The Social

Week three and life in quarantine is either starting to feel like the new normal or the ultimate test of our will power. We’re just taking it day by day… martini by martini….

And if that’s not enough, we’re here with the weekly Round Up to give you a little extra content for your weekend and a few things worth celebrating. 

LISTEN

Are you still processing what’s happening in the world? Well, lucky for us, “Still Processing,” the podcast, is back and teaming up with The New York Times to talk about “routines, dreams, and what’s on our screens.”

The infamous Brené Brown gave us all a pep talk on her podcast, Unlocking Us, this week. She broke down the myth of comparative suffering and let us forgive ourselves for the collective weary we are all experiencing. 

CELEBRATE

We can’t agree more with Alison Roman’s sentiment, “celebrating literally anything feels essential right now.” We devoured her Passover recipes and plan to pair them with our Winter Blues Look to celebrate Passover next week with our quaranteam! 

Speaking of celebrate… we are celebrating the weekend with our inaugural virtual dance party, The Set, this Saturday, April 6th! Tune in to our Instagram at 8pm EST to hear Claire Marie kick it up a notch and kick off your shoes to dance along to her soul infused set. 

READ

You know we love to #setthetable and with this extra time on our hands we’re diving into Danny Meyer’s phenomenal book, Setting The Table, because hospitality and business are two of our favorite things.

We’re inspired by this article about Greg Baxter of Olmstead who has turned his restaurant into a food bank for furloughed restaurant workers! 

WATCH

…an opera! Because why the hell not?! The Met is streaming a new opera every night for free! Please pass the opera glasses. 

Movie night has evolved in a major way now that you can watch Netflix with friends. 

GIVE

We are championing ROAR this week, because hospitality workers are always there to take care of us, and now it’s our turn to take care of them.

Welcome to What Our Friends Are Cooking, where we call up our favorite people to find out what they’re cooking while under quarantine.

I think we will all reemerge from this with a deeper appreciation for community.

Colby

Q: How are you staying sane?

Colby: I think it is very important to have a routine and be as active as possible, while first and foremost respecting my health and the health of others. Giving myself goals each day and structuring my work schedule to be as similar as possible to normal life has been important in maintaining a healthy balance.

Q: How has this situation impacted you emotionally?

Colby: If anything, quarantine has made me hyper aware of all the things in life that I took for granted. Whether it be spending time with friends or going to a restaurant for dinner, there are many aspects of everyday life that seemed so simple and now feel like luxuries. I think we will all reemerge from this with a deeper appreciation for community.

Q: Wildest quarantine revelations?

Colby: The most surprising aspect of my life under quarantine has been this crazy sensation of having no concept of time. Even with fewer distractions, a considerably less hectic schedule, and all of these extra hours to theoretically be productive, I find that the days slip away from me. I have been slowly figuring out how to grapple with this strange new reality, but still have yet to find the answer!

Q: If you could time travel back to any past gathering, which would it be?

Colby: I would have to say I would love to relive my wedding. My husband and I got married in September 2016 in the South of France. It was a picturesque weekend filled with all of our friends, amazing food, the perfect weather, and great music.

Q: Your ideal first gathering when this is over?

Colby: I hope by August we are able to get together in small groups for end-of-summer celebrations. My favorite evenings are always spur of the moment dinners, eating outside as the sun goes down. My ideal meal begins with a simple salad made from fresh produce followed by a summer pasta with tomato, mozzarella and basil, and homemade ice cream for dessert. I always love a colorful table arrangement and Social Studies’ Doppio hits all the right notes.  

Colby’s Perfect Bolognese:

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 3-4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2-3 chopped peperoncino
• 3 lb. ground meat (1/3 beef, 1/3 pork, 1/3 veal)
• 2 cans of tomato sauce
• 1⁄4 cup dry red wine
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Directions:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and peperoncino and cook until tender.
• Add ground meat and cook until no longer pink, then add tomato sauce and red wine and continue to stir.
• Season with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese – stir until combined.
• Cover and let cook on low heat. Check and stir periodically.
• Serve over al dente pasta (preferably calamaretti or spaghetti)

Keep up with Colby on Instagram @minniemuse.

How do we make sense of all that is happening in the world? In these moments of uncertainty, I look for comfort in things like good reads, homemade banana bread, and founders who inspire me. Until we can gather and celebrate again, I want to highlight some of the amazing humans moving me forward right now.

