Happy Monday! How is everyone doing? I feel like last week was the best week in the quarantine for me yet. I was really busy at work, which made the days go by very quickly, and also gave me more separation between the work day and after work than I’d had in a while. I also think now that we’ve been doing this for a while, I’ve moved a little more towards accepting social distancing as the reality for right now—but constantly reminding myself this won’t last forever. There are still ups and downs, but I feel like this past week was more up than down, so I’ll take it. I think this coming week will be busy work-wise, too, which I am really grateful for.

I was mentioning this to a friend late last week, but I feel like I have more time now than I ever had to work on A Touch of Teal, but I just don’t have a ton of good post ideas coming to mind. The normal things I’d share—like what restaurants I’m loving, the travels I’m taking, the things I’m buying—are pretty much all on pause, and I haven’t felt super creative since the first few weeks of this quarantine. After I finish up the work day, I pretty much just want to go on a nice long walk, make dinner, and watch TikToks, hah! These Monday posts have been fun to pull together each week, though, and are a great exercise for me to find some of the good in these crazy times.

So without further ado, I’ll share five distractions I’ve been loving over the past week—I’d love to know what you’ve been loving. Feel free to share in the comments below so we can all take advantage. Have a great—or at least okay—week! x

01. REWATCHING DISNEY CLASSICS ON DISNEY+

I signed up for a free year of Disney+ back in November through Verizon, but never thought I’d be all that into it and mostly signed up because it was free. Let’s just say I’ve been so glad I have it to enjoy during the quarantine! Ever since I watched A Goofy Movie week before last, I have gone down the rabbit hole on watching some of my favorite Disney Classics from childhood. This week, I watched Sleeping Beauty, Toy Story, and The Aristocats. I didn’t love Sleeping Beauty that much as a kid, but really enjoyed it as an adult, and I loved revisiting Toy Story, which I still remember seeing in theaters with my dad. But the movie that I absolutely loved was The Aristocats! I know I watched it all the time as a kid, but I probably hadn’t seen it in 20 years and completely forgot most of the plot. If you’re looking for a cute movie to watch this week, I’d totally recommend it!

02. ZOOM INTO ACTION

I loved the TV show Zoom growing up, and I feel like there was seldom an afternoon after school when it wasn’t on. It was a great mix of entertainment and education, and I could not get enough when I was in elementary school. Earlier this week, I learned that some of the old cast members were remaking some of their favorite experiments and recipes from the show, and will be putting out new episodes of this mini-series every day for the next couple of weeks. You can check them all out on THIS YouTube playlist. Sing it with me: 0-2-1-3-4!

03. VIRTUAL COFFEE BREAKS

One thing my team at work has been doing for the past month or so is setting up a 30-minute virtual coffee break each week. But to take it a step up from water-cooler chat (which is so important and great, too!), we have been inviting some of our influencer partners to join us to talk about different topics—everything from cooking tips for working from home to a 101 on the TikTok algorithm. It has been fun to get outside voices in to teach us fun things and also have a little bit of a break in the workday to look forward to.

I know not everyone has influencers they can invite to do coffee breaks with, but you could easily set up something similar with friends who can share their expertise in a certain area or have each member of your team take turns sharing something they are passionate about it.

04. TREATING MYSELF TO ALL MY FAVORITE FAST CASUAL

Since the quarantine started, I have tried to order some meals in for takeout each week as a way to support restaurants. I typically order out three or four times a week, usually a handful of weeknights to mix it up, and then from somewhere fun on Friday to kickstart the weekend. While in weeks past, I’d ordered mostly from DC-based restaurants, this past week, I really got into ordering from my favorite fast-casual joints. I grabbed sweetgreen for dinner on Tuesday night, Chipotle for dinner on Wednesday night after guest-speaking at Georgetown as a treat, Chop’t for lunch on Friday to get myself through a busy afternoon, and then from Chick Fil A for lunch on Saturday.

As someone who used to eat out every meal, cooking at home during this time has been another big change, so it was nice to visit some of my favorite jaunts. When I walked into Chop’t on Friday to pick up my lunch, my salad guys were so excited to see me and it was nice to see them, too! Like I said last week, I’ve been tipping way more than normal during these times—and if you are in the place to do so, I’d encourage you to do so, too!

05. FANCY OLIVE OIL DIPS!

I’ve been trying to find little ways to enjoy my time at home, which has included buying snacks I wouldn’t normally buy. I’m not a huge snacker and living alone with snacks can sometimes be dangerous, but during the quarantine, all rules are out the window! I’ve been loving What’s Gaby Cooking’s infused oil, specifically the Tastes Like Pizza One! I’ve been dipping into mine with a few pieces of bread for a special treat, and think it would also taste great on avocado toast.

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I’d love to know what distractions you’re loving—drop me a comment below so we can all enjoy!