385 Comments
author

Our nanny and her husband moved out today and we SOBBED from six feet away, we have been together for like 7 years, 3 of them living together.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Ohhh no, I know how close y’all are. 😭Not the same but I had a long text chat w my cleaner who I love (3 years working together) and she has littles including one under 1. Lucky to be able to pay her to not come, but worried others may not and hope she can stay safe.

Expand full comment

I'm so sorry Nicky. i've got a lump in my throat. :(

Expand full comment
author

I will never ever ever take seeing babies and old people for granted again as long as I live.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

THIS! I want to meet the babies and see my friends in action as parents and hug my grandmother and visit my parents in person.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I just found out I’m pregnant (due in November!), and I want to give birth in a hospital that feels safe, where I know my husband will be able to be in the delivery room with me. I want to get a huge bowl of ramen from my favorite place. I want to find a new blush at Sephora.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Congratulations! You and family will be in my thoughts.

Expand full comment

I also want that for you! <3

Expand full comment

I want that for you too.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I work on Broadway. I miss it. I keep thinking about what it will be like the first performance back and I get chills. I can’t wait.

Expand full comment
author

Tell me and I’ll try to be there.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I hope you like musicals about witches ;-)

Expand full comment
author

Oh I DO.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Wait I want in on this!!!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Also I would like to go grocery shopping without feeling like I’m literally dodging bullets every single time.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I work Off-Broadway and I feel the same. I feel like the day all the theatres reopen (I like to imagine we’ll all do it the same day) will be such a gloriously joyful event.

Expand full comment
author

I will go to your show too!!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Nicole!! Once we know when we'll be able to re-open I'll post about it here :) <3

Expand full comment
author

Good. It’s a promise.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to go to a baseball game and sit next to a stranger and talk to them about baseball, not coronavirus.

Expand full comment
author

I WOULD LOVE TO DO THAT SO MUCH

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

God yes. I want to sit in the shade on a hot day, drink a beer, and score a game.

Expand full comment
author

I am going to go to Philly to see a ballgame w my friend AK and look at butts.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Philly is #1 on my to-visit list because it’s the closest one that I haven’t been to and I wanna see the Phanatic step on people.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Yes!! I had just bought a new scorebook and everything!

Expand full comment

This sounds like heaven, I want this so much!

Expand full comment

Yes, this but soccer! I had opening day tickets for Sky Blue FC the NY NWSL team and I was so excited. :(

Expand full comment

We have a local USL League 1 team and we were so looking forward to the return of soccer-- our toddler has even been saying "In Spring there will be soccer games", because that's what we told her all winter every time we went past the stadium and she asked when we would go to a game. :(

Expand full comment

Ugh I was SO excited when they announced the move to Red Bull Stadium. Can’t wait to see them play.

Expand full comment

I want to sit outside and knit with a baseball game on the radio.

Expand full comment

baseball on the radio is so sublime.

Expand full comment

I was just thinking that I also want to hang out with Carrie Surbaugh after all this.

Expand full comment

Yes! Being back in my apartment in New York and hanging out in weird bars with my friend Claire is also on my list!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I am going to drive the nine hours to where the person I love is currently living and I am going to kiss him. We have been in love for ages and have admitted as much to each other and have been dancing around it like fools and all I want to do is go find him and kiss him.

Expand full comment

This is the plot of the first post-COVID romcom.

Expand full comment

god I hope so

Expand full comment

Wow I am like 9 days into my quarantine crush. I can't imagine waiting ages. Thank you for keeping us all safe!

Expand full comment

literally two years we have been dancing around each other, we're in our 20s, we've been idiots this whole time, I can't stand it anymore

Expand full comment

I want to be part of the collective groan when a mariachi band enters my packed subway car.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to be annoyed when I hear “Showtime SHOWTIME” as the doors close at 59th street.

Expand full comment

The longest distance in the world is between 59th & 125th in the SHOWTIME car.

Expand full comment

If you know, you know.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to dump my two terrible (perfect, but terrible) children at daycare and skip back to my car.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I got engaged a week ago and I want to go to celebratory happy hour and drink something sparkly with my friends and show them my ring and get a manicure just so I have a reason to show off the ring some more.

