Anchalee Pagsanjan

No, not me. My brother turned 22 a couple of days ago. How exciting? Probably the first birthday he remembers. Due to his broken wrist, nothing extravagant was planned. However, it was still a cute celebration.

We decided to go to Long Beach after church for some brunch at Turning Point. The food was as good as it looks in those pictures below. Trust me. My plate was loaded with potatoes, eggs, salsa, and sausage. I tried their frozen hot chocolate and, to be honest, I wasn't a fan. It was super watery. I wasn't sure if that was the taste or that's what happens when you try to freeze hot chocolate. The food made up for the disappointing drink so I was pretty content.

For those who are thinking "who wears heels to the beach," I decided to wear heels because I knew we weren't going to the actually beach. Plus, it looked cute with my outfit so...

I never thought I could rock wide-legged bell bottom pants, but I think I don't look that bad in it. Why did I think I couldn't rock bell bottoms? Because wide-legged bottoms usually make short people look shorter. Since these pants are super high-waisted, it helped lengthen my silhouette -- obviously the heels added to it too. Paired these pants with a tribal patterned crop top from ASOS. Grabbed my mom's shopper bag from Aldo and threw on those ridiculously higher-than-my-GPA platforms. Night-time outfit with beachy vibes.


Note To Self: Find more themed brunch places.

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• That day didn't feel particularly spectacular. I woke up at eleven in the morning, ended up lazing about for an hour, and ate fried rice for breakfast. Oh, and I was graduating. So after devouring the rice, I showered and got dressed. It took an hour for my hair to curl- but five minutes for it to become straight again. And to make the day a little more special, I decided to put on make up. I'm really not used to my face with makeup, but now I know I actually have eyelashes to apply mascara on. It was truly a learning experience. I never really get opportunities to get dolled up, so looking at this ultimate, beautiful goddess in the mirror was unusual. 
• The ceremony was held in the high school gym on a humid, hot day. In the middle school, the gym is beautifully air conditioned, and you'd think it'd be like that in the high school. No, it wasn't. It was a lengthy graduation, with speeches and awards and the year-long presentation of certificates. Nonetheless, it was a great graduation as we relived all of the class' greatest moments and said our thank-yous and goodbyes to the staff and our parents. It was a bittersweet but hopeful send-off. 
• (Shoutout to my sister who played at my graduation, thank you!!!)
• But by the end of the ceremony, I thought, 'Now what?' The end of the year came sooner than I had expected, it also doesn't feel like I graduated. I had taken my last final the day before! I had gotten used to all the work that I feels unusual to have completed everything. And maybe in my mind middle school wasn't that big of a deal. You have the adorable, grand elementary school graduation, and the grand high school graduation. What's middle school in comparison? It's the transition year. But doesn't that fact make it important? I don't know. 
• Even after graduation, it still hasn't sunken in that my middle school career is over; I am no longer returning to the same school after three short months. Admittedly, I don't want to leave. Leaving requires adaptation and change, and while that's all great and normal and healthy, I believe it demands too much energy. In short, I'm exhausted and sad.
• However, I'm grateful for not having a middle school career I am ashamed of. Rather, I'll look forward to looking back. In a mere three years, I have experienced and learned so many things. I've met people whom I wish to cherish and love forever and ever, and received support and love from the greatest people. (I'll work hard to make you guys proud.) Looking back, I realized that a lot happened. That's only middle school. I can't imagine on what scale high school could possibly be on. 
• Middle school was the longest and shortest time of my life, and I assume high school to be as such as well. I look forward to the next four years of my life and my next graduation.
• Oh, and this day became truly special when we had tapsilog for dinner. It was great.