A lot of people ask me what I’m doing with my time these days and if we’re being honest, sometimes I wonder, myself. Here’s a look at a day in the life, sprinkled in with questions that a lot of you wrote in. Thanks to everyone who participated!!

8:00 am:
Ordinarily, I wake up way earlier than 8:00. I’m usually a 6:30 girl. But we had a late night and Daylight Saving is a thing that we’re still trying to adjust to. So here we are. Also, this is the face of a woman who just remembered, while flossing, that she had decided to document every hour of her day.

Question from Steven: How do I get a cat who won’t let anyone pick her up, into a crate, so I can take her to the vet? Yeah so we had this same issue when we moved. Kiki hates being held and also she does not like it when you’re trying to make her do anything. So when we moved, we put a squishy blanket into her crate and put treats in the crate. Then we just left her to explore the crate for a whole day or so. Then when it was time to go we put treats in her crate again, she sniffed around, we cornered her, and then we just kind of had to forcefully shove her in there and close the door. It wasn’t graceful at all but we hoped that at least she was familiar enough that she wasn’t nervous.

9:00 am:
Eating breakfast, sending emails, planning my week for work and meals using Pinterest. I’m definitely going to make these Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Teryaki Bowls! And I’m going to also make a batch of this Thai Quinoa Salad to munch on for lunch all week long after I go grocery shopping, tomorrow.

Question from Jamie: Where do you draw inspiration from? I love this question because it’s always changing. I find that inspiration is more free to come to me when I have a clean and organized house. I draw inspiration from my friends who are doing exciting things and following their ideas. I draw inspiration from podcasts and from reading. I am also taking a class for bloggers offered by Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess right now and that has provided so much inspiration! That’s where I got the idea to do a post like this and where I got the idea for the #xoxoselfiechallenge, too! I believe that creativity begets creativity.

10:00 am:
Still sending emails—getting fixed up with affiliate links! Setting up interviews! Does not make for a thrilling photograph.
To answer the question that I always get about this mug, no it is not specifically a pro-Hillary mug. It’s a pro-women mug. And could it be more true? Probably not.

Question from Cammie: Have you ever had any kitchen disasters? Yeah—lots! Once I made my friend, Kat, a birthday cake and I thought it was finished baking but I guess it wasn’t and it completely imploded. So, then we drove to the bakery and just bought one. There have been plenty of loaves of bread that didn’t rise. Bundts that never came out of the pan. But my favorite kitchen disaster is not my own, but my mother’s from when I was a kid. She made this beautiful berry pie. The recipe called for tapioca as a thickening agent. But my mom accidentally used salt—the kind of salt that you sprinkle on the top of soft pretzels. Trust me, they look a lot alike. It was a beautiful pie but it was impossible to eat. Sorry Mom!

11:00 am:
A break to clean the kitchen! And listen to the latest episode of This American Life.

Question from Lisa: What ways do you successfully motivate yourself to get things done on days when all you feel is blahhh? I have a couple of tactics—when it comes to office work, I try to get a read on myself. If I wake up in the morning just brimming with ideas and I’m really excited to write and get to work, then I’ll do it. I won’t even change out of my jammies—I strike while the iron is hot and I just get to work. But some days I wake up with this feeling like, “eh, I don’t really feel like it”. And those times, especially if I’ve got a deadline, I go to the coffee shop where I’ve limited the number of distractions. Plug in some headphones, turn on some French Pop music, and get into the zone by just doing it. But some days? I just can’t get into it and I try to have grace on days like this.
Now, when it comes to house work? I invite people over and hope that knowing that they’re coming will be enough to make me finally clean off the dining room table. It doesn’t always work but in that case… apply more grace.

12:00 pm:
Warm up leftover soup from this weekend and go downstairs to start a load of laundry and watch an episode of “Girls”. One of two television shows that I let myself be obsessive about not missing.

