Weekly Update 2.25

Where the heck did February go?! I can hardly believe National Nutrition Month/March is only days away.  In retrospect, February has been an exciting month. I'm so thankful that my business is really taking off and I'm exactly where I want to be. So much so that my bookings for any activity or consultations need to be made about 3 weeks in advance. Since my weekends just aren't what they used to be as projects come up with deadlines that fall on weekends, my days 'off' are sometimes a Wednesday or a Friday. So instead of 'weekend updates', this little section of the blog will be a weekly round up. Here's what's happening...

• I'm currently reading two books, switching between Grace A Memoir and Secrets of Six Figure Women. Grace is a autobiography about Grace Coddington of Vogue magazine. After watching The September Issue documentary, I've been so intrigued about this spitfire of a woman.  I love her writing voice. The second book was recommended to me by 4 different people  because they felt I had some of the traits mentioned in the book. This is a fabulous book, and I actually do many of the things listed because of my business coach. I keep a gratitude journal. I say no to projects that don't fit my values. A year ago this wouldn't have been me. I worked very, very hard but I didn't have the self worth or confidence in my skills that I do today. Both books are must reads.

• This week my life was all about cooking. I finished developing a lactose free recipe for the Mid Atlantic and South East Dairy associations and settled on a vanilla custard parfait with blueberries and ginger snap crumble (above). I'll use this same recipe for the cooking demo I'm doing for the Virginia Dietetic Association annual meeting in April. The other part of the week I spent testing and editing lots of recipes for a vegan company called Vega. I had such a fun time and the results were honestly delicious. As in the husband was totally into the Cashew Mayo and Beet Burgers. I also spent several hours stalking the employees at Wegmans asking when my order of amaranth for the recipes was coming in.  I'm sure they will always have it in stock from this day forward. Or avoid me.

• I started volunteering as a member of the Head Start policy council. I interned with Head Start last year as part of my dietetic internship community rotation. Since high school I have always had one or more volunteer outlets and it was definitely missing from my life as a dietitian. While I do non-paid professional work as an Assistant Editor and Board Member for organizations...I needed something local.  It had been on my mind for a few weeks when I got a text from one of the social workers at Head Start out of the blue to have lunch. Moral of the story: Always be nice to interns because they may come back and work for you for free...again.

• Because we had left over orange juice from recipe testing, because I have no problem day drinking for brunch, because each day I have new clients, consultations and opportunities and because you never need an excuse for mimosas...

Do you have any really good books you're into right now?