Now That We're Home, What Do We Do?
Is this what your life feels like at the moment? Let’s change that.
We’re Home, What’s Next?
Have you organized enough closets, played every board game in your home, baked so many banana breads that you could feed an army? Are you putting on that Freshman 15 and you graduated college 20 years ago? Well, in the first of many blogs to come, I have collected dozens of ideas to keep you occupied during your downtime while we are confined to our homes.
Please remember to sign up for my newsletter as that is how I will notify everyone when my new blogs are up and running with fresh and fun ideas to keep you busy. And don’t forget, when we are released out into the open, and you want to explore the best of Los Angeles, remember to contact me at L.A. Any Day to provide you with the most amazing personalized itineraries for fabulous staycations with ideas of what to do in our great city that you probably never knew existed.
It’s 5:00 Somewhere… Right?
Here are some adult activities to enjoy (really at any time of the day or night)
1. 10 Cocktails From Around the World You can Make From Home
2. You Can Have Wine Delivered Straight to Your Door with these Wine Subscription Services
TravelandLeisure.com/wine-subscription
3. Join a Daily Virtual Happy Hour with Jean-Charles Boisset on Facebook Live
4. Take a Virtual Trip Down New York City’s 5th Avenue Without Making a Dent in Your Wallet
TravelandLeisure.com/virtual-tour-attractions
5. Amazing Virtual Performances of Top Shows From Broadway, Dance, and Theatre to View
Tripsavvy.com/virtual-performances-to-watch-at-home
6. Tour Famous World Heritage Sites from the Comfort of Your Couch
Thrillist.com/news/nation/google-earth-virtual-tours-world-heritage-sites
7. Take a Virtual Tour of the Winchester Mystery House
Winchestermysteryhouse.com/video-tour/
8. Visit the Elusive Vault at the Petersen Automotive Museum
9. This Amazing Woman Will Help You with Virtual Workouts
merakifitnessbyanna.com/concierge-personal-training
10. Over 20 Online Games to Play with Friends
What Do We Do In Our Spare Time?
Some Helpful Hints From Kimberly
I have been collecting some helpful ideas, what has and has not worked since I have been stuck at home, and since I am a mom to two teenage girls, a couple of suggestions to keep your kids busy.
AROUND THE HOUSE
Two words: Spring cleaning! It’s Spring. Literally! Use this time to go through your drawers, closets and cabinets and PURGE! Put bags together of clothing you will never wear again and donate them once everything opens (numerous charities and shelters are in need of items). You can have an eventual garage sale. Or just dump it if you know your item can’t be salvaged or resold. If you eventually want to sell your things, Wasteland, Crossroads and Buffalo Exchange are great options.
If you find that you are buying way too many freezer items (as I did) and your freezer cannot accommodate everything (like mine), then hit up Amazon and buy a small 3.0 cubic ft. freezer for your garage. It came in less than a week, super affordable and I stored all of the dessert items in there (out of sight, out of mind).
Clean your house. This is the time to clean those little nooks and crannies. A little deep cleaning goes a long way.
Purge and go through your food pantry and fridge. Spices don’t last forever.
HEALTH
For you ladies (and men if you are so inclined), this is a great time to walk around with masks on your face (I’m talking facials and skincare here, not for Corona). You are saving on those expensive facials, so do a little research and purchase a great exfoliator, hydration cream, etc. and take care of that skin.
Nails. I had to yank off my acrylics. Yes, ouch. Not the best idea but I couldn’t type as they were growing too long. I bought on Amazon: Nailtiques polish, cuticle oil and nail buffers. My nails may not look pretty now but I’m giving them a breather (and now I can type the letter “f” and not mistakenly type the letter “r”).
Don’t blow dry your hair. Seriously, who are you going to see? If you are on a Zoom meeting, put your hair in a hat, braid, ponytail, whatever. We are all at home, so give your hair a break. At home conditioners are a great idea as well. This is a fabulous time to give your hair a break from all the blowdrys, hair straightening, etc. And remember, you don’t have to wash your hair everyday. You can go a few days in between washing it.
Speaking of hair, if you’re like me, I will have a skunk stripe in less than three weeks. Well, my hairdresser is AMAZING. If you go grey fast, I highly suggest you ask your hairdresser to do the same what mine did (you can give my hairdresser a call: Marina Haywood @marinadoesmyhair 310-447-1558): She put together little kits of exactly what my solution is, a little tray and brush, gloves and on her website, a tutorial on how to apply the color. Then she dropped it off on my doorstep and I Venmo’d her the money. Magic! Trust me, I’ll take this over looking like Cruella de Vil any day.
Pamper your tootsies. No need to walk around your home with shoes but wear socks. And when you do, always put lotion on beforehand. Use super creamy lotion or Vaseline. You are going to have baby soft feet in no time.
Exercise and sleep. Enough said!
GROCERY SHOPPING
OK, I hate to rag on a company but DON’T USE INSTACART. It was awful and I tried twice. Each time I used it for Gelson’s and Ralph’s. I ordered approximately 10 items. Let’s just say what I received wasn’t anything I ordered and the items were more expensive than what I selected. I even tried writing to Instacart and no response. I’m done! But I will say Amazon Fresh has been pretty good. Yes, it’s difficult to obtain a window, but here’s the trick: fill your grocery cart and when you get to the point of selecting a window and it says there is nothing available, refresh your widow about once an hour. I did that and within a few hours, I always got a window within 48 hours. And I received just about everything I wanted and it was nicely packed (even in refrigerated bags).
