A Day in the Life

So what exactly do Amanda & Merrill do all day (when they're not cooking up a storm at our weekly photo shoots)? Our intrepid photographer Sarah Shatz tagged along on a so-called office day (with an unusual number of fun pitstops) to give us all a glimpse.

8:24am Amanda escorts her 4-year-old twins to preschool -- that's Walker on the right, and Addie (who dresses more and more like a mini-Amanda every day) on the left. Sometimes this walk is more of a frantic trot, especially on those drama-filled mornings when the twins are, say, on the verge of missing a field trip to the Brooklyn Museum.

10:11am Amanda swings by a panel at the Bowery Whole Foods Market for Social Media Week to drop some knowledge and expressive hand gestures. Co-panelists are chef Marcus Samuelsson, NBC Feast's Ben Leventhal, and Foodspotting's Soraya Dorabi.

10:48am Speaking of expressive... it seems Marcus finds Amanda to be delightful panel company.

11:00am The panel was followed by a "flash mob" of snapping and uploading food photos -- we were just happy to get some of Marcus' Swedish meatballs.

11:10 am Enter Merrill! Just in time to debrief on the panel and power through her second latte of the day.

11:40am Story of our lives.

12:15pm Lunch with Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get FatatMillesimeto discuss everything from the corporate world to American eating habits. First rule of being a French woman and not getting fat: Drink Champagne on your lunch break.

1:45pm Second rule of being a French woman and not getting fat -- eat desserts! All of them!

1:46pm We're not kidding: ALL of them.

2:18pm Food comas make it super hard to choose office supplies. Pictured: the coat hook dilemma.

2:22pm ... and the trash can dilemma (oh, the glamour of working in a real office -- remember when we used to rendezvous in coffee shops?)

2:25pm What office styling decision could be flummoxing them now? Paper clips? Tape dispensers?

2:34pm They made it, trash can and all! Note the matching M Z Wallace handbags (for the record, Merrill got hers first).

2:40pm Next stop: MUJI for props! (Incidentally, in the fall Amanda also bought her entire book tour wardrobe here.)

2:44pm "How good would some Salted Pumpkin Caramels look on this bad boy?" "So good."

3:01pm Back to the office! That's our development team: Peter, Jon and Kfir, who are all working around the clock to make the site better. Notice how Peter, ever the techie, holds his apple as if it were a computer mouse.

3:13pm Francesca, our Assistant Editor, is immersed in writing a Reciprocity post -- either that or wishing that her makeshift pencil-holder (a City Bakery cup) were instead full of hot chocolate.

3:24pm: Amanda dives into the sea of emails, tweets, and foodpickles to catch up.

3:35pm: From her corner, Senior Editor Kristen seems skeptical. Note the fifth Apple computer in a row. We should really have an endorsement deal.

3:46pm Check out our crazy W-shaped desk configuration. It's great for impromptu collaborating (we won't be cubicle-d!), not so great for squeezing through the gauntlet to grab a tea bag or sugar packet.

4:19pm Peter brainstorms while Jon works on an important doodle.

4:21pm Kfir is clearly up to no good.

4:46pm Our trademarked, extremely high-tech planning board. Custom designed.

5:15pm All smiles, Amanda, Merrill and Peter head into the heart of General Assembly, our shared office space (Look at all our cool startup officemates listed on the wall! Who can spot food52?)

5:20pm We love mini-meetings in these pods. Mini-naps would be great too.

5:41pm Last meeting of the day: coffee with Francesca at L.A. Burdick, which we are delighted to have a block from our office.

5:45pm But guys, it wouldn't be coffee without some pretty little pastries, right?

5:46pm Right!