the great outdoors

the last three weekends have been filled with outdoorsy adventures. The morning sun, the cool breeze, the immense sweating and the endorphin rush. I never really had weekends where I could enjoy the outdoors because I was always stuck in church for the last 21 years of my life. Glad that I can finally be out to enjoy creation instead of just talking about it.

two saturdays ago, I was out with my colleagues at Tadom Hill where we got our beast mode on and battled the obstacle course and rock climbing before jumping into this lake. As I swam in a pool of blue, I just enjoyed the feel of being in the water. I've always been a water baby, having pestered my mom to always take me swimming. i don't mean to sound so cliche but there's just something about being in the water that makes me feel serene and grounded.

then,
there was my birthday weekend. I insisted on not celebrating my birthday but trust my boyfriend to plan a surprise picnic where he made mac 'n cheese, brought watermelon cubes and a bottle of pear cider for me. everything was packed neatly in the brown picnic basket (just the way i like it) and brought to me right after I completed a round of cycling along the metropolitan park trail. i was so disappointed that i didn't get to cycle in the morning because it had rained but he 'suggested' that i cycle in the evening while he jogged (which was obviously a ploy for the picnic).

and of course, the icing on the cake 

I MET CASSEY HO OF BLOGILATES LIKE WHAT EVEN.
today, I pushed myself out of bed at 7.30am and made my way to Desa Park City where I took a live POP Pilates class with Cassey. I've been following her workout videos religiously since 2012 and to finally see her in real life was just...what. is. my. life.
When I finally hugged her, I almost cried. I couldn't believe that I was seeing her in the flesh. This was truly a bucket list item that I never ever thought I would tick. And I achieved all this with my best friend, the ever-amazing Ju Yi who totally cheered me on while I was dying in sweat throughout the workout.

can you believe that i did forty-five minutes of yoga with Jojo Struys and forty-five minutes of pilates with Cassey - all without breakfast!
I made it out alive and I'm ecstatic to end my birthday month on such a high note.
It's been a simple month of quiet celebration, a month of new adventures and a month of enjoying the last 30 days of being twenty-three, a very defining year of my life.

and now, to embrace the soreness 

that which will commence tomorrow. 

at least it's the good kind of pain.