Expand full comment

I would like to admire your ring if you have pics <3

Expand full comment

Aaw thank you! Not sure how well you can see it, but I changed my profile pic to show it :)

Expand full comment

Congratulations!

Expand full comment

Thank you!

Expand full comment

Congratulations!!

Expand full comment

Thank you!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to delete Zoom from my laptop.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Today is my birthday, so have the spa day I had to cancel. Hug my mom. Sit in a cafe with a drink and a friend. Have friends over. Go to the mall.

Expand full comment

Happy birthday! Today is my birthday also.

Expand full comment

So many 3/29 babies, happy birthday!

Expand full comment

Happy birthday!

Expand full comment

Happy birthday!

Expand full comment

Happy happy birthday!

Expand full comment

Happy birthday! I'm sorry for the cancelation. I hope you get to do something joy-bringing today!

Expand full comment

I want to rub makeup swatches on my hand in a crowded Sephora.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

This was my first cry of the day which then turned into a laugh because what a world!

Expand full comment

Yes! I want a reason to buy a fancy frivolous lipstick again!

Expand full comment

Yessssss

Expand full comment

I just really wanna go to church and see all my church ladies who BETTER still all be there. I miss them.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I have phone numbers for some church people who I text peace to while live-streaming our service. But I don't have contact information for my pew buddy and I want to hear her sass!

Expand full comment

texting the peace is so sweet

Expand full comment

This morning I was slow because my phone was charging in another part of the house. One woman texted me first and, honestly, it made me so happy.

Expand full comment

The sass and church sounds like so much fun!!!

Expand full comment

All of my church ladies are required to survive, I have decided to fight their ghosts if they don’t and nobody wants that. God, I can’t wait to take the Eucharist and pass the peace and actually gather around the table.

Expand full comment

We had just started getting consistently back into church attendance this year and then boom, out the door that goes! :(

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I miss my aisle squad too!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want my parents to come snuggle my new baby.

Expand full comment

Congrats on your new baby! What is it called?

Expand full comment

Benjamin! He's a sweetheart :)

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

1) A movie at Alamo Drafthouse

2) An aimless wander down a Target aisle

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I miss target

Expand full comment

I wanna fuck this dude that I’ve been talking to 🤷🏾‍♀️ Shout out to everyone’s beautiful answers but this is my biggest problem right now lmfao

Expand full comment

I feel this so hard. I moved to a new city. New dating pool!

but lol, quarantine

Expand full comment
User was indefinitely suspended for this comment. Show
Expand full comment

HEY NOW BE NICE OR DON'T BE HERE.

Expand full comment
author

I blocked him from commenting. What the hell?

Expand full comment

Thank you ❤️❤️. Thank you to everyone who yelled at him!! I appreciate y’all.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to go to the coffee shop a couple blocks away, get a perfect mocha, sit at bar or on the patio, and read until my brother shows up to sit next to me and talk about what movie we're going to watch later at my place. And I want to go get Lao food and go to a movie and go see my favorite paintings at the Hirshhorn and American Art museum. I want to hug my friends and family.

Expand full comment

I've been dreaming of my coffee shop, and I just want to chat with the staff and have an americano

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I didn’t know how much I miss until I started to cry thinking of my list. I want to take my kids to their favorite playground, I want to drop my son off at preschool and pick him up and wait for him to tell me if he got to play with the pink car first at recess, I want to take my daughter to dance class, I want to drop my kids off with their grandparents and have a date with my husband at our favorite board game store, I want to go to the spa by myself and finally I want to get acupuncture and see my therapists in person again. And I want to start planning vacations again.

Expand full comment

Today’s my birthday and I was supposed to see Hamilton tonight. I just want to hug my dad again when all this is over.

Expand full comment

I think everyone that had a birthday during quarantine gets like extra cake. (It's me, I want extra cake, I did not get a cake)

Expand full comment

Happy birthday!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to watch my kids climb all over my parents.

I want to leave said kids with said parents and go out to eat Mexican with my husband.

I want to driving a huge margarita

I want to kick my brother’s ass for not taking this seriously

I want to take a beach trip with my best friend that just lost her mom.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I have an extra Thanksgiving Turkey from Popeyes (I buy two). And I think I'm going to throw summer thanksgiving and invite all the people.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I LOVE this idea. Have fun!

