This week, I am documenting my life in a series of “Week in the Life” posts. I hope everyone enjoys this little peek into my day-to-day! Read all about Monday here.

My alarm woke me up at 4:45 a.m. today, and it was the most unwelcome. I snoozed for 5 minutes, then got up, got dressed, and took Dutch on his first morning walk. After giving him a treat, I headed down to the gym for a workout. I did a fun 2.3-mile loop on the spin bike and then 15ish minutes of strength training.

Once back in my apartment, I fed Dutch, took a shower, did my hair and makeup, got dressed, packed my lunch, and took Dutch on his second morning walk.

By 7:05, I was commuting to work and got there right around 7:30. (My work hours recently changed, so now I work 7:30-5:00 Mondays-Thursdays and 8:00-11:30 on Fridays. I love it!)

My morning at the office was fairly straightforward. I planned a full day of writing (9 articles in total was my goal). I wrote 2.5 articles before I had to stop to attend a company-wide meeting about our health insurance renewal. Luckily, that meeting only lasted five minutes since nothing had changed. Hooray! I am on a tight schedule this month and don’t really have time for interruptions to my day.

After the meeting, I got right back to writing and finished 2.5 more articles before lunchtime. (I didn’t edit any of the articles, just wrote them and moved on to the next! I’ll go back and edit them later. But that’s why I can write them so quickly!)

At 11:15, I left work to go home and take Dutch on his afternoon walk. I get an hour lunch break and only live 15-20 minutes from work. So, I’m able to spend 20-30 minutes with him in the afternoons, which is great. I love this time of day! It was also supremely nice out (82 degrees – laugh all you want), so we enjoyed the sunshine longer than usual.

When I got back to work, I heated up my lunch (Santa Fe Chicken leftovers with brown rice), which I scarfed down while editing a coworker’s pages. Then, it was back to writing for me! I was incredibly focused this afternoon, so I got all my writing done by 3:15. At that point, I took a break to go downstairs and bask in the sunshine.

Ahhhhhh.

The rest of my day was spent editing. I edited a coworker’s pages and then started reading through the articles I had written earlier and editing them. Since I wrote the articles so quickly, I was worried that they were terrible, but they weren’t too awful! They could use some work, but I’m not concerned with perfection here. And sometimes, I get really great feedback and editing suggestions from my coworkers, which is helpful for allowing me to see a sentence I have been struggling with in a new light.

I left work at 5 and thanks to much better traffic patterns, I got home right around 5:30. Roomie was already outside with Dutch, so I took him off her hands (while giving her my bags to take up to the apartment) and the Dutchers and I went on a nice long walk around the complex. I got the mail and found two bills for me (boo) and the sweetest card from San (YAY!). Her card completely brightened my day!

Back at home, I fed Dutch and then took a relaxing bubble bath. I read a chapter of The Martian while doing so. All the science-y stuff in this book is going over my head, but I love the voice of the novel so much. I’ll be able to devote more time to reading this weekend and I can’t wait!

After my bubble bath, Roomie had dinner prepared (lightened-up beef stroganoff), which we ate while watching part of last night’s episode of The Voice. Then, she cleaned up the kitchen (I offered to clean since she cooked, but she insisted) while I started on my NaNoWriMo writing for the day.

It took me less than an hour to get my writing done, which I consider a huge, huge win. I wrote 1,680 words, so I’m slowly closing in on the 20k mark of total words written! Whee!

It was a little after 8 p.m. when I finished, so I took Dutch on his second nighttime walk and then ate a bowl of ice cream while finishing up this post. Afterward, I went through my nighttime routine and read in bed for a little while before turning in for the night at 9:30.

Do you snooze your alarm or get up right when it goes off? What’s one good thing that happened to you yesterday?

This week, I am documenting my life in a series of “Week in the Life” posts. I hope everyone enjoys this little peek into my day-to-day!

I woke up a little before 6 a.m. and from there, it was a rush to get ready and out the door. I took Dutch for his first morning walk, fed him, took a shower and did my hair and makeup, got dressed, packed my lunch, and then took Dutch on his second morning walk (yes, he gets two walks in a one-hour period in the mornings. And both are necessary, if you know what I mean!)

It was a little after 7:15 when I left for work, which means I’ll probably be a bit late this morning. Oh, well. Mondays are hard.

Once at work, I put away my lunch and drank my breakfast shake while I prepared myself for a morning of writing. I wanted to finish up monthly content for a client, and then spend the rest of the day editing.

