Weekend Update: 3 States, 2 Weeks and Life

Greetings stranger! It's been a while since I've done a sit down post catch up with you. As you can tell from my Instagram, we've been running around quite a bit. This year has been full and we are so thankful for our clients and opportunities thus far. Today's post is going to be a casual iPhone photo update palooza. It kills me a little to not have proper camera photos, but that was not the point of these trips. So pretend you're my Grandma and I'm filling you in. Alright Grandma, let's do it. 

Since the start of October, I've been traveling A LOT. I spent four days in Boston for the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo which is the national dietitian conference. The past two years my FNCE has been extra stressful since I had also been presenting at the conference while running a booth for the Nutrition Entrepreneurs Dietetic Practice Group as part of my two year term as their marketing chair. So this FNCE was different. Not less going on...just different. I hosted a breakfast with Kura to talk about a NEW PRODUCT and product reformulation. I love doing these breakfasts because we keep the invite list small and pick cool locations. This year we did it at the Envoy hotel which was super modern. I also hosted an event with Hass Avocado and taught guests how to make avocado roses. I was basically a big pile of guacamole after that night! 

Luckily while I was in town, I also got to see the Isabela Stewart Gardner museum and the Museum of Fine Art. I was especially taken with this random Dutch painting room since everything had a black frame. Museums to me are I think what going to the movie theater is for other people. It's really relaxing, I feel disconnected from my phone and work and it's fun. Also, yes, I am 80.

After coming home for a few days I had another work trip on the books for NYC. Stoneridge Orchards brought me up to talk nutrition at a private food demo dinner we hosted for magazine editors/bloggers. The chef was so fun and the food was great! While the trip was 24 hours I always try to sneak in as much eating as I can while I'm there. If you are in NYC you are RIDICULOUSLY lucky to have so many amazing things within a one block radius. I've been using the app SOON to keep a running list (plotted on a map) of places that have been recommended to me in multiple cities. I used to use Google Maps to star favorites and plot from there, but SOON does it for you. So if you are an efficiency crazy, like me, download the app to create your own City List. It's fantastic. 

In New York I grabbed lunch at By Chole in the Flatiron district. It's all vegan food but it sure as hell doesn't taste like it. I had their classic burger and fries and they were SO good. This is coming from someone who also loves their steak, so...trust me. I also stopped by Cha Cha matcha (adorable) for a matcha latte and my personal favorite: Taiyaki. It's an Asian cake in the shape of a fish that they turned into an ice cream cone and top with matcha and black sesame soft serve. It is SO GOOD. It has major Instagram factor, but seriously, I loved how it tasted. 

So after an attempt to fill my entire cary on luggage with NYC bagels (Black Seed Bagels was closed when I drove by or I would have), I flew back home and then less than 24 hours later we headed to Tennessee for my brother's wedding. You can catch up on my favorite thing I ate (The Shack), in this post. 

And that's where I've been! We've transitioned into what is typically our busiest season of the year (which is crazy because we've been non stop booked all year. Again- good! But also scary because busier seems nearly impossible). The holiday season in the food world is INSANE. As much as we plan ahead and schedule, schedule, schedule, yes- we do struggle to find down time. As in: maybe not work one day out of seven. 

I think that's something people forget when they see someone running their own business. Yes, it has MAJOR benefits. Yes, it sometimes looks super glamorous. But working for yourself (while amazing) is a tough mentality. We are constantly working. We struggle to not work or talk about work or try to 'get ahead' because we work from home and with each other. Relaxing is something that does not come naturally to us. 

Right before I headed to Boston, we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. FIVE YEARS! And our plan was to spend a day at home together- not working-with Chris making me one of my favorite meals (YES). Which is when promptly after getting back from the gym that morning, we found out our entire water/sewage line was backed up and he spent the day trying to fix it (he is the most handy person I know). Best laid plans, man. We ate takeout.

Our lives are never, ever boring here. The cat squad says "hi". I'm also super excited to show you a MASSIVE project that was just released with you come Monday! It's amazing. We loved working on it and it's been a hard secret to keep since Spring! I'm glad we're all caught up now.