READ:

• A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum (on the Jenna Bush book club list, and approved by my mom)
• The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer (recommended by Kristina O’Neill, and she knows journalism)
• The Jetsetters by Amanda Ward (on Reese Witherspoon’s book club list)
• Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (a page turner)

WATCH:

• Little Fires Everywhere
• The Goop Lab
• Hillary
• McMillions

STAY INFORMED: 

• Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush on The Today Show reporting from home
• “Boss Files with Poppy Harlow” podcast
• Katie Couric’s newsletter, “Wake-Up Call”

BAKE:

Anything by Candace Nelson, Jessica Seinfeld (also follow for cat imagery), Pamela Salzman, and Katie Lee.

Oh, and lots of banana bread.

GET YOUR BODY MOVING:

• Taryn Toomey
• Megan Roup
• Forward Space 

GET ORGANIZED ON FINANCES:

• It’s About Damn Time, by Arlan Hamilton
• Ellevest
• Financially Forward, by Alexa von Tobel

 LISTEN:

• Playlists by Marjorie Gubelmann (Aka DJ Mad Marj)
• Florence and the Machine
• Maggie Rogers
• Fleetwood Mac
• Prince
• Brooks and Dunn

Let’s be honest, we weren’t exactly the kids in school that gleefully participated in Extra Credit (recess, anyone?) but given the difficult climate we’re currently coping with, we thought everyone deserved a little Extra Credit. 

Extra Credit is where you will find a bit of everything that is at the top of our inboxes and front of our minds. From our virtual hangouts, to the independent restaurants we are championing, to the food banks we are supporting, and of course, the memes and moments that remind us to laugh. We want to bring a bit of our virtual community we’ve created to you! Because until we can gather again in real life, we are excited to gather here with you. 

And with that, we think it’s time for roll call!  

EAT!

You know we love to gather around a table, especially where there’s delicious food to be had. Therefore it’s been difficult to watch small independent restaurants struggle to stay afloat. We suggest buying a gift certificate to your favorite local eatery, or donate directly to support their employees, or sign a petition to encourage lawmakers and legislators to take swift action to save America’s restaurants. 

We’ve been able to support our favorite local hangouts and keep our dinner dates (we will always find a way to socialize!) by ordering in delivery and switching on FaceTime. 

Our go-to’s these days are Carbone, Kings Co Imperial, Claro, Dante, Fish Cheeks, Frankies Spuntino, and Sunday in Brooklyn.

Want more options? Resy’s got you covered. 

LISTEN!

Many a news outlet (and our friends) are touting this as the most entertaining podcast episode ever. We know. They said, ‘ever.’ We’re pretty sure many of you have an hour of free time on your hands to give it a go. 

And if you just need a little zen… Headspace is always there for you. 

GATHER!

Zoom Cocktail Parties! FaceTime calls! Skype Videos! Don’t be shy… just do it! We need a sense of community now more than ever, which is why Social Studies gathered for our first Zoom Cocktail Party last night — cocktail attire included! 

It was a breath of fresh air to see smiling faces and share the highs and lows of quarantine life. We left it feeling like we were in this together. 

Pro tip! To get the party started we circulated a few fun questions for everyone to ponder before jumping on Zoom. Our first question was, of course, “what’s the best party you’ve ever been to?” 

READ!

First things first, Screw. This. Virus.

Everything I Already Know About Love by Dolly Alderton will have you simultaneously laughing and crying. A perpetual, self-described “lover of love” Dolly has been writing and musing about the elusive drug since she was in her twenties and has distilled all her wisdom into one awesome book. 

FOLLOW!

We’re looking at our community to give us guidance, laughs and introspection during this time. Here are a few of our favorites we’re currently following! 

Because we all need a bit of Good News. 

Global dance party anyone? Forward Space is hosting them daily. 

Cleo Wade is able to be both inspiring and provide laughter. We bow down.  

Overheard New York is bringing satire realness to get us through.

Dogs Working From Home. Need we say more?

Our friends at Bumble always know the way into our hearts.

INSPIRE!

And finally, let’s flatten the curve, which can only be done as a collective unit, because, above anything else, we’re in this together. 

We wanted to end with a quote from New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, pulled from his interview with Michael Barbaro for The New York Times. You can listen to full interview here. 

“Do everything you can. Do everything you can to flatten that curve. Do everything that you can humanly, possibly do – extend your imagination in a way you never thought and extend your ambition beyond yourself because it’s not about you. It’s about us, it’s about the collective, it’s about society. Don’t expose yourself to other people. Don’t indulge yourself. Save as many lives as you can. Be responsible. Be civic-minded. Be kind. Be considerate. Think of one another. Yes, we’re going to have an inconvenient period for a few months. We are. Deal with it and deal with it gracefully and deal with it with kindness and intelligence.”