A Week In Los Angeles, CA On A $125,000 Salary

Occupation: Director, Social Media
Industry: Entertainment
Age: 30
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Salary: $125,000
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $3,323.50
Gender Identity: Woman

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $950 (for my half of the rent, split evenly with my husband)
Student Loans: $832.38 (I recently paid off my car loan so am now putting that money toward my student loan payment)
Utilities: $125 on average (I pay water, power, gas, etc. and my husband handles our cable/internet)
Car Insurance: $139 (paid from joint account, split evenly with my husband)
Renter's Insurance: $181 annually
AAA: $132 annually
Healthcare: $54 (we're on my husband's plan through his employer, so I transfer him money every month)
Cell Phone: $45 (again, my husband handles the full bill so I transfer this to him monthly)
Savings: $525 ($500 to my savings, $25 to my daughter's)
Donations: $78
Handy: $152 (paid from joint account, split evenly with my husband)
Dia&Co: $20
Netflix: $25.98 (I pay for my dad's subscription and one for my household)
Hulu: $11.99
Disney+: $56.66 annually
Amazon Prime: $119 annually
Instacart: $99 annually
Postmates Unlimited: $95.88 annually
LinkedIn Premium: $25
HomeChef: $238.80
Disneyland Annual Pass: $1,149 annually
Credit Card Fee: $117 annually

8:20 a.m. — It's a Saturday (bless), so I didn't set an alarm last night. My husband, R., and our almost-two-year-old, Z., are both awake and moving around, which wakes me up. R. brings the baby into our bed and we all cuddle and play for a little bit before starting the day. I want to go out for breakfast, but R. says he doesn't want to leave the house yet. Fiiiine. We make a bowl of blueberries and bananas with some Cheerios for the kiddo (her fave), and try to figure out what we want to eat.

9:01 a.m. — Turns out we don't have much in the way of breakfast foods in the house. So I end up ordering breakfast burritos from Postmates for us. I put on a pot of coffee and eat a cookie (okay THREE cookies, sue me) while we wait for them to arrive. I feed the cat too, everybody's gotta eat. $25.65

9:45 a.m. — We're finally eating those burritos while we watch Coco on Disney+. Thank god for that subscription (I bought three years in advance, #sorrynotsorry), Z.'s favorites right now are Coco and Tangled so it's on A LOT. I eat half my burrito and save the rest for later.

10:35 a.m. — While goofing around with the kid, I remember that the pediatrician confirmed that Z. is starting to show signs that she's ready to potty train, so I order a Munchkin potty from Amazon that I had previously researched. The glamorous life of a parent, ya know? $33.06

12 p.m. — We finally will ourselves to leave the house to run some errands. I put together our wills and power of attorney and all that jazz a long time ago but never had them notarized or witnessed, so we do that at a local Mailboxes Etc.-type place. Both depressing and expensive. I think they overcharged us by $30, but I didn't realize it until after we left, and they were so nice and gave our daughter a free toy so I don't go back to correct it. We pay from our joint account, which we contribute equal amounts to monthly. $140

1 p.m. — The husband is very hungry, but I'm still pretty full from the burritos. We walk to a nearby whiskey bar and restaurant. Z. gets a grilled cheese and fries, I get fish tacos and a beer, and R. gets a burger, fries, and a beer. $72.23 with tip, but R. pays.

1:45 p.m. — We finish up lunch, drop off an Amazon return at the UPS store using a prepaid label, and then take the kiddo home and put her down to attempt a nap. We plan to wrap Christmas presents and fold laundry while she sleeps, but I make no promises not to turn into a couch potato.

2:45 p.m. — No chores completed, but I did start back up my Duo Lingo lessons in Spanish! The baby refuses to nap, so we head out to a candy cane making party that family friends are hosting. We're hoping she'll power nap on the freeway. Pray for us.

3:45 p.m. — We traverse LA, and traffic is *shocker* bad. Z. manages about 30 minutes of sleep in the car, which is better than nothing. We enjoy lots of free food, I have a couple of beers (R. is driving), and the kiddo plays with her friends. It's nice to catch up with everyone, but we're all tired and still have another errand to run so I'm admittedly a little impatient and want to leave. We also saw a lot of these people at a cookie-making party the night before. ‘Tis the season or whatever.

