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You’ll never believe what happened today… We stepped outside of our block for the first time in 36 days!!! Wow, we did something with our lives and it was so refreshing. Our friends came to pick us up (they have also been trapped inside) and we drove for about an hour to a huge lake! Fun fact: Since we’ve been in China, I haven’t seen a lake, river, sea, or even a pond! Seeing this lake today in a huge dog park was like a tourist attraction, it was so so so nice for the dogs too because they haven’t been allowed off of the lead for the whole time, and they have never actually been to a dog park because all parks here have 3,472,000 rules, including no dogs allowed! So, even though this park was an hour away, that’s basically nothing being that we haven’t been in that type of space until today!

We got to the park and there were sooo many dogs! It was like a group dog walk sesh since we’re all in this ‘Love dogs’ group, very entertaining, everyone fancies Zac and they make it blatantly known. They were asking questions like; how old are you? Are you here by yourself? Are you in a relationship? He replies with ‘yes I’m engaged’. I slide in saying ‘It’s me 💁🏻‍♀️’. Were there anymore more questions? No sir, no more throwing out their ‘ooo you look like Jason Statham’ and ‘such a big strong man holding his tiny dog’ compliments. I can’t blame them, he’s a very handsome man but simmer down people (men and women). I may be coming across jealous but I’m not jealous of these people, I’m jealous of him! He’s getting these Jason Statham compliments, where’s my good-looking actress compliments huuuh?? Kiddin not kiddin 😂

Anyway, back on track, we’re with all of these Chinese dog owners and can’t talk to any of them as they don’t understand us, so we talk through our dogs and they can just play together… I’m sure it works like that. We took Lola to the lake AND she jumped/slipped in! She had her first swim!! It was like a baby taking it’s first steps (not quite, but close enough), she was so cute paddling but then started to panic as she couldn’t find a way to get back out of the water meaning Zac had to pull her out, still so sweet though!! Here’s a pic…

After Lola had her first water baby moment, all the dogs were in the same area around or in the lake. THEN a massive fight broke out between a very large American retriever and an old border collie! A lot of noise, a lot of cries and eventually the fight was broken up… the retriever walks off completely unharmed but the poor old collie had been deeply bitten on his neck (lots of blood) and injured his leg, he was limping around whimpering and it was so so sad! It was definitely upsetting that the collie got badly hurt BUT surely you’d put the dog who attacked him on the lead afterwards, but nope, not in China – it’s not the owners problem apparently. Well, I can assure them that if a dog attacked one of our babies then the owner would 110% realise it is their problem! By what we’ve seen, the Chinese culture treat and handle their dogs very very differently to the western world!

ALSO, Zac looks like a lobster, he got burnt… we’ve been back from Thailand for a month so I think I still have a protective tanned layer on me. Zac however, got burnt while we were in Thailand and that layer peeled off at the beginning of isolation… SO today, in China’s sunny winter day (15’c) lets just say, Zac is one overcooked calzone! Hopefully this one will turn into tan, but at the same time I hope not because then I will look so so pale! That just wouldn’t be right. He shouldn’t care though, he’s been told he looks like Jason Statham 27 times today…pffft! Kidding, you Jason Statham Lobster Calzone 😘

That was the day! I am now home and have b.i.n.g.e.d, why do I do this? I’ve enjoyed myself though and now have a sugar rush and it’s 10pm yayayayayay 🙃🙃🙃

Let’s start from the beginning, in the early hours of this morning I thought it was the end. Remember yesterday when I said I got given antibiotics for my tooth… Let’s just say we didn’t get on very well. So, I took the antibiotics quite late as I had dinner late, when going to bed I felt like normal Emily. Anyway, it got to about 4:30am, I woke up and felt so dizzy, had a headache, my whole body was tingling and I felt like I needed to move. I could have easily got out of bed and started dancing but I couldn’t because I was so dizzy (so actually, not so easily). I woke up Zac and these were my exact words when he asked what was wrong, “I’m freaking out, I feel like my body is shutting down”. His response was very comforting, he kept saying it’s okay, gave me a cuddle and he went back to sleep… Meanwhile, in my head, I’m having a mini panic attack thinking that my legs were going to swell up the size of Rasputia Latimore’s (Norbit) while feeling like I needed to do the horizontal running man… I wasn’t in a good way, although at the same time, I was sooo tired! Zac woke up again because I was so jumpy and he asked if I was okay, I replied with absolute jibberish, I could actually hear what was coming out of my mouth but had no control over what I was saying… such a weird feeling! I also had to consult my mum because she is practically my diagnosis doctor using the resource of Google, thank god for the time zone difference as I was too scared to look at the side effects – I thought I was dying! Anyway, these antibiotics are called Roxithromycin and these are the side effects: affects central & peripheral nervous systems ✅ headaches ✅ dizziness ✅ I suffered with 3 of the less common side effects… these antibiotics do not get my vote!

