Yesterday started out as a classic San Francisco winter day — chilly and very, very foggy. Even downtown where I live, the tallest buildings were totally fogged in! I spent the gray morning doing a few things around the office, and relishing the fact that the mister had taken the day off from work. It was kind of nice having us BOTH sitting together in the office.
Mondays are always organizing days for me. I draft a to do list for much of the week, divided by day, often with a focus on a different client or project each day. I also try to write as many blog posts as I can (though sometimes with varying degrees of success!). Last week I had Save the Date samples printed for a client’s wedding invitation suite, so in the morning, I cleaned up some various supplies from it and listed out next steps for the project.
The organizational mode continues. On any given day, my desk looks like a tornado hit it (I think of it as organized chaos). However, I found a bunch of boxes and bags hidden underneath my work tables filled with little notebooks, and corralled them all in a basket. Things I don’t want to tell anybody? How many damn notebooks I have. It’s borderline embarrassing.
It wouldn’t be a proper day off from work for Mr. J if we didn’t go out to lunch, now would it? We make a quick reservation at my favorite neighborhood spot, Marlowe. One major perk of working from home: drinking on your lunch break is entirely acceptable. We share a half carafe of red wine, some yummy sauteed mushrooms with toast and a fried egg, salads, and a po boy sandwich. Dessert? Bourbon ice cream with salted caramel sauce. Oh, you know, just your average Monday lunch break. YUM.
I always love looking at the quotes they have on the windows outside the restaurant. It never gets old.
I had a small pile of mail that I finally sorted through. Very unglamorous things — tax forms (ugh, is it that time already?), bills (double ugh!), and catalogs. Hello, bright spot! To be honest with you though, most of the time I manage a quick glance through the catalog, then toss it in a tray filled with magazines, lookbooks, and catalogs that I go through about once a quarter. When the time comes, I go through each one and pull items that catch my eye, and either post them up on my inspiration wall, or paste them into a huge sketchbook I have that’s filled with similar tear sheets. I’ve been doing this for a few years now, and it’s fun to go through The Book and see things that still inspire me, and also document how my tastes change!
Joe and I have a secret vice. We love watching Barefoot Contessa while we eat. We DVR it daily and watch it almost every night. Last week we saw an episode where she makes chili with one of her fabulous Hamptons friends. Joe and I make chili pretty regularly (veggie, turkey, classic, green chile and chicken, you name it!), but we decided to try this particular recipe, which called for the use of coffee (intriguing!). Of course, I had to put my own spin on it, so I’m testing it out for dinner and, if we like it, I’ll share the recipe here soon.
What was your Monday like?
Sounds like a great day! I love random little lunch dates with my husband too…it always feels like you’re sneaking away together even when you’re not really playing hooky from anything. So fun :)
Looking forward to the chili recipe. It’s foggy on the other side of the bay, too, so it would be just perfect.
love your little notebook bin! you take such great photos!
-Lauren
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Fun to read about your Monday! Your lunch looked and sounded delicious! My Monday was a bit on the boring side. Spent the day at my full time job, got a few inches of snow right before the 5 o’clock rush hour and spent double the amount of time on the trip home! Worked out, made a yummy dinner (italian roasted chicken legs…. mmmmm) and worked on my blog/side business for the rest of the evening. Thanks for sharing your day!
i try to organize on fridays, which turns into mondays at my desk.
I kind of love that you watch Barefoot Contessa while cooking–I do too! And I’ve actually made chili with both coffee and chocolate before…it gives it a really interesting flavor!
What a beautiful Monday! Mine was a whirlwind of running here and there and all over LA for work, then the Bachelor with a girlfriend, and then burning the midnight oil finishing a spreadsheet that was due by NY morningtime :) Can’t wait for the weekend already!
Monday was pretty uneventful for me- I wasn’t feeling too great so it was mostly about trying to get through the day. Your Monday looked like a lot of fun though- I love your little basket of notebooks and I’m really curious to hear how the new chili recipe turns out!
love this as always. annnnnd ina is my fave chef, too! i want to live in the hamptons and be her friend. i envision us clipping her garden flowers, rolling out pastry dough, and joining jeffery for dinner. that wouldn’t be so bad, would it? hehe.
Love your day in the life posts, Victoria. And if you ask us, getting a catalog in the mail is one of those teeny moments in life that just make you smile!
man. we watch NSIC (his choice; i’m just happy if he’s home). you win.
swear i’m not drunk. *NCIS
I love how totally chill and relaxed your Monday was (save all the unglamorous stuff). Love the quotes outside that restaurant too, I might write some of those down. This along with the features of Lucy may be my favorite series!
Louisa
loving getting to more about your daily life :)
This is such a fun series! Love the little peek into your days, xo!
I’m right there with you and your notebooks! I can’t resist em-they are too cute and they’re everywhere begging me to take them home!!
Lovely day! I actually put a pinch of cocoa in my chili, which adds a lovely rich flavor to it.
I also have an absurd collection of active notebooks – need to get a chic little basket to corral them in, like you! Current count on my desk – 4. Eek.
I love those notebooks!
I’m a day late. My Monday wasn’t as fun unfortunately! Have a good rest of the week!
The beginning of the week is ALWAYS insanely busy. Usually Thursday-Saturday is slow which is nice, but it would be better if I could spread the beginning of the week’s tasks out a little more.
that lunch looks so yummy! i am also guilty of hoarding notebooks and pretty stationary!
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I like how monday is your organizing day…I need to adopt that!
Totally saw that episode of Barefoot and made the chili! It’s so delicious. I added some of my own stuff to it as well – always turns out better that way!
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