Floral Spring Cocktails, featuring Royal Rose Syrups

Who needs a drink? I know I’ve been enjoying indulging in a little alcohol more often than usual (which is to say, I’ve been having a drink maybe four nights a week instead of rarely), and the weather is saying spring, so I thought I’d share some cocktails (and a mocktail) that I’ve whipped up using the syrups that Royal Rose Syrups* so kindly sent me. They sent me eight of their flavors and I’m focusing on the floral flavors for now because, well, spring. Stay tuned for later on when I share some gorgeous summer cocktails using more of their flavors.

(And note that their spring 20% off sale*, with the code SPRING20, ends today!)

The Dearest Old Fashioned

This is a riff on an Old Fashioned, using saffron syrup and rosewater. The name is a play on words, both referring to my friend Nazanin of Tea Thoughts, who loves all these flavors, and whose name means dearest in Farsi, and also a reference to the fact that saffron has long been the “dearest” or most expensive spice in the world.

2 oz. bourbon

1 Tbsp. saffron syrup*

1/2-1 tsp. rosewater

Stir with ice and garnish with some dried rosebuds if desired. It’s also lovely topped with some sparkling water to make a less potent beverage. Sip slowly, perhaps while enjoying one of Nazanin’s coloring books.

The Tudor Rose

This cocktail uses brandy, which always feels old-fashioned to me, and is based on a previous cocktail from a bar I used to frequent named “Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition.” Because I’m not using port or a brandy named after a Spanish cardinal, I’ve decided to name this for the Tudor rose, as it combines the flavors of rose with sparkling wine, orange peel, and brandy, for a luxurious and historical feeling.

1 oz. brandy

1 Tbsp. rose syrup*

Sparkling wine

Strip of orange peel

Stir together the brandy and rose syrup with a little ice until combined and then strain into a cocktail or champagne glass. Top with champagne and twist the orange peel over the top before dropping it in. Sip while contemplating the fragility of your royal dynasty (or perhaps keeping up your official correspondence).

Milady’s Boudoir

Lavender evokes my vanity, perhaps because it is one of my favorite fragrances, so I’ve named this drink both for the sanctuary of beauty where Milady might perform her toilette, and also for the ladies’ publication from P. G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster stories.

1 Tbsp. lavender lemon syrup*

glass of sparkling wine

lemon peel

Pour the syrup into a champagne flute or coupe and top with champagne. Twist a piece of lemon peel over the top and drop in. Sip as part of a luxurious evening routine.

The Amiable Friend

This is another inspired by a friend. Rie of Tea Curious has created tea cocktails in the past, but does not drink herself, so I thought I would make my non-alcoholic offering in her honor, featuring some ice-brewed white tea, in honor of her unique brewing experiments, along with jasmine syrup. I only wish I had a fancier glass in which to serve it. This is called “amiable” after the Language of Flowers, which interprets jasmine’s meaning as “amiability.”

4 oz. ice-brewed Silver Needle white tea

1 Tbsp. jasmine syrup*

Sparkling water

Brew your Silver Needle by placing 5g of leaves over 120g of ice in a vessel and allowing it to infuse as the ice melts, over about X hours. Once it has infused, add it to a tall glass with ice, stir in 1 Tbsp. of jasmine syrup, and top with 4 oz. of sparkling water. Enjoy in the afternoons, perhaps while watching one of Rie’s live tea practices on Instagram.

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I hope you enjoyed this foray into floral flavored cocktails for the season, inspired by my friends and historical loves. I’m sure we could all use a nice drink these days, so let me know if you try one!

NB: I am an affiliate of Royal Rose Syrups and purchasing their syrups through my affiliate links provide income to my blog. Affiliate links are marked with an asterisk. For more information about my affiliate links, click here.

Tuesday Tasting: Chi Lai Shan Spring Pick Oolong from Mountain Stream Teas

I am continuing my look at high mountain Taiwanese oolongs today with the Chi Lai Shan spring pick oolong from Mountain Stream Teas (this is a conventional oolong that doesn’t seem to be available on their site anymore, but is from the same mountain as their Missed Opportunity). This one is a bit of an odd person out, as it is the only tea in my order that was not harvested in the winter season, but I wanted to try a different mountain, and this seemed to be the only tea from this mountain I could find at Mountain Stream.

