My Life

Last Month in Quarantine: June 2020

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Isn’t it so cool that after quarantining for four months, being out of work, distance learning with my kid, and basically shutting down my entire life, we have to start the whole process over again because some people are selfish assholes? Yeah, fun times. If we had an ounce of common sense or I don’t know, intelligent leadership, we could be slowly getting back to normal life right now, but we’re not. We’re still in lockdown, and we’re going to be for the foreseeable future. Wear a goddamn mask and stop going to bars. All that to say, as we face down yet another month of quarantine, I’m not super stoked about the idea of looking back at last month’s quarantine. But such is life, and hopefully as I go through these little moments, I’ll find something to make me smile.

I’m definitely more active on Twitter than Instagram these days, and every once in awhile, I like to share a tweet, just because my follower audience is vastly different on both platforms. Pretty sure all my Twitter followers know where I stand, but my Instagram used to be only Disney so I imagine some don’t really know. Side note: I’ve lost a lot of IG followers over the past couple months. *shrug*

Any time I have an excuse to buy an RBG themed product, and a pink lip gloss nonetheless, I’m taking it.

Noticing a theme to my posts for June? I didn’t post often because it just seemed like nothing I could post could truly convey my thoughts and feelings on the trash fire world we are living in right now, but this one really resonated with me.

Talking to Squirt about racism hasn’t been easy. Not because he’s not open-minded or not willing to engage, but because he’s six and his mind goes in a million different directions during every conversation we have about anything. Books have really helped us figure out how to approach the topic with him and these are some of his favorites.

I’m just gonna SJW all up in this post. Not only do Black Lives Matter, but we also need to start taking care of our planet! You can read about my experience with CleanCult here and see how I’m changing up how I clean in order to cut down on plastic waste.

Welp. Can’t say there is much here that gives me happy squishy feelings inside, but the past six weeks or so have been eye-opening. I do have a lot of hope that things are starting to move in the right direction. I’ve had some great conversations over the past few weeks. I’ve also blocked some toxicity from my life (that’s okay too). I’m personally still working to continue to educate myself and do better every day, and hopefully you are too.

Also, stay home!

Monthly Recap: June 2020

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It’s hard to believe it’s time for another monthly recap because time has lost all meaning. What are days? Are months still even a thing? Honestly, it’s all blending into one mindless, numb fugue these days. But according to the calendar, June has indeed passed which means it’s time for another round up. So here we go.

On the goals front: I literally just had to look back at my list because I could not for the life of me remember what my goals for June were. But hey, good news! I met all of them! Granted, not making any crazy goals during quarantine because quarantine, but I met them nonetheless and I will take any victory I can get these days, no matter the size.

On the reading front: I read nineteen whole ass books in the month of June, which is not too shabby. I also probably bought at least that many in order to #BlackOutBestSellerList so I have just as much reading to do this month, if not more. If you’re interested in reading reviews and seeing my monthly book highlights, make sure you check out Coffee Books Wine Repeat. I also reviewed White Fragility and So You Wanna Talk About Race here, and will continue to post reviews here of my anti-racist readings.

On the writing front: My writing goal for June was to finish the first draft of my fantasy romance, and I totes nailed it. Said first draft is now in the hands of my agent and beta readers so they can give me some feedback and I can go back and make revisions. No idea what’s going to happen with that one since it’s out of my wheel house, but it was a lot of fun to write. I also found a plot bunny for a new contemporary romance during the month of June, so in addition to finishing my manuscript, I was also brainstorming and fleshing out that idea, which I’m writing now. I’m happy to say that overall, quarantine hasn’t hurt my ability to sit down and write, which I am uber grateful for.

On the movie front: June was about two things: movies by Black filmmakers and terrible Netflix dance movies. I compiled a list of films you can stream now by Black filmmakers. I also reviewed the cinematic masterpieces Feel the Beat and High Strung Free Dance. Bad dance movies, why can’t I quit you?

