Cheers!! It’s summertime and I owe you, my readers a life update after my last post. Fix yourself a White Peach Orange Blossom Spritzer, sit back and catch up on all things Zayna and MCO.
I’m not going to go into too much detail about the Covid-19 Jordan lockdown, because quite frankly I think we’re all over it. But so many things happened during lockdown, I’m just going to give you a quick recap.
At first, I was productive…
If you kept tabs on me via Instagram, you’ll know I was actually super productive the first 30 days — yes, I was keeping count. Jordan was under one of the strictest lockdowns (after Europe) during the early stages of COVID-19. The government put into place martial law and mandated that we stay indoors, closed all businesses, prevented all modes of transportation except by foot or bicycle, set super strict curfews with sirens, and jailed and/or fined anyone who tried to break the rules. Side note, so many great memes were created, and I found out Jordanians have a hidden talent for video editing and graphic design. I stayed on a schedule, fit in home workouts,changed out to PJs into somewhat real clothes, did actual work, cleaned, read lots of books, and tried to keep a positive outlook on life. And then somewhere around day 31, all the motivation and productivity died.
And then I wasn’t …
I think I counted up to 40 some days before I just stopped counting. My positivity did not last the entirety of quarantine. I couldn’t get myself to get out of bed, I was staying up past dawn and sleeping in past noon. PJs all day was real. And we even had to “celebrate” (I use that term loosely) Ramadan and Eid in lockdown.
Happy Birthday to Me!
One of the lucky ones I guess … I spent my birthday in Lockdown, and by lockdown I mean there wasn’t even a bakery I could order myself a birthday cake from. So I made my own, and I celebrated at home. For those who know, I created my own atmosphere — I don’t think the neighbors were too happy that I was blasting my music until the late hours of the night when everything else was quiet.
I got married!
Yassss. I did it, I tied the knot with the love of my life. Our Ketab and marriage was months in the making. We were on track to have my family fly in from America and everything. And then …. Coronavirus. We postponed a number of times until we decided that with the world at a standstill, we had to make adjustments to our plans. We wished we could have celebrated with every friend and family member, but we value our our loved ones’ health and safety more than our selfish want to get married. We were lucky to be able to celebrate with a small ceremony at home with his family in person, and mine over Zoom.
MCO Fam, meet Waddah … you’ll be seeing and hearing about him alot more. {Insert cheesy couple pic here}
We got a dog!
Can you imagine? I’m a pet owner now. P.S. being a pet owner is basically like being a parent, except your dog loves you unconditionally and won’t ever talk back.
Theeba, our German Shepherd is coming up on 6 months. We got her at 2 months and watched her grow, rather rapidly. She has filled our life with action where there was none (read as: during lockdown). If you’re a dog lover and want to keep up with her, she has her own Instagram page.
Jordan started going back to normal ..
Or some semblance of normalcy. Businesses are back up and running, curfew was lifted, restaurants are open, and cars are causing their usual traffic. We thought we were in the clear until a few days ago when cases started to spike again. Now we’re required to wear masks and gloves everywhere. Could we consider this phase 2?
A few other announcements …
I’ve finally started using my YouTube Channel. Yay me! It’s been forever in the making and I’ll be honest, it’s mostly been a matter of laziness. Story of my life. I’ll be linking the videos to each recipe on the blog as they’re posted. Scroll down for the White Peach Orange Blossom Spritzer video. In the meantime, though, go check out my channel. If you’re not into YouTube, don’t fret, I’m also posting them to IGTV. I know, I know, it’s about time.
Waddah and I are working on a new joint venture. A lifestyle blog/ Vlog series with insight into family life, our dog, fitness, food, and travel. Stay tuned. I’ll let you know when we’re up and running and ready to launch.
Ingredients
- 2 peaches, washed, pitted and cubed
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
- Juice from ½ lemon
- Sparkling water or club soda
- Lemon slices, cubed peaches, and mint for garnish
Instructions
- In a small saucepan mix together peaches, sugar and water and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring regularly
- Once at a boil, add in orange blossom water and lemon juice and stir, keep on heat for 2 minutes
- Turn off heat, cover and allow the mixture to steep for 25 minutes
- Fill each glass with ice and garnish
- Then pour in simple syrup (about ¼ of the way)
- Fill the rest of the glass with sparkling water and top with mint
- Repeat for the remaining glasses
