Charcuterie Board 101 Class - Techniques and Tips to Elevate Your Cheese Board

This April, I wanted to try my hand at teaching. So, I reached out to my local library and luckily they gave me a chance. I’ve made so many charcuterie boards before but never taught a class, and guess what I loved every minute of it.

I loved showing attendees new techniques and food products that they’ve never tried before. It was a great reminder that everyone is on different levels of experience when it comes to cooking. Something that comes with ease for me, was something foreign to someone else. I’m glad I had a few moments of ah-ha from folks; and truly felt guests had some actionable takeaways.

I’d love to do it all over again. I’ve now been bitten by the teaching bug... And with that mindset of learning, I wanted to share some of the products and techniques I used in class.

In the workshop, I taught basic techniques including how to make a salami rose and river, the “star” cut fruit technique, an herby goat cheese tutorial, and how to build and elevate our board with bright fresh flavors and colors for any occasion.

Fun Facts: Charcuterie is just a fancy word for cured meat. The word derives from French origins in the 15th century, when people used every last bit of the meat and left nothing to waste. The meat was then put through a preservation process of curing and often formed into some sort of sausage or dry-aged meat.

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Crackers:

I did a variety of crackers and some fresh toasted baguette on the side.

Since it was a spring board I did buy these butterfly crackers from Pepperidge Farms. If there’s anything you should know about me it’s that I need to match a theme.

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Cheeses:

Purchased the following cheeses from Costco which had the best selection and bang for your buck, especially if you’re hosting a large party.

• Triple Cream Brie from President (Cut into small triangles and fanned these out in a circle)

• Cabot Cheddar, Ages 3 Years (Broke the block of cheese apart for a rough rustic cheese display)

• Manchego (Styled into triangles)

• Goat Cheese:

  • Taught two different techniques here. Where you can roll the goat cheese into balls and take a Ziplock bag of Everything Bagel Seasoning and roll them in the seasoning to coat.

  • Another option is chopping fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, parsley) and putting the fresh cut herbs in a Ziplock bag and coating the goat cheese balls in the herbs. It’s a great way to start to use your spring and summer herb garden.

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Meats:

• Variety of Salami & Prosciutto from Fratelli Beretta at Costco (1 package was enough for the group, and it came in a two pack).

• Techniques I taught in class: How to make a salami river, a salami rose, and how to style your prosciutto on the board.

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Fruits:

• Strawberries - As a special treat I used: (Oishii Berries) Grown in the world's first and largest indoor vertical strawberry farm.

• Raspberries

• Blackberries

• Grapes

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Extras:

• Peach Clementine Jam from Bonnie’s Jam

• Honey Sesame Almonds from Trader Joe’s

• Pink & White Shortbread cookies from Trade Joe’s

• Dried Apricots 

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Boards I Have:

Walmart (Better Homes & Gardens), here's the link. I've gotten boards at Target, and I love and have one from Brooklyn Slate.

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Here was the final board! Truly loved teaching this class and the group was so fun.

If you do have charcuterie board workshop needed in the Hudson Valley, NY, definitely let me know! 😉

Specialty Food Association - Summer Fancy Food Show 2023 - Breakfast Trends, Cocktail Culture, and Storytelling Focused Favorites

Overwhelming is the word used most often at this year’s Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City. Occurring over 3 days (June 25-27, 2023) at the Javits Center in New York, SFA pulled out all the stops. There is a lot of ground to cover here. Let’s first start with some background about me. If you didn’t know this about me already, in my full time job I manage trade shows and events. From someone that does this in their day-to-day, I’d say it’s pretty rare to find a show organizer that is constantly improving and innovating quite like SFA. This year they had:

• Sold-out show with more than 2,000 domestic and global specialty food and beverage makers and manufacturers.

• Keynote speaker celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis

• Product pavilions dedicated to the hottest categories including: Plant Based, Deli, Bakery/Confectionery/Snacks/Sweets, and Beverage. This year they also had a Sips Bay (Beverage Pavillon and Diversity Pavillon)

• International Pavilions from 31 countries and regions across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceana, and South America, including partner country, the Kingdom of Morocco.  

• State and Regional Pavilions including Brooklyn Goes Global, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), and Virginia. 

• NEW NOW NEXT Pavilion featuring Incubators and Startups.

• Unveiling of the sofi™ Product of the Year and New Product of the Year award winners.

