Nadine

Being stuck at home really makes you thankful for all that you have, doesn’t it? Here are a few things that have really made me happy lately.

-If I have to be quarantined at home, I am so beyond grateful it is in this house. I cannot imagine being stuck in our old house for weeks. Here we have decent neighbors, that we say hello to from a safe 10 feet away. An amazing piece of land for plenty of ball, side walk chalk, bike riding, etc. Properly paved streets for walking and running. And an ample amount of interior space for all of us to spread out.

-My home office. Thanks to Chris, I have 4 monitors. It’s a pretty sweet set up.

-A full pantry. When shit started going south in Europe, I stocked up on canned beans and soup. It may not be much, but its stuff you cant find now.

-Time to focus on fitness. Since I am not rushing to commute anymore, I have more time for my morning workouts. And they are starting to pay off, I have officially hit the TWENTY POUND mark!!!! 20 LBS!!!! (20.7, actually.)

-Our patio! Zoe and I spent every afternoon last week back there. Me with a book, her with her water station. Even Mac came out and joined us!

-Endless TV and movies. Not that I have had much time, but we try to get in one show each evening after Zoe goes to bed. Zoe has watched Frozen 2 and Secret Life of Pets about a million times in the last week.

-Wine. God bless it!

-Pinterest. My recipe game is on fire. So is my homeschooling efforts. Wouldn’t be able to do that without good ol’ Pinterest!

-Comfy clothes. Haven’t worn real pants in over a week. Don’t miss them.

-A job I can work from home. Seriously, so so so so thankful for that.

-Coffee. I am home 24/7 with a 3 year old that don’t stop. Coffee makes me so happy.

-e-commerce – Wouldn’t be able to get anything if it wasn’t for online shopping. Could you imagine this quarantine 20 years ago?

omg 20 years ago was 2000. Let that sink in.

-Shipt. I placed our first order on Sunday. My shopper was amazing! She was constantly in contact with me throughout the store. Finding perfect substitutions for things that they didn’t have, stalking the employees who were restocking certain areas. She even called me at one point to tell me what cheeses they had. She had everything bagged just the way I would have put them on the conveyor belt. After she dropped off on my front porch, she texted me that it was a pleasure shopping for me and that she hoped my family had a wonderful and safe weekend.

-Memes. I think we all need the laughs. I will continue to share some in each post.

Coming at you live from day 7 of not leaving the house. Lord help us! I am not sure about you, but it is a little hard to be excited about Friday when you know your weekend is more of the same. Being stuck at home with not much to do and no where to go! I desperately want to eat at a restaurant and walk around TJ Maxx! This is why I support brick and mortar stores more over shopping online. I crave just being out and about!

Favorite Moments: I have been working hard to come up with lesson plan ideas to do with Zoe each day. I try to do a morning and afternoon activity that centers around learning something, anything. And keeping her school schedule the best that I can. With the one exception of letting her sleep in every morning, because it is the only way I can get any actual work done! Follow me on Instagram if you want to see what we are doing. I am trying to share one of our activities each day to give others ideas. This is hard!!!

Don’t think this is all pinterest perfect over here though. Making a work call with a toddler constantly trying to interrupt, or explain to her why you need to be on your computer right this second is pretty much impossible. There have been several times this week when Zoe has said, “Mommy please don’t work anymore. Come play with me!!!” She really misses her school friends and talks about them often.

Favorite Recipe: We have made these buffalo tenders a lot lately. It is one of my favorite Keto friendly recipes and you don’t need a ton of ingredients on hand. Ready in 30 minutes.

Favorite Workout: I have always done at home workouts, so this is nothing new for me. My goal has been to get at least 30 minutes each day in with one of these first thing in the morning before I start work. Then I try to get another 20-30 minutes in throughout the day with walks around my neighborhood with Zoe, Just Dance, kid yoga video with her, running around outside, whatever.

I really enjoyed this one…

And this one….

Yesterday for our afternoon walk, we got down our street and then Zoe took off running. No joke, the kid ran full out speed for over a half a mile!!! I was so not expecting that! I didn’t have on a sports bra, and she was running way faster than I would have if I was the one keeping pace. I had a hard time keeping up with her! When we got back to the house she said, that was fun mommy lets do it again tomorrow. Ummm thanks for the warning I need to prepare myself!

Favorite Lusts: (affiliate links) I have a wish list going of a few items I would like to pick up for the spring/summer. I wanted to go try this dress on at Target, because the length can be really tricky on me. I tend to look frumpy in anything below the knee, but I love love love this style.

