Since we as a family have been in stay home, stay safe mode for a couple of months, we have been trying to entertain ourselves, stay focused, as well as working on staying positive.
Some super cool friends of mine came up with the idea of doing a bright side challenge to share some of the positive things that we all have been doing or observed since the Covid-19 quarantine began.
I hope you enjoy this post and don’t forget to scroll to the bottom to see what my other midlife bloggers pals have written as I know you will get some great tips and ideas from them!
Thank you to all of the health care workers, front line helpers and first responders.
With that being said it has not been as difficult for me as for some as I am used to working from home as a Realtor with RE/MAX and have a home office plus my children are young adults. I am used to doing Zoom meetings and the “pause” gave me time to finish projects, update relocation guides and have more time to do my real estate podcasts and my local one #SoooBoca Stories!
I have tried to look at the “bright side” of this quarantine and made a list of things that I have learned and what my takeaways have been.
Happy Hour
I am a cup half full person in general so trying to figure out the bright side of this quarantine was a bit of a challenge at first but once I got back to that mindset the ideas started to flow.
First and foremost cocktail hour has returned a couple of days a week now with my housemate (and youngest daughter) Halle who is a fashion and photography maven.
Her talent has crossed over to creating craft cocktails along with creating charcuterie boards with a variety of interesting items from cheeses and meats from local stores along with nuts, olives, crackers and interesting surprises! Here salami river is delightfully placed just an FYI.
Comfort Food
My husband Captain Andy is a great cook and grill master from his famous smoked fish dip to seared tuna and amazing soups. Thankfully he and Alle are creating some delicious meals.
Last week a friend of ours had some king fish that he had popped on his smoker and kindly shared with us by leaving it on our front porch.
I do cook a little bit but they seem to be much better at it and enjoy it more than I do LOL!
In between their meals I have been ordering takeout as I love my favorite local restaurants and am trying to support as many as I can as they pivot to stay afloat.
Surprise Porch Packages
Another bright side to all of this is that Amazon isn’t the only one making deliveries during this time.
A spectacular wine surprise showed up on my porch. I thought it was an early birthday gift for moi but it was a thank you from some favorite clients of mine. If you have ever had wine from South Africa you know it is simply delightful!
Another friend dropped off a beautiful orchid with stunning purple blooms to help me celebrate my birthday!
Birthdays
Speaking of birthdays…my birthday week started on April 18th and Halle experimented with margaritas and created two that were simply smashing.
A Kiwi concoction for the first round and a refreshing mandarin orange one for our second round. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed these libations and had forgotten how much I truly love tequila.
This particular drink I was called a “Conchtail” since I added a little sea shell on top of the floating lime! Hey it’s all about creativity right!
#SupportLocalBoca
As I said we have been doing our best to support local restaurants around town from Tomassos to Kapow to Marios to The Rebel House and of course Flanagans in East Boca (we love their wings). Check out the article we wrote about the Socially Distanced Supper Club initiative!
We have had a few birthdays in the mix during Covid-19, my first born child, Kylie, is April 10th, the Captain is March 23rd and I am April 18th.
For Kylie’s birthday we did a Zoom dinner and Andy secretly helped her boyfriend Nick set it up and showed him how to make an amazing ribeye on their new grill!
A very bright side to my birthday was that Kylie and her man sent a delicious treat from Palour Vegan Bakery to me to help kick off my birthday week!
Support Local Elsewhere
By the way, since Kylie lives in Pittsburgh, we wanted to support local there and ordered coffee and donuts for her birthday from Donut Connect to be delivered to her home the day before her actual birthday! They did not disappoint and were delightful to order from.
Social Media Sharing
One thing I have been doing via our Instagram and Facebook accounts is sharing businesses that are open. From restaurants doing curbside pick up to services that are still available. Currently many of the Palm Beach county restaurants are open, with restrictions via the Governor, but table service is once again available.
You can check out the #supportlocalboca highlight on Instagram to see a variety of local options for you to choose from and support.
Non Profits
Restaurateur and owner of South Florida’s Subculture Group, Rodney Mayo, has founded Hospitality Helping Hands (H3), a community meal distribution nonprofit organization equipped to provide up to 3,000 warm meals daily in each location established within the West Palm Beach area.
We also drove out to Thomas Produce and picked up amazing boxes of veggies for $10.00 per box. One of which was donated to Boca Helping Hands.
Please consider making a donation to assist these wonderful initiatives.
Beautiful Distractions
We took a drive after we heard about the Boca Resort and their special lighting message to all of us. That pink tower has followed me around town since 1978 and I can see it from my house. The “LUV” text in the windows of the tower brought a little brightness to our evening and frankly it was a super cool thing for them to do!
Exploring The Neighborhood
We happen to live in East Boca and have some pretty old school communities that are nice to bike through.
From the foliage to birds and animals, we have seen some super cool wildlife enjoying the fabulous weather we have had here in Boca Raton this spring. Taking these bike rides has been a true blessing and part of our daily routine.
Taking the time to cruise around has really reminded us of what we appreciate about where we live.
Last Thoughts
During this weird and scary time I have had time to reassess a few things in regard to my business, personal relationships and what is next.
Travel: I realize how much I truly love to travel, especially with my family, and that incorporating more of that into my life (daycations, staycations and LOcations) included, will now be front and center on my agenda.
Business Travel and Conventions: I don’t see myself spending money on attending many conventions moving forward. Inflated ticket prices already had me rethinking that there was a better and more affordable way to get fresh and timely information as well as network with my peers. Oh ya…right…Zoom and online events have arrived. YAY!
Homefront: How much I appreciate having a work from home space that is pleasant and peaceful. That I knew I was always a homebody of sorts but that now I have really embraced my introverted self.
Pets: I have always known that my animals give me great comfort but especially during this time, Brody, my yellow lab has been an absolute delight and has tolerated crying occasionally from me and being filmed for TikTok!
Self Care: Learning to just take the day off. Literally. No social media, no work interaction. Giving myself permission to just be.
Blogs You Might Like To Read
If you need a little encouragement check out my midlife blogger friends who are sharing their Bright Side Experiences during this unprecedented time. #BrightSideChallenge
Melanie Silkworth ww.mels2ndact.com
Heidi Suydam: Simply Our Society
Nancy Weiss: A Two drink minimum
D’Arcy Vandenberg: Dear-Darcy
Rosemary Davis: Distinctly Southern Style
Michele Linton: Hotflash and Sass
Merry Lynch: Braving Midlife
Gwen Gottilieb: Gwen lives Well
Move to Boca Raton
I’m so glad I had the opportunity to get to know you better and look forward to seeing more of your posts!
Nancy
Great information on Boca and the surrounding area! What sweet porch surprises. As far as tik tok…when I cave in and jump on that, I will definitely look you up. Not a rabbit hole I need to go down right now ..lol!
I loved your peek I n to quarantine life.
It sounds like you live in a wonderful place surrounded by great people! That’s a lot to be thankful for! Your post makes me crave cocktail hour in a restaurant. 🙂
Love your personalized peek into quarantined life in Boca Raton!
How lucky you are to have a family of great chefs and fresh seafood.
Indeed, life is good and we must take the time to look at the bright side and count our blessings.
This was such a fabulous read! I could really relate to so much of this. What a fun collaboration! Still need to learn tik tok – and so much more. Looking forward to more fun!