los angeles x long weekend

To go along with this specific post, I highly recommend reading this, because I haven't read anything better that describes the struggles of living in both of these magnificent, beautiful and absolutely ridiculous cities (New York is a madhouse at the moment because yes, it snowed, and yes, it's now all melting and turning the city into the most disgusting, slushy dump).

Los Angeles was beautiful. I genuinely enjoyed it - I'm sure it's very different when you're visiting vs living (as it is for New York City), but the flawless weather really spoke to me. IT NOURISHED MY SOUL. I know that's really aggressive, but I'm not sure if I'd ever get tired of waking up to perfect weather almost everyday.

We ate a lot, went to the beach, had car problems, got stuck in traffic, took a lot of pictures, saw old friends, and barely slept. I lost my voice. It was so relaxing and exciting all at the same time.

And if you have 3-4 minutes to kill:

CA in CA 2016 from Ariel Min on Vimeo. List of stuff that unfortunately did not make it into the video:
- colleen and me hanging in the jacuzzi
- colleen and me getting lost in skid row
- a tiny bird pooping on me
- colleen's fabulous mother and the mimosas/cookies she made us (camera died and cut out the footage, boo)
- the rest of footage of colleen's dog :(
- our numerous lyft drivers
- the most amazing brunch ever
- most stuff we ate
- MINA and NICK
Music: The Chainsmokers - Roses (ft ROZES)

06// W U J U

Last weekend, I met my cousin's baby boy in Atlanta. My cousin, the father of the baby, is the oldest cousin of all, and is the first to get married and have a baby, so this is kind of a big deal (we have a huge family on my mom's side, of two uncles and four aunts, plus twelve of us children!).

And here he is, Wuju Ryan So! Isn't that such a pretty name? Wuju means space in Korean. He is tiny. He is so soft. He poops really well. He eats well too. He's pretty calm for a baby I think (like I know anything about babies). I think he liked me. He threw up on my shoulder at one point (no no go ahead, it's not like it was my favorite shirt or anything), and even though I basically had no idea how to hold him properly, I managed to make him fall asleep in my arms (the best feeling ever). At the end of the trip, I concluded that babies are pretty freaking heavy. Kudos to all the moms out there!

We went to a park near my cousin's apartment for an impromptu photoshoot for the baby and the family. I must admit, I fell in love with Atlanta a bit this past weekend - it's calm and green, with rolling hills and attractive houses. It reminded me of Texas, but better.

05// reflections

Hi. This is what I look like.

Okay let me be real. I still have a lot of trouble explaining what "ariellamin" is because my name is Ariel and not Ariella, so why call myself something I'm not? It all started in freshman year of college when I met this guy who was really into classical/jazz music and one night he was driving me home and played Ella Fitzgerald and said something like, "Hey, your name could be like... ariELLA." No joke. So I came home and told all my friends and they thought it was hilarious so they started calling me Ella as a joke and that was around the time I made my Twitter account. Back in 2009 I didn't think Twitter was anything serious so I basically made the handle, ariellamin. Of course now I just regret that forever because some other Korean girl took the handle arielmin and SHE DOESN'T EVEN TWEET REGULARLY. But whatever. Such is life.

I also got brand new glasses because my eye doc told me to. As soon as I picked these up I went to go see a movie by myself to see if they help me at all. Turns out they do. Also, going to the movies alone is actually quite nice - I can cry at dumb scenes and no one cares.


I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, with 2015 wrapping up and I suddenly have a lot of things to do and undo. I'm learning to accept and deal with a lot of regrets and to be proud of some bold decisions I have made.

One thing I’ve realized while living in New York is that if you really put your mind to it, you can do a lot of things you thought you couldn’t do. Everything is a mind game, really. It’s more obvious here than anywhere else, because everything about this city is designed to push your limits. I find myself rarely comfortable, physically and mentally. If you let it break you, it will. But if you don't, it won't.

This morning when I heard my train rolling into the station, I ran from the street, up the stairs, through the turnstile and up another flight of stairs and wedged my foot between the closing doors and made a grand entrance into the train car. Everyone awkwardly watched me trying to catch my breath. But such obnoxiousness is nothing unusual in this city. I have a growing list of things odd things I’ve done and faced so far - like going to a sit-down restaurant (or the movies!) by myself, surviving getting stuck in a revolving door with another human, my uber being surrounded by a motorcycle gang in east Queens, bargaining with bartenders, surviving street harassment, scouting and picking up furniture from the street, barely avoiding stepping on a giant rat that in Brooklyn, being more decisive on an ice cream flavor, etc. Sometimes this city pushes you to do random things and you rarely have time to think about it. Indecisiveness is not one of the traits in the surviving species in New York, and I had to accept that quickly.

04// the paper kites - too late

I am definitely getting sick. I felt it coming when I tried to clear my throat after shoving a chocolate almond croissant down my throat during lunch. When it became pretty clear that it wasn't just the buttery pastry flakes that were clogging up my throat, I immediately took to the emergency supply of Airborne and throat drop I keep in my desk, but now that I'm sitting in bed at midnight, still with a sore throat, I do realize it is too late. TOO LATE. What more could I have done to prevent it? I wash my hands like a maniac almost every hour, I even wipe my phone down, and I try my best to never touch my face during the day. Ever. Plus I've been exercising almost everyday and trying to keep a good diet too. Thanks immune system. You had one job. ONE JOB!

Thanks to a lovely coworker, we took a quick lunch detour to the Columbus Circle holiday market to soak in the sun and a generous 50 degree weather before it gets completely dark again at like, 4pm. Did I mention New York has no chill when it comes to the holidays? There are holiday markets EVERYWHERE and it's pretty amazing.


Also, yes, I went to Times Square today. Why?! You might ask. WHY PUT YOURSELF THROUGH TIMES SQUARE OF ALL PLACES? AREN'T YOU LIVING THERE NOW? SHOULDN'T YOU KNOW BETTER? Yes, those are all valid questions that I've definitely asked myself as I dodged accidentally starring in the background of a group selfie while stuck in the crowd. I don't know. I've been feeling like I've been in a rut. Needed to do something and I work really close to Times Square. I like people watching, especially tourists, because they're usually really happy.

2015: I feel like I came to New York to grow up, be challenged and to pursue 'my dreams' yet it's so easy to get jaded and wrapped up in the usual challenges of transitions. This year was full of weird little beginnings and endings for me, and very few things felt stable or constant this year. In the midst of all that overwhelming whirlwind, I realize friendship is such a strange, perfect little thing that you can lean on. Whether they're old or new, the comfort, familiarity, moral support and honesty that they provide are truly an oasis. When you meet such kind people, even one or two, who want to invest their own time to understand and love you, you should know you are incredibly lucky.

03// absolutely no chill

I find New York most charming when I don't have any agenda. Yes, planning your day ahead is ideal, but sometimes you just don't, and you end up running into a lot of bulldogs and eat amazing food and somehow end up in the sea of tourists at the Rockefeller Center. This weekend, after walking around the Fifth Avenue and attempting to get near the Rockefeller tree, I learned that New York has absolutely no chill when it comes to the holidays. It's quite amazing.

Post-brunch ferry ride from Queens to the city (my first time! woohoo).

Then we headed down to Union Square for the farmers market + Strand (scored a signed copy of BJ Novak's book). Talk about being shoved around all night by an incredible number of PEOPLE. Holy moly. Again, Christmas time in New York has absolutely no chill.