My Day-to-Day Life During Quarantine

My Day-to-Day Life During Quarantine

Quarantine has been the “new normal” for the past two months, and now Los Angeles County has approved stay-at-home orders for at least another three. Being at home and in isolation can make you a little stir-crazy. There are some days where it’s hard to find the motivation to get out of bed. Being out of work and unable to do most activities that were usually part of my daily routine has been difficult. However, I’ve come up with a manageable day-to-day regimen for myself while in lockdown. Giving yourself a routine during quarantine can lift your spirits, increase motivation, and be a perfect time to work on self-growth. Use this time positively instead of looking at it with a negative point-of-view. This can be the time for you to start a new hobby or do things for yourself that you’ve always wanted to do but never had the time for. Here’s my day-to-day life during quarantine…

Beginning My Day

With no legitimate reason to wake up early, it has been hard to get myself to stop excessively sleeping in every day. I’ve never been a morning person, but I’ve been trying to change this recently. While it isn’t super early, I’ve been waking up around 9:30 am most days. Once my alarm goes off, I usually lay in my bed for about 30 minutes to check my emails, social media accounts, and notifications. 

Then, once I’m up, the first thing I do is make a cup of coffee with a splash of oat milk. My Keurig has been my savior since I can no longer head to my local coffee shop like I used to. I then make this healthy yet sweet breakfast. It consists of oatmeal, 1 tablespoon of golden flaxseed meal, mixed frozen berries, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, and 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips. I enjoy eating it outside in the backyard to get some morning sun before moving on with the day.

Getting Ready and A Morning Hike

After I get some caffeine in me and a little push from breakfast, I get ready to go out on a hike or walk. I usually do this every other day as it is helpful in clearing the mind and relieving stress. It’s also a well-needed change from being stuck inside.

I slip into my workout clothes (I’ve been obsessed with these leggings), and then I apply Demalogica Clear Start SPF 30 Moisturizer. I haven’t been wearing much makeup lately since I’m using this time to heal my skin. However, one of my essential skin-care products I apply every morning is my Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Cream. This incredible stuff helps brighten up my constant dark circles. I’ve also been breaking out more often during the lockdown (probably due to wearing a protective mask), so I’ve been using Dermalogica Breakout Toner Spray which has helped a lot. I like to put this on before my hike to help with facial oiliness that results in my breakouts. I head out to walk around the neighborhood or to a trail nearby around noontime. 

*Check out these podcast recommendations if you need something to listen to during a walk.

Yoga and Lunchtime

After I get home from my hour walk or hike, I transition right into my daily yoga work-out (I’ll be sharing my favorite free yoga videos soon). I’m almost done with Adriene’s 30 Day Yoga Challenge on YouTube. I love this series as it pushes me to get on the mat every single day to practice. Before the lockdown, school and work would take up so much of my time I’d rarely have the motivation to work-out. So, this is something I’ve been really focusing on for strength and self-growth.

After yoga, I like to whip up lunch before I start with my work for the day. I’m obsessed with putting my own healthier spin on fast food/restaurant-style foods. Before the coronavirus took over, I was eating a fair share of takeout. This is because I never had enough time to cook actual recipes (pasta gets boring after a while). Now that I have more free time, I’ve been inspired to make fun, healthy foods to eat. 

I’ve been making Chick-Fil-A inspired chicken sandwiches for lunch, which are super easy to make. I first cook one breaded chicken patty (I get mine frozen from Grocery Outlet). While it’s cooking in the oven, I toast the bread I will use for the buns and then spread a little mayonnaise on the buns. I add sliced cheese to the patty while it’s finishing up cooking, so it melts perfectly. I put the whole sandwich together, adding sliced avocado to it, a little salt and pepper, and some pickles. On the side, I’ll have a tangerine or satisfy my salty cravings with some chips. 

