– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Hi my loves. Welcome back to Lavendaire.

It's spring, it's my favorite time of year.

And I just wanted to capture my life lately

and share a little behind the scenes

of what I've been up to.

I'm starting my day with a little kitchen reset,

just putting away all of our clean dishes.

This is basically my daily life.

I do a little bit of tidying each day.

Sometimes it's tedious but at the same time

I get so much joy and satisfaction

from having a clear and organized space.

So it's important for me.

Next, I'm making Togi's food.

I've been trying to feed him healthier meals

with more whole foods and alternating

between different proteins  and ingredients each meal.

Today we're doing some chicken ,rice, carrots,

Greek yogurt and mixing it in with his kibble.

Now to make myself something.

Today I have some time to make  a batch of kale bean salad.

I was inspired by Violet Witchell on Instagram

to start making dense bean salads.

They're basically protein rich salads that

you can make a big batch of  and eat throughout the week.

It's a great way to get in your veggies

and have a healthy side always on hand.

Today I'm adding chopped kale,

great northern beans, cucumbers,

roasted red peppers, pickled onions

and mini mozzarella balls.

For the dressing I'm doing olive oil,

red wine vinegar, juice of half a lemon,

dijon mustard, agave, some kosher salt

thyme and rosemary.

Mix it into the salad.

And then I'm serving it with

some grilled chicken breast that I made yesterday.

After eating, I'm packing the rest of the salad

so I can have it throughout the week.

This makes it easier to prepare my other meals

and saves some time.

Hello my loves. So it is spring over here.

The weather's been beautiful,

the hills are green, the cows are out.

Yes, I feel like one of my biggest luxuries

and biggest flexes in life is that

from my backyard I can see nature.

And I can see cows roaming and eating grass.

So anyway, I wanted to do a  little vlog before my big trip.

So tomorrow, I'm actually going to Coachella.

But the day after I come back from Coachella,

I'm going to go to Korea and China for a month.

So Korea I'm going with my girlfriends.

It's just going to be fun, shopping, skincare.

And then I'm going to China.

I'm doing some solo parts by myself.

So like maybe a week and a half is a solo trip.

And then I'm going to connect with my dad

and see some family in Shanghai

which I haven't seen them  since 2019 and some 2018.

So it's been many many years. So yeah.

I'm doing kind of like a revisiting

and reconnecting with my ancestry.

And I'll talk a little bit  more about that trip later.

I'll pack later tonight.

But in about 30 minutes,

my friend Mei is coming over

and we're going to do a photo shoot

for her new beverage brand.

I'm super excited because

she is like a lawyer turned entrepreneur and

I think she has just the coolest story

and I'm so proud of her for  like starting this new brand

and we're just going to take  some photos of her products.

I am actually really excited  to just be a photographer

because I have so much fun like art directing

and just being the creative.

There's just so much that I  want to share with you guys

and I really haven't found the  time to turn it into content.

So I thought a vlog would probably be the best way

cuz in the past couple weeks,

life has been pretty dramatic and I just feel like

there's a lot of lessons that  I want to share around it.

But I'll get to it later.

Let's get some work done first.

Quick plug if you haven't checked out my podcast,

The Lavendaire Lifestyle check it out.

I'll link it down below but  today I'm recording an intro

for a bonus episode and I have a new miniseries

called Dear Aileen that I'm going to test.

So I don't know, I was going to shoot it today

but I might end up shooting it tomorrow.

That's life. I'm always pushing back content.

Hello. Are you excited? Yes. Okay.

So this is really, this is how  you can create the smooth look.

Yeah these ones. I think  you basically go like this.

Oh yeah. Perfect. Oh this is good.

It just gives a little extra oomph.

I don't know if it's bright  enough for like the flowers.

Yeah I think it's better with the color on top.

These are product photos like yeah shop. For sure.

And then a horizontal photo,  like a horizontal photo

and then the individual cube.

Oh you're so cute.

