Quarantine and Chill

Friends, how are you?

I don’t know how we’ve gotten here, but here we are. As a blogger, I retain all control of what I want to write about, and when I want to write it. I haven’t felt particularly inspired to write anything this year (though I was hoping to have done a travel blog by now) and I certainly didn’t think my first blog would be about being stuck at home while the whole world shut down…cue “It’s The End of The World As We Know It!’ But alas here we are, Quarantine and Chill’ing. What have I been up to? Let’s break it down!

Quaran~EATING

Remember when we were all super excited about how in 2020 Cinco De Mayo and Taco Tuesday were on the same day and it was gonna be so epic? [insert longing sigh here] I suppose we can still eat tacos and have margaritas, but it definitely won’t be in the same way we all envisioned!

While you’ve all been busy making banana bread (by the way thanks for buying all the flour), I’ve been making soup! So far I’ve made Lemon Chicken Rice Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Kale and Potato Soup, and Chicken and Gnocchi Soup. The tastiest has been the chicken noodle!

Quaran~DRINKING

Working remotely now means that Happy Hour is now all day, every day! If you’re a regular here, you’re no stranger to my fondness for wine, and that hasn’t changed, but I’ve also added two new favorites. I’ve always been a Bailey’s [Irish Creme] fan, and their new Red Velvet flavor is EVERYTHING I needed and wanted it to be! If anything red velvet is your jam, you NEED to try this! I’ve also fallen in love with a San Diego made favorite, Skrewball Whiskey! A peanut butter whiskey that’s smooth and delicious!

Quaran~ZOOMING

It’s tough to be separated from the ones we love and since we’re all scrambling now to keep in touch, let’s all download Houseparty and Zoom….oh hey Zoom got hacked, oops. Speaking of, one of the biggest viral videos I’ve seen during the quarantine is of the girl who was on a Zoom call and she took her laptop to the bathroom! Listen Zoom is great for work and keeping in touch with friends, but don’t be THAT girl, lol!

Quaran~STREAMING

If you’re a TV junkie like me, binge-worthy shows are necessary. A coworker suggested Ozark on Netflix and it has three awesome seasons to watch! Then through random browsing on Apple TV, I found Home Before Dark which I’m currently binging. Typically as an unofficial member (regretfully more often than not) of #BachelorNation, I would watch their new series Listen To Your Heart…but I lasted about two minutes before I gave that a hard NO and turned it off! And while I’m not alone in recycling old favorites like The Office, Friends, or Sex In The City, I opted to rewatch both seasons of Big Little Lies! It’s such a great show and if you’re a Reese Witherspoon fan also, you should check out Big Little Fires on Hulu.

I’m also extremely grateful for the people keeping me company with LIVE streams on Facebook and Instagram. I’ve been able to enjoy great music played by my friends The Heart Band and Andy Mauser (sadly, they’ve had to cancel all of their in-person gigs for the foreseeable future). Another fun source of entertainment has come from Natalie’s live streams; “hanging out” with her over Instagram, makes me feel less alone.

On a side note, I rallied my musician friends and a few of my favorite small businesses earlier in the week to deliver this important message: We are all in this together; stay strong San Diego!

Quaran~LOVING

I’ll preface this next section by saying, welcome to my Ted Talk on TikTok (say that three times fast)!

Be honest, have you boarded the TikTok train? If you’re thinking you’re too old for it, YOU  👏 ARE 👏 NOT 👏! But I do have to share a disclaimer if you are over 18: you are considered a “boomer!” Don’t let that discourage you because TikTok has a place for e•v•e•r•y•o•n•e, I promise! If you’re shaking your head no already, hear me out! When you dig in, you will find yourself: laughing out loud, intrigued and fascinated, challenged, sharing (i.e. oversharing and either encouraging your friends to join in or making them crazy!), and most of all…ADDICTED!

So (my mom hates when sentences start with “so,” lol), let me share some of my favorite videos and content creators. They say laughter is the best medicine and this dad joke extraordinaire is the king of infectious laughter; you’ve been warned! The laughs don’t stop there because “dadosaur” is also a fun new discovery! If you’re sheltering with family, and you like games, I highly recommend taking some inspiration from the CEO of Quarantine Olympics. I wish I was quarantined with them!

Some of the most entertaining videos I’ve seen are ones that make me say “these people are winning at life right now!” We all love a good parody, and this one takes the cake! While we’re on the topic of day drinking (because happy hour is now every hour) let me direct your attention to this guy’s neighborhood jog. The creative evolution of PPE (personal protective equipment) has definitely been amusing, including people shopping in shark and unicorn costumes, but the people in this parade are the biggest winners of all!

Clearly, I could talk about TikTok all day (you can thank Guacamologist for that one!), but I have three more shares (I told you this platform is addicting). TikTok is educational and taught me a fun trick, that my friends use now too! Technology has sure changed how we live, so if you need a feel-good story, check out this drone romance. And lastly, given the current status of life, if you need a mental health pick me up, this guy’s got you!

Quaran~SURVIVING

Admittedly I’ve been training for parts of the quarantine my whole life. First, for anyone who knows me IRL, if I’m at home I’m in pajamas, that’s just how I roll. Being stuck at home has given me a chance to catch up on my laundry…you know since there’s a lot less of it to do! Second, for those who know me, they know that I nevvvver leave home without my Wet Ones (antibacterial hand wipes). Given my germaphobic nature, I was ahead of the game in this department…or so I thought. My hand sanitizer is running out very quickly with no chance of replenishing that supply and sadly Clorox wipes, Lysol, and toilet paper are still hard and/or impossible to find as well. In what world did we ever expect the value of toilet paper to be equivalent to the value of gold?

Now for the things I didn’t expect to happen during the quarantine. 1. My microwave died, and all I could think was HOW RUDE! Does it not know that there’s a pandemic happening? 2. Long walks on the beach have now become long drives along barricaded beaches. 3. While there are many reports of people driving over 100 mph…if I get pulled over by the cops, it’ll be for driving under the speed limit because I’ve turned into a grandma when driving just to savor every second NOT spent staring at the same walls.

Tell me, how are you doing? It’s OK to feel however you’re feeling. I’ve gone through the whole list of emotions myself but there is an odd comfort in knowing that every single person is going through it too. A great article I read compared this feeling to grief, and it really hit home for me, maybe it will bring you some peace and clarity as well. We’re all missing life, people, and normalcy right now, but this too shall pass and hopefully sooner than later, it becomes a distant memory that changes how we live for the better.

Until next time, stay safe and be well!