6 p.m. — After saying what seems like never-ending goodbyes, we leave the party and head to BevMo to pick up holiday gifts for both of our offices. It happens to be the five-cent wine sale, which is awesome! I get six bottles of wine at various price points for people in my office, and R. gets a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black for his work White Elephant (it's alcohol-themed this year). I also see some chocolate boxes to pair with wine and can't help myself, so I grab one for a white and one for a red. We pay separately. $91.85

7:30 p.m. — Back home, Z. politely asks to watch Coco again and we oblige. We heat up leftover chili and cornbread for dinner, and cut up some mini cucumbers and fruit to add to Z.'s meal. I have a garbage diet, but I'm trying not to pass that on to her.

9:30 p.m. — After going through Z.'s bedtime routine (diaper change, jammies, brushing her teeth), I notice Disney+ has an Arendelle castle Yule Log. My inner Frozen fanatic gets the best of me, so I put that on while I cuddle Z. to continue winding her down for the night. R. brings me a small piece of nougat that his mom sent us home with last night, and it is very good. I want another piece but resist the urge.

10 p.m. — With the child finally in bed, I put the new season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on my phone while R. plays Destiny, and then pass out for the evening shortly thereafter.

7 a.m. — I wake up naturally after tossing and turning a lot of the night. No one but the cat is awake, so I cuddle with her while checking emails on my phone.

7:30 a.m. — One of the emails is from Sephora about a $20 off deal, which reminds me that I'm almost out of eyeliner. But when I fire up the ol' Sephora app, I find they no longer carry the one I love — the horror! I decide to test out a well-reviewed Givenchy pencil in its place. I also buy two gift sets for holiday gifts for friends (a skincare/mask set for a new mom, and a random box of goodies for someone who likes to play around with new products). $61.65

8:10 a.m. — The husband and baby are starting to stir, so I grab the kiddo from her room and plop her in bed with us for family snuggles. We only ever really have time to do this on the weekends, so I take full advantage.

8:45 a.m. — We're up and out of bed. The husband hops in the shower (he has work today), and I put on a pot of coffee while I fix toast and a banana for Z. She has selected Tangled to watch this morning, and I haven't seen this one in a couple days so... here we are. I reheat the leftover half of my breakfast burrito from yesterday to eat with my coffee. I keep watching Maisel on my phone because it's great and dear god I've seen Tangled enough already.

9:30 a.m. — Z. finishes breakfast so I clean her up and set her up to color (aka wildly scribble) while she finishes her movie. R. reheats his burrito from yesterday and eats that before he heads out for work. He'll be gone until around 6:30, so I need to decide if Z. and I are going to have a lazy lady day at home, or venture outside. I decide on a mixture of the two: lazy morning, productive afternoon.

11:50 a.m. — After playing, coloring, and watching movies for a couple hours, Z. asks for a snack, so I give her Cheerios and a cup of water. That sounds terrible to me, but man does she love dry Cheerios. I resolve to start laundry soon... just a few more minutes of laziness, I swear!

12 p.m. — My aforementioned friend who recently had a baby texts me and invites Z. and I to come for a walk with them around 2:30! Yes, yes, and more yes! I have gifts for them both and want to finally meet this baby! Now I have something to plan my day around and a reason to leave the house. Once Z. finishes her Cheerios, I change her and put her down for a nap so that she can be rested to meet the baby.