On the self care front: LOL. Again. Honestly, June was a brutal month in terms of my mental health. It was not great. It felt pretty shitty like a lot of the time. But I’m thankful for Matt, who always gives me a breather when I need one. And even though Squirt is sometimes a pain in the ass during these long days at home, he’s really handling things well, all things considered. It could certainly be worse. I’m definitely making time to read and write, and I ordered a bunch of gardening supplies which will be my July self care project so I feel like things are on an upswing.

Peace out June! Hello July! Stay home and wear a mask!

Last Month in Quarantine: May 2020

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Hi friends! Black Lives Matter! Keep pushing and reading and having tough conversations! This is not over! Racism is not solved! Also, wear a fucking mask!

Okay. Just wanted to remind y’all of the important things before we get to the petty day to day shit. Man, do I miss being able to do a last month at Disneyland post. I have many days at this point where I don’t even think of Disneyland, but then moments like this pop up and I miss it for reals. I know we have a tentative opening date, but I will not be returning to the parks until numbers are way down (they’re currently rising, so don’t get me started on reopening). So until I can get back to my happy place, I’m stuck looking back at the month in quarantine.

My apocalypse baking has tapered off a bit, but I did make these super yummy toffee pretzel cookies. They didn’t last long.

Traversing the Twilight Saga as an adult was an…experience. I can’t believe I donated that many hours of my life to the cause, but hopefully it provided some entertaining content in a world full of misery.

One of my former students made me this super cute Disney mask and I love it. Also, in case you missed it the first time, wear a fucking mask.

One of my only semi-regular out of the house excursions is going through the drive thru at Starbucks. My Starbucks is the best, and they put these lovely signs all along the path of the drive thru and they make me smile. It’s the little things these days.

Just in case there was ever any doubt, I’ve been a Disney fan LITERALLY my entire life. Also, I was a cute kid. Also, my kid looks just like me.

Not going to lie, I’m kinda bummed the Avengers haven’t swooped in and saved the day yet. Where you at friends?

It’s been a month, friends. Really it’s been a year. Hang in there, stay safe, fight the good fight, and wear a fucking mask!

Monthly Recap: May 2020

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Oh hi. The world is still burning. Black lives matter. Keep doing the work and getting uncomfortable fellow white people!

I honestly feel kind of dumb writing this post today, but when I started doing these monthly recaps, they became a sort of journal for me, and I actually like looking back and getting a little snapshot of what was happening each month. Obviously May and June 2020 are going to be months for the history books. Hopefully in a positive way. And I want to continue to have these posts for my own little history book, which is exactly as self-involved as it sounds. But yeah, let’s take a look at some highlights of the hellfire that way May.

On the goals front: I actually went back to review the goals I set for May and holy shit, I achieved them all! Granted, they were basic goals like read books and write blog posts and were set before everything exploded, but nonetheless, I’ll take this small win. Go me.

On the reading front: I read sixteen books in May and none of them were by Black authors so don’t be like me and let’s broaden our reading lists, yeah? I’ve ordered a crap ton of books in the past two weeks and will be making a more concerted effort to read books by Black authors, and you should too. Some of my old favorites include these guys:


On the writing front: So not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have been kicking ass in the writing department. Guys, writing a new book is so much fun! If it could just come from my mind and onto the page and never need revisions, this would be a dream. Alas, that is not the case. But I did make a lot of progress on my first draft, and that’s something to be celebrated.

On the movie front: I finished my Twilight recap series, but more importantly, I watched The Lovebirds which was hilarious, and I put together this list of movies by Black filmmakers that you can watch at home right now. So do that instead of rewatching bad teen movies.

On the self care front: LOL. I will say, the beginning of May was not so terrible. It seemed like Covid things were maybe starting to at least have some hope of leveling out. Not all felt lost and hopeless in the world for about five seconds. Then Memorial Day happened and dumbasses went back to life as usual and then we finally hit our limit with police brutality against Black people and started burning shit to the ground. And now Covid cases are on the rise but shit is still reopening and the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor in her sleep still haven’t been arrested. So yeah. What is this self care you speak of?

I have a feeling June’s recap is going to be even more interesting than May’s. Please don’t lose steam, friends. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep social distancing and staying home when you can and wearing a mask when you go out. The work has just begun!

