social distancing – LongLegsBigCity

NYC Outside Date at The Vessel

January 15, 2021 1 Comment

The holiday season is over, but unfortunately the Covid season is not. In fact, it’s worse than ever. You may remember I was crowd-sourcing ideas for social distanced date ideas back in May. I don’t think we had any idea we’d be needing those into 2021, but here we are.

We came back to NYC from Texas back in September, and while I do love the fall and winter here in New York, it makes outdoor dates more complicated. You can’t exactly sit on the ground in a park and have a picnic. I mean you can but it’s not as comfortable and requires many, many layers. Last month, I tasked my fiancé with finding us a date idea. Not only did he come up with one, he came up with two and we did them both!

I hereby give you permission to copy us. When you can.

First, we went to The Vessel in Hudson Yards.

Pros: This is the perfect pandemic date. It’s outside, beautiful, and it’s crowd-controlled because you need a ticket.

Cons: You need to reserve a ticket online and there is a limited amount. Also, in case you don’t know what it is, it’s a spiral staircase. It’s comprised of “154 intricately interconnecting flights of stairs — almost 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings.” This is only a con because I did this after leg day and had already walked 15,000 steps when I was presented with this date night. Thankfully, we paused a LOT to take photos.

Pro: Amazing views of the river and the city. Really, it’s breathtaking. Also, it’s free! You only have to pay if you want a “flex” ticket, meaning you can arrive any time during the day. Otherwise you’re assigned a time slot.

Cons: It’s actually closed at the moment due to some sad events and they are not sure when it will open again.

This was a perfect date in my opinion because it was an “experience” and it was something brand new. I love experiencing things together for the first time. I feel like that’s the most meaningful and fun date, and if you ever go back, you always think about the first time you went.

I had never been to The Vessel before, and I hadn’t even been to Hudson Yards! Hudson Yards is just a very pretty indoor mall. Since we are trying to avoid indoor anything, we didn’t go inside. But it looked beautiful lit up in Christmas lights. I assume the lights were for Christmas but maybe it’s a year-round thing? You’ll have to go and tell me.

For Part 2 of our date night, we walked from Hudson Yards to Bryant Park. This walk in and of itself could have been part of the date night, too. It was a 35-minute walk, and we walked by Macy’s to see it lit up for the holidays. There is something so magical about NYC in December. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it.

When we got to Bryant Park, I was on the hunt for ice cream I saw on Instagram. Yes, it was about 30 degrees with 40 mph wind gusts (those were a little scary on the top of the Vessel). But I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as “bad weather for ice cream.” Anyway, there were supposed to be these churro cone ice cream thingies called chimneys or something. We did not find them. But it was still magical. There were people skating on the ice rink, and despite being a little too crowded for my liking, I’m happy to say almost EVERYONE was wearing a mask correctly. Over mouth and nose, y’all. Come on. We’ve been doing this for 9 months now, I know you know.

We didn’t ice skate but we did people-watch.

At the Vessel, people kept taking their masks off to take photos, and there was way less of that at Bryant Park. They did have “igloos” meant for Covid safety, or as Chris called them, Covid Cages. Pretty much virus incubators. People seemed pretty thrilled to get in them, though. Count me out.

After some more walking around, we grabbed an Uber (cracked windows) and headed back home.

10/10 for this date. It was outside, fun, festive, and safe. Or at least, as safe as it gets if you leave the house in a big city. Plus, it was FREE and we were home by 8 pm to cook dinner and drink wine in the living room. Have you guys been to The Vessel? Did you find the mystery churro ice cream cones? Tell me what you thought!

Travel

Lake Tyler Covid Getaway

September 11, 2020 1 Comment

Well guys, it’s been 6 months of quarantine/social distancing. SIX. MONTHS. HALF A YEAR. How is it possible that I feel SO TIRED from doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?? I know I am coming in strong with the all-caps. I promise to calm down. I wanted a great way to express my frustration with 2020. Yelling via capital letters seemed fitting.

After 5 months of sitting in the house, my fiancé and I decided we needed a weekend away. Or rather, I decided I needed a weekend away, and he said he’d come with me. I promised to do all of the work as long as he split the cost. I know there are people out in Instagram-land who are now comfortable traveling by land or by plane, gathering with friends, renting houses together, going to the beach together etc., but the more I look at the science and facts about Covid, the less comfortable I am doing any of those things, which limited the scope of my “weekend away” plans. I had three goals in mind:

Change of Pace/Change of Place
Alone
On the water.

