2025: Year in Review
That was one hell of a long year. I lived several lifetimes, maybe because I was awake for way more of it than I would’ve liked to be. Let’s start at the beginning.
2025 BC (Before Child)
Pregnancy was an entire journey in physical form and spirit. Endless waiting, anticipating, worrying, preparing while my favorite things to do were put on hold (traveling, shopping, intense workouts). All I could do was sit at my desk and wrap up my old life. I completed unfinished long-term personal projects (videos, blog posts, etc). I spent time reading and researching what to expect during pregnancy, how to give birth, breastfeed, care for a newborn, and raise a child. I cleaned the house, got rid of our old things, and accumulated baby gear.
Work wasn’t the most inspiring as I found myself onboarding onto yet another new team, and getting caught up in politics instead of actually doing my job description. I had some incredibly busy weeks gearing up for what felt like debate club as I entered my third trimester of pregnancy.
Pregnancy was a time where the world around me was more excited than I was. (“Wow, you’re glowing!”) Everyone was excited about the arrival of a new baby, but all I could think about was everything that could go wrong. I took on the pressure of doing everything perfectly to ensure this kid came into the world healthy so I wouldn’t let everyone down. The last month leading up to the due date was the first time my heart trembled with both terror and joy. It was the most nerve-wracking countdown of my life. Instead of anticipating how life would change after baby arrived, I mentally prepared for the sole act of giving birth. It was a battle I could only fight myself, and it felt lonely.
2025 AD (After Daughter)
Suffice to say, BC me was nowhere prepared for AD me. During pregnancy my body held the baby; it was all about my health. Postpartum, I became last priority. My body became an all-you-can-eat cafeteria, a portable vehicle and bed. My instincts were to take care of the baby first and foremost, and only worry about myself if there was time. When she cried, I’d jump out of my seat to feed her before eating my meal. Stuck at home, I spent all my late night nursing hours Googling “is ___ normal?” and panic shopping for baby things. The newborn era was the hardest month of my life, with colic, baby blues, and those goddamn hormones that made every waking minute highly emotional, and usually irrational.
Becoming a first time parent humbles you like no other, because you realize nothing you learned before birth was substantial because it wasn’t put into practice. Since I’ve never spent much time around babies (most young people don’t get to nowadays) I had zero idea the amount of work required. As a new mother, I finally understand the sacrifices women of the world have made to keep humanity going. Every single aspect of my life has changed, while Simon gets to live the same life while showing off his new baby to other people.
But it got better, like all things do. When the hormones subsided and my body healed (around two months postpartum), I slowly found time to do the things that make me feel like myself again: photography, writing, reading, learning, planning, working out. And then when baby started sleeping through the night and napping independently, my energy and time fully rebounded. During the last three months of the year, I got to actually enjoy my maternity leave and find joy in household chores like laundry and tidying. Simon and I tried to take baby out as much as we can, and although difficult, the simple act slowed us down and helped us appreciate every outing, because we couldn’t take it for granted. We made an effort to continue seeing friends, hosting small gatherings, climbing, traveling, even if it required packing a million things, scheduling around nap times, sitting in weird places to breastfeed, or sacrificing baby’s routine.
As she approaches 6 months of age, I find myself finally fully enjoying this new life. During slow mornings, I’m nursing in bed as Simon snoozes beside me. She stops suckling for a moment to look up at me with the faintest trace of a smile. Everyone is calm and cozied up under the blankets, and I can’t help but think how magical the moment feels. It was all worth it.
Trusting my body
Last year at this time I was petrified, anxious about what pregnancy and birth would do to my body. That anxiety never really diminished until I made it past the newborn stage and all my weird new allergies receded. Now that my body has been through the gauntlet, I have a newfound trust in what it can do. I trust that it knows how to protect myself and the baby.
