Image c/o Positively Present.

And also happy Friday!

I don’t have any plans for Halloween this year, and I’m totally okay with that. Truth be told, I don’t even like halloween that much.

Besides, I don’t ever think I could top the time I dressed up as Amy Winehouse:

Tomorrow I’m going to yoga class with Molly (yay!!) and then I’m spending time getting some hair therapy (double yay!!). Other than, I’m planning on a pretty low key weekend. I’m also super pumped because I got myself a prescription of Ambien so I’m sure I’ll spend a good bit of the weekend catching up on all the sleep I’ve been missing out on lately.

So what are everyone’s plans for the weekend? Anyone have any really great costume planned?

***Also don’t forget to enter my starbucks giveaway! Feel free to enter as many times as you’d like as long as you answer one of the proposed questions. Scoot on over here to enter, there’s still a week left to go.

Sadly it’s Sunday evening, which means Monday is just a few short hours away. In just a few short hours, I am going to begin what I like to call my “Zombie Routine”.

Because I wear scrubs to work and I shower the night before, I have the luxury of sleeping in just a tad bit longer than some of my other friends. My alarm usually goes off around 7am and I hit snooze once (okay, sometimes twice), but I’m out of bed by 7:20. Since the temperature has dropped, I’m beginning to get into hibernation mode when I grumble and groan and pretty much let everyone (my fiancé and the cats) know my resentment toward getting out of bed. After pulling on some scrubs, pulling my hair up into a pony and throwing on some makeup, I’m out the door. Luckily, I work just a short bus ride from home so I can be there in about 15 minutes unless the bus gods are against me.

Once I’m at work my morning routine is something like this: 1. Turn on & log into computer. 2. Open necessary work programs and email. 3. Log into twitter. Spend the next few minutes reading & responding to tweets. 4. Log into Facebook. Read through status updates and creep catch up with friends’ lives. 5. Check Twitter again. The exception to this rule is the days my boss is working, then I have to be on my best behaviour. No Twitter, Facebook, or reading & commenting on blogs for me! If I didn’t have my iPhone handy to fill in the void, my day would DRAG.

By this time I’ve managed to kill about 30-45 minutes of my day (unless my boss is there). I’m still not feeling totally human yet either so I know it’s time to head downstairs to Starbucks to pick up my daily dose of espresso. I’m such a regular there that all the baristas know me by name and know my order by heart. This is probably a bad thing, but I’d like to think it’s just convenient. It’s after my cup of coffee that I feel the transition from Zombie Maggie to normal Maggie is complete.

So you’re probably wondering what does this have to do with anything, particularly a Starbucks Giveaway. Well, dear readers, it just so happens that I’m partnering with Starbucks and their new Energy + Coffee Campaign to host awesome giveaway to turn you into a coffee addict bring you some cool stuff!

And the even better part is I have 5 (FIVE!) prize packages to give away!! All the lucky winners will receive:

• Stealth Switch™– The StealthSwitch™ is “The World’s first desktop cloaking device.” StealthSwitch™ uses patent pending technology to instantly and completely hide applications with a press of the footswitch. The applications are not just are not just minimized, they are made invisible.
• $5 Starbucks^® Card
• Starbucks Doubleshot® Energy+Coffee coupons
• Starbucks Doubleshot® Energy+Coffee-branded white board

So how do you enter? Simply by leaving a comment by answering one of the following questions:

• Have  you ever been busted doing something you’re not supposed to by your boss?
• If you could get away with it scotch free, what is one thing you’ve always wanted to do at the office to stir things up a bit?
• What’s the best prank you’ve ever played on a coworker/coworkers?

*Unfortunately it’s against the rules to allow extra entries by posting to twitter/other blogs, but if you still choose do to so anyway, I will love and adore you forever.

The giveaway starts today (October 25th) and ends November 8th, so enter away! I will
enlist the help of Randomizer to pick the 5 lucky winners from all entries by midnight on November 8th.

And to keep the FTC happy, I must disclose by hosting this giveaway I am entered into a contest to win a prize as well. The more entries I get, the higher the chances of me winning a prize too. So I may win a prize, you may win a prize–it’s all Win-Win, right?

Now on to the boring legal stuff:

This promotion is solely sponsored by Redletterhaze.com and has not been endorsed or approved by North American Coffee Partnership. By entering, you agree to look solely to Redletterhaze.com for any claims in connection therewith, and not the North American Coffee Partnership

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Subject to Contest guidelines. Open to U.S. residents only. Contest ends 11/08/09. Void where prohibited.

Starbucks Doubleshot^® Energy+Coffee sent me some Doubleshot Energy + Coffee and here’s what I think. All the opinions expressed here are mine.

In addition to planning a wedding, Chris and I decided it would be best for us (and our future family*) to move back to Pittsburgh to be closer to my family. We’re planning on the big move to happen around May when our lease is up, but depending on job opportunities it could happen sooner. If we move back in May, that gives us about 6 months to find (and buy) a house.

