Carlene

6:30 my dog june wakes me up. i’m in baltimore at this point but will be in philly in three hours (molly, does this still count?)

7:00 my boyfriend ben brings me coffee and i actually get up and get dressed in a suit. i am in my second year of law school so this is a regular occurrence these days even though i still don't recognize myself in a suit. i'm wearing pants and jacket from the theory outlet which is a place that is so important to me and a nice white t shirt instead of a blouse. baby lawyer uniform. it works fine and is one less thing to dry clean.

7:30 get in the car to philly. it’s super foggy out. normally on wednesdays i would spend the day at my internship at the defender association of philadelphia doing hearings in the morning and case prep in the afternoon, but this week is temple's spring break, so no internship. ben is dropping me off at city hall so that i can watch two oral arguments in front of the PA supreme court. both are appeals in criminal cases, one argued by an attorney from the office where i’m interning this semester and one by my evidence professor. 

9:30 hop out of the car and run to city hall

9:40 show ID, go through a metal detector, get lost on the fourth floor, check my coat and cell phone, go through a metal detector again

9:45 the courtroom is packed when i get there and the first argument (before the one i came to see) is underway. when i walk in i can see my professor seated up front and some other classmates in the room. i stand against the wall towards the back. i don’t know a ton about this case but i googled it last night so that i can follow the arguments this morning. it's a really tricky issue about grand jury confidentiality.

11:30 my legs are stiff from sitting and now standing still for hours and this argument has been going on for a long time. the court breaks and most of the observers leave. i am able to grab a seat for the case i came to watch. the justices are grilling the attorneys but they both handle it well. 

12:45 lunch break. i say hi to my professor and his wife and their friend who just argued the last case, then head out to catch the bus home because i need to walk june.

1:00 it’s pouring as i wait for the bus outside the convention center. i wish i was inside at the flower show.

1:30 get home. we’ve been out of town a lot the past two weeks and i don’t have much in the way of groceries so i heat up a trader joe’s paneer tikka masala and naan for lunch, pretty sad.

2:00 walk june

2:30 veg out on the couch and catch up on emails

3:00 i pull up the livestream of this afternoon’s oral arguments to hear my professor argue his case. the one after it is about shareholders so i log off. 

3:45 meal plan for the week

4:00 grocery shopping - my closest grocer is a tiny one in the basement of a big apartment building. i spend $43 on groceries for the rest of the week. ben and june walk with me to the store and they wait outside under an awning because it’s still pouring and june hates the rain.

4:45 unload groceries

5:00 my friend emmeline just published her first book a week ago (buy dead weight! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722655/dead-weight-by-emmeline-clein/ ) and is starting a book tour. last week i went up to nyc to celebrate the launch and tonight she’s reading at a venue in DC so my mom, who lives in baltimore, is taking the train down for the evening to attend. my mom texts me and my sister to say she’s on her way.

5:30 veg out on the couch again and feed june

6:00 start cooking dinner - for some reason i decided to make the beet pasta that went viral on tiktok two years ago and arugula salad. fani (the person who introduced me to molly and to this project) is also the person who introduced me to the viral beet pasta two years ago because she is awesome and knows about everything before i do.

6:45 i get impatient and decide to just start on the sauce with the beets slightly undercooked instead of leaving them in the oven for longer. ben and i talk about our mornings while i assemble everything.

7:00 ben and i eat while june whines at our feet the pasta didn’t really work out due to the undercooked beets but was still edible (but not as good as when fani made it). the salad was a hit.

7:20 ben cleans up and does the dishes while june licks the serving bowls.

7:23 i email a potential caterer for our wedding (!!!) in august. 

8:00 i realize june chewed through the charger cord for my laptop for the second time and sort of yell at her.

8:10 my sister, who is also awesome and knows about everything before i do, told me to watch expats so i pull up the trailer and successfully convince ben to start it with me.

8:30 shower and do my “skincare routine” which is biologique recherche p50 (overpriced but worth it) and weleda skin food 

8:45 ben makes us manhattans

9:00 watch two episodes of expats

10:45 i have the worst phone-in-bed habits. scroll reddit for a while (r/serialpodcast) until i fall asleep

Carlene is from Baltimore.