So I’ve been in complete quarantine for almost 10 months now and yes, it does have its sucky moments. But at times like this, it’s so important and so helpful...and honestly, it really hasn’t been that bad!! If you need tips on how to deal with quarantine, ask away!
If you or your loved ones are getting cabin fever, it is always safe to go for a walk outside! Just remember to stay 6 feet away from anyone you see and bring some hand sanitizer in case you have to touch anything and a mask in case it turns out to be a crowded area (which if that’s the case, just go home).
If you or your loved ones needs to go out for ANY reason at all, even if you are going on a walk with someone or doing an activity outside, it is always important to ask that person or group if they have been sick within the last two weeks, if they have been on a plane within the last two weeks or if they have been around anyone who’s sick. If the answer is yes to any of these questions, it’s probably not worth it.
You know that thing that you’ve always wanted to do around your house but have just never felt like you had the time because of work, classes, school or something else?
WELL NOW’S THE TIME!!! ❤️❤️
At the start of my recovey, I had to take my temperature every day to make sure I wasn’t spiking. One of the first signs of #covid19 is a high temp, so please go out and get yourself a thermometer...OR order one online! They are available at all drug stores. Everyone in your household should take their temp every day.
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
Take it day by day. Stop worrying about things you can’t control and focus on things that you can! Remember the bigger picture of your health and the health of others around you.
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
Now that we are all quarantined, we have the time to research the policies of each presidential candidate. The election coming up in November is super super important, so everyone please take some time to read up on things, do your homework and pick the best policy for you!!
Stay safe and healthy, sending love! ❤️
At the start of my recovery & to help myself get acclimated to life in isolation, I would make myself a schedule for every day! I am also a huge To-Do list maker. Lists have always helped to keep me on track for exactly what I want to accomplish each day.
Stay safe & healthy! Sending love out ❤️
When you get back from the grocery store always remember to wipe down your groceries with sanitizer wipes and wash all of your fresh fruits and veggies! When I was younger and very neutropenic, we would wash all fruits and veggies with one tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide in a bowl of water.
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
If you are getting bored and want to see friends, there are so many apps and websites out there that let you do stuff together!
Here are some of my favorites:
Netflix Party: https://www.netflixparty.com/
^^lets you watch Netflix with your friends via chat box!
Cards Against Humanity: https://cardsagainsthumanity.com/
Play Cards Against Humanity over video chat!
Catan Online: https://www.catan.com/game/catan-anytime
you can play Catan with friends online!
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
REGARDING TAKEOUT, CURBSIDE PICKUP AND DELIVERY
If and/or when you get takeout food remember these things:
1) Before opening your food, sanitize all of the containers it came in.
2) Use your own silverware and dishes to serve and eat. Do not eat straight from the takeout containers. You may also use gloves to plate your food instead of sanitizing your containers.
3) Warm your food up in the microwave for 30 seconds to kill all bacteria and germs that could be hanging out on your food. You may also warm it up in your oven, on the stove or in a toaster oven. The point is so you can kill any germs on the food.
4)Wash your hands thoroughly before you eat!!
**I would not recommend getting cold takeout like sandwiches and salads because you risk eating bacteria left on the food.
**I would not recommend getting delivery because you want to maintain social distancing rules.
Takeout, Drive-Thru or Curbside pickup is okay.
These are all precautions I have to follow for my transplant recovery. Hope these tips help!
Stay healthy and safe. Sending out love
It’s okay not to be okay. Don’t feel like you need to be super productive with all of this new free time and get everything done you’ve ever wanted to accomplish. You don’t need to get fit, you don’t need to finish that book you’re working on. This is a crazy time and you are allowed to process all of the feelings and emotions that come with it.
I didn’t work on anything for the first 4 months of my recovery. Just take your time and find your own new rhythm.
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
Please please please practice social/physical distancing. I know it can be devastating to cancel events, vacations, gatherings, parties, etc. especially ones that you have had planned for a long time or not be able to see your friends and loved ones, but it’s so important right now. I’ve had to sacrifice so many things for my recovery, but I know it’s for the best. There is a bigger picture going on right now and that is to keep us all safe. We are all in this together and we all need to take care of each other. ❤️❤️
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
The people most at risk for contracting #covid19 are the elderly, people with underlying medical conditions and the immuno-compromised. If you know anyone who is a high-risk patient here are some helpful things you can do for them!
