I didn’t have any on-campus appointments today, so I got to have a rare and much-appreciated work-from-home day. I will tell you honestly that, even while working, I have spent the entire day in my sweatpants and slippers with a dog at my feet and it has been lovely. I recommend it.

At the current moment, there is a pot of Smitten Kitchen’s carrot soup simmering on the stovetop and —

Scratch that! It is now much later.

I was pleasantly interrupted right there by my husband getting home. We ate the soup, which was great and which I wholeheartedly recommend. The lemon-tahini sauce and roasted chickpeas really make it flavorful and substantial.

Now, after dinner, I am sitting here on the couch by the fire wishing desperately for some kind of amazing baked good I could eat. A pie, perhaps, or a massive, chewy brownie. Cookies fresh out of the oven? A piece of cake with fluffy vanilla buttercream? Also, I would very much like a bottle of champagne. Mmm hmm.

Instead of any of these things, I just ate my gummy vitamins and caramel-flavored calcium chew. Nobody better tell me I don’t know how to live, dammit!

The excitement of my day so far has been deciding which newly-downloaded album to listen to during my run: the new Decemberists or the new Taylor Swift. Fine, I suppose the Taylor Swift album isn’t exactly new, but I only just bit the bullet and downloaded it Tuesday night. It’s really good and guess what? I recommend it. I have an unembarrassed love of pop music, though, so if you’re too cool for that, then good for you and just get the Decemberists, then. It’s great, too. It’s been a while since I had a new album I was really excited about, and now I have two — it’s like an embarrassment of riches. The last one that really blew up my skirt, by the way, was the Jenny Lewis album, The Voyager, which is superfantastic and also recommended.

Speaking of music, my running playlist could use a refresh. For running, I love pop and hip hop in particular. What are you listening to for workouts? Recommend me something, please!