Anyway, I wake up this morning and the symptoms were wearing off but my tooth and jaw was still so so painful! I popped the Panadol and thank god for paracetamol! Though, that is not the main event of the moment I awoke… Zac told me HE ATE THE WHOLE GIANT COOKIE I made yesterday! Urgh! Again!! To be fair, he said he was being thoughtful, he said it was to make sure I don’t eat it, he’s stopping me from getting fat… do I believe him? Absolutely not! He eats my niceties because he’s the Cookie Monster. At the same time though, he is helping me. Thank you but not thank you, meany bobeany slaheany grangreany! Due to this criminal act, I’ve decided against making any more yummy cakes or biscuits for the foreseeable future as his punishment… and because I vowed that I wouldn’t eat anymore sugary things. I did quite well today, I only had a bite of a strawberry Cornetto! That’s good, less sugar for me today, even if I did have 3 lunches – Cereal (mix of Cheerios, chocolate shreddies, chocolate balls), cottage pie and lasagna… all so worth it though! Mayn I’m a piggy wiggy!

What else… We saw the faces of our colleagues today for the first time in a month on a group video call! Very entertaining! It was weird talking to people who aren’t Zac. Suddenly, my normal brain turned back on because I have actually gone nuts staying inside and only seeing Zac, it’s okay though because Zac has gone nuts too. We have had conversations which we probably would never of had if we hadn’t been put in isolation. Bonding experience… also showing the personality sides that everyone has but they usually keep it locked very very deep in their brain’s. Mine and Zac’s have just been released and I am pleasantly surprised with all the weirdness that keeps popping up throughout the day.

Finally, I made the most amazing chilli con carne of my life! Usually I struggle because I’m very partial to a bolognese and I end up making a hybrid bolognese/chilli = Billi? Cholognese? I prefer Cholognese! It’s very confusing for the taste buds, so this was 100% a Chilli! Oh also, Zac MADE me do a workout tonight and I’m so thankful for his bossiness and pushiness at this time, I feel so much better! In general, he knows what’s best for me (excluding food situations) because I am the worst for talking myself out of things. I’m a personal trainer. I know what’s good for me, its just really difficult to practice what I preach right now, so thank god he’s here!

So what was the go today? Well, the main thing, I risked my life stepping outside of my apartment walls to make a trip to the dental hospital… FINALLY! I’ve needed to be seen for over a month but because of this virus, did you know there was a virus? All dentists were shut and I had to suffer with my mangled tooth. Okay, so before anyone worries, I went to the emergency dental department (it’s the ONLY one open…it opened today) and they said NOTHING, big fat nothing. How unhelpful! So, yes, worry! I said look, I need something to be done, my tooth is so painful, the left side of my face has inflated and is now twice the size of my right side as a result I’ve developed a square face. See below for my real time appearance:

In the end they gave me some antibiotics and hopefully my face will go back to normal!! By the way, just in case anyone is thinking “just brush your teeth”, I actually have a very healthy, nice set of toothsicles BUT ever since I moved to China, the spicy food has been bullying this particular tooth. No, for real, that was the causation of the mangalisation of my tooth. Apparently the spicy food set off my nerves in my mouth… like they were non-existent before. It didn’t make sense since I used to live at Nando’s and was guilty for constantly having medium spicy half chicken, saucy spinach with grains & greens. Okay, don’t judge me, I know people go for the chips or rice for sides but don’t knock it until you try it because it is bangalang!! I want a Nando’s!!

Ooo another big deal today was that I’ve moved to level 53 in the domesticated adult life… I made my own lasagna pasta sheets!! We’ve really wanted a lasagna but you really have to go out of your way to get your hands on a lasagna, let alone basic lasagna sheets. So, I made them. They were rolled out thinly, cut so neatly, placed perfectly… I then went on to make the rest of the lasagna! Wow Wow Wow, I love meat in lasagna but mine was so so so meaty, I love meat!! Basically, I out did myself, for my first ever try at making a lasagna I don’t think I did too shabby! Did I stop there!?!? NO, I don’t do things by halves (apart from the running and handstand challenge) I had to finish the 2 course meal (3 course is too posh for me) I also made pudden’. I made a cookie dough skillet… currently still cooking while I’m writing this as I made it so thick it’s taking my lifetime to look like the oven is even working (it is, just impatient). Anyway, so I have treated Zac to one of my meals and I think he liked it, he said he was impressed but I don’t know if that’s because his expectations of me were so low OR I actually cheffed it up! Here is proof of my homemade pasta sheets… Level 54 is baking my own bread… soon come.

