Hello, Thanks for hanging out with me here on Blogspot! After 14 years of posting on Blogspot, I've decided to take more control of the site and move it to a self-hosting service. As of May 22, 2020 this particular URL (cl2425.blogpost.com) will no longer have updates.  Nothing has changed, everything has been moved over properly, so if you've stumbled upon this site, please make your way to cl2425.com for the latest updates.  I will see you there! Much love, Catalina  ...

I deliberately try to stay away from book reviews, firstly because I don't really trust my taste, but mostly because I usually don't stick to what I have to say after I'm finished reading a book. My thoughts ferment slowly, and I reel in my feelings and emotions at varying stages, so I'm hesitant to freeze a sliver of time and do injustice to a book with a review.  BUT, I felt really compelled to share my thoughts on this book I just finished! TL;DR: 5/5 ...

I feel like my sporadic posts (for the past few years) have always been pathetic attempts to pick up my blogging habits and blog frequently like I did years ago. I yearn to share my thoughts and have a huge archive of thoughts I can look back on, but for some reason, I've become this bum that doesn't do anything productive in her spare time. - OR, it could just be intastories that became a more convenient way of communication for me (whoops). Anyway, in the spirit of trying to pick up some habits and making them stick, I'm going to REALLY t...

PSA: I don't have affiliate / sponsored links or anything funky going on with my hyperlinks - so no worries and click away with no fear! :)  I love baby plants because they grow quickly and it's really rewarding to see them flourish in front of your eyes.  But at the same time, they're not the most robust plants out there and require a lot of attention and care. I live in USDA Zone 10B (Los Angeles), where temperatures are at least 10 degrees higher than the West Side and the dry wind blows in your face like a giant hairdryer on a triple-...

Something Green? No, not money. Ok, maybe that too, but I've decided to write in this blog on something that I'm very passionate about. Plants! From makeup to birds, to drawing to DIY.. I've had many passionate affairs with different topics over the past decades. None of them have fallen out of my interest, but bringing myself to share my interest with the world (again, after departing from makeup) was proven HARD. I guess I just felt like people would be judgy about my interests.. I'm still very insecure about what people will think of me...

Another year has flown by, and I'm scrambling to organize my thoughts on it. Hate to sound jaded and aged, but it feels like once you pass a certain age, time flies and keeping track of your life becomes overwhelming. Days start to blend, life recesses into a routine, new becomes old, and keeping track and adding meanings to events becomes a burden. And with that, excuses not to write (like me, unfortunately) keep piling. ANYWAY, that wasn't the point of firing up a post. I really want to reflect on my 2017. Overall, 2017 had a lot of up...