25 Things to Do While Staying Home
Well, this is how things are now. I have good days, where I don’t mind snuggling up with my husband and dog. I have bad days where I get anxious and sad. It’s a weird and horrible time, and all we can do is try to get through it. You don’t have to be productive unless you want to, and you don’t need to create #content unless you feel like it. But if you’re bored, here are some of my favorite activities.
1. Make a really elaborate soup. Making soup is so calming to me. I like this recipe from Modern Proper, and my other standby is my twist on Alison Roman’s famous #thestew. I find it a little bland as-is, so I tweak it as such:
Cut the coconut milk in half and use just one can.
Use more chicken or veggie broth.
Add sriracha (a few squirts) and some soy sauce, plus a little apple cider vinegar. If you want more sweetness, a bit of real maple syrup should do the trick.
Add sautéed chorizo, Italian sausage or leftover chicken breast / rotisserie chicken. (I’ve done all and they’re all good!)
2. Rearrange your bookshelves according to genre, not color. I attempted this massive undertaking with my four heaving bookshelves and sorted my books into Essays, Short Stories, Memoirs, Nonfiction, Biographies, Fiction, Poetry, True Crime and Literary Magazines.
3. Take the books you decided to rehome to various Little Free Libraries around your neighborhood.
4. Call a relative you haven’t talked to in awhile. Just to chat. Bonus points if that relative is older.
5. Download the New York Times crossword app and do as many minis as you can in 10 minutes.
6. Clean your linen closet. I bet it’s a mess. Ours was. (We even learned how to fold a fitted sheet.)
7. Wash all the curtains and pillows in your house or apartment.
8. Do a 20-minute workout video. My favorites are from Popsugar, and Marnie Alton and Rainer are my favorite trainers. I also like to squeeze in 10-minute videos from Blogilates during the day to break up all that sitting.
9. Wash your makeup bag. It’s probably gross.
10. Wash your makeup brushes. They’re definitely gross!
11. Rearrange framed art in your home. You can change so much about a room just by swapping out the art! (I desperately need to do this.)
12. Email the Harvard Bookstore and get book recommendations tailored specifically for you from one of their booksellers.
13. Do some mending. Spend time carefully laundering your cashmere sweaters, sew on missing buttons … whatever you’ve been putting off, do it!
14. Catch up on Caroline Calloway’s Instagram.
15. Wash or dust the top of your refrigerator. This project sucks, but when it’s done, you’ll feel so good.
16. Clean out your iPhone photo albums. I always do this on airplanes and it’s so satisfying.
17. Rent or stream a classic movie and don’t look at your phone the entire time. I recommend Funny Face, It Happened One Night, The Seven Year Itch and The Misfits, as well as anything with Jean Harlow.
18. Buy stamps and send someone a card. We have to support USPS!
19. Go for a long walk in a different neighborhood or on a path you’ve never tried before. (Just follow social distancing!)
20. Read that book you’ve moved from place to place but have never cracked open. Now’s the time.
21. Self-tan. (More on this later.)
22. Take the longest, most drawn-out and glamorous bubble bath you can. I’m talking piles of bubbles (Dr. Teals is the best, and cheap), a big glass of wine or a cocktail, a candle or some incense, a face mask, a juicy novel. Stay in as long as you want, dry off with your fluffiest towel and put on a fancy nightgown or your cutest comfy clothes.
23. Learn how to make a really, really good cocktail. (Me = Cosmo.)
24. Rewatch Gossip Girl. The whole internet is doing it.
25. Get all dressed up in your fanciest clothes, set the table and eat hog dogs and baked beans. With potato chips.