Expand full comment

We always say we're going to do this - we have a smoker and it's an all day affair where people drop by to hang out - but never follow through. Maybe this year!

Expand full comment

doooo iiitttt

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I will hug my parents fiercely and cry. And hug them some more.

I've lived a good thousand miles away from them my whole adult life until almost two years ago when they moved here. I've gone long spells without hugging them before. But I've gotten used to it in the past two years and I miss it so much. Living half a mile away and being terrified to touch them is so much different than a thousand miles away and not being able to.

Expand full comment

I’m going to buy like 10 fountain sodas and drink them all at the same time and then I’m going to go try on every pair of shoes at Nordstrom Rack

Expand full comment
author

THE COKE FREESTYLE MACHINE AT JORDAN COMMONS IS GETTING A WEIRD HUG FROM ME, FOR DAMN SURE

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Yes! We were watching an Icelandic murder show (the Valhalla murders, I think?) and the cop bought a fountain soda for her informant and he took a big ole drag on the straw and all of a sudden I peeked up! It was like how taking the first drag on a cigarette used to be. I will be taking my kids to BK, McD’s, whoever, and I will get a large soda. Maybe Wendy’s and couple it with a frosty. Those are good!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

CLEARLY we must have known each other in a past life because I just literally gasped YES.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I just want a goddamn Starbucks.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

A pint, an actual pint that someone poured for me, in a pub. And seeing my boyfriend cuddle our cat again.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to hug my immunosuppressed mother. I want to sit on the porch out back of my favorite dive bar and drink a beer in the sun and watch the trains go by. I want to reschedule my indefinitely postponed wedding.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Oddly I miss public transportation - it's my "rev up" and "wind down" time. I live in Arlington just over the river from Washington, DC and I metro/bus/walk everywhere since I got rid of my car in 2012 so I even have favorite metro cars. I spend so much time in the DC area museums and I desperately miss them and I just want to hop on the metro and head down to the mall. I had a members preview time slot to see the new Kusama exhibit at the Hirshhorn on Friday which of course had long since been cancelled so I want to do that. I want to see the Degas exhibit at National Gallery. It's too late for the cherry blossoms but there are still the dogwoods, wisteria, azaleas, peonies, and roses to come that I want to see on a sunny afternoon after a nice picnic. I want to meet my friend for happy hour and spend hours chatting and finally do the Girl Scout cookie handoff of the boxes I bought from her daughter.

Expand full comment

I just posted mine which is also a Kusama exhibit!! I hope you enjoy yours.

Expand full comment

I want to wake up, walk along the 606 in Chicago to meet my girlfriends for coffee and a bagel at Ipsento where it’s ALWAYS crowded on the weekend. I want to sit on the rocks outside and catch up with them in person for hours before waking to Wicker Park and shopping for something I do not need. I want to go to the farmer’s market and see all of the neighborhood dogs. I want to hang out with my family. I want to split a bottle of wine with my sisters, give my niece a piggy back ride. I want to go back to trying to get pregnant or ordering things online or going to target without feeling like I need a one on one consult with Chidi on the morality of it all.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Small - drink a cup of coffee and/or eat a meal prepared by someone who doesn't live in my house.

Big - see/hug the kiddos I nanny. They drive me absolutely up a wall 85% of the time, I did not know I could miss them this much.

Impossible - fly to Chicago and defend my master's thesis in person. (It is scheduled for April 22, so this will not happen. I will do it by skype and get to tell people for years that I got a master's degree in my pajamas. But it will be so weird and anticlimactic.)

Expand full comment

It won’t be the same, but defending your thesis is still huge. Congratulations! You’re awesome and it’s amaxing! Buy yourself some really nice pajamas for the occasion.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to give my mum a hug. I ant to give all my family a big hug. I want to dive into the sea and feel the salt on my skin and just float. I want to have champagne with my best friend and to just be in his presence.

Expand full comment

Oh, I want to go swimming so much

Expand full comment

I feel like I grew up swimming. A water baby. Right now I'm craving that sensation of slicing through the water.

Expand full comment

Oooooh yes now that you said this, I totally want it!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to eat a cheese plate and glass of wine at the bar of a busy bistro.