Four Things Keeping Me Sane During Quarantine

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How are we hanging in there friends? Everyone doing okay? As quarantine stretches on and on with no real end in sight, hopefully we are all finding ways to cope. Honestly, we all just gotta do what we gotta do in order to survive! It hopefully goes without saying that my number one thing keeping my sanity is my husband. He’s a rockstar and taking on a lot of the childcare responsibilities and I would probably be dead without him. In addition to being an awesome dad, he also cooks and makes me eat my vegetables so I might just be the luckiest partner in the world. But I won’t spend this post bragging about my husband (wouldn’t want him to get a big head), instead these are some of the other things keeping me sane during quarantine.

Wine: Duh. The duhest of all duhs in the history of duhs. My wine consumption has definitely gone up during quarantine. Luckily, it was down pre-quarantine because of some heartburn issues, but now that we’re in lockdown, I’m loading up on the Tums and having at it.

Vintage Real Housewives: We’ve got some good seasons happening live, but it’s not enough for lockdown mode. I’ve been going back and watching Real Housewives of Atlanta and it has been saving me every night. I’ve watched sporadic episodes, but never a whole season continuously and these women are magic. I finished season nine and I’m about a quarter of the way through season ten and they’re keeping me sane.

Books: I’ve posted about this a couple of times and it’s for real, y’all. I’m escaping hardcore and reading (and buying) tons of books and I’m not mad about it.


Writing: I haven’t been writing what I “should” be writing, but I guess that’s the one good side of not having a book deal yet, I can write whatever I want! I’ve been working on a new fantasy romance manuscript and I am loving it. It’s been a lot of fun, and there’s no pressure, so I’m definitely finding some solace in my daily writing time.

I’m also taking a lot of comfort in baking and texting with friends, but I would be completely lost with my wine, Housewives, books, and writing. What’s helping you keep it together during these wild times?

My 12 Favorite Blog Posts OF ALL TIME!

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It’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging for almost ten years now. I wrote my first blog post on this here blog way back in July of 2014. It was called A Disney Mom Blog at that point, and 99% of my posts were purely Disney focused content. Somewhere along the way I decided to branch out and share more of my favorite things with y’all, and the name Falon Loves Life was born. This definitely isn’t my first blogging venture, but it’s the one that’s stuck around the longest, and I love being able to share whatever I feel like at that moment in time without having to worry about fitting into a niche. So I took a stroll down memory lane and found twelve blog posts that all made me think awwwww. I have lots of fond memories I’ve shared on this blog, but these ones remain some of my favorites (in no particular order)!

The Ten Disney Commandments: I loved writing my own “rules” for Disneyland, and actually, I was ahead of my time because some of them are social distancing-esque. (Side note: remember when I used to make graphics for my blog posts….sweet summer child.)

MCU Chronological List: This remains one of my most popular posts of all time, and it’s one of my favorites because it lead me to my favorite fandom evah.

Watercolor Bookmarks: Back in the day, I did a lot of DIY, and while I certainly don’t craft much anymore, these bookmarks will always be one of my favorite projects.

New York Trip Report: I’ve got several of these, but this was my most recent from last summer. I am missing NYC hardcore during lockdown and I love looking back on my memories from past trips to tide me over.

My First Trip to Galaxy’s Edge: This one made the list for a couple of reasons. One, it was awesome to share this experience with Matt. Two, it was my first time getting to experience something Disney related�? before the masses. Being a Cast Member’s wife is the shit <<< why I’ll never get invited to media events.

Exploring Los Alamos: Matt and I have already agreed that we will each be allowed to go out of town for a solo weekend trip once quarantine is lifted and I will likely go back to Los Alamos because I love it so much.

Ibiza is My Favorite Chick Flick Evah: It’s no secret that I’m in love with Richard Madden, and this hidden gem of a film (you can find it on Netflix) has Richard at his hottest, plus it’s full of funny women and it still makes me laugh my ass off even though I’ve seen it a million times.

Hot damn, this guy is pretty.

Photo Tour of Palm Springs: If I decide not to go to Los Alamos for my solo weekend, I’ll most likely head to Palm Springs. Because you can never go wrong with Palm Springs.