This year, I’ve really come to understand that health and well-being is holistic — the physical, mental, and emotional are interconnected. During my pregnancy and postpartum recovery, I refused to sacrifice one aspect for another. At times, taking a walk or doing yoga was the only way to regulate my emotional well-being. Pregnant and postpartum women are endlessly pestered about the idea of rest, as if stillness were the only safe choice. (Just ask any Chinese mom about postpartum confinement rules.) But I stayed active through it all. (Sorry mom.)
And I recovered splendidly, if I may say so myself.
Motherhood
One of the best parts about motherhood is the instant connection with other moms. Suddenly, every mom in the world is your friend; the secret sisterhood is mind-blowing. I’ve also connected with my own parents in a deeper sense as I ask about their early childrearing experiences as immigrants. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to hear their stories.
On the other hand, I’ve also heard too many stories of women glorifying sacrifice. By taking all childcare responsibilities to an extreme — never putting their babies down, giving up all personal time and pursuits, neglecting their own health — they lose themselves when their entire personality becomes “mom” to a toxic degree. Then this self-imposed martyrdom becomes so debilitating that they start shaming other moms for setting boundaries.
I love my daughter. And I want to rest. Both can be true. Going forward, I want to set boundaries, care for myself, and model to my daughter what a healthy relationship to oneself looks like.
Rebuilding myself
There is no such thing as “bouncing back” because your life is never the same post-motherhood. In the newborn trenches, I mourned and grieved my past life, afraid I’d never again be able to do or be any of those things I used to. Not only was my sleep, time, and pelvic floor gone, motherhood took my skin, hair, and the part of me that felt beautiful.
In the last quarter of the year, I worked on rebuilding my body, my self-image, and clarity of mind. My first step was sleep. After seeing firsthand the fog that broken sleep creates, I no longer take it for granted. I started actually putting in effort to get 7+ hours at night. A sleeping baby coupled with less stress over the day-to-day childrearing while still on maternity leave meant I could actually enjoy my time. I worked out at home (with Les Mills+) and lost my baby weight by four months. I was ecstatic to fit back into my old favorite pair of jeans and revive a huge portion of my wardrobe again.
I also needed to revive my hobbies and creative spirit.
Filmmaking: During my spare time this year, I’ve been tackling the creative project that’s always last on my list: home videos. I wrote about this growing hobby last year, but ever since editing my wedding film and having to learn a bunch of things along the way, I feel like I’ve reached a deeper, richer level of interest in video editing. Photography has always been my go-to choice of storytelling, but video is infinitely more complex, opening a new world of possibility in storytelling through scriptwriting, art direction, cinematography, editing, sound design, and motion graphics. I use YouTubers (e.g. Life of Riza, Isabel Paige) as my unofficial teachers, analyzing their work (pacing, music choices, transitions, etc) and to apply what I like to my home videos. The dominance of video content on social media is also highlighting the importance of video creation to stay competitive as an artist, a wave I’m actually excited to ride.
Writing: I’ve always written, and this year published a handful of meaty blog posts that I’m proud of. But I want to get better. I started subscribing to The Atlantic earlier this year, and I really enjoy the long-form storytelling and thought pieces on societal trends. (Favorite pieces this year are here and here.) I would love to publish something in a magazine one day. Note to self: look into this.
Finances: These last two years, I slowed down on freelance work. From an early age I’ve always hustled out of necessity and believed in solopreneur creators who tell me to monetize every potential talent I have. But now my income has liberated me from the 5-9 (i.e. after-hours) grind, I can instead focus on doing things in service of my mental health that prevent burnout. Andre Nader, from whom I learn personal finance, writes about it here. The validation that I no longer need a side hustle is liberating.
Instead, I spent money on my hobbies and personal development.