Finally, I didn’t want to make this known but it’s got to the point where I have to report a crime. ZAC KEEPS EATING ALL OF MY FOOD!! I’m so hangry about it! I make a batch of shortbreads, the next morning they’re gone because he eats them all! I make some cookies, guess what, the next couple of hours, they’re gone. I bring home chocolate to put in the cookies… HE EATS THE CHOCOLATE! While I’m writing this, he has just come out of the kitchen with more cookie! There’s no stopping him! Oh yeah the cookie isn’t cooked but I gave up waiting so it’s ready to me! Anyway, no yummy food is safe in this house so I’m going to have to find a place where he’ll never go, or result to buying a triple locked safe because those are the lengths I need to go to be able to enjoy a tasty treat in this household… he is literally like Gollum but instead of the ring, it’s chocolate he’s after… here’s an accurate representation of when he gets chocolate;

I think Zac will appreciate me comparing his chocolate habits with Gollum’s ring habits as he loves The Lord of the Rings! So there you go, today I’m Spongebob Squarepants and Zac is Gollum, what an attractive couple we are! ALSO, we have been told that we may not go back to work until May 🙃 yay. Although the gym is opening next week sooo I guess I’ll just have to spend all of my time at the gym… how terrible 😃

Well well well, look who decided to show up… Yes, for the past 4 days I have been slacking BUT for good reason. For the first 2 days of not posting I was extremely miserable, so so so grumpy, fed up and just couldn’t be bothered to do anything. I was going to write something and realised it’s going to be nothing (to me anyway). Then these past 2 days, I have felt so much better and I just wanted to enjoy having a completely opposite feeling to the previous 2 days! So I’m back people and I have 4 days worth of things to tell you… soo really, you’re welcome for my quietness.

Right, what first. Pets update! Since my last post was about them driving me nuts! First up, Lola, so a couple of days ago we realised that Lola was finding it difficult to keep her eyes open, they were blood-shot and a little swollen… and then she was sick. I initially thought it was because I accidentally threw a ball at her eye and thought I was responsible for concussing her and rupturing the whole thing (Bad mummy). Obviously was feeling terrible about it because she’s my baby! HOWEVER, we took her to the vets and it turns out that she is being affected by the disinfectant that they spray EVERYWHERE… the grass, the elevators, the floors, the doors (rhymes) and so on. The disinfectant is basically straight alcohol so it’s irritating her eyes and her stomach, mayn that was a relief for me BUT still horrible for Lola. I cannot wait until they’re able to relax about the sanitising of objects, mask wearing and temperature taking habits.

Next, Mr Zeusykins. Last time I said about him peeing on our beds and wow I wasn’t happy! Since then, he has peed on our chairs and generally still being a dick by hitting things off tables, smashing mugs and giving us his judgemental stares! Although, recently he has been begging to be picked up and cuddled which means you are very special if he chooses you. I am obviously the chosen one as he follows me around like a dog…told you he was a dog.

So onto our baby dog, Bella. She a moo. She’s being very yappy, terrorises all other dogs with her yappiness and constantly picks fights with Zeus, still very cute! However, Lola has started to put her in her place and sometimes a bit too much for her to handle but Lola is also a puppy which we do tend to forget since she’s the size of a bear! But big news, we’re training Bella to sleep by herself, this is tough for her because she’s slept in our bed from day 1 and we’re now weening her out.

Zac and I agreed about the ‘dogs in the bed’ sitch that I was talking about in my last post and honestly, it’s actually helped so much! Especially in this situation, it’s just a couple of hours before we go to sleep without dogs and it’s so nice!!! It makes me appreciate them when I see them in the morning again! Bella is still going to be in and out of the bed for a while but that’s okay with me, Zac’s happy, Bella’s happy, Lola and Zeus don’t care and I’m happy.

Next topic! Home workouts… they have been non-existent and I felt like I lost all ability to even lift a pen. Until today! Today, I did a bit of an abs sesh and a little tiny legs sesh. I was just checking to see if I’m still able to walk up the stairs when the time comes around. As I was so motivated (finally) I decided to do a bit of yoga…with Lola! I must say, she isn’t the best partner to have, she wasn’t very reliable and refused to participate for 92% of the time as she wanted her belly scratched instead BUT we got a little bit done, see below;

Final topic, general newzzz! My online classes are going well, I learned a new song today (to teach my class) and it’s so catchy: 🎵Cough Cough, Sneezy Sneezy, itchy scratchy, I say pleazy, you need to cover your mouth!🎵 we are currently learning about virus symptoms, as you can tell, coughs and sneezes are involved! Lovely!

Zac is being a real nerd now, he sits there for most of the day playing Star Wars on his PS4 while wearing his Star Wars hoodie, then on the side he’s watching DC episodes and he’s just a straight up nerdy nerd, but at least he’s my nerd 🤓 Also, all the presents he ordered for me for my birthday arrived and he wasn’t able to refrain himself from giving them to me early, so I’ve had many presents! He did so well!! A couple of jumpers and leggings! Exactly what I said I needed! He got me a couple pairs of trainers too but the sizing here is so inconsistent that unfortunately they didn’t fit, so back they go! Overall, he did very well, talented man. I’m very picky!

