Originally taken

Words taken from Instagram on the day I posted some of these there…

Day 32 
The new Friday night…

Comfy clothes. Happy hour with my parents via Facetime.
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Leftovers-WIN!!!
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And, possibly having the weather to run in front of our house for a few pics while neighbors wave as they are on their evening walk. I couldn’t coerce Maya to come out with me, and that’s ok. I’m not forcing her to do anything more than she already has to do right now!

SO many emotional ups and downs in this crazy surreal time. But for every low time, there is a rebound of goodness. Friends who drop TJ’s goodness off on your door. Happy hours almost every night this week-woah, that might need to stop or…slow down.
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A daughter who is a constant rock star. ✨I worry that she’s handling this way better than I am, and that’s probably the biggest reason I’m NOT handling this so well. Funny conundrum? No, not so much.
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BUT

For those wondering and worrying…I took 4 sets of ten pics in the time span of… a little over 2 minutes, and bailed as soon as I saw actual walkers coming down my block.
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Timestamp… 7:23:17 PM – 7:25:28 PM

I do wonder how long I will continue to do this. I wiped down all my equipment and my shoes. It seems like a lot of work, but for me…it’s such an easy escape. An escape to a bit of normalcy….

#StayingSafeAndSaneInCoronaVille #QuarantineChic

Edited to add…it’s so surreal to look back on the way we acted in the beginning.  I didn’t even feel comfortable shooting in the sidewalk in front of my house.  Not only for those that might want to walk along, but that I needed to wipe down my equipment…

UGH…

BUT…that is where we were at that point.  AND…yet…it got worse…

I’d love to say that these smiles I’m posting were how we felt during this time…

It WAS NOT.

This was my escape.  It was my joy…

And I clung to it.

We most assuredly had many other moments (most documented on Instagram stories)

BUT…looking back on these images, even I am shocked by the happiness.  The happiness I kind of forgot…which I am SO GLAD I captured!!!

Originally taken 3/6/2020

Words taken from Instagram on the day I posted some of these there…

Maya joined in with the “Spring outfit, but winterize it” challenge!
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Of course she picked a party dress, but she said she was ok with jeans underneath for warmth! 😂 She’s so obsessed with these wedges!! She’s 8!! Yet, already wants high heels! NO THANK YOU! Soooo not ready!!! 🙈
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We came out of quarantine tonight (more on that later #coronavirus ) to brave an empty beach park… I put all my gear on plastic, had wipes and hand sanitizer…such is life in Seattle right now. Especially if you have people you love that have compromised health issues. Again..more on that later.
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Right now, I just need some fun and fashion in my life, so we did that!
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This is probably my last “Winterize a Spring Outfit” post, but you can post whenever you want with #DitElleGetInspired
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It’s been helping ME, so honestly…I’m still doing it!

Adding on to this…we actually took Maya out of school a week and a half before the schools actually closed.  We saw the writing on the wall, and decided to quarantine early.  It wasn’t easy.  The decision was met with A LOT of skepticism by friends.

“Well, we will see you in a few weeks when all this dies down!”

I wish…

I wrote this on Instagram a few days later with a flashback picture….

We are on day 13 of #selfisolation, and I’m not going to lie to you… It hasn’t been easy. 😭
And by self isolation, let me be clear. Maya and I haven’t left the house/been within 6 feet (ok a few times closer by accident) to ANYONE besides the Huz in that time.
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I’ve had a lot of breakdowns.
#CoronavirusSeattle #FlattenTheCurve 
Admittedly, I was frustrated that we were the only ones here in that position-we pulled Maya out of school/all activities before anyone else… (my husband has been following this and correctly projecting where we would be for over a month, and honestly…I was in denial for a while and freaked out by it!!) 
BUT… We are sadly, not alone anymore.

I wish he was wrong…

I’ve had a few weeks to process all of this before some of you. It was NOT a happy few weeks. I was homeschooling Maya before everyone else. There are no words to describe how AMAZING she has been through all of this!!

SHE has been MY ROCK! #letterstomiscmaya 
I have been wavering about what to post about this, but… just posting this for now.

We CAN get through this. 
It IS a time for us to bond as a family.

If that is ONE thing we do…let’s do that.

The reason I take these….the way she looks at me. Hoping to remind her that we did have fun, and it wasn’t always rules and homework…