1:30 p.m. — Since I got paid today (yay!), I continue watching Maisel while balancing my budget and paying bills. I've been putting Christmas gifts primarily on my Amazon credit card to build up my points, so I make a payment there ($850). Everything else was accounted for in my monthly expenses. I text my friend that Z. is still sleeping, so we'll be a little late, and then hop in the shower for a quick rinse. I slop on some skincare and makeup — Clinique gel moisturizer, Drunk Elephant facial oil, YSL blur primer, Tarte BB cream with SPF, Clinique pressed powder, ColourPop blush, Glossier boy brow and mascara, and some YSL tint-in-balm. I previously thought that was low maintenance but now having typed out all of the products, I realize it's kind of a lot. $850

2:45 p.m. — Before I leave for my friend's house, I text to see if she wants anything from Starbucks. As I suspected, she does, so I put more money on my Starbucks card and run through the drive-thru (so that I don't have to take the baby out of the car twice) to get us drinks. She also decides that it's too windy out to go for a walk, which is totally fine. I brace myself to chase Z. around her very nice house and say a prayer that she won't accidentally break anything. $50

6 p.m. — I stay at her place way longer than I was planning to! The baby is ADORABLE, and my friend loved the little outfit we brought her. Z. is decidedly confused by newborns, so there's that. We chat about her delivery and what she's going through now. I decide to leave when I realize I never ate lunch and am very, very hungry. Z. ate pretty much the whole time we were there, but I didn't think to feed myself, go figure.

6:30 p.m. — My husband gets home from work right around the time we get home, which works out well! I fix Z.'s dinner (ravioli, two Cuties, some cheddar cheese, and a few cherry tomatoes), while R. reheats chili and cornbread for us. We make plans to drink some red wine and sample the chocolates I bought last night after dinner. Oh, also, Coco is on again. I'm basically dead to it now.

7:45 p.m. — We change Z., clean her up from dinner, and brush her teeth. We spend some time playing in her room and then go back to coloring. We try the chocolates and a Coppola Claret we had on hand, and they're very good together.

9:55 p.m. — We've been trying to get the baby to bed for about 90 minutes with no luck. We finally decide to try just putting her in her crib to see if she'll put herself to sleep. I am very tired, the red wine has made me sleepy and given me heartburn. Being in your thirties is fun, kids! Baby monitor on, I climb under the covers and the cat crawls on top of me. If I manage to stay awake for 15 more minutes, it'll be a miracle.

10:30 p.m. — The baby finally seems to be asleep, R. is playing video games in the front room, and I pass out. Goodnight, world!

12 a.m. — I'm awoken because I am FREEZING, like completely shivering in bed. This happens to be when R. comes to sleep so he puts another blanket on top of me and we cuddle until we both fall asleep.

6 a.m. — Garbage trucks are outside my window. Mondays are the worst.

7:30 a.m. — My alarm goes off, I hit snooze too many times. There are now gardeners outside my window too. So loud, want sleep.

7:55 a.m. — My alarm goes off for the third time and I relent. Yet more garbage trucks in addition to the gardeners. I check my phone and find that my cousin that I don't talk to often has Instagram DM'd my brother and I that our uncle (who is battling cancer) is in the hospital and not doing well, and that her mom is having trouble contacting my dad and their other brother. So I send my dad an email asking him to give her a call ASAP, which he does. I then wake up Z. so that she can shower with me. R. is still asleep (he doesn't have work today).

8:30 a.m. — Out of the shower, R. is now awake and gets Z. dried and dressed while I do the same for myself. I do pretty much the same skincare/makeup routine as yesterday, but add in some eyeliner and light shadow. I'm terrible at doing my hair, so I don't even try, I just let it air dry. I'll pull it into a pony at some point today.

8:45 a.m. — I'm ready to head to work, R. and Z. are eating waffles and watching Frozen. We're clearly a Disney household. I pre-order a chestnut praline latte from Starbucks — paid for on my Starbucks card that I reloaded yesterday — and pick it up on my way to the office.

9:20 a.m. — At work, I check some emails while sipping my coffee. This is our last week in the office and then we're closed for two weeks for the holidays, so I know I have a lot of things to square away before that closure.

10:40 a.m. — After finishing up a couple of meetings, I am in the need of another warm beverage. Our office has a kitchen full of free food and drink, so I opt for a hot green tea before getting back to answering and sending emails (there truly are so, so many).

12:30 p.m. — HR is sponsoring a company engagement lunch where we'll discuss what we'd like to see more of in 2020. I previously signed up for this, not just because they're serving free food, but because I love that they're asking the employees for their opinions. I'm relatively new to this company (about six months in), and I've worked at a lot of companies that would never host something like this, so it's a fresh change for me!

