A Day in the Life & An Oloves Olives Giveaway!

When I saw that Angela and Jill were doing a “Day in the Life” post round-up, I wanted to get in on the fun. While my daily life is far from exciting or intense, I think it’s always fun to learn about other people’s professions and what they do on a daily basis (outside of blogging, twittering, etc.)! So, without further ado, here is a day in the life of a running foodie who happens to also be a technical writer at a software development company to pay the bills (and support my running & food obsession)! If you’re only here for the giveaway info, skip to the bottom of this post to find out more!

7:08am – alarm goes off, and I snooze for 9 minutes. Eventually when the snooze alarm goes off, I roll over and check the all important things on my phone: E-mail, Twitter, Instagram, and TimeHop. Then I get ready (which is very low maintenance).

7:40am – pack lunch and divvy up coffee. This almost always involves me second guessing the amount of food I pack. And if I ever think I haven’t packed enough, I’m usually right.

7:50am – out the door to work. This is give or take, depending on how slow I’m moving. One of our neighbors (a little boy) likes to “race” us… so if he happens to be out there getting in his car to go to school, I pretend to hurry as quickly as I can to my car to “try and beat him.”

8:15-8:25am – after dealing with the wonderful NJ traffic, I arrive at work.

8:30 – 9:15 am – turn on my computer, get situated, and try to figure out what’s on deck for the day. This also usually involves catching up on blogs, and eating cereal (I keep a box of cereal at my desk, but bring a container of milk)… unless it’s Friday which means BAGELS!

9:15am – 12:00pm – working on various projects, including updating user guides, creating and sending technical advisories to our partner and clients based on updates to the software or any issues that may have happened (or are currently happening), work on system release notes, and do other writing related tasks, while also helping support when they need it (I used to be in support).

12:00pm – LUNCH TIME! The most magical hour of the day. I usually eat in the office kitchen, or outside if it’s nice enough (I rarely go out).

1:00 – 5:30pm – more of the same, with an afternoon break for blog reading and catching up on news. Snacks are always involved during the second half of the day – crackers, yogurt, fruit, chocolate… I’m always starving by 2:30pm, and then again as soon as I get home. Sometimes I order some of my favorite Indian snacks online. This site, a trusted grand sweets usa suggests, is the best for Indian snacks. You can look them up too, for your daily snack fix.

6:05 – 6:15pm – depending on traffic, I arrive home to two kitties anxiously awaiting dinner. I’m almost always guaranteed to see one peering out of a front window as I pull up, only to run away as I make my way to the front door.

6:15pm – 7:30/7:45pm – after I feed the cats, grab myself a snack, and change, it’s out the door for a run (anywhere from 3 to 8 miles, hence the time).

7:45pm – dinner and relaxing. This involves me cooking (usually still wet with sweat from my run), snacking, and watching the news and other TV favorites. I have a dining room table, but I eat 99.9% of my meals on the couch in front of the TV. I know it isn’t ideal, but it’s really the only “mindless” time I have for the day – so I enjoy it!

9:30pm – I take a shower and get things ready for the next day (making things for lunch, deciding what I’m going to wear, etc.).

10:30pm – 11:30pm – I try to get into bed by 10:30pm at the latest every night. I don’t always fall asleep right away (I usually spend anywhere from 30-45 minutes reading), but I’m almost always asleep by 11:30pm, giving me about 7.5 hours before I do it all over again!

So my days are far from exciting, but I guess they’re pretty busy… especially on the days that involve errands, doctor’s appointments, meetings, and other fun grown-up things. But there is one common theme every single day: snacking. I love snacks almost as much as I love a good meal, and I find that they can really elevate my mood if they’re particularly good. So when the folks at Oloves reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in trying some of their olives and then giving some away to a lucky reader, I enthusiastically accepted.

I love olives, especially the olive bar at the grocery store. But, at anywhere from $6 – $8 a pound, I rarely buy them because I always find myself getting carried away. Oloves sent me a few packages of olives to try; Mediterranean, Lemon, and Hot Chili, along with some hummus, bruschetta, and tapenade dip. I immediately tore into the hot chili pack because I’m obsessed with spicy food. I wasn’t really sure what to expect – would they be actual olives? Freeze dried? I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were real olives in a little bit of brine. I assumed since the entire package is only 50 calories that there wouldn’t be much in the bag, but there was a solid amount of olives… definitely enough for a snack!

Verdict? They’re really good! They taste like fresh olives you’d pick up at an olive bar, but they’re in a convenient package and portioned to the right amount for a quick snack. The bottom line is they’re something I would absolutely spend my own money on, and plan to in the future. This is an easy way for me to get my olive fix without feeling guilty for spending a lot of money at the olive bar. Horray for Oloves!

So,want to win your own pack of Oloves Olives? Time for the Giveaway Details! All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me:
What’s your favorite work day snack?
*Contest will stay open until Sunday 10/22!

Disclaimer: Oloves sent me the package of olives and dips to try at no cost to me. All opinions, as always, are my own.