I have had my eye on the Tory Burch sandals for a few years now, and I am going to pick them up this year to replace a few pairs of shoes I need to retire due to the condition they are in. I really like the blush color, and they are 25% off at Nordstrom right now!!!

The Pink Tulip is a local boutique here in Birmingham, and they are one of many places that have had to shut their doors and go to online or curbside pickup. I am places like this will still be around when we emerge on the other side! I love this little black dress, its simple but has a few things that elevate it.

Favorite Funnies:

I love a good empties post. I usually tend to stick to the same foundations, my top two choices being Estee Lauder Double Wear and Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Liquid. (Which Nordstrom has a sale on both of these right now!!!) I did venture out with a few others recently, and I want to share my thoughts! There will be two not pictured above that I returned to Ulta after trying out. Ulta should really consider giving samples out for those on the fence like me, such a waste.

Too Faced Peach Perfect – This is a great foundation. I loved the coverage and the way it looked on my skin. I sort of have a love/hate relationship with it though. First of all, my color was never right with either one I tried. I ended up having to go a shade too light and making up for it with bronzer/color corrector add in. Also, the smell of this is too much for me all over my face. I absolutely LOVE my peach eye shadow palette. It smells amazing and the colors are gorgeous!!!! The smell of this foundation is nothing like that, and I think it kind of stinks. I can definitely smell it for a few hours after application too. This will be a pass from me from now on. If you aren’t bothered by the scent and can find your shade…I think this is a great option.

Too Faced Born This Way Powder – (On sale at Nordstrom right now) I am not a big powder person, but someone at Sephora recommended this to me a long time ago when I was looking for something new. I have had this forever and am getting rid of it because it cant be good to use on my skin anymore. I was using it as a mirror in my purse for awhile. Anyways…about the powder foundation. This actually looked really amazing on my skin. It evened everything out and I loved to touch up with it throughout the day. I purchased this before I was pregnant with Zoe, so it is around 4-5 years old. In that time, my skin has changed drastically. Powders are way too drying for my face now. But if you have combination/oily skin, this is a great option for you! It really does have great coverage.

Dior Forever– I absolutely loved this foundation. The color match was perfect, it looked and felt nice on my skin. The coverage is very similar to Estee Lauder Double Wear. Would I re-purchase this again? Yes. However, I would rather get Estee Lauder for less money and same results.

Shiseido Synchro Skin Self-Refreshing Liquid Foundation – Full disclosure, I got this one from Influenster a few months ago. The campaign is over, so it’s not benefiting me or them by talking about it now. This is actually a pretty solid foundation. To me it is more medium/full coverage than true full. I liked the way it felt on my skin, and it looked very natural/skin-like. I don’t really have anything bad to say about this one. I just like Estee Lauder coverage slightly better.

Estee Lauder Double Wear – This is my holy grail, always have it on hand. I don’t know why I ever stray. Well, that is not true. I know why I stray. Sometimes my skin gets really, really dry. When that happens, this one tends to bring out those dry patches anymore. Not enough to not use it though, I am just more aware when I am applying.

And now for the two I tried out for a week and returned…

Tarte Tape Shape Foundation – The coverage of this was alright, it was medium coverage but build-able for me. What drew me to this, was that it was supposed to be hydrating. Ummmm this so was NOT hydrating. This caked like no other all over my face. And it never really settled into my skin. It reminds me of how IT CC cream is on my skin. It wipes off on everything all day because it never settles. Hard pass. This went back after 2 uses.

Too Faced Born This Way – I was told this was medium/full coverage, but it is not. It was barely medium on me. I just didn’t care for the way that this looked on my skin. It creased badly under my eyes and caked around my nose and any dry spots. I found a perfect color match for me, but after 2 uses on this (both with and without primer as I did with Tarte) it went back. The staying power was awful.

Things sure did escalate over the weekend, huh? I am not sure what to think about everything. Schools here in Alabama are closed now through April 6th, though I wonder if it will get extended longer. The grocery stores here look like they do everywhere, completely ransacked with slim pickings. Every time I turn on the TV or open up a social media app on my phone, it is filled with panic and fear. Then, to add insult to injury, there was an armed robbery last night in my town at an Arby’s in front of the Target that I always frequent. What is wrong with people???????

I know that I am very lucky to be able to work from home when needed. If this was a year ago, I don’t know what I would have done. I had a job that was incredibly inflexible. I would have had to quit, there is no way I could stay home for several weeks. I feel for you parents out there who are in that situation. Not everyone has family or friends close by to help out. I am very thankful for my situation, and a boss who is understanding.

I am looking at the next few weeks as an opportunity, and you should too. It is an opportunity to spend some time with your family. There are a lot of memes going around out there with pictures of divorce lawyers waiting for all of us to be quarantined with our spouses. And even I have joked around about the amount of wine needed to be stocked to spend three weeks at home with a toddler. But lets look at this as a gift instead of a burden.