1:20 p.m. — The HR lunch wraps a little early, so back to work I go with a free cookie in hand! I field a couple of calls from other departments and some network partners, then go back to compiling needed info for the various projects I'm working on.

3 p.m. — Our company "adopted" kids for the holidays via an after school program that we work with throughout the year. My department's gifts have arrived, so we spend about a half hour wrapping everything and decorating stockings for the two kids we were assigned. It's a nice break from staring at a screen! After that, I go back to writing up some info for one of my projects.

6:15 p.m. — I send my last email of the day and pack up! I call my husband from the car, he's making us dinner and entertaining the baby. We almost always call each other when we're driving home from work, it's a tradition that I love.

6:40 p.m. — I'm home and dinner is just about ready — a HomeChef we received last Wednesday. It's Italian fried chicken, roasted zucchini, and mashed yams. I get Z. set up with her dinner while R. plates our meals and pours me a glass of wine. We watch The Princess and The Frog over dinner.

7:45 p.m. — Z. plays while we watch Coco (get used to it, guys), R. folds laundry, and I wrap way too many gifts for people in my office that I plan on delivering tomorrow.

9:30 p.m. — After wrapping office gifts, I try on items from my new Dia&Co box that arrived today. You pay $20 upfront and then that's deducted from any of the five items you keep. I get a cardigan, two blouses, and two pairs of pants. I hate the cardigan, the two blouses are meh, but I really like the pants. I keep only the pants and will send the returns with their prepaid label tomorrow. $116.71

10 p.m. — The baby is starting to get cranky while still running wildly through the apartment, so I try putting her in her crib to go to sleep on her own. Crossing my fingers...

10:30 p.m. — Seems like the baby is asleep, huzzah! I lay in bed and randomly decide to start clearing out old contacts from my phone. I had 900 contacts, and that's just ridiculous. I get it down to 829 before I become bored of this task.

10:55 p.m. — I check my email and see an update about my uncle from my dad. He's in the ICU and is barely responsive. I hope that he'll make some sort of miraculous recovery as my cousin and dad seem surprisingly positive.

11:20 p.m. — A little depressed and worried, it's time to enjoy our (almost) nightly ritual — R. plays video games while I go to sleep.

7:30 a.m. — My alarm goes off and it's just too cold after another night of tossing and turning, so I hit snooze twice.

7:50 a.m. — I decide to finally wake up and check some emails in bed. I see one from my dad — my uncle passed away in the middle of the night. I'm kind of in shock; everyone seemed so hopeful yesterday. I take a long shower and try to decide if I want to take a bereavement day (my company offers us three annually). I decide against it because I'll probably need to use those days to travel for the funeral.

8:25 a.m. — Out of the shower, I gloomily get dressed. I know I have to go to set this afternoon, so I opt for warm, comfy clothes in dark colors. Makeup is very minimal, other than trying to cover a giant zit that popped up near my hairline.

8:45 a.m. — R. and Z. are now both up. R. hops in the shower while I give Z. breakfast (granola bar, blueberries, Cheerios). I email my dad to make sure I have my aunt's current address, I want to send her flowers or something today.

9 a.m. — I kiss everyone goodbye and order a chestnut praline latte and chocolate croissant from the Starbucks app with my prepaid balance. The sugar pick me up seems much needed this morning.

9:23 a.m. — In the office, drinking my coffee and scarfing down my croissant, I check emails. I feel like it's gonna be a long, long day.

1:30 p.m. — Work, work, work! I take a break at lunchtime to bring all of my office holiday gifts up from my car — it takes two trips. I drop them off at people's desks since most folks are at lunch. Once people start returning, I get an overwhelming amount of thanks, which I was not anticipating! It's so nice to be working at a company full of genuinely nice people who appreciate each other.

2:55 p.m. — After another couple of meetings, I check my personal email again and see I've been issued a refund for a HomeChef order that was missing the protein, so that's nice! I also grab some free chips, hummus, and a Diet Coke from the office kitchen. I think I want to order pasta for dinner, so I'm daydreaming about that.