I used 5g in my 120-ml gaiwan with 212F water, as with the others. I warmed the gaiwan and then smelled the warm, dry leaf, detecting aromas of green vegetables and warm spice cookies. I did not rinse the tea.

The first steeping was for thirty seconds. The liquor was very pale in color and had a light creamy floral aroma. The wet leaves had an aroma of a muddled variety of green vegetables and a sweet, creamy floral. The texture was surprisingly milky with a light green floral flavor. It is interesting because in tasting teas from these three mountains, I’ve realized that there is a stark difference in texture among milky, creamy, and buttery. It’s been fascinating to try teas that seem to exemplify each.

The second steeping was for forty-five seconds. The dominant aroma on the leaves was nettles and the dominant flavor was nettles. This steeping tasting strongly like nettle infusion, which I dislike, so I was a bit disappointed, personally. The third steeping, for sixty seconds, also had a nettle aroma on the wet leaf, but I also smelled something lightly coconutty, almost like sunscreen. The flavor was spinach or nettles and milk, so perhaps like a light spring green soup with milk.

The fourth infusion was for seventy-five seconds. The wet leaf brought out a gardenia aroma and it had the same milky texture. The flavor started developing a vegetal brightness with some creamy floral. The fifth infusion, for ninety seconds, had a gardenia-and-coconut aroma on the wet leaves that reminded me a bit of monoi oil. Over the course of five steepings, the liquor color developed from nearly colorless to a bright chartreuse. The milky texture and green flavor persists.

On the sixth infusion, for two minutes, I noticed the aroma and flavors fading. The aroma had the same monoi aroma as the previous infusion, if lighter. At this point, I decided the tea had given its best and finished the session. So far, the primary distinction I’m seeing among the mountains I’ve been tasting has been in the texture of the tea. I’m glad that I’ve started listening to the Floating Leaves Tea Podcast and have had more education about evaluating tea by texture, rather than just taste and smell, because it is apparently an important layer of complexity.

NB: Nothing to disclose. If you’re interested in reading why I switched from reviews to tasting notes, read this post. For more information about collaborating with me, click here.

The Virus Diaries: Five Things Keeping Me Sane During Stay-At-Home

Hello! How is everyone this week? This week, instead of a simple update, I thought I’d share five things that have been helping me stay comparatively sane while we’re staying at home. We’re just at the end of six weeks of self-isolating at home, with only the occasional shopping trip for food (once every ten days or so). Isolating is hard, even when you’re a dyed-in-the-wool introvert like I am. It’s been made even more difficult by the fact that I actually get less time to myself since my husband and child are home all the time.

So here is where I’m approaching this from: We are safe, we are healthy, and we are financially solvent. We are fortunate enough to have jobs that allow us to work from home, at least inasmuch as our employers have decided to continue paying us. My job is a bit more work-from-home friendly, so I typically have a standard 9-5-ish day, while my husband can use his flexibility to take care of the bulk of the childcare during my workday. But I still miss my coworkers, my castmates, my long daily walks through the city, my favorite shops downtown, and the delicious alone time I used to get every week when I worked from home while Dan and Elliot were off at work or daycare. But, all-in-all, we are extremely lucky.

But there are definitely some things that are making a non-ideal situation more bearable or even enjoyable.

