A Valentine Blogging Party!

It's not every day that I get to join in on the fun of a blogging party, but when one pops up on the block and it's an open invite, I'm totally down for going!!!  It's a wonderful place to "meet" new people and make new friends!!!

This year a Valentines Blogging Party was hosted by Casey, Nicole, Lauren, Ashlee and Alycia.   They were such sweet hosts and co-hosts ~ make sure to check out their lovely blogs!

While the party supplied ample opportunity to meet many new friends, this party also allowed me to "meet" and truly make, one delightful new friend. 

I feel very blessed right now because I think I met a kindred spirit through this party!

Tina who writes with such ease and talent on her blog, Like Ordinary Life was paired up with me for the Valentines party. 

Meet Tina:

Addresses were exchanged, each others blogs were discovered, shopping was done and then sweet boxes were delivered and received!!!!

Not to mention, the two of us had way too much fun tagging each other in cute instagram pictures as our boxes arrived on our doorsteps!

 What a sweet and thoughtful package she sent in the mail.  I really loved how she put it together with a baking theme and even sent some of her famous homemade chocolate chip cookies!!!

Now I'll let some pictures do some of the talking =)

And as I've told Tina, I think we are like two peas in a pod, seriously.  

Not only can we relate in many ways, but the two of us have the same taste in many things. Yes, we were even born a few months apart in the same year, what are the odds?!?!

I'm very, very grateful for the opportunity to blog and make friends, especially with people like Tina!

We've already become fast and dear friends and I hope that one day we can actually meet up in person. Cause that would seriously make my day!

Make sure to stop by her lovely blog Like Ordinary Life today and start following her adventures and funny stories.   I love that Tina says it how it is.  She is witty and expressive.  She is not afraid to disagree.  She stands up for what she thinks and isn't afraid to speak her mind.  Like every normal person, she sees life how it really is, but she is always challenging herself and looks on the bright side of things. =)

Thank you Valentine Party for bringing such a great friend!

XOXOXO

Maggie 

The Wednesday Challenge ~ One Letter

Here is the challenge I've been waiting to share with all of you!

 This is a new and very exciting kind of challenge that will be taking place here on this little blog each Wednesday!

The story behind the idea:
There are so many reasons why I could say that I love blogging.  It has definitely been a great way to connect with the creative side, a side that so many women enjoy sharing with one another!
I love the stories we write, the pictures we post and connections we make.
Not to mention what an incredible outlet this has been for staying in touch with family and friends.

And it's true, I would sincerely love to meet each of you in person. 

I've already been very blessed to have made connections with "new friends" that have extended beyond

the blogging world and into a more personal friendship and this has been wonderful!

 But I've been wondering, how do I use blogging to challenge myself and those around me??? This is where I've been thinking ..."I really want this blog to grow and go deeper, to help develop my character and become a place where I can be challenged and challenge others as well.  So, why not do this together!?!"

And this is where the Wednesday challenge comes in!!!!  Are you ready?!?!?

There will be a new little challenge that I'll share with you every Wednesday morning.  Feel free to leave a comment about how you are planning on joining in on the challenge, this way it will help you (and ME :) stay committed to our challenge throughout the day!

This Wednesday's challenge is to sit down today *note the key word "today"* and write a letter to one person in your life that you haven't written to in quite a while.
This should be someone you would like to see yourself re-connect with, someone who you know would be thrilled to hear from you, or someone who you know that could simply use a thoughtful note!
It doesn't have to be long, just a kind and thoughtful gesture.
This is our challenge for today!!!

I will be writing a letter to my "grandma Lil".  She isn't my grandma at all, she used to be our family doctor's secretary.  As a child, she use to let me and all my siblings each pull out a whole pack of gum from her pocket every time my family would visit the doctor.  She is the sweetest lady who is now in her 90s and still signs her name "grandma Lil" in every birthday card she sends.  And by every birthday card she sends, I'm talking every single year since we came to know her as a friend.  What an example of love and faithfulness!  =)

So grab a card, take it to work and write someone a note during your lunch break!
You will make someone's day.

By no means do you have to, but feel free to leave a comment below sharing who you will be writing a letter to today!
Good luck with this first challenge. =)

Oh lovely weekend!

