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5 things I learnt during 5 weeks of lockdown

Cleaning counts as a workout

I must say I was feeling quite guilty for eating so much these last few weeks. I was just not in the mood to do work outs and jump around, but hey! What I realised recently is- cleaning the house is also a workout! I became soooo quick and strong at cleaning the house after Salvo’s cooking that I honestly deserve a gold medal- I couldn’t be more active right now, haha! So to all my ladies out there feeling guilty- check out your muscles after washing tones of plates, cleaning the whole house everyday and running around with your kids 24/7! See? It’s a new level of fit! Quarantine fit!

Family and home is everything

I mean it seems pretty much logical. But do we really appreciate it everyday as much as we do right now? Personally I think- not really. Normally my London’s home is like a hotel to me. I travel in and out. Pack and unpack. I am never around really and frankly this home was never as important to me as it is right now. I am now grateful I have my space, my office, my boho corners and a large bath to chill at. I appreciate my large sunny kitchen where we cook everyday with so much joy and sun rays. I appreaciate our huge comfy sofa where I can snuggle up with a rad candle and a warm cup of my favourite tea. I didn’t appreaciate small things like these before!

And of course my family- of course I always appreciate them and miss them, but now knowing I can’t go home and not knowing when I will see them again kills me and makes me think of them every single day and all the time. I spent days browsing our photos and planning where we will go when this is all over.  The lockdown made me realise this is all that matters and this is the only solid thing in our lives that we should look after every single day. Not the money and job- now we see it’s soooo easy to lose. It’s a warm home and loving family that helps you to get through everything and pushes you forward. 

Improving my food photography skills 

As our recipe account started to honestly grows so quick (thank you so much for your support and such a positive response to our new project. We are over the moon!) I started to improve my food photography skills. As you know, in the past (almost 2 years ago now- wow time flies!) I was working at Soho House as a Social Media Coordinator and I was managing quite a few restaurant’s accounts and creating food related content. I now had a pretty long break, but last few weeks made me realise I have really missed it and I still really enjoy it so I keep experimenting with new props, backgrounds, colours and angles everyday! Here’s some of my recent snaps and Salvo’s incredible creations. Follow him for the most amazing recipes!

Shop kitchenware

  

Nothing cheers me up more than good food

As you know last few weeks I wasn’t feeling great (sorry for being a crying baby!) but I swear every time Salvo’s brought me his dish (and a chilled glass of Rosé with a strawberry) my worries seemed to disappear for a moment! I truly enjoy delicious food and drinks and all things fancy! His incredible dishes help me so much to get through this difficult time and put a smile on my face!

Working with what I have 

Let’s be honest. Normally as a full-time travel blogger I get to experience and stay at the most incredible places to create the content. Brands and hotels are always putting so much effort to put together the most magical itineraries, events and set ups for us bloggers to create content. But now the situation is completely different. There is no pretty hotel bathrooms and pink flower displays. There is no fancy flower baths (unless you create one at home!) infinity pools and afternoon teas. Now we need to learn how to work with what we have. It’s not easy at all but I must say after these few weeks of experimenting- it’s super challenging but very interesting. It makes me happy to see people getting more creative and working with what they have at home. I have struggled a lot but hey- slowly getting there and getting new ideas everyday. Here’s my fav snap shot in my hallway!

Peachy blanket and cushion from Peachy Parrot. I absolutely love this brand! My new discovery! Their products honestly added sunshine to this corner of my home. I highly recommend to check out their gorgeous accessories.

Shop my homeware

What I am sure is – the current situation makes you grow. Not only with creating content but also as a person. We learn to adapt to completely new reality, we became mentally stronger and more supportive. I love that and I think my industry and this world truly needed this! 

Have you learnt or realised something during the lockdown?

The Blonde Flamingo

Life in lockdown- you don’t have to be productive right now

You don’t have to be productive right now.

I haven’t been here a lot in the last weeks. Everything has been crazy and changed so quickly. I felt like my life changed completely and I believe Corona Virus affected all of us all over the world. Let’s face it. We have never been through something like that. None of us. Nobody really knows when it will end up and when our lives will get back to “normal”. It’s indeed a very stressful situation and we all need time to process everything in our heads and learn to live in a new reality for a while.