For the past 6 months, we have been staying at my fiancé’s family’s house. Don’t get me wrong, we are thankful. It is beyond generous that they have allowed us to stay this long. But I have not lived with kids or parent-figures in 15 years. And I have lived ALONE with my boyfriend for more than 3 years. It is not the same to have kids running around asking if I’m working (yes, it’s Monday), or if I can play (no, I’m working). There are also (cough cough) certain parts of a relationship that are difficult when there are 6 other people constantly in the house.

And as for a change of place on the water… I really miss the beach. I am a Florida girl at heart, and despite not living by the beach for a decade in New York, I ALWAYS make at least 2 trips to the beach per year. Sometimes it’s the Jersey Shore, sometimes it’s Greece and Italy. Being land-locked in a state larger than most countries has felt a bit like being in jail. I missed the water. A lot.

I went on VRBO and started looking for waterfront properties within 5 hours driving distance of our house. I set a budget of $400/night. If there was a hammock, it got extra points. I whittled my list to 5 properties and sent it to Chris to pick. (This a strategic thing I always do, so that if the property ends up being bad I can blame him. But if it’s great then of course it’s because I put the list together!) On the list, I had a few lake-front properties in Texas and Louisiana, and one in Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico. We went with a place in Whitehouse, Texas, on Lake Tyler, which was only 2 hours from our home. It was $199/night and only slept 2 people – perfect! Our plans were almost ruined when the dueling hurricanes in the Gulf threatened to hit our place, and I felt very lucky that Chris picked a property in Texas, not Louisiana. Go Chris!

We drove to the house after work on Thursday, and thankfully Chris drove so I could snack. Sure, the drive was only 2 hours, but I packed enough road trip snacks for an approximately 24-hour drive. We hit a slight roadblock when Google Maps led us to a road where there was no house with the number on it. Thankfully, the property owner picked up his phone right away and explained there were TWO roads with the same name. After a 15-minute detour, we got the right place and unpacked our things.

If you are looking for a blog about all of the things we did on our vacation weekend, you won’t find one, because we did NOTHING and it was GLORIOUS. Most of the time was spent sitting outside on the covered deck. Eating meals. Reading books. Listening to music. Reading more. Listening to an audio book. Watching Love Island. Eating some more and lounging around. It was fabulous.

I am a HUGE Fitbit fan, and despite working from home, I have been trying to keep up with my 10,000/day step goal since social distancing began. The last day I had not met my 10K goal was April 6^th. The first day at the lake I got 3.9K steps. And I was proud of that.

The second full day we were there, we did a few activities. We rented paddle boards from the owner of the house, I floated around in blow-up floats I bought from Amazon for the weekend while we listened to country music on our Sonos speaker, and then we played Corn Hole on the owner’s lawn. There were so many games in the house including mega-Jenga, Horseshoes, Poker, and cards. We played a few rounds of Phase 10 in between episodes of Love Island.

Not to be corny, but it felt like we were on our own love island! The house itself was AMAZING. We didn’t know at the time of booking, but it was set back behind the owner’s house, completely separate from his home, and surrounded on all four sides by water. It was fully renovated with a dishwasher and bathroom and water views from every room. Also, there was a covered and uncovered deck. The décor was adorable, with “Lake Life” and “Lake House” accents everywhere. Also, it was tricked out! They had a state-of-the-art dishwasher/fridge/ice machine/blender/convection stovetop, fully stocker Keurig, etc. They even had a wine cooler. There was an Apple TV (we brought our own, because duh), and a Bluetooth speaker we could bring onto the deck (we also brought our own because duh), and I wish I could have stayed there a whole week.

The only issue with Covid “vacationing” is the food. We had to BYO everything and we weren’t sure about the availability of delivery. Especially in Texas, we wanted to limit our time in grocery stores/anywhere in the sticks where people are less likely to wear masks. There were many trips back and forth from the car; 3 meals a day for two people is a lot of groceries! Not to mention a case of beer and pina colada mix. To make cooking easier than it is at home, I made Chris sit down and meal-plan with me before we left. We had options for each meal. Breakfast: eggs/cinnamon rolls/sausage. Lunch: Sandwiches/grilled cheese/tacos. Dinner: Burgers/Frozen Pizza/Chicken Parm. Cooking was easier with only 2 people’s dishes and a dishwasher. For some reason it felt WAY simpler than cooking at home.

