Tag: Healing Alone

2026.

My Dearest Readers,

To my most esteemed and beloved SALLY♡THINGS readers, I offer my sincerest apologies for the excruciating torment you have endured whilst awaiting the arrival of my next literary delight. Your patience is as admirable as it is commendable, and it weighs heavily upon my heart to have kept you in such a state of eager anticipation. Pray, do forgive me, for the muse of inspiration shall soon grace us once more, and together we shall embark upon a most enchanting journey through the written word and journey of this life of mine. As we find ourselves immersed in the embrace of the year 2026, with a fortnight and a month having gracefully passed, I do hope it has bestowed upon each of you its most benevolent charms. With the occasion of Valentine’s Day having cast its enchanting spell, I am filled anew with inspiration, eager to resume my delightful endeavors upon this humble blog. This month, dear friends and readers, has blossomed with an abundance of love, lifting my spirits to the highest. It is with immense pleasure that I welcome you back, and I look forward to sharing in this journey of love and creativity once more.
With all my heart, yours ever devotedly, SALLY♡THINGS.

Update.

Hi, hello there. How are ya? I was feeling a little Bridgerton inspired, but I will admit it took me forever to write. I also haven’t watched the latest Bridgerton season, so please nooooo spoilers. I’ll start it after I finish watching Sex and the City. I am also aware that I am very behind on that too. I guess I just love shows were people write? How fitting that is.

2026. Where do I start? New year, same me? I can thankfully say that, I did not enter as the same me. There’s been a lot of self growth that’s been happening behind this computer screen. I have spent a lot of time on myself and will continue to do so. There’s not much to really update everyone on about me. I haven’t had any drastic lifestyle changes or hit any big life milestones, but I have celebrated many small steps in my own personal life. I guess, I have adventured a little more this winter than usual. Winter has been wintering here in Grand Rapids, but we have had a lot of sunny days at least. I’ve been feeling a lot happier this winter than past ones. Going into 2026 has been a wild ride for me, but every thing has been slowly coming into place. Tết or Lunar New Years just passed, so I had my “second” new years. Another start over right? I’m wishing all good health, fortune and blessings. Chúc mừng năm mới! Valentine’s Day just also passed, but you know that I celebrate all month long. I just love, Love. I have my annual Galentine’s party coming up, so I hope you’re not anti-Valentine’s just yet. I’m excited to see what i’m going to bring this year. Whatever it is, I hope it’s still all with love.

Hello 2026.

My goals list this year has a lot of the same repeating goals, not because I didn’t achieve them last year, but because they are goals that you can never reach the end of. They are goals that are good for your soul and make you a better person always.

2026 goals and intentions ♡
⊹˚. ♡. Film Photography. Last year I bought a film camera, a Canon AE-1 SLR 35mm and started to use it a little without any knowledge of anything. Only half of the photos turned out good. This year I want to fully learn all the settings and how to shoot film in different photography styles. I want to be a pro at using my film camera.
⊹˚. ♡. SALLY♡THINGS Growth. More content, more interactions, more milestones achieved. With more content being created, it also helps with preserving moments and having memories to look back on. It’s not all about getting paid, it’s to also save memories.
⊹˚. ♡. Online Business. This has been a goal of mine for a while, but I never really took the steps forward. This year I hope to have my online store up at least or close!
⊹˚. ♡. Travel. I want to see more, explore more, adventure more. There’s so much outside of Grand Rapids and Michigan, but also so much here that I haven’t seen yet. Big and small travels are fine. Solo traveling and with others is also the goal. I have friends from all over and I want to see them too. One monthly goal I have for the year is to solo adventure at least two times a month.
⊹˚. ♡. Dream Car. It’s finally time to get my dream car. It’s nothing crazy expensive, it’s pretty affordable (and used lol), but it’ll be better than the my current car. Last year, I’ve had so many issues with my car, I put in basically a good down deposit for a new car into my old car last year. My little blueberry has done me good and allowed me to visit loved ones in friends and I’ll be forever grateful for that, but it’s time to get something I want.
⊹˚. ♡. Slowing down and resting. If you know me, you know that I am always on the go whether it’s work or travels. I really want to prioritize slowing down a little and resting more. I definitely get burnt out more than a couple times a year and my body pays for it. I’m not getting any younger, so it’s important to take care of myself.
⊹˚. ♡. Healing. Healing will always be a goal of mine. I want to grow into my potential and you can’t do that unless you work on yourself. I want to heal all parts of myself. The healing goal isn’t just for me, I also want to heal my relationships with others. They aren’t bad, they are good, but they can always be better, get into those DMC, deep meaningful conversations.
⊹˚. ♡. Love and happiness. To do all things with love, to pour love, to be love. I am love and I intend to be love at the fullest that I can be – for myself and for others. Life is meant to be enjoyed and lived to the fullest. I want to continue to build a happy life for myself. Self love is self care and showing your love to others helps you see what type of person you are. I intend to only be love to those who support me, earned it and love me. It’s not meant for everyone.

