morning // I wake up at 6am (40 degrees this morning – brr!), take Dutch on his morning walk, and then go for a “wog.” It’s hard and I kinda hate most of it, so that’s fun. I come home, write my “week in the life” post for yesterday, take a shower, and then plop myself down right at my computer to begin work for the day. Yep – it’s a work-from-home day! Hooray! (I love working at my office, but WFH days are divine.) Today, I planned to do a ton of writing – 12 pages in total. It’s doable, but it requires me to stay on task. I make a breakfast shake and get started. I manage to write six pages in the morning, taking a break to put a load of laundry in the washer and tidy up my room and bathroom.

Afternoon // Around 12:30, I get dressed (in jeans and presentable clothing, not just loungewear!) and take Dutch on a long walk outside. It’s warmed up – 64 degrees and sunny! Feels heavenly! Then, I meet my mom for lunch at our favorite place – Chick-Fil-A. On the way, I listen to the Serial podcast and cheese and crackers, it’s a good one. A really good one. After Mom and I have lunch, I come home and immediately jump on gchat to discuss the episode with Nora (I’m so happy she is as obsessed as I am!). We both have a lot to say, and our conversation lingers throughout the afternoon. Eventually, after perusing the Serial subreddit for a while, I get back to my writing. I end up only writing five pages (I was aiming for six), but I do field some emails (the content I wrote that was sent over to a new client earlier in the week came back with one minor edit! This is very rare, and I do a happy dance!) and send off some of my content to a coworker to be proofed. Though I could force myself to write one more page, I decide to close up shop at 5:30 and work on it tomorrow when my mind is fresh.

night // I take Dutch on our nightly walk, and then go to Publix to pick up a few things: dinner tonight, dog treats, and milk for my breakfast shake tomorrow. I come home to hear Dutch whining like I’ve been gone for 10 hours and not 10 minutes (sigh). I give him appropriate snuggles, clean up the apartment, and then take a bubble bath, finishing up the book I’ve been reading while doing so (I loved it!). Then, I eat dinner while watching an episode of Gotham (I mainly watch because Ben McKenzie is so darn cute) and writing this post. Once the episode finishes, I fold my laundry while listening to a Freakonomics podcast and pop a few gluten-free cookies in the oven (not going gluten-free, I just prefer the taste!). I watch a Jimmy Fallon episode from last week while eating my cookies and finishing up this post. Then, I clean up, do my nightly routine, and it’s lights out by 10:30!

morning // Since I went to bed late (for me) the night before, I decided to skip my morning workout in favor of sleep (best decision). I woke up around 6:15 and it. was. freezing. Guys, this is COLD for Florida! I bundled up, Dutch wore his penguin sweatshirt, and we went for a walk. Then, I took a shower, got ready for the day, and commuted to work while listening to a Stuff You Should Know podcast on patents (pretty interesting!). Once at work, I chit-chatted with coworkers, drank my breakfast shake, and spent the morning writing monthly content for one of my clients.

afternoon // Around noon, it was time to stop working and start eating! Every year, we hold a Thanksgiving potluck and people bring in the most delicious food. I tried to be as “good” as I could be. I only had one plate of food, and “only” ended up eating a small slice of cheesecake and two of my cookies for dessert. (The muffin pictured was not consumed, which I consider a huge win for me!) The potluck was tons of fun! Afterward, it was a bit of a struggle to get back into work mode. Eventually, though, I wrote a few more pages of content and edited pages I received from two different coworkers.

night // After work, I hustled home to take Dutch out and then got ready for book club. We went to Ciccio’s, our go-to restaurant of choice, where I ordered a grilled chicken and brown rice dish. Yay for making good choices! We had a good turnout, around eight members including me, so we discussed the book and had lots of girl talk. I got some more recs for my Savannah trip, which was great! After dinner, we went next door to Menchie’s for frozen yogurt but, and a huge win again, I decided not to partake. I knew I wasn’t hungry (realllllly trying to listen to my hunger cues, something I haven’t been doing) and I knew I wouldn’t feel good after eating the froyo. (I never do.) So yay! A few other girls decided not to have any, too, so I didn’t feel like the odd one out, ha! We sat at Menchie’s for probably an hour, chit-chatting about this and that. We left around 9:30. I came home, talked with my mom about both our days, took a bubble bath, and then snuggled in bed with Dutch and read for a little while. I didn’t end up turning the lights off until 11, eek!

