Busy at Work (Mostly From Home)

A black tea "latte" made with my new Aeroccino 4 milk frother (affiliate link).

Like I mentioned at the start of the month, work has been extremely stressful recently. It's also looking like my next two weeks will be especially busy. I expect I'll be billing a lot of hours through the end of the month, some of them at the office (but most of them from home). Work stress has been getting me down lately, making it hard for me to really feel optimistic about when we might start slowly returning to something resembling the pre-pandemic "normal" here in the US. 

But there are reasons to feel optimistic now: K's parents just got their first COVID vaccine doses in Connecticut. President Biden has also committed to the goal of making the vaccine available to all adults across the US by May 1, quite a bit sooner than the original late May to early June target in New York. I hear from friends who are already eligible that vaccine distribution here in NYC has been robust. (It can still take a lot of time to find and book an appointment, but my eligible friends have ultimately all been able to do so without extreme amounts of trouble.) Overall, I have no reason to doubt that all adults will become eligible for the vaccine in New York by May 1, and I'd expect that appointments will generally become at least a little easier to book over time, as capacity and supply ramp up. 

The one-year anniversary of when I suddenly rushed home from my business trip and when K and I started practicing fairly strict social distancing has just come and gone. I'd say more about that - about all the complicated feelings this brings up - except I'm too preoccupied with work right now. All I can really say at present is that, at this time last year, I had absolutely no idea what was coming. 

So far, it's looking like I might actually be able to stay completely away from fashion-related shopping this month. I simply don't have any ideas for anything I'm actively looking to buy right now when it comes to clothes, shoes, and accessories. I haven't even been browsing or window shopping online! 

I have, however, indulged in something new and quite fancy for my kitchen recently, namely an Aeroccino 4 milk frother by Nespresso (affiliate link). I haven't been to a coffee shop for my usual lattes and matcha lattes since we started social distancing last March, and I thought buying a milk frother was a good way to make my homemade coffees and teas feel a bit more special. I was partially inspired to get this specific model when I saw someone on YouTube using theirs in a "day in the life" vlog. It seemed like they used their Aeroccino 4 quite frequently, so I assumed it would be reasonably durable. I've only been using the Aeroccino for around a full week so far, so I can't really comment on its long-term durability and functionality yet, but it's been great and fun to use so far. 

It's probably a bit strange to wait an entire year in lockdown before getting the idea to finally buy a milk frother, especially since I expect to head back to the office full-time - or close to it - once I'm fully vaccinated within a few months (fingers crossed!). I had thought on and off about buying a milk frother throughout the past year, but it was one of those small appliance indulgences that was easy to keep putting off because of our limited kitchen storage. My decision to finally buy it this month did feel a bit impulsive.