Imagine this: You’re a practical elementary school teacher, and all of a sudden, your very awkward, anti-hip boyfriend says he wants to be a rapper. (Like, an actual rapper.) That’s the mindset Taylor Misiak (she / her) channels every day while playing Ally, a lead character on Dave, aka the semi-biographical show about Lil Dicky’s career in hip-hop.

We called the actress in Los Angeles to see how she gets ready to take her mark, why dogs are the best brunch buddies (duh), and how the Real Housewives psyche her up for real life.

8 A.M. I have a very polite dog that stares at me and waits until I wake up. [Laughing.] So I wake up to my dog who likes to immediately go outside. Also, I recently started doing a 5-minute journal that has you list the things you’re grateful for and 3 goals for the day. It’s really nice because there are so many days as an actor where you can get really discouraged, especially when you’re in an audition phase. I try to make 2 or 3 of the goals really attainable, like going to the post office, so that I’m still celebrating myself after achieving something small.

8:30 A.M. For my skin routine in the morning, I cleanse, do vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, a moisturizer, and so much sunscreen. I just cover myself head-to-toe in Supergoop. I used to take for granted that I didn’t burn easily, but now my dermatologist is like, “You have to do this every day. Even when you’re inside, even when you’re just going to set—especially in LA!” So now I’ve been very studious about my SPF.

9 A.M. I have a full coffee addiction, so I start my day with a really fun coffee. I have a frother I’m very excited about! And I just started getting into—probably late to this trend—but overnight oats. I’m also a pretty big egg addict, so I’ll do a couple of eggs on a piece of toast, and sometimes my dog and I will share scrambled eggs.

9:30 A.M. There are shows we cover on my [Table Flipping] podcast that I’ll have on in the background. I do really love all of the Housewives. I’ll admit it!… In the scripted TV world, reality TV addiction is sort of a guilty pleasure. [My co-host Alyssa Litman] and I thought it would be fun to celebrate reality shows and especially the women in reality TV. We joke about how with shows like The Sopranos, you could take a college course on how those are really complicated, impactful characters. We’re like, “What if we talked about Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey in that same light? She’s also been super influential. Let’s create a space for that.”

10 A.M. My days are so different based on whether or not I’m working or have an audition. If it’s an audition, I carry the [script] with me from room to room. When I sit down and pressure myself to look at a page and “memorize memorize memorize,” it doesn’t stick as well as me walking my dog or sitting on the computer and having it right next to me. Then I prepare my whole look for whatever role I’m auditioning for. Sometimes it’s super easy because it’s somebody very close to what I look like. Other times it’s a caricature, and I’m putting on my glasses and doing my hair in a weird way, or I wear a blazer which Taylor would not normally wear.

11 A.M. If I’m [working on] Dave, I’m already on set. I like to spend that time, just sort of going over [my script] and fitting how I think Ally would be starting that day. They give me just the Ally scenes, but you often have a lot of time on set, so it’s nice to just sit and read the actual episode from beginning to end. It immerses you in the world, and it helps you make sense of what Ally’s doing [because] you know the purpose of the whole story.

12 P.M. It’s a very playful group of people! There’s been 1 or 2 occasions where so many members of the cast are riffing on jokes and starting to improv that we start to run out of time, and then the pressure comes in. But in general, there’s so much natural chemistry. Even just sitting in the makeup chairs, we’re all just having so much fun, so I have to regroup when I go back to my trailer. I’d be like, “Okay, Taylor, you got to focus! You’re Ally. Let’s do this.”