2025, you were filled with love, strength, courage, and lessons. Please let 2026 be just as fulfilling, but with more positivity. Remember to be kind to one another, I hope everyone gets the year they deserve.

With all my heart, yours ever devotedly, SALLY♡THINGS.

Slowing It Down, November.

Slow it down, November. Read it again, slow it down, November. I have been quiet and yet not quiet at all. It’s very confusing unless you are in my day to day life, but thats okay. I went crazy with going out in October, but this month, I really just want to be left with less sound and less company. I want to take more moments for myself and have quiet moments, so I can hear my own thoughts and moments – sober. Yes, sober.

It’s an easy habit for me to fall into drinking to mask feelings and I’ve been very open about this with myself in the past. The past few months, I was falling into that darker path, so November I wanted to slow down and sit with my feelings, thoughts, moods, etc. Slow it down. I’m not perfect, but I’m not going out 4X a week to a bar either. In November, I’ve gone out about four times vs. twelve times. I call that progress.

With November, my goal is to sit with myself (sober, of course) and feel my feelings, feel my hurt, feel my happiness, feel my thoughts and then give all of that a safe & thankful space to heal in. I hate that I’m in the same spot as previous years, I really do, but I’ve learned that I have a lot of love to give and a lot of love. I will always have love, thats who I am and who I will always be. I’m coming to terms with that. Slow it down.

I am trying to take a step back to not find myself, I know who I am, but to ground myself again. I can definitely say that I lost a piece of myself throughout the year. I know I fought with myself a lot this year to find a peace, when I was only stepping over my own boundaries. Slow it down and build yourself again. I’m choosing to do the work that I need to do, even if it feels the worse. Even if it feels the opposite. You just have to do it. Of course, I want to do all things with love, but I’m just learning that life really doesn’t work that way. Not everything can be done in love or with love. That’s a hard lesson to learn, but it doesn’t make you less of a loving person or that your love is or was any less. Slowing things down this month allows me to process what my mind knows, but what my heart still wants to deny. I can tell there will be more slow down months in the future. I have a lot of work for my heart to catch up with. I’m going to take my time to make sure I’m doing it right this time. Let me marinate in my feelings for a while, they need their time as well.

Solo Date: Detroit, Michigan ♡ – Food & Place Alert

Hello SALLY ♡ THINGS readers! If you follow me on any social platforms, you might have noticed that I have been out more and doing more solo. Lately, I have been pushing myself to do more things solo and forcing myself outside of my comfort zone. This has been something that I’ve been working on for years and years now. When I turned 30, something really clicked and I just see life in a new perspective. I get to be “selfish” by standing on my boundaries and choosing better. You only get older, so live your best life. Stop holding yourself back. One of the best advice I ever got was to date yourself. ♡

My original plans did not work out, but instead of just staying home I decided to make new plans. The week of, I decided to buy Jonas Brothers concert tickets in Detroit. I am a long time fan of the Jonas Brothers, ever since 2005/06. I’m very blessed that I have the privilege of being able to do things so last minute. I took this day to date myself. I explored, adventured, spoiled myself and got to sing and dance my heart out to the Jonas Brothers. I have only been to Detroit a couple times and never have I’ve driven or really explored the area, so this was very brand new adventure for me. Come explore the east side of Michigan with me!

My first stop of the day was two hours away to Moose Pastry & Tea in Novi, Michigan. Moose is a pastry shop that has tons of buns and sandwich-like options. I’m never really on the east side of the state, but when I find myself over here I try to grab some goodies. My go to buns are the Garlic Hotdog Bun, Moose, Doraemon, and Piggy (Buta). The pastries are all a good size and price! I believe all the buns I got were only $3 each. I bought a bag full to take home with me.

Garlic Hotdog Bun: Filled with hotdog and pork floss (dried, shredded pork) topped with garlic butter

Moose: Our signature animal! Filled with blueberry cream cheese richness.