3:30 p.m. — I need some sugar, it is what it is. I grab two mini packages of Sour Patch Kids from the kitchen and they very much hit the spot. Back to working on a never-ending Excel sheet.

5 p.m. — I head out to set to capture some digital content for a show I'm working on. My company will reimburse me for the mileage for this set visit. I answer emails while I wait for my turn to hop in on the stage. This is genuinely the nicest crew I've ever worked with, and I BS with some of them while we work.

7:10 p.m. — Finally home from set, and I see that my dad has confirmed an address for my aunt. I order a sympathy gift basket that will arrive on Thursday. I don't know what else to do. $74.50

7:30 p.m. — My father-in-law drops off Z. at our apartment — my in-laws watch her while we're at work Tuesday-Friday. I order pasta on Postmates because I have been coveting it all day. I get a pesto and chicken penne, olive oil and garlic angel hair, another fancy pasta dish, and cheesy breadsticks. I will eat whichever of these R. doesn't want. Did I mention I'm hungry? $71.56

8:15 p.m. — Food arrives so I call R. to get his ETA. He'll be late, and says he doesn't want the pesto, so I eat that and give Z. the olive oil and garlic. We eat and sing along to Beauty and the Beast.

9:15 p.m. — R. is finally off work and calls me from the car while I sweep up all the angel hair Z. threw on the floor. Hey, at least my floors are cleaner now!

9:40 p.m. — R. is home, yay! He gives Z. and I lots of hugs and kisses, then I change Z. for bed and brush her teeth. We cuddle for 10 minutes or so, and I put her to bed. R. finally eats his dinner, and I climb in bed because I'm cold and sad and kinda just want the day to be over.

10:20 p.m. — I can't turn my brain off, so I decide to play some mindless games on my phone.

11:15 p.m. — I'm pooped, time to genuinely attempt some sleep.

7:30 a.m. — My alarm startles me from a sound sleep. R. is already awake and about to get in the shower, so I wake up Z. and get her ready to pop in the shower with him. We've been trying not to give her baths at night to avoid wet hair when it's really cold, thus all the showers. I pick out a warm outfit for her while she's getting cleaned, and then sit in front of a space heater for a little while.

7:55 a.m. — I take Z. out of the shower, dry her off, dress her, and comb her hair. I put together a snack for the car for her (my mother-in-law will make her real breakfast today), and then she and R. run out the door. My turn to hop in the shower!

8:25 a.m. — Out of the shower and I accidentally puncture this damn pimple while towel drying my hair. UGH. This is going to be fun to cover. Same skincare/makeup/hair routine as the day before. It's ugly Christmas sweater day at the office, so I wear a sweater with Santa on a throne of candy canes and a pair of black jeans.

8:45 a.m. — I'm dressed and out the door. I forgo Starbucks this morning since my company serves breakfast every Wednesday. Hoping it's something great!

9:05 a.m. — At the office, there are festive donuts for breakfast! Don't mind if I do, you little jelly donut, you. I grab a cup of coffee with a splash of creamer and get to work. Lots of assets to deliver to various partners today.

12:30 p.m. — One of the company's executives has brought in Zankou chicken for everyone for lunch! They put on Klaus in the kitchen while we eat lunch together, so festive. It seems like there's going to be A LOT of free food the rest of this week.

1:30 p.m. — Finished up lunch after a lovely chat with a few awesome female leaders at my company, then I jump on a call with a network partner to ensure that some holiday content will be delivered in time. Then back to more follow-ups, tracking down needed assets and answers before we lose everyone to vacation.

4:15 p.m. — The company sent out an email yesterday about a holiday cookie swap, but judging from the submissions in the kitchen, that was definitely not enough warning — only three people brought cookies, and then HR supplied some. I take a store-bought sugar cookie because free food is hard to resist, and then back to work.

5:30 p.m. — R. messages me that he's got the baby and is home. He wants Mexican food tonight, so he's taking care of ordering dinner (literally no idea how much it cost). I ask for beef taquitos, rice and beans.

6:10 p.m. — I leave work and talk to R. while I drive. We make a game plan for tackling our chores tonight.

