Floor Time
/flôr tīm/
noun
the 15-60 minute time period spent laying on the floor in the middle of the work day, typically as a relief from the soul-sucking reality of corporate America.
Welcome to the final Floor Time of 2023! I am going to take a break for the next couple of weeks to frankly, rot in the same pair of sweats day after day, binge “Harry Potter,” stuff my face with the European cookies my sister brought back from the Amsterdam Christmas markets, and eventually, organize my life for 2024.
But before we do that, I wanted to take a moment to address the KPIs of this past year. 2023 was full of so much FUN. It was trips, great meals, weekends upstate, cozy nights in, absurd nights out, and reminders of why I love New York City.
A group of friends and I do this thing on our birthdays where we ask each other for our highlights of each month of the past year. I think I prefer it to the rose/bud/thorn question because it feels more positive and helps remind us of the best things that happened. But I won’t bore you with sharing those (feel free to run through this exercise on your own or with others, though!)—instead, I’m going to reference this vision board I made on New Year’s Day last year.
All in all, it’s quite random—but I’m revisiting this and realizing that a lot of these things actually make sense and were…realized? Let’s unpack.
Good Eggs
I call everyone an egg. It’s kind of a problem. Klaus is obviously the ultimate egg, but anyone else I can easily categorize into a “favorite egg,” “bad egg,” “silly egg,” etc. But the good eggs are the people I am lucky to be around daily, who put up with my stress, are interested in hearing my hot goss, and who riff on my bits (and oh-hoh-hoh are there a lot of them). Find your good eggs and stick with them, folks. I most definitely have.
Block Heartburn
So this was kind of a joke, but also not at all, because heartburn is serious!! But more importantly, this year I started taking daily probiotics and they’ve truly changed my entire existence. The vitamins, in combination with the uptick in consuming fermented foods (thanks, Korea!), have cured my daily tummy issues. Have some of what I’m having, people!
It’s Time to Pack Your Bags
I had the immense privilege of traveling a ton this year. I kicked off my travels early in January with a long weekend trip to Quebec City. I headed to Florida (twice) to cure my seasonal depression and revitalize my body with some much-needed Vitamin C and salt air. I went to Montauk for a game-a-thon weekend (truly playing nonstop games for three days straight). I went to Madrid for my dad’s 70th birthday, followed by Paris, Croatia, and London, which I had to dub my second annual #SabbatiCLO, natch. Soon after, I went back to British Columbia for a stunning wedding and outdoorsy week where I reconnected with my inner child. The summer was a series of upstate camping trips, surf days in the Rockaways, and seeing artists at my dream concerts—that I had always wanted to go to as a teen but was never able to. My college roommates and I managed to organize a reunion trip in SoCal where we spent a Friday day drinking at Universal Studios. I saw Coco Gauff smash it in the quarterfinal match of the US Open. And somehow, managed to throw together an incredible sister trip to Korea.
Nice Break from Everything
Taking a break through travel is beautiful, but we need baby breaks, too. You may remember in a previous Floor Time I wrote about the daily ✨union mandated dissociation time✨ I force myself to have every day before I start work. In addition to that, I’m trying so hard to be offline when I’m OOO. Part of my work is social media, and by nature requires me to be chronically online. So it’s even more vital (and tbh, difficult) to separate myself from that life when I’m upstate for a weekend, or at happy hour with friends. My mentor once told me that if you’re both online and OOO you’re getting the worst of both worlds—you’re doing your job worse than when you’re focused, and you’re tainting your time off by dipping a toe in your inbox. So may that be a reminder to us all that in 2024: When we’re off, we’re off! Leave me!!
Being Asian
I put this as a sort-of joke because obviously, I will just…always be Asian. But on a deeper level, heading back to Asia this year for the first time in five years reminded me of how good it feels to be in that part of the world. Though Asian beauty standards stress me out and I often feel gawked at because my height, weight, and skin-tone in comparison to the locals, there is this pull I have towards Asia that puts me at ease (perhaps it’s the comfort food?). I hope to continue to connect with my roots and deeper identity next year, and I hope you find ways to do it, too, because it’s beautiful.
Pay Up or Else!
Having my own business means that I am the CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, CTO, and alllll the underlings at the same time. One of my least favorite hats to wear is the one of the CFO, because who among us does not have a complicated relationship with money? I am the decider of my rates, which essentially means that I have to put a number on what my work is worth. I’ll admit that over the years, it has gotten easier, but it’s still probably the most uncomfortable and stressful thing in the world to tell your client, “please, sir, I want some more?” Yet this year, I negotiated my rates with two separate clients, resulting in numbers that I felt were more fair than what I had been idly agreeing to last year. I only plan to do more of this in 2024 because heck, I’m good at what I do and I probably deserve it (and you do, too).
Books
I did not hit my goal of 70 books for the year. I’ll admit it. And you know what, it is what it is, I’ve accepted it, and it will remain my 2024 goal—another year to try again. I think a big part of this was having a record number of DNFs. I wasn’t as excited about many reads this year (aka if you have any recommendations, please please tell me!). That said, there were a few interesting hits that stood out.
Better Cocktails
The number of fantastic beveraginos I had this year was unparalleled. I’d need to dedicate a different Floor Time to it, so instead I’ll just name some of the best new bars I’ve been to this past year (as usual, New York exclusive, sorry out-of-towners!):
This new bar has claimed a spot on a ton of “hot new bar” lists—yet when I went it was unassuming, chill, and flaunted the weirdest lighting. I love a fat-washed anything (and you can quote me on that!) and their mole negroni delivered.
The patrons at Maison Premiere’s new bar, Tigre, all had strong pick-me energy, but if you can get past that, the staff was kind and their menu was impressive. Drinks will run you at least $20 each (!!) but they are well made, unique, and balanced, so you will be less mad about it. The highlight for me is obviously their martini menu.
This Tiki bar has been all the rage and at last I went to try it a couple weeks ago. Finally a Tiki bar in New York that holds a candle to the San Francisco offerings.
Just a really cozy speakeasy with great cocktails and jazz.
One of the latest bars to enter the LES rotation for me. They make my dirty gin martini perfectly and even gave me ten extra olives. The decor continues to mystify me as the front bar gives a “The Jetsons” meeting “The Flintstones” kind of vibe, while the back dining room is the red room from “Twin Peaks.” Still, never had a bad drink here.
Japanese Breakfast
Had to throw this fun one in as my last thing—somehow, last-minute, I dressed up as Japanese Breakfast for an album-cover-themed Halloween party. ✨ The vision board provides ✨
Something I Thought of in the Shower
🎶 I’ll…be home…for…quismois 🎶
Something Pretty
This cheesy but kinda awesome quote graphic for 2024. ✨manifest✨
Something To Laugh About
Final gems of the year!! Here they are:
All I think of day and night is Connections. Clearly I’m not alone in this.
Guess this secret’s out. Mug culture reveals all.
This is for my fellow Whovians. May the Ponds reign!!!!
Something for Clarice
Hey! This newsletter is free and I intend to keep it that way. That said, if you love it and want to show your appreciation, buy me a coffee :)
By the way…I’m reading this.
I caved and started reading Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. I’m so ready to hate it. Will report back.
That’s it for me this 2023. Thank you all so much for being loyal readers of Floor Time this year. I love hearing from you via email, Instagram, and in person about how my streams of consciousness resonate with you. Very much looking forward to sharing more gibberish in 2024. Seacrest, out!
Til’ next time, good eggs. Your friend,
Clarice
A few good books I read - tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow, eleven rings Phil Jackson, paper menagerie and other short stories, an absolutely remarkable thing