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Dec. 1st, 2009

Skiing!

Went to sleep at around 230am last night.
Woke up at 645am this morning.
Went out from 8am.
Came back 1030pm just now.

Yeah, tell me how dead i would be now. but guess what... it's all worth it, because....
-wait for it-

i went SKIING today!! :D




Pardon me for being so excited, this was my virgin skiing experience. I was so excited about it.. We went to Nanshan Ski Village, one of the ski resorts in Beijing. The plan was rather sudden though. My friends just asked me yesterday and i was kinda excited to go skiing, so why not. After a while, the numbers of people joining us keep growing. Seems like a lot of people were so excited about skiing. So, to make the story short.. it was originally 5 people from the initial plan, plus 5 more by night, and 2 more just minutes before we went off.
老师们, 对不起! :(


















We spent our whole day in the ski resort. Although i fell down for like most of the time *oops*, not mentioning the times when i bumped to people *so sorry for them*, i had an awesome time! Although i kept embarrassing myself for those falls and not being able to do the break *i feel so dumb*, i had a superb day! Although my whole body hurts like hell now, i felt great! (well.. not physically i mean, psychologically)

Today was sure full of fun! :)


Photos: http://s592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/yuppiiee/Skiing%20011209/


Nov. 28th, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

The American Thanksgiving Day has become an annual tradition since 1863, and become a federal holiday since 1941. Presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, it was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive the brutal winter.

This year, the American Thanksgiving fell on 26 November. An American friend of mine invited me and some other friends to have the traditional Thanksgiving meal together. Because we were still having our midterm exams on the real Thanksgiving day, the celebration was postponed until Saturday. Her uncle is actually running a restaurant in Beijing, and he would like to invite us to his place to have the authentic traditional Thanksgiving meal together. I have never had any Thanksgiving meal before, so yup.. why not?? :D

So, this afternoon, I had my first Thanksgiving celebration. Based on the tradition, thanksgiving celebration would be started with a grace/prayer, which exactly what we did as well. Then the meal starts with the appetizer: garden salad and turkey-based soup. After that then the main course came; roast turkey with stuffing and gravy, mashed potato, vegetable, sweet potato, and cranberry sauce. It taste yummy!!! loving it!! I like the stuffing inside the turkey. and the cranberry sauce too! nice nice.




The Turkey Meal
(clockwise) mashed potato, turkey with fillings, cranberry sauce, sweet potato, vegetable

Of course, it was then time for dessert! Pumpkin pie with whipped cream, the Thanksgiving special. nyum nyum nyum. :) :) :)


the pumpkin pie


During the dessert time as well that everyone was asked to mention what we are thankful this year. For me, this year.. I am THANKFUL to have the opportunity to be in Beijing now, meeting many new friends and having new experiences. I am thankful that I got my degree this year. I am THANKFUL of my family, my friends, and everybody around me. I am THANKFUL, simply, of being alive and having whatever I have right now.. Give THANKS! :)
"Thanks Jennifer for inviting us! :)"


me - Jennifer -- Martina

Btw, i had a friend's belated bday dinner last night. We went to a place, called the Bookworm, in Sanlitun area. The place has a unique concept of bookish cafe along with bar and live band. You could actually feel the very western atmosphere the second you step into the place. A lot of books (english books), divided into categories like fiction, travel, hobby, self-help, philosophy, history, etc, are neatly arranged in the bookshelf found on every surface of the wall. You could take your time and read any books there. Yeah.. It offers the cozy and fun library-like atmosphere. Well, it's cozy library-like atmosphere full of people enjoyably chatting or reading book accompanied by coffee or cocktails though, not stressed students mugging around with notes. :P



our meals


Cocktails time!
(left-right) capriasca, mango-margarita, long island, mojito

"祝你生日快乐 Stephanie!"

P.S Most photos are taken with the bday girl's camera. More photos are to be shared soon.. so stay tuned! :D

Nov. 27th, 2009

oops.