1) They can't leave their house and it is dangerous for them to go to any public space, so if you have the time, you can go to the grocery store for them or bring them food! A lot of my family friends have been doing this for us and it has truly been so helpful.
*Members of their household should also not be going anywhere public for the concern that they would bring something back to the high-risk patient.
2) You can pick up their prescriptions for them at the pharmacy!
3) Just check in on them to see if they need anything or need to talk =)
Stay safe and healthy out there! Sending out love <3
Take inventory on your groceries! See what foods you can meal prep and make in bulk to make your groceries last longer. Some of my favorite easy recipes are any sort of gumbo, chile, and for breakfast I love making slow-cooker oatmeal! All of these meals will last you up to a week depending on how large your household is. Last week we made tamales (a mexican traditional meal) and that batch lasted my parents, Louie and I all a whole week! Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️ Let me know if you want links to recipes!
Take a break from your phone/social media. Even though your phone makes you feel connected to people (especially right now), sometimes it’s exhausting to always be in touch with people and looking at social media. Especially in these weird times, it’s important to take care of your mental health. Being in quarantine makes you do a lot of thinking and/or overthinking so, if you need a day to yourself to rest or occupy your mind with something else, it’s okay to take it! Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
Get your body moving! A great way to help relieve anxiety and stress is to exercise. It could be anything from going on a walk outside to going on the treadmill or lifting weights at home to simply just doing body weight exercises. It's important for your brain and body to stay active!
We have a stationary bike and lately, I have been using that for 25 minutes at a time and then using the free weights I have at home to work out my arms and legs =)
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love <3
Wash your hands! It is extremely important to wash your hands and wash them PROPERLY (Yes, this also goes for the people that think washing their hands is just rinsing them with water...).
1) Wash your hands after you touch your face, sneeze, cough into your hands (which like, don't), have been out in public, touching public surfaces like doorknobs and elevator buttons, after you've picked up your groceries, etc. Literally any time you touch something that might be contaminated or any time you leave and enter your house, wash your hands.
2) It has been proven that it does not matter what kind of soap you use. It does not need to be antibacterial or fancy. This is because the virus is protected by a coat of lipids (which are fat molecules). When these lipids come into contact with water and soap, they break up and therefore make it impossible for the virus to enter your body. So use any ol' soap you have! (https://www.nytimes.com/…/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germ…)
3) Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds under warm water. I like to follow the paint demonstration! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEzJ_QKjT14)
4) Every time you wash your hands, this method needs to be perfectly replicated. EVERY. TIME.
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love <3
Don't forget to check on the people in your life and tell them you love and appreciate them! With these weird and crazy times, you never know what's going to happen.
Stay safe and healthy! Going to follow my own advice and tell all of you I love you!!!
I actually wanted to ask all of you:
What are you most having trouble with during this Quarantine/Pandemic period? Are there any tips I can provide to you guys that you think would be helpful that I haven't talked about in a previous quarantine tip?
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love
Now that you have the time, go through old folders, boxes and containers in your house and get nostalgic! My fam and I found some cute stuff today looking through old stuff!
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love
Change out your toothbrush regularly! You should get a new toothbrush or toothbrush head every three months OR after you or someone in your household has been sick. Another thing you can do is stick your toothbrush in the dishwasher!
Germs can live on your toothbrush for a long time and you don’t want to be sticking those in your mouth!
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
Don't forget to cut your nails!!
Having long nails could put you at a greater risk for harboring germs on your body. Even washing your hands isn't going to be as effective when you have long nails because germs can still get trapped under your nail beds and you wouldn't even know!
Ladies who have long acrylic nails right now... I ain't tellin' ya how to run your life and I certainly do not want to kill your vibes, but those long beautiful nails may not be the best idea right now =/
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love <3
Rearrange your house/furniture! If you are feeling a little stagnant and unmotivated, a great way to help that is to make your space feel like a completely new and different space! Your living space always reflects your mental space =)
I just rearranged my room today and I feel so good about it!
