Out & About #394 | Partial/Collective November Visuals

​The second-last month of 2017 has undoubtedly been one of the emotionally-taxing, physically-straining, and mentally-exhausting periods of my academic career. With assignments and tests popping up at every corner unannounced - or announced within very brief periods of time - and minimal percentage of the material apprehended, the very notion of waking up to another day became dreadful - painful even.

In desperate attempts to salvage shreds of enjoyment, as well as the remnants of my already diminishing social life, I turned to the obvious: food and K-Pop.
Jinyoung had wrote "Firework" in hopes of relaying the message that "hard work will always blossom", and at times like these, there are no words that I need to hear more from the artist that earns my utmost respect and adoration.

​1) Pre-sliced Pillsbury Snowman Cookies 
I shall confess: I much prefer to personally slice and bake these seasonal specimens

2) Matcha Latte (not from The Basil Box) x Cheese Tart pairing
3) Behold: The Confused Pineapple

4) "You Are" serves as a constant personal reminder to stay positive, and hold your head up high
5) Galleria engaged in Pepero Day preparations

6) After much delay, my < 7 for 7 > albums finally arrived! Thanks to a certain friend of a friend, Jinyoung's GOTOON doll is also in possession!!

After being on the edge of purchasing the pricey little cartoon rendition for over two years, I finally caved to its squinty-eyed cuteness.

7) TURN UP also proved to be a great Japanese single - I mean, how can you NOT love soft visuals paired with healing tracks such as この胸に and FLASH UP?!

​8) Coco VIP status attained!!

​9) Christmas shopping visuals

10) It's a beautiful sky~
11) From Crème Brûlée Lattes to Peppermint Mochas, holiday-themed beverages will always achieve the higher rank in my books. 

12) An adequately successful attempt at latte art, even if I do say so myself. (Hi Brown!)

13) Beautiful is the bond between fellow IGOT7s - a sweet (multi-)fangirl from the West Coast was gracious enough to send joy 4200 km across the Canadian-American border in the form of my UB's lyric card (#AHGABOND❤)

14) Daylight Savings means significantly earlier sunsets - 4:30 PM to be exact.

15) Light Up The Square was quite enjoyable due to milder mercury readings in comparison to last year.

16) For reasons beyond me, the only two forms of payment accepted by Nations is cash and debit. I learned this the hard way; thankfully a lady of incredible generosity swooped in to save my plastic-carrying derrière.

​One may ponder: why have I chosen to lump my mid-month and, usually end-of-the-month, collectives in a single entry? The reasons are straightforward: leisure time has been scarce, thus resulting in the repeated delay of media compilation and consolidation.
Before I had realized, the final week of hell - er November - had rounded the corner with beady, glaring eyes.

Here's hoping that the very minimal residual stretch of the semester progresses as painlessly as possible.

See you in December! By then, my optimism shall have hopefully made its return.