Doraemon: Come and test our ability to recreate the famous Japanese manga character, Doraemon. This delicious pastry has a creamy custard filling and
a cherry on top

Piggy (Buta): Our strawberry jam filled bread is the perfect reason to PIG out

Down the street from Moose is this place called MIRAI – Coffee, Bubble Tea, and Stationery. Yes, it has all those things plus more! I was surprised at how much seating they have for the cafe side. They also had a lot of gashapon machines and a decent amount of mini claw machines! I got a hot vanilla latte to keep me going, it was an early morning & late night day. I also won two little plushies from the mini claw machines. I couldn’t resist!

I was all over the east side of the state. My next stop was to OVERRATED in Clinton Township, Michigan. The store is located in The Mall at Partridge Creek. I found this store on tiktok and everyone kept saying that they had tons of blindboxes, so you know I made sure to visit. I bought a Sanrio fruit keychain plush blind box and a snowglobe Studio Ghibli blind box. Let’s say I was very satisfied with my pulls! Can we get an OVERRATED over on the west side? They also sell authentic Labubus, Sonny Angels and Smikis. OVERRATED really does have it all!

Not the final destination, but the final city. HELLO DETROIT! (located midtown Detroit) At this point I was on the road more than I was visiting places. There’s a lot of construction happening on that side of the Michigan, but what’s new? 40 minutes later, I made it to Hihi, a super cute store with all the Sanrio plushies and merch that you can think of. At Hihi, they have some items that were only released Japan or Korea, so it was very cool to see those items in person! They sell more than just Sanrio, like Bearbricks, Toki Doki, Pusheen, Pokemon, etc. The prices here are a little higher, but you do have to consider the out of country items and how much it cost for them to get them here.

What is a solo date without a nice wine and dine? Choosing where to eat was a challenge for me because Downtown Detroit has so many good places to choose from and let’s face the real fact, I’m a girl. It’s very true. We have a hard time deciding what we want to eat! I wanted to splurge on myself and try something new. We live to eat and not eat to live, right? I decided on Experience Zuzu for: 1) easy parking 2) menu items and 3) aesthetic. Parking was pretty easy, even with the blocked roads for a jazz festival and all the construction going on downtown. I was having cravings for a really good steak or lamb chops, which all three options had, but what really caught my eye was the Sailor Moon Mai Tai. I’m a sucker for cute things. Since I’m a sucker for cute things, I saw photos of the interior of Experience Zuzu and knew they would be the place I would eat it.

Experience Zuzu has a very fun vibe the moment you walk in and it was perfect to get me concert ready. There’s lots of reds, golds, and metallics. I sat at the bar and was blown away at the set up. I bartend myself, so I LOVE seeing how other bars are at other places. The bar itself, like the table, has built in LED lights and the table changes colors as you eat. The music they play is the perfect mix of edm house, it was a great time. I got the Sailor Moon Mai Tai, which came in a cute Artemis cup; the Waygu Beef Gyoza, 10/10, very rich in flavor and melts in your mouth; and the Prime Miso Lamb Chops, full of flavor and tender. I would recommend Experience Zuzu, so if you’re ever in downtown Detroit area give them a try!

Sailor Moon Mai Tai: Bacardi Anejo Rum, Macadamia Orgeat, Lime, Mint, Orange Blossom

Waygu Beef Gyoza: Wagyu Beef Dumplings, Garlic Chili Crunch, Sweet Citrus Ponzu

Prime Miso Lamb Chops: Tableside Grill Presentation, Red Onion + Mint Salad, Pickled Cucumber, Shishito Pepper, Fingerling Potatoes, Miso Anticucho Sauce

Before heading to the Jonas Brothers concert, I drove and ran around downtown to try to find a portable battery because my phone was dying and my car charger takes forever to charge. That was the adventure of my life because why did I have to go to FOUR different locations until I found a power bank? I even got a parking ticket, RIP. Nothing like being stressed right before a show, right? This caused me to get to Little Cesars Arena a lot later than I wanted to be and I still had to find out parking around the arena.