Once I finish lunch, I start the productive work-centered part of the day. This takes up most of the afternoon. Whether it’s working on homework or on A Girl in LA, I usually work until dinner and for a few hours after. Since sitting in the house can get monotonous, I like to bring my laptop outside and work in the sunlight. I’ve been getting a nice tan from this too. Spotify is my ultimate work companion, and I have a playlist for pretty much every mood.

Making a Delicious Dinner

Dinner is my favorite part of every day. I’ve been staying with my parents in San Diego, and my mother is the best cook. She’s been teaching me so many healthy, delicious recipes. From making homemade pizza on Friday nights to our Sunday tradition of Italian food, cooking has become a great stress-reliever. 

One of my favorite foods we’ve been making is seafood linguine. It’s healthy, nutritious, super easy to cook, and a substantial meal to have as left-overs.

Ingredients:
  • 1 box of dry pasta linguine
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons of butter 
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
  • 4 ounces dry vermouth
  • Frozen seafood mix
  • Minced clams
  • Parsley for garnishing
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
Directions:
  1. Boil water for pasta.
  2. Start by sautéing on minced garlic, chopped onion, olive oil, and butter on low heat.
  3. While that’s cooking, add dried red pepper flakes to the mixture.
  4. Continue to sauté until the onion is soft and cooked through. 
  5. Dissolve cornstarch in dry vermouth and add to the pan. Stir generously. 
  6. Cook pasta once water is boiling. 
  7. Add the frozen seafood mix to the pan and cook for about 7 minutes (or until the shrimp and calamari are no longer translucent). 
  8. Once your pasta is cooked, drain and add minced clams with the juice to the pan mixture. 
  9. Add pasta to the final mix. 
  10. Garnish with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Unwinding During The Evening

After dinner, I work for a couple more hours or if I’ve finished my work; I like to hone in on my creativity. Sometimes I design fashion sketches with my sketchpad or have fun with makeup looks I find on YouTube or Instagram. I just recently bought the affordable and gorgeous summer-ready Makeup Revolution Birds of Paradise palette; it’s perfect for creating colorful, Insta-worthy eye looks. 

Before I chill out for the rest of the evening, I take a shower. I love taking showers at night because I have issues with insomnia, and they help to relax me before bed. Acure shampoo is my latest hair savior; it’s perfect for detangling and hydrating my damaged hair. Another one of my shower favorites is Yes to’s Coconut’s Coffee Scrub Stick for cleansing and exfoliating.

Before Bed Skincare Routine 

To finish the day, the most important part is my nightly skin-care routine. When I was younger, I never had a routine set-in-stone. However, since finding the right products for my combination skin, I have been able to tackle breakouts and get the natural glow I’ve always wanted. 

I start out with my Dermalogica Clear Start Black-Head Fizz Mask, which is perfect for exfoliating the skin and washing off any dirt. With a cotton pad, I apply Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water to remove any excess dirt that the mask didn’t get. Next, I go in with my Innisfree Intensive Hydrating Serum that’s infused with green tea seed. It’s perfect for hydrating, moisturizing, and giving a healthy glow. Following this, I apply Biossance’s Vitamin C Rose Oil to firm and brighten (If you’re a fan of clean beauty, look into Biossance products). Biossance’s Repair Cream is what I use to further moisturize; this stuff leaves my skin smooth and firm. I’ll then apply Clinique’s Acne Clearing Gel that I use as a spot treatment for breakouts; it’s made with Salicylic Acid to clear out the pores. The last step in my routine is applying my Biossance Eye Gel to help with dark circles and puffiness for the following morning.

Lights Out

After my nighttime beauty regimen, I end my day by binge-watching Love Island (my favorite show right now) and eating strawberry mochi for a late-night dessert. Right before bed (which is around 12:30AM) to help with my insomnia, I turn on my oil diffuser. Doterra has an amazing diffuser that comes with one of my favorite night-time lavender oils. The smell is calming, relaxing, and usually puts me right to sleep. There it is, my full day in the life of a global-wide pandemic.

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