6:40 p.m. — The food arrives and we sit down to eat. Coco is on, because when is it not? When Coco finishes, I remember that I have an $11 digital credit on Amazon, so we buy Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince since we currently lack a way to watch any of these movies. It's $14.99, but I justify it with the credit. $3.99

7:45 p.m. — I start opening packages and mail — lots of Christmas presents have come in from Amazon, as well as Z.'s potty and a new HomeChef box (tacos, chicken, and meatballs). All the spoils! I also have three Christmas cards — one from the friend who just had a baby and two from my dad (one for Z. and one for my husband and I). He sent us $2,000 in checks too — WOW! A very generous Christmas gift, which I mobile deposit into our respective savings accounts.

8:45 p.m. — We try to knock out the rest of the Christmas shopping we need to do online while I work on sorting and wrapping the gifts that have arrived today. I had previously purchased most of our gifts, so R. takes the majority of this round. However, I buy his gift (a gift certificate to a forging class, $95), a yearlong Disney+ membership for my stepmom ($69.99), and slippers, chocolates, and a WWII book for my dad ($92.63). We only have two presents left to buy, which R. will pick up tomorrow! ALMOST DONE AHHHH! $257.62

10:10 p.m. — Z. finally seems to be asleep, so R. starts washing dishes while I wrap more gifts. My office holiday party is also tomorrow night, so I work on picking out an outfit.

11:15 p.m. — Dishes done and presents wrapped, R. and I collapse on the couch with the cat and watch some GBBO. There is more to do, but we are tired and I really don't foresee any more chores happening.

12 a.m. — Lights out, we're both exhausted.

7 a.m. — R.'s alarm goes off, and I try to stay asleep but then the garbage trucks arrive and it's a losing battle. I turn on the space heater by our bed and the cat climbs on top of me while I check emails in bed.

7:30 a.m. — I wake Z. up and get her in the shower with R. While she's there, I pull together a very theater kid outfit for her — black long sleeve onesie, black pants, and a baby pink jacket with ears on the hood. When I get her out of the shower and get her dressed, she gives me kisses which makes my shriveled heart melt.

7:57 a.m. — Husband and the kiddo are off, again she'll have breakfast at my MIL's house. I jump in the shower, then do my normal skincare/makeup routine. Still trying to cover this very angry pimple. I'm slightly more successful today.

8:30 a.m. — Back on my bullshit, I order a chestnut praline latte on the Starbucks app (purchased with prepaid balance and stars I've earned). And then I think, “oh what the hell” and throw in a ham and cheese croissant. It's the company holiday party tonight and I hear everyone gets wasted, so I should definitely make sure I eat today. I pet the cat goodbye, and I'm off.

9 a.m. — At the office, I drink my coffee and check emails as normal. The day quickly picks up and I'm weirdly busy right from the start.

1 p.m. — I take a break to grab some free hummus, blue corn chips, cheese and a Diet Coke from the kitchen, but I eat it all at my desk while I work on creating talent toolkits for an announcement we have today. Entertainment is very glamorous.

5 p.m. — Meetings are over for the day and I finally feel caught up! I take a break to check my personal email, but there's nothing interesting to report. I'm hoping my boss leaves soon so that I can go start getting ready for the holiday party.

5:25 p.m. — She's leaving, so I can go home and get ready now, YAY! My mother is already at my apartment to watch the baby tonight (even though no one else is home), and I've gotten approximately 15 texts from her about various things in the last 20 minutes, so this should be fun.

5:45 p.m. — I'm home. My mom is being unpleasant. I get ready for the party and wait for R. and Z. to get home. I make Z. dinner for my mom to feed her (pasta, tomatoes, and water).

6:30 p.m. — R. and Z. are finally home! FINALLY! I help R. pick out an outfit and give my mom instructions for the baby (spoiler alert, she follows none of them).

7 p.m. — The Uber business account I'm supposed to use for a free ride to the holiday party doesn't work. After 10+ tries, I put it on my personal account (which I had not used since 2015, I'm a Lyft gal). I hope I can be reimbursed. ($31.58, this ends up getting expensed)

7:45 p.m. — Traffic was awful, but we finally get to the party. The music is too loud, but drinks are free and I have four glasses of wine while R. has four whiskey gingers. He is sober and I am decidedly drunk. There's a pasta station, a carving station, and a dessert station — we eat from all of them. I mingle with coworkers and internally complain about the heels I chose to wear.

