Tag Archives: fun

Getting Something Checked Off My End Of The Year List (or Mailing Out Some Holiday Cheer)

Posted on December 21, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting Something Checked Off My End Of The Year List (or Mailing Out Some Holiday Cheer)

Growing up, I remembered my family getting so many holiday cards from friends and family. They were always displayed in the living room and I loved looking at the photos that we got from everyone. Some people also sent letters, but I usually just loved looking at all the cards and photos. And of course, my parents sent out cards too. Even though I don’t live at home, I’m still included in the family holiday card (and they send one to me so I can see what they did).

For most of my 20s, I didn’t really get holiday cards from anyone. I think most people think of them as something you do when you have kids. But once I was in my 30s and started to get a few more cards from friends, I realized that they can come from anyone whether it’s from a family or just someone on their own. So I started to send out cards to others.

As the years have gone on, my holiday card list has gotten longer and I’ve been getting more and more cards from others as well. And I still love looking at the cards and the photos of my friends and their families. And now, I have a nice place in my entryway where I can display all the cards that I’ve gotten from people.

Even though most of the cards that I get from people are photo cards, I’ve never done that myself. I started getting cards that I could buy at the store or online because that’s the easiest way to do this. Then, once my holiday card list got longer, I realized doing postcards was a bit more cost-effective. Plus, since I’m not putting a photo on there, it didn’t feel as weird not having an envelope. And there were some cute postcards that I found online that I could buy, but a few years ago I realized I couldn’t find what I wanted and it would just be easier if I could make something myself.

So for the last few years, I’ve made my own postcards to send out for the holidays. They are nothing fancy and I use a template from Canva so I’m not custom-designing them, but I am able to change things up a bit to make them work for me. For example, last year’s card was not only a holiday card but also had my new address on it so I didn’t have to worry that people might mail things to the wrong place. But this year I didn’t do anything too crazy or fancy, I just did a simple design that I found and changed a bit to fit what I would want to send out.

I had gotten a bit stressed when I realized how soon the end of the year when I hadn’t gotten everything done, but the good thing about sending cards that say Happy New Year is that they can arrive a bit after the 1st and it’s still ok. But even if they were just regular holiday cards, I never mind getting them late so I would assume most of my friends feel the same way.

I got them printed through Vista Print, so it wasn’t too expensive to do that. I think between the printing and the stamps, I spent less than $50 to send them all out. That’s not bad considering how many I send and how happy it makes me to do something silly like this. And it didn’t take that long to do this either. I think the longest parts were waiting for the printed postcards to arrive and the line at the post office when I went to get postcard stamps. But once I had everything I needed, it was pretty quick to put all the postcards together so I could mail them out.

I know how much I appreciate not only getting holiday cards but anything in the mail that isn’t a bill or junk. Having something nice in the mail is a rare treat, so if I can make someone smile a bit by getting a postcard from me, that’s awesome!

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A Couple Of Beauty Days (or More Prep For My Trip)

Posted on November 15, 2022 | Comments Off on A Couple Of Beauty Days (or More Prep For My Trip)

As I have written about before, since the pandemic I have really cut back on the regular beauty things I used to do. I know I could have gone back to doing some of the things I used to do, but I just wasn’t that motivated. Either they didn’t seem as important to me as they used to, I still was a bit cautious about Covid, or I didn’t feel like I needed to do them because I really don’t do as much as I used to. The only thing that I really kept up with was getting my hair done. And I think I’m better about getting my hair done regularly now than before.

But since I knew I would be seeing my family for our Fake Thanksgiving, I wanted to make sure I did what I needed to do to feel my best. Most of the beauty things I used to do wouldn’t matter for this trip (like getting a pedicure when I was going to a cold place and nobody would see my toes). But I did time getting my hair done so I would get my hair dyed right before my trip and it would look the best it could. I actually planned ahead before my last appointment so this one would be exactly 6 weeks after the last one. I try to do my hair every 6-8 weeks, so that would work out perfectly!

Since getting my hair done was the one thing I really kept up with, it does feel a bit more like maintenance than beauty. But there is still a difference in how I feel after an appointment. I know that a lot of people have been growing out their gray hair, but I’m just not there yet. I know I have a lot of gray hair, but it’s not really concentrated in one spot so they seem to just stick out. And most people who are my age and have gone gray usually have patches or streaks which makes it seem more like a style choice. One day, I’m sure I’ll just let go of my feeling about gray hair and let it be. But that’s not how I feel now. So getting my hair dyed and not having to see the grays is still something important to me.

