It’s no secret to those that know me that I am big on meal planning.  I think that I come up with easy meals that the whole family can enjoy.  Now I want to share that with YOU. Sign up here for my weekly newsletter and you will get a copy of my weekly meal plan with recipes.  I will also feature other tips to help you stay sane and organized with your busy life.

Every Thursday your meal plan will be delivered to your inbox so that you can make your grocery list and spend the weekend getting ready for the next week.

The meals featured will be simple to make and family friendly.  Sign up today!!

I am way behind in my reader, so these links that I think are worth sharing are ones that I have come across while reading this last week.

Five Best Weight-Management Tools

I Take Offense to This

Cold Weather Fitness Tips for the Whole Family

What I Spent My Weekend Doing

More Email Management Tips

Finally, instead of posting my meal plan here, sign up for my weekly newsletter for your weekly meal plan along with recipes and other tips I have found to make life easier.  Sign up here.

Name: Jessica Smith

Occupation: Vice President at Fleishman-Hillard

Describe Your Occupation:
integrating digital to create more robust online and offline campaigns for Fleishman-Hillard’s clients on the West Coast and as a resource and subject matter expert company-wide.

Tell us about yourself: About celebrate 5th wedding anniversary with my husband next month.  Proud mom to a 4 year old boy that loves racecars, dinosaurs, and at the moment, Scooby Doo.  Just relocated to the West Coast for my return to the corporate world and adjusting to the new dynamic…my husband is now the stay at home parent.

Tell us what a typical day is like for you: A typical day involves dropping my son off at preschool before my 15 minute commute to work.  At the office I collaborate with colleagues both in my office and across the globe to create and deliver dynamite campaigns for Fleishman-Hillard clients.  It’s not totally unusual for me to have written a proposal, exchanged an email with our company’s CEO, and talked to a blogger on the phone all within the same hour.  Sure, my day may lack routine and the most predictable aspect I can count on is expecting the unpredictable to happen.  Every day is fast-paced and requires hard work and focus. Being a part of a forward-thinking and dynamic team across the globe is energizing and rewarding.

What are some of your challenges?
Honestly, it’s a learning curve to work for an agency.  I’ve worked for consulting firms before but agency life is a whole other ballgame…put me in coach!

How do find balance in your life?
I find balance by turning every one of my electronic devices off when I get home and spending quality time with my family during dinner and afterwards.  No distractions.  No excuses.  Our family just joined a racquet and swim club as well and we’re planning on all learning to play tennis together.

What do you do to take time for yourself?
There is no shortage of me-time activities here in Sacramento.  Being a part of our office’s blog, SacFoodies.com lets me take a break with the girls while we discover the best our city has to offer our palates.  Me-time often involves social time…however, sometimes I need peace & quiet and that’s where I’ll read in my backyard or do some yoga.

Do you have any advice for other working moms?
Don’t feel guilty about following your professional dreams.  Our children learn from watching us…and following our dreams is something I think we can all agree is worth passing on to our kids.  The same can be said for stay at home moms too.

Do you have a favorite tool or resource that you use to help stay organized?
Ahhh, it’s a never ending quest.  You’ll probably find it surprising that while I love connecting with people digitally, when I comes to staying organized that paper and Flair pen just keep calling to me.  Right now I’m using a Franklin Covey organizer I just invested in, but knowing myself, I’m sure I’ll explore other paper options moving forward.  Would love to know what other working moms recommend.

Where Can We Find You Online?
You can find me at my personal blog http://jessicaknows.com, on Twitter www.twitter.com/jessicaknows, on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaknows, and Facebook www.facebook.com/jessicaknows – you can also find me occasionally blogging at www.SacFoodies.com

Are you a working mom? Do you want to be featured here at Not Just 9 to 5. Please fill out the questionnaire found here. Please also email me at laura AT notjust9to5 DOT com with any images you would like used. Interviews are featured on Thursdays.