• 5 Borough Block Party - End of the first exhibit day featuring food trucks from the 5 boroughs + drinks and a live DJ…. A real taste of New York.

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Most Notable Trends:

There were no shortage of mocktail inspired business here were a few that were on the top of my list.

Alcohol-Free Cocktail Culture

✨Sayso - Sayso is behind the first-ever cocktail tea bag. All you do is steep in cold water for 3 minutes and add your spirits or keep it a mocktail. Flavors include an Old Fashion, Skinny Spicy Margarita, and Rosemary Honey Moscow Mule.

✨Fauxmosa - A bubbly alcohol-free (0.0% ABV) mimosa that playfully blends California grapes, real fruit juice, and botanical flavors with a hint of apple cider vinegar to create a regret-free cocktail that suits your lifestyle. These little cans come in flavors such as: Cranberry with Hibiscus & Ginger, Pineapple with Lemon & Mint, and Orange with Turmeric.

✨Twisted Alchamic - These are 100% cold pressed, fresh juices are for those who care about quality, but would rather spend time creating killer cocktails than juicing and cleaning. I’ll admit I went for seconds on this one. The Three Citrus Margarita and Passion Fruit juice were my top favorites.

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Luxury Breakfast

Since brunch is our business, I tried to source and seek out the best new breakfast products. What I found was there were so many brands that were using the finest ingredients in their products or on a mission to make breakfast more family friendly.

High Quality Breakfast Ingredients:

✨Runamok - Runamok is a specialty foods company focused on creating fun, innovative, and delicious products with quality, natural ingredients. At the show I had an interview with the President, Curt Alpeter, he walked me through their product line of syrups, mixers, and honey.

Newly launched this year is their Maple Grenadine cocktail mixer. They showcased this by having this really nice side-by-side comparison of the leading grenadine and the comparison of their quality ingredients. It was delicious and I don’t make a ton of things with grenadine but I’m pretty sure they converted me. Along with this, Curt really took his time to explain to me the different grades and quality of maple syrup. As well as where and how they source their honey, and what the difference is between raw and processed honey. It was a really fascinating conversation about agriculture.

✨Jesha’s Sourdough Pancake Mix - This pancake mix is made from stone-ground whole grains that have been slow fermented with sourdough culture giving it a ton of nutritional value. I love a sourdough, and it didn’t dawn on me how truly tasty a sourdough pancake could be. Plus, I loved that Jesha is a town over from me. Did we just become best friends?!?

✨Cometeer - This coffee company works with some top quality roasters (Joe Coffee, Counter Culture, Birch, Intelligentsia, and more) to brew and flash freeze into these little pods so unlimited flavor. And I will say the the quality shows. As a huge cold brew/iced coffee girl; this packed smooth, bold flavors. I could have taken 20 of these with me.

✨Natural Blonde Bloody Mary Mix - Admittedly, I’m not a big Bloody Mary fan, but, this bloody mary mix was smooth as so much less acidic than a traditional Bloody Mary. It’s made from yellow tomato juice giving it its light blonde color and lower in sodium.

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Breakfast Made Easier for Families:

✨Happy Grub - Is a squeezable instant pancake mix, aimed at more fun and less messes, with the goal of bringing more families in the kitchen. Ashley, the founder has been on our podcast before and honestly I’m all for making breakfasts easier and fun with my kiddo. Plus her whole team is incredibly nice and so generous with their time.

✨Hidden Foods Co. - Homestyle Pancakes - With an addition of flaxseed and oats to this protein packed mix--and the hidden fruits & vitamins. I love the concept of sneaking extra goodies in, plus the pancakes tasted great.

✨Mama Biscuits - A gourmet biscuit company, Mama Biscuits specializes in a variety of biscuit flavors including sweet, savory, vegan and gluten free. In the fall of this year, Mama Biscuits will be launching some new ready to-go breakfast biscuit sandwiches.

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2023 Overall Show Vibes:

In terms of overall show vibe, it felt different than last year. I had gotten far more Press Releases last year. I’m not sure if it is because more companies didn’t do them. Specialty Food Association honestly provides so many great resources to their exhibitors and members. Including a webinar on PR 101 and how to engage with media and they have cubbies in the press room where you can decorate and drop off materials.