Mei came with some example photos

she wanted to do and I was a  little uncertain we can pull it off

since I didn't have studio  lighting like her examples

but like with any creative  process we figured it out

and found our flow as we went on.

Maybe we do the flower there.

Or do you have more flower?

Okay fine you can come here, sit here.

Togi come here. You can go back.

We are chasing the light.

Since we are shooting with natural light

I kept having to move our setup to chase the light

as the sun was setting.

What a cute flower thing.

I'm just trying to get it right you know.

There's a potential. Do you see the potential?

Oh I see the potential.

I think it's cuz it's like  too messy. Is it the blocks?

We moved upstairs for the flatlay

since it was brighter in my office.

I was much happier with the lighting here.

And eventually, we got some really great shots

and had a lot of fun.

Oh this kind of looks weird too though.

Yeah yeah but what if I go in the back.

Yeah yeah I mean this way is definitely easier.

Okay so Mei just left.

We took Togi on a walk and had  dinner and then cleaned up.

We basically did like a three-hour photo shoot

and in the end it was so much fun.

I just have a lot of fun being a creative.

And when I get in the flow,

I'm just like I just keep wanting to continue.

It's almost like we were done  getting all the shots we needed.

But at the end I just like:

"Oh let's try this let's try this."

So I had a lot of fun.

Now I'm going to look through her photos

and pick my favorites help her edit a little bit

and then I'm going to see if I  could get some packing done tonight.

All right. It's the next day because last night

after editing photos I was exhausted and so

I couldn't vlog and it was  too late anyway to vlog.

But I just wanted to catch  you guys up on the big trip

that I'm taking and life as of now.

Like I mentioned I'm going to be traveling

for a whole month to Korea and China.

Korea with friends and then a little solo time

for myself traveling and writing.

And I'm going to spend time with my dad in

Shanghai who I have not seen since 2019.

It's been a long time.

I already know that's going to be a very emotional

and healing type of trip.

But yeah I guess I don't know until I get there

and we'll see how it changes my life.

I feel like every time I see him and we reconnect,

it always shifts something in me.

Because it's growing up, you know.

I've always had that  interesting type of relationship

where I only see my dad every few years.

So there's a lot of things left unsaid

and there's a lot of things that want to come out

when you do see each other.

But yeah it's I definitely  feel like I'm in a new era

like I'm going as my adult self.

In short my relationship with my dad

has given me the most pain but also the medium

to find the most healing in my life.

And that's where a lot of my story

and a lot of my healing videos kind of stem from.

Like that that story of my childhood.

I told the story in a couple of my older videos.

I'll link them below.

Like story of my 20s or my  self-love self-worth journey.

But anyway, another thing that I'm excited to do

when I go to Shanghai is,

I have a grandma who's still  alive but she has Alzheimer's.

So I'm definitely gonna see her  even if she doesn't remember me.

I'm going to cry okay.

Like I said it's going to be an emotional trip.

I am basically doing a week and a half solo.

So part of my solo trip I'm going  to go to two cities in China.

One is called Suzhou, one is called Wuxi.

And the reason I'm going there, not only are they

like beautiful cities with a lot of sightseeing.

But those are the two cities

where my grandparents are from.

My grandpa's from Wuxi, my grandma's from Suzhou.

And so I want to just go there

and just reconnect you know.

Like my grandpa's not here anymore.

So I'm going to visit his grave.

My grandma's still here, I will try to see her.

But I also just like you know  I just want to reconnect.

And I have so many questions for my dad.

Because I don't get the  opportunity to ask questions

and I just realize we're getting older and older.

And there's there's so much that I have to ask.

So much that I want to know about my family

and so that's kind of what I'm doing.

I'm also about to start my period

so this is why I'm emotional.

So yeah, that's why the first part of my trip

is going to be fun social connecting with friends.

Also very special because in my 30s,

with my friends, some of them are moms

it's so hard to like get together

and make time to actually  travel somewhere together.

So this is an epic trip  that I'm super excited for.

And then the second part of my trip

is going to be a lot of reflection a lot of

solo time, writing hopefully.

