March 28th, 2020

Over the past two years my Saturday Mornings have followed this usual pattern.

• 5am: Morning routine -  Coffee, oatmeal, burn some incense, and journal.
• 6am: Starbucks Work Session - A venti blonde roast and a table full of grad school homework. 
• 8am: Yoga - Slow stretching, deep breathing, contorted postures. Bliss. 
• 9am-12pm: Workout - A long leisurely workout that is a mixture of hard and heavy lifts and incline walks on the treadmill. 
• 12pm: Thrift Store Scores - Checking out the racks for fun and unique pieces for both work and daily stunting.

My Saturday mornings are my "me time". They give me an opportunity to dive into my passions: Self-Care, Coffee, Education, Fitness, and Style. The routine is a sacred one. However, the predictability of my Saturdays have been disrupted by the great quarantine of 2020. These are wild times we are living in and the social distancing has required me adapt to my new Saturdays.  

Today was the first Saturday of Quarantine. I had the usual impulsive itch to jump out of bed and run my usual routine, but I was reminded of my cloistered status: no leaving the house, no countertop sitting at Starbucks, no long workout at the gym, and no rummaging through the racks at the ARC. I woke up with chains on my freedom, but instead of growing anxious I decided to make due. Here was my Saturday.

• 7am: Morning routine -  Coffee, oatmeal, burn some incense, and journal. Thank goodness some things can remain the same!
• 8am: Work Session with Starbucks - Sipped my home brew of "Kimono Dragon Starbucks Coffee" and did some grading to close out the 3rd quarter. I also did some planning for the upcoming week of "Distance Learning". It was a productive work session and I was able to watch my incense float through the air and control the music playlist. Those two elements were major perks that Starbucks lacks. 
• 10am: "Get Your Shit Together" - Some people call these events "Adulting", but instead I like to call it "get your shit together, Brianna". These chores include: laundry, washing bedding, folding the forgotten clean laundry, throwing the trash, vacuuming, paying some bills, sending emails,  etc. All the boring events that make up living. For these thrilling events I like to set a one hour timer in order to make the "adulting" more fun with the thrill of a self-imposed competition. 
• 11am: Yoga - Created a zen space to stretch out and say "Namaste". Highlight was that my mom joined me for the exercise. 
• 12pm: Walking Lakewood - Embarked on a long walk up and down the streets of Lakewood. Today's walk was a solid 6 miles and 100 pages of a new book. 

My first quarantined Saturday morning departed from my beloved Saturday routine. But overall, it was a nice departure and a new pace. Being quarantined has forced me to get out of my self-enforced routine and I am feeling grateful for it.