Whenever I am bored and sick of doing something (studying is one of them and oh yea, im having midterm exam now, fyi), my baby mac always finds a way to rescue me.



Well apparently, her way is rather... unique. Oops. :P

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Nov. 24th, 2009

Why do we shout?

One day, a professor asked his students
'Why do we SHOUT when we are ANGRY?' Why do we need to SHOUT, although the person is actually just right next to us?

Everyone gave their opinions but none was accepted by the professor.

The professor finally said, 'When we are ANGRY, our hearts drift apart. To mask the DISTANCE we felt, we instinctively SHOUT instead of speak so the other party can hear us.'

'But as we SHOUT, we get ANGRIER. And we felt we drift apart further. So we SHOUT even louder...'

'It is the opposite when we are in LOVE. Not only we do not shout, we whisper into each other ears. Why? This is because our hearts are very close, almost never apart. As our love deepen, we reach a state of communication where there is no need for words.'

'We understand each other well enough just by exchanging look,' concluded the professor.

'Therefore, when we are arguing, do NOT speak words that will make our hearts drift apart.
WAIT a few days.

When you feel your hearts are no longer far apart, pick up the conversation and continue from there.'

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Nov. 23rd, 2009

mind and life.

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it.

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

~ Buddha Quotes from The Dhammapada
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Nov. 21st, 2009

warm and sunny. it's 4 deg C.

Yea.. talk about temperature, i have an entirely new definition about it. Four degrees C is indeed warm, for me now.

As i might have mentioned before, Beijing has a pretty white November this year. Being stricken by 3 snowfalls so far, the first being the earliest in the last decade and the second being the heaviest for the last 25 years, winter breeze has come very much earlier this year. Last week temperature was cold, rarely hit above zero especially few days after the snowfalls. Well, it's kinda expected. Post snowing period would be freezingly cold as the melting snow is being so helpful taking the heat away. Melting - endothermic - heat taken - surrounding cold, ring a bell? ;)

Although there's still some white bunks of snow lingering around, the temperature has been going up lately. Today's weather, for example. It's 4 degree C clear sky outside. I could feel that the warmth of sunshine can now slightly taking over the freezing cold air. One out of the normal 4 layers of tops could be taken off. Windows can now be opened to let the fresh air in. :)

Well.. as November is going to end soon, it's also almost time to waive a goodbye to Autumn. The real winter is coming in no time and temperature is gonna plummet sooner than we could expect it to. So.. buckle up, appreciate the heat while you can!

It is indeed a warm and sunny day today. ;)



P.S. I reckon i'll be so doomed when going back to the tropical region. Although i'll eventually get used to it again, still gotta prepared myself (and pls mind me, my friends) that i will be full of complaints and curses for at least the first few weeks. Oops.


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Nov. 18th, 2009

one language

Quoted from a friend during an ice-cream chit-chat session..

"...Everybody can speak in their own languages. But we do have one universal language that the whole world will always understand. It is called love." - Mr S

Agree? :P

P.S words adjusted as recalled, without altering the meaning
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Nov. 15th, 2009

the Summer Palace

This weekend started with Friday the 13th. Any spooky stories?? Luckily i don't have any. *piuh* Then, as per normal, Saturday is an outing day! This time the destination was Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace, (颐和园 read: yiheyuan) is Beijing's biggest and most popular imperial palace garden. Built in 1750 and originally named Garden of Clear RIples, it was an imperial garden and temporary palace of the royal family in the time of QIng Dynasty. in 1860, the garden was burned down by the Anglo-French forces and rebuilt in 1888, known as the current Summer Palace. The Summer Palace includes mainly the Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, with a total area of 300.59 haectares, of which 75% are covered by water. It was designated as one of the first national priority protected sites in 1961 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998. (information taken from the Summer Palace background information board)





















more photos: http://s592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/yuppiiee/The%20Summer%20Palace%20141109/

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Nov. 12th, 2009

true?