However what I found more stressful these days (even more than the virus itself) was the pressure to be productive and creative. Especially in the industry I am at. Normally I am creative and full of energy and positivity. At almost all times. I am always online, writing, creating, reading, researching, learning, shooting and editing. I am doing my best to inspire and educate people to live their best lives.

I am not going to lie – the new reality hit me and my business really hard. I had my next few months perfectly planned with projects, travels and my goals. I was meant to make so many of my dreams come true. Of course due to the current situation everything got cancelled or postponed. These last weeks I was feeling upset and lost. Every time I looked at Social Media was either another negative, overwhelming news or other people posting the videos being super productive, happy, creative, doing lots of fitness and practicing Tik Tok choreographies. Frankly, I felt like I live on a different planet. I blamed myself for not being able to do anything really. I struggled and I was proud of myself for actually getting out of bed these days. I was really down and really scared. I had difficulties sleeping and bad dreams. I was scared about the future, about my career, about finances. I started to feel like I am being negative. And then I came across this quote :

“Staying positive doesn’t mean you have to be happy all the time. It means that even on hard days you know that there are better ones coming.”

I have decided to give myself a break. And get myself out of the sick and fake circle. I decided not to pretend I am ok to please others. I opened up and shared my feelings. I don’t have to be ok right now. I don’t have to be jumping and dancing right now. I don’t have to be positive 24/7. I am a human being and I have a right to struggle and be sad and it doesn’t mean I am a negative person.

Why am I writing it? Because maybe you out there, deep inside feel exactly the same. Maybe you also feel the society pressure now to be productive creative, to get that “dream body” RIGHT NOW. To work on that goal and find a dream job RIGHT NOW. I am here now to tell you – don’t. Do not let that pressure get to you. Life in a new reality is hard enough already. Do what feels right to you. Don’t force yourself when you don’t feel ready. Give yourself time to process and accept everything. Sleep as long as your body needs. Have that relaxing bath everyday. Read that book you’ve always wanted. Slow down. Look around you and deep inside you. Look yourself in the mirror and do what you and your body truly need right now. Look after your body and soul. Call your loved ones and support each other. You don’t have to be productive now. It’s ok not to be ok. And it’s ok to talk about it aloud instead of getting into that sick circle again. I truly believe it’s time to slow down now and look after our health- both physical and mental.

How’s my life during the quarantine?

I have been now self-isolating since 21 days. I went to the grocery shop twice during this time. I allow myself daily walks in the park- I can’t even describe how important nature is in my life. It keeps me going.

I have also slowly started to set up the new home routine. As you know as a full-time travel blogger it was always very hard for me to have a routine. Well now I do. I wake up when my body is ready. I do my morning skincare routine. I then head to the kitchen and drink hot water with lemon, ginger and honey ( adding turmeric from time to time). I open the window and let the fresh air in. I let myself be ready for the day. Then I make breakfast, clean the kitchen and start with my normal work- replying to the emails, messages and creating content for my Social Media Channels.

Last weeks were really slow and I didn’t work much also because I really needed a break. But I have actually started something new thanks to you! These days Salvo and I were cooking a lot (well he was, I am the upaid kitchen porter lol) and we received a lot of requests so we have started cooking and filming the recipes for you. It is giving me some energy these days. I now have my little mission and it’s keeping me busy and away from negative thoughts. If you’d like to follow our recipes feel free to follow me and Salvo on Instagram. We are going to create new recipes for you everyday. Salvo is in charge for cooking and I am looking after video and photography part. I actually really enjoy it. So far we have created recipes for homemade bread, pizza, famous pasta Cacio e pepe and Carbonara today per my best friend request. Here’s some photographs I took :

Apart from that I haven’t done much really. I gave myself time to slow down, accept what’s happening and start working and creating when I am ready for it. I am spending these days sleeping, reading and eating. I also have baths now almost every day as I find it relaxing. And I drink wine and watch videos from my travels. That would be it!

How are you? How you’ve been doing these days?

Sending you lots of love and support!

The Blonde Flamingo