Weekly Diary: May 2 - 8, 2025

Weekly Diary contains what I did and how I felt during the past week. Weekly Diary will be published on my blog every Friday, For special reasons, the weekly diary will be delayed by a day or two. Let’s read my new weekly diary of May 2 - 8, 2025!  This diary took place in Naples, Florida which is my Florida residence. 

Friday, May 2 - I posted a reel "The girl I used to be in 2017" on Facebook, Instagram, and Instagram. My family and I prepared for the KY Derby Party which is held at our house tomorrow. We went to Bricktop's @ Waterside Shops for dinner. I had a glass of Chardonnay, a deviled egg with a piece of bacon, a heirloom tomato salad, and a Beef Wellington (a beef tenderloin wrapped in a puff pastry). What a delicious dinner! I placed my KY Derby bets. 

My cousin Kate was asked by my mom, to create a drink menu for the Derby party. She used a PowerPoint to create it. The drink menu contains rose frame with gold framed lines. I turned out to be a self-taught graphic designer and I gave Kate a feedback. “I reviewed the drink menu. It looks good but I would like it to be more detailed and sensible. Serif text should be a perfect font for the drink menu. I am gonna give you C+. You don’t have advanced graphic design skills.” My mom and I laughed. 😂 Although Kate is not a graphic designer, she created a drink menu on PowerPoint. She has no advanced knowledge of graphic design. My mom should have asked me to do it. I recreated the drink menu on Canva.

Saturday, May 3 - Kentucky Derby Day! I expressed my excitement about the Derby Party " I am fabulously excited for the derby party!" I wore my new Lilly Pulitzer vibrant pink and green striped halter hi-low midi dress, rose gold bracelets and rings, derby jersey earrings, and vibrant pink derby fascinator. I also wore a makeup with my signature vibrant pink lip color. Over a dozen guests came to the derby partyu. Every woman including me wore fabulous derby dresses and headwears! We watched the derby race together. Sovereignty won the derby. The favored horse Journalism ended up being the second placer. As I watched the race, I was cheering! I GOT A BIG WIN - I WON 2 SHOW BETS AND A EXACTA BOX BET! How unbelievable and lucky! I am so full of gratitude and luck to receive a lot of money from the race. My caregiving friend, Danielle who came to the party gave me her derby prize money because she imagined I would win a big prize money from the derby. Her generosity made my day special and it also made my heart happy. I kindly thanked her for the money- How kind of her. I drank 2 glasses of mint julep, a derby cocktail. We all ate chicken and ribs dinner and flavored Bundt cakes. These foods were catered - very good. I had so much fun at the party. I experienced some muscle weakness and tiredness because of mint julep. This was a special day. Drinking a mint julep made me sleep in late. Unfortunately, my arm got a little bit weak because of the cocktail but my muscles still remain strong. I learned from Google that the alcohol in mint julep could affect muscle function. I am certain that my arm muscles will gain back strength the next day! It was the Best Day ever because I finally received a lot of money from the derby! 

KY Derby Party Look - Lilly Pulitzer Vibrant Pink and Green Striped Halter Hi-Low Dress, Vibrant Pink Derby Fascinator, and Derby Jersey Earrings 

Elegant Women Stun in Derby Fashion! 

Sunday, May 4 - My maternal aunt Elaine and her daughter Kate left this morning after a long week of spending time with us. My parents and I thanked them and gave them a huge goodbye hug! 🥰 They had a wonderful week and had a lot of fun with us together. I made a comment about Botox on a post on Facebook's CP support group. I packaged my bestie's birthday gift with assistance so I am going to drop it off at the post office tomorrow. As I signed a birthday card, I had someone copy my typed message to the card through handwriting. I can only write my name or short word with a pen because of my CP. But sometimes it's difficult to write a word with the use of my hand because of limited motor skills. I am right-handed and I can do anything like that with the use of my right hand. I did signed it independently! I also wrote my bestie's name on the envelope independently! Great activity! I went to True Food Kitchen @ Waterside Shops for dinner. True Food Kitchen is a healthy restaurant that offers a lot of healthy food options including gluten free and vegetarian. At the restaurant, I got a peach lemonade, guacamole with baked flatbread chips, chicken parmesan with spaghetti squash, and a chocolate peanut butter tart - what a delicious meal! The chicken parmesan were amazingly delicious and healthy. It's gluten free. It's crispy through air fryer. I loved the way the chicken parmesan was much healthier than regular chicken parmesan. The chocolate peanut tart contains an almond and coconut crust, chocolate ganache, and peanut butter filling- so salty and sweet. Eating a healthy dinner made me feel confident in my ability to eat smart and delicious food. It also helped me maintain my smart eating habits. I would rate the restaurant 10! It is my new favorite restaurant!  