"All work and No Play, makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow" - Evan Esar

True? ;)

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Nov. 10th, 2009

Beijing Snows again

Nov 9, 2009

11:57:03 PM
Ms D: UPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:57:05 PM Ms D: salju!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tblll bgt!!!!!!!!!1

11:58:17 PM Yuven: buka jendelaaa

11:58:21 PM Yuven: liat keatas

11:58:24 PM Yuven: haha

11:58:29 PM Ms D: balek lah

12:03:51 AM Ms D: geloo siaahh padaa

12:03:55 AM Ms D: dingin edann
... (conversation continues)

That was when i realized outside was snowing very heavily, and most of the soil was already covered in white.

The snowing yesterday was reported to be the heaviest snowfall for Beijing in the last 25 years. The thickness could reach about 30 cm. The snow blocked some roads and made pretty chaotic situation for the traffic. A lot of people were seen spading the road in the morning, while some were seen playing with the snow.


















 

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Nov. 8th, 2009

Chinese Ethnics Culture Park

Agenda this weekend: Chinese Ethnics Culture Park

Chinese Ethnics Culture Park (or 中华民族园 zhōng huà mín zú yuán) is an anthropological museum where you can find the outlook of the Chinese landscape; the ethnic cultures, histories, and unique social lives of the 56 different ethnics in China. From Tibetan highland to Mongolian yurt, you have it all!

The park is huge, but unfortunately, it's kinda not very well-maintained. I dunno whether it is for the houses to preserve the traditional feeling, but they just look dirty and so unattended to me. A little bit more maintenance would be good. :)

They have some performances as well. During my visit, I managed to catch the Tibetan performances, which were kinda interesting.

Well.. it's pretty much like Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in Indonesia.












 


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Nov. 7th, 2009

Korean & Brazilian Cultural festival

More than 60% of international students in Tsinghua University are Korean. Two days ago, there was a Korean festival at campus, just outside my course buillding. They have some performances, including dances, martial arts, etc. They also have booth for writing your name in Korean, or the booth where you can try some traditional costumes and take photos with them, and more importantly, all for free! :)

and yup, of course.. i wouldn't miss the chance
. :P



 

More photos click here

 

A few days after that, which was yesterday, there was another cultural festival as well. This time was about Brazil. However, unlike the Korean festival which was organized by the Korean Students Society (or so), this one was not from Brazilian students. In fact, I didnt see any Brazilian student around the booths area. The Brazilian fest was organized by the international students association in Tsinghua Univ, Association of International Cultural Exchange (AICE). 









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Nov. 1st, 2009

it's snowing!

Something white is covering the land..
Something white is falling from the sky..

oh wait...
It is SNOWING !!! :D :D :D



*pardon me pls.. although this is not the first time for me to see snow, this is the first time for me to see the snow falls*

more photos: http://s592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/yuppiiee/Tsinghua%20Snows%20011109/



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Oct. 31st, 2009

Hello *again* Halloween!

This is the time for pumpkin to be the idols!
So, ladies and gentlemen..

Say hello to Jack O'lantern,
Say hello to Halloween!!


 
My day was actually started in a very peaceful way. :) I went to the Lama Temple (雍和宫 read: yōnghégōng), the biggest Royal Temple of Tibetan Buddhism. This lamasery was originally the imperial residence of Emperor Yongzheng (3rd Emperor of Qing Dynasty) before he ascended the throne. Therefore, this lamasery has a very strong style of imperial palace and is very distinctive from the others.












 
From the Lama Temple, we had our lunch then proceeded to the Confucius Temple, who was located just across the Lama Temple.








 

 
From there, we went for a little walk around the ChongWenMen shopping area and had our tea time there. Until ard 6, we took a cab, heading to the Halloween festival at Happy Valley!