10 p.m. — My mom texts me that Z. is “sobbing uncontrollably,” so we decide to exit the party. Our Uber arrives faster than we thought it would (and the company account works this time), so we hurry out without saying goodbye — I'm the worst, I know. On the way home, we Postmates some burgers from The Habit because I have drunk munch. $23.01

10:45 p.m. — We're home, and my mom was not able to get Z. to sleep, sigh. After changing into comfy clothes and taking off my makeup, we say goodbye to her while I cuddle Z. to calm her down. We put her to bed right before the Postmate arrives, and then eat our greasy food while watching Parks and Rec on Hulu.

12 a.m. — Lights out!

6:55 a.m. — I wake up naturally before my alarm. R. is also awake-ish, so we cuddle under the blankets and the cat climbs on top of us. My throat is dry and sore from trying to talk over loud music and the crowd last night, but I don't think I'm hungover, which is great!

8:05 a.m. — After reading emails on my phone for too long, I get Z. up, put her in bed with R., and then I shower. I can hear them watching Sesame Street videos, and Z. laughs a lot. So cute. Once out of the shower, I coat myself in moisturizer because I am insanely dry, then do the normal makeup routine. I wear navy slacks, a gray sweater, and gray Converse today. The office is going to be empty and/or hungover, so meh.

8:50 a.m. — I was going to go to Starbucks but coffee actually sounds terrible right now (maybe I am a little hungover?), so I just head straight to the office after kissing the husband and kiddo goodbye.

9:15 a.m. — In the office, I'm happy to see we have breakfast burritos and fresh OJ! I take a bacon burrito, but it's honestly way too big and I will probably eat it for lunch too. That fresh OJ really hits the spot, though.

10 a.m. — A number of meetings were just added to my calendar, so today has suddenly become kinda busy! I pound two cups of coffee and get to work.

3 p.m. — Wow, what I thought was going to be a super chill day has been surprisingly hectic! I take a short break and eat more of my burrito from this morning. My boss calls me into her office and gives me a holiday gift, thanking me for a great six months. She says I can feel free to head out whenever, but I have a few things I need to finish up before heading out.

4:15 p.m. — People start dropping like flies in the office, and I see what I can do to help my team leave ASAP. I get reimbursed in cash for yesterday's Uber issue too, which is nice.

4:45 p.m. — I wish everyone that's left in the office a happy holiday and then head out to pick up my daughter from my in-laws. Traffic is very bad.

5:50 p.m. — Finally made it to my in-laws' house, so I sit and chat with them for a while to try to wait out some of the traffic on my return trip.

6:30 p.m. — Z. and I leave their house and go visit R. at his store. They're completely dead, so we hang for about 15 minutes, and then Z. and I go grocery shopping at the Ralph's that's in the same shopping center. I am hungry and buy things we don't need, as well as the standard fruits, veggies, bread, etc. and ingredients for the Christmas pie I need to make. I pay from the joint account. $171.50

8:30 p.m. — Once R. is off work we all meet up and go to dinner at Islands, again in the same shopping center. I try an Impossible Burger for the first time, and I really like it! R. pays and we head home around 9:30.

9:45 p.m. — I beat R. & Z. home and start taking the groceries inside. I also turn on the heater in Z.'s room and set up her sleep sack, jammies, and a nighttime diaper, and then I bring in Amazon packages that were delivered today. R. arrives about 10 minutes after I do, and he takes over unloading groceries while I get Z. ready for bed.

10:15 p.m. — I put Z. in her crib to let her fall asleep while R. and I collapse into our bed, exhausted. We discuss what we'll do tomorrow since we're both not working. We settle on taking Z. to see snow for the first time comes up, so we research that. We also end up turning on more Parks and Rec and snacking in bed because why the hell not?

11:45 p.m. — I'm very tired, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight, moon.