Coffee and eggs at an old-school diner where the waitress calls me "hon."

See an event movie like In the Heights with a sold-out crowd cheering and clapping.

Take my twin baby girls to visit their grandma and give her a big hug. Hoping we get to do these things soon and we never take them for granted again.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Hug my across the country family really, really tight. Let my sweet neighbor kids crawl all over me and hold their hands when we go on little explores around the neighborhoods. Throw a party at my house with sparklers and fizzy drinks. To hug and be hugged by all my nearby friends. Going on explores.

Swimming. In community pools. In the ocean. In rivers. In lakes.

Expand full comment

I want to swim again so badly.

Expand full comment

Oh my gosh. Swimming. I miss swimming so much. And the elderly Armenian gentleman at the gym who always tells me I'm so fast (I'm not really.)

Expand full comment

I started thinking about summer swimming the other day and I thought my heart was going to explode from the longing.

Expand full comment

I optimistically bought a new swimsuit right as things started shutting down and I wanna wear it!

Expand full comment

Me too!!! Swimming !!!!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to tell her I love her in person

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I have no family where I live and I think the first thing I want to do is go visit my parents. I do not visit often. but a situation like this has made being alone in a city really difficult. On a less bummer note, eat the donuts from the local shop I love that are, naturally, closed.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to go to the gym. I'm balls at exercising on my own (and don't own weights, besides) and I didn't exercise at all while pregnant, and I just want to go and ride a stationary bike for two hours and then pretend to crush people's heads on the thigh machines.

I want my husband's dad to meet our baby girl. My parents were here for her birth, and my FIL was gonna drive up a few weeks after but... well. I'm glad we can at least text him pictures.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want a full spa day: haircut (!!!), wax, massage, facial extractions, mani pedi, etc etc. I want clean, strong hands all over my body. (Hmmm)

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to hug my parents for an hour. I want to hug everyone in my tiny church & listen to the children making noise during the prayer of confession. I want to run into the grocery store for chips and root beer just because. I want to see a movie with friends and then by myself in a theatre full of strangers. I want to meet up with my best friend and hug her in front of a Disney castle. I want to high five a barista after we start talking about some nerdy interest we have in common.

Expand full comment

I want to go to a group fitness class again so badly. I want to hold a face to face work meeting where I don't have to worry about if my wife is being overwhelmed by our two drunken monkey children. I want to eat at the bar shoulder to shoulder with strangers and watch "the game."

I want to find a replacement trip for my wife's 40 birthday trip that did officially get cancelled this week.

(We did order a Peloton last night!)

Expand full comment

And we just made the call to defer bougie VT family camp until 2021. *dawsoncrying.gif*

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I just want to go to the bookstore again and wander around my particular sections then go sit in the cafe and play on my phone for a bit.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to give my friend the gift of a bit of quiet and take her kiddo to the museum.

I want to go to the adoption ceremony without worrying whether it should really be happening. (Last I heard it's still on. For April 7. Which is also kid's birthday and I SO want it for them. But also, WHY????)

I want to go camping and talk to people we run into on the trail.

I want to have friends come over and hang out in the kitchen while we cook together. (They can chop the veggies and help me rather than just watch on the screen.)

I want to stop using condoms.

I want to face-to-face introductions with the neighbors who responded to my "just in case you need help" notes.

I want to figure out how my next career can segue into climate crisis and help prevent us from future horror shows.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Go to my friend's baby shower. Meet her baby. Just meet a lot of babies, honestly, I have multiple pregnant friends atm. Go to the beach with my family. Have "waffle day" in the office with my labmates. Visit my friends in Florida and go to all our old favorite spots from when I lived there. Have the Women in Marine Science Symposium that my teammates and I were planning that was supposed to happen yesterday. HUG PEOPLE.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I too am starting a list, and at the top of it is: Get properly fitted for my bra size and buy the sexiest underwear set I can possibly find. I plan to try the Natori Feathers bra after hearing Jia Tolentino rave about it on Gee Thanks Just Bought It, but I also want some far sluttier options. Who has sexy underwear recommendations?

