When I first heard the idea of doing a day in the life type of post for EADL my reaction when from how fun to no one wants to read about a general corporate office worker day! So I considered picking a Saturday as a weekend day would be filled with more of the fun type of activities that I would normally want to share (farmers market trips, a crafty project time, a neighborhood festival, etc).  But that seemed too easy, I mean of course a Saturday or Sunday is more fun but they are in the minority for any week.  Also, maybe some of you also work an office/corporate job but have a totally different experience.  And so here it is, in all its non-original-ness, a glimpse into one particular June Wednesday of my corporate worker bee life…

6:00am – my alarm starts going off.  Why does it start going off instead of just going off?  I am by nature a night owl.  So snooze is my friend, it allows me ease out of my deep slumber.  I typically push snooze until the last minute at which point I say “Oh crap we have to get out of bed now!”  And will fly out of bed to start getting ready for our run by throwing my running clothes on as fast as I can.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday are running days for us as we are training for a marathon together.  This was a Wednesday so it is the slightly longer run of the two weekday runs and this means no snooze button allowed! On this Wednesday, I pretend that I am the Zooey character in Yes Man as I snap pics during our run for this post. :)

7:05ish – Back at our apartment it is time to begin our coordinated getting ready schedule.

I water the geraniums and then shower.  He takes the dogs out, waters the garden, and makes the pups breakfast.  Once I am out of the shower he brings me a cup of coffee and I relinquish the bathroom.  While he showers, I blow dry my hair, cry about the sad state of my wardrobe, and finally get dressed.

{I use the totally cheapo white plastic hangers… and it is no wonder that I picked pink for a wedding color, my closet is predominately blues, pinks, blacks}

While Dan is getting dressed and then  packing our lunch, I head back to the bathroom and quickly put on a bit of makeup (while shoveling an English muffin with a dab of peanut butter).  We have perfected our little morning dance routine of getting ready with one tiny little shared bathroom.  And I am a simple blow-dry and 5 minute tops for make up kind of gal as I prefer any extra sleep I can get. With our runs getting longer my hair styling has gotten even more slack, lately it is a partial blow-dry.

8:05ish – Commuting time!  Wednesdays are doggy play-care days so we load up the pups and all four of us head off towards the West Loop.  In the nearly eight years I have lived in Chicago my commute has constantly changed.  I have walked to work, rode my bicycle, taken the bus, taken the train, taken the bus to the train, taken two buses, and now we drive together.  It has all depended up on where our apartment is in relation the transit stops and the office.

8:20ish – The dogs start freaking out from excitement as we pull on the street of their play-care facility, seriously they started getting all wild the minute we turn onto that street.  They run in and then we run off for the Loop.

I work just a few steps from the Chicago Board of Trade and my husband works on Michigan Ave so he drops me off at my building and continues on to his.

8:30ish – I head up the escalators, through the security gate, and up the elevators to the 33rd floor.  I try to get the escalator with the open path to the top; I hate to just stand there when I could move quicker by walking up the escalator.  And always peek out the window to the alley, once I spotted a couple of older men in their suits smoking cigars at 8:30am… working in the financial district can be amusing.

Am now at my desk and ready to begin the work day (kind of).  This specific Wednesday was terribly hectic with project schedules at risk, presentations to be figured out, budgets to be submitted, etc, etc.

10:15ish – Time for a coffee run.  I head across the street to the coffee giant.  Grab a grande coffee in a venti cup.  Add enough sugar and half and half to cover the burned taste. (side note: in early July I cut this second coffee out to reduce my sugar intake… sbux regular coffee requires way too much sugar to be tasty) Back to my desk to be all productive and what not.

12:00 – I head to a meeting cursing the one who changed the afternoon meeting to be during lunch time.  I relish the bit of personal time that comes with the lunch hour.  Most days of the week my lunch will consist of around a 35 minute walk, a ham or a pb&j sandwich, and a few photographs captured.  I will head out to the courtyard at the Art Institute or a spot under a tree at Millinium Park to eat my lunch and keep my eyes open to any inspiration that strikes me for a photo.  Noon is not the prime part of the day for beautiful light in photography but I work with the breaks I can fit in.  But not today, instead I head to a meeting.

{my husband thought he was cute writing on my sandwich bag…}

12:40pm – There are 20 minutes until my next meeting… time to sneak out and steal of moment in the sunshine.  Daley Plaza will do in a pinch.

1:00pm – Meetings, powerpoint work to get ready for a big meeting, database requirements analysis and documentation, etc, etc.

5:30pm – Dan calls, he is 5 minutes or so away, time to head down the elevators, through the security gate, and out the escalator to meet my honey.  Monday and Thursday we go to the gym after work for cross training with the running.  But Wednesdays we just have to pick up the pups from playcare before heading home.

6:30pm – At home we begin with the evening routine.  Feed the dogs, change into comfy clothes, check the progress in the garden.  After a day at play-care the dogs are stinky so this night includes a bath time.

{bath time = wild beagle time}

While I take a few photos for a homemade granola bars post before I lose the natural light, Dan makes me a cocktail (something with Jameson in it).

7:15pm – Time to start making dinner, a quick glance at the week’s menu plan to see what we are making (we plan our meals every Sunday for the week)… tonight it is Chicken Chasseuer.  While Dan pounds out and cooks the chicken breast, I pick the herbs from the garden and do all the chopping.  We almost always make dinner together..

7:45pm – Dinner at the table a bit of chit chat and the dogs wait patiently for bites.  Then dishes and what not.

8:30pm – Time for a walk!  We do walks every evening.  Tonight as we need to pick up pine nuts for making pesto on Thursday, so we head over to a nearby grocery store.  I absolutely love walking in Chicago neighborhoods.   There are so many pretty streets.  And being able to walk to shops and restaurants is an awesome thing that I don’t know if I could give up.

While Dan heads in to the shop, I hang back with the pups and sneak in a few photos.  I always take my camera on walks in case there is something that catches my eye for my daily shot for the 365 project.

9:15pm – Back at home… time for sharing a watermelon chunk while watching streaming shows.  We have been obsessed with watermelon and the show Weeds (side note- we finished all the way through season 6 in early July- now can’t wait for the next season to begin).  Sometimes this part of the evening ends up with Dan watching a show I don’t care for (something of the sci-fi nature) while I edit photos.

10:45pm – Time for bed!  Also time to curse not getting to bed earlier as that 6:04am alarm is going to come quickly!

That in a nutshell is one particular Wednesday in June!