But because my last appointment was only 6 weeks ago, the roots weren’t as obvious as they have been before. And my hair wasn’t looking scraggly so I didn’t need a bit cut. Even a trim helps to make things look polished, so I was very happy with how I looked after my appointment. And I knew that my hair was going to look great when I saw my family.

But going to get my hair done wasn’t all I did before the trip. I also got my eyebrows done for the first time since the pandemic! I used to regularly go to get my eyebrows done. I don’t need it as badly as I did before because I think getting them waxed for a few decades has led to some of the hair follicles dying. But I still like to have a professional do them so they look polished. I also know that I can’t always be trusted with tweezers and I don’t want to overpluck them.

The place I usually go to get my eyebrows done is inside a beauty store in a mall. I don’t normally go to malls, and I certainly hadn’t been in one since the pandemic. It was weird seeing things that felt normal but also not normal at the same time. I know that everyone has different comfort levels with how things are now, and I’m still very cautious. But I wore a mask and I was glad that I didn’t have to go too many places to get to the eyebrow place.

Most of what I needed to be done was to get them shaped. The esthetician did wax my brows to clean them up, but more time was focused on detail work. I appreciated her attention to detail and how she worked with me on what I preferred. And when they were done, my eyebrows looked so nice! It wasn’t a drastic difference compared to what I’ve been able to do on my own, but there’s just something extra when someone else makes things look as good as possible. And I didn’t realize until after the appointment how much I needed this. It really was something that helped me feel so much like myself and I felt just that much more confident about how I looked.

There were plenty of things that were making me nervous about my trip. I had been having a lot of anxiety the week leading up to it. But getting a few different beauty things done before I left really allowed me to spend some time on positive things that were distractions from the nerves.

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Working On Planning My Summer (or Really Hoping Things Continue To Get Better)

Posted on June 8, 2021 | Comments Off on Working On Planning My Summer (or Really Hoping Things Continue To Get Better)

Whenever things seem to be getting better with the pandemic, I’m a little worried that the improvements will lead to another uptick. We’ve slowly been opening up more and more in California (and in LA) and fortunately, the numbers haven’t been getting much worse. I think we are lucky here because so many people are vaccinated or almost fully vaccinated. So as we have more opening up, the risk factor isn’t that much worse.

I know we aren’t out of this just yet, but it continues to improve and seems hopeful. We do have a big change coming up in a week when things are supposed to be opening up 100% and masks are not always going to be required (although individual stores and businesses can still require them) and knowing that is about to happen does make me nervous. But I’m trying to stay in a positive mindset that everyone has been doing what they need to do so we can safely reopen. And I know other states have reopened already, and while they did have an uptick at first things have calmed down as people are vaccinated.

And since things are looking good, I’m finally starting to try to plan for my summer. Last summer was spent isolated for so much of it and I spent so much time in fear of getting sick. And while I’m still cautious and will probably continue to feel that way at least through this year, I am starting to see what is open and what I want to take advantage of and do.

There is the small downside of having fewer friends living in LA now than there was a year ago. So many people that I would have made plans with are no longer local and I either need to find others to hang out with or be ok with doing things alone. And I think I will be doing a mix of that. There is nothing wrong with doing things alone and there are plenty of things that I have done alone for years. But I also want to take advantage of being able to be around others again.

There are some things I want to do that aren’t necessarily time-specific for the summer. I want to go to the beach at least once. I don’t always go to the beach every summer since I need to be careful in the sun, but I also can be careful so hopefully, I won’t get that sunburnt. I also want to look at some easy hikes/walks around LA that either I haven’t done in a while or have never done. I want to do more things outdoors, even though I know that I will likely never be a big hiker. But I want to take advantage of what there is around me because I know I haven’t been doing that. And once I feel safe to go to the movies again, I want to see movies in the theaters. This one might take me a bit longer to be ready to do, but I think I will have a better sense of how I feel about this once masks aren’t required everywhere and we can see how the numbers look.

And there are things that either I want to do with others or don’t like to do alone. I want to be going out for more meals with friends. I have only been to 2 restaurants to eat there since last year. Both times I ate outdoors and it felt pretty safe to be there. I don’t know about eating inside just yet, but again, I have to see how the numbers look as more and more people are out and potentially not wearing masks. I also might want to go to Disneyland. I usually don’t go in the summer since my pass hasn’t been good over the summer, but now that there are no passes, I have to buy a ticket whenever I want to go. I know it will probably be very crowded, so I have to decide if I might want to wait until the fall when things might be a bit less crazy. But I also miss Disneyland so much and really want to have a fun day there with friends.

