Mid-Sem Sleepover

I'm currently writing this on five hours sleep, when I really ought to either be 1) finishing my assignment, 2) working, or 3) sleeping, amongst an entire valley-full of other To-Dos that have been sitting around waiting for their turn for a while now.

Not to mention I've got another photography event to head off to real soon.

You know that moment when your life is so busy that you can hardly keep track of it anymore? Yeah. You feel me.

Mid-sem break is supposed to be, as you would expect, a 'break'. But honestly, this week-and-a-bit break has been the most hectic week of my life for a long while now.

Work is piling up, because I had anticipated that I'd actually have an opportunity to sort out my life a bit during this break -- clean up my room (which is long overdue), review some lecture content, maybe even do some leisure photography... But nope! Been swept away with a variety of things.

Though, to be fair, most of them are things I've brought upon myself. And most of it is just organising things with friends and trying to catch up (though, there are still a fair few friends I have yet to see, which is annoying and frustrating when I think about it).

But, back to the topic on hand, a few days ago I had a little bit of a sleepover at a friend's place. (I say 'little bit' because, let's be honest here, we didn't sleep much).

Up early in the morning it was for a fresh start filled with baking, because 'why not?'.

Macarons were made. One batch flopped, one batch succeeded (props to PT for acing the second batch). We decided to settle with matcha (a classic) and a simple salted caramel.

That piping.
We've moved beyond using pre-drawn circles to guide our piping!

I'm not going to lie, it was absolutely exhausting. I had forgotten how tiring and time-consuming macaron-baking actually gets. It definitely isn't worth the little packets of diabetes that you end up producing, but hey, there's something quite fun about baking food itself.

In saying so, I think I'll take a break from baking anything for a while. I can quite genuinely and honestly say I'm sick of all this mixing and sieving and piping -- six hours of it in one day is enough to last a long time, thank you very much.

But hey, the macarons were nice and cute!

Most of the entire time was chilling around with friends, laughing a lot and enjoying each other's company. Exploding Kittens (the card game) was unfortunately absent (sincerest apologies, as I had forgotten to bring mine), but Cards Against Humanity replaced it, amongst many matches of table tennis and pool. And blasting a few tunes here and there. And nail painting (done by yours truly).

I have to admit, not many photos taken that day can be posted here because

1. I didn't take many photos in the first place.
2. No face policy

But trust me when I say that we had a wonderful and fantastic time, let's say that these sleepover parties are things I'd love to have again in the future.

After finally conking out at 3am in the morning, we rose soon after the sun was shining bright and a fresh morning let's-get-to-know-each-other-better session was had (aka a d'n'm session). Fantastic getting to know people a bit more -- asking friends questions that you don't usually ask ("do you think I'm an introvert or an extrovert?" "How many kids do you want?" "Do you like silence?").

To be completely honest, those moments were the highlight of the entire sleepover. Sitting there on the balcony with the morning sun, with nothing but some great friends and their time. And then we transcended into a classic game of 'Contact'.

An hour or so later, hunger started to get the better of us, so we made some breakfast, which was buttered popcorn, leftover macarons, baked apples stuffed with Reese's peanut butter chips, and bacon. Healthy, I know. And to think that most of us are (hopefully) going to become Doctors.

Bacon, also baked.

It was a nice and refreshing day-and-a-half. Filled with laughs, good times, and much consumption of sugar amidst background jams and singing. Despite the hassle that comes with staying over at a friend's place, the time was really worth it in the end, and even though I'm writing this several days later, I'm still feeling great and refreshed from it.

Also, good news! My allergies/hayfever from cat fur seems to be lessening! Hurrah, hurrah.

DA's cat, Mimi. Just chillin'.

Since this sleepover, I've had another sleepover, and also a day-out at the museum (which was fantastic! A post will come soon... Once I find the time to actually edit the photos), and the days are just going to get busier. My only 'free' day this entire break will be in a few days time, and to be completely honest, I'm absolutely looking forward to it. It's just what I need to finally catch up and sort my life out a little bit (right before jumping straight back into University -- Oh god. I'm pretty much going to live at the Uni library for the next two weeks, just so I can sort out my studies and get back up to speed).

Life is a bit of a spaghetti-bowl right now, and I really would love some time-off to just read, relax, recharge, and sort my life out a little bit. File a few things, organise my calendar, clean up the desk, in the metaphoric 'office' sitting inside my head.

But, we don't always get that luxury, and rather than freak out as I would do when I was younger, let's just take things one at a time. As my wise friend EL says, "you gotta do what you gotta do".

Time stops for no one! 

Alright, I'm out. Another update should be up soonish (Give me a week? Or more? Who knows. Life is a surprise), but till then, those also on Uni break, enjoy them, and to those who aren't, uh, stay hydrated? Take care of yourself, y'all.

Now excuse me while I go take a nap.