Bites of My Life

Hi, I had coronavirus over Thanksgiving, how was your holiday? Well, mine kind of sucked. I made it through and I don’t want to throw a pity party because I’m a big girl and it ended up being totally fine. But, coronavirus is the pits in every form and fashion. It’s not lost on me how lucky I was to have mild symptoms and I don’t want my experience to diminish the tragedy it has brought so many.

As I said, I was lucky to have mild symptoms and besides the first two days, I operated at almost full commission the majority of my quarantine. However, being alone on Thanksgiving day (my favorite holiday) is something I wish for no one, and hope to never have to experience again. There was a comfort knowing the majority of America was in a strange situation as well for this holiday. Getting off Instagram for the day really helped too. I’m also thankful for a family who equally loves Thanksgiving as much as I do and decided from day one that we would postpone our big meal until I could be there. So I’m not sure if you heard, but Thanksgiving is December 5th this year, and this past week, well that was just a Thursday.

Below are only a few snapshots of my quarantine. There were tears, laughs, and all the feels over the past two weeks. My apartment is now my second skin, and while I love it I hope to never spend this amount of time alone inside of it ever again ;).

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-First Dallas book club in the books (this was before any known symptoms of C-19).
-I didn’t get a bites of my life post out last week, but Bytes 0.2 went up!
-A cozy hot bath set up in an attempt to heal the symptoms that started to come on over two weeks ago.
-Scene from my car waiting for my test results: blanket, breakfast, and a good book to help wait it out. If you know me well, you probably know about my purple sick blanket. I’ve had it since high school graduation and I cling to it anytime I get sick (from a hangover or a virus).
-Within an hour of my positive result, I had chicken noodle soup arriving on my doorstep from one of my best friends. #thankfulgratefulblessed
-Panic ordered a friendship bracelet making kit and made a list of shows to watch and activities to do with the looming two weeks of quarantine ahead of me. Luckily my work was extremely busy leading up to Thanksgiving which kept my mind and days busy and quickly helped pass the time.
-A quarantine pick-me-up came in the form of flowers from the Rent the Runway ambassador team! They sent these beautiful flowers for me getting several referrals over the past couple of months.
-Insta Cart and Favor became incredibly useful during quarantine. I’m wildly thankful for modern technology allowing me to order groceries and some of my favorite meals delivered right to my front door. However, after ordering one of my favorite salads, I quickly realized this was the moment I lost my taste and smell. I kept obsessively over salting it because it was “bland.” Joke was on me.
-A weird but successful quarantine activity resulted in making homemade coconut yogurt. It was incredibly simple and I was shocked at how well it worked. Here is the recipe I used.
-It is simply NOT Thanksgiving, without a viewing of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I relished in my situation and drank my coffee and ate my breakfast in bed, while I watched the parade all morning.
-A very comforting breakfast that I savored as my taste started to come back over the past weekend. Details: 1/2 baked sweet potato, 1/2 of a banana, a spoonful of my homemade coconut yogurt, lots of pumpkin pie spice, a drizzle of almond butter, and chia seeds.
-Bring on the festive coffee in a festive mug. I bought these last year and they spark immense joy.

Annie

Bites of My Life

So happy to be home, so happy to be back in Dallas. I absolutely loved being in Oklahoma City with my parents for so long, but being back here, with my friends, in my cute apartment, it feels right. Last week flew by as I made a conscious effort to have something to look forward to each day. Wether it was a planned walk with a friend, a backyard Cinco de Mayo party, first time going to a restaurant, or a a recipe I leisurely spent cooking.

Quarantining with my parents taught me to enjoy the evening. In the past, I would shut my computer around 5 or so, soon after heat up food I had prepped on Sunday, and be done eating by 5:30. That then left about 4 hours of sitting on my couch all night. I’m working on changing my routine and establishing a more leisurely evening. Once I wrap up work I’ll put my phone in my bedroom, watch some news (big Nightly News with Lester Holt fan!!), and then maybe make a cocktail or a mocktail of just sparkling water with a splash of grapefruit juice. Around 6 or 6:30 I’ll put on a playlist (I’ve been really into music over TV), put on my apron, and start cooking dinner. Taking small steps to make the evening more special and not something that I just glaze through has been really nice. Encourage you to do the same!

