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A Day in the Life

September 12, 2014 in Living by traveleatlove | 4 comments

Lately I have been loving when bloggers share a snapshot into their daily lives. It’s not vacation or some fabulous event; it’s just the every day real side that is really interesting to me. We all know social media puts pressure on us every once in awhile, so a straightforward “day in the life” can be refreshing,

So to give you a break in my Sonoma posts (which WOULD be my every day if I had my wish), here’s a day in my life this week. I’m a Communications and Media Relations Manager for a high end hotel, and I love it. My days vary, but here’s a little peek. I would love it if you let me know what your every day looks like in the comments!

6:30 a.m. Rise and shine. . . when I work out after work I take a shower then, so that cuts a few morning minutes. I am trying to make myself get up earlier to exercise, but man is it dark out these days!

7:00 a.m. Mix up a spinach smoothie, pack our lunches and snacks, give the cats treats and get ready to hustle out the door.

7:20 a.m. Give the cats kisses and hop in the car with my husband for our commute together. Do makeup in the car, make fun Spotify playlists to wake us up and get us pumped for the day. As tired as we often are, I try to remember how lucky we are just to be going to meaningful work from a home we love.

7:55 a.m. Arrive at work. Change from flip flops to real shoes, put on my nametag, and grab a cup of coffee.

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Check our Tripadvisor reviews and social media channels. As a Social Media Manager, I am pretty much always on call to check our channels, so there usually isn’t a ton first thing, unless we had people engaging while I was sleeping. We love engagement!

9:00 a.m. On Thursdays I join a team meeting where I share a report. Other mornings I am usually working on my to-do list. I am HUGE on paper calendars and checklists, and making them helps me to organize and prioritize.

10:00 a.m. On this particular day I have a phone call about a TV shoot. Media relations is one of my favorite things, so I am always thrilled to have calls with press!

11:00 a.m. Check social media channels and respond. Spend some time seeking out engaged community members and bloggers to follow.

12:00 p.m. Draft a press release

12:30 p.m. Respond to more emails

1:00 p.m. Lunch in the cafeteria and a quick walk along the Charles. In my earlier career days, I thought that NOT taking a break was so badass. Now I know I work better with a little sunshine and good food and levity.

1:30 p.m. Prepare a PowerPoint deck for my boss to review, work with our ad agency on creative direction and copy for upcoming ad

2:00 p.m. Prepare for our team meeting by pulling social media stats and writing a report of Marketing initiatives. Though I work with everyone on a daily basis, it’s always great to have an official time to sit down and to share what’s going on. It’s a busy time of year with a lot of events coming up. We don’t want anyone to miss out!

3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Team meeting

4:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Work on website updates, write new copy, check emails, check in on social media channels, cross things off list, prepare a report for the next day.

5:00 p.m. Change into running clothes and run 3-4 miles. I took a long break from running, and it feels SO good to be back. Time off always leaves me with fresh legs and a desire to move!

6:15 p.m. Arrive home, check work email and social channels, stretch

6:45 p.m. Start on dinner while reading blogs, usually having a dance party in the kitchen

7:30 p.m. Eat a quick dinner, usually while checking work email or social stuff, pack dinner leftovers for the husband’s lunch

8:30 p.m. Shower

8:45 p.m. Sit down to blog, mayyyyyybe have a glass of wine

9:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Hang out with my husband when he’s not working, catch up on reality TV most of the time

11:15 p.m. Take a melatonin, prep clothes for the next day, set alarm, and head to bed

I should note that I also eat ALL day long. I am always uncomfortably hungry so yogurt, almonds, fruit, string cheese etc make appearances all over. Nobody wants a hungry Meghan.

Tags: career, jobs, lifestyle, Marketing, Public Relations, social media, work

The Food Project, Dorchester Farm

September 8, 2014 in Food, Living by traveleatlove | 4 comments

The older I get, the more clear it becomes to me that I don’t want to live in a city for the rest of my life. Our new house has helped; we traded a 900 square foot condo on a crowded (but lovely) street for an 1,800 square foot house with a small yard and a giant park across the street. We have few close neighbors, and I got that little bit of country I craved.

But I still want more. Our stay in Sonoma County was pure heaven for me. I love being able to see a thousand stars at night and hearing chickens in the morning. Coffee with mountain views and hummingbirds isn’t just something I want on vacation. I feel like it’s a way of life that would make my heart so happy.

