Hellooooo 2020. Now more than ever, I'm looking forward to this virtual coffee chat.
I hope, more than anything, that you're doing well through all of this. If you're not, maybe a chat can give you a small glimmer of happiness.
I'm still drinking my same Chemex-brewed black coffee — what's your drink of choice during this stay at home season of life? Grab a cup and let's have a chat.
Celebrating a birthday while social distancing
My birthday was April 9!
No one expects to celebrate their birthday during a pandemic. Much less my 30th, which I was hoping would be a BIG birthday celebration.
Ah, well.
Traditionally, I would cook a big themed meal (last year was brunch) and invite my friends over for a feast. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen.
Instead, here's what we did:
Spread joy...through food!
Made treat boxes for our friends in Fargo containing homemade strawberry and chocolate mashmallows (recipes from My Paleo Patisserie) and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (adjusted from this recipe). We delivered them to peoples' doorsteps and waved from the sidewalk!
Gotta get my snatch on
Completed my favorite workout, "Isabel" — 30 snatches for time at 95#. Wasn't expecting much, but I ended up with an 18 second PR. I'll take it!
Good food, obviously.
We started our day with takeout from our favorite diner in the area, The Shack. Have to support our local favorites right now!
For dinner, we ordered pizza from the restaurant we got married at, Rhombus Guys.
Finally, a surprise!
My husband surprised me by organizing a "drive-by party" — friends and family got together to create a motorcade, drove by our house, and honked/yelled "happy birthday"/waved signs out the window. I was completely caught off guard! Definitely a special part of my day that left me feeling loved and appreciated, even though I couldn't actually BE with friends on my birthday.
I've been telling Tjay for years that I didn't think he could ever suprise me. This year, he totally pulled it off!
Current favorites:
Great coffee is better with an amazing mug
I'm STILL crushing on this mug from Dash and White, a local boutique in Fargo. It cost a little more than I ever thought I'd spend on a mug, but when you find something that you just LOVE, it's better to have that than 10 of something that's cheaper but just okay.
Easy meals thanks to some shortcuts!
Just before the pandemic really started ramping up, Primal Kitchen Foods sent over some of their new frozen meals. I'm SO glad to have these on hand while we're sheltered inside!
Likewise, their dressings and sauces have also come in handy. Some steak or chicken + veggies + no soy teriyaki means a freaky fast stir fry.
Plus, snacks to fuel some home workouts
SuperFat sent me some of their new keto cookie bites. A couple of these have made a great pre-workout snack when I feel like I need a little fuel.
The peanut butter chocolate chip were my favorite, with snickerdoodle a close second!
What I'm currently reading
Part of these interesting times we're in: all the local libraries are closed until further notice.
I use libraries for most of my reading. With the sudden closures, I'm floundering a bit to fill that knowledge-thirsty void.
Fortunatley, our local libraries have online services as well, offering e-books and audiobooks for checkout. (If you're bored at home, look into your local library to see if they offer similar services!)
Traditionally, I'd MUCH rather have a physical book in my hands. But I'm so thankful for the option now!
- The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty — It's been a while since I've read adult fantasy, and with a little more time on my hands for reading, this was a great book to dive into! Since I read quite a bit of fantasy, I appreciate storylines that surprise me. This one did simply in the sense that NOTHING in this book is black and white — it's impossible to know who or what to root for!
- The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty — After finishing the City of Brass just last night, I'm excited to dive into the sequel tonight. I sincerely have no idea what to expect from this series... but this book is a massive 600+ pages, so I'm sure it will last me a while.
At home workouts to make self isolation active
Since the gym is currently closed, home workouts are all the rage!
Luckily, we currently have a roommate living with us who's a friend of mine from the gym. We keep each other motivated to stay active when we'd otherwise spend the majority of our days on our laptops.
Jenny fortunately has a barbell and the gym let us take a few plates home, so we have a mini home gym setup so we can do almost any workout we'd like.
Still, Jenny and I committed to a few free online home workout competitions like the United in Movement comp — not to compete necessarily, but just to give us workouts to do an a deadline to keep us accountable.
And let me tell ya — we underestimated how challenging these at home bodyweight workouts can be!
If you're looking for some at home workout inspiration to keep moving, I have a Pinterest board compiling some workouts, ideas, and tips.
Shareworthy internet reads
- An old article, but a favorite: How to Become Unf*ckwithable in 5 Easy Steps
- How to get people to care more about the environment? It's actually quite easy.
- Fast fashion is a serious environmental problem. On average, one cotton shirt uses 2,700 liters of water — what would take a person 2.5 years to drink.
- Struggling to stay productive while at home? A few mindset reframes can make a huge difference.
New posts this month
Message from the Kitty Committee
Clearly, nothing about this pandemic is ideal. But there's one thing I do appreciate — more time at home with these kitties. They're masters at appreciating each moment in life, and I think we can learn something from that. The world might be tumultuous right now, but can we find gratefulness in small moments every day?
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