WHITE RABBIT MOONLIGHT SOCIETY QUARTERLY ☼ vol. 2

It is still technically the second quarter of the year so I haven't missed the deadline yet. Originally, I naively thought I could aim for monthly updates, but now I think quarterly is a bit more realistic.

I have been making stuff since the last update. Not consistently, but regularly. I've actually made a lot of stuff for work. I'm not in an artistic field, but I volunteer for different committees and initiatives and kinda force my artwork onto them. However, I'd like to keep that separate from my hobbies online, so I won't share that here.

Otherwise I've just been having fun by going with whatever creative impulse strikes me at the moment. For a while it was crocheting, and then baking, and now I'm back to playing around in my sketchbook. I spend a lot of my time outdoors now that it's so hot out and I can easily bring my sketchbook along. I cannot deny my Leo nature, the sun rejuvenates me!

I've also been going to various workshops with crafty friends. I like workshops because they let you play around with different materials and media that you don't normally have access to. This is ideal as someone who likes to try a little bit of everything but really does not have enough space and/or money to start yet another hobby. 

I've crocheted a bunch of practical items: more book sleeves (for friends), a banana hammock, and a stuffed animal net for my ever-growing collection. I do have vague plans to crochet some net tote bags and waterbottle holders, but I think my crocheting season is finished for the year. It will resume once the weather starts to get colder and I stay inside again.

And even though I just said I cannot afford to start new hobbies and buy more materials, I bought acrylic markers! They've been my most recent tools of choice because they're just so fun. I am such a lazy painter in that I hate the set-up and set-down that comes with painting. These markers are super convenient and I love the bright colours. Colour theory has always been a weakness of mine, so this is forcing me to experiment with a more limited palette.

And I've always found this to be true: the more you create, the more creative you become. Intentionally creating makes you start to see the world in a new way. I'm excited to see where the second half of the year takes me.

WHITE RABBIT MOONLIGHT SOCIETY QUARTERLY ☼ vol. 1

Welcome to a new series, created with good intentions and not a lot of thought. But I thought this space could start to function a bit more like an actual blog.

For a while, it has been intermittently updated with mainly travel, sometimes art (and crafts), and rarely something personal. And I think I would like to keep it impersonal because the internet is a scary place. But as I resolved at the end of 2025, I think it's important to have a somewhat independent space to make and share art.

I'm going to use this series to share the various creative things I am working on.

To start off the new year, I spent most of the weekend decluttering and reorganizing my 'studio'. (That's a play on words because my art studio is really just my studio apartment.) I've accumulated a lot of art supplies throughout my lifetime. It is my main hobby and I enjoy playing around with so many different media, but it makes me uneasy when I have a lot of stuff sitting around my apartment. I don't have enough storage space for that.

On the other hand, sorting through all of these materials inspired me to restart a few half-finished projects I'd forgotten about.

I have a lot of things I wanted to crochet last year, but that fell to the wayside once the weather got warm and I refused to stay inside. Then I crammed a bunch of crafting in December for Christmas gifts. Now that the holidays are over, I am slowly working through my crochet list. I am starting off with a practical love letter book sleeve so I can carry my books around without them getting damaged. But I ran out of white yarn so it ended up being too small for my current book.

I also have quite the stationery collection, which only grew with my most recent trip to Japan. There are so many high quality stationery goods in Japan, but I get overwhelmed by choice so I ended up purchasing brands I was already familiar with. Below is the Hobonichi Weeks and A6 blank Midori I started this year. This is my first time trying the Hobonichi weekly planner and I am loving it, it has a lot of fun themed pages. I am using my Midori as a catch-all for notes and brainstorming and I covered it with a pink paper book sleeve I also got in Japan.

The year just started so I don't have much else to share. I also don't know how often I'll update this series. Stay tuned, I suppose.

2025 in Review

Nighttime in Sapporo

I ended 2024 with quite a bit of uncertainty, although that was a conscious choice on my part. I'm happy to say that things unfolded rather nicely in 2025. This was perhaps mostly out of luck.

