I tried my best to live my young-adult novel dreams this past year. My quarantine highlights include: solo picnics at the park, getting a new bed frame (with the help of my girlfriends), rearranging my entire room, Animal Crossing mornings, Zoom birthday parties featuring a trivia game I made of things I love (i.e. Barbie movies), FaceTime dates (that if you could imagine, went nowhere) and the most songwriting/producing I’ve done in my life.

I’m usually exaggerating when I say stuff like this, but I don’t think my life will ever be the same. Not having anywhere to go meant I got to choose exactly how I wanted to structure my day. Not having to commute to work meant those hours could be spent relaxing, working or reflecting. Even “wasting my time”…did not feel like a waste of time. Here are a few things I am most proud of during quarantine:

I made new friends and strengthened my internet friendships. I tried new ways to connect with people who listened to my music. I made an internet scavenger hunt where I had people guess the title of my next single. I did a little song-making competition with my friend Charlie over Twitch and Instagram Live. Basically, we had 20 minutes to each make a song and then we swapped and tried to finish the other person’s idea. It was crazy, but we ended up finishing one of them and one of those songs is going to be on my album.

I did two photoshoots over Zoom and I loved how they turned out. With the power of EOS utility and mouse control on Zoom, my friend Alisha and I planned out a whole look on Pinterest and shot the cover of my latest single, “Bet You Left it Out”, while I was in NYC and she was in Miami. It was one of the craziest and wildest creative processes I’ve ever done.

I tried skateboarding! Since the early Avril Lavigne days, I’ve had dreams of becoming a sk8er girl. With roads being closed for pedestrians near my neighborhood, I saw it as an opportunity to finally buy a skateboard and give it a try. August was the month of listening to “folklore” and skateboarding at an empty basketball court while my roommate played wall ball next to me.

I dressed up for myself every day. I love a big shirt, but making an effort to wear an outfit to buy groceries was the move for me. My roommates were my hype crew. Things felt important even though we were just doing every-day activities.

There were definitely tough days, but I am eternally grateful for the support and the love I had access to. All my friends and family stayed healthy and safe. They might’ve gotten bored and maybe they went a little crazy sometimes…but they were healthy and safe. As the world starts opening up again, I’m happy to say that I spent the best year I could with really great people.

While practicing social distancing, listen to my latest single, "Bet You Left it Out":