A Day in My Life – Winter Break Edition

Hello everyone!

I realized I’ve written lots of “Days in My Life” posts while I’ve been on trips or at camps and other events, but I’ve never talked about my daily routine on an average day. I’m currently on winter break so it’s a little different than a normal school day or weekend day, but I figured it would still be something you guys might be interested in. If you’re interested in reading a breakdown of a chill day at home during my break, keep on reading!

Between 7:30-8:30am: Wake up! Yes, I wake up pretty early, even on break/weekends. I usually stay in bed for quite a while though, checking up on social media, emails, and YouTube videos. When I’m finally ready to get out of bed, I usually have breakfast right away.

8:30am: Breakfast time. I almost always have scrambled eggs, a bagel, and some sort of fruit (usually blueberries and raspberries). My mom is the best ever and will often bring it to me in bed if she’s not busy.

9:00-9:30am: I get ready around this time, unless I have morning plans. I get out of bed and make my bed immediately, then I do all of my bathroom stuff (brush my hair, brush my teeth, wash my face, etc.). I then get dressed for the day and spritz some perfume.

9:45am: Start to do computer work. On the day I’m writing this, I wrote a few blog posts during this time and let my computer do its software update. I was also inspired to do kind of a clean-out on my phone and laptop since they are both running out of storage, so I deleted a bunch of old music I don’t listen to anymore. I also worked on editing a submission for the literary magazine I’m on staff for.

10:30am: Light cleaning. I usually just tidy up and fold whatever laundry I have, but today I actually did more of a deep clean. I vacuumed my room, dusted all my furniture, and cleaned my mirrors with Windex.

11:00am: Lunchtime. My mom brought home spaghetti from my favorite local restaurant. I sat and chatted with my mom a bit about our plans for the rest of break, and we just had a nice little talk at the table.

12:45pm: Walk to Starbucks. My mom always goes on an afternoon walk and I hadn’t been out of the house yet, so I asked if I could come and we could make a detour at the Starbucks near our house. I got a hot chocolate since it was actually fairly cold, and we walked back home the long way. I like walking around our neighborhood because there’s always a ton of people walking around with their dogs- it’s a pretty active community.

1:45pm: My mom and I returned home and watched TV for a bit before she had to go run errands. It was a nice break before I had to get back to work. She picked the show, so we watched Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

3:00pm: Back upstairs to my room to work. I didn’t get started on my winter break homework yet, but I did more decluttering on my electronics and writing for this blog.

4:30pm: My mom’s finished with making dinner. She usually makes some form of meat- usually chicken or hamburgers with a side. I know we eat really early, but my parents go to bed fairly early and I also have dessert and a snack before bed.

5:30pm: Showertime. The fact that it gets dark so early in the winter makes me feel like it’s nighttime early as well. This leads to me wanting to get into my pajamas and shower much earlier. I take fast showers and then wash my face, do all that normal stuff.

6:00pm: Snacktime and/or dessert. Sometimes I have dessert if there’s sweets in the house, but otherwise I usually have cereal for a snack. I usually have my TV on in the background at this time (Disney+ or Netflix, depending on my mood).

6:30pm: Again depending on my mood, this is when I’ll do self care. I like to light a candle in my room, and use a face mask if I have one. I recently got a charcoal one from the Yes to Tomatoes brand at Target that I really like.

7:00pm: This has been my primetime for getting work done over the break. It can be blog work, writing work, organizing/cleaning, or actual schoolwork- it just depends on what I need to get done before going to bed.

10:00pm-11:30pm: Depending on how tired I am/if I have plans the next morning, this is when I brush my teeth, put my retainer, turn my lights off, and turn my TV timer on. I’ll go on my phone for a little bit and watch whatever show I have on, but eventually fall asleep within this window.

11:30pm: Bedtime. I should be asleep by this time, midnight at the latest.

I hope you enjoyed reading the play-by-play of a typical day in my life. I know it’s not the most exciting, but this is just a standard/chill day- there’s definitely days where I’m super busy. I’ll probably do another one of these once I get back to school, in case you want to hear about a typical day at my public high school.

Happy relaxing!

Brooke

5 Fun and Productive Ways to Spend Winter Break

Welcome back everyone!

Winter break is upon us, and it’s finally a good, long, hard-earned break from the craziness of school. It’s time to indulge in all the things I love about the holiday season- especially hot chocolate and movies. That being said, there’s a lot of other fun ways to spend your break that are also productive! In case you’re searching for another activity to supplement your Netflix-bingeing, keep reading.

  • Volunteer for a good cause – The holidays are a great time to give back to your community since there’s so many people in need. You can serve a holiday dinner at a soup kitchen, help collect donations for a toy drive, work with charities that help veterans and foster kids get presents- the possibilities are endless, and there’s so many worthy causes.
  • Spruce up your room for the new year – This might not be fun depending on who you are, but I plan on doing a deep clean and some reorganizing of my room over the break. If there’s decorations you get as presents or something you’ve been wanting to change in your room, now’s the time to put that all together!
  • Make plans for the summer – You can get a head start on planning summer trips, or applying to summer programs since applications open soon. I’m personally trying to figure out what I’m going to do over the summer, especially since there’s so many options and things I’m interested in doing. This is the perfect time to figure it out and do research if you’re not sure where to start.
  • Exercise and get a head start on your New Year’s resolutions – We all get busy and end up cutting exercise out when we’re short on time, but we also all make “be healthy!” and “exercise more!” our New Year’s resolutions every year. While I have the time, I’ll try and have a more consistent workout routine over these couple weeks. It’s probably a good idea with all the holiday food I’ll be eating anyways, right?
  • Start a passion project – Do whatever that thing is that you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t had time to. Read a book series, write something, make art, start a mini-business, start a blog! The hardest and most time-consuming part is getting started, so this is the time to do it so you can keep it up easily once break is over.

I hope this gives you some ideas for how to spend your break. Remember to keep a balance and spend lots of time with family and friends, enjoying the holiday season and celebrating each other’s presence. Personally, I have to study for finals, so I am going to have quite a busy break! Happy holidays 🙂

-Brooke