A Day in the Life: November 12, 2014

Almost a year ago, I shared a Day in the Life post  with you all. As things have changed since I last shared, I figured that today was the perfect day to share with you!

IMG_2545[1]5:30am Alarm #1 goes off even though my eyes have no intention of opening yet. We stayed up one episode too last night watching Season 2 of The Newsroom.

5:35am Alarm #2 goes off and luckily this time Bo reminds me that we will be late to swim practice if we don’t get out of bed immediately.

5:55am We head out the door twenty minutes after changing into swim gear, making coffee, grabbing my breakfast and snacks and work clothes.

6:10am Since it’s early and there is no traffic, it only takes us 15 minutes to get to the pool which is about half the time it takes to drive the same distance in the evening. Some mornings we listen to the radio but this morning we listen to an old Dave Matthews cd.

6:20-7:20am – Today’s swim practice is tougher than normal, not due to the distance, but the strokes. We did almost 500 meters of butterfly, which I have only learned this year. One swim practice per week is dedicated to drills while the other one focuses on speed. After completing 200 meters of legs only butterfly drills my legs and abs were really wishing it was an endurance day, that’s for sure!

IMG_2939[1]7:20-7:45am Shower, blow dry my hair, apply makeup and get dressed quickly as I have a meeting starting promptly at 8.  I’m excited that Fall has finally arrived in Geneva which means tights, tall boots, warm orange colors, and my favorite navy wool blazer!   IMG_33758 – 8:15am First meeting of the day lasts only 15 minutes, 45 minutes shorter than planned.

8:15- 9am Go through work emails and eat breakfast. My breakfast these days is oats with a banana, flax seeds, cinnamon, and vanilla protein powder with coffee on the side. I’m bringing my coffee from home as I love the flavor and it saves just a little bit of money each day. When I go through my work emails each morning, I do my best respond to as many as possible then flagthe ones which need to be responded to later.

9-12pm Three hours spent working on a presentation.

12-1pm I enjoy every minute of lunch today, catching up with a co-worker, helping her plan her upcoming trip the United States. Even though I don’t always take advantage of the Swiss hour “lunch break” I am thankful to know that I can always count on having an hour mental break during the day. Last week, when working from our New York City office, I felt a significant difference in my afternoon productivity since I didn’t have a single break and found myself eating lunch during meetings or while working.

1-7pm Six hours of video conferences and conference calls is straight up exhausting, especially when I’m leading three of them.  I’m working on a project that is based on the West Coast which means time changes are resulting in late meetings at least a few times a week. Luckily tonight’s call is done by 7pm, earlier than most.

7-7:30pm I catch up with my mom and write a few thank you notes during the bus ride home.

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7:45pm Only 15 minutes after walking through the door I’ve changed into my favorite sweatpants, lit our pumpkin candle I brought back from the United States and am catching up Bo. We end up having a long discussion about an article he read in Business Insider about lasting relationships and their two basic traits.

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8-8:30pm Enjoy a small salad and homemade chili with Bo while we research Florence, in advance of our anniversary trip.

8:30-10:30pm We get wrapped up in two more The Newsroom episodes before I fall asleep on the couch.

How about your day? What does it look like?

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Seven Things That Happened This Weekend

Inspired by Tina’s morning post, I thought I would use the same format to share a bit more details behind my weekend.

In short, my weekend was exactly what I needed after a busy work week in New York City. The week was really productive on the work end but the busy days and evening work dinners meant that there wasn’t much spare time for friends. Luckily I was able to fly back to Geneva Sunday evening so I could squeeze in time with friends Friday through Sunday.

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1. The weekend began with a manicure and pedicure date with Liz at my favorite nail spot in New York City, Blooming Nails & Spa. If you live or work near 20th and Park, this spa not only gives phenomenal manicures and pedicures which last longer than average, but also the most incredible deep tissue chair massages while your nails dry. Man do I miss NYC manicure prices and those quick chair massages! IMG_31752. Agave never disappoints for delicious margaritas and reliable Mexican food. I love that you can book a table ahead of time on OpenTable which means you don’t have to worry about waiting in line for hours. I don’t have time for that when I’m only in the city for a few days. Theodora, Liz, Kristine and I enjoyed one too many agave nectar margaritas during the course of the evening but life is all about moderation! We had such a great time and our table in the back of the restaurant allowed us the privacy to hear our conversations without having to yell, which is often the case when you’re in the front of the restaurant near the bar area.

IMG_31853. Meg and I snagged a spot in Michelle’s 9:30am Uplift Strength class, which was a favorite of mine when I lived in the city. Uplift Studios has received a facelift since I was last there back in January and looked amazing! The studio was buzzing with personal training appointments, packed classes and lots of coffee induced chatter Saturday morning. Michelle’s class packed a TON of new to me moves into the 55 minutes. I am hoping she will share a few of them with me so I can include them in a new workout for you guys soon.

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4. I reunited with the girls of our supper club for a Brooklyn based afternoon on Saturday. There has been a lot of exciting news and change between the four of us – Meg received a promotion, Elizabeth and Geoff are expecting in a few short weeks, Brad & Margaret have both changed jobs over the past year.  We meandered through the Brooklyn streets, popping into shops and cafes before settling into a late brunch at Vinegar Hill House.  A cozy restaurant with reasonable prices and delicious comfort food, this was the perfect spot for a casual brunch. If you are local, definitely go there for brunch or dinner as the food was terrific and the service was also great! Each dish was a unique twist on a traditional comfort food such as pumpkin, sage grilled cheese.

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5. Saturday night was low-key and relaxed, exactly what we all wanted. Due to the late brunch, we enjoyed some cheese, crackers and pumpkin beer while watching college football and then renting the movie Begin Again. If you’re looking for a movie that will leave you feeling good while also making you question the characters decisions, this is a perfect pick! The soundtrack is equally wonderful and includes tracks from Adam Levine and Kiera Knightley, two of the movies main characters. IMG_3250 IMG_32516. After 9 hours of sleep we enjoyed a coffee from Van Leeuwen while running errands and picking up ingredients for brunch. Russell and Meg whipped up Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes while I packed. I am in love with this healthier version of the seasonal favorite!

IMG_31957. We used the final few hours before my flight to explore Brooklyn. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve never spent much time in Brooklyn other than long runs and an occasional dinner. We walked through Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens stopping to explore Smorgasburg, do some shopping in boutiques such as Duman Home and Community Bookstore. In addition to its regular Saturday location in Williamsburg, Smorgasburg is in Brooklyn Bridge park every Sunday until November 23rd?  I ended up adding Amy Poehler’s Yes Please, 6 placemats and 4 egg everything bagels into my carry on bag!

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Wordless Weekend – Brooklyn Edition

I spent 24 hours in Brooklyn this weekend and may have just fallen in love with the new to me neighborhoods of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens.

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