I recently read about THE GREAT PAUSE in a Medium article, and I absolutely connected to it! It sums up how I feel right now so perfectly. We are in the 8th week of self isolating and I have to admit..I have not minded too much of it. Lin and I were talking last night over dinner and discussing the things we have enjoyed during this whole process. I have been appreciating a slower life and a more open calendar. There’s nowhere I need to be, no rushing around to get somewhere, and not a lot of FOMO aside as I tend to retreat in the warmer weather anyhow! (fall-winter baby over here) We have been enjoying cooking our own meals at home more too where before we would eat out at least twice a week! It gets so expensive and you really have no idea how restaurants are preparing your food!

Now I know people & businesses that are greatly affected by this pandemic and it is truly awful; but for us quarantine hasn’t been personally bad and we are very grateful for that. Just because my experience feels less frantic doesn’t mean that anxiety and other worrisome factors don’t still exist! It just means that for once, I’m okay not being busy and frazzled! This time has helped uncover how much of my identity was wrapped up in my work and the busyness of my calendar.

I don’t really have any expectations of what life will look after this but I really want to focus on what brings me joy and peace right now — and which of those things I want to carry into the new normal of the next chapters in the book!

Scroll on for a few beautiful discoveries I’ve made recently-all bringing peace and joy!

ALL THE cooking.

Cooking (with a glass of wine in hand) is my favorite form of meditation, and I’ve been doing it more and more if you can believe that! I already cooked quite a bit pre Covid but now it’s a full time gig! LOL! And guess what, I’m actually really good at it! We splurged on take out the other day and I have to admit I was pretty disappointed. Lin even said ..”babe, you can make this 100 times better and with finer ingredients.” So that was super sweet but yes..I am a fantastic chef! I am even mastering baking! I do love to support local restaurants and will continue to do some of that but the daily act of preparing food does bring me incredible amounts of joy. I’ve never done so many dishes in my life so my hands and fingernails might feel a little differently about this! I’ve been pulling a lot of recipes from the following:

Magnolia Table, Volume 2: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1: A Cookbook

And I am always a fan of Half Baked Harvest’s recipes and Chef Shannon Smith!!!

I have also organized all my pantry and am now 100% plastic free in that room! This has been a long time goal of mine.

I purchased these DANS LE SAC BULK BAGS from beautiful brand Helen Milan too to aid in my plastic-free efforts! You get a set of three bulk bags for various uses. There are two large bulk bags to hold fruit, vegetables and other bulky items and one small bulk bag, perfect for nuts, legumes and grains. They will be great to throw into my purse for when I start going grocery shopping again! Cheers to zero waste!!!

And of course as soon as the groceries are delivered from the market I wash and sanitize everything because well..COVID. But honestly I keep telling Lin that we should have been sanitizing all those things long before this silent enemy. I mean think about all the hands holding your pasta sauce before you. ICK! So I am keeping this habit for eternity! It feels good to me. It feels like something we should be always be doing.

I planted some herbs a while back which you can read all about that here. It’s actually really tough to keep most of them alive but I am getting better and really enjoy having fresh herbs right in my kitchen to cook with!

And I am having fun taking time shooting recipes and actually getting them on the blog in a timely manner for you. If you have ever shot a step-by-step recipe post then you will totally pick up what I am throwing down here. It is a ton of work!!! Kudos to the full time food bloggers out there! I see you.

All The Laundry

I absolutely loooooooooove fresh sheets and beautiful crisp white towels!!!! I have always loved the idea of taking more time with my laundry too hand washing all my delicates and just making the whole process this meaningful wonderful thing! REALLY! I promise. My friend Katie in Chicago is this incredible bed maker and I swear every laundry day she posts her stories to gram and I just get glued to this process. Oh the time and attention! I usually just throw everything in the washer and dryer not even separating things or looking at tags or anything. I know. GASP. But in the last two months I have really aimed to be better with laundry days and actually move slow and intentionally with it. And it’s also been a bit therapeutic.

We have no hanging room here in our condo. Truth be told, I would love a yard with a clothes line. But anyway I discovered this beautiful IRIS HANTVERK BIRCH CLOTHES HORSE from Helen Milan who I mentioned earlier in this post! Their beautiful ethical housewares are just so me! So I treated myself to a few things from their E-shop for Mother’s Day! This folding birch clothes rack is the all-natural, aesthetically pleasing answer for small spaces and homes with exposed laundry rooms. The rack embodies the simplicity and functionality of Scandinavian design that matches any home decor.

(Also great for drying beeswax wraps)

26″ L x 19.5″ W x 33.5″ H

It’s been so perfect for drying my delicates and linen bedding by the window in the sun.

I have been using my beautiful lint brush from The Laundress too all over my bedding and furniture! It’s incredible for pet hair. Their clothing and upholstery brush is divine too!

I know…is this domestic bliss I am finding?

ALL THE LOUNGING AND RELAXING

So this is a really tough one for me but I have finally let go of all the guilty feelings for doing nothing and being unproductive. I am okay with curling up with the pups and watching movies or just browsing through one of my million coffee table books. It is okay to take time for yourself. Allow yourself to take time off, especially if you are still working through this! It’s okay to decline a social call. It’s okay to not respond to your gram DM’s everyday. It’s okay to just stare out of the window if you want to!

Be kind to yourself! I want to create more time for myself on the other side of this where I give myself time off to just be unproductive. And I want to continue not feeling guilty for it!

I’m slowly discovering this new slow way of life and I must admit that I am just not ready to rush back to Pre-Covid times. I think we have been given a bit of an opportunity here and if we really listen and observe we can learn lots about ourselves.

What have you been learning about yourself the last two months?! What things can you carry over post lockdown?! I am really curious so let me know in the comments below!

Stay safe out there!!!