The owner was available for any questions all the time, and we saw him a few times when he came down to take his boat out (not included in the house LOL), but he always texted first to warn us. Also, he gave us a better deal on the paddleboards than he advertised on his listing, and provided life jackets, which was nice of him. He was kind enough to mention to me that we just missed the Trump Boat Parade the weekend before. (Not the infamous one from last weekend. See pics below, there were still plenty of boats left with flags on them.). Chris lost his Goodr sunglasses in the lake and I left my flip flops on the grass (guess I had too many ciders playing corn hole) but besides those two losses, we had only wins and successes. My best friend had been telling me for months how important it was for mental health to get away and have a change of pace; I should have listened to her earlier.

We booked one more weekend trip for this upcoming weekend, our LAST weekend in Texas! This time, we got a BIG house, lakefront again, and we’re bringing the whole family as a last hoorah! I can’t wait to share more with you about it. And if you’re ever in the Lake Tyler area in Texas, I’ll send you the VRBO listing, I can’t recommend it enough!

Miscellaneous

Top Golf Social Distance Date

July 27, 2020 2 Comments

I asked you guys for social distance date ideas 2.5 months ago and we finally went on one! Needless to say, my Bullet Journal Goal of one out-of-house date night/month has not been being achieved. Another Covid casualty. We went to Top Golf and had a blast! Hopefully the fun we had will last me another 2.5 months. It met all of our criteria for a date: relatively close-by, open air, masks mandatory, fun, out of the house.

By the way, when I asked for your advice for date ideas, NONE OF YOU COMMENTED. What’s up with that??? Thankfully, I asked my Instagram followers on my private Instagram a week later, and I got a few great ideas. We didn’t do any of these (yet), but I wanted to post them here in case you are looking for things to do. Ya know, since you won’t find any in the comments of my last post.

Puzzle night
Top chef cook off, quarantine style, use only what’s in the kitchen
Hiking
Slip and slide in the backyard. Along with the kiddie pool, add White Claws for a water park day
Bake macarons
DIY Paint and Sip (order canvases on Amazon)
Drive-In movie theater
Bonfires & Boggle

Anyway, we haven’t done those things yet, but we are now golf pros!! JK, we are both AWFUL. We failed in glorious fashion but we didn’t care.

Since we are currently residing in a Covid hot spot, we wanted to go on a date at an off time. We decided on a weeknight at 9 pm. We made a lane reservation earlier in the day, and I even put on makeup for the occasion! I think the only things that mattered were eyebrows and eyelashes because masks, but it still felt good to have a reason to put on a bra. A real one. That I don’t pull over my head (what!?)

Top Golf required masks in all inside areas, which meant you needed one to check in (contactless) and to walk through the lobby to your outside lane. Every person working there was wearing a mask at all times, over mouth AND nose. Yes, I need to specify that here in Texas. I was impressed. The inside bar was closed, and the bathroom doors were propped open and facilities were being obsessively cleaned. Even the clubs were being sanitized between each lane turnover.

The actual golf lane did not require masks, and between each lane they had floor to ceiling clear tarps, sort of like shower curtain liners. It felt very safe. On the actual greens there were no tarps between, and most people were not wearing masks once in their lanes, so I just staggered my putts when someone was on the green in the lane next to ours. In bowling, that’s common courtesy so I didn’t mind. By the way, I’m MUCH better at bowling.

We both ordered drinks and had them at the table – masks off only when we were behind our tarp! It was really nice to have a drink I didn’t make myself. Even if it cost 5x more than the ones I make at home. It was the first time I had a drink outside the house since March 13^th! We decided not to get food, because we were still iffy about the kitchen etc., but it was fabulous to socialize, even to say “thank you” to a waiter (masked, of course).

We took a few photos of each other as well as videos, where I was usually swinging and not even making contact with the ball. Oops. We tried a few selfies. There’s no handing your phone to strangers nowadays, so it’s a good thing I am VERY well-practiced at selfie-taking. I attempted to teach Chris how to smize. He thought it meant opening your eyes as wide as they go. It made for some pretty funny pics.

Chris attempting a “smize,” me laughing at him.

Are you wondering when I’m going to tell you our scores? NEVER! We were so bad that at one point we accidentally golfed for each other, and let me tell you, it did not matter. We will not be competing against Tiger any time soon. It was a fabulous date night for my sanity and mental health, not so much for my confidence. If you have a Top Golf near you, they outline their safety precautions for each location online. Feel free to call ahead to ask questions, as well. I recommend it!

Miscellaneous

Quarantine Birthday

June 27, 2020 2 Comments

The way this year is going, a good percentage of us are going to be experiencing quarantine/social distanced birthdays. In fact, if we don’t get a vaccine any time soon, it may even be two birthdays for some of us. Morbid, I know. But I’m writing this blog as a retrospective about how fun these solo birthdays can be! My birthday was almost a month ago, and I’m still thinking about it. Granted, I may still be thinking about it because nothing else has happened in my life since then and I have no plans for the future. But it could be because it was AWESOME.