1. Local farms and producers: Like most of the US, it seems, I am also baking a lot during stay-at-home. As my Isolation Baking videos might suggest, I love to bake. In particular, I’m baking quite a bit of bread and baking bread means you go through a lot of flour. Especially since our grocery store has stopped production of their in-house artisan sourdough, for sanitation reasons, I’ve felt the need to pick up a bit of the slack by baking my own bread. But of course, it’s getting more and more difficult to find flour, especially specialty flours. So I was delighted to find a local farm, Migrash Farm, that is still fully stocked and willing to deliver for free to a nearby farmer’s market. Similarly, I’ve enjoyed contactless beer delivery from Denizen’s Brewing Co., and we’re getting our first vegetable delivery from Number 1 Sons this week, so I’m hoping that will be a way to have fresh vegetables every week, even if we only go out every other week.
2. Tea: Of course, tea has been a constant companion since I was young, but since I’m now home all the time, my tea practice has become even more important. Whether I’m making a pot of Earl Grey, a saucepan of masala chai, or a full gong fu session, tea practice gives me space to slow down and focus on one thing, rather than getting lost in the chaos that is sometimes our home life right now.
3. Outside time: Normally, I walk three miles, round-trip, on my daily commute, so suddenly spending the entire day in the house has largely depressed my mental state. I find that getting outside, even for a few minutes, helps perk it back up. Even better if I can enjoy a peaceful, early morning tea session in the yard before anyone else around me is awake. Despite not needing to leave the house by 7 a.m., I still wake up quite early, if only to get that time.
4. Daily Yoga app: While I’ve had an on and off home yoga practice for over twenty years, I’ve recently found it difficult to stick to my home practice, especially since we moved to a house that has a bit more limited floor space for yoga. But the Daily Yoga app, plus my #ringofaccountability on Instagram, have inspired me to stick with my daily practice. I’m currently on a forty-day streak and counting.
5. Small touches of beauty in my life: I have not been sticking to my regular beauty routine, and for the first time in years, I’ve started using dry shampoo, but I do try to do something to make myself feel connected to beauty each day. I’ve been wearing my historically-inspired clothing, and trying to do makeup and hair at least a few days a week. And my new Camellia sinensis necklace from Tea Thoughts has been immensely inspiring to my beauty routine. Some days I only get dressed to give myself an excuse to wear this little beauty.

I should likely mention a bonus other thing that helps keep me sane: my medication for depression and anxiety. I believe in being totally honest about medication and don’t think it should be stigmatized. It certainly is making the difference between being appropriately concerned for the future and helplessly anxious. I would be remiss if I didn’t give that an extra shout-out.

So that’s what’s keeping me together these days. Are you also existing held together with a thin veneer of red lipstick and homemade bread? What’s your stay-at-home routine look like? Until next week, stay safe everyone!

NB: Nothing to disclose. If you are interested in collaborating with me, please read my collaboration and contact information.

Tuesday Tasting: Alishan Snow Pick Oolong from Mountain Stream Teas

Continuing my investigation of the different high mountain oolongs of Taiwan, today, I’m trying a snow pick Alishan from Mountain Stream. I’ve previously tasted their winter pick Alishan, and last week, I shared my notes from the snow pick Lishan, so this was an interesting exercise into both noticing the differences between winter and snow pick, and the differences between the terroir of the two mountains.

Once again, I used 5g in a 120-ml porcelain gaiwan, with water at 212F (one of my kettles is set to Fahrenheit and the other to Celsius). I warmed the gaiwan and smelled the warm, dry leaf, noticing a light creamy floral aroma. I did not rinse the tea.

The first infusion was for thirty seconds. The wet leaves smelled of sweet floral, like an orchid or lily. The liquor was a pale straw color, like sauvignon blanc wine and had a very light floral aroma. The mouthfeel was buttery, like drawn butter with bright green flavors and a little retronasal floral.

The second infusion was for forty-five seconds. The wet leaves had a more pronounced floral aroma with a bit of green veg. The liquor was slightly greener in color and had a more pronounced floral aroma. The texture was more buttered spinach with a floral and vegetal flavor. The overall feeling of the infusion was more savory than sweet.

The third infusion was for a minute. The wet leaves had a very slight honey aroma underneath the same floral and vegetal notes as before. The liquor had aromas of lily and cannabis. The flavor and texture were pure buttered vegetables: spinach and asparagus.

The fourth infusion was for seventy-five seconds. It was on this infusion that I noticed I was feeling sleepy. It was the evening when I tasted this tea, but normally, I feel more awake after drinking several gongfu infusions. The wet leaves smelled of vegetables with a touch of honey. The liquor had a sweet floral aroma, perhaps violet. The buttered vegetable flavor persists and the buttery texture now feels slightly mineral as well.

The fifth infusion, for ninety seconds, was lighter in both flavor and aroma, but the buttery mouthfeel was largely present. By the sixth infusion, for two minutes, it was apparent the tea was done.

