A Day In The Life

I’m a sucker for “day in the life” posts.

I first became a fan of them way back in the early days of the blogosphere via Ali and Elise. Then a few years ago, Rachel started doing a similar series profiling food bloggers. And now occasionally when I’m bored, I’ll scroll through the #dayinthelife hashtag on Instagram. I mean, who doesn’t love spying into people’s little worlds, seeing where they live, how they work, awkward selfies galore??

Count. Me. In.

Somehow, though, in all of my years of lurking and people-watching others’ days, I realized that I’ve never documented one myself. So this past Monday, I decided to put my little iPhone camera to use and try capturing some snapshots of a regular ol’ Monday behind the scenes of Gimme Some Oven. Although granted, there’s probably no such thing as a “regular” day in this weird world of blogging, and no two Mondays are ever alike. (Which I love.)  Still, it was a fun exercise and one I might try more often to help document life.

So if you’re feeling spy-ish, here’s a peek into my little world… :)

7am: Rise and shine! Well, I rose, and my night-owl-self never feels shiny in the mornings, so I rolled back over to snuggle with this guy for a few minutes. He has somehow perfected the art of being his absolute cutest whenever I need to wake up in the morning…or get things done. Gah, who can resist that face?

7:05am: I’m not really much of a “devotional” girl. (To be honest, they annoy me more often than not, and I’d much rather just dive into a few pages from a full-length book if I want some sort of spiritual reading.)  But one of my favorite authors just released this little book, so I’m giving it a try for a few weeks in the mornings. It seems to be mostly excerpts from her other books (which I like), so I’m enjoying it so far.

7:10: Peeked at my website just to be sure that my post for the day (that I always schedule the night beforehand) went live at 4:02am as planned. I always have a random worry that it won’t. But sure enough, success! It was up!  And instantly made me crave pancakes…

7:15am: Barre3 time. Since we don’t have a Barre3 studio in Kansas City, I have been subscribing to the online classes for years. Which means that my kitchen countertops = my barre.

I highly recommend it. Killer workout.

8:15: After showering and quickly getting ready, I hopped next door to Quay for my morning coffee. Chatted for awhile with my friend, Chris, while the caffeine was kicking in. Then I dove into the never-ending part of my day: EMAIL.

Oof, I could spend my entire workdays just trying to keep up with my inbox. It genuinely feels never-ending. But lately I’m trying to narrow things down to just three email check-ins per day. So I hit it for about an hour and a half, answered as many emails as possible, then closed my screen, chatted it up with a more coffee shop friends, and strolled back home.

10am: Skype time! My friend, Marly, and I were scheduled to do an interview for her new project, The Chopped Podcast. And I had such a great time chatting with her! Seriously, she is doing so many cool things for the blogging community, and may be the nicest blogger on earth. (And it just so happens that her home on earth is just a few miles away from me — yeah, KC!)  The interview will be posted sometime soon, so stay tuned.

Also, if you hear the clickety-clack of little paws in the background, or someone trying to sniff my headset, you may know who to blame… :)

11:15am: After the podcast interview, I hopped in the car to make my twice-a-month Trader Joe’s run. Wish that there was a location closer to downtown, but hey, the drive was a great chance to enjoy the 60-degree sunny day. I am ridiculously happy that spring has finally arrived.

Windows = DOWN.

11:25am: I would like to say that I am a ridiculously efficient grocery shopper. I know the layout of just about every grocery store in town, know how to strategically plan my routes, and I’m usually in and out in 5-10 minutes. Boom.

I do tend to allot an extra few minutes for the cheese section at TJ’s though, and never leave the store without a block of this stuff. Best. $4. Cheese. Ever.

11:35am: Of course, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you run into someone you know at Trader Joe’s in Kansas City. And sure enough, my friend Marion happened to be there that day. We caught up for a bit (it had been awhile!), and I convinced her to try out shishito peppers (which she Instagram-ed making that night for dinner!), and then at the checkout we realized that we had matching wallets (Target for the win!).

I may have been a little too excited about these matching wallets. :)

12:00pm: After all the talk about shishito peppers, I couldn’t resist blistering up a few for lunch. (Yum.)  But I didn’t feel like cooking beyond that, so I served them alongside a thrown-together meal of crackers, smoked gouda, a banana, La Croix, and The Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt.

Pretty much my norm for lunch on a workday, lest anyone ever think that food bloggers cook themselves gourmet meals three times a day. ;)

1pm: After lunch and another 40 or so minutes of (more) email, it was time to embark on the day’s food photography. On the docket for Monday? A remake of the 5-Ingredient Whiskey Chocolate Truffles that I made for the ShowMeKC meetup a few weeks ago. (Recipe coming to the blog soon.)