And one of my favorite summer things to do, going to the Hollywood Bowl, is already on my schedule! The Bowl has announced they were opening for this summer and I took a look at the schedule as soon as it was posted. I found a few shows that I want to go to and discussed summer plans with my parents. And they decided to come to LA for a few days to see me and one of the shows I thought they’d like is the weekend that they are here! I bought tickets the day they went on sale because I wasn’t sure how quickly things would sell out. And I didn’t get exactly the seats I wanted, but I did get us the first row of a section which is my favorite since you have a better view and the barrier to use as a table for whatever snacks we bring with us.

And of course, I’m sure there will be some random friend hangouts that I won’t plan since that’s how things naturally go. It will be nice to be able to be spontaneous again and not have to worry if someone has been around others or what the risks would be to see each other. I don’t know if there will be any BBQs or other things planned since so many of us are being careful and waiting to make sure things don’t take a turn before we plan anything. But the more time that goes on, the better we all have been feeling about it.

Hopefully, I can have a summer that has a lot of fun stuff happening. I don’t plan on going too crazy since I know then I will hit burnout, but I want to make up for lost time from the past year. And I can’t wait to see what adventures I get to have this summer and what traditions I get to have again and what new things I might want to turn into traditions.

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Feeling Normal and Less Anxious (or Sorry I Keep Writing About The Same Thing)

Posted on May 7, 2021 | Comments Off on Feeling Normal and Less Anxious (or Sorry I Keep Writing About The Same Thing)

A year ago when the pandemic started, I worried so much about what I would blog about. I wondered if I would have to cut back on how many days I’d have posts to go live. I wondered if every post would be the same and I’d have nothing to write about. I’m still surprised that I was able to maintain my regular blogging schedule even at the worst points of the pandemic.

But what I didn’t think about as much is how often I would write about things being normal again and how happy it makes me. Maybe it’s because things shutting down was such a shock that it seemed so different and the idea of things coming back seemed normal and boring. But I feel like I’m constantly writing about how happy I am as things come back into my life and things start to feel more like my life before.

Of course, I’m still being very cautious about what I do and where I go. I do have some anxiety as I go into a new place or am around a new person because I have to judge how safe things are. I know I’m pretty safe between being fully vaccinated and staying masked (except the few moments I am not masked in certain places). But I still need to be careful with my own safety and the safety of those around me.

But that anxiety about staying safe is easing as I get to do more things in my life. It’s not that I forget to be anxious or I don’t care. But my anxiety isn’t the primary emotion in my life anymore. I have other things to focus on so my mental health is in a much better place. My baseline isn’t where it was before, but it’s much closer to that than how low I was feeling during the worst of it. And as I add more and more back into my life, my baseline is getting to a better place.

I think having Orangetheory back into my life is a big thing that has made me feel better about everything. That routine and that workout helps me in so many ways. Even though it’s still tough to struggle with things I didn’t struggle with before, I’m feeling so much better about myself. I don’t even mind that I have to wake up so early to go to class. I’ve always appreciated Orangetheory and what it did for my body and mind, but I appreciate it at a whole new level now. And as I go to each class, I notice that working out in the studio is helping me feel better and better. I’m sure at some point that will level off, but for now it’s making a huge difference in my life.

Going out to eat was another big thing that has helped make me feel more normal and less anxious. This was a little harder for me to do since going out to eat means you aren’t wearing a mask. But going to Wood & Vine felt a lot safer than so many places I’ve been going in the past year. I knew I could trust the management and staff to be doing the right things to keep people safe, and I was right. I have seen some restaurants doing outdoor dining and the tables seem really close together. But Wood & Vine really was careful with how they set up the space, even when that meant they couldn’t have as many people there as they wanted.

Just going out to eat with a friend felt so normal and even though we were very aware of things, it also allowed us to forget that we were still in a pandemic for a little bit of time. And having any time where the pandemic isn’t dominating my thoughts is a nice escape. I spent far too long since last year thinking of nothing but my safety and health. And just like how Orangetheory is helping my mental health, having another focus is doing the same. Going out to eat is going to have to be a rare treat because I do want to be careful how much I go out, but it’s nice that it’s an option again in my life.

