Sundaze 271: Lunar New Year, Valentine’s, Queenz and beyond

Happy Sunday, my loves!

It’s been such a jam-packed two weeks that I very nearly decided to just sack off this post entirely. But, as I procrastinate the folding-and-putting-away part of the darned laundry routine, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on how fun this fortnight has been. After all the quiet chaos of January, I am glad for the plans I squeezed in because it really feels like a cloud has lifted. Next? Meeting in-between for quietness and fun.

And, of course, last week Taylor Swift announced a surprise TS11 in the shape of The Tortured Poets Department! I got my Collectors’ Edition order in bright and early in between sets at the gym, and the writer-reader girlie in me is simply ecstatic to be awaiting bookmark merch and all of the lyrical goodness that is without a doubt in store.

Celebrating Lunar New Year

Last weekend was Lunar New Year which, for us, meant a pair of days full of Tết and Chinese New Year celebrations! I penned a free Substack newsletter all about it, which you can read here if you’d like. As ever, it was one of my very favourite holidays.

Valentine’s and Galentine’s Day

As a self-professed Lover Girl, I feel pinch-me lucky to have spent this week celebrating all kinds of love. Really, I can hardly believe that I used to put on a brave face and pretend that I also ‘hated Valentine’s Day’ in previous relationships. Who am I kidding? I really love love. And I couldn’t feel luckier to celebrate love not just on Valentine’s Day, but every single day with my partner. This year, we were both working (opposite hours!), so had a 6.30am doorstep gift exchange followed by an after-work bonus gift swap. Then, we celebrated properly at the weekend with a surprise date day – we got to meet and feed aardvarks!! – and incredible dinner.

My girls and I also celebrated Galentine’s Day, albeit two days late, with a night at our local theatre to see Queenz: The Show with Balls. It was so good and we were all truly blown away by their talent (and height!). You can’t beat a little mid-week drag show, right? They’re touring this show until the summer, and then there’ll be a brand-new set in the autumn (which we are definitely snagging tickets for!).

A self-love day off!

After managing our Valentine’s Day campaign at work, I decided to book myself a day of annual leave/PTO to do nothing but catch up on my own life. Then, I decided to take it even further and just enjoy a little self-love day. So, I woke up late, enjoyed a no-rush gym session, cooked myself a delicious breakfast, then read to my heart’s content. After, I took the train to my nail appointment, rather than driving, and had a slow little afternoon to myself. It was perfect and I wholeheartedly recommend doing the same!

Links I’ve Loved

As somebody that has been curating an investment wardrobe for almost 10 years, I loved this Vogue feature about wearing out your clothes.
Michelle reviewed a writing prompts deck by Rupi Kaur and now I really want a set.
And I loved considering what my perfect winter day would be, after Melina wrote about hers.
Picked up another tube of my favourite affordable retinol serum.
And I’m really into this beautiful duvet set for pre-spring.