Mid-morning, after I finished my writing task for the day, I made myself a small bowl of oatmeal and then started on the editing work I needed to get done. Lots of pages to edit, especially as I arranged a proofing trade with a coworker in the midst of my writing task earlier.

At 11:15, I left work, went home, and took Dutch on a walk. This used to be my mom’s job when I lived with her since her work was so close to our apartment. And now it’s mine! It’s annoying to have to leave work every day, but I do like getting away from my desk and getting some sunshine and exercise during lunch.

After our walk, I put the ingredients for Skinnytaste’s Santa Fe Chicken in the Crock-Pot and snuggled with Dutch for a little bit before driving back to work.

Back at work, I heated up my lunch in the breakroom. Today, I had Lean Cuisine taquitos, string cheese, corn, and a Trader Joe’s treat. I read some blogs while eating my lunch, and then jumped right back into the editing task I needed to complete.

Around 3 p.m., I finished editing and started working on monthly content for another client. This client is a little bit different from my other ones, as I write blog-style articles rather than SEO-style website content. It’s fun, but also a little bit challenging.

I got sidetracked by chit-chat with my coworkers, so I only ended up writing one article before it was time to go home.

I left work at 5, and got caught in terrible, terrible traffic. The kind of traffic that makes you want to cry and question if you’ll ever see home again. I ended up taking a detour to get gas because I was running low and didn’t want to have to stop before work or during my lunch break tomorrow, but this ended up being a bad decision because the traffic on that route was nearly at a standstill.

It was a little after 6 when I finally got home and I nearly wanted to kiss the pavement. Ha!

Once home, I took Dutch on his first nighttime walk and then put my things away, put on comfy clothes, took off my makeup, fed Dutch, and started finishing up dinner. Since I made a Crock-Pot meal, it only entailed shredding chicken and making rice. Hooray!

My roommate and I ate dinner while watching a couple episodes of The Tonight Show, and then we cleaned up the kitchen.

By then, it was around 7, so I took Dutch on his second nighttime walk (and prayed he wouldn’t need a third… yes, sometimes he needs THREE!), and then ensconced myself in my room to finish writing this blog post and to write my daily word count for NaNoWriMo.

Around 8:45, I finished up my writing (1,700 words today!) and then did my nighttime routine of brushing my teeth, washing my face, and taking my allergy meds. Then, I finished writing this blog post.

I read for a little bit (just started The Martian!) but I was way too tired to focus on the words, so it was lights out by 9:30 pm.

Thoughts on today: It was a good day, where I felt like I got a lot accomplished. I was productive at work, actually made dinner (it was my first time cooking for Roomie, too!), and met my word count goal for NaNoWriMo. This writing challenge is so intense, and it would feel so good to take a night off from it, but I am so motivated to complete this challenge. I was more tired than usual, but hoping an early night means waking up feeling more rested tomorrow!

What are you currently reading? What time do you normally wake up on the weekdays?

And we’ve reached the end of Week in the Life! This has been really, really fun to document. And it hasn’t been all that difficult to complete daily, especially since I’m only writing an overview of my day, not listing out what I’m doing hour-by-hour. And since I’m already in the habit of taking daily photos thanks to my photo-a-day project, even the photo-taking aspect has been easy. In any event, here’s what Sunday looked like in my world:

morning // I wake up a little before eight, thanks to a restless dog who needs to go out. We go for a slow morning stroll, and then I have a suuuper lazy morning. I decide to take the day off exercising, so I snuggle up on the couch to read my book and drink my breakfast shake. Eventually, I take a shower, clean the apartment, and then do a few little tasks: setting my fantasy football lineup, making a grocery list, and answering emails. Around 11, my mom and I leave to run some errands. We take a trip to Michaels because they were having an awesome sale on their Christmas items (I buy the cute wreath you see in the above picture!), then Marshalls, then to the post office to drop off a package, and finally to Publix to do some shopping. Considering Thanksgiving is on Thursday and we leave Friday for Savannah, we don’t need much!

afternoon // A lazy morning followed by a lazy afternoon! I watch football, answer emails, read blogs, and finish up a book. Around 2:30, my brother comes over to watch football with me. We order pizza, chit-chat, and watch the Dolphins lose a heartbreaking game. (Ughhhhh.)

evening // And then a lazy evening to top it all off! (Lazy Sundays are my faaaavorite!) I make cookies for my brother, eat pizza for dinner. My brother leaves around 8, and then my mom and I watch a little TV and take Dutch on an evening walk. Then, I take a bubble bath, do my nightly routine, and I’m in bed by 9pm! Early night for me – yay!

