Well, friends, it’s been an interesting week here – after two and a half years of successfully dodging it, I finally ended up getting covid.  I’m grateful that my experience was generally pretty mild and that I’ve been able to work through all of my symptoms.  I’m triple vaxxed and still wear my mask out in public, and after not getting it after several close calls I had assumed I was fully immune (ha, nope!).  The latest outbreak in my office finally got me, and I’ve been enjoying my time recovering in isolation here in my lovely apartment ever since.

I’m on the up and up and hope to be able to go back out into the world on Monday (or Wednesday if I keep testing positive).  I’m starting to feel a little bit trapped in here, but I’ve been enjoying the fresh morning air with all of my windows open, and I’m incredibly grateful that (much like my fever) the Bakersfield summer heat has broken for weekend weather in the 70s and 80s.  My friends, family, and coworkers have all been checking in regularly, and I’ve had plenty of work calls to keep me from feeling too lonely.  My inner introvert has actually been really enjoying this week of solitude and quiet, texts and calls, podcasts and background music, natural light and open windows.  It’s all been okay, and I’m happy to have some fresh immunity to take me through the rest of the summer.

Having this downtime means that I’ve actually had some time to write some blog posts again (shocking!), so hopefully I’ll have some fun new recipes, product reviews, and other musings coming soon throughout the next week or so.  Balancing new responsibilities at my job and a very full social calendar outside of work has honestly pushed my hobbies to the back-burner a bit.  As a person who loves being busy, adjusting to this post-pandemic lifestyle has been an exciting whirlwind, but being pushed back into quarantine for a week or so has honestly been the rest that I needed.  It’s like March 2020 all over again, except this time I actually have covid (oops) and my time for isolation has an end date (boo!).

I’ll end this post with some things that have helped me through covid, and I’ve scattered some pictures of my quarantine activities throughout this post.  Tea, tissues, and Ibuprofen really got me through, and I cannot recommend snack plates more (they’re fun to eat and make you feel special!).  I made a big batch of chicken broth at the beginning of the week and have been enjoying daily soups and ramen, which has been lunchtime perfection.  I’ve been loving cucumbers because they’re cold and crunchy and they feel nice on a sore throat, and my Sichuan Chili Crisp that has been keeping my sinuses cleared and flowing.  I’ve never been so thirsty and consumed so much water in my life (I had dry mouth as a symptom which I was not expecting and never experienced before – I was truly so, so hydrated this week).  I lost my sense of smell for a total of four hours and I cried about it while sniffing all of my spices to see what I could get, and I was so happy it was back the next day.  I’m feeling much better but still testing positive, so it’s been a real journey that’s not over yet.

I hope to see you all more in this space over the next few days, and if anyone else out there is reading this while they have covid, just know I’m right there with you.  Hope everyone is doing well out there and staying healthy through these fine pandemic times!