What Are You Looking Forward To?

What Are You Looking Forward To

A few weeks ago, Cupcakes and Cashmere had a really great post with the super specific things each team member is looking forward to in 2021 / once we are vaccinated, ETC. I would definitely recommend reading it as it made me feel really optimistic. It inspired me to make my own little list, but I would LOVE to hear yours too.

Travel

Travel is obviously a big one. I miss so many things. Falling asleep on an airplane, waking up, even being jet lagged. I miss it all – that exciting feeling of seeing a new city and maybe even getting lost (is it weird to miss things like jet lag and getting lost!?) and talking to strangers. To be super specific: solo travel, sitting at the bar of a restaurant with a book and chatting with the bartender (this is the best way to get off the beaten path recs, in my experience).

Sitting at the bar (on a date!?) for dinner.

Sitting at the bar has always been my favorite. Especially on a date, where maybe you don’t know the person very well yet… it’s casual and easy. And god, I miss dates, looking cute, and just having a good conversation / wondering where the night will take you.

Go for a walk without a mask.

This was something I was able to do in Charleston (on side streets, where sometimes you wouldn’t see another person for 5 minutes). I miss the lightness of walking outside, feeling the sunshine against my face, smiling at people passing by. The feeling of the sun on your face, I miss it.

Working in a place that is not my apartment.

I love my apartment, but I’m kind of also over it. I miss having a spot to go work… be it a coffee shop, restaurant, co-working space, etc. Since I work for myself I don’t necessarily have to get dressed up and go somewhere, but a few days a week it is nice to get dressed and go somewhere else to work.

Going to the movie theatre by myself on a Friday afternoon

Pre-pandemic I didn’t go to the movies much, but whenever I did… it was the best. I’d get a small diet coke (the only place I drink Diet Coke is at the movies?), a delicious snack (pretzel bites are my FAV) and just sit in the dark, zone out, and watch a movie. I love a movie date but I also love taking myself to the movies. It’s pretty great.

What are you looking forward to… once things get back to normal… or “normal-ish!!!”

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59 Comments

  1. Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog:

    I miss going out without a mask! Actually I have a love-hate relationship with it. On one hand, I love not having to wear makeup and not feeling insecure about my face, but on the other hand, I miss glamming up for nights out! ❤️✨

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog

    2.5.21 Reply
  2. Katie:

    Ah, the feeling of the sun and fresh breeze on your face without a mask…I miss that so much. I live in Tokyo, so I most miss ducking into tiny little sushi restaurants and izakayas (Japanese gastro-pubs) that you stumble across on random walks, crammed in next to strangers who just love good food too.

    2.5.21 Reply
    • Zara:

      Omggg I miss Tokyo and izakayas so much!! I hope to visit again after the pandemic is over It really is my fave city ever.

      2.5.21 Reply
  3. Shen Dove:

    I miss all of these things too! I also just miss impromptu drop in visits to people with our being worried about covid.

    And I very much miss walks in the sunshine in my face with no mask!

    2.5.21 Reply
  4. Annie:

    I am a teacher who is teaching in person all day, and because I’m in a mask (now two masks…) for 8 hours straight, I’ve stopped wearing make up. I have never worn much to begin with, and I’m not really a make up person, but I have been really missing tinted moisturizer lately! I did put on mascara today for the first time in a LONG time, and it felt good.

    I can’t wait to go to the library again. Once a week I would leave work a little earlier than I usually do and go to peruse the bookshelves. Curbside pick up is not the same! Plus, I havev a 2 year old, and I want to start taking her regularly. It’s a habit I’m itching to start up with her. She doesn’t go anywhere anymore! Oh, and the children’s museum! Can you tell the weekends are getting loooong? 😉

    Finally, my sisters both had baby boys in December – on the same day! – and I haven’t met them yet. One is in Denver and I live in Portland, ME, so it would be awhile for me to see her anyway, but the other is in Cambridge, and I can’t go to see her with quarantine/testing rules for my job (plus, my bubble is too big to see anyone by choice these days). My best friend and her family also live in Southie; we rarely go more than a month without seeing each other, and I haven’t seen her since this summer – and even then it was a quick, outdoor, distant meeting. I never thought I’d see the day where I’m dying to go to Massachusetts, but here we are!

    2.5.21 Reply
  5. Julia Dzafic:

    I second working outside of the house! I’m so sick of my 4 walls at this point. Also really long boozy dinners with girlfriends xx

    2.5.21 Reply
  6. Maggie:

    I’m looking forward to traveling. My fiancé and I have been intending on going to Walt Disney World since 2018, it for various reasons have had to keep pushing it back. We were supposed to get married in April of last year and then honeymoon in Hawaii, but part of me thinks that we might end up doing Florida as our first big trip once we can travel again. Rescheduling the wedding seems like too big of an undertaking because it’s not just us that we have to consider, it’s all of our guests, so I’m not sure when that will be realistic.

