Today is May 26, 2020. I’ve been in quarantine since mid March, and I think it’s not horrible! I have the ability to be so productive, work on my own schedule (sort of?) and last but not least, I have the ability to spend time with my family and dog!
My daily routine usually starts at 7:30 AM, and I’m out of bed by 8:00! However, today I was able to get up a little bit later. I did not have any online Zoom classes, so I slept in and did my schoolwork throughout the day, instead of just doing it first thing in the morning. That being said, this day was a little bit different than usual. I normally do my work from 8:30 to 12:30, then I work out, eat lunch, spend time with my little sister, eat dinner and watch Parks and Recreation with my family until it’s time for me to go to bed.
Today wasn’t “bad” different or “good” different, I was just thankful to be able to work a little more freely.
8:45
My day started at 8:45 AM. I woke up and watched a video from my all-time favorite Youtuber, Allison Bickerstaff. I love her videos because they are motivating, aesthetically pleasing, and SO cozy! This morning I sat in bed with my puppy, Ollie Bean, and watched one of Allison’s recent videos. I watched her recent “COOK WITH ME goat cheese pasta” episode. It looks delicious… and I ended up preparing a lunch inspired by hers!
9:05
At 9:05 I got out of bed and began my daily morning routine. One thing you should probably know about me is that I’m sort of addicted to watching 6:00 AM morning routines on YouTube. I watch those videos with their amazing skincare routines, cozy-looking bedrooms, and delicious breakfasts and I want to start my day off on the right foot the way they did!
However, waking up at 6:00 every day is honestly not for me. Although I am a morning person and I like to do work and go to the gym in the morning, I just prefer to get up a few hours later so I can get a longer night of sleep.
I make my bed immediately after getting out of it. Then I wash my face, brush my teeth, tidy up my room, and start the rest of my day. Today, however, my dog was being SO sweet so I decided to play with him for a little while longer on my floor. He’s often sleepy and cute in the mornings, and I like to take advantage of that time to pet him before I have to do my work and he becomes more energetic.
9:15
On B days (a type of schedule I have for my school’s virtual learning) I always have Chinese homework due at 10:00, so I started working on it after I completed my morning routine.
Chinese homework is not my favorite thing to do in the world, but the important thing today was I was motivated and got it done. Today was off to a really productive start!!
I usually don’t do my school work in my bed, but since my homework today was mostly busy work, I made an exception.
10:15
I finished my Chinese homework around 10:00, but I wasn’t quite ready to eat breakfast yet. I decided a productive use of my time would be to make my daily plan and to- do list.
My list today of required tasks was pretty short, which is always a good “problem” to have! I knew at this point, after making my short list, that most of the work I had to do today could be focused on this blog and not work for school.
I went downstairs and made my breakfast. I LOVE oatmeal, so this morning I made maple and cinnamon oatmeal with blueberries and coconut flakes. The recipe is REALLY simple and delicious:
- 2/3 cup of water
- 1/3 cup rolled oats (I only eat the Trader Joe’s brand because they are certified GF!)
- ~1 tbsp coconut flakes
- ~ 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- ~ 1 tsp maple syrup
Just cook according to the package instructions on your oats, add in blueberries, and enjoy!
I also drank some Pink Lady Apple kombucha. I’m really obsessed with all kinds of kombucha, but the Health Ade brand is 100% my favorite! I LOVE the grapefruit flavor too!
10:30
At this point, I started work on my blog! I had taken photos from the grilled citrus chicken salad recipe that I had cooked earlier this week, and I wanted to type it up and have the post up by later today. I was somewhat surprised when I ended up spending so much time on this article, as it actually took 2 hours to write and edit the photographs. Although it ended up taking SO much longer than I originally expected, I didn’t care because I actually LOVE working on this blog. I love writing about the recipes, creating the recipes, and especially sharing them!
