Hi! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these “life update” blog posts. March to be exact. At that point, I had just gotten back from Nicaragua and we were still pretty early on in quarantine.
These blog posts are meant to be little diary entries, essentially. Here is a little peek behind the scenes at what’s been going on.
Dress is old from Lulus, but I think you can add yourself to a waitlist here if it restocks
Life, Lately:
I haven’t had much to share personally over the last 3 months as things have pretty much been the same. It’s still a pandemic. I’m still unemployed. And for the most part (minus a trip to Montauk with a friend and a trip to Westchester to see my family) I’ve been hanging tight in my 500 square foot apartment alone.
It’s wild to think we’ve spent more of 2020 in quarantine than out of it. For me, my last “normal” week of work as a fitness instructor was back in February. The next week I went to Nicaragua. When I came back I had subbed out a few classes to catch up on sleep. And then the following week gyms and studios shut down in NYC.
How Have I Been?
At the beginning of the pandemic, I personally felt more depressed than anxious. The loneliness was really difficult for me and still is at times.
I’m grateful that it’s now summer. It’s a bit easier to make plans to meet up with people since we can hang out outside. The tricky thing has been that most of my friends left NYC. I only have a handful of friends that stayed here. There’s an even smaller percentage of friends that are also walking distance (aka not in Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx). I personally don’t feel comfortable taking the subway or an Uber/Lyft/Taxi at this time, so it’s limiting who I can see for socially distanced hangouts.
But I’ve been grateful for distanced coffee or ice cream dates with friends and picnics outside.
Lately, I’ve been feeling anxious. I don’t know what work is going to look like for me when fitness studios open up again. I do know that I’ll most likely take a major pay cut as there will be fewer classes offered and capacities will be smaller. That’s rough because for some classes I get paid-per-head.
Prior to the pandemic, my main source of income was teaching fitness and yoga classes. As of March, I was teaching 16 permanent classes a week and I make very little additional money thanks to blogging and Instagram.
Right this second there are a lot of “unknowns.” I don’t know when I’m going to go back to work. I don’t know what that’s going to look like. And I don’t know if financially it will still be sustainable to teach as my only job.
I’m someone that really likes to have a plan. Like so many, I’m sure, this pandemic has thrown all my plans out the window. I don’t know what happens next, but what happens with fitness studios reopening is also out of my control.
I worked in sales for a very hot second back in 2015 and one of the phrases my manager reminded me over and over again was “Control the controllable.” And right now SO much is out of our control, but I’m finding ways to work on the things that are in my control. So I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for future opportunities and thinking about what I want my life to look like when life resumes. Right now I don’t have the perfect answers for what that looks like.
What have I been up to:
Not much? Haha. I’m teaching here and there but usually only 1 or so class a week. I’ve also been demo-ing once a week or so for Zoom Bar Method classes.
Right now I have a pretty predictable schedule:
- Wake up
- take a Bar Method class on Zoom
- drink coffee while answering emails, do any desk work or class planning
- make lunch
- finish up work.
- go for a long walk + get more coffee.
- come home and read outside on the roof until I’m hungry for dinner
- make / order dinner
- read or watch TV for the rest of the evening.
And that’s pretty much it most weekdays.
I miss “real life” and teaching regularly a lot. But I am also grateful for this chance to SLOW DOWN. On a typical Monday, I would teach 5 classes. Start at 8 AM and then I’m pretty much on the go until my last class ends at 9:15 PM. I don’t necessarily miss those long days, but I miss getting to do what I love all day, every day.
What I’m looking forward to:
I’m pretty sure we all have a list of dumb things that while they seem small and unimportant, we also can’t wait to do them again. Currently on my list:
- getting my nails done (Glosslab opens NEXT WEEK. I’m very excited)
- visiting my parents for July 4th and seeing my grandma + local friends (from a distance, of course)
- getting my hair cut. It’s LONG!
- taking advantage of outdoor eating (this just started in NYC)
- giving hugs… when they are safely allowed again
- all the concerts I’ll go to in 2021 (Harry Styles three times and Green Day twice!)
- seeing a Broadway show
- inviting friends over to hang in my apartment (I’m still iffy about hanging out inside with people)
- going out to eat with friends after a long day of work.
- TRAVELING. Whenever we can safely do that again. I keep joking with my friend David that the first place I’m going after this is California to visit him. I also might be rescheduling the trip I was supposed to take to Italy for 2021. Although that’s all TBD.
Also… I might’ve cried walking into Barnes and Noble last week. I missed bookstores SO much.
✨
WHAT I’M WATCHING: Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 5! It’s been so delightful to see some of my favorite queens on TV again!
I’m also rewatching Sex and the City for the umpteenth time. I watched my favorite episode on my birthday while I was eating dinner and then decided why not rewatch the whole thing again! It’s been a few years since I’ve watched every episode and I gotta say, it’s hit different now that I’m 30.
WHAT I’M READING: I’m currently on a total Jasmine Guillory kick and reading her 4th book The Royal Holiday.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: I’m still shamelessly listening to Harry Styles and One Direction on repeat.
Leave a Reply