My Quarantine Birthday: 5 Tips to Help You Make Your Social Distancing Birthday Fabulous, Fun, and Safe!

A few weeks ago, I had a birthday!

I’m so blessed and thankful for another year of life. And I was definitely excited to celebrate getting older and wiser. There was just one problem:

…because of Miss Rona, I was home alone under social distancing orders and unable to go out or socialize in any way.

Not the most ideal set of circumstances, that’s for sure.

But, instead of resolving to simply do nothing, I decided to use my Introvert Super Powers to coordinate the perfect, solo, social distancing birthday extravaganza.

And I have 5 tips to share on how you can do the same and make your upcoming Social Distancing birthday fabulous, fun and safe!

1. DECORATE!

First things first, what is a birthday celebration without decorations?

Lame, that’s what it is.

And since you are not lame and actually want your birthday to feel like more than just another day in lock-down, grab some simple decorations and make your home fitting for the occasion.

I don’t like to use the C word to describe myself (no, not that C word – “cheap”); so, let’s just say I’m quite resourceful. So, determined to make my home festive while on a budget, I slapped on my handy-dandy face mask and hit up my local Dollar Tree store where everything is a dollar. I grabbed balloons, streamers, party hats and party horns (which I like to sophisticatedly refer to as birthday blowy things – no, seriously, that’s what I typed into Google to figure out what the hell they’re actually called).

Overall, these simple items, along with some helium-filled balloons in the numbers 3 and 2, which I grabbed from a nearby party store, made for a sufficiently festive birthday atmosphere.

picture collage including picture of woman blowing up purple balloon. silver helium balloons in the numbers 3 and 2 above furry brown chair, and woman wearing birthday hat bending over in front of silver helium balloons in the numbers 3 and 2 — Me, clearly enjoying my extra festive Quarantine Birthday Decorations!

2. MAKE IT A SELF CARE DAY!

Self-care is something we should all be prioritizing every day. This is even more true when it comes to your birthday!

Self- care is personal, so it will look different from person to person depending on what things makes you happiest and most at peace. My b-day self-care consisted of wine, wings, music and some mani-pedi action.

photo collage including pictures of woman pouring wine into a wine tumbler, a picture of a woman holding a brown bad that says WingStop, and a close up picture of woman's fresh manicure with pedicured toes in the background — Wine, wings, mani/pedi. In that order.

Being a natural “Do It Yourself” kind of girl, I have pretty much always been eager to learn how to do things on my own. And although I do pay for manicures and pedicures almost as much as I do them myself – quarantine related nail shop shut-downs had recently required me to re-stock the old mani/pedi survival kit with a new 48W Gel UV Nail Lamp as well as a full Gel Polish Kit with some color options and a Brush on Gel Nail Extensions Kit set. So, let’s just say I was fully equipped and prepared for my b-day self-care session.

Close up of A pink and white Gel UV Nail lamp, bag of cotton balls, KISS nail kit, nail polish remover, Kiss 100 pack nail tips, white and clear nail polish, cuticle remover, pink notebook and two tv remotes atop a brown ottoman — Mani/pedi ready!

And it was marvelous.

3. DITCH THOSE QUARANTINE SWEATS AND GET CUTE!

Typically, finding a super cute birthday outfit is a major part of my birthday prep. This is a tradition I decided to keep alive even in quarantine.

Honestly, there are few things as dope as the feeling you get when it’s your birthday and you just know your outfit is slaying. I wanted that feeling. I NEEDED that feeling.

So, I got up, tossed my oversized tee and comfy sweats to the side, and got cute!

I went to my closet and picked an adorable outfit that I had never debuted in public before and paired it with the perfect strappy sandal. Then, I did my hair and some light make-up and looked in the mirror at the fierce, fabulous reflection that was grinning back at me.

And it was everything I needed in that moment.

Photo collage with 2 close up pictures of woman with braids and blue earrings smiling, and one close up of crossed feet wearing blue, high heeled, strappy sandals — Don’t I look cute?!

4. HAVE A DIY PHOTOSHOOT!

Once I was all dressed up, I realized I was way too cute for no one to see me. And since I couldn’t actually go and be seen, I did the next best thing – I snapped up for social media!

Initially, I just took a few selfies, which were super cute! But, I decided I wanted my social media followers to get the full effect of my birthday look.

So I set up my Ring Light Tripod complete with Bluetooth remote shutter, crafted a quick photo shoot background in my living room, and struck a pose.

photo collage with pictures of standing black ring light tripod near brown sectional, woman in yellow romper and blue strappy sandals standing in front of window with brown and blue curtains and 2 silver helium balloons in the numbers 3 and 2 blowing party horn, and closeup picture of black Bluetooth remote shutter in palm of hand — My improvised, DIY Photoshoot – made possible by my handy, dandy Ringlight Tripod with remote shutter.

After a bit of cropping and editing on my phone, I was able to post my full DIY birthday photoshoot online and the likes began pouring in – so I guess it was a success!

Outside of social media likes, the pics are honestly just a really cute memory for me to have of that one year that we were in a national pandemic and I had to spend my birthday at home alone celebrating all by myself.

5. HAVE A ZOOM PARTY AND INVITE THE GANG!

If you are not already aware, Zoom has basically been the MVP of this entire pandemic, allowing people to still connect while social distancing themselves.

close up of hand holding cell phone with a white screen with the word "zoom" in the center in blue — Anybody else wishing they had bought Zoom stock around January?

Companies are using zoom as a way for departments to still communicate while working from home during shut-down. I have seen Zoom Weddings with just a Bride, Groom and Minister while wedding guests are all logged in via Zoom. My personal trainer is using zoom for our weekly group training sessions.

So yes, you can use Zoom for your birthday party.

With Zoom, you set up the meeting and invite the whole gang! When they log in, you can all see one another and communicate with one another as you normally would. You can play games, or just chit chat. If you’re a borderline alcoholic like me, you can take shots, or play drinking games like never have I ever.

One super fun game that I have recently seen being played via Zoom is a game called The 5 Second Rule Game . This is a trivia game where you are asked questions and given 5 seconds to yell your answers. I’ve played the game with friends in person before the world shut down due to Miss Rona and it was tons of fun. We even made it a drinking game and took a drink for every wrong answer.

picture of the trivia game 5 second rule with a 3 sample trivia cards with questions and manual hand timer — Trust me, this game is a lot harder than it seems – especially after you’ve had a few!

Again, borderline alcoholic here. Please stop Judging me.

Anyway, the game looked like it was just as fun and easy to play virtually over Zoom as it was in person, which is why I nominate it as a great option to try if you are looking to have a virtual game night.

IN CONCLUSION

Ultimately, the main goal when it comes to celebrating your Quarantine Birthday is to make sure you do not let the fact that we are in the is pandemic situation stop you from genuinely enjoying yourself.

We only get one birthday per year, and each one we get is a blessing! So don’t let it go to waste!

I know the world looks quite different right now. And maybe it will never fully go back to how it was before all of this happened.

That is just an opportunity for you to get creative and find new and exciting ways to live your life to the fullest regardless.

Hopefully, this is helpful to anyone looking for ways to celebrate during social distancing. If so, leave a quick comment; I would love to hear about your special day if you implemented any of these tips!

If you have additional tips to add, share them in the comments for anyone interested!

As always, be blessed, be safe, be informed.

-Verda