My personal highlights include:

1. Planned a successful family trip.
2. Reunion in Japan with two of my best friends, 10 years after our first trip together.
3. Went to Europe for a scientific conference.
4. In fact, I just straight up travelled a lot, including solo travelling to 3 different countries!
5. Got the job!
6. Learned a new skill (crocheting).
7. Achieved my humble reading goal of 12 books in one year.
8. Made a good chunk of art, and now awareness of my "commissions" is spreading through word-of-mouth.
9. Unintentionally established a monthly dinner club with new(er) friends.
10. And strengthened old(er) friendships.

My plans for the new year include more of the same as last year. Which I suppose means I am either heading in the right direction or becoming stagnant.

Every year, one of my overarching goals is to create more and more. I don't think I am saying anything particularly radical when I gripe about the current state of the internet, social media, etc. I am sick of ads and websites that prioritize ads rather than actual human connection and expression.

I used to love the creativity that came with personal websites. The first website I "customized" was a Neopets Petpage. Eventually I learned more HTML and moved onto my own website with pixel art "adoptables" and a guestbook. And I think I want to go back to something like that: a creative space to customize as I want.

I will start with this blog.

DIY Beeswax Wraps! Part Deux 🐝

We're at that point where I need to re-wax my wraps. Actually, we've been at this point for a while, but I didn't have any beeswax handy and I was feeling a bit lazy. I've gradually picked up additional fabrics specifically for this project because a few of my wraps have disappeared over the years from lending it out to friends and family. Also some of these fabric designs are just too cute.

Now that my beeswax wraps are functional again, I find myself using them all the time. I like that I can mold the shape to cover up any half-cut fruit or vegetables I end up with (which happens a lot since I'm usually cooking for one). The bigger wraps are useful for sandwiches and cake because they have a little more structure than plastic wrap. And I guess they're probably better for the environment.

I used the lessons I learned from the first time I made beeswax wraps: I got some yellow fabric, I used my nonna's pinking shears, and I ended up using the oven instead of the ironing board for this batch. Well, that last one was because I no longer have easy access to an iron. The oven takes more time but it was effective.

Next time I'll just buy beeswax beads instead of getting a bar and grating it. That was actually the main reason it took me so long to make some more wraps.

MIND THE GAP

My mom has been a certified Angliophile for as long as I've known her. I grew up with her faithful watching of the latest Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and EastEnders. We'd have a full English breakfast on special weekends, complete with beans on toast. She keeps up-to-date on the Royal family and actually got up early to watch the King's Coronation. She has basically been preparing for this trip her whole life.

I haven't travelled with my family for almost 20 years. The biggest trip we've ever taken was to Italy more than 25 years ago, when I was a child and therefore did not help with planning anything. This time, I offered to plan this trip to lower my parents' stress. I told my mom to just tell me what she wanted and I'd make it happen.

Our itinerary consisted of:

• Museums and galleries
• Castles
• A giant Ferris wheel
• Walking along the Thames
• And eating traditional British fare

The National Gallery

I'm thankful that pretty much all of the museums and galleries were free. We went to so many that it’s hard to choose a personal favourite, but the National Gallery is definitely up there. I went in without having done much research beforehand, yet seemed to stumble upon a famous art piece with every turn.

Natural History Museum

We managed to squeeze in the Natural History Museum on our last day and I'm really glad we did. The blue whale skeleton at the entrance was stunning. I couldn't resist buying "On the Origin of Species" from the giftshop - science is a subject that will always have a special place in my heart. I studied life sciences in university so you can bet we learned all about evolution in introductory biology.

Although I try to keep my personal book collection relatively minimal, I ended up buying 4 books in total on this trip. I also bought gorgeous hardcover editions of "Watership Down" and "The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes", and a small book on V&A patterns. I thought so many of the V&A patterns were beautiful and wanted to remember them in some way, but I also didn't want yet another tote bag. I have somehow managed to accumulate way more tote bags than one person would theoretically need in their lifetime.

Victoria and Albert Museum

The V&A was a museum where we ended up spending way more time than anticipated. In my opinion, the website does not do a good idea advertising exactly what it contains. It's a large museum with so much to see that most people seem to tire themselves out on the first two floors - the upper floors were relatively quiet and peaceful as a result. The statues were my personal favourite. I was surprised by how enormous David is in real life.