    2.5.21 Reply
    • Tracey:

      I can’t wait to have my house to myself! I’ve got my 14 and 11 year old virtual schooling, plus a husband all at home. I’m used to having quiet time to myself when they’re all away at school and work and I miss that dearly. I also long to be able to sit in Starbucks or browse Target while I’m waiting for my kids to finish activities. Right now, I’m just sitting in my car for HOURS. It’s funny that what I miss the most right now is being alone.

      2.5.21 Reply
  7. Kassie:

    Looking cute

    2.5.21 Reply
    • Kassie:

      *crying*

      2.5.21 Reply
  8. Kelsey:

    I’m looking forward to my daughter, who is currently 3 months old, meeting her great grandparents and other extended family for the first time. I miss being comfortable browsing stores in person, in the past I would go shopping at the mall for hours at a time not necessarily buying anything.

    2.5.21 Reply
  9. Mary Hunter:

    Being spontaneous! Starting the day with brunch out with friends, and then seeing where the day goes from there. Grabbing a drink at the bar (and maybe even an unpalanned dinner, gasp?!) for the same reasons. And live music! That experience just can’t be replicated at home.

    2.5.21 Reply
  10. Audrey M:

    Looking forward to crying less, Grace. Just crying less.

    Also, I’ve never wanted to get bumped into by a sweaty stranger more.

    2.5.21 Reply
    • N:

      Hang in there! Better days are coming and we ll be smiling and hugging people once more!

      2.5.21 Reply
  11. Kayla:

    I miss boozy brunches with the girls, wandering around an actual shopping mall (and eating mall food!), trivia night with bae at our favorite Incan restaurant, saying yes to weekend getaways (I know some people are doing this safely but I wouldn’t be able to relax), and taking my poor dog to patios/dog parks/anywhere besides our neighborhood. He has been so bored and depressed that I got him a puppy friend. Now he is just annoyed.

    2.5.21 Reply
    • KJ:

      Oh my gosh! The mall. Definitely miss it now that I think about it. Will always remind me of high school, lol.

      2.5.21 Reply
  12. mary:

    I miss culture. I miss plays. I miss the symphony. I miss going to the museum. Yes, I know I can still go, but I want the maskless experience of just enjoying the art, people watching, buying a souvenir in the gift shop and not feeling jumpy if anyone gets too close to me.

    2.5.21 Reply
  13. Mary:

    I think the most exciting thing will be going to HH with my best friends and sharing appetizers. Besides takeout, I have not been to a sit down meal in over 11 months.

    2.5.21 Reply
  14. Sara:

    Love this! I am looking forward to traveling as well, and going out to eat or for drinks! I also really miss wandering around a book shop, and then stopping at a coffeeshop for a latte and diving into a new book.

    2.5.21 Reply
  15. Margaret:

    Sitting at a coffee shop to read. It was part of my weekend routine and I’m not doing much reading this winter because I have trouble concentrating at home.
    Also…window shopping and random exploring?? This summer to break up the monotony I went to some different towns near me or other areas of the city (I’m semi-new to where I live) but when I got there I was like well… I can’t go inside any of the cute shops or museums… so now what.

    2.5.21 Reply
  16. Sara:

    Traveling around and outside the US and seeing family/friends without worrying about someone getting sick. Days of hopping around from brewery to brewery, restaurants, wherever the day takes us instead of having to make reservations and plan everything out in advance, if we can go at all!

    2.5.21 Reply
  17. Meaghan:

    I love that you had movie dates for just you! Prepandemic I went to the movies by myself sometimes too and it was the best (no discussing what movie multiple people want to see) and just being. It’s the best! I’d add that to my list again too.

    Another wishlist item is going back into a library and browsing. BOP has been a terrific resource as well as your reading lists 🙂

    2.5.21 Reply
  18. Emma:

    I’ve been dreaming about sitting at a bar with a glass of wine, a plate of French fries, and just reading a book. A solo date where I’m near strangers and I’m not afraid of sitting next to them.

    2.5.21 Reply
  19. Clare:

    My grandmother and I will both be fully vaccinated this time next week. God willing, we will be able to see one another (pending her assisted living facility’s protocols), so I am really looking forward to that.

    Bars and restaurants re-opened this week where I live (25% inside capacity) and I can’t wait to eat inside this weekend (I am comfortable doing this, as we are vaccinated, social distance, wear masks, etc.).