First, I want to remind you that birthdays are kind of a big deal for me. I have been throwing themed shebangs ever since I can remember. There was my Tutu 22, my 23^rd Revenge of the Nerd, 2-4 Ready to Score, 29 Neon Sign. I could go on. Anyway, the point is, I was pretty dang bummed when I realized I’d be spending my birthday without costumes, without friends, and in the house. My mom asked me about a month before my birthday what I was planning on doing and I said “well I’ll tell you one thing I am NOT doing – a Zoom birthday party.” I have been SO zoomed out! I am on zoom meetings morning ‘til night for work, and the last thing I wanted to do was feign happiness in front of the computer while physically drinking alone. Sounded like a recipe for disaster. So, I started to plan ahead to make sure my birthday would be something to look forward to.

I also will remind you here that ICE CREAM is a big deal for me. Remember, my whole 30^th birthday was based on me eating enough ice cream to curb my sugar cravings for months?

Let me tell you a story – when I was 22 years old, living alone in Florida with my first big-girl job, my office chipped in to get me a big birthday cake. Not just any birthday cake, a CUSTOM ICE CREAM CAKE. Homemade ice cream, unique flavors. Let me tell you as a 32-about-to-be-33-year-old, I NEVER stopped thinking about that cake. I literally thought about that cake for a decade. About a month before my birthday, an idea came to me – maybe I could find a place in Texas to make one for me! I started feverishly researching places that were open, had curbside pickup and unique flavors, and I called around. I finally found one! Henry’s Homemade Ice Cream. It was 30 minutes away, which I figured was nothing for a good cake. They promised 2 layers of ice cream in any of the 110+ flavors they had, and cookies crumbled in the middle, plus hand-decorated. I ordered a heart-shaped blackberry and vanilla fudge swirl cake and started to salivate.

Food is an integral part of any quarantine birthday, but even better? The GIFTS. After around my 17^th birthday, I had sort of given up on receiving birthday gifts. Yes, I usually get something from my boyfriend, maybe my parents, maybe a check from my grandma or something small and thoughtful from a super close best friend, but usually the real present is their presence! I throw a shindig, people come, buy me drinks, maybe bring homemade cupcakes, a bottle of liquor, something like that. But a quarantine birthday?? Since no one can actually spend it with you they send PREZZIES!!! And with the mail being sort of messed up and slow delivery times, people send them early. This year, I got my first delivery about 10 days early, a whole BOX of insomnia cookies! Then I got a box with my FAV (only) sneakers I run in from my Mom. Then another box with Golden Girls socks from a friend living in Scotland at the moment. Then another from a friend in Seattle. Then another from a friend living in Miami at the moment. Then an egift that arrived in my inbox on my birthday. It was like feeling the love from around the world in my own house! (Or in Chris’s family’s house.)

My favorite part was the thoughtfulness. My BFF in Miami knows me so well that she bought me the exact same inflatable pool that I had ordered for myself! Thankfully I found out early enough that I could cancel my order. My other BFF sent a Nipyata, which, if you haven’t heard of it, is AWESOME. Basically it’s all the fun of a pinata but with the addition of booze. It came with a stick, a blindfold, and twine to tie it up. It was family fun for everyone! The kids got the candy, I got the Fireball.

Then there was the actual day of my birthday. It started with breakfast in bed, which was set up while I was braiding my hair (natch). Then there was a bouquet of flowers waiting for me downstairs and balloons from my fiance’s family. And I got gifts from my fiancé including new running headphones (they didn’t work well and we had to return them, but it’s the thought that counts!). And he also gave me a little bell he said I could ring for him to be at my beck and call whenever I wanted for a whole day. After digesting my amazing homemade breakfast, I did my favorite kind of workout (step class DUH), and then showered and blew up my pool so it would be ready for my bday weekend. Then I decided to REALLY treat myself and go see my one friend I have in Dallas.

My friend from college, Nathan, who I see every time I come to Texas for Christmas, actually has a birthday one day before me. After 2.5 months living 20 minutes away from him, I finally MASKED UP and went to go see him. We stayed outside and brought his dog to the dog park, then we bought some coffee and it was SO NICE to see a friendly face, even if only from the mid-nose up. We didn’t actually drink the coffee because masks.

