Monday Musings- Tales from Captivity

Happy Monday ladies! Or in other words, Happy Day 7,983 in captivity (self-isolation, at my daughter’s place in Canada). We have made it through our first week of self-isolation, in her tiny apartment. I’m pleased to report that everyone is still alive, including Honey Pug (yes, that is her name ;).

We chose this as the perfect week to not only stay entirely within the four walls of this (lovely) five hundred square foot apartment, but also, to open every drawer, closet, and cupboard; pull everything out that my daughter has ever seen, touched, or bought, and bring it into the middle of the room for the purpose of REORGANIZATION.

Naturally, there are two things on my mind this week: decluttering/organizing and gin and tonics. And might I add, these two items pair quite well together it turns out.

Decluttering

The first step in decluttering this space was to pull quite literally everything out of the cupboards and start sorting through. While neither of us has watched Marie Kondo’s show, I’m pretty sure we have successfully reenacted it over the last seven days.

I quickly learned is that it’s actually quite difficult to organize a kitchen with so few and such tiny cupboards. We ordered some new shelving for her front hall closet in order to store small kitchen appliances and paper goods.

Since we can’t get out to shop, we have been scouring Amazon for all kinds of organizing goodies. We have been amassing a pile of “free things” to donate after our quarantine ends. I have rearranged the patio furniture twice, and we have just decided on a third option for tomorrow:)

We have our eye on a couple of dressers from West Elm because believe it or not she doesn’t have one. My favorite is this one…I am determined to make it work!

It may not surprise you to learn that my daughter Vanessa is a fan of shoes, an affliction she comes by naturally. We have gone down a rabbit hole of shoe storage and decided we like the shelf style the best, instead of hanging shoes. Because, while her place is very small, she doesn’t like to have anything out to look at (ie. hanging racks) so everything must be tucked away. This is difficult to achieve… but we have a lot of time on our hands!

Gin & Tonics

My mother always drank a gin & tonic, and I thought they were disgusting. Until I discovered that gin-soaked raisins help with arthritis. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy! And so I determined if ever a day arose where my arthritis still bothered me and I couldn’t picture consuming one more bloated raisin, I started to make myself a gin & tonic.

I would call gin & tonics a medicinal necessity, when quarantined (and when not), during the pandemic (and in normal times). My favorite gin is Tanqueray because it’s made with Juniper berries (which is supposed to help with your arthritis). My favorite tonic is Fever-Tree, because, frankly, the can is pretty and it’s a bit lower in calories.

Last week my daughter’s friend Amanda, after learning of my arrival and gin appreciation, sent a picture and told me about something called Empress 1908 Gin. This name refers to the landmark Victoria, B.C. hotel “The Empress.”

“The gin is made with eight organic botanicals and a non-GMO corn-spirit as the base. Butterfly pea blossom lends the spirit its deep color. An aromatic London Dry gin style with a lush blue hue, Empress promises to make a regal cocktail.”

In particular, she shared that the gin actually changes color when tonic or citrus is added (lime juice!) from deep indigo to monarch purple, to rose petal pink. This is due to the butterfly pea blossom added during distillation. While I can’t sneak out yet for a bottle of Empress gin, it is high on my list once we exit quarantine next Monday.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great start to the week!