For me, I’m trying not to bake because I eat all cookies/brownies/biscuits/cake in one go and surely that’s not good for me! I’m trying to go walking and go to the shops as much as possible to get me out of the house and I’ll occasionally throw in a bit of an abs workout – They’re under there somewhere! I’ve been having the longest lie ins, like waking up past midday, I’m such a sloth it’s disgusting. However, good things to come: Our 1 year anniversary is in 5 days! My birthday is in 2 weeks! We are potentially visiting the UK in May! We could be going back to work in under 2 weeks! Sooo there are a few movements which are bringing me back to life, yaaay! Ohhh also, I went to the shops yesterday where a man followed me around, watched me get all my shopping, followed me to the checkout, he insisted on scanning my stuff so of course I let him go ahead, he bagged all of my items and asked for my number… I was like okay here. It’s a normal thing in China, you give your number to everyone. BUT I say this. He was messaging me this morning checking if I had breakfast and I didn’t reply so he kept sending me emojis of eggs 👀 so that’s an update on my dating life too! 😂 Zac is completely okay with it, he replies for me, because I don’t want to and he does 💁🏻‍♀️

That’s about it really so actually not that much over 4 days! See the reasoning behind the absence now! I took one for the team and decided to withhold my mundane posts and saved it all for 4 days later!

So usually it takes me around 2 minutes to think about what I want to write, and then I start splurging everything out that comes into my head… well today, I can’t do that. I have literally been a mute all day just because I can’t be bothered to live the exact same day again, this is 28th time I’ve lived this same day now. It may see dramatic but I am strug-city right now! Yes obviously slight things are different, I did a different workout or I ate something different or I took Lola on a walk but in the opposite direction. I’m so fed up. So I decided to be a grumpy mute, I do feel sorry for Zac since he’s had to see my grumpy face all day. I can’t help it though, he has his days too, he does understand (He told me that).

I think today I’ve been pushed over the edge, it’s basically been a whole month of seeing Lola, Bella and Zeus’s face’s and needs’ and it’s too much for me. To be honest, I’m not an ‘animal lover’, I’m a fan of them, I think they’re cute, and of course I love my own pets and would never let anything happen to them BUT I have now been pushed to the edge so much so, I actually fell over the edge. Usually, in normal day to day life, I see the animals for a few hours in the morning, a few hours in the evening and a little around lunch time and that’s grand, we have a great time. However, now it’s 24 hours a day, everyday and Zac has basically got his way with most things to do with them. He is a major animal lover as I’ve said before and he lets the pets get away with everything! He wants to sleep with them in OUR bed EVERY NIGHT! He feeds them while at the dinner table! He makes sure we play with them and they don’t get bored for at most 1 second because god forbid! And me, I abide by everything, or most things he wants because it makes him happy and that’s something that I’ve come to terms with and just accepted it because I want to be with him.

Now, since this virus situation began its conquest to try and ruin many people’s lives, the non-animal lover inside of me started emerging and I really wish a few things would change. I am finding this situation difficult already with the lack of gym and still eating causing me to feel so uncomfortable in myself it hurts, not socialising or doing normal day to day things, while everyone else (who I know of) in the world is getting on with their normal exciting or boring (not currently as boring as mine) lives! Hence, why this animal thing has pushed, actually no, shoved me over the edge today, I’ve literally felt numb. I’m not happy, I don’t want my cat to piss all over my bed sheets when I’m not looking (BOTH BEDS!!!), I don’t want my fiancée to constantly speak to our dogs while having dinner at the table, I want to have a conversation. I also don’t want him to sleep with our dog instead of me… how sad is that. I want to be able to finally sit down and watch one episode of something after a day of walking, feeding and playing with the dogs but no, I can’t do that because they constantly need playing with. I just need a break from it all so I can spend some time alone with the only other human I live with, to feel a little bit normal and not like we live in a civil household representing the RSPCA.

So let’s just hold up a sec, before anyone thinks anything, Zac knows about my feelings that have surfaced today, I also explained to him that I’ve accepted it because he wants it (I do want it at times, just not as much). Yes, we did get the animals together and it’s lovely but usually I would have a lot more restrictions or I would have a lot more time away from them (being with other humans). I’m only venting just to get it out. I’ll probably have a different mindset tomorrow and love them like my children again. For today, that’s where I stand and thank god Zac accepts the fact that I’m not an animal enthusiast and I look past a lot for him. Although, at some point I do think there needs to be a compromise on not sleeping with the bloody dog every night! Zac is very much also struggling too, probably the reason why I’ve withheld myself for a whole month of saying anything about the topic but I just can’t anymore. It needed to be known. Thankfully, Zac is a very caring and loving man and has listened to me!

The darling that he is, has offered to take them off my hands for a couple of days which is very nice of him. Helps a lot! It still won’t change the way I feel about myself and that won’t change until this isolation is over, when I can get back to a normal active routine. You may say, just go for a walk and you’re doing your workouts… it’s not the same! I am a very very active person and as I said yesterday I’m never usually in the house! So it is tough, hopefully only 2 more weeks of this ridiculous situation and then it’ll be back to normal, I’m actually praying!

