739. Recent Quarantined Life

I think now it has been 3-4 weeks since the quarantine started. At this point, the only stores open are grocery stores and pharmacies. Certain businesses like hardware stores and restaurants are offering curbside pick up or delivery (if they are even open - many are not). We are still allowed to go outside for walks but cannot be in groups of 5 (?) or more. I am still busy working and have gotten used to this life. I guess at least I am able to accomplish more while being at home all day. I am also saving more money and saving up to buy more stocks when the time is right.

I am worried about the effects of this on the economy though. I hope it will be a fast recovery and not years of another great depression. I feel grateful to still have my job and regular income for now. Back in 2008 during the previous recession, I was 18 and had just moved out on my own and started university. I studied Fashion Communications and was shopping a lot more than I am now. Being around all fashion students was encouraging for that. To be honest I wasn't even aware of the economy being in recession. One day I was in Louis Vuitton and there was a reporter there from National Post (if I remember correctly) and I got interviewed for the article. The story was about people who were still luxury shopping during the recession. It's funny when I think back on it now lol. I was still young and carefree with no responsibilities. At least not the same level as now.

I hope the situation will improve soon. I don't mind the day to day life of quarantine but I hope to be able to travel again soon. I am aware it will probably be a year or more until everything goes back to the way it was before. At least not until we have a vaccine made.

Here are some photos from the past few weeks:

A Coronavirus edition from Bloomberg Businessweek. It was super interesting and very informative. It was the first magazine I read entirely from cover to cover. I will keep it as a memory. It will be interesting to read about it again decades from now.


No seating areas anywhere in the PATH now


A few Starbucks are open but no seating either


I was so upset about this lol. One of my favourite grocery stores I frequently go


My lobby bar is closed. This was a few weeks ago - now all the chairs are gone



I am not even sure how many hotel guests we have now. I rarely cross paths with anyone when going in and out. It feels nice and peaceful though. We still have security and some staff members.



This is Going to Hurt - Adam KayI loooooved this book. I was excited to read it judging by the amazing reviews (click the link to see) and I was definitely not disappointed. I just finished it yesterday. It's actually really funny in some parts. I wish it was longer. I highly recommend it - especially in times like these to really appreciate all that frontline workers/doctors do.

Ordering dim sum for delivery from my favourite - Dynasty. Trying to support local Chinese restaurants. I hope they will be able to survive this. I feel many restaurants are going to be gone by the time places reopen again.


Dog walking around my area..completely deserted when normally it's packed with people (especially rush hour)




The New Farm by Brent PrestonHaven't finished this one yet but I love it so far. It's also pretty funny in certain parts. The author is from Toronto and moved a few hours out of the city to start a farm. I really like farms so I was interested in reading it, and it was a bonus that it's also based in Toronto.


Home project - resealing the bathtub. The part where it meets the tiles. I am not sure if there is a special name for that lol. The caulk we had doesn't work well so now I had to find and buy another one online (since hardware stores all closed just as I needed them!!)..and delivery is delayed. Hopefully it arrives soon. One thing I realized from this Coronavirus situation is that we may have taken everything for granted before - when everything just worked smoothly.


One of our rotating meals during quarantine - chicken pesto pasta. It's soooo delicious. We finally got it right with the pesto amount lol.


Grunt by Mary RoachI only read a bit of it so far but she is one of my favourite authors so I am sure I will love it. I am not sure how to give a brief description of the book but you can find it in the link! I accidentally got the large print edition of this.

One of the perks of living in a hotel! We got provided another suite (for a few hours) while the AC in ours was being worked on. Due to social distancing we were not allowed in there with the maintenance worker.


Looking down on King Street East...so empty.


& this is King Street West.

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738. Recent Life | Pre-Quarantine

Still living in quarantine and I've honestly lost all track of time! I've gotten used to it now that the thought of being in public places/eating at restaurants seems strange to me. Here is a final quick post from my pre-quarantine life. My next post will be more recent and I'll write more of my thoughts from these past weeks.

This is my newest Bearbrick! It's the Canada Goose x Polar Bears International edition. They released it several weeks ago. It is limited edition and I had to purchase it immediately the morning it was released (eagerly refreshing the website). I managed to get one before it sold out within minutes.



My avocado toasts from Earlybird. I feel I was one of their last customers lol. On the second to last day before everything shut down, I was the only customer there for hours.