True Food Kitchen - Chicken Parmesan - Gluten-Free, Crispy via Air Fryer and much healthier than regular chicken parmesan. 

Monday, May 5 - I started making plans on exploring Seattle where I will be visiting the city at end of July before Alaskan cruise. I did my research about the city. I talked to my mom and caregiver. Danielle about the plan. They loved my research. Danielle and I ran a lot of errands. We drove my mom's car. We got car wash. We got gas. We went to the post office so we shipped Mother's Day cards and my bestie's birthday gift. Afterwards, we went to Tacos and Tequila for early dinner and we celebrated Cinco de Mayo there. Danielle's mom and cousin joined us at the restaurant. I learned that Danielle's cousin works at Disney World and she lives 10 minutes from there. We all had a great time. When I got home, I saw Met Gala looks on Instagram and Facebook. These looks were insanely fabulous, fantastic, and cool. Met Gala is an annual fashion event held on the First Monday of May and the event features avant-garde and haute couture fashion. It's like the art of fashion. Even though I am a fashion lover, I admire Meta Gala looks by watching it on Instagram and Facebook. Celebrities attend Met Gala and show their stunning fashion looks. Unfortunately, the event is not fully accessible because wheelchair users are unable to attend the event. It has a lot of stairs. One day, I hope to attend the event once it becomes fully accessible.

Tuesday, May 6 - Danielle, my mom, and I had a delicious Lebanese omelet brunch together. I brought a pair of New Balance black sneakers so I am excited to try them on later this week. I worked out with my physical therapist and it was great. I got my manicure and pedicure done - I got a vibrant pink color on both my fingernails and toenails. Danielle and I ate leftover ribs meal from Derby dinner- it was good. I watched a movie on Netflix- A Simple Favor (I have seen the movie and it is a great movie.) I am so excited to watch the sequel on Prime Video soon. At the end of the day, I learned from my mom that my cousin, Brian will become the principal at my high school where I graduated ten years ago. I expressed my excitement and tears of joy about it - "Oh my god, that's so exciting!"

Wednesday, May 7 - By the morning, I sent my cousin, Brian a congratulatory text message. I told him that one day I would be a guest speaker at my high school and he would help me organize the event. He greatly thanked me. I visited Brightwater Lagoon Waterpark in North Fort Myers for the first time. My caregiver, Danielle, her mom,  and cousin joined me for the waterpark. The waterpark features a bunch of water pools and beaches, loungers, mini tiki tables, and a bar. It’s fully accessible. They also have a beach wheelchair. How awesome the water is accessible with a beach wheelchair. I feel extremely comfortable. I love it! Highly recommend this place for all wheelchair users and pool & beach lovers! I drank a strawberry daiquiri there. On my way home, I saw Danielle's cousin's dog once she was dropped off- her dog is so adorable and sweet. When I got home, Danielle and I got Outback via DoorDash for dinner so I ate a grilled salmon dinner- delicious. I saw the official announcement post about my cousin's new position as a principal at my high school on Facebook. I finally got a digital copy of Fashionpedia, The Visual Dictionary of Fashion! I've been waiting to get it for a long time. I see every term of fashion and clothes in the dictionary. It changed my life because I am a highly skilled visual learner and thinker. It's super easy for me to use the dictionary to describe my own designs so I will rely on a team to manufacture them and make them into a reality in the future. As you know, I have a background in fashion design through self-teaching. I love the dictionary. I can't wait to use it for work! 

Brightwater Lagoon Waterpark in North Fort Myers - Fully Accessible & Family-Friendly Waterpark

Thursday, May 8 - My dad got me a turkey wrap from Publix for lunch and it was good. I saw on social media that The Vatican has elected the first American pope, Pope Leo XIV. I reacted to the historic moment "How unbelievable the moment is. I am so blessed. May God continue to bless the America and peace with all of us." I wrapped Mother's Day gift for my mom with assistance so I will give it to her this Sunday. My caregiver, Danielle and I got pizza dinner from Molto Trattoria and we brought it to the beach. We parked on the 8th Avenue South where there is an accessible boardwalk that has access to the beach. There is also a blue mobi-mat on the beach so my foldable wheelchair can be rolled over the mat easily. At the beach, we were watching the sunset. We ate pizza dinner- yummy. I managed to capture the sunset as Danielle took a lot of photos. One of those photos shows that I was able to hold the sun in my palm of hand. I love watching and capturing the sunset because it always makes my heart feel so warm and peaceful. "Sunsets are proof that no matter what happens, every day can end beautifully. 🌅"

The past week has been amazing for me. It was filled with excitement, relaxation, fun, joy, laughter, positivity, and wellbeing. I am grateful for what I did during the past week. 😁🥰  

Thank you for reading my weekly diary. I hope you enjoy reading it. Let me know how you react to my weekly diary in comments below. I will post my new weekly diary next week.

🩷 Marisa