I was fascinated that I was able to start this tasting at 6:30 in the evening and still fell asleep easily around 9. At this point, I hypothesize that the most distinct difference among the mountains will be the mouthfeel of each tea, though it is striking that the sweetness of the snow pick Lishan was not as apparent in the Alishan. It’s worth noting that I noticed the same buttered spinach notes and mouthfeel in the winter pick Alishan from Mountain Stream. I’m curious to continue this exploration.

NB: Nothing to disclose. If you’re interested in reading why I switched from reviews to tasting notes, read this post. For more information about collaborating with me, click here.

The Virus Diaries: Weeks Four and Five

You may have noticed I missed posting an update last week. Well, we’re all doing fine over here, health-wise, but I have noticed my mental health slipping a bit. Basically, I’m finding it hard to come up with the motivation to stick to a schedule with things, so I save most of my energy to meet deadlines at work and then tend to run out of extra energy to spend on my hobbies as the week wears on. But I’m back this week!

How is everyone doing in lockdown/quarantine/isolation? We’re starting to get a little stir-crazy. We dread the rainy days because going outside with Elliot is a necessary part of our routine. And we’re certainly settling into a routine of sorts. We’ve managed to grocery shop about every week and a half, although I have some ideas to help stretch that. I got my ten pounds of rye flour and five pounds of cornmeal from a local farm and I’m looking forward to ordering wheat flour and rolled oats once I work through my current stock. I’m definitely feeling a little bit “Little House on the Prairie” with my food preparation efforts. Last time Dan went to the store, they were out of a lot of things, such as most types of frozen veg, so I think next time we shop, we’ll try freezing our own fresh veg. And I’ve decided to start a victory garden in two large planters in our garden.

We shall see how that goes. I’ve also been eyeing the weeds for potential fresh veg sources. I know we have a nice crop of chickweed growing in our yard, as well as the ubiquitous dandelions. And I think there’s a patch of mugwort, but I need to do a bit more research to make sure I’ve properly identified it before I do anything with it. Plus, I’ve been trying to regrow some scallions that I used just the greens from for scallion pancakes. My mental state is much better on weeks when I can make scallion pancakes.

I do miss takeout. Sadly, because of my underlying condition, we’ve opted to avoid delivery and make all of our own food at home, plus my favorite Sichuan place isn’t delivering out to us right now anyway. Perhaps we’ll crack on that in the coming months, but it’s been over a month since we’ve had anything but home-cooked food (although we do rely on some frozen convenience foods for lunches, since Dan usually has to make that while watching Elliot).

I’ve been making a lot of bread and I continue to experiment with ratios of rye to wheat flour in my no-knead bread for the best combination of flavor and texture. And we have plenty of homemade broth, plus an extra chicken carcass in the freezer and a whole chicken to cook this week so I will be able to make more easily. Soups with dried lentils are a great lunch option when I make lunch since I can toss broth and lentils in a pot and just let them simmer until we’re ready to eat. Along with some homemade bread, it’s a fantastic lunch. Although, I have made more than one joke about how we’re slowly turning into medieval peasants.

The past two weeks, I’ve also gotten back into sewing and embroidery. I decided to make cloth masks for myself and Dan. Dan’s was the most important because he goes out to the store, but I figured I should have one for if I ever venture out of our yard, if only to normalize the wearing of masks. I hand-sewed them, and made one extra for my mother (although it was really the first one I made that turned out a bit too small for Dan’s face because of his beard). And then I decided to do something fun, so I pulled out my scraps from the sewing basket and started looking for inspiration for an embroidery project. I’m currently using a golden brocade silk to make a gothic embroidered pillow, inspired by the story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The pattern and color of the fabric reminded me of the story, so I chose to embroider on a black hellebore because it’s poisonous and sinister, but also has folk uses as a treatment for insanity. And then a friend suggested pairing it with some hemlock leaves as an accent. Once I have the embroidery finished, I think I’ll sew it up into a small cushion, although I don’t rightly know what I can use to stuff it right now, but perhaps I shall just have to wait to completely finish it until later.

In the realm of things I shall have to remember to finish later, while planning my project, I originally wanted to do a beetle embroidery, and I bought the most beautiful embroidery pattern, but ended up unable to transfer it to my fabric, so I think I shall wait until I can go out and get transfer supplies to do it right. It’s frustrating to be limited to what I can find in the house, but also a boon to creativity in a way. I’m hoping to have the same flash of inspiration that I had when I came up with the hellebore motif when I put together my container garden since I’m once again limited to what we already have on hand (plus, hopefully, some seeds, either purchased or harvested from some local produce).

