Whenever my mom calls to check in (which is pretty much close to every day), she enjoys having me answer the question, "what's on your agenda today?" Mainly because a.) it's a very obligatory mom question, they all love asking it and b.) she knows how happy it makes me to have each day feel a little different. And it's true. Having worked the past 5 years in a pretty corporate environment, where my commute, my meeting schedule and even my emails started to feel a little routine (don't get me wrong, I still loved that job and the people I worked with), I've now realized just how much I thrive in environments that are always changing. It's a huge part of the reason I got into writing and eventually print journalism in the first place. It gave me an excuse to leave the newsroom every couple of hours to talk to a new source, research a new subject, trespass to get just the right shot for A1 (and avoid getting arrested in doing so).

It was constantly different. It was always evolving. It was very me.

So when New York Magazine's The Cut recently came along and stole my mom's question, well I had to take them along for a bit of a whirlwind day, didn't I? If you're interested in the better written story, make sure you hop over to The Cut right here. If you're looking for the crude play by play, keep reading below...

6:00 AM: My alarm goes off, but to be completely honest, I'm usually up a few minutes before. I'm trying to break this habit, especially since I can be a bit of a night owl most evenings. I need more sleep. Period.

6:10 AM: Elvis pokes his head over my side of the bed, licking my hand, as I'm now skimming through my email on my phone. I scoop him up onto the bed while I continue to flip through Instagram, a bit of Snapchat and eventually read The Skimm, before getting out of bed to take him out for a walk.

6:30 AM: Confession time. I love Starbucks. For a number of reasons really, but mainly, they're the only coffee shop often at this time. So Elvis and I stop here, I get an ice coffee (always, even if it's snowing outside), and we continue our walk around the West Village. If we're lucky, we'll see our friend Ruckus, a little Westie, who lives in the neighborhood. They're best friends.

7:00 AM: I wash my face with a gentle cleanser by CereVe that my dermatologist recommended. It's meant for normal to oily skin and I love how it leaves my face feeling cleansed without feeling stripped (which sometimes other cleansers meant for oily skin tend to do). I then lather on my daily moisturizer cocktail mix (I say cocktail mix because I like changing the lineup from time to time). A girlfriend recently introduced me to the Drunk Elephant brand and this hydration gel is a great morning pick me up -- cool and refreshing once it dries and soaks in. Depending on how puffy my eyes look, I'll then dab some under eye cream or a serum, like this one by Ole Henrickson and apply some cold spoons that have been in the refrigerator over night over my eyes, kinda like Margot Robbie here. KIDDING. I haven't tried this step. Yet. Has anyone else tried it? 😉

7:15 AM: Quick breakfast of a banana, some string cheese and granola. Or if I'm bad, I'll get a bagel from Hudson Bagels. YIKES, BUT THEY'RE SO GOOD, GUYS.

7:30 AM: Work day starts. I kick things off by starting a new To-Do spreadsheet in an ongoing Google Doc I have (aptly titled 'Get Shit Done'), all prioritized individually. P0's need to happen ASAP because stuff is on FIRE. P1's need to happen by end of day. and P2's need to happen by end of week. And then sometimes I give myself low hanging fruit (like hunt for cheap Beyonce tickets on Stubhub) so I can have the satisfaction of crossing one extra thing off the list. It's the little things, people. Emails get fired off at this time. I schedule out my social media content for the morning to promote the blog post that's now up. I'll also get caught up on the news, skimming CNN and The New York Times. And sometimes post a little rant about Trump on Snapchat.

9:00 AM: Break time. I head out to the Hudson River running path and clock a good 3-5 mile run. Keeps me sane.

10:00 AM: Back at home, post shower, the day could go in a few different directions. If I'm shooting that day, I'll prepare my outfits, hair, makeup, the works and grab my laptop in case I need to be out for a few hours. If it's more of an admin day with video conference meetings and scheduling out content, I'll throw on a chambray shirt, boyfriend jeans and my hair in a high, high pony tail and either work from home, a nearby coffee shop or my work space at Thompson Square Studios in SoHo. I'll also skip makeup on these days, because I like letting my skin breathe when I can. Except for mascara. I'll almost always put on mascara.

12:00 PM: After shooting or working, I'll grab a quick lunch, usually in whatever neighborhood I'm in. If I'm in the West Village, I love popping over to Extra Virgin or Cafe Minerva for a quick bite and I'll usually stay in Minerva to work for the afternoon. They have this parmesan asparagus plate that is my absolute salvation. Oh, and that spot at the window near Woody Allen? If it's free, I'll almost always claim that seat. Great for people watching, when you need a small email distraction.

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM: I affectionately call this the "zone." I'll order my second cup of coffee (usually a small cappuccino) and hammer out that To-Do list I mentioned earlier. This includes going through photo selects from recent shoots to narrow down my top picks, writing out posts for the week and updating pitch decks.

4:10 PM: Come up for air. Watch something silly on YouTube. Or keep hunting for those Bey tickets on Stubhub!

4:15 - 7:00 PM: BACK IN THE ZONE, baby. Werk. Werk. Werk.

7:30 PM: Depending on the day and the evening lineup of events (or lack there of), I'll either hop out for networking dinner and drinks right after taking Elvis out for an evening walk. Or I'll stay in and make dinner at home with Elvis. Another confession time: I'm a horrible cook. So most evenings, if I'm being completely honest, it's a rotation of a vegetable and lentil soup, simple pasta dishes or salads. If I'm trying to impress someone (like a hot date) I'll attempt to make something fancier and then pray that I don't poison them with undercooked meat (usually why all my steak dinners are prepared VERY WELL done).

8:30 PM: Shower. I love evening showers. Mainly because I hate drying my hair so I'd rather have it air dry over night. And also, I love the ritual of lighting my favorite candle and putting on some fun music while I'm in there, an indulgence that's just too hard to do when it's in the morning and you're feeling rushed.

9:00 PM: Jump into bed, usually in this matching pajama set from Margiot, with a charcoal face mask on. This one by Boscia has been fun to try lately because the black charcoal sucks out the impurities and the white charcoal. I leave this on for about an hour (I like leaving my masks on for a bit longer than recommended to really let it soak in), while I get caught up on more email and start prepping the final touches to the next day's blog post.

11:00 PM: Read. Right now on my nightstand, I have Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, which you think I would have read by now but it somehow escaped me.

12:oo AM - 1:30AM: Drift off to sleep. With Elvis next to me.

And there you have it! That's my day in a 12-hour nutshell. Technically, this was a bit longer than 12 hours (sorry for the run over!) but you get the picture. 🙂

Photos by Alisha Siegel

This post was in collaboration with New York Magazine's The Cut and Sephora. As always, all opinions and styling are my own. Thank you for supporting all This Time Tomorrow collaborations!