2026.

To my most esteemed and beloved SALLYTHINGS 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, SALLYTHINGS.


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.


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.


Let Me Reintroduce Myself and SALLY♡THINGS.

I wrote a super brief first post of the reasoning behind creating SALLY♡THINGS, which you can read here <- click
I think that I was too excited about writing the first post so I didn’t write it the way that I had imagined. Plus the way I thought I would be using my blog turned out very differently, in a good way though. So let me reintroduce myself again!


My name is Sally Tran and I’m turning 27 this year in July. I am Vietnamese, part of the first American born generation of my family. I’m still very rooted with my culture and background, Vietnamese dishes are my favorite. Even though I don’t speak as fluent as I use too, I understand it perfectly fine. Okay, maybe more like 90%, but that’s enough to pass. A little fun fact, I discovered over the pandemic that I’m mixed with Italian about 20-25%! I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but now I live on the other side of Lake Michigan in Madison, Wisconsin. I love to eat, travel, attend concerts, shows, music festivals. EDM is what I listen to the most. I’m a little headbanger, but I do enjoy all other genres as well. Every time I travel or adventure to some place new, I fall in love with the world and life even more. It’s nice to meet all the new faces and to meet familiar ones over again!

I created my blog instagram back in 2018 with the visions and goals of reviewing products, specifically posting EDM content and hopefully becoming an influencer. When the pandemic started, it became harder to be category specific because of everything shutting down. That’s when I created my WordPress blog SALLY♡THINGS where I had a place to post more of my personal experiences and thoughts, where I don’t have to be category specific and I could write novels if I wanted too. Along the way, I changed my end goals from influencer to blogger. I would like SALLY♡THINGS to be a brand/phrase/business that people hear and can put my face to it. I’m working on making it my creative space. I have many, many, many ideas of where I would like to go with it and I’m slowly working on making those ideas come to life. I’m not an influencer, I’m barely a blogger and not yet a business woman. I am a 26 year old figuring out life and trying to make her dreams come true!
Thank you for reading and thank you for all the support on everything I’ve posted and all the different social media adventures that I’ve had. Most importantly, thank you for the love and kindness! ♡

ps – I do have stickers made of my logo if you would like one or a few, I’d be more than happy to ship them out to you. Just send me a dm or email! I also haven’t been very active with posting lately, but I’m just trying to get my life together personally and work wise. Self care is important and it’s okay to cut some stuff out or put some things on pause to make more room and time ♡


The Moon Staying Up For The Sun.

The moon tries to stay up for the sun, but she never gets there. She never gets to see the sun.


I feel everything, I feel it all at one time.
My heart goes back and forth, up and down,
But I’m just stuck on the ground.
I don’t know what to do sometimes
I feel like the moon staying up for the sun.

I feel super close,
But also very far.
Is that where you always are?
Within reach where I will never be?

I’ll love you from afar,
While I feel all over the place.
Just remember to send some love within our space.


I usually don’t post my made up poems, so please don’t make me cry and keep your thoughts to yourself, thank you! lmao. I love reading poetry and I’ll come up with some in the right setting. I’m just posting this cause I think it’s decent or good enough to be shown to the public and it’s also inspired by one of my favorite songs Two Places by Tori Kelly. Which I did write another blog post inspired by before (click here to read) but i’m just getting shy now and if I keep typing I’m going to change my mind on posting this, so byeeeeeeeeeeee.

Dear January.

You are always so cold, but somehow always filled with warmth and love. The start of a new year and the celebration of making it through another. Everyone thinks you’re a new chapter, but really you’re just a continuation. People count on you to be the new chapter, but it really starts with them to write that.
Adventure comes to mind when I think of you. The first January was the first adventure. It was so perfect, not a thing could or can ruin all those moments. Pure joy and happiness, nothing was questionable. My favorite of them all, the one that only really exists in my head. The last of the daydream.
The second January was a slow warming, if that warming was of a lit match. Trying to put together what was broken and not understood. Figuring out exactly what you need to get through the day, but running to an escape instead. The bottles were warm though. The feeling you had missed and lost. It was temporary and numbing, but it made anything confusing go away. A quick break to breathe. You threw love everywhere, not sure if it even belongs there and then went to the bottles with the same energy.
The third January was full, a more at peace feeling. Seeing actual waves and not the ones that mentally take you in and drown you. In a beautiful place where you don’t need to wait for any unknowns because now you are the unknown. A real reality that you could actually grasp. The understanding isn’t fully there, but you have a better idea of it than before. Something you can let go of at times without a lingering. You keep more to yourself because it’s only right. Protecting yourself, but in a healthy way. Working on recovery on problems you all created.

Dear January, please don’t let me fall. Stay cold, but give us your warmth. Please continue to let the patience of love wait on my drunk heart.

SALLY ♡ T