As far as mental state goes, I wanted to make a bit of a confession: I think the lockdown is triggering my disordered eating a bit. I’ve noticed myself skipping meals and snacks and realized I’ve been eating much less than usual, not because I want to lose weight, but because I’m worried about running out of food. Some mornings, my only food until lunch is a cup of masala chai, like the one in the photo. Even though we have a fully stocked pantry and our stores have not shown signs of being dangerously empty of food, I am worried. I hope that the garden will help alleviate some of that, but simply putting words to it is helping me think a bit more rationally and eat what I need. It helps that Dan has also noticed, if only because I am unpleasant to be around when I’m hungry, and has been reminding me to eat something. But I imagine these are feelings that are coming up with a fair number of people around the world at this time, and I hope that hearing about it helps people not feel like they’re being silly or weird. Hopefully we all keep our pantries stocked and our bellies full.

I think I shall end here. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks and an even more interesting month. I hope my readers are all doing well! Perhaps next week I’ll come up with a more structured post to try to encourage me to post. Perhaps something like “things that have gotten me through lockdown” or some such.

Tuesday Tasting: Snow Pick Pear Mountain Oolong from Mountain Stream Teas

Recently, I decided to place a biggish order from my two favorite shops for Taiwanese teas in an effort to expand my knowledge of Taiwanese high mountain oolongs. So over the next few weeks, Tasting Tuesday will focus on the different teas I chose. This week, I’m starting with Mountain Stream Teas’ Snow Pick Pear Mountain (Lishan), which is both a new mountain for me, and my first experience with snow-picked tea.

I used 5 grams in a 120-ml porcelain gaiwan with 99C water. After warming the gaiwan, I warmed the leaf and the aroma of the warm, dry leaf gave off aromas of freshly baked sugar cookies. I went right into steeping with no rinse.

The first infusion was for thirty seconds. The wet leaves smelled powerfully vegetal and also had a strong honey aroma. The liquor was a bright green-yellow with no aroma. The flavor was very light, but the mouthfeel was creamy, smooth, and full. There was a faint vegetal sweetness and a distinctly sweet aftertaste. As I sipped on it, the flavor developed bright juiciness and a creamy floral aftertaste.

The second steeping was for forty-five seconds. The wet leaf smelled of spinach and honey and the liquor smelled similar. It was the same color as the first steeping. It had a bright vegetal tartness on the first sip, with the texture of tea with cream and honey in it. There was a light wildflower honey sweetness and a floral aftertaste. I could also get a lot of floral from the retronasal aroma.

The third steeping was for a minute. The wet leaves still had a green and honey aroma. The texture took on a more savory quality, almost like soup, with a light sweetness. I was reminded of a cream soup of sweet fresh spring vegetables, or fresh peas in cream. It had what I called “that classic oolong florality” in the aftertaste.

The fourth steeping was for a minute and fifteen seconds and yielded the same silky smooth texture and same aromas. By the fifth steeping, for a minute and a half, I noticed the aroma fading, though the flavors were the same. The sixth and seventh steepings were both for two minutes each. I steeped a eighth time for two and a half minutes and a ninth time for three minutes. Over the course of these steepings, I noticed the flavors and aromas staying mostly the same, with varying levels of intensity. The bright, juicy, honey flavor and aroma was the dominant note, with a beautiful creamy mouthfeel. After nine steepings, I could tell this tea had more to give, so I tossed the leaves into a mug and continued to sip it grandpa-style throughout the rest of the day.

NB: Nothing to disclose. If you’re interested in reading why I switched from reviews to tasting notes, read this post. For more information about collaborating with me, click here.

Tuesday Tasting: 2019 Elemental Bulang Sheng Puerh from Crimson Lotus Tea

Yesterday, I posted to Instagram that I had been reading The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. Well, that gave me a wild craving for sheng puerh, so I decided to dig out my Crimson Lotus Tea Elemental Puerh sample set. I’ve heard good things about this Bulang Sheng Puerh dragon ball, so I went for it.

