What My Day Looks Like

In case you were ever wondering what my day looks like…
A bunch of us decided it would be fun to do “A Day in the Life” kinda thing. I decided to participate for a couple of reasons, the first being that I looove reading about other people and can’t wait to go poke my nose into the lives of my far-away-friends and colleagues (you can find all the links at the end). The second reason I thought it would be fun to show you what my day looks like is that I think for the most part no one has any flipping idea what I’m doing all day.

Not even Chad.

I know this because he will call me on one of his breaks when I am elbow-deep in bread dough, and tell me to look up something totally the opposite of urgent, or ask me to run some kind of really random errand at a moment’s notice.

5:30-6:15 a.m. : I’m up!!! I am sure you all know by now that I am a total morning person. This is the time of day that I creep around in the dark, make coffee, and get a jump start on work while the house is quiet. Sometimes my dogs wake me up earlier, and sometimes Chad has to go in to work crazy early. Those days it’s more like 4:30 a.m., but 5:30 is pretty much my school-day standard. Most of the time this is when I jump on the computer and do some last minute writing or try to get ahead with social media scheduling, but I also occasionally sell cakes. If it’s a cake day I like to bake before I pack lunches.

6:15 a.m. : I wake my little guy, Evan, up. I say little but he’s 11. He doesn’t actually have to get up that early but he is slow-pokey in the morning so giving him plenty of time is best or there might be some kind of meltdown. This is also when I turn on the news and start packing lunches.

6:30 – 7:05 a.m. : This part of my day drives me extra crazy. Chad is NOT a morning person at all. I wake him up at 6:30 for him to get to work by 7. I hate having to rush and I hate being late. The whole thing stresses me out. I wake up my other guy, Andrew,  who is in HIGH SCHOOL (omg when did that happen?!) after Chad goes out the door, and then jump back on the computer to answer emails while I watch Evan walk up the driveway to catch the bus.

7:30 – 8:30 : Carpool. I have to drive Andrew to school since our move earlier this year, so he and I get a few minutes together in the car every morning which is nice. We listen to Bob & Sheri (a show I’ve listened to since high school!) and my coffee cup goes with me. This is my favorite coffee cup. I don’t like any others. Also please note that my nails are painted for the first time in 5 1/2 years. I’m serious.

After I drop off Andrew I try to run my grocery errands while I’m still out. I spend an unreasonable amount of time in grocery stores.

8:30 – 10 a.m. : More computer work! I love my desk (Chad built it!!) and it sits right next to our front windows. It’s bright and pretty in my workspace and it makes my job even more fun. This is the part of my day that I try really hard not to get stuck in the time suck that is Facebook. Ugh. It’s sooooo hard. Did you know food bloggers have secret Facebook groups? Well we do. And they cover everything from social sharing to technological help. It’s the easiest way to communicate with peers that are spread all over the country but dang, sometimes Facebook will eat your morning and you’ll feel soooo unproductive. Anyway. This is when I usually finish up my posts, hit publish, check more emails, and edit my photos from the day before. The computer work with this job is never EVER done. 10 a.m. is my self-imposed deadline to get up and walk away.

I spend a HUGE portion of my day dealing with these guys:

Lucy.

(Always looks worried and is the best dog anyone could ask for.)

Betty.

(She is so gangster. You guys don’t even know.)

Charlie.

(who is making a funny face just for you)

I love my babies!!! They bring me so so so much joy. I have a major soft spot in my heart for all the animals, and have since I was a kid. Fortunately Chad is just as much of a sucker as I am, so he doesn’t really mind that I bring all the lost furry souls home. Charlie is our most recent addition. He and Betty are still puppies (both are not quite 10 months old), so they play a lot. We have a fenced yard. so they go in and out about a hundred times a day, run around with sticks, eat the pecans that fall off the trees, and pass out by my feet when they get tired. We also have 2 cats. You guys remember Norma Jean, right?

10 a.m. – 1:15p.m. : I cook. Usually the final version of recipes that you see on the blog. And I photograph. And make a general gimantico mess out of the upstairs of my house. My kitchen, living room, and dining room are all one big open space with my desk on one side and my kitchen on the other. I crank the TV and watch/listen while I work. Yesterday it was Homeland (side note: I am soooo excited about this season. It’s gonna be awesome!), some days it’s Nashville or Scandal or The Real Housewives [gasp], and some days I turn up the tunes. There are dishes and props strewn from one end of the house to the other. My lunch usually consists of whatever I’m shooting.

1:15 p.m. – 2: 30 p.m. : Work Out! Can I just tell you guys that I do not love working out? I love walking but it’s been years since I lived in a place that was good for walks. Recently I’ve been cranking out a combo of a H.I.I.T. routine and a kettlebell workout. I have to put the dogs outside while I exercise because Betty is irrationally offended by jumping jacks and burpees. After I work out I make an attempt to look human, but most days I’m either in sweats or my super soft comfy jeans, and my hair is in a knot.

2:30 – 3:15 : Back in the car. I run to grab Andrew from school and then we wait for Evan to get off the bus.

3:15 – 5:15 p.m. : Sometimes I run back to the store in the afternoon. Especially if I forgot something early in the day. I also make an attempt at sort of cleaning up my disaster before Chad gets home. I use our dinner hour to do first and second runs of recipe tests, so my family serves as official taste testers. This is when I start making that mess.

5:15 p.m. : Chad gets home. The dogs go crazy. If the weather is nice and I can walk away from the stove we go outside for awhile.

Chad and Andrew both play guitar and this part of our day is usually full of music. I dig it.

6:30 p.m. : Dinner! Like I said — our dinner is usually a recipe I’m working on, first or second trials. Some things hit and some miss. It’s part of the gig.

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. – Back on the computer. This is when i type up finalized recipes and get a jump on drafting posts for the coming days. There are some things I cook and the words come to me while I’m in the kitchen. It’s super helpful when things go down like that but often I am typing whatever words are in my brain during that 5:30 a.m. time frame.

8:00 – 9:30 p.m. – We watch something with the kids or read or loaf around the living room. Sometimes Chad wanders out to the garage to work on his rail buggy or organize his giant tool mess. And we always have lots of puppy snuggle love.

9:30p.m – 11:00 p.m. : More work after my kiddos go to bed. Usually it’s on the computer, but I also use this time to finish cleaning the mess I spent all day making, do some laundry — you know, all that stuff that has to be done before bed. Sometimes I’m up later than 11, but I try to make sure I get some sleep.

That’s it. My days are nuts. I’m busy alllllll the time, but this job and my family make everything awesome, and I am so thankful to be able to both do what I love and spend lots of time with them.

Make sure you click through and visit the rest of the bloggers giving you a glimpse into their world…

(Note: these links won’t be live until 12p.m. EST. I’m early. Oops.)

The Baker Mama

Diary of a Recipe Collector

House of Yumm

Or Whatever You Do

Sugar Dish Me

The Weary Chef