A Day With CANY's Elyse Marks

6:00am: The first thing I do after I wake up is I stretch or meditate (or at least try - most of the time I just end up thinking about all the things I have to do that day). I then get ready for work - I shower, diffuse hair, apply make-up, and drink my coffee.

7:15am: My husband and I just bought a house in Bronxville, so my commute has a few phases. I first walk to the Bronxville train station to take the Metro-North train into Grand Central, then I shuttle to Times Square, take the 1 Train to 28th Street, and finally walk the one block to the office.

8:15am: I read and respond to emails while eating my breakfast at my desk (Chobani yogurt and a banana or Clif Bar, everyday).

9:00am: In the mornings is when I typically attend construction meetings, and perform site visits or inspections.

12:00pm: Lunch! Typically, I walk to the grocery store near my office on Mondays and buy a bunch of stuff to make salads for the rest of the week. I usually sit at my desk and eat my lunch while answering more emails (terrible, I know).

1:00pm: What I do in the afternoon depends on the season - Spring and summer usually means I'm doing more construction site visits, inspections or progress meetings with clients. Fall and winter are more for desk work - drafting repair details, preparing construction documents, etc. I don't really have a set routine because my days vary wildly depending on the needs of my projects, the weather, or the season. Typically I spend about 50-75% of my week on construction sites.

Elyse with her husband, fellow architect Ben Lehrer

3:00pm: More of the same - I answer emails that have piled up throughout the course of the day while I've been on-site, or I attend internal management meetings, budget/invoicing meetings or weekly team meetings

5:15pm: I leave office for the day and begin my commute back to Bronxville.

6:15pm: The first thing I do when I get home is my running or training. During the fall, spring, and summer, I run outside on the Bronx River Trail or the North County Trail; during the winter, I run on the treadmill at the gym. I run 4-5 days a week, with distances of 4-7 miles for each weekday run, and longer runs on the weekends.

7:30pm: Then I finally cook and eat dinner with my husband (or watch him cook - he's definitely the chef of the family).

8:30pm: We wind down with designated TV time while snuggling with our cat Ewok. We usually watch the previous night's episode of Late Night with Stephen Colbert followed by an episode of whatever show we're currently obsessed with.

10-10:30pm: The best part of any day - BEDTIME!