I used one 8g dragon ball in my 150-ml classical flowers porcelain gaiwan with 99C water. I warmed the gaiwan and didn’t get much aroma off the dry leaf, just some light dried fruit and maybe honey. I rinsed it once and got a warm, sweet aroma off the wet dragon ball.

The first infusion I let go for fifteen seconds, after which I didn’t notice much aroma, just that same faint warm, sweet aroma as I noticed after the rinse. The liquor was a very pale champagne color and had little to no flavor or aroma. So I went on to the second steeping for twenty seconds, after which I started to notice an aroma that I can only liken to cheap sunscreen, although not in an unpleasant way. The liquor was a slightly darker champagne gold and had a light henna and fruit aroma. The mouthfeel was very smooth and honey-like with a slight sweetness.

The third steeping was for twenty five seconds. The wet leaf gave off aromas of dried apricots and honey. The liquor was darker gold, like a Tokaji wine, and smelled faintly of honey and spice, like a honey cake. The flavor took on some bright, citrusy bitter notes with a smooth, clean mouthfeel. I also noticed what I called “some sassy energy” from the tea in my notes. At the very least, I felt gregarious and a little mischievous while drinking it.

The fourth steeping was for thirty seconds and had that same sunscreen aroma on the leaf, with a pronounced grapefruit peel bitterness in the flavor. It was inducing saliva and the aftertaste was almost savory, rather than sweet like I’m used to with sheng puerh. It also made me hungry, so at this point, I paused for some lunch.

After lunch, I went for a fifth steeping, for thirty seconds again. Despite not having any taste of my lunch left in my mouth (I had some black tea with lunch to rinse my mouth), I found that the bitterness had all but disappeared, leaving a silky-smooth, almost oily-textured liquor with a citrus sweetness that danced on the tongue. It was almost like a hot lemonade, but somehow rich, like a soup. And it induced some lovely salivation, which tasted even sweeter.

The sixth steeping, for forty seconds, resulted in a lighter leaf aroma with a small amount of bitterness, but mostly that same lovely, slippery, rich mouthfeel and some minerality. There was a tingle on the tip of my tongue. After the seventh steeping, for fifty seconds, I was still smelling sunscreen on the leaf and made a note that I’m curious what this tea will taste like in ten years. It was still silky, slightly oily. It gave me the impression of a whisky, if not the exact same flavor. The eighth infusion, for a minute, was more of the same. At this point, I decided to adjourn to sip the rest of this tea grandpa-style from my favorite mug and continued to enjoy it far into the day.

The “spent” leaves before I threw it in my mug were gorgeous with a mix of olive green and plum purple shades. There were some noticeable buds and beautiful slender whole leaves with fine serrations. After writing up my notes, I decided that I ought to buy more of this tea to keep around so that perhaps I will remember to taste it again in ten years.

NB: Nothing to disclose. If you’re interested in reading why I switched from reviews to tasting notes, read this post. For more information about collaborating with me, click here.

The Virus Diaries: Weeks One to Three

First of all, at the time I’m writing this, I am NOT sick that I know of; I just thought I would make a catchy title. I know I posted two weeks ago that I was going to revisit my beauty routines, but right now I just have more on my mind, plus the rather profound changes in my daily routines have meant that some of my beauty and self-care practices have fallen by the wayside and it would be dishonest to pretend like I still wake up every morning and put on sunscreen and then brush my hair fifty times before going to bed.

This week, I thought I would start a weekly diary of my experiences isolating at home during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps in five years, when my blog doubles its age, I’ll look back and appreciate this look into my mindset at this time. I really hope so. This is going to get heavy at times. I’ve never been terribly private about my mental health, so know that I already grapple with anxiety and depression pretty much on a daily basis and this has added an exciting new layer to that.

My own awareness of this virus started in February, when we had to decide if we were going to go ahead with our planned trip to Japan. While we had ultimately decided not to go, the decision was also made for us when the events we were traveling to attend and even most of our flights were canceled. As reports of cases in the US started becoming more frequent, I found myself not only worried about travel, but about my near-daily travels on Washington, DC’s delightfully cozy public transportation (I say with no small touch of verbal irony). While I was heartened by the reports that the disease seems mild in young children, and therefore did not worry about Elliot, I realized that my own chronic asthma, which has sent me to urgent care with complications from the common cold before, meant that I suddenly had to face the very real-seeming fear that I would not only be very likely to be infected if it came to DC, but also that, if infected, I was more likely to face serious complications.