A Walkable Day in DTLA: Los Angeles is totally walkable folks! This was one of my favorite days, and it actually inspired a scene in my book it was that awesome.

The Last Bookstore Tour

I Drank the Star Wars Kool-Aid: I didn’t fall for the Star Wars fandom as hard as I fell for Marvel, but the love is real, and it was a fun journey to get there.

DIY 60th Anniversary Ears: This was during my very intense DIY Disney phase, also when I was almost exclusively blogging about Disneyland. I loved this celebration and all that came with it, and these might be favorite DIY ears I’ve made.

Toon Town Engagement Photos: I still can’t believe I convinced Matt to take our engagement photos in Toon Town, but we did and it was so much fun.

Not going to lie, it was a lot of fun to look back on my old posts and see how I have changed (and how blogging has changed) over the years. I have no intention of making this my career anymore, but I still love sharing all these tidbits from my life (it’s like I’m an attention whore, but I only want your online affection, don’t actually talk to me in real life…kidding, I love getting recognized in real life so if you ever see me and know who I am, please say hi!). Here’s to many more years of oversharing!

 

Three Non-Essentials I Will Never Run Out of Again and the Two Best Quarantine Investments I Made

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This post contains affiliate links.

I’m sure when we come out on the other side of quarantine, we will have changed the way we live our lives, probably forever. Those who grew up with parents or great grandparents who lived through the Great Depression often talk about some of the lasting effects the experience had on them, and I think we will probably all be the same. I think it goes without saying that I will never again run low on paper towels, toilet paper, flour, or yeast. Those essential items have been in high demand since lockdown started (hopefully you were all able to get them when you needed them!). But what about non-essential items? What has been getting you through that you wouldn’t have expected? I’ve got a couple of things I will never run out of again, plus two investment pieces that have been worth their weight in gold.

Non-Essentials I Will Never Run Out of Again

Wine: I know, I know, you might be arguing wine is most certainly an essential, and you’re not entirely wrong. But the truth of the matter is you don’t HAVE to have it. But boy have I needed it! I was actually going through a bit of a wine slump pre-quarantine because I’ve been getting some bad heartburn and wine makes it worse, but I very quickly found my way back to the nectar of the gods once I was trapped inside with my kid all day long. I’m still pretty stocked up on wine (thank god) and I will never again let my supply dwindle.

Kiehl’s Lip Balm: I’ve talked about my love for this stuff before, but I didn’t realize how intense it was until I found an unopened tube in the back of my cabinet and had a freaking dance party. I was running low and getting worried, and I was saved at just the right moment. This shit is the best and I don’t know that I could live without it.


Books: I mean, this is a duh, but I do feel vindicated because I have had a massive to be read pile taking up space on my shelves for years. Like I usually have at least fifty books I haven’t read yet, sometimes more. And guess what? I’m reading the hell out of those books right now! I still have a ton on my shelf, and were booksellers to shut down tomorrow (knock on wood, please don’t let that happen!), I would have plenty of books to see me through. Though I have, of course, been buying new books throughout quarantine, just maybe not at the pace I normally would. If you want personalized book recommendations from me, make sure you check out my page on Bookshop!


My Two Best Quarantine Investments

Kitchen-Aid Mixer: So full disclosure, I didn’t actually buy my mixer, it was a wedding gift so I’ve had it for years. It’s been a little neglected since Squirt was born, but man, we are making up for lost time. We’ve made cookies, pretzels, churros, cheesecake, cupcakes, lemon bars…we are baking our asses off over here, and I could not be more thankful more this mixer.

Espresso Machine: I ordered this little bad boy during the first week of quarantine and it has been amazing. It’s super easy to use, and makes a great latte. We still go to Starbucks every once in a while, but for the most part, we are making our own coffee at home and it has never been more delicious. Plus, since this model is so affordable, we’re definitely saving a lot of money on coffee. (This is the exact machine we have, btw.)

As we all do our best to make it through these crazy times, sometimes it’s the little things that keep us going. What items have been lifesavers for you?

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