♡ lately lovings | spring 2025

We've reached the middle of the summer, can you believe that? Coming off of my previous post, I thought I'd do a little recap and discuss some things that I have been loving lately. 

MUSIC

I've been rotating between two artists in particular as of late. When it comes to music, I tend to listen to the same track (or more) until I get tired of it and find something else. And this spring, I've been oscillating between Alexandra Savior and Dhani Harrison. 

The two albums I've had on repeat.
Alexandra Savior // Beneath the Lilypad
Dhani Harrison // Innerstanding

In May, Alexandra Savior released her third album, Beneath the Lilypad. I've been listening to her music for many years, discovering her around 2021/2022. When her lead single, Unforgivable, dropped, I was ecstatic to finally have new music from her after five years since her last album. She also released a second single, The Mothership, which has come to be my favorite song of the year. 

Beneath the Lilypad is a gorgeous record. It's dark and almost gothic, but in the midst of it all is a beautiful story of love and recovery. It's definitely my favorite record of 2025 thus far. Featured some of my favorite tracks below that I highly encourage you to listen to!

The Mothership

Hark!

The Harvest is Thoughtless 

Venus

Let Me Out 

Goodbye, Old Friend

I also have been really loving Dhani Harrison's music lately. As a longtime Beatles fan, I was aware of Dhani as an artist. It was in 2017 that he made his solo debut with IN///PARALLEL. I remember being 17, listening to the album track-by-track as I sat in the halls between classes. There was just something about his music that made an impression on me at that age. It's cinematic, haunting, eerie, but also very beautiful. 

For many years, I waited for the release of new music. Then finally, in 2023, came Innerstanding. I remember counting down the days until October 20th, finally listening to the entire thing on my way home from work. Right now, I really like these two in particular from Innerstanding, which also happen to be the two tracks that I fell in love with upon first listen:

Ahoy There!

Right Side of History

And from IN//PARALLEL, I've been digging these tracks:

Admiral of Upside Down

All About Waiting

Summertime Police

Besides music, I did get a few records as well this spring. Will make a separate post about that! 

BOOKS

I've been in a bit of a reading slump ever since graduating uni. A goal I have for the summer is to read more books. I have a tendency to start a book, then leave it for weeks and forget about it. A bad habit for someone who gets distracted a lot. 

So, what have I read (or am still reading) this spring? Quite a bit, and I'm proud! Here's a selection of books. 

Top, left to right: The Guest by Emma Cline, Brotherhood by Mike Chen.
Bottom, left to right: The Story of More by Hope Jahren, The Position of Spoons by Deborah Levy. 

I also have some hobbies that I'd like to pick up and am doing a little research on. I'm looking to make my own coffee mug out of ceramic clay, and I'm doing a lot of research on pottery to prepare. Another thing I've been looking to improve is typesetting, so I've also picked up some books about that.

I have some thoughts on the books I've read, but I don't want this to be longer than it needs to be. I'll leave the book thoughts for a future post!

FILM & TELEVISION

This spring has mostly consisted of rewatches, both on the big and small screen. 

• Daredevil: Born Again — First premiered in March. My god, this show broke my heart. I love the original show and it was so good to see it come back (my boy Matt can't ever catch a break). I didn't think it was going to be so graphic (because it's Disney™ after all), but I was proven wrong. I'm so excited for season 2!
• The Last of Us — The new season came out in April. I'm a little behind on the series. I'm still mentally stuck on episode two, and I can't move on (Joel... 😭).
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — In May, I rewatched one of my favorite shows ever. Like with Once Upon A Time, I cried so much at almost every scene. I've paused at season 6, as it's not really my favorite season. I don't know why it takes me so long to get through that season. But I love the show still! 
• Phineas and Ferb — For nostalgia's sake. I loved this show so much growing up.

A picture I managed to snap. It's so sweet to
see Hayden get all the love he deserves ♡

I also went to see the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith at the movies the same week that I graduated (was this a sign?). I came in late to the Star Wars fandom (I first saw the movies back in 2023), and it was just incredible to see Episode III on the big screen after only seeing it on my laptop. I loved Hayden's little message before the movie started; it made me tear up a little. And speaking of tears, I did end up crying during Obi-Wan's speech to Anakin right before he got burned. The enormity of it all, seeing the film at that scale coupled with the score, really made me emotional. Seeing this movie was definitely the highlight of April for me!

That's all I've got for now. To end this very long post, I'm curious to know...

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN LOVING LATELY?

♡

♡ happenings

The fireworks from New Year's.
(I'm aware it's June)

It's been a minute since I've been here. Last I wrote here was in the spring of 2024. I look back at the posts I was writing, looking for the commonality between them. A lot of the time I worried about things—uni, work, creativity. Now, I feel like the list of worries has shrunk, at least by a little. Lots has happened since the last time I took the time to write. 

April saw the end of my studies (at long last!). It was such a surreal feeling to graduate. To finally pass. The thesis was, for a long time, a source of anxiety and frustration for me. There was always "something" that needed to be changed, something to be added. Before I had realised it, the thesis work had occupied all of spring last year. I came to the conclusion that I couldn't finish my degree in time. 

So, I decided to work on it in the fall instead. I know that my study methods aren't the best (they probably never have been), but I was so hellbent on doing this that I powered through the best I could. All the tears, all the frustrations. 

I came to the thesis defence at the end of last year in early December. A day I can barely recall now, but I remember the grade and the feeling that came along with it. A passing grade, the first step in the right direction. But even though one step was completed, there were still things to be done to my thesis. I worked on it all through the New Year and finally finished my draft, losing sleep but at long last finished. This is okay. I've done the best I can, I thought. The worst that could happen (and it did ultimately happen) was that I'd have to redo it, but even then I'd be given the chance to work on it further. I didn't pass in January, but I had a second chance in March to make all the changes. 

A few spring polaroids I took a while back.

Then came March. My friend and I stayed up late the night before the thesis was due, going through it section by section to make sure it was perfect. I submitted it, feeling a small weight lift off my shoulders. There wasn't more I could do now besides wait. In the meantime, I worked on another assignment that I had to redo. 

Time went on. One day, I was at work, noticing a lot of things. Purple to me is a very lucky colour. Good always comes whenever I see it. And so when three people wore something purple on three separate occasions during my shift, I couldn't help but take that as a sign. I found out later that good did happen. I saw something on my phone that I never thought would happen. 

My thesis had passed. 

Eventually my other assignment would pass too. 

And in April, I finally had a degree in hand. 

It feels so surreal now to say that I've graduated. For as long as I can remember, I've always referred to myself as a student. Now that it's over, I feel... empty? I can't explain it. When you define yourself as something for so long and then that definition leaves you, what else is there? 

I'm happy that I finally have a degree. I can look for full-time jobs, but there's a whole new set of challenges now. I'm applying for every librarian position I can find, but it's hard. Rejections and no interviews are commonplace now. I'm happy to at least have this job, even if the hours are few. There will be more in the future. I just need to have some trust.  

♡