Women who Quarantine - Arley's Story

Women Who Quarantine - The stories of women warriors from around the world doing their part to fight this deadly pandemic. 

Welcome to our next interview for "Women Who Quarantine" with Arley Rose!

Arley is one of those people you can't help but be inspired by! Her hard work and dedication to her career, learning, and family has skyrocketed her to huge heights. She's a dog-rescue lover, green juicer, and Miami native - as in one of the hot spots for the virus. 

Arley's Story:

Profession:  Chief of Product, for a Meal Delivery Company (catered fit)
Location:  Company based in Ft Lauderdale, I live in Miami Beach Fl. 
@arleyrosebh (I’m private but will accept the request) 


How is your heart doing during this uncharted time?
Physically, I am still trying to do an HIIT workout to get my heart rate up...but honestly that doesn’t always work. (Mostly because I can’t commit to it the way I would in a gym) 
Emotionally speaking, my heart is torn— I swing between the comfort, safety and happiness of being home with my husband...mixed with this overwhelming and crippling sadness that I feel unable to really DO anything while so many people are suffering. It’s this ominous feeling, which can even elicit guilt, knowing that we are okay, and people are suffering.

All of this coupled with constant fear of getting sick, and the idea that if I needed to go to the hospital, even not-COVID related, I would be alone.

So it’s like one of those Newton’s cradles, swinging back and forth between peaceful, safe, and comfortable and then it knocks to the other side triggering guilt, sadness, and fear.  

What has been most challenging about being home?
There are two main things:
    1.    Not being “allowed” to leave. I stay in more so for my own health as I have a weakened immune system and I miss the casual nature of being able to just LEAVE my house. 
    2.    Not being with my family. I have an older grandfather and two parents. I never thought if we were all “isolating” we would also be isolated from our families. 

Additionally, my husband’s grandmother (in Texas) is in her 90's and has been put on hospice...while we are grateful for her long life and lack of pain, it’s heartbreaking that he (my husband) cannot be with his family, or even his grandmother...and, if/when she passes, we will not able to attend any service. 

What are you doing to keep balanced and motivated?
It might sound counter intuitive, but I actually think more of a “no rules” mentality is helping us. If we want to move the furniture and dance around the living room at 10 am? Great. If we want to bake a cake at 1 am? Awesome. 
We try to keep some of our normal habits, reading, exercising, etc. BUT, being forgiving of ourselves is really the biggest thing. 

Daily balance is kind of out the door here, and that’s okay! We focus more on staying happy and bringing enjoyment to ourselves that is forcing “balance”. And in many ways, with us both being home, we are overcorrecting the lack of work-life balance we’ve had for years. Married 8 years, and so much of that time has prioritized work... now, we prioritize ourselves, (individually and together). 

How do you think this pandemic could be used to reshape society for the good?
I think we (as a society) “check in” on each other more, and are a little kinder to the people who are on the front lines (Meaning hourly workers). Hopefully that stays. 

I think this pandemic is like a sociological tectonic plate shift... and I don’t have details about how exactly it will change society, but I do think politically speaking it’s making many people question the long term sustainability of a capitalist economy. I think that service based industries (besides the grocery stores and essentials) are not able to adapt easily, and that so many can’t move 'offline' because the business model just isn’t built for it. 

I think this pandemic was a global test on the employment argument about the perks of working from home and remote employees— which will eventually loosen the grip of some old thinking and expand employment opportunities beyond the city centers. 

I think so much is going to change, and I’m eager to participate in it! 

Is there something special you are doing to take care of yourself during this time?
I'm just trying to be kind to myself and not put too much pressure to be MORE productive. 

What is your favorite book and/or podcast that you’ve listened to or read this week? 
I haven’t listened to a podcast recently (as I’m not driving my car), but I just finished, Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond ... I try to read things relevant to what’s going on. 
Another book I recommend right now,  even though it isn’t a recent read is: The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World by Steven Johnson. The Ghost Map is an easy read and really amazing in helping to understand and prove theories, while showing how urban developments contribute to the spread of disease. It’s a great book to get you noodling  problem solving, especially if you feel like you are trying to solve a problem alone. 

Guilty pleasure during this time? …. PG people please 😆lol…
Not looking at the screen time alerts. iPhone likes to tell you if you’ve increased your screen time...I don’t look at it. I spend so much time FaceTiming family, or even playing games, so seeing increase in screen time just isn’t helpful. 
Also - I think it goes back to “no rules”. There really aren’t any guilty pleasures right now, it’s just about trying to have fun safely at home. 
Actually - I did “invest” in a Pilates reformer. I guess we can call that a guilty pleasure because it definitely cost more than I should be spending at the moment. Haha!

OH - and maybe push up shots.... You line up the salt,  tequila, and a lime. Then for each of the ingredients, you start with a push up. It’s a goofy fun way to get in a few push ups and a couple shots! 

What is your favorite healthy go-to quarantine recipe?
Much like every other person in quarantine mode...I keep buying bananas and letting them rot. So, I bake a banana bread about once a week. I try to mix it up, chocolate chips, maple oats, walnuts etc., but we have basically started counting our weeks inside by the number of banana breads. Also, I really like it because you can’t mess them up. It’s like you can throw whatever you want in, and it usually works out!

My other favorite recipe, though not technically “healthy”, was a lemon ricotta pound cake. It was so light, fluffy and delicious. We had it for breakfast, heated it up and put some icecream on it- just perfection! #norulesquarantine

Banana Bread Recipe
Taken from: Cookie + kate

INGREDIENTS:

• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 ½ medium or 2 large bananas)
• ¼ cup milk of choice or water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (NOT baking powder; they aren’t the same!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more to swirl on top
• 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• Totally optional: ½ cup mix-ins like chopped walnuts or pecans, chocolate chips, raisins, chopped dried fruit, fresh banana slices…

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius) and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then whisk in the mashed bananas and milk. (If your coconut oil solidifies on contact with cold ingredients, simply let the bowl rest in a warm place for a few minutes, like on top of your stove, or warm it for about 10 seconds in the microwave.)
3. Add the baking soda, vanilla, salt and cinnamon, and whisk to blend. Lastly, switch to a big spoon and stir in the flour, just until combined. Some lumps are ok! If you’re adding any additional mix-ins, gently fold them in now.
4. Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. If you’d like a pretty swirled effect, run the tip of a knife across the batter in a zig-zag pattern.
5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (typically, if I haven’t added any mix-ins, my bread is done at 55 minutes; if I have added mix-ins, it needs closer to 60 minutes). Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for at least 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before slicing. You may need to run a butter knife around the edges to loosen the bread from the pan.

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Sending you lots of love and joy,
Marie