The Monday Morning Hustle: Markets, Meal Prep, and Mini Celebrations 🧀✨

Umm so where did this week even go? I swear I blinked on Monday and suddenly it's Monday again and I'm sitting here trying to remember what day Valentine's Day was.

This is one of those weeks where I feel like I accomplished everything and nothing at the same time, you know? I'm partially through editing my website and only got to the landing page on Thursday, I'm trying to figure out LinkedIn for the first time in my life because apparently that's where all the corporate catering leads hang out, and I'm simultaneously questioning whether I should just go full old school and start handing out mini snack boxes in person with my best business pitch.

Speaking of which, shoutout to my cosmetic dentist because these tooth gems are about to come in clutch for my business spew as I like to call it. Nothing says "hire me to cater your event" quite like sparkly teeth and charcuterie samples, right?

Saturday Market Magic (and Sold-Out Success)

So this past Saturday I worked the market solo so my employee could actually enjoy Valentine's weekend with his girlfriend. Because I'm not a monster, and also because love is real and they're adorable together and he deserves nice things.

Plus you guysss. We. Sold. Out.

There's something so satisfying about that moment when you look at your table and realize everything is gone and people are still asking if you have more. Met some incredible new vendors too, the small business community here is just *chef's kiss*, and made a couple potential work connections that could turn into something really cool. Actually nice working the market and seeing old faces.

After the market wrapped up I met up with my farmer friend for a cocktail and we just caught up on life and it was exactly the kind of decompression I needed. Those spontaneous hangouts where you're not planning anything, just vibing and talking about the chaos of running small businesses? Pure gold. Strong martinis- had to split one. 😂

The 11th Birthday Workshop That Almost Didn't Happen

Okay so a couple weeks ago I had to reschedule a workshop and I felt TERRIBLE about it. But also? I was legitimately dying from whatever plague my son brought home (thanks bud, love you too). When you're running a catering business in Chelmsford, you want to show up at your best, especially for a kid's birthday.

But you only turn 11 once, right? So I decided to go FULL OUT to make it extra special. We're talking tinsel. Lots of tinsel. Little goodie bags. Special touches everywhere. I stayed up decorating last night and honestly it looked like a pink sparkly cheese themed fairy party by the time I was done.

Turns out the workshop was awesome and the guests were awesome. Today was her day and I made it extra because why not?

The Great Soy Disaster of 2026

Can we talk about meal prep for a second? Because this week's meal prep was... an adventure.

So I made all these beautiful meals, right? Felt super accomplished, everything looked amazing, patted myself on the back for being such a meal prep queen. And THEN I realized, while I was doing final checks, that soy was sneakily hiding in EVERYTHING. SORRY ERIKA. Not your fault- definitely mine.

Tortillas? Soy.

Pie crust? Soy.

Bread crumbs? ALSO SOY.

She also has a chickpea allergy and I made braised beans… with chickpeas. 🙄

So yea that’s on me.

For a client with a soy allergy, this was basically a five alarm fire situation. So at like 5 PM, I had to start over and remake literally everything from scratch and made some platters and prepped for the workshop. Finished at 11PM which is kinda late for bed but whatever, this was a one time thing and you live and you learn, right?

Note to self: always triple-check ingredient lists BEFORE cooking, not after.

The 9 AM Miracle

So naturally after staying up until 11 PM and going to bed way too late, I woke up at the ass crack of dawn (we're talking 5AM which should honestly be illegal) to:

- Finish decorating the birthday workshop space

- Pack up all the meal prep orders and organize by delivery location and actually deliver them

- Deliver a platter to Carlisle

- Make the kids' lunches

All before 9 AM. Workshop started at 1130. Somehow I did it all and went the speed limit!

Got Georgie ready for school but my husband ended up taking him. THANK THE STARS.

I don't know how I did it either. Honestly I was running on pure adrenaline and probably spite at that point. But we made it happen because that's what you do when you're running your own show, you know?

And because I felt like I deserved ALL the treats for pulling that off, I splurged on this blue spirulina coconut cloud smoothie thing that cost $13 (I KNOW, I KNOW) but it was so light and fluffy and delicious that I literally drank it in what felt like two seconds. Worth every penny. I'll definitely go back. My bank account might cry but my taste buds were so happy.

Lunch with the Locals

Later I met my husband at Fishbones for lunch and got to catch up with my favorite local lunchtime crowd. There's something really grounding about those regular spots where everybody knows your name and you can just exist without having to perform or hustle or pitch anything.

Just good food, good company, and zero business spew required. (Though the tooth gems were still sparkling, can't help that.)

Snagged my favorite bartender Jess and while not on the menu I got fries with clam chowder dumped right on top. Made my day.

This Week's Soundtrack

Two songs dropped on Friday that I've been WAITING for and they're both on constant repeat:

Stephen Dawes: Reputation

Sarah Kinsley: Truth of Pursuit

Completely different vibes but both absolutely perfect. One's got me in my feelings, the other's got me feeling like I can conquer the world (or at least make it through another week of catering chaos).

Music has been my lifeline lately while I'm prepping orders or driving deliveries or stress decorating workshops late night. Highly recommend both if you need a fresh playlist update.

The Week Ahead

So yeah. That was this week in a nutshell. Markets, meal prep disasters, birthday magic, expensive smoothies, and a whole lot of hustle.

The website editing continues (slowly but surely), the LinkedIn journey continues (confusingly but determinedly), and the dream of becoming the go to caterers in chelmsford for both casual hangouts and corporate events continues.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my stream of consciousness brain dump. This is basically what it's like inside my head 24/7. Chaotic, scattered, occasionally brilliant, often running on too little sleep and too much ambition.

But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.

If you're looking for someone to cater your next event: whether it's a corporate lunch, a birthday party, or just a Tuesday that needs more cheese, I’m right here! I promise to check for soy twice. Maybe three times.

Off to bed now. Finally.

XX,

Abby

Oh shoot! I was supposed to launch an un-birthday box (will explain later) for Feb 26th and 27th… today. Cheese, coffee, gems. Partnering with my favorite local vendors. Extra treats. More info to come if I get my post together tomorrow. It’s my day off but maybe I’ll do a little work. 😜

Song of the day: All We Hold: After the Storm.