It’s been a fairly good week for me – four day weekend (Easter) included. Initially I thought the long weekend wouldn’t have any impact on me; I mean, the weekends and the weekdays all pretty much roll into one. But my housemates and I really embraced the spirit of a bank holiday and managed to do almost nothing for those days (aside from gorge ourselves on chocolate, enjoy our government sanctioned walk and have a lovely Sunday roast), which I must say has been lovely.
That aside, another week in lockdown has still meant another 7 days of making the most of the little things; appreciating the small joys that can otherwise get lost in our busy schedules. Yes, this is a scary time but it doesn’t mean that some positives can’t be drawn from it.
Here are the things that I’ve appreciated most this week:
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
I finished reading Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ last week (highly recommend), so started a new book – I found Big Little Lies in a charity shop for £1 a few weeks before lockdown started and it was another book I was ‘getting round to reading’.
I watched season one of the TV show when it came out, so I already knew the general story but that hasn’t put me off reading it at all. It’s brilliantly written and I was sucked in from chapter one. I haven’t finished it yet but I’m really enjoying what I’ve read so far – if you like a ‘who done it’, definitely get your hands on this book.
Bob’s Burgers
This might not be for everyone but it’s my absolute favourite show at the minute. It’s a cartoon but definitely not for kids – it’s not rude or anything but it has more adult themes than say ‘Rugrats.’ It’s about a family run burger restaurant (surprise surprise called Bob’s Burgers) and what the family/kids get up to. An episode could be about anything from getting lost in the woods while foraging for mushrooms or competing with the Italian restaurant across the street for more business during the Superbowl.
It’s really well written plus the voices and animations are great; if you like Big Mouth or The Simpsons, I’d definitely recommend it. The series are all available on Amazon Prime and the episodes themselves are quite short, making it an easy watch.
Time to Tidy
The above may still look incredibly messy to some but for me, it’s tidier than it’s been in a while (there’s two of us sharing a small bedroom ok, we have a lot of stuff). I love tidying – in the past few weeks I’ve tidied every draw, shelf and cabinet we have; something I always mean to ‘get around to’ but don’t often have the time to do.
For me, sitting in a space that’s tidy makes the world of difference to my mental outlook. They say ‘a cluttered desk is a cluttered mind’ and I really do believe that.
Virtual Pub Quizzes
I don’t know about everyone else but my friends and family have become obsessed with online pub quizzes recently. There was a point when I had one every single day. I’ve seen some of my family more in the past few weeks via video chat, than I have in the past year in person!
If they aren’t, I definitely recommend getting on board with it – find a comfy seat, grab a notepad and a drink, maybe even get changed out of your pyjamas (or maybe don’t) and spend an hour having a laugh with loved ones. Plus, a dog might pop up and sniff the camera every now and again, which is always exciting.
My Boyfriend
I heard that in China, once lockdown ended, city offices were overwhelmed with couples filing for divorce because it all got too much for them being cooped up inside together. Now, I’m aware lockdown hasn’t ended yet but I’ve loved being stuck with him. Even if that sometimes just encompasses us sitting next to each other while I play the Sims on my laptop and he plays City Skylines on his, or us watching an entire series of yet another mystery series in one evening (The Stranger/Safe on Netflix are both amazing fyi).
Of course I miss my family and friends terribly, and wish I could see them in person too but that’s another way the online pub quizzes have been coming in handy. I’m genuinely not meaning to rub this in anyone’s face who is in lockdown alone but personally, I’m so glad that I’m in London with him. He’s a great cook and kind and funny and all that… But also does very well at coping with calming me down whenever I get too into reading the news (aka panicking), which I would almost definitely overwhelm myself with if I was on my own.
Would it be better if we had a dog here? Yes, 100%… But I suppose I Fred will do in the meantime 😉
Psycle London Workouts
Working out during this time isn’t of interest to everyone but if it’s something you’re into, I highly recommend checking out the ‘Psycle London’ workouts, which they stream on Instagram Live: they post a schedule of the workouts they’ll be doing on their feed and then you just need to go onto their page, and watch their Instagram story at that time. All for free!
I’ve always been a huge fan of their yoga classes (they’re the best in London, in my opinion) but been a bit nervous to attempt some of the more intense classes, so it’s been great fun to try them out in my own space and psych myself up to actually attend one in person once this is all over!
And finally, Tik Toks like this:
If you aren’t on TikTok, do yourself a favour and download it right this SECOND. A lot of people like to look down on it or think of it as something just for teenagers… Then share the same videos everyone on TikTok saw two weeks ago all over Facebook and Twitter.
There are some amazing creators on there producing incredible content; it’s not just an incredible distraction, it’s also really good fun. If you fancy it, you can even try making some yourself – there are loads of different types of videos and trends.
Personally, I use it to share videos of my dog:
What’s brought you joy this week?
Stay Safe.
Abi
X
P.S. There is one thing I feel the need to mention out of honesty, that I doubt anyone cares about but still – last week I wrote about how pleased I was that my sunflower was growing so well considering how inexperienced in gardening I am. Sadly, within a couple of days of me posting that, it started to wilt and is now very unhappy with me. As I said, I think the pot is too small, so I’m going to repot it and hope that revives it.
TRAVEL TEA TV 