And then healing or whatever.

Just connecting with family  and seeing what comes of that.

The past couple weeks have  also been kind of dramatic

in our lives and it's really given Wilson and I

a deeper perspective on  life and what truly matters.

So about a couple weeks ago,

Wilson and I went to Vegas.

It was a 4-day golf trip that he planned

with two other friends.

And one is his business partner,

another one is like a older  friend from his golf club.

And long story short,

while we were at our first dinner

like the first night in Vegas,

one of the friends, the oldest  one started feeling unwell.

And it became this whole thing where

we had to call the ambulance  paramedics or whatever.

And they took him to the hospital.

Basically we found out that

he had a heart attack at the restaurant

and luckily we were in a Vegas hotel where

they had medical people on site.

They could take him to the hospital like

he was attended pretty quickly I would say.

And he was able to have surgery

2 days after he got into the hospital.

But we learned after the  fact that his heart attack

is called the widowmaker heart attack

which means that it's like  one of the biggest arteries to

you know bring blood to your heart

and with that type of heart attack

if you're not in the hospital within 90 minutes,

you have like a 10% chance of survival.

Something crazy like that.

And so luckily he's doing fine

and so it was like a very dramatic

kind of wakeup call.

But also like just gratitude of life.

Like we're so happy that  everything worked out okay.

We just felt really lucky that

all the circumstances around the situation

made it work out.

Because if anything was different,

it could have easily gone the other way, right?

He could have easily not survived

if it happened on the way to Vegas

where you're in the desert with no one around you.

Or you know, because he's older

his English is not good he only speaks Chinese.

If he didn't have Wilson and his friend James

doing the translation, working the doctors,

calling our doctor friends and this and that,

they would have had a harder time managing that.

Basically it was a lot of things but at the end,

we're we're just very grateful for life.

The second part of this dramatic story is

literally one week after this incident happened,

Wilson had another friend from his golf club.

Like someone that he chats with in his group chats

like just one of his friends  that he knows pretty well,

he basically passed suddenly this past weekend.

So it's it's been like, I don't know a few days.

And Wilson was in shock. He's processing.

All his friends are grieving and

they're still not sure what it was it happened.

Either in his sleep or something at night.

It may have also been a heart thing.

Anyway we don't know but he was young

he was like 45 I think.

So it's just two people that we know in our lives

where something scary health related happened to.

And what's also ironic is like these two people

that this happened to are like literally

two of the most successful or  wealthy people that we know.

You know and it really puts into  perspective a lot of things.

Like you can have so much money in the world,

you can have this and that  but it really doesn't matter

if you don't have your health.

It's also just a reminder that life is short.

So there's no promise that you  and I will be here tomorrow.

Or if our loved ones will be here tomorrow.

Or the day after.

So really live your life the way you want it,

make the most of it, right?

If there's something you want to do, go do it.

Don't waste your entire life sacrificing

and overworking yourself  or overstressing yourself.

It's not worth it because  there's so much life to be lived.

Like yes, do the thing, right?

If you have a goal, if you have a career,

if you want to work, do it.

But know what matters to you in life.

Know what your priorities and your values are.

And make sure you're living aligned to that.

And so that's why I'm also excited  to just embark on this trip.

Because it gives me an opportunity to spend time

with my friends and reconnect  with my family which is

really important to me.

Like I can be a really busy person,

I have so much on my plate.

I have endless to-do list.

And it's like I can continue going on and on.

And sometimes as an entrepreneur,  or a content creator,

you literally feel like you're not doing enough.

You could be doing more.

You see someone else online.

Oh they're so successful.

Oh they're making so much content.

Or they're coming out with  these new products or whatever.

And you feel a little bit like you're behind.

And then you're like:

Oh maybe I should work more.

Maybe I should focus more.

And do this and whatever which is fine.

If you have the drive, right?

But also don't forget everything else in life

that you are leaving behind or sacrificing

if you are, you know spending  too much time on one thing.