My only thought here was last year in 2022 it was the first real year back with less restrictions after Covid. Perhaps companies had more time to create press releases and new product launches compared to this year. Overall, many exhibitors felt very standoffish and focused on buyers and didn’t engage much. Or even worse were the ones that didn’t sample their products at all.

This leads me to shout out the companies that made a real effort to engage, tell their stories, and had really great products…

More Favorite Brands from Summer Fancy Food 2023:

✨Kola Goodies - Sajani Amarasiri is the founder behind Kola Goodies, vegan superfood lattes for energy, mood, immunity, stress relief & wellness. I tried the Sri Lankan Milk Tea and it was out of this world, incredibly tasty, warm, and gave you all those cozy vibe feelings.

✨Brooklyn Dehli - Premium Indian Pantry staples from sauces, condiments, and spices. My all time favorites are the Coconut Cashew Korma, Tikka Masala sauce, and Mango Chutney. Meeting Chitra Agrawal was also pretty epic, we mostly chatted about kids and Kingston, NY, she was super down to earth.

✨Yolélé - Yolélé is changing conditions for rural West African smallholder farmers. Their mission is to support biodiverse, regenerative, and climate-resilient farming systems; and to share Africa’s ingredients and flavors with the world.

Best know for producing chips, pilaf, and products with Fonio, a gluten-free African grain; what was new this year were their African Spice Rib + Dip mix set - and yes they were so tasty and make for a perfect summer dip.

✨Xinca - Authentic Salvadoria Food - Xinca is a family-owned company led by Cynthia Duran, a *Salvi (Salvadorian American) Latina. After her family migrated to the United States while fleeing the Salvadorian civil war, her family found comfort in cooking authentic dishes that reminded them of home. The Four Bean & Cheese Pupusas were my favorite and absolutely flying off the sample table.

✨ Matriark x Sfoglini - Two great brands that teamed up at the show to collaborate on their products - Sfoglini pasta with Matriark’s tomato sauce.

Matriark Foods upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, delicious, low sodium vegetable products for schools, hospitals, and food banks.

Sfoglini pasta sources the finest North American organic grains and unique ingredients from local farms and green markets with traditional Italian techniques to create fun pasta shapes that hold optimal sauce. Plus they are based in the Hudson Valley.

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Would love to hear what your experience was like if you attended Specialty Food Association’s Summer Fancy Food Show this year. What were some of your favorite brands and trends? Let me know in the comments.

I already can’t WAIT to see what next year’s show has in store.

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10 Years of Brunching - Our Most Memorable Brunch Events & Learnings

This year in 2023, we’re celebrating our 10 year brunch anniversary!

All starting in the summer of 2013 when Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook at the time, released her new book called Lean In. After the release of the book a huge conversation was starting to emerge around women leadership, women empowerment, and breaking the glass ceiling.

At the time, I was living in NYC and was attending a LOT of events. None of them involved a focus on women and each event felt so bland and impersonal. I remember coming home after each event with a purse full of business cards but couldn’t remember much about any of the people I had just met.

It was the good ol’ “there had to be a better way’’ mentality… and so I set out to combine my event planning experience to create a new type of intimate dining experience, centered around women, and thus Women Who Brunch was born… The brunch component of this is based off the fact that if you know New York, you know brunch is a lifestyle here…. plus I love breakfast foods.

Our first event was held August 2013, at Five Point in Manhattan - this restaurant has charged hands and owners several times unfortunately; but for a large sized group it’s still a great venue. We had speakers Megan Nuttall and Monica Lo, on the subject of “Passion Projects”. At the time, they received Google Glasses to beta test and brought the new technology to the brunch for us to check out. We thought we were so cool…

We have a whole list of past speakers and brunch events, what can I say I’m nostalgic for remembering all our events. Some of the most notable have been Deepica Mutyala, who is now the CEO & Founder of LiveTinted. At the time back in 2015, Deepica was working at Birchbox and her life had completely changed when her YouTube video went viral — a beauty tutorial about how to hide under-eye dark circles with red lipstick. She discussed a ton of marketing and content/social media tips - still a crowd favorite topic discussion at our events.

Learning about Blogging and Morning Pages (a daily practice of writing three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing), from Molly Ford - we had brunched at The Penrose, which is a great brunch spot. Days of May flowers provided floral arrangements and Michaela has turned out to be such a successful floral designer. It was at this brunch I realized the power of collaboration and supporting small businesses.