On the other hand, I am currently very hormonal so that’s probably got something to do with the grumpy mute thing. I can’t help it. Shoot me.

Apologies for the venting/complaining but I had to get it out! I’ll change my tune soon-ish! Zac is being great with me and does understand that we’re not the same person when it comes to animals. Thank gawd!!

Absolutely nothing happened today. I made a banana cake. That was it. The end.

Due to this , I’m actually going to give you an insight on my/our mental capability of handling this ridiculous isolation for nearly a whole month… I hate it, I’m sat here with my arms crossed with my bottom lip sticking out as far as a unicorn’s horn because I’ve had enough and I’m stropping now.

The first thing I’ve noticed is our moods. They have not synchronised and oh my days I wish they would! It seems like I take the morning shift of happiness and Zac takes the evening shift of happiness. All the moods in the middle mix and match, so there is mostly harmony but mornings and evenings we are complete opposites. So much so that even saying the smallest thing to each other can set us off, for an Emily example; Zac said to me ‘Do you want cake?’… this was my reply: “Nooo I can’t I’m fat, I’ve already eaten loads (starts crying and rolls around on sofa) I can’t do this anymore, I’m gonna do the same thing tomorrow and I’m so fat now, I’ve eaten so much (Zac drags me off the sofa, I flop on the floor) nooo I can’t get up I’m too fat, there’s nothing I can do. (Zac tells me to get up, I get up and slump my body onto the radiator) what am I doing with my life, I’ve accomplished nothing, I’m supposed to be rich by now” that’s very brief but basically what Zac has to deal with, he was only offering to get me a tasty snack… Poor man!

Now for a Zac example: I say “you’ve watched that episode about 10 times”… Zac replies: “Omg shut up, it’s all I have, I can’t deal with you always going on, why are you always complaining stop, eughhh it’s really tough at the moment and this is the only thing that’s helping me, stop trying to stop me” it goes a little like that. As you can see, I only stated one tiny observation… Poor me!

When analysing both of these examples you can pick up signs of irritability, frustration, over-reactions and very emotional… This is all true as I really need to get a life. I am so restricted. I’m like a bird, I need to fly! Back in the UK, I would NEVER be home. I always find something to do: go to the shops, go to a cafe/restaurant, visit a friend, play basketball, go to the gym, go somewhere I’ve never been, go for a drive… anything that you can think of that doesn’t involve being inside of the house, I would most probably do. From that, to this, I have now officially lost my mind and I’m moving like a slug. It’s not a good look. I keep asking Zac if he’d still love me in different situations just in case it comes to it, such as “Would you still love me if you had to roll me into the elevator to get me outside” things like that. His reply is “I’ll always love you” isn’t he sweet! Although, it’s quite believable since he’s dealing with my tantrums quite well.

In all seriousness, I don’t want any sympathy, I’m just venting my feelings. I’m mad, I want to eat, train, work , socialise and live normally! No one sees their partner 24 hours a day! As much as I love his face and being with him, the excitement of seeing him when you haven’t seen him all day or at least for a few hours isn’t happening at the moment because I can’t go anywhere for a few hours! You can’t talk all day because we see each other everyday and we’re the only people we see so we end up running out of conversation. I WANT A DATE NIGHT!!! I want something special to happen! Everyday I put on a pair of leggings or trackies to workout or slump around in and have really adopted ‘tramp sheek’. I want a reason to dress up and go out because at the moment I look like a frog!

My birthday is 2 weeks away and Zac has spent all day ordering my presents (finally the delivery service is working) and trying to make my birthday special because it’ll be nice for both of us, awrh he’s so good! I hope it does go as planned because I think my birthday is going to be a celebration of ‘normalness’ if everything opens by then!

So yes, that’s what’s on my mind tonight and I know it’s not my normal story telling time but there were no stories to tell today. That’s upsetting isn’t it! Hopefully there will be a story tomorrow, because I entertain myself as well!

I am pleased to inform you that there was a miracle today. Starbucks was finally open for delivery!!! 😍 What an absolute delight! I only said the other day that I was craving a Green Tea Java Chip Frappe, someone must have been listening 🙏🏼 Zac was straight on it and ordered us 2 Frappes, a blueberry muffin for me and a chocolate muffin for him. WE LOVE CAKE SUGAR OKAY! We waited anxiously for a whole hour (this is just for dramatic effect) and finally, what felt like years, it arrived! The baby was here! The muffins were still warm and the frappe was so matcha-ee, it was like we were never apart! It may sound like I had attachment issues, well that definitely was the case and I promise I’ll never leave it this long again!