Re-subscribing to Masterclass
Playing with ChatGPT premium
Investing in music for my YouTube videos
Buying photography gear I’ve dreamed about for years
Upgrading my furniture pieces
Renting formalwear to play dress up
Subscribing to online workout classes
Life and Timing
In 2015, at 20 years old, I unknowingly started a lot of milestones I’m grateful to be reflecting back on a decade later. I started this website which launched my career, embarked on my first solo travels, and started a relationship with Simon. This year, I celebrated Studio Sophy turning 10, a decade of adventures around the world, and our 10-year anniversary around the time we became a family of three. These last five years moved fast as we ran through life milestones. We bought a house in 2021. I got my dream job in 2022. We got engaged in 2023. Married in 2024. Became parents in 2025. (I’m a planner, what can I say?)
Becoming a parent gives you a newfound perspective on time and how it moves. At the beginning, you desperately look forward to the day the helpless newborn learns to eat properly, hold their head up, or talk to communicate their needs. But when you see your baby transform from a tiny, needy, immobile potato to a spunky, independent, wriggly infant before your very eyes, you just want time to slow down. With every new skill gained, something is lost — the cute sounds, the reflex smiles, the snuggles, their tinyness. You find yourself continuously meeting new versions of your child while at the same time grieving who they used to be. You have no choice but to cherish time like never before, and never wish away the present.
My 30’s will move a bit slower. I obviously still want to do all the things, but the things will be more intentional — ones that truly bring me joy rather than check off a bucket list. If my 20s were about building a relationship, building a career, and building the life I wanted as an adult, my 30s will be about building a family, building wealth, and building a legacy. The three tenets of my early adult life (health, career, creative work) have now shifted. Now it’s family, health, and learning.
Above: 2025 in travels
Entertainment
The news cycle sucked this year but I’d glad I escaped a lot of it while in the newborn bubble. Hollywood was rough, with AI’s evolving role resulting in an explosion of slop. A few things I did enjoy: Meghan Markle’s lifestyle series, the Tony’s, SNL50, Jimmy Kimmel’s return to air, Michelle Obama’s new book, Dancing with the Stars Season 34, and purple braids on the head of every little girl trick-or-treating. I also spent too much time on Instagram, but watching Reels of other women going through pregnancy and newborn life while poking fun at similar experiences made me feel less alone.
Hot takes
The more grounded I am in who I am and who I’m becoming, the less tolerance I have for what I’m not. I don’t want to be:
Standing in line for a Trader Joe’s mini tote
Obsessed over optimizing credit card points
Waiting in long lines for viral foods
Dropshipping junk on the internet
Monetizing my blog
Using AI to replace creativity
Above: The people who made this year
Resolutions
In 2026, I want to get my pink back.
Figure out this working-full-time-while-being-a-mom-full-time thing. Find some remnant of joy in my work, no matter how small.
Worry less. Channel dad energy and just believe everything will be fine even if I don’t understand or do every little thing. In the meantime, practice more self-care and stop worrying I’ll be seen as a “lazy” mom. Lazy moms don’t exist. Burnout does though. Parenting should be a joy, not a job.
Let things go. People are going to comment on my parenting decisions, my child, and me. The things they say are more a reflection of themselves than actual truth. (Pediatric advice is conflicting anyway.) A mama tiger doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep.
Don’t compare my postpartum body to my pre-pregnancy body. Prior to pregnancy, I was at peak fitness. It’ll take time to return to that level, whether it be bouldering grades, flexibility, pull-up PRs, or body composition. Being a mom might mean I don’t get to be the athlete I want to be, and that’s okay.
Strengthen shoulder stabilizer muscles.
Spend more time outdoors with the family.
Limit decision-making to 24 hours. Since I no longer have the mental capacity to marinate on decisions, I should just call it rather than letting it consume me.
Pause clothes shopping. Now that I’ve spent the last year wearing just 5% of my closet, I realize I don’t actually need so many clothes.
Don’t wish away the growing pains. Don’t only anticipate the milestones.
Make more time to spend with Simon as husband and wife, not just co-parents.
Happy new year to you and yours.
Trusting my body, becoming a mother, and rebuilding myself during a long, transformative year.