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love <3
Made this fun video with my family last night to show the effectiveness of different types of masks! The takeaway we discovered is that if you don't have any access to masks, make sure to double over your bandanas or clothing to be FOUR-PLY for the most effective protection!
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love <3
Just Breathe...If you are going stir-crazy in your house, if you are feeling overwhelmed thinking about everything you need to do or not do, stressed out about your family, food or finances, on the verge of having an anxiety attack OR having an anxiety attack, just take a deep breath.
This year is my first time dealing with anxiety in my life and it has been a difficult one, but something that always helps me to calm down and something I've learned from other friends who have anxiety issues is that when you are experiencing an anxiety attack, take 5 deep breaths and COUNT all of the furniture in your room. OR count all the things in the room that are a certain color. Just anything to occupy your mind and calm you down. I'm including a fun little graphic to help you take deep breaths!
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love <3
Happy Easter today! I know it’s gonna be hard not to have family over to celebrate and be together. My favorite part of Easter is always the Egg Hunt! I found this helpful article online that will help you to plan and do easter egg hunts via Zoom or Facetime!
https://www.newsweek.com/online-easter-egg-hunts-1497293
Enjoy your families (virtually) today!
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
Laundry! If someone in your house is sick or has been exposed to someone who’s sick and you need to wash your clothes, try to keep their clothing/bedding contained in a garbage bag. When you do their laundry, you can mix it in with the rest of your family’s but make sure you wear gloves and a mask and turn your washer up to the warmest water setting that is safe for the fabric you are washing 😊
Also it doesn’t matter what type of detergent you use, just a standard one is fine! The high heat from the dryer will kill off any germs that don’t die off in the washer.
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love ❤️
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Get to know your local grocery stores!
With everything happening, I know it's been a struggle lately to pick up everything you need at the store. So, what my family and I have been doing is asking our local store when their shipments come in for specific products!
This week, we found out that our local Roche Brothers Store gets their shipments of toilet paper on Thursday morning! So now we know when the most opportune time to get it is =)
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love <3
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I have been getting a lot of messages from friends, colleagues, clients, followers and others just asking me for advice on how to deal with quarantine. So I Just want to give a friendly reminder to everyone that having panic/anxiety attacks, mental breakdowns, feeling exhausted, sleeping in until noon, eating crap food, wearing your PJs all day and binge-watching a show is ABSOLUTELY OKAY! Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is SURRENDER. You are going through a lot right now, things aren't normal, the unknown is scary...so it's okay to give yourself time to process!
Stay safe and healthy and go at your own pace! Sending out love
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(omg can't believe I've been doing this for a month now lol)
How to take off your mask, gloves and any other protective gear PROPERLY!
It's amazing that you are wearing gloves and a mask, but how much of a bummer would it be if when you took them off, you still got infected?
Here's a nice video tutorial on how to take off your mask and gloves and dispose of them =)
Stay safe and healthy! Sending out love
https://www.facebook.com/gracievanbrunt/videos/2879840752105554/
After you've given yourself plenty of time to process and IF (only IF) you feel ready, find something you are passionate about and hone in on that skill!
For my time in quarantine, I made it my goal to focus on my music and improving on my productions and vocals! At the start of my recovery, I could not record my own vocals, didn't really know how to do any editing or mixing in a DAW (digital audio workspace like Pro Tools) and would ask for a lot of help from my boyfriend, Louie, who is a producer/ engineer. Because he also deals with clients all the time, I would ask him for a lot of business advice as well.
I have been working really hard to improve on my songwriting, vocal, and production skills and now, when working on a topline, I can do it all myself! I record myself then edit and mix my vocals, then bounce the vocal stems out to send to DJs!
I am also really proud of myself because I have gotten more paid vocal and toplining work this year than I have ever gotten in my life and I don't really need to ask Louie for business advice anymore!
Honing in on a certain skill takes time and effort, but please remember to go at your own pace and only put in time when you feel ready and excited about it! And don't forget to pay attention to YOUR accomplishments, not others' =)
I hope this helps some of you who have been struggling in quarantine and may be feeling unmotivated.
Stay healthy and safe! Sending out love