Oh lovely weekend, you started off well ~  with a rosabaya and hazelnut cappuccino in hand! 

A perfect way to stay warm inside as the snow fell silently on the ground outside.

 Saturday morning.  

 More coffee, re-uniting with a dear friend, cross stitching and card making.

 Anyone else enjoy making Valentines this much???

It was fun pulling out my glue from Italy!  I love this stuff.

 Then came Sunday and we were welcomed with this lovely feast! Charlie's friends in

the city had cooked up a storm for Super Bowl Sunday.  

 Katie sporting her new bangs and indulging in the delicious spread.  

Although this ventures a little past Sunday..... 

I had to share the fact that my younger sister brought home her beautiful new harp on Monday morning!

I used to play (for 6 years!) back in the day and now I'm so proud of my "little sister" for taking up such a lovely instrument. 

 She is such a good student!

And.... a few little randoms...my daily bedside necessities. 

 Here is yesterday's Sunday Currently Post vol. 2 in case you missed it!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend!!

Did any of you do anything exciting or out of the ordinary for Super Bowl Sunday?!?!?

The Sunday Currently vol. 2

 Reading  a William Sonoma magazine, because in my books that counts as reading too! =) 

 Writing  in my new calendar.  Finally getting around to filling in the details of life.  

 Anticipating  a trip into the city this evening.  A few of us are heading to a friends place for a superbowl party ~ should be a blast!!!

  Thinking  how great it was to finally make it over to Whole Foods and pick up some fish oil and multi vitamins.... but now I'm thinking and remembering how hard it is to swallow these horse pills.  *remember why you are taking these things and how good they are for you, Maggie!!!*  Trying so hard, really I am!

 Rejoicing  over the fact that last month my little blog reached over 1005 page views in one month! Considering it was a slow month with not many posts... I was happy.  Maybe it's just baby steps, but it's pretty exciting news over here =)

 Smelling   a Bougainvillea scented candle from my mom back at Easter time.  Trying to make this candle last for forever!

  Wishing    I could be back in Hawaii laying poolside with POG juice in hand and Charles next to me.   Ahhh we will definitely go back someday!

 Hoping   to crack out the Pilates DVD this week.  I haven't used it since college. My mom and I used to be so good at doing it every single day, what happened to that???  Fell off the deep end on that one =(  Oops!

 Planning  a regular blog post for Wednesdays.  This will be challenging, but that's the point!  Come back Wednesday and see what this little secret is all about, that's my challenge for you! =)     

 Sipping  a hazelnut cappuccino =)

 Loving   all the beautiful goodies in my Valentines Day box from Tina over at Like Ordinary Life.  Make sure to check out her lovely blog, it's my new favorite and I love her writing style!  We are seriously like two peas in a pod.  I can't imagine if she and I were to go shopping together what kind of damage we could do.  Okay, yes I can!  Sooo we won't even go there.  

 Wanting  one, just one whole weekend where nothing is planned.  Every weekend in February is already filled with something.  How does life get so busy!?!

 Needing  to catch up on laundry because I love when all my clothes are clean and there is a fresh stack of towels waiting in the bathroom.

 Feeling  very very blessed to be going on a 4 day retreat next month with someone very special.  I love how Charles was the one who came to me asking that we do this together.   Gotta love this man!!! This will be a special bonding experience for us both.

 Watching  or rather I can now finally say DONE watching....drumroll please....yes, DONE watching LOST!!!  Hip, hip hooray, so happy to have finally finished.  All the way from front to back, I have finished a TV show.  I don't know why I think of this as such an accomplishment because it's rather embarrassing to admit if you think about how many hours I actually spent in front of a TV to do this.  Just think of it as a bucket-list-kinda thing!  I'm not really a TV show sort of person, so this was kind of a big deal ; )

Linking up to Lauren's Sunday Currently.

In case you missed my first one from last week, here's a flashback! *A Lost reference* =)

XOXOXO,
Maggie

Goodbye January Goodbye Fat!

Well hello *almost* February!!!
January has come and gone.
 And with the holidays has come a little extra plump *if you know what I mean* and now it's time for that to be GONE too!!!!

