Coconut and I are currently settling into my grandparents’ guest bedroom after a day of travel, running errands, and adjusting to the Dallas heat. We’ll be here for two weeks, during which two very special events will take place: 1) a best friend’s wedding and 2) my granddad’s 87th birthday. I’m so excited for both. But before I get into all of that, we’ve gotta take a look at the last few months — it’s been a while (as always), and there’s a lot to cover!

I’m gonna do my best to go through these updates chronologically. The biggest highlight from March (and possibly for the quarter!?) were the two weeks of shows for The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons, the theatre production I’d been working on since the beginning of the year. There were six shows total, and I knew someone in the audience at almost every one, which is an incredible feeling. My mom, sister, childhood best friend, and college roommate even traveled from out of town to attend! It was so touching, and I’m still beaming at the memory of it. 🥹

The second week of shows also ended in Coconut’s 15th birthday party! It was held at Park-9, Boston’s first-ever dog bar. About half of the attendees stuck to the theme — ✨ neon ✨ — and it was an adorable time. I felt another huge rush of gratitude for everyone willing to celebrate something as quirky as my dog’s birthday. And even though Coconut was fairly sleepy during the party itself (lol), I think he still enjoyed everyone’s company!

Something small that also moved me: the morning of the party, I’d walked to a local bakery to pick up cupcakes. Since it was a pizza party, I hadn’t mentioned bringing dessert — but anyone who knows me knows it’s my favorite part of any meal! A few days later, while hanging out at my boyfriend’s, he offered me a mini muffin from a store-bought package. This was unusual given that he’s not a sweets guy and wouldn’t normally buy stuff like that — but then he explained that he’d picked them up right before coming to Coconut’s party, since he was unaware of the cupcakes I’d gotten but knew I would’ve wanted to serve dessert. C’mooooon. That’s really nice. 🥲

Okay, moving on from March! I did a lot of cooking in April, so here’s a culinary photo dump: menestra (a Spanish veggie stew), caramel brownies, pancakes from scratch (truly the best they’ve ever turned out — the key was to cook them on low heat, instead of blasting them as I usually do), latkes (not homemade; there was a sale on Manischewitz latke mix post-Passover. Wouldn’t re-purchase, but still pretty convenient).

And finally two snacking cakes à la Yossy Arefi, whose cookbook Snacking Cakes was a birthday gift from last year: chocolate-almond olive oil cake (delicious, would make again!) and a double-apple cake (good, but I’d mainly made this to use up the leftover apple sauce from Latke Night).

When I wasn’t cooking/baking up a storm, I was hustling for work and school. April was really busy for both, but thankfully my spring semester wrapped up at the end of the month. Since then I’ve been relishing in the glorious time off before the summer semester begins in June. It’s insane to think about, but if all goes as planned — as in, one summer class and two in the fall — I will be done with my master’s at the end of the year. Let’s gooooooooo!

And that brings us to May! So far, the best part of the month was the day trip my boyfriend and I took to Portsmouth, NH. It was quaint, a little chilly, and a nice break from Cambridge. But as another New England town, the trip did underscore how ready I am to leave the region at the end of my lease (September 2025). Don’t get me wrong — the trip was really fun, and I’m glad we went. But Portsmouth also felt kinda…predictable? We’d also stopped by Newburyport, MA on the drive back and noticed pretty quickly that it looked so much like Portsmouth, which had already felt similar to parts of Boston (specifically Beacon Hill). They all shared the same “look”: red cobblestone sidewalks, cute little shops selling stationery and nautical-themed items, old-school seafood restaurants, a strong emphasis on history, and Irish-themed stores. And while that’s fun, it also made me yearn for something different.

Aaaand that brings me to the present. There’s a lot planned for the week ahead: top of mind are the three dances I’ve got to learn for the wedding (did I mention it’s an Indian wedding?). Next on the list is a short video I promised to record for my high school Physics teacher, who’s retiring — another teacher is creating a compilation of videos from her former students as a surprise! And then, of course, I also wanna spend some quality time with my family. Hopefully we’ll do things that require me to drive, because I’m itching to get behind the wheel again. 🚗

Ending with some camera roll favs from the last few months. First are these shots that were taken on a walk in March. I love how fluffy Coconut looks, how chilly it was, and the wide view of my neighborhood in the background.

Now for some some rapid-fires: a Jesse McCartney concert (childhood dreams = achieved), quality reading time with Coconut, gorgeous spring blooms, wild turkeys in Cambridge (majestic but kinda scary!?), an eclipse-viewing event at my local library, seeing Esther Perel with a friend, a curled-up Coconut, and a post-show selfie (my character Tracy loved a bold lip — could ya tell!?).

✌️