7 A.M. You picked a good day, or at least an absolutely crazy one. I'm pretty programmed to wake up at 7am. This morning, I went to the gym with my husband [financier John Molner] for a half hour. Normally, I walk around the reservoir, take a spin class at Fly Wheel, stretch, or do yoga and then shower.
9 A.M. I had a breakfast with the head of my production company at Sarabeth's, which kind of doubles as my home office. It's a block away, so I'm never too late. I'm a big caffeine person—hazelnut with steamed skim milk. My espresso machine changed my life. I also think breakfast is important. (I know, I sound like a Kellogg's commercial.) For me, that usually means Kashi cereal with fruit or a shake.
10:30 A.M. I'm putting makeup on as I talk to you. I'm obsessed with Lancome Primordiale Night Skin Recharge, which I use in the morning and at night. My face drinks it in.Oh, hold on a minute—my husband's leaving for California. I'm just going to say goodbye to him.
10:32 A.M. Mission accomplished. He doesn't travel much, but we're doing this crazy thing. We rented an Airbnb bungalow in Santa Monica for five weeks, and I'm going to be working out of the Yahoo offices there and spending time with my two daughters, who live in California. I take 15 minutes to get dressed. When I go to Yahoo, I wear jeans and something casual. For online, you don't have to abide by that TV uniform of the cap-sleeved dress and beige patent pump. I don't mind getting away from it, but I also like to get a little dressed up sometimes. Right now, I'm wearing an Akris knit dress with pleats and suede burgundy above-the-knee Stuart Weitzman boots. I'm trying to get rid of a lot because I'm moving apartments, and I have an incredible TV wardrobe that I don't wear. I gave, like, 57 pairs of shoes to Dress for Success. I'm too embarrassed to tell you how many I have left.
10:45 A.M. I have a wonderful driver who totes me around New York named Amro. I spend more time with Amro than anyone else. We've been together four years, and he's become family. In the car, I make phone calls, answer emails, read articles, check out Twitter, call friends, and play Words With Friends. John and I play Words With Friends with Julianna Margulies, who is killer. I don't know how she does "The Good Wife" because she's always online playing Words With Friends. Between takes she must be like, "Pause—I've got some really good letters." For news, I love the Daily 202 and Jason Hirschhorn's newsletterMedia ReDEFined. I use Medium, and I read The Economist, Foreign Affairs, Time, and The Atlantic. Right now, I'm also reading In the Heart of the Sea, that book about the story that inspired Moby Dick, and Jon Meacham's book about Bush 41.
11 A.M. Generally, I get into the Yahoo offices late morning. The people I speak to most often throughout the day are my assistant, Beth; Tony Maciulis, who's in charge of video at Yahoo; and Mitch Semel, who runs my production company.
12 P.M. Today I'm having lunch with my old friend, Andy Lack. I have about two or three lunch meetings a week, and the rest of the time, I'll eat at my desk, grab a yogurt, or order in as an office from Chop't, Lenny's or a Thai place.
1 P.M. I do these explainer videos called "Now I Get It," and today we're making one that maps out important dates in the 2016 elections and one on gerrymandering, which, together, will probably take me 45 minutes to tape. I'm also putting something together on the 30th anniversary of the Challenger explosion, which I remember so vividly. I was a local news reporter in Miami then.
4 P.M. I usually do two or three interviews per week. This afternoon, I'm going to interview Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton and the show's female leads at the theater. I'll need a half hour to prepare, make sure I have fun things to talk to him about, and review tidbits I might not have picked up from his bio. I see a lot of Broadway shows on weekends if I'm not traveling. Most recently, I saw School of Rock, On Your Feet and Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge. Of course, I'd like to see Hamilton three or four more times.
5 P.M. I'll go back to the office to regroup on a panel about race that I'm doing at Stanford. Then I'm going to watch the president's State of the Union and host a panel discussion about President Obama's legacy. I had to learn how to shift gears pretty seamlessly when I did "The Today Show." Luckily, I'm a generalist. To center myself, I like to talk to friends about things that have nothing to do with current events. I did also learn how to meditate this summer, but it didn't take—one more thing to feel guilty about. Tonight's going to be a late one, but normally I leave the office between 5pm and 7pm.
7:30 P.M. John and I go out to dinner quite a bit, though we're both trying to eat healthy and drop a few pounds. We like Elio's because it's always fun and like, "Hey, Anjelica Huston! Hey, Tom Selleck!" Inevitably, "Hi, Donny Deutsch!" Always. We like Sfoglia, Paola's, Flex Mussels, and the Polo Bar. John is kind of the social chair. We like to get together with friends, but we also really enjoy just being with each other. (We haven't been married that long—that's probably why.) Sometimes, we'll go to a movie screening or another work event.
10 P.M. When I get home, I play with my dogs, Cooper and Maisy, look at the mail, and slip into something more comfortable, depending on what we're doing that night. I pad around the house and take off my makeup.
11:30 P.M. John and I go to bed around the same time and watch Stephen Colbert or Netflix. I'm obsessed with The Affair, and we watch Making a Murderer, House of Cards and The Good Wife. But tonight, I'm going to go home, finish packing, and collapse.
Romy Oltuski is a writer and editor based in New York. Her work appears in The New York Times, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, and The Cut.