And even my dating life is starting to feel a bit more normal again! I’m still doing some video/virtual dates, but meeting up in person is getting a bit easier to do. Coffee dates are much easier now than they were for most of last year. I feel safer hanging out outside with someone new. Being on a date without a mask is still something I think I’m only ok with if the other person is vaccinated (and most people who are vaccinated are happy to show their vaccination cards to prove it) and there are still not a lot of options to have creative dates. But as things reopen again, there will be more places I can go on dates. And hopefully, just like with so much else, things will continue to feel safer for me and I won’t be as worried about my health.

My life is still not fully back to normal, but in the past month I have been able to have a lot of things back. And I’ve been feeling more calm and relaxed and home, which is having a lot of positive effects. I’m able to sleep better. I’m more focused. I am enjoying silly little things again. I feel like the doom and gloom feeling is still in the background, but it’s not taking over my life. And I needed this happiness back.

Just like with so many other posts where I have written about things being closer to normal, I had no idea how much I needed this until I had it. I knew I wasn’t doing great last year, but I had no clue how bad it had gotten for me until it got better. And I’m trying to stay hopeful that it is only going to continue to get better from now on.

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Getting Outside A Little More (or I’m Still Hesitant)

Posted on April 23, 2021 | Comments Off on Getting Outside A Little More (or I’m Still Hesitant)

I am sure I sound like a broken record about talking about how even though I’m vaccinated I’m being very cautious. I’m not going out that much. While I’m doing more than just essential errands and appointments, I’m still not doing that much. I have limited which friends I have seen in person, and when I do see people it tends to be in their home. Even when I see family, we are staying in a home and not going out that much.

And I know doing this is still one of the safer options, but I also know I need to push myself to get out there more. I’m not feeling isolated or pandemic fatigued necessarily. It’s more of my fear of isolating myself unnecessarily when things are safe. It’s hard to feel like it’s ok to go do things that for a year we have been told to do. And it’s hard to find the balance between what are safer risks to take and what is just too much. In some ways, we are lucky here because not everything is open again and they are limiting people so they aren’t too crowded. And everywhere pretty much requires masks unless you are eating or drinking.

I haven’t been to a restaurant yet (although that is actually coming up soon!), and any meals I’ve gotten that I didn’t make myself have either been takeout or delivery. But this past week, I went to a coffee shop and had a coffee in public for the first time in over a year!

I know this doesn’t sound like much, but for me, it was a bit weird and I was worried about things. But I felt like it was a safe way to push myself to be out and about more and feel like I’m easing myself into life again. And fortunately, it wasn’t as weird as I was afraid it would be.

I went to a coffee shop that wasn’t that close to my house because it was for a first date. Going to coffee or a drink (even though I don’t drink coffee or alcohol) used to be my go-to first date since it’s casual and easy enough to leave if it is a bad date. Any dating I’ve tried to do in the past year has been tough to find where to meet up with someone, so being able to have a first date like I’m used to was nice. And the coffee shop we went to had a large patio in the back that wasn’t crowded, so we weren’t sitting close to anyone else.

The guy I met was also fully vaccinated, which made me feel a bit better about things too. Since we were sitting there without our masks on for a while, I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about if he might be sick but asymptomatic. And after going on dates where we had to be masked the entire time, it was nice to have a date where I could see his entire face and not feel like I’m not really seeing who he is. I was worried for a little while that it might get more crowded on the patio and that I would feel like I was too close to others and would feel like I needed to wear my mask more, but that didn’t end up happening.

After I got home from my date (which went well, but I don’t have much more to share than that), I realized how nice it was to be out in public with others again without worrying as much as I have over the past year. I’ve said before that the isolation has felt like I was on my own little planet and everyone else was living their lives. But just being at the coffee shop was a nice reminder that I’m a part of the world too. I needed to be a part of the public again. Even when I have friends come over to my house, it still feels a bit isolated. I might not be alone, but we are isolated at home. So going out made me feel like I was a part of the world again.

There are still limited places that I think I’d be open to going to because I need to still be safe and cautious. But just going to this coffee shop reminded me that there are options for places I could go and not feel like I’m taking that much of a risk. It’s not something I will be doing all the time, but it is something I should try to do when I have a chance. Even if I met a friend at a park instead of at my house or theirs might help me feel a bit more involved in the world.

I haven’t built up the skills to figure this out too much. For my entire life until the pandemic, I never had to think about what I could do in public that feels safe. For the past year, I was more focused on how to stay healthy and isolated. I’ve written about how I needed to be more social and to find ways to not isolate as much, but in my head so many of those things didn’t involve too much in public. Now, this is just something else to think about when I’m trying to think of what I can do. And hopefully, I’ll continue to be more comfortable with the few things I’m going to be ok with doing and I keep pushing myself to find the little bits of normalcy that I can get back.

