To All the Things I Did During Quarantine

Like most folks, when quarantine began I felt lost, isolated, and bored. As an extroverted person, Zoom meetings and phone calls didn't (still don't) satiate my social needs. To help fight off depression (and, really, to fight off the dread of hearing “THE NEW NORMAL” or “you’re on mute" for the 7929348729th time today), I tried a variety of activities. Coming up on a year of being at home, I decided to reflect on some of these hobbies and rank them (so you can save your money, lol).

Rating system:

• Overall Enjoyment - out of 10 (1 being “ew, COVID” and 10 being “love dat”)
• Price  - out of 3 dollar signs ($ = almost free  $$= affordable $$$= get ready to break the piggy bank)

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Flower Arranging

I started this hobby a bit before quarantine started. Before the pandemic, I had a few times where I invited friends over, and we arranged various flowers/plants in vases or bouquets. It was simple, but so much fun! Although I really miss seeing my pals in person, it's still a fun way to pass my weekend mornings. While walking my dog, I'd bring my clippers and cut any flowers I saw within my housing complex. Usually I’d keep them to myself, but occasionally, I’d drop them off for my family. After a couple of months, the gardeners in my complex stopped pruning our roses, so those started dying. I hope to live near a place with many flowers and pretty foliage one day so I can continue this hobby!

10/10 - Would recommend

Price Rating - $ (If you pay the HOA, you have 100% rights over those flowers)

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Video Games - DS, Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing came out right when quarantine started. I held off buying a Switch for so long! The FOMO of not visiting my friends is what made me crack and give in to peer pressure. Not only did I buy a Switch, but my husband bought one, too (I wasn’t going to share an island with him, please). While I stopped playing Animal Crossing after about two months, I'm glad I got the Switch! I'm currently playing Yoshi’s Crafted World, and I couldn't be happier.

10/10 - Would recommend for my Epic Gamers

Price Rating - $$-$$$ Depending on the system you get/the games you want

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So good

Dalgona Coffee

I watch a lot of Korean YouTubers and follow many of them on Instagram. Quarantine started in South Korea before it did here, and many folks started making their own Dalgona coffee, a sweet coffee that can be made rather easily! It was such a trend (and looked so good), I literally made it for like a month straight. I gained a lot of weight during this time because there is so much sugar in the drink. I don’t make it as much anymore (especially since it’s colder now!), but enjoy it occasionally in the afternoon. The process of heating water and mixing the coffee is soothing. I like it as an afternoon break.

8/10- Would recommend, but in moderation

Price Rating - $

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Mug Recipes

Like most people, I started cooking more at home during this time. My favorite items to cook are fun and unhealthy foods (yikes, sorry mom). I first saw someone make mug pizza on youtube (thanks Jenna Marbles). It sounded so good and so ridiculous that I needed to try it. It’s super easy to make! Although it didn’t come out perfect, I really loved being able to make a whole dang meal with a mug. My husband hated it.

7/10 - Would recommend for a kids/family activity, but not too much else

Price Rating - $

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Lemon challenges/fun things to do over Zoom/Among Us/ Codenames

We all have Zoom/online meeting fatigue now, but at the beginning of this quarantine, I'd sit and plan fun activities for my friends/family to do. My favorite games are Among Us and One Night Ultimate Werewolf, but my husband enjoyed Codenames more. In truth, though, the most memorable games were activities that we/I created on our own. One of them has to be the lemon challenge. You just race to see who can eat a lemon faster. I don’t plan as hard anymore for these nights, but I did enjoy the process!

10/10 - Would recommend trying to make your own games

Price Rating - $

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Wine Club/ Yama Yama Wines

My friends and I used to hold a monthly wine night where everyone would bring a bottle of wine based on a theme. These were the best nights - think beautiful charcuterie, good music, great friends, and delicious wine. Once quarantine hit my friend started a shared iPhone album of Trader Joe wines we tried. We would upload our photos and comment on our rating/thoughts. This was so fun! It was a great way to connect again over our love of wines and help one another find the perfect bottle. One of my friend’s last name is Hirayama, and the thought of having our own winery (title YamaYama) is something that always makes me happy (imagine an entire line of mountain-themed wines, since Yama means mountain in Japanese). I started an Instagram in order to document the process, but life happened, and I never got around to making anything of it.

9/10 - Would recommend a shared album with friends, but would not recommend half-starting an IG account

Price Rating - $-$$ I tend to buy wines in the $10-$20 range, so it’s pretty affordable for me (would recommend looking for cheaper wines made in France, their standards are much higher than ours!).

KCups aren't heat-proof, btw.

