It’s rare that the whole world experiences the same thing at once. And while we definitely aren’t all experiencing quarantine in the same ways, we’re all still going through a traumatic experience together.
While some people might find them irritating, I think the trends that have come out of quarantine—quarantrends, if you will—are such a cool display of humanity. They enable us to share something, even when we can’t be together.
While I’m willfully choosing not to participate in some quarantrends (here’s looking at you, TikTok), there are a bunch I’m partaking in!
Animal Crossing
A day or two before Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out in March, I got a group text asking if I was going to be buying it.
Uhh, what is Animal Crossing? I asked. Ohh, how naive I was.
We were lucky to receive a Nintendo Switch for Christmas last year (seriously could not have come at a better time), and I wasn’t really playing it on my own that much. Then I found out about Animal Crossing, which is basically like The Sims but cuter, and I was sold. I’ve gotten to the point where I literally have a recurring daily to do list just for Animal Crossing.
The addiction is strong.
Dalgona Coffee
Next up is dalgona coffee, or whipped coffee that you make with instant coffee, sugar, and hot water, and serve over milk. I originally saw that you could make it with finely-ground coffee, but I tried it and failed, so I got some instant coffee and IT WORKED. Science is amazing!
I have to say, I’m a bit pretentious about my coffee, so I’m not sure I love dalgona coffee. It’s got the artificial instant coffee taste, it’s suuuuper sticky, and I drink too much of it so I get over-caffeinated really quickly.
Also, I think the smell of instant coffee will give me PTSD for quarantine for the rest of my life.
That being said, it’s a fun treat, so I’ll definitely drink it until I run out of instant coffee!
Playing Pandemic
We received Pandemic as a Christmas gift from Sean’s sister a few years ago, and we love it! We just never think to bring it out. Then a literal pandemic hit, and we thought… we can’t *not* play it…
It’s a cooperative game, meaning you all win or you all lose—you’re not playing against everyone else. You get randomly selected roles, and four different diseases started spreading across the world. The goal is to cure all diseases, and eradicate them if possible!
So far we’ve played it twice, and both times we’ve realized that we were playing it (at least slightly) wrong. Whoops. But we’ve really enjoyed it and I can guarantee we’ll play it at least a few more times before this is all over.
Puzzles
I am a huge fan of puzzles. One day earlier this year (when travel was still acceptable), I went to visit my parents and accidentally spent the whole time working on the puzzle they had out on their dining room table. Whoops.
I unfortunately only had one puzzle on hand… and it turns out I had already done it before. And most of the pieces were still connected in the box. It only ended up lasting me about two hours, but it was fun while it lasted! Now I’m getting ads for puzzles on Instagram and I’m so tempted.
Virtual Happy Hour
These were so fun at the beginning. I rarely see my college friends now that we’re all living in different cities, and I hardly ever see my coworkers now that I live in a different state. So when the virtual happy hour trend came around, I was on board.
Then around week two or three, I got burnt out, fast. While I may love my friends and coworkers, I’m still very much an introvert, and even video hangouts zap my energy.
I haven’t done them much lately, but I loved it while it lasted! And who knows, this pandemic may be around long enough that I want to start participating again.
Rearranging Furniture
We hit this stage way too quickly. 😂 We have a sectional in our living room that can be switched around, so we removed the chaise and put it in the sunroom. Oh, and we ripped carpet out of the sunroom, scraped down the popcorn ceiling, and removed a bunch of tile from our entryway. So… we did a lot in March.
We kept the trend going this week because we (finally) got a bunch of furniture delivered from West Elm! (Some of it was literally more than a month late.) We got a desk and two chairs for the sunroom (which means the chaise went back on the couch) and a new bed frame and nightstands for the master bedroom. We moved the old bedroom furniture into the spare room, which means we finally have a guest bedroom!
Dizzy yet? Because I am. 😂
Sourdough Bread
I just started this one this weekend, but I’m really excited to try it out! I’m using Serious Eats’ Sourdough Starter Along With Me as a guide. Today is Day 5, so we’ll see how it looks once I get to Day 14!
What quarantrends have you been participating in?
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