Megan Pacella was such a great intern that we had to hire her on full-time, which we did a little more than one year ago. Besides restoring my sanity on a daily basis, Megan rocks out as an editor and writer for several of our publications now. This afternoon, I made her take out her earbuds for a minute and tell me a little bit about her daily routine here in the office.

What fuels you better for the day: Breakfast or lunch? I don't do breakfast—I never really have, even when I was a kid. I replace real breakfast with a few cups of black coffee, so lunch is better fuel for me. In the afternoon, I usually take a sandwich and some fruit down the street to Portland Brew, a local coffee shop. I know the barista who works afternoons pretty well, and he lets me eat there as long as I buy a cookie or some juice or something. Taking that short walk is probably better fuel than anything I eat. It clears my head and helps me catch my second wind for the afternoon.

What communications medium helps you most during the day?
Definitely IM. I work right across from Jamie's office, so I can just yell to her when I need something, but the rest of our editorial staff is a spread out through the office. Bill and I can communicate quickly through IM about one of our military clients when we're under deadline, and that saves me a lot of time. If I walked to an editor's office every time I needed something, I'd never get anything done. Sometimes I get tired of talking through text, though—I really prefer to communicate face-to-face.

What is your favorite on the job responsibility?
I love doing anything that makes me feel creative—and that changes a lot around here. I recently wrote a feature called "A Helping Hand" about small business owners who are serving their communities for MyBusiness, and that was really fun. Of all the widespread responsibilities I have, writing is probably my favorite. Call me crazy, but I also love to edit any articles that need serious help. There's something refreshing about reworking a story with a red pen and making it sound better. The newest thing on my slate is learning about video editing and production, and I really like that a lot, too. As it turns out, I really just love my job, so I enjoy carrying out most of my responsibilities (except all the fact-checking can get really old!).

Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what are your favorite artists/songs while working?
You will rarely catch me NOT listening to music while I work. Seriously, I pretty much have some kind of music pumping through my ears at all hours of the day. My favorites change all the time. Every Monday I make a playlist called "make it happen" and I listen to that all week. This week's selections: Jonathan Ammons, Gretel, Rod Stewart, David Bazan, Blitzen Trapper, Iron and Wine, The Submarines, Stephen Sebastian and Okkervil River. I could never narrow it down to just a few, but lately I've found myself putting "Furr" by Blitzen Trapper on repeat. I love words so much, and having lyrics running through my head isn't a distraction for me, it's just the opposite: Clever lyrics inspire me to be a better and more creative writer and editor. I should stop there. I could talk about music all day.

What's the last thing you do before you leave the office every evening?
I'm a little obsessive about my end-of-the-day routine. I wash out my coffee cup, declutter and straighten up my desk, and then I make a to-do list for the next day. I have to write the list on the same type of paper with the same pen (the Barack Obama pen Jamie bought me at the Inauguration) every evening. I order the list by importance and I draw a small box next to each item so I can check tasks off as I work the next day. I never leave without making that list, because it allows me to hit the ground running every morning. I never have to think about what needs to be done; my entire day is waiting for me on my mousepad each morning when I come to work. The last thing I do is find my cell phone and call whomever I'm meeting that night to tell them I'm late—I'm always late for everything.

Lately, I’ve been falling asleep at night with visions of tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash and cantaloupe dancing in my head. No, I’m not thinking about planting my own garden—my tiny apartment complex doesn’t provide enough space to do my own planting. Instead, I belong to a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program that allows me to connect directly with local farmers. It works like this: Every week a farm truck comes to my neighborhood, and the farmers hand me a huge box of fresh, organic, home-grown produce. I hand them a $20 bill, we shake hands and everyone goes home happy.

The best part? Even though I don’t always get my favorite vegetables in every shipment, I am fully confident that everything I’m eating is safe. When grocery stores can’t sell tomatoes because a mega-farm somewhere accidentally shipped unsafe produce all over the world, you’ll find me in my kitchen making homemade salsa with my CSA tomatoes. If you’re unsure about the quality of your food, simply contact your provider and they will tell you if your vegetables are at risk.

If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you probably know that I love supporting local businesses in my neighborhood—even when it means paying a little extra for what I buy. So when I learned that I could eat locally by buying my food directly from a small farmer, I was instantly hooked. Sure, the health benefits of a CSA program are great—I’m forced to cook more than I eat at restaurants, and I receive so much produce that I have no other choice than to eat vegetarian from May through October. But more than that, I love knowing that my money goes directly into the hands of small farmers who need people like me to buy into their dreams.

My first CSA shipment will arrive May 3rd—until then, I’m preparing by scouring the Internet and old family recipes for new ways to cook, can and preserve peaches, strawberries, green beans, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and more. Any suggestions?