blog awards

Thanks to my real-life and blogger friend Halie (from Penguins, Pasta & Polka Dots) for nominating Hook & Stylit for it's first ever award!!As part of the nomination process, I had to do the following things (forgive me for skipping steps 4 and 5, I just don't know enough bloggers yet to make my own nominations)...

As some of you may already know, The Liebster Award is a way to give a friendly little shout-out to bloggers who have less than 200 followers. It's a way to tell others that you really dig their blog, and to meet a few new people. The rules of the award are as follows:

1.  List 11 random facts about yourself

2.  Answer 11 questions from your nominator

3.  Create 11 new questions for your nominees to answer

4.  Nominate up to 11 bloggers for the award with less than 200 followers

5.  Go to each nominee's page and tell them you've nominated them for the award

6.  Link back to the blogger who nominated you as a "thank you"

11 Random Maggie-isms

1. I decided to change the spelling of my name in 7th grade from MaggIE to MaggY. I changed it back a few months later when I realized it wasn't catching on like I had anticipated. 

2. I'm the oldest of three girls. Anne (aka: Annie) and Mary Katherine (aka: Kate) are my sisters.

My sisters and I post-ski in Winter Park, CO

3. I have a full blown, bonified fear of teeth. Don't touch them, wiggle them, talk about them. In elementary school I went home sick every time someone lost their tooth. My mom hated me. 

4. My boyfriend John and I have a two year old Wheaten Terrier name Remington. Long story short: I really wanted a dog so to make sure my dream became a reality I "gave" John Remy for his birthday. So just to make me mad John named him after a brand of guns. I hate guns. Whatever, I still maintain that Remy is the best dog in the world, ever if he does have a dumb name.

The day I "gave" John "his" puppy :)

5. I HATE YOGURT. Don't even try to tell me to try a certain kind or mix it with something. I've tried to trick myself into liking yogurt for my entire life. After almost 25 years I'm throwing in the towel and officially calling myself a yogurt hater. 

6. I love watching reality TV. Especially in marathon formatting.

7. I went to Flagler College and graduated with a Major in Communication (Public Relations) and a minor in Youth Ministry

Graduation Day / aka: the best day ever!!

8. My dream job is to open a summer camp

9. I HATE shopping in stores / malls. Online shopping is my jam. 

10. I drive a white Jeep that I call my Barbie car

11. I could eat Chipotle for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of my life and NEVER get sick of it. EVER. 

Questions from Halie

1. What is one of your favorite memories from college or high school? 

1. I don't think I have a favorite specific memory from HS or College I can hands down say is my favorite ... but I can say that the year that my friends and I created the "Blonde Mafia" were some of the greatest times I had in college.

1.  

The blonde mafia in all its glory!

1. Do you (or did you) play any organized sports? 

1. Yup! I was a swimmer and on some sort of swim team my until I graduated high school! I was even spirit captain of my HS swim team my senior year ;)

1. What is the one food you can eat over and over again without 

1. getting sick of it? 

1. Duhhh .... CHIPOTLE!!

1. What is one big goal you wish to accomplish in your life? 

1. Own a house on Vilano Beach 

1. (with John ... who will HOPEFULLY put on a ring on it by then!)

1. 
   

Vilano is where John grew up, it's where we met, it's where we fell in love. 

It's our place.

1. Do you like roller coasters and amusement parks? 

1. I don't like amusement parks. I have crowd anxiety and don't like being around so many people. But I like roller coasters - so it would be great if somehow I could just be teleported onto one without actually GOING to an amusement park! I'll keep my fingers crossed that there will be an app for that on the iPhone 6. 

1. What's your all-time favorite album or record or CD? 

1. Hootie and the Blowfish, Cracked Rear View. ALL TIME FAVORITE!!

1. Mexican food or Italian food? 

1. M-E-X-I-C-A-N

Do you believe in Heaven and Hell? 

Both.

What are your top 5 favorite books? 

Angela's Ashes, Oh the Places You Will Go, Are You There God? It's Me Vodka, 

The Help, She's Come Undone 

What are three things you can't get through the day without? 

My iPhone, gum, adderall

  

This is John mocking me. Yes, I ALWAYS use a pink koozie on Saturdays and YES, I ALWAYS have my iphone in my hand. I like to think that it's attached. 

Do you prefer a vacation in the mountains or at the beach? 