Of course I say this as I'm sitting here eating half a pint of mint chocolate cookie icecream, whoops! Okay, so I'm not quite at that stage where I'm ready to be good all the time.

Getting back into the routine of working out and refraining from unhealthy foods can take me a few weeks.  But it is true that the more frequent and more intense I work out, the less I cave for unhealthy foods.  I mean, why put all that work into going to the gym only to turn around and undo all that hard work?!?!?

Alycia from the Crowley Party put it perfectly yesterday when she posted the following:
{Saying "Oh, I've already ruined my good eating today.  I'll just eat crap"
 is like saying, "Oh, I dropped my phone on the floor.  I'll just smash it till it breaks".}

I don't know about you, but my freshman 15 didn't happen until after college.  Ummm how the heck did it work out this way!!??!!  I guess back in the college days I had to walk all the way to a cafeteria and you know, for the food that was served, it just wasn't worth it most days.  Back then I was also very careful about what snack food I had on-hand in my dorm room.  Now, the kitchen is my oyster and readily accessible curse!!!

Another major difference between back then and now is the vast difference between states.
Having gone to school in Florida, there was always ample opportunity for exercise in the great outdoors. Even ask this girl, she was/is also a runner and pretty hard core, too! Back then my days were filled with trips to the gym and long runs around the many "mini lakes" surrounding my college town.  It was always warm and sunny, full of that vitamin I've been missing alot of lately.  It was invigorating to sweat everything out before heading to class.  Many days, exercise was a total detox, a relaxer, a motivator, a pump it up activity, a survival mode!!!
And of course, many days were spent laying poolside with a good book in hand! =)
No hiding behind a baggy sweatshirt or long jeans then.

Here comes the huge sad *sigh* because let's just say, winter days in Chicago aren't always as motivating or cheery as they were in Florida.
Can you tell by the grey skies in the picture below????

Pretty grey, huh?!?
 I'm not going to let these grey days get the better of me!
These next three months are my commitment to kicking some you know what and making a difference.
Maybe this post will be a motivator for you, too.  Remember that you have time if you make time.  Make time to go to they gym.  Take some time out of your busy day for yourself.  I find that I'm able to give more and give better to those around me if I've taken time out of the day for myself.
I don't mean this in a selfish way, but in a balanced way.

 I also find that it's a great window of opportunity to read through blogs, respond to e-mails or simply pray!

Do you ever find that it's difficult to get into the groove of working out?
What strategies do you use to help get yourself over that hump helping you pass into that phase where it gets easier to stay committed?

A bad weather day gone good!!!

This past Sunday the alarm clock beeped away on deaf ears.

 I quickly rolling out of bed several minutes after Charles had already texted "I'm on my way!"  

Yikes!!!  Holy cow!!! that middle of the night (literally 2:30am) ER visit with my little sister for a broken bone left me a little groggy and out of touch with reality.

There I was in a panic trying to figure out what time it really was, how long I had over slept and how much time I realistically, or not so realistically, had to get ready for church and all before Charles arrived at my front door.

"Okay" I'm thinking,  I have it all figured out. Oh my goodness, seriously?!?!?! I only have 10 minutes to wash my face, brush my teeth, do my hair, find something to wear, grab my boots, phone, gym bag, coat, purse, tea, makeup and be downstairs ready to go!!!!

"Okay, I can do that! Maybe!?! Maybe not!" 

A few minutes later.....and pretty much none of the above done....

Me: "Honey, I'm soo sorry, would you mind waiting for me???"

Charles:  "Sure honey, no rush, take your time" he seriously is the best!!! 

We arrived at Church and my spirits were calmed.

It was a beautiful morning at Church.  We learned so much and were filled with God's grace and His Love. I'm so thankful for the many wonderful friends Charles and I are making together at our Church.

Thankfully, the morning proceeded to be more and more relaxing!

We stopped off at our favorite little place in town for some pastries and drinks.

 And then hit the gym and 330 calories and 1 hour later....I worked off maybe half the pastries!!!
YAY!!!

It felt ridiculously wonderful to finally work up a sweat indoors as I watched the snow as it fell softly outside.  

We had made dinner reservations for the evening, but as the snow quickly turned into dangerous ice, we decided to call it a romantic dinner in!!! 

