"The nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." - L.M. Montgomery, Author
Hello, hello everyone! I hope all of you are doing well as you're reading this and remembering to find the little things in life to make you happy.
Amid this world wide pandemic, I've been thinking about how all of us right now are in this odd state of being mutually connected by being stressed out and anxious; not knowing when this is all going to end. Some of us may even be sinking into a depression because you may have lost your job, don't have a source of income, or maybe are just feeling lonely if you're living by yourself.
I wanted to create this blog post as a means of hope and to inspire you to stay motivated and to not give up. Maybe even take this as an opportunity, however unfortunate it is, and make something out of it, take this period of your lives to catch up on things you haven't had the time for. And remember the little things that we might take for granted every day.
Your children's laugh, your dog waking you up with wet kisses in the morning, putting a candle on after you clean your house, the sound of coffee brewing in your kitchen, the smell of apple pie baking in your oven, and listening to the rain patter on your window as you're reading your favorite book in the dim light.
Here are my list of things you can do stuck at home and remember; stay safe!
Amid this world wide pandemic, I've been thinking about how all of us right now are in this odd state of being mutually connected by being stressed out and anxious; not knowing when this is all going to end. Some of us may even be sinking into a depression because you may have lost your job, don't have a source of income, or maybe are just feeling lonely if you're living by yourself.
I wanted to create this blog post as a means of hope and to inspire you to stay motivated and to not give up. Maybe even take this as an opportunity, however unfortunate it is, and make something out of it, take this period of your lives to catch up on things you haven't had the time for. And remember the little things that we might take for granted every day.
Your children's laugh, your dog waking you up with wet kisses in the morning, putting a candle on after you clean your house, the sound of coffee brewing in your kitchen, the smell of apple pie baking in your oven, and listening to the rain patter on your window as you're reading your favorite book in the dim light.
Here are my list of things you can do stuck at home and remember; stay safe!
- Practice self care. If you feel like you never have time for yourself, now is the perfect time to take advantage of this! Put on some face masks, paint your nails, play around with that eye shadow palette you've never used, take a bath with some lit candles and your favorite book, and maybe just take some cute selfies at home. Order some face masks online. You could even sign up for a monthly package of skin care. Sephora has a great monthly beauty subscription box.
- Start eating healthier or just spend more time cooking and baking. I think a lot of people have trouble eating healthier just because they don't have time to make home made meals due to a busy schedule. Make a delicious stew or spend time slow-cooking a meal. Meal prepping is always a good idea. Find some delicious new recipes on Pinterest you've always wanted to try.
- Spring clean your home or re-decorate your bedroom. There definitely has to be something in your home you have been putting off cleaning. Don't forget to dust! (Think of places you normally don't clean: ceiling fans, the top of your fridge, the inside of your microwave, ). Maybe even re-decorate your bedroom. Add some twinkly lights or add a plant in a spare corner, maybe even a salt lamp somewhere. Hang up a shelf and arrange your favorite books on it with cute bookends. If you don't want to spend money right now, maybe change the position of your furniture. You could move your bed to your window for a change.
- Create a list of things you want to add to your bedroom, living room, or your entire home to make it more cozy or to just to make it into your dream home! However long it takes, check them off as they get completed.
- Find a good show to binge watch. Spend some time out of your day looking through Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or whatever else you have and compile a list of shows that you've been meaning to watch or that sound really good. Also don't forget good documentaries!
- Exercise at home. There are tons of free YouTube videos you can use online for at-home work outs from working out your abs and booty to practicing yoga. If you're looking for quick and efficient at-home exercises for your body my favorite youtuber currently is Chloe Ting. And for yoga, Yoga with Adriene is amazing. It'll make you not only feel better about yourself but if you're consistent with it, you'll see results!
- Click on their names and it'll take you to their youtube accounts!
- Take up a new hobby or revisit an old hobby. If you used to love painting, drawing, or maybe reading, but you haven't in a while... now is your chance!
- Learn another language. Okay, so this would obviously take a lot of time, but if you need something to do, I feel like learning another language is probably on everyone's bucket list. I know it's on mine. There are tons of apps and different ways you can begin learning a lanuge on your own. The app Duolingo is amazing and I have bought "Living Language" off of amazon that includes CDs, workbooks, and more to learn on your own. They have a great variety of languages.
- Spend a day just searching for new music. And find a new podcast!
- Because who doesn't love finding new music to listen to? I use spotify which is great to create playlists and search for new music that is similar to what you already listen to. Podcasts are a great way to break up just listening to music, especially if you're on a long commute to work or a road trip.
- Some of my favorite podcasts:
- What we said - lifestyle, mostly episodes where listeners can send in their stories like; most embarrassing moments, worst tinder dates, etc.
- The Morning Toas - fun and mostly about pop culture
- Crime Junkie - my favorite prime podcast
- Sword and Scale - another crime podcast
- Girls Gotta Eat - entertaining but mostly about dating/sex
- Pretty Basic - Life Style and pop culture
- Chatty Broads - mostly Bachelor recaps
- Yoga Girl Daily - super short but cute to listen to before a yoga workout
- Any guided meditation
- Get creative! This can be literally anything. Spend some time doing arts and crafts, home DIY projects, drawing in a sketchbook, painting, baking, photography, tie-dying shirts, cooking new meals, journaling, playing music, or keeping a daily journal; whether it's a gratitude journal or maybe if you're religious, you can keep a devotion book.
- Plan goals, create to-do lists, and break up big tasks into smaller ones. Goal planning can always be done at any time, but what better time to do so than now? Where do you want to be in a year? Five years? Ten years? Creating to-lists helps me feel more organized and reduces stress. Also, if you have a huge daunting task you've been dreading, why not break it into smaller steps?
- Plan a dream trip to take once all of this is over. I think everyone is in need of a vacation once this pandemic is over. Where do you want to go? Spend your day planning and researching some of your bucket-list destinations and decide which one you would like to take next. Write down your budget and plan your days out in a journal. Of course if you just like to pick a spot and wing it, that's a different story, but I'm definitely a planner. This is for sure one of my favorite things to do. Check out trip advisor or even "travel vloggers" who have gone to your dream spot to score some ideas on where to go once you're there.
- Stay productive. Update your resume. Delete pictures on your phone to create more storage. De-clutter your email box. Organize your closets or any storage space.
That's all I have for now, thanks for reading guys! Have a wonderful weekend :)