Molly’s now the CEO & Founder of Messy.FM and author of Reach Out: The Simple Strategy You Need to Expand Your Network and Increase Your Influence. She’s always a powerhouse of knowledge.

Dr. Sonya Rhodes gave us her new book at the time and got to brunch is her gorgeous Upper West Side. We felt very glamorous that day; like an experience straight out of Sex and the City - compared to my 4th floor Queens walkup.

Emily Merrell, Founder of Six Degree Society, another great events community for women, taught us how to network like a pro. She introduced me to “Asks”; going around the table and asking everyone what is one thing you need help with. I’ve used it ever since at our brunches because we all have a connection out there and could always learn to ask for more help.

Truly all our speakers have had amazing stories and learnings to share. I get so energized by the things I learn or the people I’ve met that have attended our events. That’s the magic behind keeping them intimate and smaller group sizes, it allows you to really talk and engage with someone. Each time there’s a new opportunity to learn something new, meet someone new, or try out a new brunch spot.

Of course, what had came out of the “pandemic” years was the launch of our podcast, Brunch & Learn Podcast, which is a podcast that features interviews with women in food while combining two of my favorite things: learning something new everyday and talking about food. It’s allowed me to share more stories from women all over the country about their entrepreneurial journeys. It certainly kept conversations and hope going when we couldn’t meet in person for brunch.

Now to present day, I’ve since moved outside the city and the path ahead is to continue to bring these event experiences to the Hudson Valley, NY region. And to continue writing and sharing the local scene around the greater NY & Hudson Valley. The challenge and balance I face often is balancing a full time job, toddler, and this community. I recently went to a conference and one of the speakers had said that we really need to fight for community and connect. We need to fight for in-person - whether that be events or making the effort to meet up with friends. It really struck a cord with me. That in a very social media driven world - the value in in-person is priceless. It’s what keeps me going on this brunch life.

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve attended an event of ours in the past and have a memory to share. Or new to the brunch crew, share your favorite local brunch spot.

And if you love food news, updates on event, or new food/CPG products - Join us over on our WWB Newsletter.

Thank you for being here & Cheers to another 10 Years!

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My Go-To Baby Items for the First 3 Months

These past 3 months with my baby boy Oliver just FLEW by. It was truly a whirlwind of postpartum emotions and exhaustion. I wanted to start off this blog post by telling anyone with a newborn right now; that you’re doing great mama! ❤️

It has certainly not been easy with everything we’ve had to face… Covid, the isolation of restrictions, the loneliness that comes with a baby. For me, giving birth in 2021 I had no resources - no hospital tours were offered, only had access to all the same 3 baby “classes” (CPR, Breastfeeding, and Baby Basics); plus they were all offered virtually only. No access to a community or “mommy and me” groups. The constant fear of if I’m “doing this right” as a first time mom while balancing a whole new adjustment to my life, while having to go back to work, INSANE inflation, the cost of day care being the same as my paycheck… This list goes on and on.

I feel like I’m rambling here but the bottom line is motherhood is HARD and LONELY. I get it. And that’s why I wanted to reflect on these past few months and share what worked for us during the newborn phase. (I totally get how stressed I was putting things on my registry.) These might not work for you and your babe because every baby is different, but any help I could be to share in some of my very limited expertise just know I’m here for you and you got this MAMA!

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Amazon Storefront for all Products

🧸🧸🧸 - These “First 3 Months Must Have Baby Products” can easily be found on our Amazon Storefront for easy access. We only make a small commission via our storefront. 🧸🧸🧸

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Feeding / Pumping:

👶 - Baby Brezza Bottle Sterilizer - This came in handy when we sterilize all our bottle in batches and the cycle has options to take either 60, 45, or 30 minutes to sterilize.

👶 - Bottle Brush - A must to keep separate for cleaning just the baby bottles vs your regular dishes.

👶 - Babylist - Bottle Box - This box was super helpful during the first week or two when we had no idea what our bottles our baby would like… Ultimately his favorite was:

👶 - Dr. Brown’s Bottles (His #1 Preferred Bottle)

👶 - Larger Nipple Size 2 for 3+ months - This was a life saver when it finally clicked when my baby was taking SOOO long to finish a bottle and getting gassier, around 2 months. As soon as we switched to a larger bottle nipple size he ate so much better and had less discomfort.