And that’s it for Week in the Life! Such a fun series – I’m definitely going to do it again next year!

What was your Sunday like – lazy, busy, productive?

morning // I wake up naturally around 9:00, which feels so good after many early morning wake-ups in a row. I take Dutch on his walk, and then my mom and I go to our favorite park to run. It’s a dreary day, but in the mid-60s and it feels really nice outside! Then, we come home, I drink a breakfast shake while snuggling with Dutch on the couch, and then it’s time to get ready – I have a fun birthday lunch planned! I shower, clean up my room, and then get ready for the day while listening to an episode of The Lively Show.

afternoon // I meet up with a few girlfriends for a pre-birthday celebration at BJ’s Brewhouse. Our lunch is yummy, but we are all most looking forward to dessert – PIZOOKIES! Best. Dessert. Ever. And mine comes with a candle! My friends sing happy birthday to me and it is just so special. 🙂 I love these girls! After a fun lunch, I get gas, stop at the library to drop off books and pick up requests that came in, and then pick my mom up for an afternoon of shopping! We are on the hunt for dresses for our work Christmas parties! We start at JC Penney, and both of us wind up finding dresses within 20 minutes. Yay! Then, we head to Old Navy because we both need some winter clothes (especially with our upcoming trip to Savannah, where it’s going to be a bit chilly!) We have success, and I buy my first puffy vest. (I’m still not sure how these help keep you warm (what about your arms?!), but I’m taking a gamble because I look so cute in it. Heh.)

night // After a fun outing at the mall, my mom and I spend some quality time at our favorite place – Target! I buy a scarf, a knit headband, and a clutch for my Christmas party. Then, finally, we come home, take Dutch on a walk, and I take a super relaxing bubble bath. Ahh! So necessary. My mom and I have a low-key Saturday night in: leftover pizza for dinner, blogging (for me), and watching some TV (MasterChef Junior, Scorpion, and Jimmy Fallon). I’m in bed reading by 10pm, which is just how I like it!

What’s the last piece of cold weather clothing or accessory you bought? And tell me – do puffy vests keep you warm?! This Florida girl’s gotta know!

morning // I wake up at 5:30, take Dutch on a walk, and then head to the gym for a quick 30-minute workout on the elliptical. Best way to start my day! I go home, take a shower, and then get ready for the day while listening to Slate’s Serial Spoiler Specials podcast. I don’t always agree with their commentary, but it’s a fairly good podcast this week. At work, I have a busy day ahead and only 3.5 hours in which to do it. I write a page of content, and then read over the pages I wrote yesterday and send those pages to a coworker for her to proof. Next, I read over edits I received on some other pages I wrote for a client, make changes, and send the content to the client for approval. Then, I have a short meeting with my manager to discuss my client load for the upcoming month (it’s going to be a doozy!). After that, I edit pages for a coworker and send them back to him. Done with work for the day! Wahoo!

afternoon // I stay late at work to help decorate a coworker’s cubicle for his birthday and then convince my work BFF to stop working for the day and go out to lunch with me. She accepts and we have a yummy lunch at Bahama Breeze! It’s a beautiful day, so we sit outside on the deck. With the sunny weather, ocean view, and island music, it’s hard to believe it’s only a few days before Thanksgiving. After lunch, I bid my friend goodbye and head on home, where I indulge in a wonderful 2.5-hour nap. I love Fridays!

night // After waking up from our nap, Dutch and I go for a walk and then I read for a little bit on the couch. Eventually, I tear myself away from the book to clean my bathroom. My mom comes home from work, and we talked for a while about our days before ordering pizza for dinner and settling in for a night of TV watching! Our DVR is a bit out of control (which is why I’m happy for winter finales for all my shows – I can catch up!). We watched Gotham, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, The Biggest Loser, and The McCarthy’s. We weren’t messing around! Regarding Scandal and HTGAWM – oh. em. GEE. Those winter finales were CRAZY! I can’t remember how many times I said, “OH MY GOD!” while watching HTGAWM. Ahhhh. Ok. Anyway. After our little TV-watching binge, we clean up, say goodnight, and then I take Dutch on a quick walk outside (to ensure he doesn’t wake me up at 6am whining to go out!), do my nightly routine, read for a bit, and it’s lights out at 11:00. Wild and crazy Friday night, I know!

Thoughts on the Scandal and HTGAWM finales? Do you love taking naps, or do they just make you feel loopy?