Our next trip back to Pittsburgh is for Thanksgiving so we’re planning on looking at some properties while we’re there. One in particular sparked my interest:

(all images snagged from Pittsburgh Moves since I haven’t been there yet to take my own)

It’s a 3 bedroom 2 full bathroom/2 half bathroom townhouse minutes away from my parents and about 12 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will still be for sale by the time we make a trip back to Pittsburgh so we can at least look at it.

I know nothing about purchasing a house, so I’ll have my dad in tow to help me out. The whole process seems overwhelming and scary. It’s not like renting an apartment; it’s a serious investment and you can’t just move out if you decide you don’t like the place anymore or your neighbors suck.

Any advice for a first time buyer? Any tips would be helpful!

*don’t get your panties all bunched up-plans for a family are still a few years off. So relax, I’m not jumping on the pregnancy wagon yet.

It has been recently called to my attention that some of you are pumpkin haters *Cough Jamie Cough Jess*

I feel it is my duty to defend the honour that is the pumpkin. I love making and consuming pumpkin flavoured things. To battle all you pumpkin haters, here’s a list of delicious pumpkin things I enjoy:

• Pumpkin muffins
• Pumpkin bread
• Pumpkin pancakes
• Pumpkin spice lattes
• Pumpkin cookies
• Pumpkin waffles
• Pumpkin ice cream
• Pumpkin donuts
• Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart
• Pumpkin cheesecake
• Pumpkin Pie

And of course, pumpkin flavoured mini pumpkins!

So take that Pumpkin Haters!

**Members of the “I love pumpkin” club: if I forgot anything delicious & pumpkin related let me know!

Okay, maybe that’s not such a shocking confession after all. But seriously, part of the reason why I’ve been neglecting my blog so much lately is because I’ve been furiously reading my way through the huge stack of books in my “To Read” pile. Sometimes when I’m reading a book I get so caught up in the story that I forget about everything else in the world except the world inside the book.

This month, I’ve been semi-participating in the “Don’t Go Over in October” challenge (meaning I’ve been cutting back on spending, but I was too lazy to make a budget on Mint.com). The worst part of this challenge for me was not being able to buy a book for a whole month. Forget the cute fall wardrobe that I need to fill my closet with; what I really crave is new book smell. Until I saw my “To Read” stack had grown to about 8 or 9 books. It was abundantly clear that I had been more concerned with filling my bookshelf rather than actually reading the books. So this month has been about trying to diminish the stack. Recently I’ve read:

• Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. This book was our September pick for our book club. The book is 320 pages but I finished this book in less than 24 hours (and I even slept during that 24 hour period). Sarah’s Key was quite the page turner; the story is based around the events surrounding Vél d’Hiv, which I knew nothing about until I read this book.Of course being based on events taking place during the Holocaust, some of the story is very heart-wrenching. Each chapter was short and I just wanted to keep reading more and more. The main characters were very compelling, even though I felt a few of the supporting characters didn’t add much to the story. The author managed to weave together past and present events in a very effective and interesting way. So far this was one of my favourite choices from book club.
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. A few friends had all heavily recommended this book to me so I was eager to check this one out. The characters were interesting and well written, and the plot was well paced. It had a certain air to it that you don’t find in most contemporary novels. This book is definitely a different sort of mystery, and I’m sure this will be a book that I read again. I won’t say much about the plot because I don’t want to give away any of the secrets, but I highly recommend this one.
• The Friend Who Got Away: Twenty Women’s True Life Tales of Friendships that Blew Up, Burned Out or Faded Away by Jenny Offill & Elissa Schappell. This book was loaned to me by my good friend Molly. She first told me about this book after the demise of my friendship with someone after I wrote a post about wanting to put the kibosh on the friendship. This book is composed of 20 essays about friendships gone wrong, for whatever reason. I haven’t quite finished this one, but I can still appreciate the frankness of these women telling their stories. As Molly and I have discussed, women discuss breakups with their significant other ad nauseam but keep loss of friendships to themselves. When my friendship ended I felt dejected, and this book helped me realize I wasn’t alone in my internal conflict.
• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I can basically sum up my opinion in one word: Meh. It certainly ranks third out of the three Robert Langdon novels. Since The Davinci Code and Angels & Demons were wildy successful, I can’t blame Dan Brown for not changing his writing model much but really, the plot in The Lost Symbol is seriously lacking. When I was finished all I could think was ” Wow, I just read 500+ pages for that ending?” I’m disappointed that my time would’ve been better spent reading another book more worthwhile; instead I wasted a few hours on The Lost Symbol.
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. Reading this book was a long time overdue. Growing up, my family vacationed annually in Hilton Head, SC and we always made day trips to Savannah, GA while we were there. My mom purchased this book years ago, and I had always meant to read it but never really got around to it. On my last trip home to Pittsburgh I snagged it from her bookshelf and promised myself I would read it before I returned. Well I finally did, and now I’m kicking myself for not reading this years ago. I could hardly believe that this book is a true crime/nonfiction novel based on the literary style and the characters themselves. It didn’t take long for me to become completely engrossed in this book. What compelled me the most was the fact that Savannah itself seemed to be a character in the book, recalling me back to past days spent there. I’m so glad I finally got around to reading what I was missing all these years.