👶 - Nose Frida & Saline Spray: Speaking of discomfort, I had also noticed that with the winter/dryer weather, every morning Ollie would be nasally and congested so every morning I started to use the Nose Frida sucker and Saline spray. Because his nose was a little clogged he had trouble feeding and get burps/gas stuck. Both these products are super helpful to have on hand.

👶 - Gas Drops & Gripe Water - I used both and they both seem to help with his colic/digestion, especially getting gas out. I love the Little Remedies brand.

Diaper Bag:

👶 - Diaper Bag - Freshly Picked

👶 - Munchkin Formula Dispenser - Perfect for on the go formula/feeding and Grandma’s house.

At Home:

👶 - Swing - Perfect for grabbing a moment of peace to put him down. I will say I keep hearing that babies either like the swing or rocker or both or may just prefer contact napping on you. Again every baby is different and Ollie really loved the swing. I will say it has been a bit difficult to ween him off naps in the swing; so just something to keep in mind!

As for our Swing we have this Fisher Price Swing. I will say it’s “OKAY”, the plug never worked for it so we had to solely use batteries. I did get rechargeable batteries for this… which in hindsight rechargeable batteries will be a long term better option for toys down the road.

👶 - Bassinet - Halo Bassinet

👶 - Contrast Cards - High contrast images are easier for babies to interpret, especially with their limited newborn vision. They are the best way for your baby to lengthen their attention span, improve their memory and develop their nervous system.

👶 - Nail File- Trying to clip a newborns nails was terrifying. This nail file works wonders on a newborn, no fussing either!

👶 - Soft Blanket - Never underestimate a soft warm blanket especially for a winter baby like my bub. His favorite is a Lila & Jack Blanket we got as a gift at our baby shower.

👶 - Swaddle Me Swaddles - My dad had picked these swaddles up at Target during our first week at home. Oliver loved being swaddled in the hospital with the hospital blankets so we decided to grab some more swaddles and these worked out so well for us.

👶 - Swaddles for Hip Dysplasia - Our son was diagnosed with a hip click when he was born. After seeing many doctors (long story), he was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and had to wear a brace for a few weeks. It was hard to transition the swaddles but we did find and like the Halo swaddles for the wider leg room for the brace.

👶 - Burp Cloths - An underestimated registry gift to have on hand. We love these ones off Amazon and registered for two sets. Between spit ups and feedings you truly can’t have enough of these on hand.

I’d say the same goes having EXTRA towels, wash clothes, extra bassinet and crib sheet too!

For Baby Boys:

👶 - Teepee Pee Pee - To catch stray pee.

👶 - Vaseline for Baby / Curad Singles for on the go - This is for if your son will be circumsised. You’ll have to apply this to the diapers for a very long time. Or also used for sensitive skin/eczema.

👶 - Bumco Bum Brush - So you don’t get all the Vaseline on your hands.

On the Go:

👶 - Britax Car Seat and Stroller - Love this carseat and stroller!

👶 - Car Mirror

Tummy Time:

👶 - Lovevery Play Gym

👶 - Bobby Pillow - Great for nursing and tummy time.

👶 - Contrast Cards & Water Mat 

Bath Time:

*Bonus - I’ll tell you all our bath routine that finally clicked in getting our baby to like baths:

• Heat pad - For bassinet to warm it up.

• Humidifier - Fill or clean before bed.

• Prep Bath Tub - Using a Baby Bath Thermometer at exactly 101/102 degrees F. I honestly thought these thermometer things were silly until we realized “playing it be elbow” was leading to cold winter baths and he would constantly scream. Trust me you’ll need this for bath time.

• Lavender Hello Bello Bubble Bath, run shower steam at the same time, and throw the towel in the dryer to warm up.

• Post Bath - Diaper, apply Hello Bello Lavender Lotion, Jammies, Feed, Book, Vacuum White Noise, Bed.

• You’ll also need a lighter hooded towel to wrap baby in when putting in the tub, washcloths, and a heavier towel when taking them out to dry.

Books & Memories:

👶 - 100 Word Books - Ollie LOVES the 100 First Word Books & these “STEM” inspired 100 (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math books. They also come in Art, Weather, Space, Animals, and more.

These 3 are some of Ollie’s favorite books.

