6 a.m. — I hit snooze, rub noses with the cat on my pillow for 9 minutes, and then tiptoe out of bed so as not to wake my boyfriend. Feed the cat, start the moka pot, do my skincare routine, and water the plants. Today is the day I turn 30. I sip coffee and scroll through Instagram to see what my friends from back home have been up to. My boyfriend gets up and I start blending fruit into a smoothie for breakfast. I try on a few outfits, find the right one, do my makeup, pack my lunch and laptop, and by 8, I'm out the door walking downhill toward the tram stop. I live approximately three miles from the lab, but it takes roughly 50 minutes to get to work. I use this time to go over my agenda and emails. There's a tiny grocery store at one of my stops, so I pop in to grab a pot of yogurt and some grapes to eat this afternoon. $7.40