The British Museum

However, we spent the most time in the British Museum: approximately 6 hours in total. I gave myself a personal mission to find all the artifacts that are also in Animal Crossing. We did have a break halfway through our visit with afternoon tea at the museum and it was so good! I discovered I really enjoy clotted cream on scones. I've had afternoon tea before (in Canada), and while it's pretty good, this was definitely superior.

There is so much to see in London that we filled up our days easily. Initially I had wanted to plan a few different daytrips out of London, but in the end my family decided to take it easy with a more relaxed pace. However, I did manage to successfully negotiate a half-day trip out to Windsor.

Clotted Cream Ice Cream at Windsor Castle

While I am not particularly interested in the Royal family, I often hear about them because I am a citizen of the English-speaking world. One of my friends recommended going for a tour of Windsor Castle instead of Buckingham Palace and I'm glad I took her advice. The State Apartments are grandiose and stunning, and I particularly liked the Moat Garden.

Buckingham Palace

Wellington Barracks

Of course, we still visited Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. We knew it’d be super crowded right at the palace gates so we decided to watch the new guards getting ready at Wellington Barracks. They played "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" and "Sweet Child O' Mine".

Twin Flake 99 at St. James's Park

Then we wandered back to St. James's Park. It was such a beautiful, sunny day so we wandered around eating ice cream and watching ducks. Actually, it was sunny with blue skies for pretty much our entire trip. The guys who sold me ice cream told me to enjoy this weather because it's not usually like this - I guess we brought the sunshine to London. ☼

The London Eye

The one day that was cloudy was the day we went on the London Eye, but I think that worked out for the best so we wouldn’t be roasting in a glass pod. I had actually deliberated for a while if I should book tickets because they are pretty expensive and I heard the queue could be up to an hour on a busy day - even with pre-purchased timed tickets! But I personally love Ferris wheels and this particular one was on my bucket list. In the end, I'm glad I forked over the money because apparently my dad also loves Ferris wheels and this became the highlight of the trip for him.

Tower of London

We also decided to go for a tour of the Tower of London. The tour was led by a Yeoman Warder (or "beefeater") that liked to tease the American tourists. Canadians remained largely ignored, which I am absolutely fine with because I prefer laying low.

Sky Garden

Another highlight for me was Sunrise at Sky Garden. Basically you get to enter early for a breakfast consisting of a pastry and coffee. But the real appeal was that you can take your time looking out onto the city with a lot less people invading your personal space. (It got very, very crowded once it was officially opened to everyone.) It was so beautiful with the sunlight streaming through.

Notting Hill

My preparation for this trip involved studying British media. I watched Notting Hill for the first time and suddenly understood the appeal of young Hugh Grant, so of course we had to find that iconic blue door! My mom especially loved looking at the colourful houses of Notting Hill.

I'm glad we went to Portobello right at opening because it was crowded by the time we left. Most of the markets were pretty darn crowded. We only had one (known) pickpocketing attempt, but thankfully we came out unscathed. Anyway, turns out thrifting for antiques isn't really of interest to me or my mom, but we got some coffee and souvenirs. Oh, and I bought a tote bag.

Holland Park

We made sure to eat all the classic British food, like a full English breakfast, fish 'n' chips, and a Sunday roast. But we also enjoyed the simpler things: a Ploughman's sandwich while enjoying the tulips in Holland Park, sausage rolls in the ultra crowded Covent Garden, and cheese and onion crisps while strolling along the Jubilee Walkway. I will especially miss the Percy Pigs.

St. Dunstan-in-the-East

Lessons from exploring London:

• Book everything early. I planned very far ahead and booked most things 1-1.5 months ahead of time, but some timeslots were already filled up by then. I would have booked things even earlier if I had gotten sooner confirmation from my family!
• The Tube is incredibly easy to navigate, but avoid rush hour (like most cities). 
• I highly recommend the Citymapper app. It's way better than Google Maps for planning transportation and will even tell you which train cars are busiest (eg. go to the middle car or to the end).
• Everything in London is stupidly expensive, so make use of the free things. I basically doubled the price to get a rough estimate in CAD.
• Toronto now feels like a poor mimicry of London.

I guess the hallmark of a successful trip is when someone immediately starts planning the next trip as soon as they get back. Which is what both my parents ended up doing. I'm glad to see my efforts were appreciated!