Happy Valley (欢乐谷 read: huānlègǔ) is one of the popular theme parks in Beijing. Happy ValleycelebratesHalloween festively with an operating hours extension until 10pm, special for the Halloween festival. In this evening admittance, only few games were still operating. Instead, Happy Valley offered the visitors with some experiences and halloween special activities. Tonight, just a few steps from the entrance, I was welcomed by someone in an ugly-scary-bloody costume. A few more steps then I saw lotsa people in full-costumes going around to horrify and to scare the visitors. They could suddenly follow you from the back or touch your neck, that when you turned your head, your entire vision would be their creepy faces. :S The others would just sit /stand still on the benches/trees/any corners playing with some bloody toys or maybe just staring at you. Creeeeppy...

 






  
 




 

There was a parade as well. I only saw very little part of it, but i still got the chance to take some pics of the floats on display. :D





As i said before, some of the games were opened. I only managed, or to be precise, i only felt like queueing for a game, the Haunted House. Darn... i couldnt believe i just spent my money to scream and get scared. :S


The visitors also get costumed up; from simple accessories like hats (tat included me!), masks and hair clips, to face painting and full costumes. Oh yeah.. say it out loud Happy Halloween!


Party's over and we were going back. That's when some problems started to come. It was damn hard to find a cab there. Not only limited cabs were seen, but there were tonnes of people waiting for the cabs as well. :S Thus, we decided to walk a bit to the end of the road, hoping to stop a cab before anybody else. But then, still we couldnt find a cab. We did see some vacant cabs, but the driver apparently ignored our flags. The freezing weather made it worse! We walked along the road until we realized that the road is getting very quiet and nobody's around. No cabs around, freezing and 2 girls alone in the middle of nowhere! Oh yea, tell us abt it. Halloween night started to get scarier nw! :S

We were then keep walking until finally we reached a slightly more crowded crossroad. But then *crap!* it started to rain.. :S *yeahh, nice huh?* But then, when the rain actually started to get heavier, an old man suddenly approached us and asked us whether we were going to the subway station. He was a heiche driver. Heiche (translated as black car) is a term for illegal 'cab', i.e. a normal private car that are used to take passengers. That heiche actually already had 2 passengers, but since he charged them per person basis, so the driver needed to maximize the capacity. There were 2 more seats available in his car, and that's why he approached us to join. And yeah.. we took that ride. And the second we got into the car, the rain poured.

Dun worry, no funny things happened after that. *piuh* But really, we felt so blessed coz of that. If the guy didn't ask us to join, we would still be stuck and more likely be drenched somewhere. Luckily, we separated with the rests and there were only left 2 of us, which made it just nice to make the ride. If only one of my friend did go back with us, three wouldnt fit. Luckily again that because of that ride to the subway station, we took the subway back and save hundred over RMB cab fare, for only 4 RMB subway tickets. And yeah, luckily again we still reached just in time to catch the last train. And luckily again, although it was already past midnight, I still managed to get the hot water shower and it stopped nicely at the time i finished my shower. :D

And yup, here i am now.. getting myself a hot milk tea in my warm bedroom. Dry.. safe and sound. :D

Oh anyway.. speaking abt good experience, i also got a story with the driver of the cab that we took when going to Happy Valley. We were abt few minutes away from the drop-off point where the traffic got jammed very badly. We were actually thinking to get down and walk, instead of just sitting and waiting for the meter to keep going up. Surprisingly, the driver suddenly turned off the meter even before we reached. Initially we thought that this meant another 'get-dumped-by-cab' experience, so we asked him whether we should get off here. But he said, "没有, 还在前边点儿。我让你知道什么时候可以下车。“ or in English "No, it's still in front. I'll let you know when you can get off" and brought us to the drop off point. What a considerate taxi driver. He didnt make us to pay more for the jam.. :)

There! what a day. what a tiring, freezing, creepy, but fruitful and fun day! :)


P.S.
If you are wondering about calling a cab to go back, we didn't call one because by the time we realized there was no cab around, we were already in the middle of nowhere. Thus, even if we called a cab, we couldnt even tell him our location. haha =P

P.S.S.
More photos at the Lama Temple and Confucius Temple, click here!
More photos at the Halloween party, click here!

btw, quite an extreme transition huh from the morning to the evening? Actually, I think going to temples before the Halloween thingy has brought me the good fortunes.. ;D


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Oct. 26th, 2009

dont worry be happy

Here is a little song I wrote 
You might want to sing it note for note 
Don't worry be happy 
In every life we have some trouble 
When you worry you make it double 
Don't worry, be happy...... 

