I started my knitting journey last May, a few months into quarantine, and fell into the niche of sock-knitting. After sharing my first few projects on Instagram, I began receiving requests from friends to knit them custom socks. I had just received a shipment of yarns in beautiful, warm autumn colors and decided it was the perfect palette for a fall sock collection. This was around the time when I began my nomad trip, so I packed a few balls of yarns with me and opened shop on the road.

One year since the pandemic started, and almost a year since I (re)started this blog. A lot has changed this year and most notably, my perspective on life and what it means to me. Taking a step back from “normalcy” has opened my eyes to what normal really should be. Like many others, I was in an endless cycle of work, social events, commitments, and arrangements. I hardly had time to breathe, but that was exciting wasn’t it?? I felt like I was doing something right since I was busy all the time. Now I realize that I was busy for the wrong reason – for others and not for myself. With everything stripped away last year, I realized how blind I’ve been to my dreams. As my personal goals have surfaced through the nothingness of the outside world, I’m busier than I ever was before. And this time, just for myself, as I’m finally heading down the path I’ve always dreamt for myself.

When people learn that I bought my first investment property in San Francisco at 23, they are often surprised and curious about how I achieved this goal at such a young age. I never gave it much thought, as I just stuck to my plan. However, I recently took the time to trace its origins. Long story short, it’s been a 5-year journey of making multiple “right” decisions that put me in a fortunate position to buy a house.

Life in our modern world is easy. We no longer worry about being preyed on by other creatures, no need to hunt and gather our food, and for most of us, we have shelter every night. Many of our “problems” are self-imposed and I don’t believe there are real issues to complain about. We are so tunneled in our vision that sometimes our problems seem inescapable, but we need only shift our perspective to see the solution. When I think of my worst-case scenario, I’m not afraid; I spend all my money, lose my house, and become homeless? Even then, there are resources to help me get back on my feet. It is not a matter of life or death, but a difference in standard of living. 

Last year, I spent negative money on clothes, accessories, electronics, and anything else that falls under “shopping”. That is not to say that I didn’t buy anything all year, but rather that my profits exceeded my expenses. Profits I earned from selling items I’ve acquired over the years and downsizing what I own. 

January

• Closed on my first home / investment property in SF! This has been a plan years in the making, so it was amazing to accomplish 😊

Here is the list (ones completed are crossed out):

After spending 2 weeks in northern Utah, I embarked on a national park tour the last week of September with a few friends. We hit all five national parks in Utah, as well as one in Nevada. I’ve detailed below a day-by-day itinerary of our schedule and activities, as a guide for anyone looking to do the same!

This past holiday weekend, I decided to make pumpkin pie as a final hurrah to the pumpkin season. Instead of making a full 9″ pie, I made little tarts so I could gift some to my friends. With smaller tarts, there was no need to blind bake the crust and it also resulted in a higher crust to filling ratio, win-win! These tarts blew away all my expectations and I’ve deemed them the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had. The silky pie filling contrasted well with the flaky butter crust, and it was lightyears beyond the drabby refrigerated pumpkin pies that we bought in previous years. Needless to say, I will be making my own pumpkin pie from now on!

My 23rd year started with a big goal to purchase a home in San Francisco. I had been planning for this milestone since I was 18, and actually predicted (or hoped) it would happen by age 22/23. By this time last year, I was deep into the house hunt and had been analyzing the market for months. Despite the winter slowdown in inventory, I pushed forward with the search and finally in late January, closed on my first duplex.