the clipboard guide to staying at home

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly email newsletter about hospo, fashion, and, this week, lockdown, by Reilly Hodson. Now that we’re back in lockdown, I’m here with a list of the lockdown trends you should follow, and what you shouldn’t. If you want to support the newsletter, hit the button below to help me pay my bills.

keep your love lockdown

Well, we’re back. Level 4. Unless you are one of the heroes deemed an essential worker, or a hospo worker being illegally called into the workplace to do a deep clean, you’re stuck at home, and so am I. We’ve done this a few times now, us Aucklanders, and we’ve learnt things along the way. Here, in a facsimile of Sunday Magazine’s Going Up, Going Down, are the lockdown trends you should embrace, or throw out the window.

going up

• Supporting local. Stuff has compiled this good list of local businesses operating through lockdown. Buy some adult beverages from Everyday Wine or Star Superette, or coffee from Coffee Supreme or Kōkakō. You can also buy stuff from businesses which aren’t operating at the moment, for the gratification of helping the economy now, and the actual item later, once we’re back at normalcy.

• Chris Parker. The funniest lockdown comedian out there is back, folks, and better than ever. Follow his daily skits on Instagram or TikTok, you won’t regret it.

• Baking bread, but not sourdough. Sourdough is too much work, unless you’re super dedicated, and in my opinion, it isn’t worth it. Make focaccia or a no-knead loaf instead, save time and flour and get something super delicious and satisfying. We ate a whole loaf of my girlfriend’s no knead bread in a day on Friday, and will do so again before we’re out of this.

• Getting dressed. This doesn’t necessarily need to be gowns and tiaras, a la Hilary Barry, but it definitely helps to wear real clothes, or at least just not what you wore to bed. Try a new colour combo, or lean into a new look, just don’t wear pjs all day everyday.

• Embracing print is a great antidote to your quickly skyrocketing screen time. Read a book, or a magazine (they can still operate at Level 4 which is a great relief to me), and take yourself away from the bad screen for at least a little while.

going down

• Banana bread. It’s not very tasty and there are way better things you can bake just as easily, like brownies.

• Sharing every Covid update on Instagram. We all saw it, and even if we didn’t, we aren’t looking to our old high school friends’ Instagram stories for to-the-minute information.

• Time-lapse workout videos. Stop showing off.

#content

Unless you have children, perhaps the single biggest difficulty of lockdowns is figuring out what to watch. Here are some suggestions, leaning heartwarming and funny because honestly, who needs any more sad stuff in their life at the moment? We all see the news.

• Taskmaster NZ (TVNZ On Demand) is a collection of hilarious comedians doing funny stuff, 45 minutes at a time. Doesn’t get much better than that.

• Ted Lasso (Apple TV+) is just as good as everyone says it is. Charming, funny, and tearjerking, it hits all the spots. Plus, if you recently bought a new Apple product, they’ll pretty much give you a subscription for free.

• Whatever long-running TV show you love the most. For some, that’s the Office or Parks and Rec. For me, at the moment, it’s Suits, but this works with any long show. The best thing is that you don’t have to pick what to watch, because there are a million episodes.

• What If? (Disney+) is pure Marvel nerd catnip.

• TikTok. Give it a try, let the creepy algorithm learn everything about you, and lose a few hours in the blink of an eye.

• Never Too Small (YouTube) is a charming channel about designing spaces with small footprints. As an apartment dweller, it’s great inspo, and very soothing viewing.

• Apple Arcade is a mobile game subscription for iPhones that has gotten me through a number of lockdowns. It has heaps of good games for your phone, and none of them hassle you for money or run annoying ads. Try Mini Motorways, Outlanders, and wurdweb to start.

That’s all for clipboard this week. My self care is a shorter newsletter this week, I hope you’re doing whatever helps you feel sane, and being kind to others and yourself. Get in touch if you’d like to chat, and you can follow me on Instagram. I’ll be back in your inbox again next Sunday morning, see you then!