I’m not sure if you guys are aware, but this Jonas20: Greetings From Your Hometown Tour is super important because not only is this their 13th tour, but it also celebrates their 20 year anniversary as a band! It’s a huge milestone, especially since the band broke up for a bit. If you love them, you know how it is. As I was in line for their specialty drink, Boys Like Girls were closing out with ‘The Great Escape’. It took me back to middle school days. Russell Dickerson was the hometown guest for this show and Marshmello played a set mid concert, so there was a little rave break. Then at the end, Detroit got all the Jonas men (Paul Kevin Jonas Sr & Franklin Jonas) on stage singing ‘When You Look Me In The Eyes’. Even though I was by myself, I had the best time singing and dancing with thousands of people around to my favorite boy band. To describe what a Jonas Brothers show is like, a room filled with thousands of feral women, ready to jumpship LOL. Nick sang “ReeeEEEeEeED DReeeeEEssSSS” and the crowd went wild, Joe took his jacket to show a shoulder and the crowd went wild, Kevin played a little guitar solo and the crowd went wild. Look, WE LOVE HOT DADS, what can we say? I’ll also admit that I did cry when they first came out on stage. These boys are seriously so talented with voices from heaven. Listening and watching them on tv in 2005 to seeing them live for the second time in 2025. It’s been a great 20 years of music and to many more ♡

Burning Up’
“Slip into the LAVA with the Joe Bros Hurricane”
Captain Morgan, Barcardi, Passion Fruit, Orange Juice, Lime Juice, Grenadine in a Red Flame Glass & Light Up Ice Cube.

Once you got your drink, you got to choose from three different stickers and OF COURSE I needed the one that said “Greetings from Camp Rock Bar”.
How Iconic.

I see more concert trips to Detroit in my near future and more solo dates. Do what you love for yourself and don’t let anything stop you from experiencing life! It’s fun to be with friends, but it can also be fun being with yourself too. Date yourself and give yourself love. Until the next adventure, live your best life and live for you ♡

@sallynohands

Not in my vlogging era cause I never finished this 😂 I visited Overrated in Clinton Township, Hihi in Detroit, ate lamb chops at Experience Zuzu and then to the Jonas Brothers concert 🙂‍↕️ It was a great day #vietnamesegirl #detroit #solotraveler #jonasbrothersconcert #healingenergy @Jonas Brothers @Nick Jonas @joejonas @Kevin Jonas @Franklin jonas

♬ Noite de Verão – ya-su

Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025.

Yes, SALLY ♡ THINGS blog is still up and running for 2025! The end of the year and start of the new year blog is finally here. I told you that I was playing blog catch up. Since I’m a little behind, we get this cute 2-in-1 post ♡

Goodbye 2024.

In the beginning of 2024, I was parked on the top level of my college’s parking ramp just sitting in my car. Not having a good day at all. I was super emotional about a million different things, both positive and negative. I think I skipped my classes that day because I could not stop crying. I remember it was raining. That day I decided to try to calm my emotions down by journaling and instead of writing about my emotions, I tried to put my focus on what my goals and intentions were going to be for 2024. Writing about something that would bring more positivity forward was the mood that I wanted to try to set. That day I journaled two entries ‘2024 Goals and Intentions‘ and ‘2024 Blog Idea List‘. I think I ended up journaling in my car for three or four hours.

For 2024 Goals and Intentions, I wanted to come up with goals that were deeper than things like exercise more, get up early, drink more water, etc. I wanted the goals to be things that would help me become a better me and help with personal growth. Then when I came up with the goals, I wrote the intentions behind them or how I wanted to go about it. That way it wasn’t just a silly little self care goal, it now held a deeper meaning. I suggest everyone to do the same because it holds more value, is more meaningful and personable to yourself. It gives you a greater feeling when you complete it as well. Out of 16, I was able to cross off 10 goals that I completed in 2024. I call that a win and look, a win is a win!

A few completed goals with their intentions:

୨୧ Take more photos and videos. Print them out, save them, make montage videos, post them or whatever! I want to capture more memories and save/store them so they can be accessible in the future when I’m older.
୨୧ Live life/Be more present. Especially family, they are so important. Be more present in life. Live! Take in moments. Love life again. Don’t over work anymore and don’t over school. Live your best life Sally!
୨୧ Love and happiness ♡ I want to be more loving in everything and I want to remember 2024 as happy. The last few years have not been remembered quite well as happy, so this year will change. Let go of things that don’t belong and be okay with that.

For 2024 Blog Idea List, this was a list of topics that I wanted to blog about and write for the year. It was a list that I could come back to look at for ideas. I came up with 33 different topics and I wrote about 14 of those, but some topics have multiple blogs written about like travel blogs or food adventures. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my food and travel blogs, but some new content is on the way. A little less than half is not too bad, but it’s time to do better this year and I can’t wait to get back into blogging a little more often. I still have this blog “project” or series that I started last year, but I’m still working on writing it. It might not be finished this first half of the year, but my goal is to finish it this year or at least be able to post the first two parts.

Hello 2025.

