Friday's Simply Smitten

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“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

–Henry Ford

Happy Friday and Happy 4th of July!! I can’t believe I have been back in NYC for a week already. It really flew by fast! Being gone for so long I am still trying to adjust to the new normal of the city. I spend the majority of my time being alone in my small apartment; I do miss being around people. Taking pictures of myself with a tripod is much harder than you think; I wish I had someone to snap a few photos of me. But the biggest adjustment is having to wear my mask.

Ok, before you write me hate mail for not wearing a mask. I was wearing a mask in Ohio to the grocery store, CVS, picking up food/drinks. I was not wearing one while riding my bike, taking a walk around the park, running, or playing tennis. And I was especially not wearing it while hanging out in the backyard. You are hardly around anyone when doing the above list, so wearing a mask isn’t crucial. Here in NYC, however, I put on my mask the second I step out of my apartment and never take it off until I am back home. I even wear it while doing my laundry in the basement of my apartment building. It’s been an uncomfortable adjustment wearing a mask, especially in the 80-degree weather outside. By the time I am back home my mask is soaked with sweat. It’s uncomfortable, it’s hard to breathe with it on, and I really do not like it, but my annoyance with my mask is minor to the bigger picture. Wearing a mask now means more lives are saved and the quicker this thing will be over. Please wear your mask!!

Other than my dislike for wearing a mask, it has been lovely walking around the city. Every day I try to take either a short or long walk around my neighborhood or adventure into another. It’s nice to see restaurants open, people enjoying the parks, puppies happily enjoying the fresh air, and kids playing. It somewhat feels like things are back to normal. I have yet to get together with friends, I am still not fully comfortable yet. Hopefully, I will soon. I do really miss socializing and being around people. I have never been one who gets bored being by themselves, but it’s been way too long since I’ve been surrounded by a group of friends. I really need that right now.

This past week I had a few work-related things to do. I had a Zoom meeting, a RewardStyle webinar, and finally a collaboration to work on. Taking a photo for my collaboration was much harder than I anticipated. I set up my ring light and my tripod to take my photos. It was hard to get the right position with the right lighting contrast and to get the camera to focus. Most of my pictures turned out to be either blurry, not the right lighting with shadows in the wrong places, or I looked awful in it. An hour later I think I have a few good ones I can work with. Luckily I only need one for the collaboration. And luckily the flat lays turned out great. Using a tripod to take self-portraits is truly an art form in itself. I know it sounds like it should be easy peasy, but it’s a lot more challenging than you think.

As you can probably have guessed my 4th of July plans will be spent alone indoors. Some of my friends have left the city for the Hamptons this weekend, but I am still not comfortable riding the train or getting into a car that isn’t my own. Maybe I am being overly anal about this, but I figure better safe than sorry. If someone was having a very small intimate gathering outdoors here in the city, I would consider going to celebrate the 4th. In hindsight, I wished I stayed in Ohio through the 4th to celebrate with my parents. At least I would get to see the makeshift parade with only the war veterans. But I didn’t, so I need to make the most out of what I can do here. I am planning on watching Hamilton, maybe watching the fireworks either on TV or wherever Macy’s is setting off Fireworks these next two evenings. During the day I want to go to the park to layout and read my new book. Maybe order in brunch, have a glass or two of champagne, listen to “Stars and Stripes Forever” on repeat, and get dressed up to have a mini celebration.

You have probably heard by now that random people in NYC are setting up excessive amounts of fireworks every day for a month or so. There was a group of people setting off fireworks (and no not the ground ones, the ones that go way up high in the air) at the park across the street from my apartment building. At first, I thought “ok it’s a little late, but this is kind of nice”. Then an hour later when it was12:30/1am in the morning, I was not a fan. There have been a few other evenings with people setting off fireworks but not like this past Monday when it went on for an hour. I am sure this weekend is going to be crazy with random fireworks going off all over the city. ‘Tis the season!

Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend xo

1. Stream classic Elton John concerts for free

2. Oh I would never take this off in the summer

3. Need this romper

4. A classic bow tank you will wear forever- 50% off

5. Fun 4th of July social distancing activities for the family to do

6. 48 hours in Nantucket with Tuckernuck’s co-founder Jocelyn Gailliot

7. An oral history of The Baby-Sitters Club movie

8. Fun and easy 4th of July desserts

9. Easy ab exercises from Megan Roup

10. How to clean your mask and protect your skin

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