I’m doing my favorite things for spring here to focus on something besides the coronavirus and homeschooling and disinfecting for a moment. What a strange, surreal, scary time it is. Reading the news can be paralyzing. I have to push myself to do some of the things I did before, and so this post.
The upside to all this is that we’re forced to stop and really focus on the simple things. I’m grateful for my family and a warm home to shelter in place. We have a homeschool set up with so many links and videos and apps, I don’t know how my eight-year-old manages it all. But she is—we are.
Here, my favorite things for spring—or what’s keeping me sane:
1. These TV shows:
Homeland
I was totally uninterested in Homeland after a two-year hiatus and a couple of very bumpy seasons but the current season is just the ticket during this quarantine in that it’s absorbing enough to empty my mind for sixty minutes.
The Marvelous Ms. Maisel
This show is a cup of 1950’s New York sunshine. I still have season 3 to watch because when I really love a show, I dole it out very slowly.
The Morning Show
I’m only one episode in but it’s obviously ripped from the headlines and I can’t wait to see more of Jennifer Aniston and Reece Witherspoon acting together.
I also plan to check out “Self Made” and “The Plot Against America.” I still have season three of “The Crown.” And I am re-watching the greatest show of all time, my benchmark for all other television shows—”Mad Men.”
2. All the recipes from HalfBaked Harvest
I don’t even remember how I stumbled upon this food blogger but I have been making her recipes almost exclusively for the past year. I have made all of her sheet pan dinners and she has been coming out with a lot of great recipes for the InstaPot lately. Plus, these cookie bars are always in my freezer and this zucchini bread is my favorite.
Some of the recipes I make on repeat include this ramen, this peanut chicken, this cauliflower shawarma with green tahini and fried halloumi and so many more. If you’re not already checking HalfBaked Harvest daily, now is the time.
3. Live workouts with the best fitness instructor in all the land
I have been doing a sculpt class for more than a decade and my friends know I have a favorite instructor who is an absolute beast (carmilla_K on Instagram). She is the toughest, most inspiring instructor I have ever had. She has been doing some IG Live workouts (because we begged her to) and they are keeping me going during homeschooling. Giving up group fitness is super hard for me so having her workouts are a godsend. She obviously can’t see me on my mat in my living room but I still feel like she can and will somehow know if I’m cheating myself (she’d say “don’t waste your time, don’t waste my time”).
4. Little Fires Everywhere
A few friends and I are doing a virtual book club. We decided to read Little Fires Everywhere, have a virtual chat, and then watch the show on Hulu.
5. The Erdem x deGournay collaboration
Seeing beauty always makes me feel better and this is one of the best things I have come across in a while. I have loved Erdem for years and de Gournay does such beautiful papers. While not de Gournay, I’m such a fan of of chinz that I did my entire master bedroom in the Schumacher paper pictured above and it is one of my favorite things of all time.
6. Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship
Speaking of beauty, my dear friend Nicole gave me this book, Beholding and Becoming: The Art of EveryDay Worship, and it has been such a blessing. The author, Ruth Chou Simons, is both a gifted writer and artist and the lovely paintings throughout the book add so much to her impactful teachings. I can’t recommend this book enough and I’m looking forward to reading more from this writer.
Stay safe and healthy.