Then I took the car to pick up my amazing birthday cake. Unfortunately, or hilariously, they got the words messed up. Instead of “Happy Quarantine Birthday Emily” they said “Happy Birthday Quarantine Emily.” Who’s “Quarantine Emily?” She sounds lame. All was forgiven because it was delicious. And I got myself a scoop of cinnamon ice cream for the drive home, too, because there’s no such thing as too much ice cream on one’s birthday.

I got back from my ice cream errand just in time to do my hair and makeup. My mom had planned me a “surprise” that she named “It’s a Philly Thing.” Honestly, I had no clue what it was. I don’t have any friends in Philly. The only people I know are my parents. Also, she sent me a zoom link and I had specifically said I didn’t want a zoom party. But one thing I’ve learned in my 33 years is that when your mom tells you where to be and to look cute (hair and makeup encouraged), you do it. I had my drink ready, and I logged in. Surprise!!! It was a zoom party! But not exactly. It was 26 consecutive 5-minute zoom chats! That’s right, my mom (with the help of two of my friends) organized 26 separate groups to wish me a happy birthday. Creativity was encouraged and OMG people were SO CREATIVE. I had slide shows made for me, poster board signs, videos with my friends/relatives kids, acrostic poems, birthday hats, musical numbers, people dressed up like Carol Baskin and Joe Exotic, friends making me guess dirty jokes as a drinking game, and one of my coworker’s videos ended with a photo of a cake she made me… AND FEDEX-ed ME! Chris presented it to me at the end of the call. WHAT!? It was absolutely AMAZING. I felt so incredibly loved and appreciated. But WOW was it exhausting! 2+ hours on Zoom with new people every five minutes is hard! Good thing I had ice cream cake afterward to perk me up again!

The next day I had a zoom brunch with my friends (all of whom I saw the night before, but I didn’t know that was happening of course). And the e-gift I mentioned before? It was for a liquor delivery from Drizly that arrived the next day with my favorite drinks, Angry Orchard, Aperol Spritz supplies and Moscow Mule gummies! I made an Aperol Spritz and took my Zoom call to the pool with me! It was the PERFECT weekend.

If you have a quarantine bday coming up, maybe these ideas helped you so you can make the most of it. I hope you have friends and family that are as awesome as mine!

Miscellaneous

Social Distance Date Ideas

May 18, 2020 No Comments

Hey all you cool cats and kittens! Today’s blog is different. Instead of giving you guys ideas, I’m soliciting them from you! Saturday marked 9 weeks that my fianceeeee and I have been here in Texas with his family. That is a full 5 weeks longer than we were engaged and living alone. Needless to say, despite being safe and healthy, there are some downsides to living in a house with 6 other people – namely, the inability to be alone and go anywhere together! Yesterday we took a v romantic 25-minute car ride to Whole Foods to drop off an Amazon return. SEXY. So yeah, we’re looking for ideas.

In 9 weeks, we have had one date night (besides our SUPER romantic nights of watching Ozark while I cover my eyes and sometimes walk away because it’s too scary for me). Our date night, however, was super fun! Chris bought a tarp/picnic blanket from Walmart (contactless pickup), we packed a bottle of wine and picked up some takeout from a restaurant. Then we went to a park at sundown and had a picnic! Bonus, we downloaded the Michelle Obama documentary from Netflix and brought the iPad, although we ended up changing that plan because of cold and bugs at sundown. I highly recommend this date idea. Or if you have an SUV with a back you can sit in, you can park in a parking lot somewhere and do this, no picnic blanket needed! Next time, we may even picnic in the backyard so we can both drink.

Picnic Date Tips:

Bring utensils and napkins, some restaurants don’t provide that.
If bringing wine, don’t forget the corkscrew. Cups optional.
Bring layers of clothing if the sun is going to set.
Related: wear comfortable clothes. You’ll be sitting on the ground.
Remember the ground may be wet! I linked our picnic blanket above, $12!

There. I gave YOU an idea. Now you all owe ME one! I had a friend tell me she did a flapper-style 1920’s theme night with Amazon-purchased accessories. Show me what you got!

Here are the ground rules: must be socially distant or at-home, must be low maintenance (he already planned one EXTRAVAGANT date weekend this year for our engagement, I’m cutting him slack), must be fun, and bonus points for themes. I’m a sucker for them. Write your ideas in the comments below or send ideas directly!

Fitness

Quarantine Fitness

May 6, 2020 4 Comments

As a fitness instructor, this quarantine is hitting me hard. Not only am I losing hundreds of dollars every month the gym is closed, I’m losing hours of moving my body and I’m missing a critical part of my social life at the gym. All of these things have had an effect on my physical and emotional health, but what I’ve found has affected me most is the loss of my gym crew. I MISS PEOPLE! I love teaching fitness classes, I find joy in helping people meet their fitness goals, choosing news songs for playlists, catching up with the same people twice a week, and sweating out the stress of the day.