However, because I did end up spending 2 straight hours writing on my computer, I wore my new “blue light” filtering glasses the entire time to make sure my eyes weren’t being strained. I just received these, and in addition to saving your eyes from straining and preventing headaches, they look cute!
If you want a pair, you can find them HERE. I have the “wheat” color which is ironic because… gluten free. My sister has the clear ones and she loves them! Overall, these glasses are a hit!!
After 2 hours of writing… I finished! I felt accomplished, productive, and proud of the recipe I created!
12:30
At this point, I published the article (you can read it here), publicized it on Instagram, and responded to some comments on other recent Instagram posts. My account is @lycheeandlavender and I post every day. If you want more content, give it a follow.
I also spent some time scrolling through my feed and commenting on other food bloggers’ posts. I enjoy finding inspiration for new recipes or ideas for lunch and dinner through other gluten free blogs.
12:45
At this point, I decided to finish some school work I had left for my theatre class. I was in a groove! I was going to stop for lunch after finishing my blog article, but I was feeling motivated and productive… so I kept working!
1:45
I’m finally done with work!! At 1:45 I went downstairs and made my lunch. I was really craving pesto pasta, but we didn’t have basil so I made it with walnuts and arugula instead. It was delicious! For my pasta, I used quinoa pasta from the Ancient Harvest brand.
I topped my lunch with goat cheese, and had the rest of my kombucha from earlier too. I ate my lunch sitting outside today on my deck. It was warm and sunny, and a great middle-of-the-day break from work.
2:45
Believe it or not, after lunch I had MORE school work to do! It was actually fun, as it was an up-cycling crafts project for my AP environmental science class. I learned to crochet a few days ago to make a bag out of recycled tee shirts, and basically the next few hours of my day were filled with working on my APES project.
It was fun! And above I inserted some photos of my project that I had to put in the slides presentation.
4:35
After working on my project for a few hours and once my sister could take a break from homework, I decided to take her to Dunkin’ Donuts and pick up some treats for my family!
We ended up getting 6 donuts: 3 for my grandparents, and 3 for my sister. I can’t have the donuts, obviously, because, ya know, Celiac.
I did get a matcha latte, however! They are gluten free, and delicious! I like to get mine iced with almond milk. If you’re looking for more gluten free tips at Dunkin, they are easily available to find online! I usually just get an iced latte with almond milk and sugar, or a matcha. Those are ALWAYS safe bets!
5:30
Back home at 5:30. In case you’re wondering, we brought masks, wipes, gloves, and were very careful!!
When we returned, I quizzed my sister on her flashcards for her math test tomorrow. I always like spending time in my sister’s room! She decorated it in the beginning of quarantine and it is BEAUTIFUL!!
5:45
After that, I worked on my APES presentation for a few more hours. All I had left to do was finish my presentation.
I spent a little while formatting the slides presentation, and I ended up finishing it that night!
7:45
At 7:45 we had dinner as a family and my mom made tacos for dinner. I’m usually not the biggest fan, but tonight they were great! I had 2 tacos with ground turkey, refried beans, lettuce, hot sauce, and some peppers and onions.
8:00
My dad and I ate quickly however, because we decided to head back through the drive thru to pick up a surprise ice cream sundae for my sister! She’s had a lot of work recently for school, and we wanted to do something nice for her to lift her spirits.
Our local Dunkin’ drive thru is ALSO a Baskin Robbins, and when we went to get donuts earlier in the day, my sister had mentioned wanting an Oreo Sundae. So, my Dad and I went back to get her one!!
I ended up driving, and once again we used gloves, masks, wipes, and hand sanitizer.
8:30
We returned at 8:30, ate our ice cream, and settled in for the night. I watched some TV, drank some tea, and got ready for bed.
I ended up going to bed at 11:00 for a 7:30 AM wake up the next day. Overall, I had an amazingly busy, but also somewhat relaxing and enjoyable day. I did a lot of what was on my to do list, and went to bed feeling productive.