Pandemic Year in Pictures. — Fashion, Some Days

Coming up on the dark one year anniversary of living through a global pandemic has hit me in the past few weeks, with a roller coaster of emotions. I’ve been sad, antsy, grateful, angry, anxious, and all sorts of other things thinking about this past year and how March 16, 2020 seems like both yesterday and a literal lifetime ago.

I’m not sure if it’s just fighting through the winter blues, and February somehow seeming like the longest month of this past year, but looking back on where we were when all this hit us has me feeling somewhat nostalgic for those early quarantine days of daily happy hours, new, short lived hobbies, and going on three or four walks a day from feeling so cooped up. Outside of the obvious loss, lifestyle changes and heartbreak seen over the past year, I also feel grateful for many things, and what being forced to slow down did for my perspective on a lot of things, and flourished relationships, like the incredible bond that grew even deeper between my husband and I the past 12 months.

So here’s to all of it, and here’s a brief view of my life in photos since we got sent home a year ago. The blur that has been the last 361 days.

March 2020

Leaving work on March 16th, there was still a feeling of optimism in the air, we all thought we’d be back to business as usual after just a couple weeks. While navigating the early days of working from home we started to slow down and dive more into time in the kitchen. Enjoying the sunny days hanging on the patio and embracing spring. I remember after a couple weeks I felt like I hadn’t got dressed in so long, was so out of touch with blogging and Fashion by Day - if only March 2020 Kirby could see me now, literally living in sweats one year later.

April 2020

With stay at home orders still in place and what felt like so long at home already, April opened the doors to new hobbies. Like many I was deep into the hilarity of TikTok, spent all of two days making bracelets for all my nieces and every occasion, and decided this was the year I’d really invest in a bountiful garden.

May 2020

May started a little bittersweet with us missing our vacation to Italy (we made the best of it at home). Stay at home orders shifted just a bit so I was able to pop in one or two thrift stores, but overall still stayed pretty close to home.

June 2020

June got us out of the house for the Black Lives Matter Movement but outside of participating in local protests cabin fever was beginning to set in, and we found ourselves safely getting back into nature. At the end of the month we also officially launched h.h. Wolfs, our vintage and thrift marketplace and got creative setting up a photo studio on the back patio with an old bed sheet.

July 2020

July brought so much joy, as we had our first intimate social interaction since before the shutdown, and got to spend the holiday weekend with our very closest friends in Ohio. Working from home also started to make a shift into a more routine schedule, and I started to feel more comfortable going to my home office everyday.

August 2020

We bought our first home!!! And moved about 15 minutes East of Asheville to Black Mountain, NC.

September 2020

Honestly September was a whirlwind between working on getting settled into the house and starting small renovation projects!

October 2020

October was a fun month! We renovated are basement bathroom, I sold my car (my very first car, that I had had since I was 17 years old), we chased a lot of sunsets and fall color leaves, and I found out my brother and his wife were expecting twins!

November 2020

The store I oversee, East Fork reopened it’s newly renovated downtown Asheville shop, we continued to move through house projects, and Andrew perfected his In-n-Out recipes, so we can have all the double doubles and animal fries at home we can imagine. We also cooked a much to large Thanksgiving feast for just the two of us, which ended up being perfect enjoyed by candlelight at sunset.

December 2020

Even though I knew we wouldn’t be home for the holidays, I wanted to have a little Christmas spirit in our new house for the first year. But on December 23rd we set off on a road trip to Florida, to spend the holiday poolside in the sunshine. While there isn’t much too special to report on Bradenton Beach, on the morning of December 28th we found out I was pregnant and spent sunset at the beach thinking about our future with a little one.

January 2021

At the start of January I went to Atlanta for work for the first time in a few months, and this probably means nothing to anyone, but while I was there Andrew pulled his first Charizard card from a pack of Pokemon cards, so his month was basically made. I also turned 30, and spent my birthday relaxing and playing games at home with our best friends for three days.

February 2021

Aside from the one beautiful day of snow, February was cold, and wet and so gloomy, and literally felt like it was never going to end, and that was just the first couple of weeks. Part of it, I’ll admit, may have been the anticipation of getting to see our baby at our first ultrasound appointment - which then sort of turned it into the best month ever! We also updated our main bathroom, and saw a little bit of light the past few days when the sun came back out and we could begin dreaming about warm, Spring, days.

Here we are, March 2021

The past couple of weeks I’ve had so many conversations with friends and co-workers about where we were a year ago, what we were thinking, how we never anticipated not seeing each other IRL, going back to the office, or planning a vacation for so long. And while a lot of that may bring up bad feelings, with temperatures rising, us beginning to think about preparing a nursery, and vaccines being rolled out, I find myself feeling hopeful and at peace. Enjoying my quiet, slow moments at home knowing that whatever happens with the pandemic over the course of this next year, I know my families journey will be a wonderful one.