Tuesday, March 6, 2012

A day in the life of Angela...

Hola! Tuesday's seem to come quicker and quicker! Today, we have my friend Angela, a kickass, super smart, and ridiculously gorgeous gal from Minnesota!

If you would like to participate in the day in the life series email me at pinkflipflops44 at gmail dot com.  If you already did one and want to partake again, you are more than welcome! ;)

A day in the life of a suburban, corporate American worker bee.  A little background on me:  I am in marketing research for Target Corporation, married, and have a dog and a cat.  Here is how a typical day in my life goes:

5:57 Eyes open.
6:00 Think about getting up before alarm.
6:06 Alarm goes off. Invite dog back into bed. Check phone. Close eyes.
6:15 Snooze.
6:24 Think about getting up.
6:31 Finally up. Stretch.
6:50 Teeth brushed and showered.
6:59 Half dressed watching the cat chase a fly.
7:08 Hair dry and dressed.  Kiss my sleeping husband before heading downstairs.
7:26 Out of the house after cleaning out the front seat of my car. Driving to the transit station.
7:43 Parked. Bus leaving station but another one will pull in shortly. It's 20* out (warm! for this time of year), contemplated leaving my gloves in the car.7:46 On the bus.
7:50 Departed. Using my phone to read up on crocheting dreadlocks - my sister wants to dread her hair.8:08 We're downtown.  Just a few blocks' walk to work.


 This is one of my favorite views on my walk to work every morning.  I work on the 30th floor.

8:17 At work. Grabbing something to eat in the caf.


 This is one of a few entrances to the HQ building.


8:23 At my desk. Stopped on every floor but 27. #annoying


 This is my desk.  It's never this clean...

8:30 Catching up on emails, reviewed a deck from an agency, forwarded, checking websites, emailed potential financial advisor for a meeting = basically procrastinating.
9:35 Making good progress, but interrupted by a coworker. Have to run to Caribou (a few blocks away between two Target HQ buildings, connected by skyway so I don't have to go outside) for a meeting. #notenoughtime
10:19 Meeting went well, lots of synergies between 2 upcoming projects.  Walking back to HQ.
10:22 Is it lunch yet?
10:25 Back to my desk, working on an exec summary on a 1pm deadline
10:58 I live off to-do lists. Need to make progress, FAST.


 The start of my to-do list for the day.

11:20 Deadline doc sent to coworker for her adds/edits. Time for lunch?
11:35 Sent a draft email to coworkers. Now lunch! Catching up on personal email in the elevator.
11:39 Quick jaunt outside. In line at chipotle. #hungry Choices...
12:20 Brought lunch to team table, chatted with a co-worker over a burrito.
12:42 Back at it.
1:25 The 1:00 deadline passed without issue, minor changes before sending by EOD (end of day).
1:32 Status meeting with a client
2:00 Status done, checking websites, pumping myself up for the afternoon. Looking forward to yoga.
3:38 Working my tail off to get this exec summary out!
3:56 Mother fucker, Outlook crashed.  I pray to god in heaven that I didn't lose my email draft.
4:03 Sent and only 3 minutes late to my 4:00.
4:40 I survived Monday! Ducked out of a meeting and changing into yoga gear.
4:46 On my way to the bus. It's going to be tight getting there on time.
4:49 Eff it's snowing. The commute is going to be terrible
4:54 Still waiting for the bus... It usually comes every 6 minutes. Standing under a heat lamp.  At least I'm in comfy yoga clothes.4:57 On the bus (and got a seat!) next to someone playing analog sudoku - a rarity these days.
5:14 Halfway there. I'm going to be late :( Plow is slowing down traffic behind it.
5:25 Just turning into the bus station. Not sure if I'll make it or not.
5:32 Driving to the studio.  Map says it will take 16 minutes.  Let's see if my lead foot does me justice...
5:33 Call the studio to see if they will start on time; they will.  #crap5:42 Stuck at a light. Ack.
5:48 Off the highway, missed my yoga class. Going to cry.
6:00 Home, not happy.  Sulk around in my yoga clothes for a while despite my husband's words of consolation.
6:10 Decide to make French onion soup for dinner.  Appetizer: carrots and hummus.
6:30 Onions cooking on the stove.  Pull out my phone and/or hop on my laptop while dinner is cooking.
7:26 Add wine, beef broth, chicken broth, and apple juice to the soup.
7:42 Spoon soup into mini casserole dishes, top with bread and Gruyere cheese.  Broil.


 I <3 these mini casserole dishes (yes they are broiler safe) - they are perfect for French onion soup.


7:48 Dinner is served.  A glass or two of wine consumed.
8:13 Turn on the Bachelor from the DVR.
(Lost track of time at this point, probably went up to bed around 11:30, checked my phone, fell asleep to do it all over again the next day.)


That's a pretty typical day.  It takes me about 45 minutes to get ready in the morning and an hour commute each way.  It's a longer commute than most, but I like my job and my house, so I'll deal with it.  The snow is par for the course this time of year in Minnesota.  I should have planned my afternoon better - I was only minutes away from making it to yoga.

Most of my days are meeting-filled, like this one.  I rarely have a day without 3-4 meetings - the busyness keeps me on my toes and productive, believe it or not.  As you can tell, I live off deadlines.  My personal and professional life are planned out based on due dates.  My work gets done in the order that it's due.  I love to-do lists; I could not survive without Sharpies and Post-Its.

My desk isn't always that clean - consider yourself lucky that you see it in a neat state.  Most cubes at Target are covered in red bullseye paraphernalia; dogs are very coveted plush toys around these parts. 

There you have it - thanks for reading!

Thank you, Angela! I am addicted to shopping at Target. 

Do you require to-do lists or do you fly by the seat of your pants?

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