A Day in the Life...Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie!

Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie is just the cutest! She seems to have an endless amount of energy and is always so encouraging towards others. Courtney is one busy Southern lady and I hope you enjoy a glimpse into her daily life to see how she balances it all!

A Day in the Life of Courtney Dial of Pizzazzerie...

Hi all! Ready to see what my day is like? Well, no two days are alike which keeps things interesting. Some days are “prop shop + errand” days, some are “style + photograph” days, and some are “office” days. Today is an office day. Those are more common.

Between 8 and 9:30am – wake up! Yep, that’s my bed above. I’m a night owl, so a good portion of my morning is spent right there. I think I like to pretend I’m on Pacific Time. People always like to ask me if I ever sleep. Yes, a lot. I will slowly rise and check out emails on my blackberry to see if there are any that require immediate response.

9:00am-12:00pm

After a quick cereal breakfast, I hop over to my spare bedroom turned office. Here is where the action happens. I’m usually answering emails on the larger computer and looking through photos on the laptop. Today, I’m training up my fabulous editorial assistant Kelly! She’s been a huge help already. We get a lot of submissions so she helps me get them all taken care of. Today, we heard from a sweet reader who found some fabulous party supplies from our sponsor (Shop Sweet Lulu) so we are going to share those pictures on Facebook.

Then I head over to be sure today’s post is up on Pizzazzerie. I spread the news on Facebook & Twitter. I start to get sucked in to the twitter stream before closing the window so I can get back to work.

To be honest, I don’t move out of that chair for several hours. I’m also finishing up several St. Patrick’s Day articles for a freelance job. I had plans to shoot some corresponding photos for the article, but Nashville got some snow and ice this week and my car is covered.

Around 11:00am, I get a little antsy and realize I never turned on Pandora.com so I crank up the tunes, grab a diet mountain dew (not a coffee drinker) and keep focusing on a few articles I have to get done. I’m a new contributor Hostess With The Mostess and Jenn just sent me an AMAZING feature to write up. My “at home” days are 90% filled with writing.

My sweet designer, Sarah Kate, is working on a few business card edits for me so I review those, give her my feedback and continue through the new emails that have come in. I’m working on two other websites (one for a friend and one for a family member) so I review a few wordpress set-up issues with those and send over information to those helping me. Lots in the works!

1:00pm – I realize I’m starving and was too busy to notice, but now I do! My boyfriend, Chris, is often over hanging out as his job has irregular hours. So if he is home, I love to yell “Chrisssss!!” and hear back “Yes, I’m hungry too”. So we either go grab lunch at a fun Nashville spot or eat something quick. Today it’s a granola bar and a peanut butter sandwich at my desk. Too busy to leave (plus that snow/ice mess).

After lunch, I haul up some boxes that I shipped to myself from Chapel Hill after a recent Alice in Wonderland Party I designed. I hang linens back up on the organizer I made. I stand there for a second and think about the fact that Pizzazzerie’s first birthday is a little over a month away. I need to get stuff together for a mini shoot! That’s too much to think about right now, so on to the next project.

I look up to see this really large mess piling up on those shelves that Chris built for me. I decide it must be organized but not today. Six more emails have come in that all need my attention.

Twitter is calling my name so I hop over and play on that for about 10 or 15 minutes. I do the same with Facebook, congratulate my sweet friends on lots of fun achievements I’m noticing in the news feed.

My mother calls in the afternoon and asks for an update on a top secret project we’re working on. I let her know I’m on top of it and we chit-chat for a bit.

(As you can see, my day is not glamorous, just consistently jumping from one thing to the next).

2:30pm I am falling into my “sleepy afternoon” time. Most days this doesn’t happen, but today I’m laying down for about 30 minutes. Ah, the joys of working for myself and from home. I start the laundry and hit the bed. My friend Jill and I text while I lay down because our dinner must be rescheduled due to the weather. I’m feeling a bit “cooped up” and very ready for warmer weather!

3:00pm Up and at’em. I send off a few articles, feel very happy to get those projects complete! I send a few emails to my two writers, Crista and Katie. They keep me sane. And then I start working on the next day’s post for Pizzazzerie + snacktime.

5:00pm My eyes are getting that “been at the computer too long” glazed over feeling. So I take a break and make some dinner with Chris. We watch a bit of Lost (I have him hooked) or some other TV show.

7:00pm I’m getting antsy on the couch as I see my blackberry lighting up with emails, so I head back up to the office.

I usually work from 7:00pm to late night (stopping for breaks and TV time throughout). Tonight, the emails have quieted allowing me to play around with some new photoshop actions I bought. I take care of finishing Pizzazzerie’s post for the next day, bounce off a few more emails, and zone out for about 30 minutes while surfing some of my favorite sites. Once I realize that I’m getting nothing else productive accomplished, I head downstairs to zone out while cleaning the kitchen, finishing laundry, and cuddling with Chris.

Tonight’s bedtime is midnight, but it usually varies between 11:00pm and 1:00am. Off to bed I go, ready to wake up, rinse, and repeat

I hope you enjoyed a peek into Courtney's day! I am really enjoying reading how my favorite bloggers manage their day!