Our efforts cooking together made for an even better evening than we had originally planned.  

There is joy and beauty even in the unexpected events of daily life.  Some times more than others, it can be a bit of a challenge to "roll with it" when plans change.  When our minds and hearts are so set on doing one particular thing, it can be difficult or challenging to accept a changing of plans.
These are great opportunities to not only be flexible, but also positive about the situation.

Remember, don't be so set on something that you miss something even greater!!! =)

And in case your missed my very first Sunday Currently Post check it out here!

XOXOXO

Maggie

Currently

While I've done "Currently" posts in the past,
I love the style of this one that I found through the lovely miss Tina!
I know it's noooo longer Sunday, but I still want to share some recent happenings.  

 Reading  nothing currently. I know, how horrible right?!?! I guess that just means I'll have to pick up a copy of Les Miserables this week.  I mean, after seeing the movie three times, yes three! =)  it's probably time to actually read the book.

 Writing  letters to friends and getting all caught up on "thank-you" notes.  Just picked up another notebook for writing down important plans in life. 

 Listening  to Lady Antebellum's Christmas CD and the Les Miserables soundtrack.

  Thinking  how wonderful it feels to be back in the gym again!  I forgot how good it feels to sweat it out and run to some good tunes.  Even better when your boyfriend is putting you to shame by burning twice the calories running right beside you! =) Love you honey, you are great inspiration and motivation!!! It's already a great New Years decision (that we made together) to go to the gym for the next three months.

 Smelling   lavender oil on my hands. . . ahhh sooo relaxing.

  Wishing   the sun would continue to shine this week and keep the temperature from dropping yet again. :(

 Hoping   just hoping, that I'll have the chance to take a nap at some point this week.  Aren't naps just the best??? I miss the college years when I would take a nap every. single. day!!!

 Wearing  burnt red jeans paired with a comfy blue and cream striped sweatshirt.  Gotta love comfy outfits.  

 Loving   unexpected afternoon visits with Charlie's family.....sipping coffee, hearing about his relatives, sifting through photo albums and listening to more stories.

 Wanting  okay don't judge here..... uh huh, that's right, chocolate mousse cake!!!  If it wasn't sooo much work and I had a better excuse than just "I'm in the mood for a slice of chocolate creamy goodness"

Needing  I mean desperately needing new running songs.  Are you feeling generous?? Any you would care to recommend or share??  I'd be thrilled to find some new ones to take with to the gym!

 Feeling  very very blessed to have found some amazing friends through blogging!!!  Thank you for following along and sharing in the gift of friendship.  

 Clicking  on my new favorite app, "Over".  Check it out!  It offers a plethora of different texts that you can easily place on your pictures.  You can add these pictures right to Instagram from the app. 

Linking up to Lauren's Sunday Currently just a day late =)
From now on I promise to get-with-it and be on time!

XOXO
Maggie

random facts, just because

1.  I love my coffee really hot and even better when it's in a huge mug!  Unless it's an iced coffee =)
2.  I really dislike folding laundry.
3.  I love love love organizing and cleaning, maybe just a little too much.
4.  I enjoy how I feel after I work out.
5.  I love gold colored sandals or orange flip flops.  Tory Burch has some seriously cute orange ones =)
6.  My favorite place to be is on the beach by the ocean. Sounds really good right now, doesn't it?!?!
7.  Doing dishes is not my favorite.  But I do love rubber gloves and a boyfriend who does dishes. ; )
8.  Going to bed by 9pm would never be a problem in my book.
9.  Taking trips into the city is probably on my "favorite things to-do" list right now.
10.  Sundays spent with my honey at Church is definitely one of my favorite times of the week.
11.  I cherish girly time with my mom, whether it's getting our nails done, shopping or visiting the pub.
12.  I'm not the biggest fan of walking outside in the dark.
13.  The most recent craving has been for mozzarella, basil and tomatoes covered in a balsamic glaze.
14.  Spending hours in a coffee house is the next best thing to being on the beach for hours.
15.  If a bunch of money were to land in my lap, I would go to Europe tomorrow!
16.  I'm addicted to having a fan on at night, whoops!
17.  Comfy pants are the 1st best thing past 7pm.
18.  I love being in the car and going for long car rides accompanied by music.
19.  Weekend getaways are so therapeutic.
20.  I've gone out to dinner with my mom in my pajamas and taken road trips in my slippers, it's okay to do these things, I think!