Expand full comment

Honestly the Feathers bra does not work for me. It looks lovely while I have it on getting fitted in Nordstrom, but when I actually wear it spillage occurs. When we find normal, I want to find a lacy frill that carries me throughout the day and collapses to nothing when I fold it to place in it's home in the drawer. (I'm looking at Nordstrom still because I will spend $$ but maybe not yet splurge on $$$.) Maybe a Panache Envy? Maybe a Fantasie Memoir?

But also, this looks lovely and I want now please. https://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2020/03/katherine-hamilton-bra-review.html

Expand full comment

My thing with the Feathers is that I wish larger cup sizes had thicker shoulder strap elastic and a three hook back. Mine fits (I'm a DDD) but it feels a little flimsy. Gives great cleavage though!

Expand full comment

r/ABraThatFits is a great resource on reddit. You can even fit yourself with their find-your-bra-size system!

Expand full comment

Thistle & Spire has some unbelievably sexy options if you've got a smaller cup size, I am personally coveting the Medusa Bodysuit.

Also, you might find some inspiration here https://www.thelingerieaddict.com/

Expand full comment

Check out The Lingerie Addict and Sweet Nothings, both on their blog and twitter! Agent Provocateur was one brand I learned about from them.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to hold my children’s teachers’ hands and thank them for their ingenuity and care during this time. I want to fly to Florida and sit next to my mom and do a jigsaw puzzle and drive to Dunkin Donuts with my dad to get a coffee and laugh at his corny jokes

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I too want to take a plane to New York and see "Company!" I'm turning 30 on May 24 and had a birthday trip planned that included that and being in Colbert's audience (a dream for years). I want to see baseball games, which we were supposed to do in NY and also in Texas where my beloved bad team just built a new stadium. I want to get my roots dyed and go back to the slightly less natural but more red red I've been missing and not saying anything about. I'm going to be an aunt for the first time in October and I'm not ready to let my heart believe this could affect that but either way I want to see my baby brother being a parent, which is definitely not for me but he's going to be amazing, it fills my heart up to think about it.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to go to my home group and hold hands at the end of a meeting and say a prayer with everyone and remind myself and others “Keep coming back, it works if you work it.”

Expand full comment

I don't miss the hand holding at all but I would like to be back at some of my US meetings. Fortunately Zoom is bringing them to me half a world away.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to take my kid to the playground to play with her friends. I want to take my newborn to visit my parents. I want to celebrate my grandmother’s 100th birthday. I want to get a pedicure. I want to hire a babysitter and go out to eat oysters and drink one too many glasses of wine. I want to return the giant stack of overdue library books that’s sitting on our coffee table.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to visit my sisters and know that they are safe. I want to purchase and eat fruit wildly. I want to bake without fear of mistakes and wasted ingredients. I want to drink with friends at a crowded house party and sing karaoke.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

For a long time, on the first really warm day in spring, I have schlepped to Thomas Sweet’s for ice cream while listening to “Birdhouse In Your Soul.” It’s a habit I started in college (the music was accidental the first time) and it makes me feel connected to my young and hopeful self. I couldn’t do it on the first warm day this year, but I will do it as soon as we’re free.

I also really want to see a show and go to a baseball game and get a goofy bobblehead.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to hug my parents. I want to hang out with my friends. I want to sing with my choir again. I want to attend all the concerts that were canceled. I want to randomly go shopping.

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

Random shopping! I never realized how much excess energy I get out by visiting Target.

Expand full comment

I want to wander TJ Maxx and Homegoods and imagine how I’d decorate with all the pretty things I still can’t really afford, even at their prices, and rugs and things I’m saved from buying because my rabbit Winston would chew them, but the daydreaming is just as good. And then I’ll buy myself skincare and makeup at deals even better than on the label and be proud of myself for saving so much on stuff I didn’t actually need but oh so pretty and smells so good. And I’m going to tell other shoppers how nice that dress they’re looking at would look on them, and where the pillows are, and just enjoy being friendly with strangers. God I miss telling people how great their amazing kids are, and raving to those kids about their shoes.

Expand full comment

Yes! Random shopping! Trying on clothes in poorly lit dressing rooms!

Expand full comment

Wow, all of this is me, especially choir!

Expand full comment
Mar 29, 2020Liked by Nicole Cliffe

I want to fly to NYC and hug my 27 year old daughter. And wear beautiful dresses. And see a Broadway show.

Expand full comment