Social Distancing Diaries: Vol. 2

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Hi friends, how are we holding up? Still feeling anxious? Me too.

Let’s get through the bad news first: Josh was officially laid off on Sunday night and he was able to apply for unemployment on Tuesday (so many people are applying that NY state had to separate applications by last name/day of the week). He was telling me some of the requirements for continuing to receive benefits involve going to face-to-face interactions or job fairs, which clearly are not going to be happening in the foreseeable future. As with most governmental oversight during this crisis, nothing is being handled appropriately–including updating the unemployment website specifically for people who have lost their job due to COVID-19. I saw a statistic recently that compared the worst week of the 2008 recession verses last week, which was so jarring to me:

The US economy is taking a massive hit.

3.3 million people filed for unemployment in the US last week. Compare that to the last recession when the peak was 665,000 applications were filed in one week. https://t.co/CQD0po39SL pic.twitter.com/zUqxiyMnbJ

— Lam Thuy Vo (@lamthuyvo) March 26, 2020

Needless to say, we’re officially following last week’s emergency budget measures. Though, I just learned that because I’m part of a union at my job, I would be notified of any layoffs ahead of time and I would be eligible for a severance based on how many years I’ve been at the job, which is definitely reassuring at this point in time.

The highlight of my week is when I can talk on the phone with my friends and family. I’m grateful that these times have brought us closer together. ❤️

To keep ourselves entertained we’ve started watching all the Marvel Movies this week. I forgot so much about the Iron Man movies! But it’s been fun to see all the Easter eggs that end up being relevant to later movies.

We’ve also started doing home workouts. It’s a mix of Yoga with Adrienne and some beginner body weight workouts like this.

I ordered the newly published book The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin with a gift card I received for my birthday. I adore N.K. Jemisin and I want everyone to read The Broken Earth trilogy immediately. Hopefully, sometime during self-quarantine I will also read How Long Til the Black Future Month?, which is a collection of her short stories. And I also ordered some things from Sephora because I had a gift card and I didn’t want to miss out on my birthday gift (a little Nars Blush/Lip set)! So really I only had to pay a bit over the gift card amounts because of taxes. New things, but also not spending my own money! Yay!

I’m looking for recommendations on an office chair that’s cute/reasonably priced. The chair I’m currently using is not comfortable to sit in all day, my back is killing me. Leave a comment or get in touch!

Some links for joy:

1. This TikTok is so wholesome:

i have already watched this a million times pic.twitter.com/LHZxfZdklT

— karen han (@karenyhan) March 26, 2020

2. Scrolling through Amazon and found this magical salt & pepper shaker set!

3. Before Josh was laid off, he was able to bring home a fancy bottle of wine that was half used–but free wine! Check out the fancy-ness for yourself! Delish! (Click the image)