Some Cozy Night

I was recently looking at my customized Seamless* homepage trying to decide which recent order I was going to reorder for lunch. As I scrolled down, I was kind of shocked to see that I use them almost every day. While it is a great service, I couldn’t help but put together that fact that ordering from them that frequently means that I almost never leave my office once I arrive there. I live in one of the greatest cities on earth and I spend most of my days in my (nicely appointed, but still) office. Dislike!

I also noticed that there are many nights when I have plans with girlfriends and find myself a little less than peppy at the set meeting time. While I am not a chronic canceler, I was curious to see if maybe I could make my day more chipper and be better company if I did something that I never thought I’d “do”: Lunch.

I started out with a friend who lives right around the block from my office. In all the years that I have known her, and all the years that she has lived up the block from my office, we have never met for lunch. So a few weeks ago, we went to nearby Lupa and had a lovely, lovely time. While it took more than the fifteen minutes it usually takes me to scarf down some weird vegan thing at my desk, I came back feeling so happy and refreshed that I actually think I may have been more productive overall.

The following week, I randomly called another girlfriend to see if she was free for a quick lunch. The stars aligned and we met at our usual nighttime hangout, Cafe Cluny**. Another fun meeting that didn’t blow my schedule out of the water and left me peppier in the afternoon.

Today, I took this morning’s copy of The Financial Times to lunch with me at Mercer Kitchen. Turns out that lunch with a newspaper leaves a little extra time for a bit of shopping and so I now have a new favorite lipstick to boot! And once again, I found myself able to hammer through some things with my General Counsel that I would never be up for in the latter half of the day.

Are you seeing a trend here? I certainly am.

I think it gets back to that fact that it really does not take a lot of time to have a little fun. And injecting some fun into the workweek is — if you can get past the guilt — a great way to keep yourself from getting The Blahs. So, until further notice, I consider myself not only a Lady Who Works, but also one that Lunches. (Except that I actually eat.) I suggest you try same.

xx

*Seamless (seamless.com) is an online food delivery service that allows you to order from about a zillion places. So, in theory, you never have to leave your desk for lunch. Decide for yourself whether this is a good or bad thing.

**Great for making sure you are inexplicably dining next to a Vogue staffer. This actually keeps you from eating too much of their delicious cavatelli, to which I am thoroughly addicted.

(Photo: Some Cozy Night. And The Crosby is also great for lunch…and drinks…and dinner. So cute!)