2026 Q1 – here’s what i found

I hate to break it to y’all, but we’re already a quarter into 2026. The year of the horse is galloping away.

While I feel every day is mundane (go to work, get traumatized, and come home on the verge of having a meltdown and quitting), I have some updates that you might find interesting or might have missed. Some of you probably noticed that I’m completely MIA on social media and were wondering what I’ve been up to. I stopped posting on Instagram–I’m not deleting it entirely, though, because I still lurk for tennis news. It’s unhealthy for me–it feeds my habit of comparing myself to others and, honestly, my anxiety doesn’t help. Here’s my overdue check-in.

First, I’m taking a Japanese class-and I’ve been loving it. The motive behind choosing Japanese over other languages is a trip to Japan and Korea I’m planning for this fall. Plus, I had always wanted to speak it since I was little (if you know me, I’m a sucker for anime and Studio Ghibli films) so I’m happy to check it off my bucket list. Because some words sound similar to Korean, I might have that slight advantage, but I still have to study and do my homework to stay on top of it.

The class is at a Japanese culture institute in Greenwich Village and meets every Thursday evening. It’s a complex language with three letter systems and a lot of nuances to fully understand and be able to speak it. It’s been keeping me busy on top of perpetual job search, creative projects if I get to them, and feeding myself. Yay, adulthood!

I started planning my Japan trip (my first time in the country), which has been one of my few joys these days. The trip will be a sweet reward for surviving a hell of a toxic job—I am envisioning myself dipping into a hot onsen and sweating out all my stress and tears at Jjimjilbang (Korean sauna). And of course, I’m most excited about the FOOD. Sushi and unagi are all well and good, but I’m more intrigued by how Japanese interpreted cuisines from other countries (e.g. curry or ‘カレー’). My Tokyo itinerary includes pizza and tacos, which sound wild and unconventional. I will report back.

Also, I launched a Substack called The Breakfast Series where I write about breakfasts and my evolution of becoming a breakfast person. I just wrote about pancakes that helped me and my sister Eunice get through rough snow days in New York–and we had many this year (*crying emojis*). I have some finishing touches to the website, but it’s supposed to be a spinoff of this blog where I focus on my “Breakfast of the Day” (aka. BOTD)–like influencers do with their OOTDs (outfits of the day). I thought it’d be fun to share what I make and eat for breakfast as someone who’s only recently become a breakfast convert. It’s making me think about what people typically consider as breakfast depending on where they live and what they do for a living. I have a pending post about breakfast burritos, so stay tuned for that.

And lastly for now, I visited Guggenheim with Eunice last week and am so glad to have made it to the Gabriele Munter exhibit before it closes soon. I learned a bit about Munter. She was a German Expressionist painter who approached her art like a scientist–experimenting with various media and observing the world and recording it through bold colors, shapes, and contrasts between light and darkness. I left the museum inspired and remembered that a blank 24×30 canvas has been sitting idly on my easel for months. I know what it’s going to be—another landscape—but I’ve been struggling to start it. I needed Munter to nudge me.

P.S.- This is my Chihuahua mix baby Ina Abuelita Niña Kim. She’s turning 14 this year (that’s ancient for a dog). We cried a little at the hefty vet bill last weekend, but I just adore her basking in the sunbeam through my bedroom window like this:

Cheers,

Jen