Dragon Beard Candy

Saw this online and wanted to make it. My goals were to get good at candy-making (I was obsessed with candy YouTube videos from the months of June - September) and give them to our loved ones. I bought a candy thermometer and everything. As you can see from my videos, it was fail after fail after fail. I tried a total of seven times to make this candy and didn’t succeed once.

4/10 - Would not recommend, both husband and I burned our hands many times

Price Rating- $$ I didn’t have a candy thermometer, white vinegar, or other materials needed to handle HOT sugar, so I had to buy a few things

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Trying things I see on Youtube (sour wax candy)

This doesn’t really count as a hobby, but I was obsessed with trying candy that I saw ASMR creators eat on social media. I bought these sour wax bottle candies, and then I never tried anything else again.

2/10 - It’s too much wax, bro

Price Rating - $

Drawing

My husband got an iPad, so I thought I could try drawing. Well… there was that ONE Yo! Zine comic I did, and then a few others I kept to myself. I stopped making comics after that.

1/10 - Would recommend if you’re motivated, would not if you think having a tablet automatically makes you an artist

Price Rating - $$$ (It’s the iPad for me)

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Resin Jewelry

Got to try this with my cousin and loved it. She had all the materials and showed me how to make various items. We spent almost the entire day making stuff!

10/10 - Would recommend!

Price Rating - $-$$ Depends how much supplies you get!

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Bleaching my Hair/Bangs

I bleached my hair 10 times, cut my bangs twice, and cut my hair three times during quarantine. My hair is so damaged and uneven.

1/10 - Would not recommend, go to a professional

Price Rating - $$ I had to buy a lot of bleach to get my black hair blonde..and then more stuff to maintain it

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Tea Time

Similar to how Dalgona coffee was a fun way to break up my day, tea got my through the warmer months. I still have tea a few times a week and I love it. During the warmer months, my husband and I would enjoy a quick 15-minute break on our balcony with tea and no phones. Currently, I'm trying to perfect my own version of Starbuck’s medicine ball tea.

10/10 - Would recommend, good for mental health

Price Rating - $$

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Polygel Nails

Saw people doing this on Instagram, and thought “I can do it.” Spoiler - I can’t. I tried it a couple times and haven’t done it since. Go to a professional, like Notox Nails!

1/10 - Would not recommend

Price Rating - $$

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Organizing/Moving Things Around

I didn’t watch the Home Edit, but I do love seeing organized homes. One thing that kept me sane was changing my furniture, organizing, and moving things around.

10/10 - Would recommend

Price Rating - $

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Glass Bottle Cutting

This is a new hobby. I love collecting bottles, but I have no real use for any of them. I decided to buy a bottle cutter so I can make vases (for my flower arranging). It works, and I love it.

5/10 - I'm still scared I am going to cut myself, and I 100% did not need this. Do not get unless you can commit to the craft!

Price Rating - $$

Wood Work

In the summer of 2020, I thought I'd make some cute wood toys for my nieces and nephews. I borrowed some tools from my dad, cleared a space in my garage, and to this day, I have not started.

5/10 - I really need to start this project.

Price Rating - $$-$$$ I was lucky enough to borrow my dad’s tools (lol, I still haven’t returned it). I also found some free wood thanks to friends! When I went to a home improvement store and saw that the wood was really expensive.

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This was our first attempt. Don't judge the trash bag, I ended up buying a real hair bib (or whatever it's called).

Haircuts

My husband has been bothering me for years to cut his hair. The gravity of this responsibility would weigh heavy on me, so I'd always refused. At the beginning of quarantine, though, I thought it'd be better for him to have a messed up haircut than get sick, so I went for it. Thanks to the help of some of our friends (thanks, Jeff and Brad!), I got it down! So now I cut his hair every few weeks.

9/10 - Would recommend! It's scary at first, but pretty fun after :)

Price Rating - $ Just need to get some shavers or scissors and you're good!

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Minecraft

My current obsession. I literally play Minecraft everyday, and I don’t know how to stop.

10/10 - You need dis. The Disneyland (ImagineFun) server is AMAZING!

Price Rating - $$ .. unless you try to get on all platforms smh

Recording a lot of Videos

My most favorite thing that I’ve taken up during quarantine is recording videos. I stopped taking as many photos, and decided to record more, as often as I can. Although it is a punishment to my phone memory, I enjoy looking back at the silly videos I take. Some are very funny and remind me of the great people (and dogs) I have in my life. Others are more mundane, but they capture everything I should continue to be grateful for (shelter, food, and dogs).

10000000/10 - Would recommend

Price Rating - $ (I guess $$$ if you need to buy a new phone…)

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Special thanks to my partner in crime for letting me post embarrassing things :)