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A Painting Night (or My Artistic Ability Shocked Me)

Posted on April 16, 2021 | Comments Off on A Painting Night (or My Artistic Ability Shocked Me)

I’ve written a few times about how I have been trying to find more fun and social things to do while still being safe. There are a lot of virtual events out there, but I haven’t been doing too many of them. Money issues were one reason why, but also I think I needed a push to sign up for them. And I really wanted to make sure someone else I knew was going to join in because even though everyone was participating at home, I didn’t want to be alone.

When I was in Santa Barbara recently, my friend Dani texted me about a virtual painting class she just signed up for. She wanted to see if I was interested in doing it too. It was through a company that does Paint and Sip nights where it’s a big group hanging out and painting something together. And because of the pandemic, they were doing these nights virtually where they bring you all the supplies you need and you participate over Zoom. I’m not artistic that way (I joke that I can’t even draw a circle), but it wasn’t that expensive and it sounded like something fun to do for an evening. So I decided to sign up for the same class.

All the supplies I needed were dropped off the day before the class.

We got paint, paint brushes, a canvas, a tabletop easel, a water cup, paper towels and plates, an apron, and a photocopy of what we were going to be painting for reference. I asked Dani if she wanted to come over to my house to paint together and she decided to do that. So I covered my dining room table to protect it and set up my art space before the class and left the other side of the table open for Dani to set up.

Even though we were standing close together, we both had iPads with the class on Zoom so it was easy for us both to see what was happening without looking over. And to keep it from being echoey, Dani turned off the sound on her iPad and I put my sound through my Bluetooth speaker so we could hear the class clearly. We kept ourselves on mute for most of the class, but we did turn the microphone on from time to time to chat with the instructor.

I was a bit worried about how my painting would come together. I really cannot draw and I have rarely used paint for anything. I took an art class in college and most of my projects were done with pencil or by making a mosaic out of paper scraps. But I also knew these types of classes were designed for people who aren’t artists, so I was hoping for the best.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures while we were working on the painting since I was focused on making it look ok, but I got a few. We started with mixing some of the colors and thinning them out so we could paint the background. We were given instructions on how to make the colors blend so we didn’t have really harsh lines and I was pretty happy with the background when I was done with that part.

Next, we worked on the moon and some of the branches on the top of the painting. Those were pretty easy, although doing the moon stressed me out because it was a circle. But I got it to a place where I was happy with how it looked. And for the branches, we had a bit more freedom to do what we wanted. I didn’t want to overdo them, but I wanted to have enough to make my painting look full.

And for the flowers, we got some great instructions on how to make them with only a few brush strokes. I was shocked that I was able to do it because I thought they’d be so hard! But it was really only about 4 or 5 brush strokes to create each of the big ones and about 3 to create the little ones. I didn’t know it at the time, but now I wish I had put my flowers a bit higher up. But it’s ok.

At the end of the class, we worked on the stems of the flowers, leaves, grass at the bottom, and any other detail work. Dani and I both played around a bit for this part by adding some details like yellow leaves (since that’s what happens in nature when plants are dying) and some blue flowers on the branches because we both thought that looked pretty.

And after 2 hours, the class was done and I had a completed painting that I was shocked that I was able to create!

I love how even though Dani and I were using the same supplies and colors and following the same instructions, our paintings were identical and I felt they both had some personality to them.

I really loved taking this class. It was a fun way to spend my evening, but it also felt really great to see that I do have more artistic ability than I thought I did. I don’t know where I will hang the painting up because my house doesn’t have a lot of wall space. I might store it away and save it for later. But I’m really proud of what I made and I’m not ashamed that I’m proud of myself. I haven’t had a lot of things that made me proud lately, and this was a great moment for me to remind myself that I am more than what I’ve been doing lately.

I might sign up for another paint night next month and try to see if I can get more friends to do it too. I don’t know if we could all be in the same place while painting (it depends on people being vaccinated), but even if it’s over Zoom I know it would be fun. I’m slowly adding more fun to my life these days, and each time I do something it reminds me of how much I need it. And this was the perfect reminder of what I can still do while being safe but also having a great night!