Summoned for jury duty!! So its been something I've wanted to do for a long time (I can't believe I'm the only one who actually wanted to do it while everyone else is the opposite). I work remotely so it wouldn't affect my work much (unless I got stuck in a case for days). Long story but I actually got excused from doing it in the end. I was just there for a couple of hours. I was pretty upset after that lol but now I am over it. Hopefully I will get chosen again in the near future. The photo below was the sitting area where you wait. It was a huge room with a lot of chairs and a lot of people. It was kind of like an airport lounge. You are allowed to bring stuff to do, eat, go out for short breaks etc. There are also very clean washrooms.


During the couple hours I was there, I started reading Evicted. I have since finished it and it's my favourite book I've read so far in recent years. It was super interesting and I highly recommend it. There are some books that I read and purposely try to read slower so that I can enjoy it for longer (if you know what I mean hahah)..and this was one of them.






We have since given up on completing this puzzle and now it's put away, unfinished. :(

When I like an author, I usually buy all of their books. I really liked Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and What the Dog Saw. I'm almost done with David and Goliath. There were a couple interesting chapters but overall I didn't enjoy it as much as the others.




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737. Recent (Quarantine) Life | Coronavirus Edition

We are currently in a state of emergency due to the Coronavirus outbreak. In Toronto, most businesses are closed with the exception of grocery stores and pharmacies. Restaurants are still allowing takeout/delivery for now but apparently tomorrow, they must all shut down completely as well. I heard they may be announcing a total lockdown starting tomorrow but that may or may not be true. I personally hope it's true so that we can have this all under control faster.

The stock market has crashed and I have resisted checking my stocks for days now (normally I check multiple times a day) as I don't want to get depressed lol. Mainly I just look at the ones on my "To Buy" list as I'm happy to see them declining. As now (or when it bottoms out) will be the best time to buy more. So I am patiently waiting.

A lot of people are now working from home (or completely off work/unemployed). For me it doesn't make a huge difference since I've always worked from home..but I just can't go out to work at cafes anymore. I've been about 3x busier than I was before all this chaos though. As I work in the wedding/beauty industry, all our bookings for this month and next have to be postponed/rescheduled. I've spent the past several days dealing with a lot of panicked clients and rebooking everyone. Now it has calmed down a bit but two days ago I saw that I sent 200 emails within the day, which was probably a record for me. By the end of the day my wrist was actually sore from all the fast and non-stop typing all day lol. On top of work, I started an online course 10 days ago which has quite a heavy workload, so I've been trying to manage everything at the same time which isn't easy.

I am a bit jealous of most other people who are now stuck at home with more free time. I haven't really had any of that in the past week.

Today I finally have a bit of time to update my blog again (I am SUPER behind!! as always). Later I will go and stock up on more groceries. One positive about this whole situation is that we will be forced to cook all our meals for the next little while/save a lot by not eating out.


A lonely little Corona I found in the PATH.


Stocking up at Pusateri's.

**The following photos were from last month/pre-quarantine life, as I'm just trying to catch up now lol.

A few weeks ago we accidentally discovered True True. The place we had wanted to go was completely packed so we ended up coming here. It was nearly empty inside and we were not expecting much. But we ended up loving the place. This pumpkin hummus is soooooo good. My favourite is this bread though. It is freshly baked and very soft on the inside, with some seasoning and honey. I also got one of their flatbreads which was also amazing. We ended up going back the week after as well.


The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
The author, Oliver Sacks, is a neurologist. In this book he recounts the stores of patients he's had and their unique cases.





Terroni Adelaide in the photos above, La Bettola di Terroni in the photo below




Gulp by Mary Roach I love all of Mary Roach's books (my favourite is Stiff so far) as they're always about weird and interesting topics nobody else writes about. She writes in an engaging and humorous way. This one is about the alimentary canal.

My new favourite place is Early Bird! I can't believe it has taken me so long to try it. Their avocado toast is so good. Sometimes they make it into the shape of a rose (I'll show a pic of that in my next post). This is the plain avocado toast and below is the one with an egg and salmon.






Our "28th-month anniversary" at Nord Bistro. We first went here on one of our first dates and I had always wanted to go back.

A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility by Amor TowlesI loooooved both these books. They are the first and only fiction books I've read in years. They're both beautifully written and really captivating. I will try, one of these days, to do more formal book review posts.

But unfortunately with my current schedule I doubt I'll be able to read much more from now on lol.


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