What’s your go-to recipe for potlucks? I’m all desserts, all the way, and usually some kind of cookie. 

morning // Another early morning start for me! I wake up around 5:15, get dressed, take Dutch on a walk, and then walk over to the apartment gym. I do a quick, 30-minute interval workout on the stationary bike while watching an episode of Friday Night Lights. Afterward, I shower and get ready for work. My morning at work flies by! I do some editing for pages I need to send out for client approval by the end of today, and then sit in on a meeting to take notes. Afterward, my brain is a bit fried so I eat some raspberries while catching up on blogs. (Random side note: raspberries? First time I tried them was a few months ago! Now they are one of my favorite fruits!) The rest of my morning is spent editing.

afternoon // I stop for lunch around 12:30 (Santa Fe Chicken!) and read through the Serial Reddit forum while eating. (I’m obsessed, but have to temper myself with reading because I could probably spend hours on there!) The afternoon flies by faster than my morning! Lots and lots and lots of editing because I have tons of deadlines today. At two, I take a break from the editing to meet with one of our account managers to discuss a keyword plan that needs to be done soon. Around three, I take a break to eat some chocolates and drink some hot chocolate (that I sweetened with a pump of pumpkin spice creamer – guys, it’s life-changing.) The rest of my day is spent furiously editing to meet my deadlines. But I do and then it’s 5:30 and I’m headed home!

night // I take a quick pit stop at Publix before going home to pick up a few supplies (more raspberries – they’re on sale!, peanut butter cookie dough, and Hershey kisses). Then, I get home (and find a fun present on my doorstep!), take Dutch on a walk, and make dinner (spaghetti night!) I watch last night’s episode of The Voice while eating dinner and start writing this post. Then, I have to make cookies! We’re having our Thanksgiving potluck at work tomorrow and I signed up for peanut butter blossoms. I make cookies, activate and play with my new fitness tracker (and yes, you may notice it’s a Weight Watchers product – I rejoined last week!), and watch The Voice results show. Then, I clean up, do my nightly routine, and it’s lights out by 11:00.

Today, I’m starting a fun challenge: Week in the Life! That means I’ll be attempting seven days of blogging in a row. OY! Let’s see if I can manage it. Ha. I heard about the challenge from a few bloggers who participated, but it seemed more like a scrapbooking exercise than anything else. Then, Kelly did it on her blog last week and, I figure, if a working mother with a full-time (teaching!) job can do it, I certainly can. Sure, my life may not seem very fascinating to other people. I lead a quiet, low-key life. But, you know, why should I let that stop me from documenting it? It’s still my life and I quite enjoy it and I think it’ll be interesting to look back on this. I’ve always enjoyed writing (and reading!) “Day in the Life” posts, so this will be a fun journey, I think. I hope you guys enjoy – here’s what Monday looked like in my world:

morning // My alarm goes off at 5am and I slowly get up, get dressed, take Dutch on a short walk, and then go for a short run. (Well, more of a walk. I’m in week one of Couch to 5K, my 9,584th time through this program, and it’s a lot of walking right now.) I get ready for work, pack my lunch, make my breakfast shake, and then commute to work, all while listening to a Book Riot podcast. At work, I get coffee, chit-chat with coworkers, and then get my day started. I answer emails, transcribe meeting notes, and then start working on a keyword plan. (120 keywords to source. Yikes!) A little after 10, I get hungry and that’s when I realize I left my lunch in my car! Chaos! I run down to the parking garage to retrieve it, then make a mid-morning snack of raspberries and a granola bar.

afternoon // I stop for lunch a little after noon. (Santa Fe Chicken!) I eat lunch while catching up on blogs. My afternoon seems to fly by. I finish up the keyword plan and then edit and send off monthly content to one of my clients. And, before you think I was 100% productive, I got majorly sidetracked by funny conversations with coworkers and then working on an email for my mom about our Savannah trip. Before I know it, it’s 5:30 and time to go home! We had major thunderstorms roll through in the afternoon, and it’s almost pitch black outside when I leave. Weird! I commute home while listening to Christmas music.

night // I arrive home, take Dutch on a short walk (it’s still raining and he’s not a fan!), and then make dinner. (Another Skinnytaste recipe – baked chicken nuggets.) I watch an episode of Hell’s Kitchen (this season is so meh! I don’t even have a favorite chef I want to win.) and then an episode of Brooklyn 99. After that, I clean up, take a bubble bath, do my nightly routine (brush teeth, wash face), and then snuggle in bed with Dutch and my book. A few minutes of reading and then lights out by 9:30!