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Another Drive-In Adventure (or A Bonus Birthday Twin Hangout)

Posted on March 25, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Drive-In Adventure (or A Bonus Birthday Twin Hangout)

Before this past year, I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a drive-in event or movie. It just wasn’t something I heard about a lot and I figured if I wanted to see a movie I’d rather see it in a theater. But since the pandemic, it seems like there are more and more drive-in things to do. Some new drive-in theaters have opened and there are other types of drive-in events like the For Your Consideration screening I went to over the summer.

I’ve been saying I should go to more drive-in events, but I just haven’t really been doing it. There are only a few people I trust to be in a car with right now and I don’t want to spend money if I don’t have to. But as I’ve written about more and more recently, I need to have more fun in my life. I just haven’t been great about doing it and figuring out what to do.

But earlier this year, my friend Dani found a drive-in drag queen show with some of the contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race and asked if I was interested in going. It sounded awesome so we got tickets for it. The tickets were per car, but you were limited to only 2 people in the car, so it was just going to be us. Then Dani had a conflict and no longer could go, so she gave me the tickets and I decided to ask my birthday twin, Joanna, if she wanted to join me.

Normally, Joanna and I have 2 regular hangouts a year. Once for our birthday when we go to Truxtons and once around the New Year when we go to Cheesecake Factory. We had both of those hangouts in the past year. Truxtons was a picnic outside and Cheesecake Factory was with each of us at our own homes and having dinner over Zoom. And while we’d both love to hang out more than just twice a year, with both of us having crazy schedules it doesn’t always happen. So when she said she’d love to come with me to the show, I was so excited!

This show was at the Rose Bowl, where the other drive-in event I went to was. But it was held in a field and not in the parking lot. Things were a little disorganized trying to get in there. We were following a line of cars, but we didn’t realize that the line we were following was the second part of the check-in. There wasn’t a sign for the first part, but the security officers there told us where to go. And once we got to the correct area, the check-in was pretty easy and moved quickly. We were given information for the food trucks that were there, but Joanna and I brought a ton of snacks with us so we were good with food.

And while I’d love to give this show a great review, there were some issues we encountered while we were there. We were directed to a parking spot which was right in the center of the field. But we were several rows back and because I have a shorter car there was no way for us to see the stage.

They had a few screens on the sides to see what was on stage, but they were off on the sides so for us to look at them we had to sit almost sideways in our seats. There were also screens much further up, so I tried to look at those more often so my neck could have a break. But the screens near us were pretty tough to see.

But Joanna and I didn’t let that get to us too much. Even though we would have loved to have been able to see the show better, we both had a great time because we were able to hang out together! Also, the screens had speakers that played the music, so we didn’t have to use the radio in my car to hear what’s going on. So we were able to listen to the show but also be able to chat and catch up.

And the performances were good. Like I said, we wished we could have seen things better, but we still enjoyed it. And we were having so much fun being out and doing something. Both of us are so careful with what we do these days and not really going out and doing much. So this show was a great change from what we’ve been doing for the past year. And any fun things we can do these days are really appreciated!

The show was about 90 minutes long and I will say that the location where we were parked did allow us to have an easier time leaving than other people did, so that was a bonus. And we continued to catch up on the drive home. It was honestly a hangout that I really needed. Even though we did our cheesecake dinner over Zoom, it wasn’t the same as being together in person. So this show was the missing element from earlier this year.

Hopefully, it won’t be that much longer before we can hang out and not have to think about how careful we are being. I think that it’s a safe guess that we will be able to feel that way by the time we have our birthday dinner in August. Of course, we’ve all seen this past year how quickly things can change. But right now, it seems like things are finally changing for the better and I want to think it will stay that way from now on.

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Inside The Box (or Enjoying Some Virtual Theater)

Posted on March 3, 2021 | Comments Off on Inside The Box (or Enjoying Some Virtual Theater)

There are so many things I miss from a year ago. I’ve talked about missing my old life several times. Part of missing things is having something fun in my schedule and being busy, but the other part is that some of these things have become a bit of a routine for me. And I feel lost without the routine in my life. I know we are getting closer and closer to gaining those things back again, but there will still be time before things are fully up and running again (and that I feel safe to do them).

One of the routines I miss so much from before is going to see musicals. The last musical I saw in a theater was only about a week or two before everything shut down. And I remember thinking then about how close together everyone was sitting, but not being too worried about it. Now, I can’t imagine doing that until things are safer and I almost can’t believe that we were doing that right before everything shut down. I still have musicals to see from that last season, plus we already bought tickets for the next. But I don’t think they will be restarting for a little while. So finding ways to fill the live theater void in my life has been something I’ve been working on since the pandemic started.