And I’m writing this blog so that you can learn from me and you don’t need to do your own research. The first few weeks of quarantine I was struggling to find a balance between work, fitness, and happiness, and I am still working on it. Work is incredibly overwhelming, stressful, time-consuming and emotionally draining, and that’s why finding my niche with at-home workouts was even more important to me. I tried a lot of different things – types of fitness I hated and loved, formats of classes I hated and loved, and instructors I hated and loved. I have so much to say that I’m splitting this post into two parts. First, more generalized types of classes and instructors I love, and later this week, my actual favorite classes and links to where you can find them.

I was especially motivated to write this post now because I follow so many instructors and gyms on social media and most of them have been IRKING me. I discovered the joy of working out in college, but I didn’t always look at it in a healthy way. There was a time in college where I counted every calorie going into my body and every minute on the elliptical. I was at the gym 5 hours a day. Psychologists agree that one factor that impacts disordered eating is a sense of control. When other things in people’s lives feel out of control, eating and exercise are two things that can easily be monitored and controlled. And that is why so many fitness instructors and “fitfluencers” now are annoying the hell out of me.

Things are HARD right now. Stressful. Uncertain. But fitness instructors should not be capitalizing on that to sell classes. I understand that fitness instructors whose livelihoods are depending now on online classes seem OBSESSED with proving that their programs create results, visible abs, visible biceps, etc. But I worry that people see these milestones and feel like it is the only goal to strive toward. With vacations and plans canceled for months, people are looking for things to aim for. And more time on their hands, all they need to do is take 4 fitness classes a day and they can get abs! YIPPEE! Great goal! I see people gloating about “tripling” (i.e. taking 3 classes in a day). This is not something to gloat about. I have been there, that’s how I know. Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t create goals for yourself, or set something to strive for during these crazy times. But the unhealthy way I see it portrayed on Instagram is troubling me.

This is not a post about disordered eating or disordered working out, it’s about how I came to find joy in the endorphins of working out, how I am finding that joy during quarantine.

I already told you the main thing I am missing from the gym is my people, so it may seem counter-intuitive that the first thing I am recommending is a solo activity… RUNNING! I know, I know, you never thought you’d hear this from me; I literally own a shirt that says “I hate running.” I recently wrote about my January run streak and how I’d never do it again. But I can’t stress how much fresh air and alone time can help elevate my mood. I have been running often with my fiance’s sister. We run a couple times per week together. But when I am feeling really down, I have been lacing up my shoes, cuing up a playlist of my favorite jams, and taking it to the streets alone. As much as I love my fiancé and his family, it can be nice to quiet my mind and surroundings for an hour.

I have had many friends and strangers tell me they wished they could run, but they can’t run more than a few minutes without giving up. They ask what the secret is and it’s simple – just run as long as you want! And when you want to stop to walk, do that. Especially during these crazy times, adding extra pressure on yourself is not going to help anything. Just get outside, breathe fresh air, listen to some awesome music, or podcast, or audiobook, and stop when you want. Or don’t. It reminds me of the Forrest Gump quote:

That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of the town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama. And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on goin’. – Forrest Gump

But not everyone wants to run or walk. And soon it’ll be way too hot in Texas for me to run, too. The only way some people will work out is when someone is giving them structured advice in the form of a class. The great news is, there has never been a better array of classes available online. But that doesn’t mean they are all equal.

Here’s the type of instructor I do NOT want to be anywhere near during quarantine: Anyone who yells. Period. Do not tell me I can do 15 more squats. You don’t know what I went through today. You don’t know that I spoke to someone who lost both of their parents this month and took a 20% pay cut that day despite having two mortgages because they can’t sell their current house in this market. Maybe today I can’t do 15 more squats. And do NOT tell me that I need to turn my video on for Zoom. I have my video on for Zoom ALL DAY for work. If I don’t feel like having someone watch my form today, then I will leave your class. And guess what, I have done that! Now is not the time to waste energy on things that bring me down and not up. Which brings me to my next point.

Here’s the type of instructor I DO want to be near during quarantine: Someone who smiles. Someone who says, “we’re in this together.” Someone who says, “I had a hard day today, but I’m so glad we’re here together now.” Someone who says, “have FUN!”