While we work toward that someday country life, I have been falling in love with gardening at our own home, and this past weekend, I had the awesome opportunity to help out at an urban farm with The Food Project. You may remember the Whole Farm Dinner I went to at Alden & Harlow a few weeks ago. I became intrigued by The Food Project, and when I learned they had a farm in Dorchester where I live, I couldn’t wait to volunteer.

There’s more information about The Food Project at the end of this post.

I headed over this past Saturday morning to volunteer from 9:30 – 12:30, and after introductions, we were put into crews to get started working. I was amazed at the size of the farm and variety growing. It’s so cool to see so much agriculture happening right in such an urban area.

Our crew leaders were high school kids from the area who work at the farm, and they were some of the greatest kids I have met. They were confident and articulate far beyond their years, and they knew what they were doing around that farm!

My first job was weeding lettuce beds, and I got to chat with the leaders and other volunteers as we pulled purselane. The sun was super hot, it was dusty, and not long in, my face and body were covered in dirt. I loved it.

My second job was picking and bundling scallions to go in CSA shares. These scallions were enormous! They were fun to pick because they come out so easily, and the smell was incredible. Everyone who passed our area mentioned it. Once in bundles, we cut the tops and roots and made sure they looked neat and tidy.

At the end, we all grabbed gloves and cleaned up trash from the perimeter of he farm. If there is one thing I HATE, it is littering, and unfortunately there are a lot of people who have no respect for property or the earth. Luckily these kids are leading the way to a better city and a better future. I plan on going back as many Saturdays as possible throughout the fall to help with harvest and other tasks and then starting up again in spring.

I always think fall is more of a new year than actual New Year’s, and volunteering more and attending more networking and professional development events are two of my goals for this new year. And I need to exercise more, so there’s that.

Do you have any goals now that school is back in session?

About The Food Project

Young People at the Lynn FarmSince 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, we work with over 150 teenagers and thousands of volunteers to farm on 40 acres in eastern Massachusetts in the towns and cities of Beverly, Boston, Lincoln, and Lynn. We consider our hallmark to be our focus on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in increasingly responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.

Food from our farms is distributed through our community supported agriculture programs and farmers’ markets, and donated to local hunger relief organizations. The young people working in our programs participate in all of these distribution streams, giving them valuable job experiences and a personal connection to our food system and issues of food justice.

In addition to producing and distributing food, we help others grow their own food through our community programs and provide training resources based on all we have learned since 1991.

Tags: Dorchester, farm, farm to table, Food, volunteering

Wine Wednesday: Napa Earthquake and How to Help

August 27, 2014 in Living, wine by traveleatlove | 1 comment

By now you have likely heard about the damaging 6.0 earthquake that woke the residents of Napa and Sonoma wine country this past Sunday morning. I couldn’t let Wine Wednesday go by without sending out good energy and love to the people of that area, especially Napa, which was one of the worst hit spots. Napa continues to experience aftershocks, and from social media, it’s evident people’s nerves are frayed.

The people of wine country have always been incredibly welcoming to me in all of our visits, supportive of my blog, and many of them shared support both personally and on a larger scale via social media when Boston experienced one of its darkest hours. I feel a little helpless watching so many people I interact with on a daily basis go through such a scary time. While I will be in wine country in just a few days, I thought I would share a few ways to help with anyone who is interested. If you know of anything additional, please feel free to share in the comments.

(Source – Visit Napa Valley)

Donate!

Two organizations that I have seen spoken about are Napa’s food bank, Community Action Napa Valley, and the Red Cross, which is always a good option in a disaster.

Community Action Napa Valley

Red Cross of Napa Valley

Buy wine direct!

So many wineries lost wine and had damaged facilities. If you can, do good and drink well at the same time! At the end of the day, wine involves farming, science, and artistry, and this quake coming at harvest time can have many layers of damage to the businesses involved in a place where tourism and so many other jobs rely on winemaking. Think of drinking wine as a way to help the economy!

Plan a trip to Napa Valley! It is open for business and ready to extend its world class hospitality.

Many beautiful wineries such as Trefethen have taken hard hits while many, many businesses were closed for at least the day after the earthquake. Wine country is the perfect getaway for food and wine lovers and is pretty ideal year-round.

For a few ideas you can visit the below blog posts and check out Visit Napa Valley.

Mumm Napa – a favorite!

Jessup Cellars – they had quite a bit of cleanup but are back at it again!

Napa & Sonoma Wine Country

Where to Stay in Wine Country – a few ideas for your home base

Tags: earthquake, Napa, Napa Valley, outreach, wine

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