Extra LSR: Currently (Still Quarantined)…

Welcome to the COVID-19 edition of Currently.

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So here we are, month four of COVID-19 quarantine. I’m doing a round of catching up and sprinkling in a few questions from the quarantine lockdown tag. Diving in!

Come on, own up: did you stockpile anything? True story: I always have a small stockpile of toilet paper and paper towels. So once things started to go buck wild at the grocery stores with shortages, we just burned through our little stash. I actually didn’t buy paper products for over a month– which was good, because it wasn’t like we could readily get our hands on any. I did, however, take to eBay to buy a big thing of Lysol multipurpose concentrate because we were nearly out and I couldn’t find it on store shelves anywhere.

Eating: Blueberries, peaches, grapefruit, and watermelon. Give me all the summer fruits, please and thank you. For quick on-the-go snacks I grab between Zoom meetings, I grab a handful of salted cashews or one of these antibiotic-free jerky sticks.

Did you give in to the hype and bake your own banana bread? Or sourdough? I’m not a baker and quarantine didn’t change that. I did get more creative with my cooking, though. Lots of, “Oh, I have this and this in the fridge, let’s sauté it with this and that” type of dinners, which lead me to whip up a whiskey-and-heavy-cream sauce I paired with tilapia fillets.

Drinking: A big glass of water with lemon and apple cider vinegar in the morning, followed by a cup of coffee. Then I start slamming the water pretty hard. Diet Dr. Pepper or a Bang if I need a little afternoon pick-me-up. Frozen strawberry margaritas on the weekends (because I bought this bad boy and it literally makes a GALLON of margs at a time and is under $100).

Have you discovered a new hobby? Not exactly, but I have gotten back into reading. I’ve worked through White Fragility and The Hate U Give. I’m also hyper-focused on skincare these days since I have more time. I’ll hole up in my bathroom with some tunes on, do a few different masks, take time layering serums, slather on a super-hydrating body oil– you name it, if it’s skincare-related, I’m game. That counts as a hobby, right? And I swear my skin is super glowy from all the attention.

Skincare essentials:

Watching: We have been burning through show after show on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Big fans of Dead to Me, The Expanse, and now we’re watching the second season of Hanna and the reboot of Unsolved Mysteries. (Omg! It’s soooo good!)

Going: Nowhere, really. With cases rising and no vaccine in sight, I’m staying close to home. I make the exception for friends and family who’ve been responsibly social distancing and quarantining, but 98% of my time is spent at home. Jonesing for a happy hour? Dave and I will hit the back deck with drinks after work. I also spend quite a bit of time out there watering flowers. My pots are on fire this year!

Loungewear or normal clothes? My loungewear game has exploded in quarantine. So many new pairs of bike shorts, oversized t-shirts, and comfy matching sets. My work isn’t requiring us to be business professional attire for Zoom calls (or even have our cameras turned on all the time), so I’ve been able to achieve a new level of comfort.

Wearing makeup during quarantine? Not usually. Not even for work calls. I just throw on my fave blue light glasses and they do the trick.

Have you been to your hairstylist or have you been cutting + dyeing your own hair? As if I had the talent to cut or dye my own hair! I was lucky that my style looked a-okay grown out, so I skipped my April appointment and didn’t see my stylist, Steph, until it was safer to do so. She has her own one-room studio, which is really nice to limit exposure. We both mask up during the appointment and she disinfects like crazy between clients. Safety first!

Speaking of hair: I’ve been styling my waves differently. Ladies and gentlemen, I have rediscovered the diffuser. I stumbled upon India Batson’s YouTube and realized that our curl patterns were very similar and her volume was crazy. I stopped blowing out the front pieces of my hair with a big round brush and just scrunched in curl creme, a little gel, then diffused until dry(ish). Holy 90s volume!

Let me know if you guys want a more in-depth blog post on this. I’ve featured some of the products I used to create this look (and keep it fresh for 3-5 days), but I can definitely do something more step-by-step if there’s interest.

Curly hair essentials:

Working: Out in my bedroom! I have amassed quite the collection of resistance bands, dumbbells, and ankle weights during quarantine. I keep ’em in my closet and then throw an episode of Housewives while I power through an Instagram workout. I love all at-home workout content the fitness influencers have been putting together. I love CollegeCleanEating and HayleyMadiganFitness. They have some great workouts I keep in my saves and are both super body positive and real, which I really dig.

Home workout essentials:

Listening: To Throttle. I discovered him while playing Rocket League (yes, lol, you read that right) with my friends and the playlist was so amazing. Cities is my jam.

Buying: New bathroom towels. New sheets. A wine fridge. You know, stuff to make the house comfier, more functional, or a little more luxurious. It only makes sense since we’re spending so much time at home right now!

Feeling: In a solid quarantine routine. I have carved out space to work, unplug, workout, relax, and recharge. All in the same house. It feels like something I am prepared to continue for as long as I need to– as long COVID-19 continues to spread, put people in hospitals, and take lives. Of course, it’s frustrating to watch cases rise here in the US because people throw fits about wearing masks (I like to refer to this super catchy song when faced with people like this) and clamor to go back to normal life when we’re not ready to do so, and I certainly feel for the people whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic.

Hope you guys enjoyed this update! Let me know what you’ve been up to lately in the comments.

Linking up with Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, The Fashion Canvas, I Do DeClaire, Style Splash, Straight A Style, Rosy Outlook + Seeking Sunshine, Jersey Girl Texan Heart, Living on Cloud Nine, Effortlessly Sophisticated, Curly Crafty Mom + Doused in Pink, A Labour of Life, Elegance & Mommyhood, Nancy’s Fashion Style, Confessions of a Montreal Styling Diva, Lizzie in Lace, A Pocketful of Polka Dots, Shelbee on the Edge, My Random Musings, Mutton Years Style and I, Glass of Glam, and Away from the Blue.