Now let’s talk a little about class format. Technology can be hard. I get it. There will be tech problems. But Zoom workouts??? It’s a HARD PASS for me. I have tried a couple different classes on Zoom and WebEx, ALL BAD. Every. Single. One. As a fitness instructor, ex-musician and ex-dancer, music matters. Music must go with moves. I am not an AMRAP girl. I am an 8-count girl. Nothing irks me more than an instructor who cannot count. So, if an instructor is counting but the beat doesn’t match with the voice, I will leave. I left 3 BollyX classes because I was so frustrated. I left a bootcamp class. One class I stayed in, but I put my own music on from Spotify. Now, if I sign up for a class and I see it is taking place on Zoom, I just don’t go. I may lose money but it’s not worth the stress and frustration.

That still leaves a lot of options, though! Instagram Live, Facebook Live, Peloton, BurnAlong and Youtube! None of those options allow the instructor to see you, so it’s less interactive, but you can still leave comments. Also another benefit, no one can yell at you because they can’t see you!

I will post later this week about my favorite instructors and formats during this time. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot of dance cardio, workouts I can get lost in where time passes quickly, and instructors who focus on positivity and fun. I sent an extensive list of links to my great aunt and she has been dancing and Zumba-ing around her house for a month. I can’t wait to tell you all about my favorite online offerings so we can do them “together!”

Miscellaneous

True Life: Engaged and Quarantined

April 14, 2020 2 Comments

February 14^th, I got engaged to the love of my life. One month later on March 14^th, we made the split-second decision to flee our home and asked his sister if we could temporarily stay with them in Texas. And here we are on April 14^th, basically moved in with my future in-laws with no end in sight and trying not to kill each other. At least once a day I catch myself looking down at my ring, taking a deep breath, and reminding myself that I signed up for this. But did I? Did any of us?

I think everyone can agree that besides Tiger King, the only thing keeping us sane in 2020 is the abundance of memes on Instagram. My personal favorites are the ones like “Day 27 of Quarantine, I have realized that I can’t stand the sound of my husband breathing.” I spoke to a friend recently who said she never realized how loud her partner chewed and has now resorted to playing loud music whenever they dine together. Which is every single meal, every day.

Don’t get me wrong, things could be worse. SO MUCH WORSE. I have a roof over my head, a job, and plenty of (too much?) food. I also have a loving partner who said last night that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. To which I said, “Really? Still?”

Living together is hard. I remember when Chris and I first made the decision to move in together, about 1.5 years into our relationship. I was SUPER nervous about it. I had lived with people my entire life, from parents to roommates, to more roommates, then MORE roommates, because NYC, ya know? Anyway, I had never shared a room with someone besides for one year in a dorm with a roommate who basically slept at her boyfriend’s apartment. And I certainly had not shared a bathroom with a boy besides my brother, who I could just hit if he left the toilet seat up. But a tiny 1-bedroom apartment with a man who I couldn’t just hit when I got annoyed? That was uncharted territory. And it was not easy.

There were socks everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. I would take the sheets off and find anywhere from 2-7 single socks at the bottom of the bed. Socks in the bathroom, in the living room under the couch. RIGHT next to the hamper. And don’t get me started on the dang toilet seat. It’s an ongoing battle. We are still in training, much like when you adopt a puppy, but it’s “please don’t pee on the seat” instead of “please don’t pee in the corner on the rug” (but also sometimes that).

Thankfully, this quarantine happened after Chris and I had already been living together for 3 years, so we had both come to terms with each other’s eccentricities. We were prepared. Or we thought we were.

Narrator: “They were not prepared.”

Living with each other in your own home is one thing but living in someone else’s home is a completely different thing, especially when it is one of your family’s homes. Don’t get me wrong, I love his family. First of all, they are INCREDIBLY generous allowing us to come from the heart of the pandemic in NYC and move in on 6 hours’ notice, literally. Also, they have never been anything but welcoming to me. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is not my house.

There’s a level of comfort in knowing where the containers are and knowing that each top has a bottom because if it doesn’t, you throw it out.

Or knowing that the pillows are the right height so your neck doesn’t feel off all day.

Or knowing that by 11 am, everyone is awake and you can blast music to do a workout class or run the blender to make a protein shake.

Or knowing when the dishes in the dishwasher are clean. (Side note: I have spent 4 weeks now using my incredibly stealthy detective skills to try and figure out their system. I still have not made any headway.)

If you’re sitting at home reading this and playing the world’s smallest violin for my troubles, I get it. There are people out there struggling to survive. People in abusive relationships or without loving partners. I am lucky to have a loving partner, but he treats this house like it is his parent’s home with mommy dearest to clean up after him. Except she isn’t here, I am. And I am the guest, so I feel the need to clean up, pitch in, cook, fold laundry, etc. He feels the need to do NONE of those things except prance down the stairs when he smells bacon. This literally happened today.