I have done some virtual theater nights at home. These have been mainly watching recorded theater at home. Sometimes it’s just me watching alone and sometimes a friend is watching at the same time and we are texting back and forth as we watch. Even though I don’t talk when I’m seeing live theater, texting back and forth while watching makes it a less solitary activity and feels like I’m a part of something bigger. It’s not exactly like watching theater with a crowd, but it’s better than watching alone.

And I knew of some Zoom theater shows that had happened, but I hadn’t really looked too much into them. But I remembered hearing about a Zoom show called “Inside The Box” last year. This wasn’t a musical, but a word puzzle and game type show. My dad and I are both word and puzzle nerds who like things like crossword puzzles and Scrabble. So I told him about the show last year. But it was sold out and I didn’t think we’d get a chance to watch it. Then I heard the show was extending the run, and we decided to get tickets. Since it was over Zoom, my parents got one ticket for them (the tickets were per household, not per person) and I got one for myself. And I was super excited to have a fun and nerdy night of puzzles!

I didn’t really want to watch alone, plus I knew I might need help with some of the puzzles. So I invited my friend Dani over to watch with me. Since we are both being super cautious, I knew I could trust having her over at my house. We did still try to keep things on the safer side (not sitting too close together and keeping my door open so there is airflow), but it was a risk that we both accepted and we understood the trust we had in each other.

The week of the show, we were emailed a puzzle packet. There was one puzzle to solve before the show started and a few things to prep before the show. We also had to have one game piece to use and something red. Both Dani and I had options because we weren’t sure what we were going to use them for and we wanted to be prepared.

First, the one negative thing that happened that night. Unfortunately, my parents were having some technical issues and they ended up not being able to be a part of the show. That did upset me because part of what I was so excited about was to do this with my dad. But I guess it wasn’t meant to be. But I am grateful to the staff at the Geffen who tried really hard to fix the issue so they could join in and then refunded my parents when they were unable to participate.

But besides my parents not being able to be in the show, I have to say that it was such a great night! The host/star of the show, David Kwong, constructs crossword puzzles as well as is a magician. And while there wasn’t necessarily magic tricks in the show, it did have that feeling. Both Dani and I said it felt like a show at The Magic Castle. And it was really fun to learn the different bits of history behind different types of word puzzles. I know sometimes a show can feel slow when it’s going into the backstory or history, but this did not. It was really entertaining the entire time!

And I’m so glad Dani was watching with me. We worked together the entire time to solve the different puzzles. There were some games that we were doing a great job at figuring it out and a few that weren’t that easy for us. But we were having so much fun the entire time. And when you solved a puzzle, you waved your hands so the host could pick someone to call on to answer. We were called on a few times to answer, and fortunately we were right each time.

The show was about 90 minutes long and ended with one last puzzle that Dani and I were just stumped on. I think we were both overthinking the solution, but as soon as someone else said the first answer we immediately got the rest of it. So even though we didn’t really solve the last puzzle, we still ended on a good note.

And after the show was done, we got some Chipotle delivered to my house. It was kind of the opposite of what we do when we see musicals because we normally have dinner first. But I’m glad we got dinner because it really did make the night feel almost normal for what we do. And it’s so good to see someone face to face these days. I wish I had more friends that I could do that with, but I think everyone understands why I’m being so careful and nobody is upset that I have such strict rules about things. But I am looking forward to when that won’t be something to worry about again.

I would love to find more virtual Zoom shows to get to watch. This is a part of what I want to do with my monthly challenge this month. Watching this show was one of the best nights I’ve had in the past year. And I know that I was so much happier the next few days because of it. I just have to put the effort into finding more shows and events, and that’s something I’m working on doing. And hopefully whatever I find will be just as fun as it was to be a part of “Inside The Box”!

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Trying To Find More Fun (or Being More Ok With Spending Some Money)

Posted on January 28, 2021 | Comments Off on Trying To Find More Fun (or Being More Ok With Spending Some Money)

For a good portion of last year, I really hesitated to spend money on things because I was not working much. There weren’t a lot of things I could spend my money on that I wanted either. I didn’t need new clothes for going out. There weren’t events that I was getting tickets for. Even though I was getting some delivery food, I wasn’t going out to dinners with friends. I guess in a way, it was good that while I was out of work I didn’t find things I needed to splurge on.