So that was exciting! Okay what else happened hmm… Well Lola was quite entertaining today, I don’t know why, but every time she goes to her water bowl she’ll have a drink, dig out some of the water and then BLOW BUBBLES in the bowl! Every. Single. Time! Our floor is constantly drenched, like a puddle and Lola makes the rain. Also, I tried to get a good picture with her today but the dick, Mr Zeusykins! Kept sitting in front of the camera! Observe below:

Okay what else, as you can tell I’m really straining the brain to talk about things today because I did nothing! Although, I had to do my online classes and I asked Zac if he would assist to be one of my models. Usually it would be a smooth process and a small video would take no longer than 4 seconds. Efficient. Oh no no, with Zac it took 10 tries and then 20 seconds per video because he takes so long about it. In the end, he cooperated and did what he was told but it was like training Lola to do a new trick. I was only asking him to “Wash your hands!” in the video! Swiftly after this, he was let go of the job and told to never go into this type of showbiz. Stick to cheffin’.

On the subject of Cheffin’, I forgot to mention, yesterday Zac made THE stew, not a stew but THE stew, the beef melted in your mouth and it was just filled with wintery goodness of hidden vegetables! It was so delish! You know when you eat a hot soup, stew or brothy kind of meal and you feel a little weird after, light-headed but in a fluffy way… yeah that’s how I felt. I don’t know if it was because of the taste or the heat but it was yummers either way! If you’ve never felt like that, it could just be me 👀. Compliments to the chef. This evening, the man himself created a fishy dishy of chilli prawn spaghetti, scrummy in my tummy mcyummy! As I said, invest in a chef people, if it’s your fiancée, it’s even better! 2 for 1!

Anyway, sadly, that’s all that really happened today… that’s lame isn’t it. I didn’t make banana bread today but I’m making it tomorrow, and I did another workout today yaaay! I’m on a roll! Here’s a picture of Lola trying to disrupt my 90 crunches but I adapted…

Where to start! There have been quite a few exciting things that happened today… well, as exciting as it gets here!

Today, yoga happened! It was only a half hour video but I put it on, did the flow and felt so loosey doosey after! Who would’ve thought that doing a quick video of yoga could make you feel so refreshed – It got me so ready to do a real hard workout. I do enjoy a spot of yoga, I loved Hotpod Yoga when I did it back in Bristol, I would 100% recommend for everyone to have a go because it’s so Zen! You end up feeling like Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda! I love it!! As a result, I will definitely be doing yoga everyday now! Yaaay, I’ve found a new thing.

Anyway, while I was doing my yogey yoga sesh, Zac was cooking up a very special gourmet meal as he wanted to make something in particular which he knew I’d love! So, get ready because I don’t think you’re ready to take in the sentence you’re about to read… Zac made the Michelin 5-star Gourmet dish of; BREADED CHICKEN, SMILEY FACES, BAKED BEANS & CHEESE. Oh. My. Gawshhh. I was 7 years old all over again! Potato Smiley Faces were one of my childhood faves and still is one of my favourites. We have only just realised that Walmart stock them!! This made isolation so much better! Then on top of that, oh my love for baked beans is close to a soul-mate status… I used to eat baked beans nearly everyday when I was a small squidling (I was never small, I mean young). As that meal was scrumptious lumptious, Zac gets many points for listening to the foods that I love. Just so yummayyy!

After that delicious childhood lunch memory, Zac got straight onto prepping Dinner… I live with my own live-in chef, it’s wonderful! You should really invest in one if you don’t already have one. Although, he was playing with his new toy (A knife) and nearly cut his finger off as he slipped and started bleeding, to be fair, hes’s done well being that’s the first time he cut himself with all the cooking he’s done (very accident prone). After sorting the finger, he was busy, so I took the dogs out for a quick walk… I left him for 20 minutes… When we got back to the apartment, Zac says “oh good, you’re back” I was thinking oh god, what’s happened now, he never says it’s good when I’m back, he sees my face too much to say such things. He takes me into the kitchen and says “I had a bit of trouble with the wine, it may have exploded” I look around and OMG, there was red wine splattered on every wall, cabinet and the floor. I only had one question; ‘Do we have any wine left!?’ I have my priorities straight. Luckily, the majority of the wine survived, phewww! But it literally looked like Zac cut through a main artery due to the amount of splatterage everywhere. It was okay though, I cleared the crime scene and everything was back to normal. I deserved a treat. So, I thought about how I wanted to praise myself.