This is certainly not the way I would have predicted our engagement to go. Thankfully, we have both been really busy with work. As you know from my previous blogs, one way we try to stay sane and keep from yelling at each other for breathing is by having a weekly date night. This has disappeared. I keep telling him he needs to plan something for me. ANYTHING. A picnic for lunch. A hike. Breakfast in bed. He told me today he is “just waiting to surprise me.” I told him it’s been 4.5 weeks and I’m sick of waiting. But what other choice do I have? Where am I going? Literally NOWHERE.

The good news is that we were not in any rush to get married, so we haven’t lost money or time on deposits or slashed dreams. The bad news is that there are no future plans in place to keep us together. We are holding it together by a tiny band of platinum and a not-as-tiny diamond. And love. Sometimes. When he picks up his socks.

Miscellaneous

Social Distance Schedule

March 24, 2020 3 Comments

Hey guys, how are you doing? Keeping busy? My mom sent her day’s work-from-home schedule to the family group chat this morning. She’s a busy woman. There was cleaning of rooms, pedicuring of toes, and best yet, DOWNLOAD INSTAGRAM. That’s right y’all, my mom is officially on Instagram. Since most of the people who subscribe to my blog are her friends, let me be the first one to tell you to follow my mom! She needs followers!

Anyway, back to the schedule, she inspired me to send her my schedule for the day:

8:00 am Wakeup
8-9:00 Do hair to put on the gram
9-9:15:00 Try and be creative with a breakfast avocado meal
9:15-12:00 pm Be mad about work
10:00 Coffee date with my mannequin head
12:00 Walk around neighborhood trying not to be frustrated about work
12:30 Convince one of the boys to take a photo of my hair outside
12:45 Try and be creative with a lunch avocado meal
1:30 Get more frustrated with work
4:00 Solo Dance Party
5:00 Try to convince one of the boys to exercise with me
6:30 Shower but probably not wash hair bc why bother
7:00 Try to be creative with a dinner avocado meal
6-11 Try not to murder Chris

See??? I’m busy too!! If you guys don’t know why there’s so much on there about avocados, the short version is that somehow we came into a free case of avocados that I am trying to eat/use before they go bad.

So back to the schedule. If you have been on social media at all (if you haven’t… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!), then you’ve seen many parents’ schedules. They include wakeup times, bedtimes, physical activities, craft activities, outdoor time, school time, scheduled meals, etc. Basically, doing THE MOST.

God bless those parents. I do not know how they will continue with that level of discipline. Personally, I relate a lot more to the Israeli woman who is screaming at her iphone in her car, trying to escape her 4 kids at home.

If you haven’t seen it… I highly recommend it.

Then, if you hit up the meme accounts, like @no.fucksgiiven, or @wheredidmyvodkago or @fuckjerry or @quentin.quarantino , you’ll see very different schedules. Basically, trying to stay alive, trying to stay sane, spending 88% of your waking hours on screen time, and eating every single snack at your house. Also, completely giving up on all of your new year’s resolutions because like… WHY BOTHER?!

(Mommy – you should follow those meme accounts! It may inspire your schedule for tomorrow.)

I like to think my schedule is a healthy balance of both. I have a Zoom Happy Hour on the calendar for Thursday (which is still 2 very long days away), but most of my day revolves around cooking food, exercising, and trying to consciously stay out of the kitchen to eat all of my food. I told my BFF I was going to write this blog, and she sent me her schedule, as well. Please note, she is a nurse in Seattle, so her life and schedule is MUCH more stressful than anything I am dealing with, but there is still a lot of overlap.

10:00 am Wake Up
10-11:00 Read news articles about Corona and panic. Sometimes cry.
11:00 Make eggs for breakfast, but not the usual amount because I’m rationing
12-1:00 pm Open work emails and panic again
1:00 Go for a run and wonder why there are so many cars on the road
3:00 Prolong shower
5:00 Shower*
6:00 Beer*
*In the next few days, shower and beer may fall into the same time slot

Reading her schedule made me realize that I had left “panic” out of my schedule, but don’t fret, it’s an all-day event, so just assume it belongs in all of my waking hours, and sometimes my sleeping ones, too.

We have our HUGE event of the week scheduled for tomorrow… “try not to get coronavirus at the grocery store.” Wish us luck!! What are your schedules looking like? Leave them in the comments.

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