I loved this story in the Huffington Post that chronicled Sean Henry’s week. I decided to chronicle my day with a journal and my iPhone. Because I’m a nerd like that, and I love minutiae.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
8:45a – Force myself out of our warm, cozy bed. Shower, find clothing, do make up and hair. Justin has brewed coffee in the Chemex and washed the dishes. I eat a quick breakfast of coffee and toast. Out the door by 9:45.
French vanilla Silk creamer is the best.
10:00a – Meet with Kayo and Alex at Komé. Laugh about how I was just there for dinner last night. Talk about recipes, restaurant background, and Japanese culture. I decide to wait around for lunch service, so Kayo lends me a Japanese cooking magazine to peruse while I wait.
I wish I could read this.
11:00a – I enjoy the miso ramen and a lovely chat with my friend (and waiter) J. We agree that our favorite desserts are good old American desserts, and specifically Jodi’s desserts. We plot ways to get more of her desserts in our daily diet. Two elderly Japanese women sit at a table nearby, quietly giggling over hot tea and lunch.
Kayo says it’s okay to slurp!
11:30a – I receive a text letting me know that my noon meeting needs to be rescheduled, so I decide to run a few fun errands.
12:00p – Visit Half-Price books, looking for a specific book for a friend. Miraculously, I find it (!), plus a few books and old magazines for myself. I plan to peruse the magazines, then cut them up for my journal.
1:00p – Decide to visit Goodwill, since it’s right next door. Score two lovely plates and a coffee cup, all for under $2.50. Do a happy jig. The cashier randomly asks me if my husband smokes; when I say no, she says I am very lucky.
2:00p – Refuel at Starbucks. I got my usual iced tall soy mocha, but forgot to specify only one pump of chocolate, so it’s super-sweet. Don’t worry, I still drank it all.
2:10p – Stop at Central Market for ingredients for tonight’s soup, plus a few goodies for a faraway friend. Decide I really need a packet of Cyprus flake salt. You know, just in case.
3:00p – Home! I get to work contacting chefs and PR firms, organizing recipes and interviews, setting up new appointments, and other such book-work. I snack on Goldfish crackers, because my life is not complete without Goldfish crackers.
5:10p – Take a break from work to do some writing for a side project. I love writing. Most of the time.
5:30p – Justin gets home, and we talk about the day. He’s brought wine, gin, and elderflower liqueur. We ooh and aah over my thrift and book store finds as well as the day’s mail, which includes a new Comm Arts and a vintage book.
Lovely plates and the first of my pyrex mug collection.
5:55p – I start making dinner – hominy, chile and tomato soup. I toast cumin seeds and grind them in a mortar and pestle. Chop onions and garlic and chiles. Stir and simmer and cook. As the soup cooks, I make simple syrup for the fridge, then test a cocktail recipe for the book. It’s a bit sweet, but it’s still very tasty. It passes the test.
6:40p – Back to the computer and writing while the soup simmers. Justin snacks on an oatmeal-chocolate chip cookie. The kittehs roam around, bored. I check Facebook and Twitter. (Hi peeps!)
7:00p – Dinner! Discussions include: The difference between lunchtime basketball at the YMCA and high school basketball; people who are hard to read; the fact that we now use our toaster oven instead of our cast-iron skillet to heat up tortillas, and how sad our skillet must feel; random cute things that the kittehs have done recently; my realization that I need a cup of coffee in the morning and then again at lunch to stay alert, then later will need a cup of Sleepytime tea to get to sleep, and how maybe that means I have sleep issues.
Soup and lime and avocado and tortilla.
7:50p – Justin cleans up after dinner (I cook, he cleans). Then he and Roux play the smelling game. He brings random things to Roux, and Roux smells them. That’s it. (We are old and easily amused.) Tonight Roux is not interested in simple syrup or wooden tongs. He squenches his eyes at a lime wedge. When Justin lets him smell a cookie, he swipes at it, then stands on two legs to try to reach it. Roux loooooooves sweets. One time I left muffins cooling on the counter while we went out, and when we came back, there was one on the floor with the top eaten off it. Roux.
8:00p – Catch up on blogs and Pinterest. Highlights:
9:00p – Research/prep for tomorrow’s meetings.
9:30p – Crosswords, magazines, chat.
Jai alai – a clue that’s in sooooo many crosswords.
10:20p – Tea, magazine, and oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie. I let Justin smell/taste my Sleepytime Vanilla tea, and he says, “it smells like you, drinking tea while putting on vanilla lotion.” I’m not sure if I’ve ever really done this.
11:00p – Everyone is winding down, except Justin. He goes downstairs to work, because when creativity calls, he answers. I blog, then head to bed with my copy of Moby Dick, my phone (for playing Tap N’ Pop), two kittehs, and my journal.
No legs!
Good night, everyone!