    I also can’t wait to be able to exercise again in a gym, without a mask on. Hopefully no later than this time next year! 🙂

    2.5.21 Reply
  20. briana:

    Mine are pretty similar to yours! Travel is obviously the first and foremost. I was planning to visit Quebec City & Montreal with a friend last fall and then Amsterdam & Scotland with my family this fall (which in theory could still happen, but unlikely as everything is just so up in the air), so I can’t wait to make those trips happen as well as a trip to Norway for my 30th birthday next year!

    I also completely agree with you on working in a place that’s not my home. I’ve been working remote for about three years now, so I’m used to working from home but I do miss having the option to work from a café every now and then.

    One weirdly small thing I can’t wait to do is be able to acknowledge people on the street or in a store with a smile again. Between sunglasses and mask, there’s no way to silently acknowledge strangers anymore and being from the South, it makes me feel so rude! Haha.

    Then on a more significant note, I’m obviously looking forward to the larger effects on public health and mental health that will hopefully come from herd immunity. I’ve been extremely lucky that my family and I haven’t been affected by COVID in any significant ways but that doesn’t negate how horrifying and sad it is to see how much this pandemic has stolen from people.

    2.5.21 Reply
    • Wendy:

      Yes, I miss smiling at random people! I work at a university and it has been so difficult to read faces of students behind a mask !

      2.5.21 Reply
  21. Valerie:

    More than anything I’m missing the spontaneity of life. Waking up and having the freedom to do almost anything without running through the safety scenario in my head. Theme park for the day; road trip to the beach; booking the cheap flight I found for a long weekend away in a place I’ve never been; finally getting a reservation at that ‘perfect’ spot I’ve been wanting to try. Oh the dream of eating in a restaurant bustling with people and energy!

    Someday, we’ll get there. Until then I’ll keep baking my perfect banana bread recipe.

    2.5.21 Reply
  22. Julia:

    I cannot wait to get a group of friends together for Tex mex…
    But also, my husband’s grandma still hasn’t met my daughter, her great-granddaughter, who was born in September! So that is our first stop!

    2.5.21 Reply
  23. Carly:

    I miss dancing, especially in a group of strangers! I love wedding dancing and was often the one to drag someone’s Great Aunt Bertha out on the dance floor. There is a place near me where they play great dance music and people from all walks of life show up to dance- I hope it is the same once we can go back!

    2.5.21 Reply
    • Brooke:

      I can’t wait to dance with strangers again. Sunday nights. If you know, you know.

      2.5.21 Reply
  24. Maggie:

    Brunch with friends at a restaurant. Browsing boutiques and bookstores and libraries. Meeting up with my whole family at my sisters. Meeting up with my husbands family for holidays or just a random weekend. Date nights OUT OF THIS APARTMENT (getting just a bit stir crazy…). Exploring new to me places in my city again

    2.5.21 Reply
  25. Marianne Buonopane:

    All of this sounds so lovely! I’m in my senior year in college & this was supposed to be the year that all my friends (since we’d all be of age) would travel, go to away games, etc. obviously, this isn’t the case and it’s a bit of a sting. I cannot wait to be vaccinated and start doing all the simple things (movies, dates, etc) as well as begin traveling and seeing new places! Thanks for the little bit of hope and excitement 🙂

    2.5.21 Reply
  26. Katie:

    I have been feeling a bit down because some health issues that cropped up during the pandemic that are going to make eating out challenging once that becomes possible again. That was my favorite activity so I am kind of mourning that, just being able to go and try anything on the menu.

    I am looking forward to having people over again. I used to love entertaining and it’s weird that home is now this lair no one else sees. I am also looking forward to random interactions with strangers again that aren’t fraught with worry. I want to chat with my Uber driver without freaking out about aerosols. I want to make up little reasons to go to stores in person and chat with the salespeople.

    I used to be a massive traveler but strangely I’m not looking forward to that much? Somehow moving myself and toddler and a bunch of stuff to a new location doesn’t seem that appealing anymore.

    2.5.21 Reply
  27. Stacey:

    Traveling, hugging friends, and browsing a book store!

    2.5.21 Reply
  28. Meagan:

    I love this post! I miss hot yoga classes, getting work done or catching up with friends at a coffee shop, randomly perusing home goods or the mall and being able too see friends and family without worrying about Covid!

    2.5.21 Reply
  29. Haley:

    I can’t wait to leave my apartment to go to work! But more specifically I can’t wait for a Friday morning at work. There’s a Friday energy – everyone’s tired but excited and greets each other with Happy Friday! And we’ll often have team breakfast (read: donuts or pastries) or order lunch in. Can’t wait to be vaccinated so this can happen again!