As you will see in the media, it is becoming more and more dangerous to shop in markets. The exposure risk to you as a person is high. Please either have your groceries delivered, or, if you can afford it, please support our restaurant industry. There have been numerous articles written proving it is safer to order from a restaurant as they are utilizing extreme sanitation measures. Even better, ask if your favorite restaurant is offering curbside. A number of the restaurants are even giving discounts if you do so AND the money goes directly to the restaurant instead of the delivery service AND it’s one less person handling your food. Even better, try a restaurant on your bucket list. Most restaurants that never offered takeout or delivery are doing so during this time. It’s the best way to try out a restaurant you never dined at before. You can find a list of just about every restaurant in Los Angeles County on my previous blog (it’s the largest and most comprehensive list out there, proud to say!).
If you are high-risk and/or can’t or don’t want to do your own marketing, try https://www.taskrabbit.com. They might be of help.
CHILDREN
This topic varies based on your child’s age. I can attest more to older kids and girls because mine are 15 and 20 but here are some suggestions:
Board games: order some on Amazon. We play Rummikub, Monopoly (there are so many editions of this game), Parcheesi, and so much more
Build a fort (well, we’re too big for this but we used to do this)
Have your girls do a makeup tutorial on your face (get ready with some wet-wipes but take a pic first for some laughs)
Karaoke (earplugs, anyone?)
Dress-Up time (kids love to dress up in YOUR clothes)
Tea time: you can find amazing tea sandwich recipes online. Pretend you are the Queen and King. You can make a meal out of this. If you don’t like tea, use lemonade and sparkling apple cider. Go all out and buy scone mix or make them from scratch. Make some little desserts. So much fun!
Arts & Crafts (tons of ideas online)
Bake together (you can always freeze what you don’t eat)
Movie marathon with popcorn and hot chocolate and warm blankies!
Home Economics Time: So this is a little pet peeve of mine. What happened to this class? Kids these days don’t know the basics before they head off to college. So this is a great time to teach your kids a few “adulting” tips: How to write a check, how to balance a checkbook, how to address an envelope, how to do laundry, how to cook (yes, some don’t know how to boil water), how to sew on a button, the basics of cleaning. What you take for granted they may not know how to do. Time to teach.
Geography: I can’t believe my kids were not taught the states and capitals in school. WTF?
Chores: Assign a chore chart because we need help cleaning. There are three of us girls here 24/7 and we have a lot of hair. Time to divide and conquer!
A PARTING THOUGHT
Please be careful what you say in front of your children, no matter how old they are. I am scared, you are scared. This is a frightening time and it is a very fluid situation where we don’t know what tomorrow, next week or next month will look like. For most of us, we are coming to the realization that our kids will not be returning to college or school the rest of this semester. Camps will probably not happen. We need to be realistic. Even when we are given the “all clear” to go back out, it’s not going to be a huge rush and everything is back to the way it was overnight. It’s even time to talk to our kids that monetarily, for most of us, it will take us awhile to get back on our feet. That our friends, and society might not be the same for a bit and it will take time to recover. That there is the possibility their favorite businesses might have closed, that people will lose jobs and might get sick. It will take some time. But most of all, NONE of us have ever experienced anything like this and our children are looking to us for answers and we don’t have any. But we will recover, we will bounce back, we will be ok. It just will take some time and to be patient. And that we need to be supportive, loving and caring. As one parent to another, my advice would be to limit the news, keep your political views away from your kids, don’t give false hope and just keep them in the present. I tell my girls that I just don’t have all the answers and I’m scared too. But I am doing my best to keep them safe. They know I have 13 friends (and distant family) that are ill with the virus. My parents are extremely high-risk. One of my daughters is high-risk. All we can do is to shelter in place the best we can, stay positive and limit media exposure. I am a HUGE news person but I know my limits on what to say to each of my girls as they each handle news differently. So all I’m trying to say is be aware of each family member and what they can handle. And it’s ok to let them know you don’t have all the answers. We are human and sometimes, humility is our most beautiful trait.
If you have the means, please donate your time and/or money. Hospitals needs masks and equipment. Restaurants and other industries need money. There are those of you who can help and remember, you don’t know what goes on behind closed doors and people on Facebook generally shows you only the happy times in people’s lives. People are suffering emotionally, physically. People are sick, will get sick, and have to take care of people that will be sick. And that’s not even taking into account those that already have illnesses. And thousands will lose jobs, careers, fortunes, their livelihoods. Remember, the entire world is dealing with this at one time. It’s a lot to take in, to handle. If you can, there are countless ways you can help. You obviously have the time, but if you have the money, now is the moment to step up. Our WORLD needs YOU!
Thank you for reading my blog. I will be back soon with more ideas of what to do to keep you and your families busy. If you have anything you’d like me to publish, please contact me directly at kimberly@laanyday.com. Please spread the word for people to sign up for my newsletter so they can receive notice of upcoming blogs. Thank you for your support.
~ Kimberly 💕🌞🌴💕
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