A Day In The Life (Summer 2018)

Hi! Good morning!

I have a super random and informal post for you today. I thought it would be fun to share a little “day in the life” post about a day in the summer. I love watching “getting ready” videos on youtube (anyone else do that? They’re so addicting!) and reading any sort of “morning routine” or “day in the life” posts on other blogs, so hopefully this will be fun for you to read!

I also wanted to get this up while it’s still summer. My summer and winter routines are opposite. Since I run a Suzuki violin studio when I’m not blogging, I teach mostly in the mornings during the summer, and mostly after school in the school year. Then I fill in all the nooks and crannies with everything else I have to do (workouts, blog-related work, time with my hubby, and regular “life” stuff like laundry, errands, emails, etc.)

So I snapped photos on my iPhone throughout the day so I’d remember what I did all day.

*Side note: it was really thought-provoking to record an entire day in photos! It really made me think about how I spend my time…haha! But I’ll talk about that more in another blog post.

5:30 am

My alarm goes off at this time about 3X a week. (On the other days, I’ll sleep in until 7 or 7:30.) Waking up early makes me feel so happy! Most of the time I wake up at 5:30 in order to take a 6:00 barre class, but on this day I had a lot of work to do so I just woke up early to get some stuff done at my desk.

I made some coffee, lit a candle, put on my cozy Ugg robe, and got to work editing photos, answering emails, and doing office work for my teaching studio.

 I’ve had this persistent scratchy throat for 3 days, so throat lozenges and salt water gargles are my best friends. I feel fine otherwise, so I think it’s just allergies. *sigh.*

7:00 am

I have a breakfast taco I need to try for a blog post. I’ve been meaning to try this taco for about a month, but it’s in a weird part of town I never visit so it just hasn’t happened yet! Today, I finally have an hour planned to drive over there before rush hour, try the taco, and get back home.

Shorts + tee + baseball cap and a cup of coffee. 😉

7:15 am

I’m usually listening to a podcast or an audiobook in the car. Today is The Lively Show, one of my favorite podcasts.

Taco Time! I had ham + egg + cheese at Texas Honey Ham. I like this one, but the tortilla wasn’t homemade which is always a super bummer! Someone messaged me on instagram when I posted this and said I need to get the ranchero sauce…. I guess I’ll be going back another time!

8:00

Back home and time for a second cup of coffee! I always have 1 cup of coffee in the morning, and sometimes have 2. I guess I was just feeling extra sleepy on this day!

Note: slippers are back on my feet. We have cement floors on the first story of our house, so I’m always wearing slippers or socks.

I chat with my hubby while he makes his breakfast, kiss him goodbye when he leaves for work, unload the dishwasher and tidy the kitchen, feed Storm her breakfast…. Just normal morning stuff.

8:30:

Shower, do my hair/makeup, then I fold a quick load of laundry. (This is thrilling stuff, I know…)

Ooh, this is fun for all of you organization nerds: The Container Store was having a sale on these black velvet hangers, so we replaced all of our mismatched plastic hangers with these. Now all the hangers in our master closet match, and every time I walk in there I feel so happy! Ha!

9:00 am

Alignment time! This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite parts of the day. Alignment time can mean anything that gets me in a good mood and sets the tone for the day. On this day, I journaled for about 30 minutes while I drank my coffee, then I read a book for about 15 minutes. Here are a few of my favorite ways to get aligned for the day:

• taking a barre code class (either a classic barre or a TBC class)
• meditation (I started my meditation journey with the headspace app, but now I do meditation without it)
• journaling (I’ve been using these black moleskine notebooks for about 5 years and it makes me so happy to see the row of them I’ve filled out!)
• reading (most recently: Maria Shriver’s I’ve Been Thinking.)
• drinking coffee! I make a pour-over with whatever coffee MistoBox sent us that week, and I typically use this kalita wave to brew it. (Click here to read more about brewing coffee at home.)

10 am – 3 pm

I have back-to-back students in my home for the next 5 hours. I spend a lot of time in this violin studio! I teach a combination of 30, 45, or 60-minute lessons (depending on the student’s age and skill level) with children from age 5 – high school. My favorite part off teaching the Suzuki method is knowing that all of the skills that are helping my students improve at the violin, like discipline, commitment, problem solving, and creative thinking, are the same skills that will help them hopefully enjoy meaningful lives as adults.

3:00 pm

I’m starving! I make a turkey and avocado sandwich (not pictured) and a bowl of vanilla bean Noosa yogurt with a sliced peach.

3-5 pm

I work in the afternoon for a couple more hours, this time from my couch because it sounds more fun. This is when I wrote the 21 Best Date Night Restaurants in Austin blog post, planned some social media posts, brainstormed upcoming posts, and spent a few more minutes on email. (I’m REALLY trying to limit my email time to make myself more efficient!)

Storm napped on the couch next to me, and I had The Office turned on as background noise. 🙂

5:00 pm

I have one more sweet violin student who needed an evening lesson, so I teach from 5-5:30 and then I’m done in the violin studio for the day.

6:00 pm

Dinner time! Rachel and I drove all the way up to the Domain (which is basically Waco for us south Austinintes…) to check out Cyclone Anaya’s Tex-Mex Cantina.

Chef Jason had invited me in for a media tasting, and he brought out plate after plate after plate after plate of food. I showed up with a rumbling stomach and left with a food baby!

We ate chips and loaded queso, salsa, ceviche, and avocado and jumbo margaritas for starters.

Then we tried the steak and chicken nachos, fish tacos with rice and beans, jumbo carne guisada burrito, and the rotisserie chicken with smashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

Then I found out they make their own flour tortillas, so I had to try some breakfast tacos! We ordered 3 of them: bean, chorizo, and bacon.

There really aren’t all that many places in Austin that make their flour tortillas from scratch, especially when compared to the number of breakfast tacos available! I was SUPER pumped to try these tacos. The Domain is so far from me in south Austin, but Round Rock friends: try these out!

9:00 pm: back home to a very hungry kitten!

Nate had left for a work retreat that afternoon, so I fed the cat and had a quiet evening to myself. I read a little bit of a new book I had just started, cuddled with Stormy, watched an episode of The Office (ha – can you tell I’m working through the series right now? I have 1 season left!) and tried to start a second episode but felt too tired.

10:15 pm: almost forgot to sign up for a barre class for the next morning! I open the barre code website on my phone and sign up for the 6:30 am class the next day. I like to sign up the night before because they fine you $10 if you don’t show up. That’s the incentive I need to not hit snooze the next morning. 😉

10:20 pm: Lights out!