Stories From Quarantine | Turning 30 In a Pandemic

Well friends, it’s been a quiet summer on my end. I had all these plans I was trying to make happen and this COVID world has depleted me of so much creative energy. I couldn’t even get a recipe together for you. I’ve wanted to share my quick enchilada recipe because it’s one of my mom’s favorite meals and it’s so freaking easy and delicious. Maybe it’ll happen in the fall. Hopefully. But it’s September and summer’s over.

You know what else is over? MY TWENTIES! What the actual heck?! I’m supposed to be headed to Miami in a few days with my best girls wearing a shirt that says Thirty, Flirty & Thriving. I’m supposed to be drinking too much. I’m supposed to be skipping through Little Havana and shopping on Ocean Drive in a super cute “tourist chic” outfit. I’m supposed to be distracting myself from not being in my 20s by being on the beach. You know what I am doing instead?

Well tomorrow, my actual birthday, I’ll be working on my couch in pajamas and watching Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. Friday I booked the penthouse at one of my favorite hotels in Chicago, The Freehand, and a couple of my close friends and I will have a socially distanced night of facemarks and pizza. A little more 13 than 30 than I would have pictured last year on the rooftop at LondonHouse with my feet hanging out over Wacker Drive. But here we are.

I’m truly over this year and everything we’ve all missed out on. Sure, I can go to Miami again when this is over. But it’s sad and I’m sad. And frustrated. If you’re reading this, can you do me just one little favor? Please wear your mask. I want my life back. I want to see my friends get married. I want to travel. I want to dance my heart out at a concert. I want to feel safe in an airport. And if you need more masks, consider shopping my friend Taylor’s website. She makes masks and other sustainable swaps out of fabrics that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Nothing wrong with a little giving back!

Until my creativity is back and burnout is over, hang in there and stay strong, friends. We will get through this… we have to.

xo.