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.

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!

This past Saturday I went to Velika Gospa, which is the Croatian Festival held at St. Jerome’s in Bridgeport. I’m half Croatian, but until recently I haven’t given much thought to that part of my heritage. The other part of me is Irish and of course I know a lot about that heritage. Up until recently I’ve always tried to identify myself with this half, asserting myself with my Irish heritage. I’m not sure the exact turning point when I started becoming more curious about the other half occured, but I think it had something to do with my distant cousins finding me on facebook. That sounds really lame, I know. I’ve always known I still had distant relatives that lived in Croatia because my dad had gone to meet them wayyyy back in the day, but it was really cool to have them reach out to me like that and get to know one another.

Going to Velika Gospa was quite a cultural experience for me. I’m sure what I experienced on Saturday is similar to what goes on in the old country. Everyone knew everyone. Guys that looked like my dad and uncles were everywhere. Even Chris made comments about how he thought he actually saw my dad a few times. They were holding High Mass when we tried to duck into St. Jerome’s to take a look around so I got to hear Mass being given in Croatian.

Then there was the food. OHHHH the food! First of all, in a semi secret location, they were selling whole lambs and pigs, or selling them by the pound. This lamb and pig stuff was serious business. The guy in line ahead of us had called in a special order and he paid $180 for whatever it is he ordered. $10/lb = this dude ordered 18 pounds of meat!!! Sadly, they had sold out except for special orders by the time I got to the front of the line. Next year. But then I came across this goody:

Those, dear readers, are pork ražnjići. I’m not generally a fan of pork, but these were absolutely to die for.

Then for dessert: Fritule!

Basically fritule is just deep fried dough balls rolled in powdered sugar. They’re so delicious and popular the line wrapped around the entire stand and down the sidewalk.

We wrapped up the afternoon with a trip inside the church. It was absolutely gorgeous. I wish the church I was getting married in resembled this:

Religion is a very important part of Croatian culture (something like 85% of Croatians are Roman Catholic) and it shows. The church in this neighborhood is clearly the center of the community. It felt like I was at a giant family reunion and I loved every second of it.

Going to the festival definitely gave me a whole new outlook on my culture. Now more than ever, I am pushing Chris to choose Croatia for our honeymoon. Not only does it have beautiful beaches, but delicious food, and maybe I’ll get to meet my family!

**there are more pics up on Flickr! check them out here.

Today I whipped up a batch of orange cupcakes with orange cream cheese icing. They’re a fun summer recipe because they’re a very fluffy cupcake and also have a sweet and slightly tangy flavor. If you’d like the recipe, I’d be more than happy to share!

creaming the butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract together

the egg whites make the cupcakes light & fluffy

fresh out of the oven

orange cream cheese icing

who wants to lick the beaters?

Garnished with orange pieces

so yummy!!

Take that Bakerella!! (just kidding, I love you)

*I really, really love my G10.