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-Just a big ole plate of roasted shishito peppers for my first night back in Dallas.
-Finally wrote out the recipe for the cocktail I’ve been drinking all of quarantine and plan to all summer.
-Slightly obnoxious, but we will call it cute when 5 out 6 girls at our backyard Cinco de Mayo fiesta were donning their Mi Golondrina.
-WFH = blue light glasses, my Perfect Green Smoothie, and wrinkled pants.
-My attempt to make the Trader Joe’s kale gnocchi pretty and taste delicious. I did the best I could but there is no way to make those little green things pretty. My verdict - they are fine.
-Happy to be reunited with the best sushi in Dallas. It’s Oishii in case you didn’t know.
-Laying out in the park with Marge and 100 others. It’s really fun to see the number of people who have fled to the outdoors to picnic, fish, layout, etc. One of the many things I hope sticks around after all of this.
-Added some life to my apartment over the weekend.
-In addition to my plant purchase, I also potted basil, mint, rosemary, and cilantro. Having fresh herbs at your fingertips is kind of everything. Use my surplus of basil for a sun-dried tomato, basil, and mozzarella omelet.

Annie

Morning bite: Hope you saw last week’s breakfast post, a classic Tucker recipe I loved sharing!

Bites of My Life

Hi from Texas! Made it back to Dallas yesterday after 7 weeks in Oklahoma City. Being home was so nice honestly. From a mental state I’m so glad I chose to quarantine with my parents. From a work perspective, it was necessary in my opinion. As things are starting to open back up in Oklahoma and Texas, I felt confident it was time to get back to my life in Dallas. I’m working out of my apartment this morning, trying to adapt the great little routine I had in OKC, here.

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-Ina Garten’s cast-iron skillet salmon method is the best. Crispy sear in the pan and then finished in the oven. Been working on my sauce game in quarantine and did a basil vinaigrette sitch loosely based on this recipe.
-Attempted homemade corn tortillas for taco Tuesday! Not bad for my first go. Used this recipe.
-I was on dinner duty a lot last week to soak up the last few days of having to people to cook for. Half Baked Harvest’s Lebanese Chicken was crazy good.
-My quarantine lewk on repeat: cute sweatshirt, tennis skirt or athletic dress, this primer and coffee.
-Cookie baking with this little chef! Used the best sugar cookie recipe of course!
-Friday at 5 pm called for a Clover Club. Recipe thanks to The Jones Assembly.
-Tomato tarts are next-level side dishes (especially next to a steak).
-Celebrated Taylor’s bday with a backyard brunch, I brought The Defined Dish’s Sausage Balls. Grain-free, dairy-free and still quite delicious.
-The girl gang of aunts (minus aunt taire) and godmother’s celebrating little Hallie’s 1st birthday. So glad I go to be home for it! And the white dress I’m obsessed with is from H&M!

Annie

p.s. don’t miss last week’s post on How to Stock Your Kitchen.

Bites of My Life

Week 7. How are we doing? Enjoying small things like gorgeous weather over the weekend and the sense that things are their way to getting better.

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-I kind of love barbecue sauce. This makeshift BBQ chicken salad made a lunch appearance a few times last week. Shredded chicken, bbq sauce, a little dijon mustard, chopped celery, carrots, relish, salt and pepper!
-Got to help deliver meals to healthcare workers with work last week. Our cases are down in Oklahoma but our nurses and doctors are still overwhelmed and they mentioned the food helped lift their spirits!
-Mojito o’clock!
-This last week should have been the Oklahoma City Art’s Festival. Due to Covid-19 it was canceled, but an Indian Taco at home made it feel like I was there.
-Sweet and salty toast is the easiest go-to breakfast or lunch.
-Coffee walks have been a new part of my morning routine a few days a week. Coffee mug yeti, favorite leggings and sneaks are also included.
-This easy cocktail that is on repeat: grapefruit juice, tequila, a splash of lemon juice, rosemary and filled to the top with sparkling water.
-Did you catch my Flow + Glow with my friend and yoga instructor Addie yesterday? We did a 30 minute guided flow followed by a demo of My Perfect Green Smoothie!
-Sunday bike ride with mom!

Annie