Ain't got no place to lay your head 
Somebody came and took your bed 
Don't worry, be happy 
The land lord say your rent is late 
He may have to litigate 
Don't worry, be happy 

Lood at me I am happy 
Don't worry, be happy 
Here I give you my phone number 
When you worry call me 
I make you happy 
Don't worry, be happy 

Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style 
Ain't got not girl to make you smile 
But don't worry be happy
 
Cause when you worry 
Your face will frown 
And that will bring everybody down 
So don't worry, be happy (now)..... 

There is this little song I wrote 
I hope you learn it note for note 
Like good little children 
Don't worry, be happy 
Listen to what I say 
In your life expect some trouble 
But when you worry 
You make it double 
Don't worry, be happy...... 
Don't worry don't do it, be happy 
Put a smile on your face 
Don't bring everybody down like this 
Don't worry, it will soon past 

Whatever it is 

Don't worry, be happy.

-a song by Bobby McFerrin

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Oct. 25th, 2009

the Fragrant Hills

The Fragrant Hills, or 香山 (read: xiāngshān ) is a forest park located at the Beijing city boundary, which is abundant with natural scenery and cultural relics. The place is especially very crowded during the second half of the autumn season when the tree leaves turn yellow/red, creating a beautiful mountain scenery just about half-an-hour from the city crowd. Very crowded here means really really really very crowded

There are some public buses going to the site, which was what we were gonna take. However, all the buses were very packed so we decided to take cab instead. The traffic was bad; very bad that the taxi driver refused to continue and dropped us 4 bus-stops away from the busstop. Well.. we were kinda pissed, of course. But we ended up feeling grateful for walking, instead of sitting inside a non-moving cab. A lot of people did went down and walked from there as well. So, yeah.. we weren't alone. :P

It was seriously very crowded. After walking along the main road for 4 bus-stops away, going up through a smaller road up the hill and finally queuing up for the entrance tickets, we were inside the park.



There's a cable car ride available inside to the top of the peak which was, of course, very crowded as well. We actually had the option not to take the cable car and had ourselves enjoying the view at the bottom of the hills or hiking all the way up. But after being in dilemma and worries about the super high cable car, and after 3 coin tosses, we eventually decided to queue and get the cable car tickets. 45 minutes later, we got our cable car ride.
The cable car took about 18 minutes to reach the top. Yup.. it was that long! So, u can actually imagine how high it actually brought us. And seriously, considering the distance and elevation that u need to hike to reach the peak without the cable car, the cable car ticket was very very worth it. Fyi, for comparison, from the peak, we climbed down the hills for 1.5 hours non-stop and it was freaking tiring! (yup, that was going down). Don't ask me the time needed to climb the hill UP, i don't recommend it at all! So yeah, if you wanna get to the top, my advice is take the cable car up and walk down. That still gonna drain ur breath away but you can visit some tourism spots (small temple and some cultural relics) on the way down. Or.. well, you can also pay more and take the cable car down again (but u gonna miss those cultural relics). :) Besides, the view during the cable car was terrific; beautiful combination of green, yellow and red trees surrounded.








There is a beautiful and peaceful temple by the hill as well.











Btw, unique view spotted. There was a mummy-ed tree! It was fully covered from the bottom to the small branches. no idea what it was for.