So what’s on the plate next for me? The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne, followed by Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut. Yeah, I still have about 6 other books after that to finish but I’m trying to pace myself. Our monthly book club meeting is on Monday, so I have November’s pick to look forward to as well.

What have you been reading lately?

**Side note: our book club was featured in the Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row section a few weeks ago. Some of the members were missing, but it was still cool for us to be interviewed and featured.

Image c/o Allie Osmar/Chicago Tribune

Meet miss Freyja!

A few weeks ago, Chris & I found a lost kitten in our trash room. Well, it turned out to belong to one of our neighbors, who claimed the kitten had gotten loose without them realizing it. Chris and I were sad to see the kitten go, so it set some wheels turning in our heads. I definitely wanted another cat since Chris had basically stolen Cady from me.

About a week or so had passed and after much nagging from me, we decided to head to PAWS to see what our options were. I immediately fell for “Steph”, a 6 month old black kitten. Chris had his heart set on Sparkle, a 10 week old gray tabby. The problem with Sparkle was that she was painfully shy. She had just been brought in to the shelter, but she didn’t want to be held or petted or played with. Steph on the other hand was very outgoing and social. It was too late in the day to start the adoption process, so Chris and I went home to sleep on it. We returned the next day no closer to a decision. We decided to adopt Lara, an all gray long haired kitten who was Sparkle’s sister. We were all but ready to sign the papers and I was having an anxiety attack. Something didn’t feel right. I was literally freaking out in the adoption counseling room. I knew in my heart that Steph was the cat we were supposed to have, and finally Chris gave in. I’m sure the Adoption Counselor thought I was insane. We left with Steph in tow. The second we got her home and took her out of the cat carrier, she started purring.

After 3 days, her name was decided based on a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors (Chris didn’t want to name her Bellatrix Lestrange. Hater). I lost, so we named her Freyja (pronounced Fray-ah). It’s Nordic for “lady”–Perfect for the new little lady!

She is pretty much a purr machine and very snuggly. and TINY! She weighs about 4.5 lbs. My other kitties are tolerating her well. I wouldn’t exactly call them BFFs or anything though. She is crazy though, and loves running across the keyboard. Maybe she aspires to being a blogger too?



** I posted some updates over at the wedding blog, particularly pertaining to the attire of the wedding party. Let me know your thoughts! (I’m apologizing in advance, I have wedding on the brain and the countdown is down to 10 MONTHS)

*** Be on the lookout later in the week/weekend for a giveaway too!!

Well, this is my 100th post and I was hoping for it to be something upbeat and excited.

Instead, all I feel lately is frustration.

It’s been two weeks since my latest post. For me, that feeling is frustrating. Every time I sit down to write something, the words just slip away. Or sometimes my brain is swirling so fast, all I can pick out are random words. If I tried to lay them out, it would just be a jumbled mess. Maybe that’s what I need to do, because I feel like that would be an accurate representation of my life right now: A jumbled mess.

Planning a wedding from 450 miles away is challenging.Things have been falling into place lately, but there certainly have been snags along the way. It took 3 trips to Pittsburgh just to pick a venue. We’re only about halfway done with our marriage preparation that’s required by the Catholic Church. The bridesmaid dresses turned into an ordeal in itself, and brought out my inner bridezilla for a bit. Luckily that crisis has been smoothed over, and all the dresses are hanging safely in a closet at my mother’s house along with mine.

Chris and I have made the decision to go back to Pittsburgh. As much as I absolutely adore my friends here, I miss my family. And realistically Chris and I cannot afford to buy anything in Chicago. I figured if we’re going to end up in the suburbs anyway, we might as well go back to Pennsylvania and be with family. So now we’re beginning the process of looking for houses. With that comes looking for cars for both of us, looking for new jobs, and planning a whole different budget than what we’re used to. Even though I know moving back is probably the best decision, I can’t help but feel disappointed. I thought moving away from Pittsburgh would be a life changing experience where I would grow as a person. While it definitely has been, I never expected things to come full circle and have me end up back where I started. But on the plus side, Chris and I will be getting a place with at least 3 bedrooms so all my friends will have an open invitation to come stay with us anytime.

The super secret project I may (or may not) have mentioned finally launched a few weeks ago so I can finally say I have been doing some freelance writing for Appolicious and it’s been a lot of fun. But I do notice on days when I’m writing my reviews or doing research, my own blog suffers. I just feel frustrated that sometimes I’m not a constant fountain of words and ideas that continue to flow and never dry up. But guess what? I’m only human, and I realized my brain does have its limitations.

And wow-for someone who’s feeling frustrated at my state of writers block, those previous 475 words just poured right out. The whole purpose of me blogging from the very beginning is to use it as an extension of myself; I don’t ever want it to feel like a job or a chore. I don’t ever want to be like “ugh, I haven’t written a post in a week. I really need to go home and write one” because obviously I shouldn’t bother writing one in that case. I have enough frustrations in life and blogging is supposed to help me work through that, not add more frustration to the mix.


No apologies here though. No excuses.


Just a little insight, and some explanation.