it was not hard for me to say yes. Haha… I’m not going to say much because I will let the picture below do the talking.
With my wedding less than a year away, most of my attention is dedicated to the wedding preparations. We even went back to the Philippines back in December to take care of some wedding details. There was so much to do, but overall it was both productive and fun. Our families were able to meet for the first time and we were also able to meet our suppliers. What we enjoyed most was the food tasting to help us decide the menu for our special day, yum!
There were a flurry of activities last year. However, despite how hectic my schedule was, I managed to squeeze in some time to read and finish a few books and write some reviews. In total, I managed to read 28 books last year.
Out of all the books I read, the ACOTAR Series by Sarah J. Maas was definitely the best fantasy series that I read for 2022. It had a healthy amount of fantasy, romance and spice. Though each of the volumes are quite thick, I wouldn’t mind rereading it again and again.
Becoming by Michelle Obama is another amazing read for 2022. Reading about her life story was so empowering. It is inspiring to learn how a little girl from a marginalized family was able to overcome obstacles and eventually serve as First Lady of the United States. I enjoyed reading it so much, that I had trouble picking the next book to read as Becoming set a very high standard haha!
Most of my reading in 2022 were for my personal leisure. However, I did accept a few book review requests last year. Again, a big THANK YOU to all of the authors and publishers who provided a free copy of the books below for review.
So those are my life updates. Now, what’s my plan for 2023?
2023 is going to be a year full of activities for me because I will be starting a new chapter in my life. Therefore, I’m dialing down my reading goals and setting it down to just twelve (12) books. As I won’t be reading as much, I will be more selective on the book review requests that I will accept. However, even though the number of books that I will be reading has decreased, I still plan to continue posting content here in my blog.
I am going to expand the topics that I will be writing about. Therefore, my upcoming content will not just be about the books I have read, it will also include topics that I am passionate about which I feel my readers can benefit from.
These new topics will include beauty, more specifically: make-up. Make-up for me is a great confidence booster because looking good, makes me feel good and it never fails to give me that motivational push to keep going through a tough day at work.
For this year, I also want to share self-care tips. 2022 was amazing but it was such a busy year for me. What saved me from burning out from all of the stress were those moments of self-care where I would just unwind, relax and simply take care of myself. Giving myself that time to rest, helped me through those tough, long days where I was wearing multiple hats. I may even throw in a few topics in psychology that I feel strongly about.
Lastly, who knows? I may write about career perhaps? But this is still something that I am considering because I don’t think I’m at that level in my career where I can give professional advice. Maybe a few insights every now and then but for now, I will settle with self-care because I have already encountered a lot of stress from my job so I have some personal experience hahahahaa!
However, I am aware that I am adding a few items that may not seem to be completely related to books. Yet, I am planning to incorporate these topics into my blog because of the additional value that they can provide to my readers. Also, if you take a look at the number of self-care and beauty books available- these topics are not completely unrelated. So who knows,? Maybe the books and reviews that I will be posting later this year will align closer towards these three topics.
Of all the topics to add in a book blog, why make-up and self-care?
With make-up, there has always been a stereotype attached to bookworms and it isn’t particularly flattering. This concept was always something that I found curious. Why can’t someone enjoy reading and look good at the same time? When I tried searching for bookworm images in Google, it was so difficult to find a nice image that combined beauty and brains into one picture. Who’s to say that these two concepts cannot be interlinked? So I am being audayscious and incorporating beauty into a blog generally geared towards books.
I will also be introducing self-care because it’s a key to be able to enjoy life. Regardless of what stage we are in life, we are going to encounter stress. There will be times when we will be stressed, frustrated, disappointed and simply put- just down in the dumps. Whenever we find ourselves stuck in this kind of rut, it is hard to get out of it because even hobbies that you used to enjoy (such as reading) will no longer be enjoyable. However, with self-care, overcoming these kinds of ruts is possible 🙂
With all of these changes, I am hoping that the contents in my blog will make readers feel empowered. To let them know that a pinch of self-care is the secret antidote to chase away those blues and keep them at bay. And most importantly, that we can be both bookish and beautiful.
Audaysciously 
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