It feels good to be back!

 I'm glad I could take a little break from blogging to focus on the holidays and time spent with family and friends, but it's good to be back and blogging again!

In order to refrain from this post being overwhelming with everything that happened in the past 20 weeks 3 weeks,  I thought it would be fun to share just a few tidbits from the past several weeks.

The holidays were filled with visits from many dear friends, both near and far.  It was a great surprise to have this girl in town.  We were best of friends in college and still are and probably always will be!   

Charles and I went on a double date with his parents to see Martina McBride's Christmas concert.

It was an incredible night between the company and the concert. Holy cow that woman has a voice!

Twas the season to wear plaid and matching polish.

My siblings and Charlie's sister were invited to a movie night and sleepover at his place.  What a sweetheart to put up with all of us, he seriously went all out for the kids!!!  

The next morning he even took everyone out for a delicious Christmas Eve breakfast where the children feasted on pancakes and eggs!

New Years Eve was spent like this!  So much fun!!!

Happy New Year baby!

Matchy Matchy =)

Three Years in a row!!!

Cheers to friendship and sangria.

Charles took Rachel and I out for a ridiculously delicious breakfast New Years morning.

You would have thought we had enough food to feed an army!!  Nope, it was just the three of us =) The three of us the two of them did a pretty incredible job finishing most of it!!!

Sunday mornings spent here with the boyfriend have been a highlight.

And that's just the first half.  I'll share more adventures and tid-bits later!  Trying to get caught up can take a little while you know.  

I need some more coffee first, then I'll blog. 

have a fantastic day!

XOXOXO

Maggie

A Relaxing and Special Weekend

Life is SO beautiful! 

 Sometimes I have to stop, step back and really make a conscious effort to be grateful for every small thing, every dear friend and the loved ones in my life. 

Speaking of loved ones... this past weekend I celebrated a special anniversary with a special someone, someone I'm truly, truly 

grateful for.

Here is a little re-cap of the weekend in pictures and words:

Friday morning.... Hair did and makeup done, I bundled up and went out to a local patisserie where time was well spent drinking coffee and catching up with an old friend.  

Fully caffeinated, the rest of the afternoon was spent grocery shopping and picking up fun surprises for my dear mother in celebration of her Birthday!

After spending three long hours searching for ridiculously hard to find special ingredients, I finally returned home to tackle a triple layer chocolate mousse cake!!! =)  I'm not going to lie, this cake seriously scared me at first, not only because the ingredients took hours to find, but because of all the tedious steps involved in making it, I guess for me that was all the more reason to make it.  

And yes....another three hours later and the cake was complete, complete with a few mishaps along the way, but nonetheless COMPLETE!!!! 

Ssshh don't tell her, it's still waiting in the freezer.  Best part about this cake is the fact that you can 

make it ahead of time and freeze it.  

My beautiful mother just got back in town from Florida (sooo jealous) and still doesn't know we are surprising her!

I love planning a birthday when the birthday girl is out of town.

Then came Saturday....
Three hours to kill in a Mall on a Saturday morning and this is what happened!!!
Guess this will be my ONE nice buy for a while.  =)
I've been looking for a little purse like this for a long time, so happy to finally have found it!

The best part of the weekend.....

Saturday evening I went on a hot date with this guy in celebration of our meeting each other one year ago!

The two of us went to see Les Miserable at the local iPic movie theater.

A few wonderful hours were spent talking together over drinks and food in the relaxing lounge area before our late night showing. 

The food was amazing!!!  

And our seats were even better!

I tried so hard to not fall asleep in these comfy recliners, total fail. =(

Time was spent Sunday afternoon listening to the Les Miserable soundtrack while laminating and filing away all the recipe cards collected over the years. 

Then a little coffee and blogging time and I'd say it was a wonderful weekend!!!
I'm so thankful for my mother and family, for my sweet boyfriend and dear dear friends.
What people in your life are you most thankful for?

XOXOXO
Maggie