    2.5.21 Reply
    • Sasha:

      I TOTALLY agree with this about Fridays at work!! I think about that all the time on Fridays!

      2.5.21 Reply
  30. Caitlin:

    I miss the wait at restaurants for brunch or on a Friday night. I miss Being in a tiny space with your friends & strangers, chatting, people watching, sighing as the minutes tick by with the glorious meal as the reward. It used to be annoying and mundane. Yet, I miss that part of the experience.

    2.5.21 Reply
  31. Elizabeth:

    I miss taking my kids to the playground, which have been closed since March! We told our kids that the mean guy made all the parks close, so my 2.5 year old daughter wakes up every morning asking “Did Joe and Kamala turn off the pandemic? Did they fix the parks that the mean guy broke?”

    2.5.21 Reply
  32. Michelle:

    Solo travel, girls trips, eating in a restaurant, kissing a stranger, concerts!

    2.5.21 Reply
  33. Kayla:

    I’m with you and I’m SO looking forward to traveling again. For me I’m also looking forward to going back to work as a fitness instructor in-studio, I’m grateful for Zoom but it’s definitely not the same. I’m also a major theater lover and cannot wait to be in the audience of a broadway show. I know I’m going to SOB that moment when the lights go down.

    2.5.21 Reply
  34. Ashley:

    I miss walking outside without a mask, just breathing in fresh air not through a mask. I am looking forward to going to the movies, going to weekend brunches with all my girlfriends, and going on much needed vacation.

    2.5.21 Reply
  35. Molly:

    All of the things you mentioned! And hugging my nephew! Oh and finally meeting my new co-workers in person ha. This might be more serious, but very excited to not have those awkward convos about what people are/are not comfortable with.

    2.5.21 Reply
  36. Stacy:

    I’m looking forward to:
    Freely enjoying my (soon-to-be!) new city without having to look up restrictions, etc.
    Dating – as much as I loathe dating, its necessary to finding a partner!
    Travel, for sure.
    Seeing friends, especially visiting my friend who moved to LA in March! The timing could not have been worse for her; I want to give her a big hug and get overpriced drinks at Tom Tom.
    No maskne 😉
    Concerts/live music!!! Ugh, I miss getting beer spilled on me by a rowdy guy.

    2.5.21 Reply
  37. JC:

    I love taking myself to the movies too! It is also the only time I drink diet coke.

    2.5.21 Reply
  38. Kristin:

    I’m looking forward to:

    1. Throwing a big boozy party with our friends. Getting into platters of food and dips that I don’t have to worry about being disease ridden. But if I’m serious, I don’t think I’ll ever look at dips at a party again without being grossed out 🙁

    2. Taking our 3 year old on airplane rides to see family and just widen her world in general. Very excited about the first time we can take her out of the country whenever that might be. Right now it’s a toss up between London and Rome for her first international experience.

    3. Being more spontaneous with our meal planning and grocery shopping habits.

    4. Having a few onsite business meetings or conferences to go to. I’m a deep introvert and always hated that type of thing but am craving it now.

    2.5.21 Reply
  39. Julie:

    I have this memory that keeps haunting me. Leaving work early, grabbing lunch with my husband and then deciding to walk and browse a bookshop and then drop in and grab froyo to go. It’s so little but as a high-risk person who has been able to do almost nothing and started having serious concerns about whether I would make it out of this alive, it seemed so impossible. Then I got called up for my first vaccine shot and within days I started thinking about that memory again and it seemed possible again one day. I’m hoping that the door opens to book clubs together, museums and travel and less daily stress and trauma. The idea of just doing something casual and spontaneous without any fear is what I’m holding on for right now.

    2.5.21 Reply
  40. Tess:

    I miss travel the most–hands down. I am desperate to leave the country and see a place I’ve never seen before. Wander around a city with no agenda, eat something new, stay at a historic hotel…when I want to conjure happiness I often think of the way I feel when I wake up in the hotel bed on the very first morning of a long-awaited trip. BLISS! I will actually cry if I keep writing about it, I know that sounds dramatic but c’est la vie.

    I also have a very specific dining out fantasy. I plan a group dinner at one of my beloved New York spots. (It has to be New York, I want to share an impossibly tiny, impossibly chic space with impossibly well-dressed strangers, I won’t have it any other way.) I get dressed up in something that makes me feel fantastic. I arrive early enough to squeeze into a spot at the bar and have an extra dirty martini.

    I’m clearly losing it. Widespread vaccination can’t come soon enough!