I will admit, I had a rough couple of weeks as I dealt with this. Lest you think I am now at peace with my own more-real mortality, I am not. I am merely more confident that, as I have been almost three weeks without leaving my house beyond a walk around the block, I am less likely to be exposed to a high risk of infection. But before I officially got the okay from my employer to switch to remote work for the foreseeable future, I actually recorded a video for Elliot in case I didn’t make it. I realized that not only would he not remember me if I died, but that most of the available video of me would be my YouTube videos, which are relatively representative, but still an idealized version of myself. Luckily, I now feel like I probably will never have to show it to him, although I might keep it if he ever asks us about our experiences during this time.

Alright, now on to the diary part. I first decided to start working from home on March 12th, after my home state reported its first confirmed cases. I went in the next day to gather what I might need to work from home long-term and chat with my boss. We had already discussed the possibility, in light of my delicate lungs, and he was more than gracious about it. I commuted early that morning so I could visit two of my favorite local places to get one last pastry and cup of tea before leaving indefinitely, and I left in the middle of the day to avoid evening rush hour. And then, I settled in. Shortly thereafter, we got word that our entire organization was switching to remote, as possible. That evening, I discussed things with my husband and he agreed to also work from home, which was good because halfway through our first week home, his workplace closed down, which included our daycare.

Now, this is not a place where I spend too much time discussing my parenting experience, but I do want to say that I am extraordinarily fortunate that my husband 1.) has a job that involves a lot of inactive “work,” and 2.) is willing to take on the bulk of the child care during my business hours, so that I can give most of my full attention to my work. The first week found me not only acclimating myself to our new normal, but also trying to finish a major yearly report that was due that week. My husband rallied and took on nearly all of the childcare and I could see the strain it left on him. That Friday, he took some time in the late morning to go grocery shopping, to avoid weekend crowds, and we stocked up so we wouldn’t have to go out again for another couple weeks. We even found a local brewery that was doing deliveries of their beer.

The second week, we started settling into something like a routine, while at the same time abandoning the pretense of a routine. I will say that I tend to break every rule in the teleworking book, frequently forgetting to shower, dress, or eat on a regular schedule. Oddly enough, having the toddler around has helped, as we need to keep him on some semblance of a schedule, if only to make sure he gets all his meals in, as he’s rather slim and tall, like his father. Having a child to feed has also forced us to prepare healthier meals, since we don’t want to feed him nothing but random odds and ends like we might eat ourselves, left to our own devices. I was able to plan a reasonable number of meals from things that were either hardy enough to last a week in the fridge, or else were made from frozen or shelf-stable staples, including the vegan chili that Elliot seems to love.

The second week also saw me emerge from my work cocoon more often to help with Elliot while keeping an eye on email, rather than devoting my fullest energy to work for eight hours straight and leaving Dan to it. I found a happy medium of getting a full day’s work done over the course of our waking hours without abandoning Dan to the toddler for eight hours straight. And I started using virtual meetings, both for family and friend connections, and for more official uses, including an all-staff meeting and a rehearsal via Zoom. Sadly, towards the end of last week, my most recent play was postponed for two years due to facilities closures.

This weekend, I continued connecting with virtual tea friends with a video meetup on Discord with a group of people I’ve met through a tea friend I met in person earlier this month. It was nice to chat tea and see people’s setups, and perhaps I have found a new tea community to engage with. The weekend also saw me succumb to a bit of boredom and start an Instagram account for Sophie, a k a TweedCat.

And now, my state is on an official stay-at-home order from the governor since Monday. It’s interesting because not much has changed about my life — I haven’t left the house except to check the mail box or for a couple walks around the neighborhood since the 13th, but it feels different. Also, I’m wondering how empty the grocery stores will be when we shop this weekend since everyone likely ran out to panic buy things again when the order was announced. I will admit to ordering some flour from a local farm, but that’s mostly because I, like most of the country, have rediscovered a love of bread making. So I guess I’ll just sit and bake and while away the hours until this is all over. Meet me back here to see how week two of official quarantine is going!