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Oct. 22nd, 2009

Chinese Calligraphy

Shu fa (书法) or Chinese Calligraphy is a form of sublime art in writing the Chinese characters into expressive images with the technique of speed and pressure of a pointed Chinese brush on rice paper. The flexibility of the brush, the concentration of ink, the thickness and adsorptivity of the paper; all these three main factors are the ones who allow an infinite variety of calligraphy styles and forms. To some, calligraphy has a good association with one's physical and spiritual well being. Looking back to its history few centuries back, calligraphy artists were actually well-known for their longevity. Up till now, calligraphy is believed to be a relaxing yet highly disciplined exercise that coordinates the mind and the body in expressing the words written.


 
*random pics taken from the net, not mine. :P

Today, i had my first calligraphy lesson. It is one of my elective classes that I signed up this semester. And honestly speaking, i don't think calligraphy is relaxing whatsoever. Well, for me, it's actually quite stressful. hahaha.

Today i had my first calligraphy lesson. But unfortunately, i think i am not continuing this class. There are too many students in the class that the teacher couldn't really focus much on each. Besides, the teacher didn't really teach us the basic technique and kinda told us to directly write without much guides and instructions. It was fun doing it though.. but the class was more like a time for u to enjoy yourself writing, no matter how good/bad it is; just- continue-writing-until-the-class-ends kinda lesson. Hm.. Shd I?  


But anyway... today I am back from school with my first calligraphy masterpiece. speechless. :P

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Oct. 18th, 2009

Forbidden City

This weekend agenda: Forbidden City 故宫 - Mao Tze Dong Mausoleum 毛主席纪念堂 - Wangfujing 王府井

Forbidden City, also known as Imperial Palace or 故宫 (read: gu gong) in Chinese was used as the gome of the Emperor and his household for almost 5 centuries, from the Ming to the end of Qing Dynasty. It also served as the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese imperial government at that period. A brief overview of the palace can be found here.

The construction of Forbidden City used high quality stone, mostly white marble, with gold and jade ornaments found in most places around the complex. The palace is huge, so it's hard to see everything in a day. My friends and I didn't expect ourselves to see all corners of the Palace either. WIthout a map, we walked from one hall to another hall and enjoyed ourselves being surprised by the place our feet took us the next. Fortunately, we found our ways to the main halls. :)













 
There was a special exhibition from Cartier held within the complex. We went inside and were stunned by the very very beautiful jewelries shown there. Tiara full of diamonds.. necklaces.. bangles.. clocks.. bling bling everywhere!! The exhibition was showing the Cartier Treasures from 1800-1900s. My first time to diamond exhibition and it was soo pretty! King of Jewellers, Jewellers to Kings. I want!!! =P




Click here for more photos!

The next stop was actually the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao. It is a place where we could see the embalmed body of Chairman Mao displayed in a crystal coffin. But unfortunately, the place only opened until 12 noon yesterday. So, we missed it. Well.. we'll be back next time. :)

Therefore, we were then heading to Wangfujing instead. I have written about this place in my previous post. It is a shopping mall district, with the food night market offering the scorpions and some others exotic satays, remember? ;) The dinner was so so, but we tried the dessert from a Japanese dessert cafe, chocolate mouse mochi and chocolate cheese cake muffin. Omg.. they are 好吃神经病!!! (read: enak gila! haha) Definitely definitely definitely gonna go back again!

Although it was crowded yesterday and all of us were back with numb feet, we enjoyed the day!


 


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Oct. 17th, 2009

Happy bday Sally!

Happy Bday Sally... 

祝你生日快乐!

认识你很高兴! :)
Stay fun and be happy always!
Have a fab bday.... 

-hugs and kisses- 





Oct. 12th, 2009

s for shop. s for stop.

1  top
1  skirt
2  jackets
1  long-johns
1  legging
1  boots
1  beanie
1  backpack
1  body butter
1  moisturizer
xx small grocery stuffs


With that, remind me NOT to shop for the rest of the month.. Please. 


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