A Peek into My World

I don't blog as often as I'd like, and behind the scenes, I'm far more busy than you might imagine. The other night, someone who knew my work in the culinary biz said incredulously, "You have a full time job too?"

Well, I did...until last Thursday.

I have been working as an analyst for an award-winning magazine. With a focus on real estate mortgages, it was only a matter of time until the economic downtrend hit our doorstep. Thursday, the company reduced their staff by 1/3 and I was included in the mix. I crunched numbers for a living and was responsible for keeping a close eye on the national economic trends. While the layoff came as a surprise to some, I predicted it was only a matter of time. So here I am, poised and ready for the job hunt.

Luckily, just before I left, I was handed some juicy projects...including testing a new web user interface, conducted web analytic trend spotting, designed the training materials for the new program--including a 26 page glossary of industry terms, and I created a series of downloadable training videos. At the very end, I became quite fluent in conducting webinar presentations, which we rolled out to our 400 clients. It was exciting to see it all come to fruition before my departure.

Since the layoff, opportunity has been pounding on my door.

Lamenting how tired I was, a friend of mine retorted, "You're not complaining because your life is fabulous, are you?" Gotta love my friends for adding some perspective!


In case you're interested, here's a look at my schedule since Saturday:

Lunch with wine & cheese guru and blogger Catherine Reynolds and the husband and wife team of Wright Eats.

Consultation with a Naomi Andrade Smith on her first book.

Met with documentary flimmaker, photographer, and author Scott Squire.

Attended Theo's Chocolate University class on cacao production in West Africa.

Lunch interview with author Cindy Mushet to discuss her new book, "Art & Soul of Baking" and nosh at Bakery Nouveau.

3 days of events with Michaele Weisman, author of "God in a Cup":

- Blogger event hosted by Keren Brown and Muse Coffee Company

- Met with the North American Barista Champion, Dismas at Stickman and Kim Ricketts of Kim Ricketts Book Events

- Chocolate Tasting at Claudio Corallo & met with Andrew Daday, former coffee buyer for Caffe Vita

- Brunch with Robin Leventhal (chef/owner of Crave) and Dismas (Owner of Stickman)

- Tour through the Ballard Farmer's Market

- Tour Pike Place Market and visit the very first Starbucks

- Attended a "Meet the Producer" event at Stumptown with the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence champions from 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008.

- One Pot/Caffe Vita/Kim Ricketts dinner, including a book signing and interview with the author. 60 people in a swank Capitol Hill Loft.

- Dinner at Union and met with Chef Ethan Stowell.


And finally, I've been invited to speak at Antioch University. We finalized plans this week.

Yowza! What a wild ride this has been!