While thinking about the infinite possibilities of treats, I did another workout! That yoga sesh obviously got me going! Mayn, this workout was tough, especially since I haven’t really done any conditioning exercises. I got it done and felt so sick but no longer slobby, as I said before, I don’t feel like a fatty anymore after I do a workout! Here’s the sesh of death:

▪️100 Squats ▪️10 Burpees ▪️90 Sit ups ▪️10 Burpees ▪️80 Mountain Climbers ▪️10 Burpees ▪️70 Lunges ▪️10 Burpees ▪️60 Bicycle Crunches ▪️ 10 Burpees ▪️50 Leg raises ▪️10 Burpees ▪️40 Plank to Elbow ▪️10 Burpees ▪️30 crunches ▪️10 Burpees ▪️20 Press ups ▪️10 Burpees ▪️10 Back Extensions

DEATH right?? Well, it felt quite good, I liked it, it’s mainly ab exercises and I love working out abs sooo I’m going to try do it everyday! It could be another ‘running challenge’ situation but I have a good feeling about this one. 2 new things! Yoga and this devil workout everyday! Yay yay yay! I definitely deserved a treat after that… I decided what I wanted: Triple Chocolate Chip Shortbread. This time Zac wasn’t able to stop my chocolate shop so I had all the ingredients to make the glorious shortbread mmm yummay! I have now become a bit of a baker. Tomorrow is Banana Cake! *Dribble*

I prepped the shortbreads and waited for them to bake. While waiting, Zac decided to do the same workout as I did earlier in the day, he completed it but vowed to never eat naughty things again because he feels like he’s over-indulged and wants to treat his body like a temple again. He said “Emily, I have no control, I need you to stop me from eating bad things” I said “I’ll try but usually you don’t listen and there is no way I can stop you” he insisted that he’ll listen to me so I agreed to his request. Half an hour later… Zac is in the kitchen eating MY TREATS, the shortbread cookies, I stand up and try to stop him! I repeated what he said to me but no. I knew this would happen. Absolute buffoon! He is a Cookie Monster and will always be a Cookie Monster. He needs to do some yoga to find inner peace to control his cookie temptations – I think it’ll work.

So yes, that was the excitement of the day and tomorrow will probably look very similar but who knows. The Coronavirus might get bored tomorrow and give up, then everything might go back to normal…or not 🙃

Happy 7 months Lola Bear!!!🥳 Since we forgot to celebrate the real milestone of 6 months, we celebrated the 7 month one instead and made it a thing because we’re good parents. So today for Lola’s ‘birth day number within the 7th month birthday’ she had a yum breakfast of watermelon, yoghurt and Cheerios. Then, she had a nice long walk, jumped into her favourite bushes and tried to pull down the trees in the garden (one of her many hobbies). She had an appetising bowl of dry food and chewed up a nice big bottle before nibbling on her bone for a bit. She got a nice scratch from Mummay and Dadday. Then, spent the rest of the day having naps on top of me or dragging Bella around playing tug o’ war… for Lola, it’s more like a tug than a war 🤦🏻‍♀️ Bella, you should really pick on someone your own size! Okay, on to the day…

Right, I got mad today because we went to the supermarket, yes that is the only place we ever go because we have to get out somehow! Anyway, we went to the supermarket and I wanted some white chocolate to put in my triple chocolate cookies that I was planning on making, we have turned into proper chefs 💁🏻‍♀️ So Zac, for some unknown reason, thinks he’s the boss when we go shopping and he says yes or no to the items I want. Now, that’s ridiculous because we both pay for this shop and he puts whatever he wants in the trolley, so I want to as well. It’s only fair! We’re going around the shop and I see him taking out the stuff, every time I put it in the trolley! What a liberty! So I decide to hold what I want and put it back in when he’s not looking… it actually seems like I’m a child who’s not allowed what they want from the store because of parents! We carry on walking through the shop and finally get to the tills, due to my sneakiness and tactics, my white chocolate made it to the till! Yaaay go me! So Zac is there putting all of the items through the checkout and gets to the end when I notice ‘he accidentally forgot to put my chocolate through’ and we start walking out. Ohhhhhh okayyyy that’s how you gon’ do me? Woooow. As you can imagine I wasn’t happy at all, my cookies are now only going to be mere double chocolate, rather than stacked triple chocolate. Now, usually, I wouldn’t be so emotional about this situation, but when trying to make my cookies reach their highest potential is the only thing I have to concentrate on, I am going to feel some type of way about this betrayal!

I’ll just give you a little insight on how this played out… we got into the taxi and Zac was apologising for not getting the white chocolate and said he’d get me some more from the shop closer to our apartment. But no. I went into difficult mode. “I don’t want the chocolate from that shop, I wanted the chocolate you took away”. ‘It’s the same chocolate though Emily’. “No, the moments gone now, I don’t want white chocolate anymore”. We arrive back at our apartment and Zac says ‘Right, I’m going to the shop to get you white chocolate’, I said “Don’t you dare, I’ll be so mad if you get me white chocolate”… What is wrong with me!? I was currently mad because he didn’t get me the chocolate, then he offers to get the chocolate and I’m getting mad because he’s offering. This is what isolation is doing to me!!! Zac didn’t end up going which I’m glad about, but my cookies were only good, they weren’t greatness like I always knew they should be!

