Hi friends!
Kendall and Jess here! Welcome back to another Monday (each subsequent quarantine Monday seems like a greater achievement doesn’t it?!) and another volume of our On a High Note series – a roundup of inspiring, lighthearted or helpful ideas to try, read, make, cook, drink, do, and so on–– during the week ahead! Grab your cup of coffee, wrap yourself in your comfiest bathrobe and let’s jump in!
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Some Good News
Have you guys heard about John Krasinski’s Some Good News channel?! Sparked from his desire for some good news during these times, he launched a YouTube “news” channel entirely dedicated to good news. The first episode even features Steve Carell and is undoubtedly worth a watch (it’s 15 minutes long- perfect to watch over breakfast or for a mid-day pick me up!)
Update: OMG I just watched his second episode. Go to time stamp 8:28 ????it just made my WHOLE. DAY. Especially if you’re a Hamilton fan!!
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Turn your freezer into a meal prep game changer
If you’re anything like me (Kendall!), your grocery habits have gotten all out of whack during quarantine. I used to stop by my store or a market every few days to stock up on healthy produce, which is unfortunately not much of an option these days. The good news? Your freezer holds all the power to help you get creative with greens, meal prep like a boss, store and organize healthy meals and so much more.
Some helpful reading: This article by The Everygirl, is full of helpful tips to strategically use my freezer, instead of only using it for pints of ice cream and a bag of frozen peas. Even Ina Garten’s doing it! (Jess’ note: I’m a BIG fan of freezing anything and everything–this reminds me I need to do a blog post on this!)
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The #GetDressedStayHomeChallenge!
Did you guys catch the new challenge I launched last Friday? In an effort to keep our spirits up during these crazy times, looking for “little ways” to infuse more joy into life now has never been more important. For me, getting dressed is a means of creative expression and it can really make a difference in my mood. Enter: the #GetDressedStayHome April challenge!
I’m hoping it will serve three purposes:
To have fun: To inspire you to get dressed every day, have fun with it, and learn how to look at your closet with fresh eyes!
To spread awareness: To reinforce and spread awareness of the importance of staying home, distancing yourself from others, and how vital it is to have ALL of our participation in flatting the curve. We can stay home AND look and feel good at the same time!
To help others: To raise money and awareness for those who need it most right now–I’ll be donating 5 cents per photo shared as part of the challenge!
Find out how the challenge works in this blog post! Thanks to everyone who has already participated! I love seeing your posts and outfits posted to #GetDressedStayHome on Instagram! ????
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CorePower Live Classes
If you’re looking to get in a great physical workout and clear your mind, check out CorePower’s live classes! Whether or not you’re a studio member, you can catch streaming classes every day at 8 am, 1 pm and 6 pm MT! They’re offering a range of classes too — from meditation, flows and sculpt so you can shake things up! Both of us are big Corepower fans!
On that note, my friend Leigh, who is a Corepower Instructor, is leading a Zoom Yoga Flow + Body Sculpt class tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5:30pm CST! If you’d like to attend, she’s asking for donations to my friend Sarah’s “Hope Party” ❤️(what I’ve been posting about on stories!! Where we’ve all been raising money to send meals to Rush Hospital workers on the front lines!) I’ll be posting a link on my IG stories with more details–so keep an eye out for that!
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Stop Trying to be Productive
As if this time isn’t stressful enough, you might find yourself even more anxious with the pressure to be “more productive” during this time of isolation. While scrolling through social media, you might see others tackling home improvement projects, exploring new hobbies, trying to get into the best shape of their lives — the list goes on — and it can make you feel more stressed, behind or less than! This New York Times article is a breath of fresh air! It dives into how the internet wants you to believe you aren’t doing enough with all that “extra time” you have now, but staying inside and attending to basic needs is plenty. It’s a great read!
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Love & Lemon’s Homemade Pizza Sauce
In need of a healthy, quick and delicious dinner idea? I (Kendall!) make this pizza sauce nearly weekly! It’s so good, takes no time at all and makes enough for four pizzas! It only requires 5 ingredients, but it’s very flavorful! Grab a crust from your favorite grocery store to go with it or make your own! Love & Lemmons also has a great pizza dough recipe!
Roasted Tomato Confit
Kendall and I were both feeling the tomatoes this week––yesterday I made a roasted cherry tomato confit (sounds fancy, SO easy) and I’m keeping it on-hand in the fridge to use as a topper for something like chicken or bruschetta, to mix in pasta, and toss in grain bowls. So simple, but so delicious––turns something basic into something amazing! All you need are some cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, S + P, and some Italian herbs, if you have them. Roast for 2 hours at a low temp!
