cardigan, also love this one and this one | tee, also love this one | denim, also available here | mug | living room details here | hoop earrings

1) Get organized!

This has definitely been my favorite social distancing activity so far.  I immediately organized my fridge and pantry, and I plan to get to my closet and my office closet as well.

Some readers suggested cleaning your spice drawer, making sourdough starter, cleaning out your car and practicing baking.

Take advantage of this time at home to spring clean!

2) Try cooking new things.

Just because you’re spending more time at home and less time eating out doesn’t mean you should make bad choices!  Let’s not forget summer and swimsuit season is still ahead and these few weeks shouldn’t ignite bad habits.

I tried to keep temptation to a minimum and make smart choices when stocking our fridge and pantry for the next two weeks, and it’s a great time to try some new healthy recipes.  A few of my favorites that I’ve shared on CBL are this lemony carrot snack, my go-to pimento cheese, tomato and cucumber salad, vegetable orzo soup, my favorite chopped salad and bell pepper nachos.  To indulge I love this easy Alfredo Mostaccioli and easy garlic noodles.

Treat yourself to a whiskey rebellion and peruse the “food + drink” category for some recipe ideas!

3) At-Home Exercise.

I’ve shared some of my favorite at-home workouts before in this post.  Now that we have a treadmill in our basement with a TV, our Mirror and some free weights, I definitely plan to take advantage of it and make sure I’m staying active.  Walks outside are another way to get fresh air while respecting social distancing!

Someone also suggested riding bikes – love that suggestion!

4) Self-Care.

I try to set aside time every Sunday for a face or hair mask and some extra self-care time.  However I don’t always get to it, and I’ve already masked and given myself a pedicure.

Clean out your beauty drawers, pull out the sheet mask and give yourself a manicure.  Self tan (my favorite tanners here) and be ready to come out of this quarantine glowing, hunny!

This can even mean getting ahead in cleaning your makeup brushes!

You can find a DIY hair growth mask here along with some other favorite beauty hacks.

5) Read.

I wish I set aside more time to read regularly.  I have always loved reading and in elementary school the librarian always joked that I was the student she saw weekly, checking in and out books to read at home.

Whether it’s an audiobook (I’ve heard Jessica Simpson’s book is so good) or sitting on the sofa with a cup of English breakfast tea (my fave), I love the thought of using this time to squeeze in some good reads.

A few posts rounding up some of my beach read picks here and here.

6) Garden.

I coincidentally picked up some spring plants at Lowe’s last week and have already enjoyed planting them with Hudson in the bouncer outside.  I have gotten out the leaf blower and enjoyed prepping our patio for this spring.

Someone suggested repotting, fertilizing, trimming plants and trees… there’s always something you could be doing outside.

7)  Play games or do a puzzle.

I LOVE a good card or scrabble game.  So many suggested 1,000-piece puzzles – when Christian starts a puzzle he cannot peel away.  My family does a puzzle almost every Christmas and it’s something that always drives me nuts!

Some card game ideas here.

Monopoly Deal is another great one!

8)  Get out that long to-do list.

Someone said they were transferring all their VHS tapes to DVDs, such a smart use of extra time.

9)  Be active with your kids.

A reader said she set up the backyard sprinkler for her kids – how adorable is that!?  Backyard camping or swing sets, flag football, sidewalk chalk… so many sweet ideas to try with little ones.

10)  Netflix and chill.

I shared a few binge favorites here and podcasts favorites here, here and here, but we all deserve some low key sofa time.

A reader said she and her friends pressed “play” at the same time on the same movie from different homes and live texted – pretty cute!

These are some of my top picks for passing the time efficiently over the next few weeks – would love to hear any suggestions you have!  Thank you so much for reading – XO –