It is already July but the COVID-19 issue is very much still here. In Los Angeles, even though beaches, hiking trails and some businesses started to open up, many of my friends are still mostly staying at home for safety concerns. So other than binge watching Netflix and Tiktok, what can we do to stay sane, without going stir-crazy?

For me, I learned to find little fun projects to do, while at the same time discovering myself. I wanted to be able to enjoy my time at home, and not have my happiness rely on outside entertainment.

“Do not look for happiness outside yourself. The awakened seek happiness inside.” - Peter Deunov

Below are 5 things that keep me busy and pleased during quarantine:

1. Organize and Decorate My Home

When they announced the quarantine order in March, this was the first thing that came to my mind. Since we now had to stay at home at all times, why not make our home the best place to be? I started small, by decluttering, purging my closet, then moving on to do some little decoration like putting up a new painting and setting up a nice dining table. All these things made me feel happier as they brought a sense of accomplishment.

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As more businesses are closed and we are asked to practice #socialdistancing I want to spend some time to make our home a happy place. You know, bright color, cute dinnerware and flowers. There’s enough negative news out there. Let’s make the situation more tolerable. . . . . . . #homedecor #potterybarn #surlatable #crateandbarrel #dinningtable #wfh #workingfromhome #diningroomdecor #springcolors #flowersmakemehappy #bepositive amid #covid_19

A post shared by Yutine | LA Food • Travel (@yutinef) on Mar 18, 2020 at 8:58am PDT

2. Learn to Cook a New Dish

Learn to cook a new dish. It can be a new dessert, artisan coffee, or cuisine from different cultures (I started to cook Italian and Korean! ? ). I also looked into creative ways to make low-carb, tasty food to stay fit.

3. Set Up a Table in the Backyard

Or you can have a picnic like many people do. We chose to set up a table because I'm afraid of jumping spiders ?. Being cooped up at home most of the time, it was very nice to be able to sit outside, enjoy the sunshine and carry on casual conversations with your loved ones. Our cats like to lounge on the grass too!

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Recap of our weekend - enjoying breakfast ???in our backyard with plenty of sunshine and vitamin D ☀️? . . . . . . #simplelife #backyard #californiadreaming #visualoflife #quarantineandchill #socialdistancing2020

A post shared by Yutine | LA Food • Travel (@yutinef) on May 6, 2020 at 12:10pm PDT

4. Watch Old Movies and TV Shows

Of course you can watch new ones too. I just have many old movies and TV shows on the list to watch so I took advantage of the extra time and caught up during the quarantine. The oldest movie I watched was Risky Business (1983) and I caught up to the latest season of The Blacklist and American Horror Story.  

5. Pick Up a New Hobby

I will not be at where I am today if not because of my hobbies. I am an immigrant, and many people have asked me how I learned English. The fun story is that I grew up with Harry Potter books in my teenage years. And I was obsessed enough to read the books in English and learned on the go. So here's a list of hobbies I either try out or still exercising during this time of quarantine:

• Practice yoga with Youtube videos
• Learn how to cook
• Play with Lightroom (for editing photos)
• Start a blog (that's how this blog is born ? )

Did you start doing anything more during the quarantine? Please share by commenting below!