    2.5.21 Reply
  41. K:

    There are the obvious ones. Seeing friends and family and not being stuck in my home. But mostly traveling! I had to cancel a lot of solo, friend, and family trips. I was supposed to go meet my close friend’s second baby. I think when I finally do, he’ll be 3! Also being able to escape the brutal winter by taking a weekend trip to somewhere warm. I’m hitting both a pandemic wall but a winter wall. And I can’t escape like I normally do.

    But mostly I am looking forward to the smaller things. Running errands without a mask or worrying that I’m around too many people. Wandering around Nordstrom. Going to the movies on a really cold or really hot day. Seeing a musical. Reading a book on a patio or in a coffee shop. Not rushing home when I do leave my apartment. Taking a group fitness class. Unexpected plans where you end up spending the whole day hopping around to different places. Eating inside a restaurant.

    2.5.21 Reply
  42. Libby:

    I am really excited for theaters/broadway to be open again. Going to see a show is weirdly a form of self care for me, and I always feel recharged mentally when I see a show. I also feel like it centers my creativity which would be really nice 🙂 the last show I saw on broadway was at the end of february 2020 and I always feel grateful and lucky that I did not get covid because my guess is that the chances were high at that time!

    2.5.21 Reply
  43. Grace:

    I thought I would miss the big things like big vacations and big events, but really, it has been more of the little, more ordinary things. Like: being spontaneous with friends, cocktails after work, a crowded movie theater on a Saturday night, and a nice massage. The biggest thing I miss is going out with my friends on a Saturday night, going dancing and singing karaoke.

    2.5.21 Reply
  44. Susan:

    A chin without maskne!?

    2.5.21 Reply
  45. Jessica:

    I’m looking forward to hugging my friends and family and seeing their smiles/full expressions; seeing more of my colleagues & going to lunch and events together; manipedi/massage/facial, hair blowout to then go out in the world! – to dinner/drinks with friends/dating again; going to my yoga studio that will hopefully reopen; shopping at local businesses; travel; walking around NYC; meeting the new babies that have entered the world; and most of all, exhaling the stress, anxiety, fear, and sadness of this time. I am so hopeful for these possibilities!

    2.5.21 Reply
  46. Mackenzie:

    Love this!!
    I can’t wait to see my mom! It’s been a year and a half now. I also can’t wait to go on a vacation. I wanna go to a beach and just sit in the sand with a drink.. the dream!

    2.5.21 Reply
  47. Carrie:

    I loved reading these!

    I am looking forward to: 1/ browsing the little shops in our neighborhood. I know I can go with a mask but it isn’t the same. I want to wander aimlessly and take my time, without worrying about that lady over there who won’t distance and hoping no one in there is sick. 2/ taking my son to the grocery store. He is 18 months and has never been! Can you even imagine how wild a store like that will be to a little guy who really sees just his house and parks? I can’t wait (and realize how privileged I am that he has been able to stay safely at home this whole time). 3/ taking my kids on vacation! A plane, a beach, yes. 4/ having friends over to watch games, have movie nights, bbq, play with our kids, whatever. I miss hosting and really just want to invite friends over for a lazy but fun weekend afternoon. 5/ ease. Everything is just hard. So much planning and so much worry. 6/ being alone in my house. I love my house! I love sitting in silence! For Mother’s Day this year I am kicking everyone out for half a day. I want to sit alone in my living room and appreciate what I have. In the silence. Did I say alone? I miss solitude – which I realize is the exact opposite of what people who live alone miss!

    2.5.21 Reply
  48. Danielle:

    Going for a lovely meal out with my friends!

    Danielle xx
    https://www.thereluctantblogger.co.uk/

    2.6.21 Reply
  49. Rebecca:

    Grace. I’m looking to returning to NYC. We stay at the SOHOTEL. We love this area. Chinatown. Little Italy. The Butcher’s Daughter. Balthazar. Shopping. I believe we passed your sister’s design establishment one time. It’s within walking distance of other areas in the city. Or a cab ride. Then Brooklyn. Then Paris.

    2.6.21 Reply
  50. Lisa Autumn:

    Girl I cannot wait to travel again!

    Lisa | lisaautumn.com

    2.7.21 Reply
  51. Vanessa:

    I’m most looking forward to being able to travel (solo) again as well as pop into my local library to browse for books whenever I want to (our libraries have been closed throughout most of the pandemic). It’s the simple things, really. I feel as if I haven’t had a break since February 2020 because I’ve been working non-stop (I work for an essential business) and we’re all pretty close to burn-out here. I just want to feel normal and relaxed again and not have to worry about always having a mask with me when I step outside to go grocery shopping.

    2.10.21 Reply