Welcome 2025! My start of the new years was spent at The Armory with Kaskade and Sullivan King in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I spent my New Years in the most “Feral Festival Sally” way, so you can take that however you want, but I had a really good time. Maybe a little too much fun cause I woke up with gum in my hair the next morning. I have the funniest theory on how the gum got there too. Let’s just say this: I’m a headbanger girly with super long hair and there were a lot of gum chewers around. My hair is known to SNATCH PEOPLE! I also attempted to eat grapes for the New Years, but we did it sooo wrong. Yes, we were able to sneak in grapes at the venue somehow. I ended up being rave mom and passing them out to make sure my friends ate something during the rave. I think I ate 2-4 only, but this was all after the count down. So we all ate grapes to survive the rest of the night basically. It’s so funny to look back at the videos from that night. Thank you Minneapolis for a New Years that I’ll never forget!

For 2025, I want to do the same method with my goals and writing their intentions. I’m planning to repeat the same list and add new ones. I’m hoping to can accomplish more goals this year than I did in 2024. My vision for 2025 is to always live my best life, to be happy, love always and to be better. It’s another year to build the life that I want and deserve. I went in to 2025 as the same me, but a more experienced me. Still the same person, but I have something different about me. I’m still learning if it’s a good or bad thing or if it’s just a phase. This year I am digging deeper into myself and I’m protecting myself more than ever before. I’m also going into things with a different perspective. I posted this before and I’ll say it again here:

If you saw me, you absolutely did see me. If you heard me say something, I absolutely said it and said it with my chest. I’m done with playing the high road. We are not hiding in 2025. Respectfully ♡

I promise that I will be out here living my life for myself. Take it as my ‘villain era’, me setting up more boundaries, or me seeking my full potential, whatever. I said it here.

Here are a few goals and the intentions behind it, that I would like to see myself accomplish in 2025. It’s from both the 2024 and 2025 list.

୨୧ Healing. I want to heal all the parts of me that have been through the ringer over and over again. I want to heal the parts of me that easily get triggered. I accept that if the healing means I end up feeling hateful, then that’s how it ends up. I can’t end everything on love all the time, no matter how much I want that. Let it go and let things play out the way that it does. I was able to do it once, I know that I definitely can do it again. Be at peace and be comfortable and fine with that peace.
୨୧ More journaling and blogging. I know that journaling and blogging helps me with all my emotions, so why deprive that outlet from myself? I’m a person who feels a lot and holds all those feelings. Release it, stop holding on to them for so long. Let them go. I also love to journal and blog, it’s good for me. I have made connections with others through it. I’m no savior, but I’m a person and being a person speaks loud volumes.
୨୧ Love and happiness ♡ This is the 2025 revised version. I want to still be more loving in everything and I want to remember 2025 as happy. The love this year is more me orientated. I choose that love for me, I choose that happiness for my life, for my future. Whatever that looks like, but it’s self focused vs. what I did before. I worked on myself to reach an ‘us’, but this year I’m working on myself to reach a me. If an ‘us’ happens to appears this year, then that is something that fits around me and not the other way around. (No tea here, sorry. ‘Us’ is not a specific person, it’s general use.)

2024, you were wrong, but you were right to be wrong. Goodbye 2024.
2025, your new life is going to cost you your old one. What is meant for you, you simply cannot lose. Hello 2025.

Finding Yourself in a Familiar Place.

I sit here and find myself in a familiar place. A place where it feels embarrassing to admit that I’m back at again. A place where I have been trying to deny that I’m back in. A place where it breaks you before it makes you. A familiar place, a pretty vulnerable place. Healing alone.

Healing alone is an awful feeling and one of the hardest thing you’ll ever do. It will force you to sit with your grief and to feel it. A place I’m a little too familiar with. Healing alone is healing without using other people or things to fill a void inside of yourself, going out every weekend, healing without using distractions and doing anything to prevent yourself to sit in your grief and think about it. It’s an awful feeling. A place I’m a little too familiar with.

While I spend my time in this familiar place, I’ll give myself the grace that I need. I’ll sit with the grief once again and I’ll still look for all the happiness and love that I gained before the last. I’ll sit here wishing that all my love given is still making someone feel loved. That the right people know that I will always see them as they are and for who they are. The love I gave is for them to keep and theirs, for me. Saying goodbye never gets any easier and finding yourself in this familiar place doesn’t get easier either. I guess I’m back at the first steps again.

For however long it takes for me here, I welcome anyone else that finds their way in this familiar place. I’ll sit here and heal alone – with you.