👶 - Grumpy Monkey

👶 - Nibbles the Book Monster

👶 - Find Fergus

Memory Books:

👶 - Lucy Darling’s Baby’s First Year Books - I LOVE this memory book. Cute illustrations and love writing down memories for each milestone.

👶 - One Line a Day (For 5 Years) - Recently I bought this book. I always strive to be better at journaling but I always fall short, especially with a newborn. This book just always a few sentences so it feels very manageable. So many little things happen like Ollie’s first smile, first time he grabbed my finger, ect. It feels like a great way to document these little moments.

👶 - Milestone Baby Blanket - It’s so much fun to see your baby’s growth each month with a milestone blanket.

EXTRAS:

Resources that helped a TON:

The 5 S’s to calm a fussy baby - swaddle, side or stomach position, shush, swing, and suck.- Watch this video and trust me these worked for us. It makes so much sense of natural things your baby is used to in the womb.

Wonder Weeks - This is a book and an app. Honestly, I didn’t read the book or get the app. I just mostly Googled “Leaps”. It mostly had helped to understand both growth spurts and developmental leaps and weeks your baby might be fussier.

Women Who Brunch Event Recap - Brunch Board Virtual Event with Dream Boards Co.

This Summer in August we hosted our first virtual event, (oh quarantine!) - a demo/workshop with Rachael from Dream Boards Co.

The shopping list for our brunch board workshop featured mini bagels and croissants, two types of cheese including triple creme brie, hand rolled everything but the bagel seasoned goat cheese, a soppressata rose, fresh seasonal fruit, honey walnuts, honey and pansies.

In the demo we were taught:

• The 5 basic steps of building a board, tips on cutting goat cheese

• How to create your own seasoned goat cheese (demo with seasoning)

• How to create movement on your boards, how to make a salami rose

• The different kinds of brie, fruit currently in season

• How final touches like edible flowers and nuts can elevate your boards and what edible flowers are best.

This workshop was so much fun. My key take aways were learning how to make a salami rose and just when you think you’re done with your board keep layering.

Here’s some photos of my final brunch board and some behind the scenes of the demo.

Behind the Scenes - Virtual Set Up On My End

Quarantine "Time Capsule" Writing Prompts for Journaling & Reflection

Zoom parties and virtual events have been all the rage during quarantine. This week I attended one of my past brunch attendee’s Arielle event for Quarantine Time Capsules and writing prompts to think about for journaling and reflection during this time. Nothing like this virus has ever happened before in our lifetime and before we know it we’ll be back to normal.

Besides the fact that I’ve been collecting physical pieces to add to my journal… receipts from my very large grocery shopping spends at the peak of panic shopping, receipts from gas - never being this low at currently $1.81/gallon, and dried dead flowers my husband got for me for our 9 year anniversary during quarantine.

These prompts were what we discussed on our call. It was so interesting to hear other people’s perspective on some of these points and explore their daily lives. We had one woman who is a pharmacist noting the increase in antidepressants she started to see. A nurse on the front lines where they converted her facility to ICU/ER. A mom with 3 little kids at home. Others furloughed from their jobs.

Writing Prompts:

• What have you been consuming, binging, cooking, people you’ve been following, podcasts, content, memes, virtual music/band sessions, videos?

• What are you missing during quarantine?

• What are you NOT missing during quarantine? (example: going into work, traffic, etc)

• What have you been struggling with? The most challenging part of quarantine?

• How did we all adapt online, with social media and technology?

• How has the relationship with your mind, body, self care changed?

• What would you like to forgive yourself for?

• What’s the silver lining in all this? What practices would you like to carry on after quarantine?

• Where are you traveling to after this is over? Where does your mind wonder to?

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A few highlights and insights I wanted to mention from the discussion on this particular question to get the writing juices flowing:

Q: What’s the silver lining in all this? What practices would you like to carry on after quarantine?

• Silver-lining - These virtual events, never imagined being able to connect with so many different people all over the world.

• Time - We’ll never be able to have this much time again with our families, between traveling, work, commuting.

• Making memories with family whether it’s having to be the teacher to your kids, new recipes, at home activities, watching movies together.

• Carrying On - Most said they’d like to carry on with their daily workout routines. I think the thing we’re all going to take with us is taking better care of our physical and mental health. We know this virus affects those with lung/respiratory issues, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disease; believe we’re all going to start putting health at a forward focus now.