I plan to keep a routine the best I can. Instead of waking up at 4:00am, I am waking up at 5:00am. (I don’t need to account for makeup, hair, work clothes or commute.) I am working out first thing, like I always do. Then I grab a cup of coffee and go upstairs to my home office to work and knock out as much as I can until Zoe wakes up.

I will keep her on a routine to the best of my abilities. She will wake up, get dressed, have breakfast, and we will start with a lesson. I have alphabet and number books and flashcards for her. I have a book where you can trace letters and erase them. We have a few workbooks identifying different words and letters. We probably have around 100 actual story books to read. And crafts. All the crafts! I am so thankful I picked up a few things recently on clearance at different stores. I have scoured Pinterest over the weekend with ideas of things to make with the items we have on hand.

I also plan to get in some movement each day with her. (Need to get out that energy!!!!) Most days it calls for rain in the foreseeable future, so I plan to play on our covered deck. We also have several versions of Just Dance that would be so fun. Her dance teachers are posting their recital routines online for us to work on at home, since the dance studio is closing with the schools. We have this bounce house (similar) set up in my office for some fun time as well. And just going for walks or bike rides around our neighborhood when we can.

I am also looking forward to keeping the house clean, organizing some areas that get neglected, and maybe even paint a little more. We have a few things that need to be put together, now is the perfect time to knock out some home projects!

You know that face and hair mask you keep meaning to use up? Do it! You can put that foot mask on while you knock out some work at your desk. There is zero excuse for me not to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. You can start dinner earlier and catch up on all your shows. Introverts, this is our time to shine! We have been training all our lives to avoid people!

There are a lot of people out there who think that everyone is overreacting. Educate yourself. Do some research. Sometimes it isn’t just about you. Sure, maybe you get COVID-19 and are just fine. But you can infect others, others who can’t handle the virus. And then you put a strain on healthcare. There are enough people who visit the hospital every day for a variety of reasons, to the point many operate near capacity at all times. This just adds to that. This is the goal and the reason for quarantine….

Stop crowding the bars, restaurants and other places that are open. If you want to support a local business, order your items to go or buy a gift card to use later. There are plenty of workouts you can do at home, you don’t need the gym.

I am going to be over here enjoying moments like this, and praying for our country and our leaders…

And maybe also laughing at things like this….

It is getting crazy out there, folks! I went on lunch yesterday because we legit need a few things at home, not doomsday stock…..and there wasn’t a toilet paper roll to be found at several stores. WTF.

We don’t have any cases here in Alabama, that we know of. But they’re also not really testing here until today. I made the joke to Chris that Alabama is the last to do anything anyways, we are always behind the times. This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Favorite Moments: I picked Zoe up on Wednesday, and her teachers said “Zoe was so good today!!!” And that gave me a super proud mama moment. Her behavior and attitude was less savory last week, and I know its hard when it rains for days and days, but damn! She really has been back to herself this week and that makes me so happy!

The other day I was finishing a text to a friend and Zoe was talking and I said, “Hang on just a second.” She gave me literally a second, and then said “Knock knock, mommy. I am asking a question.” I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Knock knock???? The sass on that girl! The text was to one of her friend’s moms about a play date by the way, something to benefit her. Zero patience.

We had observation at dance last night. The recital is coming up quick, our costumes are in and the girls are looking so cute! Zoe is so excited.

Favorite Non-Scale Victory: My pants have been getting bigger and bigger on me over the last month. I had an important lunch meeting this week, and didn’t want to look frumpy. I headed to see if I could find some pants. You guys…..I bought a pair TWO sizes smaller!!!!!!!!!!!! That is two sizes smaller than the size I have been wearing for so so long. Like 10+ years. I almost cried in the fitting room staring at the tag to make sure I was looking at the right number.I had started with one size smaller, and they were a little baggy and I was like…there is no way but let’s just grab a pair for fun and inspiration. OMG! They fit!

Favorite Purchase: I am less than thrilled with my Real Techniques beauty blender sponge these days. The last several I have had are just not as good as they once were. Not lasting very long, little orange pieces falling apart into my makeup and sticking all over my face. Not a fan. I refuse to pay $20 for a real Beauty Blender that you have to replace every other month. Enter Jouer Precision Foundation brush. I am loving it! It is bigger than I thought, and really dense. It is working well with my Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation. I also feel less gross using it, even though I was washing my sponge every day before. You get free shipping at Dermstore.

Favorite Funnies: Is it too soon for Coronavirus memes?