So although I have a lot of unfinished tasks

on my to-do list, a lot of  videos that I wanted to do,

wanted to make for you guys but  haven't been able, to I'm still okay.

Because I am spending my time

on the things that really matter to me.

And it's okay to not be the best

and go be super perfect and  super productive all the time.

It really is okay to devote your time

and energy to those areas  of life that matter to you.

Even if it doesn't show on the outside.

Work will always be here.

It will always be there  when you're ready to do it.

I don't know if some people will always be there.

Especially if you have aging parents

or I don't know you just  never know in life, right?

So if there are people that  you want to say something to.

That you want to reconnect  with, make time to go do it.

You know how I talk about how life has seasons.

There's ups and downs.

There's winters and summers and springs.

And I sometimes yes, your  life is one of those things.

But sometimes I feel like your life

can be multiple of those  things at the same time, right?

Like you can be in a winter in one  area and a summer in another area.

At the same time in your life.

And there's just all these,

I don't know life is just  like a chaotic beautiful mess.

On that topic have you guys watched

When Life Gives You Tangerines?

It's on Netflix. It's the best Kdrama ever.

It will make you cry.

Every single episode, I loved it so much.

I'm sure a lot of people  watched it, it's super popular.

But if you haven't seen it I  recommend you watch it because

it's just the human experience.

It's so moving and the two lead actors,

IU, Park Bo-gum, two of my favorite people

in just the K entertainment.

It just really puts into perspective

the ups and downs of life.

How life can have beautiful celebratory moments

and then really tough rock bottom moments.

But at the end of the day, all of it is beautiful.

And what's most beautiful really

is the love is the connection

between the family, the people,

the stories of their lives

and because their stories are so crazy,

it makes you like really love them and

really proud of them.

So why am I getting emotional?

Literally I sobbed so hard  to some of those episodes.

It's very healing like just watching what happens.

And crying it out makes you  feel like you're healing

your own childhood traumas  and your own family stories.

The point I want to make is this show really

drives down the point that your life is beautiful

not because it's perfect and not because

everything went exactly the way you wanted it to,

but your life is beautiful because of everything

that you experienced and  everything you went through.

And who you became in the end.

That's why we have those ups  and downs, rock bottom moments.

It's not always going up,

sometimes it's going down and sometimes

it's going up and down at the same time, right?

Sometimes you're in a summer  and a winter at the same time.

A spring and a fall.

And that is just what's so  interesting about this experience.

That's all I can say.

All right I guess I'll leave it at that.

I'm going to get to packing  driving to Coachella tonight.

Sending you all lots of love.

Do you want to say something Wilson?

Sending you lots of love.

Stay tuned for more videos from this channel.

But please don't leave if it's been a while

because I might be a little bit more sporadic

with posting for the next month and a halfish.

But I will be here.

I have a lot of plans, a lot of new content

I want to make and I'm still  chugging along on those big projects:

the book and the app.

So I'll keep you guys updated when I have updates.

All right my loves. Bye

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - an intense feeling of affection verb - to feel deep affection for
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - the indefinite continued progress of existence verb - plan when (something) should happen
food /fuːd/ A1	noun - any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink
friend /frend/ A1	noun - a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection
family /ˈfæməli/ A2	noun - a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household
clean /kliːn/ A2	adjective - free from dirt, marks, or stains verb - make (something or someone) free of dirt, marks, or stains
work /wɜːrk/ A2	noun - activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result verb - be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a purpose or result
big /bɪɡ/ A1	adjective - of considerable size, extent, or intensity
solo /ˈsoʊloʊ/ B1	adjective - done by one person alone; unaccompanied
healthy /ˈhelθi/ B1	adjective - in good health
photo /ˈfoʊtoʊ/ B1	noun - a photograph
emotional /ɪˈmoʊʃənəl/ B2	adjective - relating to a person's emotions
grateful /ˈɡreɪtfəl/ B2	adjective - feeling or expressing gratitude; thankful
potential /pəˈtenʃəl/ C1	noun - latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness