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CJ📖🦋

@cjisalwaysreading

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welcome to my digital diary🍒🦋
mood reader |📍kc | 28 | 🇵🇭
books📚lifestyle❣️nurse🩺
use code CJ10 @novel.stitches
💌: [email protected]

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besties…i wanted to introduce you to my sister under different circumstances. she was supposed to be in videos, in vlogs, doing voice overs for me, in a post dedicated to her and the person she is. unfortunately, i am introducing her to you in a way that absolute devastates me.

this is adie, or adeline joy, or to her friends “aj.” to me, she is my bub, my bubby, my first baby, my baby sister. and now she’s my angel bubby.

i briefly mentioned in my august wrap up about adie’s battle with cancer. i’m absolutely heart broken to even be writing this…but she lost her battle on saturday. she fought until the very end, our strong, brave, resilient girl.

because i never got to properly introduce her, i want to take the time to do that now. adie and i are 11 years apart. i spent the better part of my middle school, high school, and college years caring for her as her big sister, as her Ate. she is the funniest, most loving, generous, thoughtful person. she is also stubborn and she worries A LOT. she was also the SMARTEST kid, like she was in so many AP classes and dual enrolled in college, too. the most TALENTED girl, too. she led her junior high school musical “mamma mia” as sophie, her dream role. she grew up watching that movie and loving the songs with me, our mom, and lola. some of our go to karaoke songs. she got sooo many solos in choir. she was involved in alll the extra curricular activities (the ones that didn’t involve sports lol). she’s also the most beautiful girl in the world. i mean, just look at her.

speaking about her in past tense will never sit right with me, so i’m speaking about her in present tense. she is and always will be my favorite person, i think she knows that. she knows she can text me or call me or facetime me and i will always respond or answer the phone. sometimes i think she took advantage of that lol, but i’m totally okay with that.

adie, i love you. i miss you so much. a piece of me will always be missing because you brought it with you to heaven. mommy, daddy, kuya, pepper, kuya nigel, nori, isabelle and i will be okay. we will take care of each other. we’ve got all of your friends and luke, too. we love you bubs. by @cjisalwaysreading

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a month ago

if reading isn’t political, why are so many books banned?
many of those being books i grew up reading in my english and literature classes. they were books that taught me about the fundamental values of human rights.
one of those books being a series that i grew to love and cherish, the hunger games.

stories reveal who deserves safety, freedom, and dignity. and they show us who the system deems unworthy. when we root for freedom in books and side with the resistance, but ignore those values in real life, we’re not engaging critically.

this isn’t about liking the “right” books or being morally perfect. it’s about understanding that stories are shaped by real systems and history.

reading is political, whether we choose to see it or not. taken in BOOKSTA by @cjisalwaysreading

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9 months ago

hi besties!!! we’ve officially hit 500 booksta besties and i thought what fitting way to celebrate than to officially make my intro to the booksta world? this community truly makes me feel so seen and understood and i am so so thankful to have 500+ of you by my side!! so here’s just some things about me that i wanted to share🥰

#booksta #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookish #bookishcontent #meetthebookstagrammer #gettoknowme #booksbooksbooks #bibliophile #booklover #bookloversofinstagram #booklovers #bookbestie #favoritetrope #bookishtropeswelove #filipinoandproud #proudpinay by @cjisalwaysreading

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a year ago

just a little reading update for you besties: i’m reading stolen by shadows by elizabeth helen to prep for the release of the 7th and final book of the beasts of the briar series on oct 20!! i was also incredibly lucky to be given access to an eARC of the final book so that will be what i read after this🥰

shoutout to mr. cj for being my photographer today - so of course i had to feature him and the only photo he asked me to take of him this morning LOL

also can we talk about how this book matches my @novel.stitches book sleeve SO perfectly?! i’m obsessed

if you love to keep your books protected while you bring them with you everywhere, PLZ check out Michele and her business @novel.stitches !! they have so many cute designs perfect for every type of reader🫶🏼
you can use code CJ10 at checkout for some $$ off your order🤗 by @cjisalwaysreading

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6 days ago

i showed my mom this post once i finished editing it…and she said “remember when we prayed and hoped that september would be kinder to us?”

here’s to hoping that october is kind because after the month we had in september, i think my family deserves some softness, healing time, and a slow month.

i was sobbing putting this together, reminiscing on what september was. i’m going to continue to stay strong for adie and our family, it’s what she would’ve wanted. at the same time, i’m still allowing myself space to cry and be sad.

love you besties, i hope you have a beautiful october🍂🍁 taken in BOOKSTA by @cjisalwaysreading

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10 days ago

what better way to start spooky szn than with my new @novel.stitches book sleeve & a new read? this sleeve can be found on their website listed as the “Potions and Pumpkins” sleeve!! i thought the vibes matched my current read so perfectly since i’m reading the poison daughter💜🧪🖤

you can use code CJ10 at checkout for some $$ off your purchase☺️ if you’re like me and love to keep your books protected and pristine, then you’ll love their kindle and book sleeves. there are sooo many beautiful and cute designs🤭 taken in BOOKSTA by @cjisalwaysreading

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15 days ago

disclaimer: another vlog that was filmed on sept 7. my mom, cousins, and i met up before my brother’s birthday dinner at BAM to film a little, shop a little. this day is pretty special to all of us because it was one of the last days we all got to spend together as a family with my sister. we miss her everyday

my mom treated me to a copy of let’s kiss and tell by @joss.richard and my excitement at finding the last copy the store had was unmatched!! i also snagged a copy of the poison daughter which is my current read and i’m so glad i picked her up on a whim because i’m OBSESSED

if you haven’t followed my cousin @whatsjanreading plz do!!! we had so much fun hanging out and book shopping this day🫶🏼 taken in Books-A-Million by @cjisalwaysreading

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15 days ago

disclaimer: i filmed this on sept 6, about a week before my sister passed. i actually batch filmed a bit of content that day with plans of editing and posting all of that content the following week and then…ya. i don’t think i really have to explain much else🤷🏻‍♀️

thank you again to @inviwright and her team @atouchofsmut for sending me this amazing ARC of taken by the tide!! i absolutely devoured this book, as you can see, and if you haven’t picked up a copy yet please do!!! i didn’t know how much i needed a merman in my life until now🤭🙂‍↕️

i’ve also since finished my arc of vera stein is fine and LOVED every minute of that book as well!!

i loved filming this and am excited to do more reading vlogs/readathons with you besties🫶🏼 taken in BOOKSTA by @cjisalwaysreading

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17 days ago

soft launching my return to booksta with this twilight themed post to celebrate the start of hoa hoa hoa season🙂‍↕️ i know it’s not aesthetic and i literally didn’t edit any of the pictures, but i’ve gotta start somewhere🤷🏻‍♀️

it’s been a rough two weeks without my sister, but i want to come back to my safe space and share my reads and life in general with you all. i’ve missed you besties so much!! thank you for allll the kind words on my post about my sister, my family and i truly felt all the love, prayers, and support🫶🏼

last week, my bestie girl and i went to @dolcebakery for their twilight themed pop up. they have the most delicious cookies and their themed lattes were amazing, too!!

lastly, i had to share this video my sister made acting like bella. she grew up watching the movies with me and my mom, did she love them as much as us? no lol, but she always went along with us when we wanted to watch. i miss her in every moment, but i know she’d want me to keep doing what i love, even when it feels like i can’t

i will be getting back to regularly scheduled content soon, ily besties🫶🏼 by @cjisalwaysreading

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18 days ago

today, we are 3 years married. though we’ve been together for 15 years, these last 3 as a married couple have tested us like no other. we’ve endured the hardest of battles. the past two days and honestly week and a half being one of the hardest times. through it all, we’ve chosen each other every day and i’m proud of us and our strength.

as i reflect on this joyous occasion that we celebrated, it’s difficult to fathom that we are in such a different place now…3 years ago adie was still here with us - adie and i slept in the same bed the night before we got married, one more sister sleepover. she was right there with me while the girls got ready. she stood next to us as we said i do…and in that exact church we made our vows to each other, we had to say see you later to our baby sister yesterday.

our lives will never be the same without our joy, our adie joy. i was still expecting to get a text or a call from her this morning greeting us happy anniversary. i can already feel her presence as our guardian angel today. it’s been difficult to try and find the joy in celebrating our anniversary, but adie’s wrapping us in all the joy she can. we can feel it.

our family will be incomplete for now until we can reunite in heaven…and that’s something we’re going to have to learn to live with.

i’m thankful that we invested in these photos from our wedding day - i remember telling nigel that we’d justify the cost because we’d be able to show our kids these photos. and now i’m grateful because i have so many hidden moments with adie captured with the both of us that i can look back on.

today might be our anniversary, but today’s truly the first day we’re living for you, adie. ate and kuya nigel miss and love you so much. by @cjisalwaysreading

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24 days ago

‼️HELP WANTED‼️

besties it’s falltember which means i’m back in my romantasy era, my cozy fall romance era, my mystery/thriller era, and dare i say dark romance??? i LOVED my summer romance era that i was knee deep in, but now that the temperature is (slowly, but surely) starting to drop, and pumpkin spice is in full swing i’m ready to transition to fall🙂‍↕️🍂

so here is a gigantic stack of my physical tbr for the fall/winter seasons - obvi this doesn’t even include all of my anticipated releases for the rest of the year LOL ya girl is about to be booked and busy🤭

i pray the reading slump demon doesn’t come to get me again LOL but PLZ let me know what books out of this huge stack i should make a big priority!! (spoiler alert: i already started love hypothesis by ms ali hazelwood because i’m so excited for the movie🤭) taken in Bookish by @cjisalwaysreading

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a month ago

Episode 2 of trying a new coffee shop in my area & scoping out the reading vibes🤭

I filmed this a couple of weeks ago (i’m so behind on content😅) so I’ve since finished Revolve (4🌟) and Yes Chef (4🌟)!

On today’s episode we visited @apogeekansascity coffee and draft located in Olathe, KS. I got my usual, a honey cinnamon latte and it was delicious! I also ended up getting a pizza and that was so good, too! I can never resist a pizza, so when I saw that they sold pizza I knew I would be ordering one LOL. This coffee shop was actually connected to a rock climbing place which was unique to see.

If you’re ever in the Olathe area, I definitely recommend trying out Apogee!! The reading vibes/overall vibes in general were amazing. The staff were so nice (especially considering they opened their kitchen a little early for me😅). taken in Olathe, Kansas by @cjisalwaysreading

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a month ago