Life Lately: Another year older, the Coronavirus, and NO MORE TOILET PAPER!
Life Lately
Happy Birthday to me! I turned 35 yesterday, on March 15th! I have to be honest, this year’s birthday feels kinda depressing. NOT because I’m turning another year older, but because of everything happening in the world right now. Things are starting to shut down, everyone is self-quarantining, and there’s NO MORE TOILET PAPER. My husband hasn’t worked since before Thanksgiving and he finally started a job last week…but it got shut down on his second day of work. My mom and sister were supposed to visit at the end of the month but they cancelled their trip. Plus, it’s been raining the past week in LA and things just don’t feel right! Can we just reset 2020??
Has anyone tried unplugging 2020, waiting 10 seconds, and plugging it back in?
My Thoughts on the Coronavirus
I know all of those things are #FirstWorldProblems. I know a lot of people are dealing with A LOT WORSE. I’m glad everyone is taking precautions so hopefully we can stop this virus from getting out of hand in the US. Luckily, we are prepared and will be fine – even if my hubby is out of work for a couple months. We actually got a call from one of Steve’s co-workers who used to be in the military a couple weeks ago before everyone started freaking out about the Coronavirus. He told us to start stocking up because it was going to get bad. I kind of thought it was a little extreme but my husband went out and bought some non-perishable food, diapers, and toilet paper just in case. And now I’m glad he did! We definitely beat the rush so that has brought some peace of mind. (P.S. We bought a reasonable amount of supplies to last maybe 2 weeks. We didn’t freak out and buy the whole store!! Seriously, why is everyone buying all the toilet paper??).
At first, I was wondering how we’d handle weeks of self-quarantining. But then I remembered my little family has pretty much been in a self-quarantine since January anyway because of the baby. We haven’t taken him out so as to avoid cold/flu/RSV season anyway so it doesn’t feel like a big change for us. But I also started to think how, for the past 12 months, I’ve pretty much been practicing social distance for half of that time. Starting around May of last year I came down with morning sickness and didn’t leave the house for 4 months. Then starting in January of this year we stayed at home the majority of the time because of the baby. We had to cancel trips last year because of my morning sickness, and we didn’t travel for Thanksgiving or Christmas last year because I was pregnant. So if you need tips on how to keep yourself occupied while you’re at home – hit me up!
Please Take COVID-19 Seriously but Don’t Panic!
We definitely don’t want things to escalate like they did in Italy. We should all be washing our hands for at least 20 seconds and practicing social distance. Things aren’t that bad in the United States YET. And the way we keep things under control is to limit social contact as much as possible. Yeah, it sucks to stay at home all day for weeks (trust me – I know) but I’d rather be self-quarantining for a couple weeks than a couple months if things start to get out of control.
However, I wish people would stop panicking and even spreading false information. I see everyone on Instagram posting the empty shelves at the grocery store and I just don’t think that’s helping. I think it encourages more panic buying. Influencers are asking if they should continue posting their fashion content or keep their content serious and somber. For me personally, I hate logging on to Instagram and seeing every other post be about the virus. I feel like the news about the virus has invaded every aspect of my life. I need a little break! And to me, Instagram is supposed to be an escape. As long as we limit contact with people and wash our hands*, the majority of us will be fine. I’m going to continue posting as usual. However, if there’s an opportunity to post positive or helpful information about the coronavirus situation I will do that. I’m happy to remind people to wash their hands or how to support local business or where to donate to help those who are struggling. But lets keep the negative, panic inducing posts to a minimum, ok?
Just remember – if you buy up all the hand sanitizer and hand soap that means someone else won’t be able to wash or sanitize THEIR hands. That means they will be more likely to spread the virus to other people.
*UPDATE: Since I’ve written this post several states have issued SHELTER IN PLACE mandates. Which means STAY AT HOME AND DON’T LEAVE UNLESS YOU HAVE TO. It also means, don’t have people over to your place to hang out just because you don’t think any of you have the virus. People need to take this seriously so we can flatten the curve and not overwhelm the healthcare systems with new cases of the coronavirus. I know it sucks but we will get through this. Trust me, I’ve spent several months at home without leaving before due to morning sickness and I survived. Even if your state hasn’t issued a stay at home mandate PLEASE do it anyway. You are just prolonging the amount of time this all has to go on if you don’t stay at home.
Now might be a good time to start thinking about reusable products. People are buying up all the paper towels as well so maybe consider switching to reusable towels and dishtowels. Run out of toilet paper? Try a bidet! I’m joking but also kind of serious. Hello Tushy sells modern bidets that clean your bum and help reduce the use of toilet paper. You technically don’t even need toilet paper. After using the bidet you can dry your bum with a washable bamboo towel! If you’re a mom, you probably already have one of those peri-bottles which is essentially the same thing.
P.S. I wrote a post about how to be more sustainable if you are interested in more ways to produce less waste!
Life with a New Baby
But on a happier note, I’ve been spending that last couple months with my new baby boy and it’s been really nice. My husband hasn’t been working so that’s made life with a newborn more manageable. I’ll have a 4th Trimester Update coming up at the beginning of April so I’ll go into more detail soon about how that’s been.
Other than that, I’ve been doing more blog work and it’s been so nice to get back to “work”. I don’t feel like myself during pregnancy but right after the baby is born I feel 100%! I was so ready to get back to producing content and work with brands again. The only problem is I don’t have that much time anymore to get stuff done! So I’m still trying to figure out a new balance with having two kids. If you guys have any tips for how to manage two kids I’d love to know!
A few thoughts about turning 35
I wrote a pretty good post on turning 34 last year. I’m happy to say, my thoughts on body image remain the same – even after having another baby! As I age, I feel more confident in my skin. I feel like that’s quite an accomplishment because I know not everyone feels that way. I constantly see 20 somethings on Instagram getting botox…and it kinda makes me sad for them. I know that they say botox in your 20’s is for preventative reasons but still… I won’t go any further into my thoughts on botox/fillers because I feel like that’s a whole post in itself. My advice from a wise 35 year old to those in their 20’s is…wear SPF and stay out of the sun! You’ll thank me when you turn 35!
Stay safe, everyone! And wash your hands!