I made these cookies and they were nice. I made a cup of tea and it was nice. It’s all just nice because nothing exciting is happening!!!! Can something, just one thing exciting happen before I lose my mind. To be honest, I think it’s already gone. I would literally do anything for a gym or basketball court to be open. Although, we’re supposed to be going back to work on 1st March and if that’s the case, praise Jeezuz, the end is near! (Talking about the virus).

Okay, what bits of today can I squeeze out, because seriously, nothing, and I mean NOTHING happened today.

This is the main highlight of the day: I ended up going to the supermarket because Zac wanted some items to make another ‘Zac Special’ dish, although didn’t want to go out into the cold himself. Being the Good Samaritan I am, I volunteered as tribute… okay, I didn’t volunteer. Zac had to ask me about 50 times to go because obviously I didn’t want to go either. In the end I gave in because at least it would give me something to do, even if it did feel like Antarctica but instead of penguins there were Chinese people wearing masks. Yay -_-

I got to the supermarket and there was a new addition on entry, the staff now take your temperature while simultaneously spraying your hands with sanitizer, wow. How refreshing. Anyway, I was actually enjoying myself looking around at all the things I didn’t need. I love food shopping and supermarkets, there’s just so many things I could potentially buy! I was so tempted to buy a hotpot cooker but left it because I didn’t want to carry it back, then I was going to buy a new mop but again, couldn’t be bothered to carry it back. It was more of a window shop and it was definitely more entertaining than being in my apartment.

Just coming away from the story quickly, I love hotpot! When I was back in England, my sister (whom is a big fan of all things Korean) would always say that she’s going for a hotpot with her friends or she’s eating noodles or dumplings or something. I just didn’t see the appeal. Anyway, since living in China, I’ve found a love for Asian food. Our Chinese friends have us round for dinner and the hotpot we have is cravable! I actually really miss it since being in isolation, and omg the BBQs they have here are just yum! So so so cheap too, you can get so much chicken, fish, vegetables or whatever you want on a stick and they’ll grill in front of you. I miss that too! Fortunately we still have dumplings, I never really had dumplings before I came here and omg they’re addictive! They’re like little parcels of yummy meat, delish – Even have a few in our freezer now! I definitely see my sister’s interest now, she’s a genius (literally and figuratively). Interestingly though, before Zac and I moved here we had a Chinese takeaway and we were not a fan!! We were worried we were moving to China and we were going to hate all the Chinese takeaway foods based on that one meal (dramatic, I know) but actually it’s nothing like that and we love the cuisine… Although, we have to be careful because a lot of the shops will probably give you the pooper doopers!

So carrying on, I was sent to the shop to get some red wine and coconut milk… I picked up some eggs, shampoo, shower gel, cat food anything but red wine and coconut milk. I got to the till and remembered what I was actually there for. Definitely showing signs of early onset dementia. I picked up the items for Zac, paid and was on my way to walking out of the shop which is when I got distracted. In China they have their own version of Starbucks called ‘Luckin Coffee’. As the virus has shut all businesses apart from the supermarkets, this means Starbucks is shut here (They also have Starbucks). I have been craving a Green Tea Java Chip Frappe for a long time now and Luckin Coffee do the next best thing ‘Matcha Exfreezo’ so I treated myself to one! Yay yay yay!! So happy!! BUT that was naughty because last night Zac and I said we weren’t going to have anymore sugary sweet things because it’s getting out of hand… I didn’t even last a day, neither did Zac though, we’re terrible! As I felt so guilty, I had to make up a story to make me feel better about it when telling Zac. I said “well, I was walking out of the shop when some English speaking Chinese man asked if he could buy me a drink, I asked him why and he said because I like your hair and I said okay, I’ll have a Matcha Exfreezo then! How crazy is that, that some random man offered to buy me a drink”. What’s funny is that Zac completely believed me because those sort of things actually happen to us here. I’m not being cocky but I’m quite admired here, Chinese women say to me ‘I love your legs’, ‘I love your nose’, ‘some women get plastic surgery to have their legs stretched to look like yours or get their nose lifted to have their nose high like yours to look more western’ so it’s not just me, any western female would be admired. Anyway, that’s why Zac believed me. So I got back home after taking my time about it and Zac was saying ‘wow how crazy the guy bought you a drink’… I couldn’t carry the lie on, I was looking at him and his bald head and I just had to tell him. “I WAS NAUGHTY, I WAS THE MAN THAT BOUGHT MYSELF A DRINK AND SAID MY HAIR LOOKED NICE!” He thought it was funny but was more upset that he didn’t get one… I’m not a meany, he told me he had a bad stomach before I left so I was saving his stomach. I’m just so thoughtful and caring and thought the lie would help him deal with it better, i told you, I’m a Good Samaritan… but I can’t lie to him so it didn’t really work.

Anyway, that’s that. I worked out, go me! And now I’m hungry again but trying to restrain myself from stepping into the kitchen because I will be ravenous! Stay strong Emily, and to all the other people who are trying to not eat about 10,000 calories today!