I actually had prepped and chilled the batter the day before in the fridge, so all that was left to do was roll it up into balls and dip them in cocoa powder. And of course, taste-test one or two. Dangerously good.

1:25: Once the truffles were ready, I pulled up my email to get the dial-in code for a quick conference call. And lo and behold, I found the best surprise email from Better Homes and Gardens! As some of you may know, the BHG Blogger Awards are held annually for all different kinds of blogs. And I was nominated for the first time this year in the “Everday Eats” category. And the editor emailed to tell me that I ended up actually winning the reader’s choice award for my category!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness, it was a total shocker. I don’t think I’ve ever won a blogging award in my life, and I was THRILLED. So my biggest thanks to all of you who voted! I may have squealed and jumped up and down and pranced all around my kitchen for a few minutes. And then remembered that I needed to dash into that conference call. Oops. Professional cap = back on. (Although I may have still been grinning from ear to ear during that call.)  :)

2:00pm: Afterwards, it was time to photograph these little suckers…who I must say did not want to cooperate. Seriously. All I wanted was a nice little pile of truffles. But for whatever reason, they kept slipping and sliding out of the bowl and covering everything in cocoa powder. Gah. I finally gave up and hid a few little toothpicks in there to hold them in place (food styling trick of the trade).

Truffles = 0. Me = 1.

Usually I photograph 2-3 recipes on the days when I’m shooting, but I had a handful of calls scheduled that afternoon, so I decided to keep things simple with just one recipe. (If you want to see more about my shooting setup, feel free to check out this post.)

2:45: Received a text from my building manager that he “drank” all of my packages that arrived in the office that day. I knew what that meant…

…my BotaBox samples finally arrived!!! (I tend to win the award in the building for best mail days.)

BotaBox has been my favorite boxed wine brand for years, and I’m stoked to start working with them this year and come up with some new recipes to pair with their wines. So when they offered to send me a “few” samples to help with my recipe development, I was on board. Turns out, this was only half of it. I immediately texted all of my friends and called dibs on hosting happy hours…for entire season. ;)

Also in the mail? Some new specs to try on from Warby Parker. I’m overdue for a new pair, and wanted some more neutral frames to go with my red ones. What do you think?

Yay? Nay?

3:00pm: Final two conference calls of the day. I think Henry feels the same way about phone calls as I do. #NotAFan.

Plus, why be stuck inside glued to your phone and a computer on a gorgeous day…

3:45pm: …when we could be outside? As soon as the calls were over, we both bolted outside into the sunshine, which felt amazing. I can’t get enough of this warm weather.

We went for our afternoon stroll around the neighborhood.

4:00pm: Then came home for my last round of email for the day, followed by a few minutes editing some sheet music for the Easter Choir that I’m leading at my church. It’s our second year trying this on Easter, which is the first time in the history of our little hipster church that they’ve ever had a choir. (So fun!)  We’re all counting down the days until Sunday, and I cannot wait.

5:00pm: The happiest hour of the day — HAPPY HOUR! Met up with a few girlfriends on the sunny rooftop deck of our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant, and chatted for a few hours about singleness and dating and marriage (all the good stuff) over margs and nachos. So good.

7:00pm: Afterwards, I did a double-hitter and drove to Westport to meet up for a drink with my friend, Kerry. She and her husband are getting ready to move to South Korea for two years, and I’m so proud of them. And I’m also SO going to miss them. Trying to squeeze in as much hang time as possible before she goes!

(I forgot to snap a pic at the restaurant though, so here are Kerry and I at book club last weekend doing our thumb vote.)

9:30pm: Arrived back home and caught up on the new episode of The Good Wife while editing photos for Wednesday’s post. Mmmm, pizza.

10:30pm: Finally, my favorite way to end the day — piano time. My keyboard used to be in a corner of my living room, but I recently moved it by the window so that I could play while looking over downtown, and now I look forward to it all the more each night. I could play for hours. Nourishes my little soul.

11:00pm: This little guy always beats me to bed. And by that, I mean that I always find him literally tucked into bed at the end of the day, having nosed and wiggled his way through the pillows and covers until he has found the perfect spot. It’s impressive. (And slightly disturbing, because I swear he’s turning into a human.)  And pretty darn cute. :)

Of all the places I get to travel, I love nothing more than getting to call this little spot in the heart of Kansas City home.

And call it a day. :)