i just never create a "new document".
All my artwork/drawing/setup files are already saved as documents, that I open and then resave under the project name once I've begun inserting artwork for layout/etc.
profiles, swatches, default layers, and all my misc. goodies are there waiting for me to start rockin' n' rollin' towards my first revision requests.
I thought the default was to display spot colors as LaB... or at least mine is.