Hi everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a lifestyle post. If you enjoy this, let me know and I will do them more often. 🙂

We are in the midst of a global pandemic that does not discriminate on who it infects. I am writing this after working 24 hours in the ED after an outbreak within my city of about 57,000 people. I am trying to find a sense of normalcy and establish as much of a routine as I can for the time being. With that, I will walk you through what has become a “normal” day for me!

7:30-8:00 AM

Wake up, check my DMs, emails, and other notifications on my phone. If I remember, I do a guided meditation on the Headspace app, or read. Bae & I are reading House of God still and I’m very into it.

8:00-8:30 AM

Skincare time – my new found routine. I first wash/cleanse, use toner, a vitamin C serum, and then a moisturizer with SPF. I believe this is essential to having the best skin I’ve had in my 20s (so far). 🙂 After this, I brush my teeth, change into something comfortable but less slob-like than pajamas. (I’ve found this practice greatly affects my productivity). I loosely make my bed and head downstairs.

8:30-9:30 AM

Water before anything else. I’ve been making iced lattes daily (check my instagram highlights for how to make them yourself), and eat breakfast. Breakfast is usually light – either PB toast and banana, or avocado toast. After I’ve eaten, I use the time to figure out what I need to get done during the day.

10:00 AM-12:00 PM

Prior to the pandemic hitting, I worked as a graduate research assistant for my college as a master’s student. I opted to work 2 hours/day and set those hours as 10-12 in the mornings. Since the job I’m doing is tedious, I made sure to set the same exact timeslot to #WFH.

So what do I actually do? I am working with a public health nursing professor and a professor in the rural health department of the medical school on developing a study measuring attitudes toward domestic violence. I am currently doing grunt work collecting contact information for the facilities we are going to study. In order to do this, I grab (what’s left of) my coffee, and turn Grey’s Anatomy on while I enter contact information into a spreadsheet for 2 hours. It isn’t so bad at all.

12:00-1:00 PM

Lunch time. I’ve been making a lot of stir fry lately – it’s very forgiving and allows you to add whatever veggies you have on hand. This way, I don’t feel the need to go to the store just to make a recipe that sounds good. I really don’t like to do other activities while I’m eating, so I take a good amount of time to cook, eat, and clean up.

1:00-3:00 PM

After my mental break, I go to work on the academic stuff. This week, I have a reflection due for my counseling class and a wiki to complete after listening to our patients. We had a class meeting last night and did a course wrap up/reflection discussion. In counseling, I have a few journal entries left to reflect on, one more exam in biostatistics, and a few more micronutrients to learn! Then one more year of graduate school!!!!

3:00-5:00 PM

In this time, I have done a combination of lightly exercising and relaxing. It is finally getting warmer here in ND and my dog is loving the daily walks. This day, I took my yoga mat outside and did a quick flow after our walk.

5:00-7:00 PM

Dinner. I usually cook for my family during this time, but we have also been ordering out about once a week to support local businesses. In this time, I have also been baking. 🙂

7:00-9:00 PM

I return to more schoolwork and do some reading or extra studying if I need to. If I have completed my planned schoolwork for the day, I take the time to do laundry, straighten out my bedroom or hang with my parents.

9:00-10:30 PM

Bae usually calls me around this time and we chat and play either Monopoly, Battleship, or Clue on our phones. Each of them are $4 on the Apple app store and a really fun way to connect when you don’t live near each other while following social distancing orders. After we’re off the phone, I wash my face again with a makeup-removing cleanser, use a retinol, moisturize, and use eye cream. My face feels so fresh when I go to sleep.

11:00 PM

I try to be asleep at this time, but that isn’t always the case given the circumstances. If I can’t sleep, I’m recently obsessed with Struggle Meals videos on Tastemade, or reading House of God.

Other things I did this week:

• Donated blood
• Ran to campus to grab a textbook from my office (the entire building was locked).
• Got a free car wash for healthcare workers 🙂
• Picked up the new lemonade Trulys – by the way: they’re slightly sweet but still 100 calories/can. I realized stevia is added to this pack!
• Baked vanilla cherry cupcakes
• Ate ChikFilA with my parents
• Sat outside during Zoom meetings

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That being said, my days don’t deviate from the above too often with an in between blackboard collaborate class, or Biostats on Wednesday nights. I hope you’re able to check out some of my favorite products just because I love them and hope you will too (they’re not sponsored, btw). Stay safe out there, wash your hands, and don’t touch your face! We will get through this!

xx,

M