And now, even though I am working much more, I still am very cautious of spending money. I’m not making as much as I did a year ago and I don’t want my spending to get out of control. But at the same time, I’m finding myself getting bored so often. I think I’ve done pretty well with staying home and not doing things. I’ve dealt with boredom before and gotten past it. But it is happening more and more frequently. And I’m not happy just watching more tv or reading more. I want to have new experiences and adventures. It’s just not that easy to do that these days.

But I’m trying to be better about finding things to do. There are online events I can get tickets for and some other events where you watch from your car. For the car ones, I have to either go alone or go with a friend who I can trust is being as safe and cautious as I am (like I did when I went to the drive-in screening over the summer). And if I’m in the car with someone else, wearing masks and keeping the windows open is pretty much a must to try to keep things as safe as we can. I am trying to not do too many of these car events because they are a bit riskier than I’d like, but doing them occasionally isn’t bad.

But with the virtual events, I finally am starting to look into more of them and seeing what I want to sign up for. I’ve got one coming up that is a lecture event that my parents had an extra ticket for. I think that will be really fun to watch and learn from. And I’m looking at some of the plays that are being done over Zoom and other live stream things and might be buying some tickets for those. Again, I do have to be cautious of my budget and not spending more than I should, but I also need to allow myself to have some fun.

I still feel pretty certain that we are past the halfway point of us all having to stay at home. I’m hoping that by the end of summer or the beginning of fall that things will be safer and we can all start going out and being social again. But even though we should be past the halfway point, it doesn’t make this time any easier. I need to find ways to stay entertained and ok with being home. I want to have more fun in my life and the ways that I’m used to doing that aren’t really options for me. I hope I can find more online events that I can attend so I have more going on in my life. I’d love to have less time where I’m just sitting and looking at the walls in my house.

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19 Years In LA (or The LA Anniversary Between Two Big Milestone Anniversaries)

Posted on August 21, 2020 | Comments Off on 19 Years In LA (or The LA Anniversary Between Two Big Milestone Anniversaries)

Last year, I celebrated being in LA for 18 years. Being in LA for 18 years also meant that I have spent over half my life in LA. In some ways, it still doesn’t feel like that and that I lived in the Bay Area longer. In other ways, I feel like I’ve been here more than that and my time in the Bay Area was forever ago. I remember thinking when I moved to LA that I would have to live here for 18 years to be there as long as I was in the Bay Area and that seemed so far away. While I never considered living anywhere else, it still seemed like it was something so far in the future that I would never get there.

But I did get there last year. And I’m so glad I have stayed in LA because it always feels like this is where I was meant to live. When I was growing up, I always thought I should live in LA. Since I moved here, I’ve only had a few fleeting moments wondering if I should think about living somewhere else. But those moments are usually when I’m having a really bad day (like when I’m feeling so isolated from everyone in my life).

Next year, I will be celebrating 20 years in LA. That feels like a milestone just like being here for half my life. It’s a nice round number and while it’s not necessarily super significant to me, it still feels like a big deal.

This week, I’m marking being in LA for 19 years. That’s still an anniversary, but it feels like a weird nothing anniversary between 2 big ones. And because of everything going on in the world, it feels even less important or significant.

I feel like this year is the year that is slipping away. Time feels like it doesn’t really matter. Important dates like birthdays and anniversaries don’t feel the same as they normally do. I have joked that nobody should have to get older this year since it’s not a real year. But that is how it feels at times. So even if this year was a big milestone year, I don’t know if I would feel that way. I’m sure that if we weren’t in a pandemic that I would still feel a bit weird about it, and the pandemic just exasperates that feeling.

I don’t want to dismiss that I should be happy that I’ve been in LA for 19 years now. It’s not the easiest city to be in because of the cost. And I will say that I haven’t always fully supported myself while living here. But I still have worked to be more and more independent as I’ve been here. And I’ve made this city more and more my own. I do feel a bit disconnected from LA right now because I’m not going out and doing the things I love, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love the city. I’m sure it would be nice to be somewhere where there are fewer people and I could get out more, but that would only be nice for now. Once I can go out and do all the fun things I usually do, I will feel more like this is the place that has always felt like home.

Just like with so many other things, I’m excited to be having an important date and milestone, but it just doesn’t feel like it normally does. I don’t know if anything will feel that normal for a while. But like I’ve said before, anything to celebrate these days should be celebrated. We don’t have a lot to be excited about. So I will celebrate being here for 19 years because that is awesome! And here’s to hoping that when I celebrate 20 years in LA that I will be able to celebrate this city doing all the things I love and feel are so special about LA.

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