I have been an avid lover of Girls since day one but I will be the first to admit that for a while, I didn’t really “get” it. But I am completely on board, on the same wavelength, in tune. I get it. And I like it. And all the more reason to start again from episode 1. I’m in love with where Shoshana is right now–not physically, like in Japan, but emotionally and spiritually. I feel like she’s the most honest character.

1:00 pm:
Folding laundry while watching HBO’s “Togetherness”, one of two television shows that I let myself be obsessive about not missing. Have you seen this? So good. So funny and emotional. So Duplass.

Question from JD: Deserted island: 3 books, 3 movies, 3 people, and 3 foods.
Okay, I got this.
Books: “The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor”, “Complete Works of Virginia Woolf”, and “Three” by Annie Dillard. Sneaky work around with the anthologies!
Movies: “You’ve Got Mail”, “Happy Christmas”, and “Supersize Me” (so that we won’t get hungry for the food on the mainland).
People: Ryan, Bear Grylls, and Vanessa Ragland (because she’s on 2 of my favorite podcasts and makes me laugh to the point of crying on a regular basis).
Foods: Sweet potatoes (because they’re nutrient dense and will keep us healthy), avocado toast (because it’s my favorite food), and the chocolate chip scones from Craft Coffee.
2:00 pm:
I am legit meditating. Or, rather, I had just finished legit meditating when my alarm went off to remind me to document what I’m doing.

I had an interaction that took me out of my very happy and productive head-space and put me into a massively pissed off one. I could see the immediate and obvious change that had taken place and I did not like it at all. So I took charge.
If there were two things that I could say to everyone in the whole world that they would know, utterly comprehend and deeply honor, it would be these things:
1. You really do affect people–every single time that you interact with them.
2. You are in charge of how you deal with your own feelings.

3:00 pm
On my way to Lisa’s house I stopped in at Sonic because it was Happy Hour and I wanted an iced tea. But then I saw that they have Italian Sodas so I ordered a vanilla cream. I do not have regrets about that.

Question from Jamie: How do you remember so many details in the stories you recount? You are such a beautiful story teller—does this translate to telling good stories orally as well? Let me start at the end—no. It does not translate to telling good stories orally as well. Not for me anyhow. The reason that I can tell a good story on paper (thank you so much, by the way), is because I can plot out exactly how the story needs to go. I can’t do that when I’m talking to someone. I feel like more often than not, when I’m trying to tell a story orally I back up a lot and re-tell parts. I say “ya know” a lot? It’s frustrating even to me. In writing, I generally know exactly how I want it to end first and I’ll work backwards from there, filling in details.
I don’t know how I remember details, I just do. I often wonder, “am I really remembering this well or is the story just building itself in my mind?” There are times that I wish that I could fact-check myself but then again, maybe I don’t!

4:00 pm
Lisa invited me over for a work party! Which is one of my most favorite things. It’s great for if you have friends who do work or school from home. You get a buddy to spend the afternoon with and you get someone to motivate you to get your work done. Or at the least, you get a buddy to spend the afternoon with! Everyone wins. We really did get some work done, this time.

Question from Lisa: What is your biggest pet peeve when you’re at the grocery store? Oof! The way that people deal with their shopping carts! The way they get left just willy nilly around the parking lot and not in the cart stall. You’re telling me you could push this thing all around Walmart but you just couldn’t manage the 10 extra feet to the little area where they’re corralled? PSA: If you, like so many others, have trouble putting the carts away, try this life hack, park near the stall where the carts are collected and then you really don’t have an excuse to not put them away (there are exceptions to every rule, but there aren’t that many).

5:00 pm
Pre-dinner snack! Ryan’s been home for a lot of the day, there are enchiladas in the oven, and I’m going to relax a little bit with my guy before I write a little bit more after dinner. I hope you all have a wonderful night!

So, what do you do with your days?

Did you like this kind of post? If so, let me know in the comments and maybe we’ll make it a semi-regular kind of thing. I loved the interaction of all of the questions! Thanks to everyone who wrote in

XOXO, Lib