Either. I love the mountains but to me they represent work. So to me 

(at this point in my life) the beach is a more desirable vacay. 

But if you're buying ... I'm flying! NO COMPLAINTS! 

11 Questions from Me to you

(or in this case, whoever feels like answering)

1. Dog or Cat

2. Favorite TV show of all time and currently

3. Favorite Holiday, why?

4. What's your idea of a perfect weekend?

5. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

6. Do you read your horoscope?

7. What's in your purse?

8. Phobias? 

9. Favorite part of the day?

10. Favorite food to cook? 

Thanks again Halie for the nomination!

Keep Calm and Vote 2012 - Sticker Party!

Keep Calm and VOTE 2012!!

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone that got out there and VOTED today!

As promised, here are some of the pictures people 

instagram-ed of them rocking their "I Voted" 

sticker using the hashtag #keepcalmandvote2012:

Halie rocking her "I Voted" sticker!

(PS: Check out her blog!)

My sister MK showing off her well-earned sticker

My Aunt MB showing off her sticker from 

coast to coast! Be nice to your flight attendant ;) 

Ellie rocked her American right wearing 

her Canadian Tuxedo 

John and I Barack'd our votes this morning! 

Ya know what they say: Couples that vote together, 

stay together;)

Keep hashtagging your "I Voted" pictures and 

I'll keep putting them up! #keepcalmandvote2012

Keep Calm.

Regardless of who you are voting for,

JUST GO VOTE!

Instagram a picture with your "I Voted" sticker using the hashtag #keepcalmandvote2012 

and I will post your picture on my blog this week!

HAPPY VOTING!!!

BOO!

Happy Halloween Ya'll!

Remember to save all your Jolly Rancher lollipops 

and candy corn for me!

Recap

My weekend according to Instagram:

(A day late, it obviously took me a little while to recover from the devastating Gator loss on Saturday)

Taking full advantage of the FULL BOTTLE of leftover champagne 

from the photo shoot at work. Aka: Weekend Pre-Gaming.

Prepping for our tailgate.

At this point I feel obligated to mention that we took absolutely ZERO pictures during the game. I then decided that I was going to revise my previous expectation to "take a picture during every game" to now be "take a picture during every game that the Gators WIN." With this new correction, I've inevitably made myself not feel to guilty for my lack of photos. BAM!

I forgot to mention that my sister, Mary Kate, and her boyfrannn, Matt, spent the weekend with us. After the game that will no longer be mentioned on this blog, they fancied up and went to the Zac Brown Band Concert. JEALOUS!

This was our Sunday existence:

 1. Watching DVR episodes of extreme cheapskates

2. Watching the my least favorite NFL team loose (Jags)

3. Questioning the sanity of the Steelers stylist (and maybe Nike) and their god-awful decision to create (and wear) a "tribute uniform" reminiscent of a bumble bee

Exhibit A:

Really, what were they thinking!?

(photo cred)

The silver lining of the weekend was the weather! For the first time all year the temperature wasn't offensive outside allowing us to open the windows!  ... thus creating Remy's new favorite hobby: Guard Doggin' the carport. 

Follow my exciting life on Instagram: Magmag1010

keep calm and go gators

As we part ways for the weekend, I'll leave you with some words of wisdom:

I've been doing my best to try and remember to take a picture during each game. Originally, my intention was to take a picture of and I of John during each game, but that plan fizzled when I realized that I'm out of town way too much during football season and that I would take a picture with whomever I was with!

Florida vs. Bowling Green

Florida vs. Texas A&M

Florida vs. Texas A&M

Florida vs. Tennessee

Florida vs. Kentucky

No game. Just drinking and Honey Boo Boo-ing.

Florida vs. LSU

(BEST GAME OF THE SEASON!)

Florida vs. Vandy

Florida vs. South Carolina

Truer words have never been spoken.

(Stolen from the biggest Gator football fan that I know, Ellie)

oh the places i have been

Update 3:

Years ago I created a mantra for myself: If someone offers you the opportunity to travel for free, take it. Always.

Around the time I took a break quit blogging I took a new job within the same company (possibly a suitable excuse for my lack of posts?). Per usual new job, I had new expectations to learn, new clients to meet, new processes to master, new bosses to impress, and new events to attend which coincidently meant new places to travel!

I've been raking in the frequent flyer miles ever since :)

Hanging out with Olympic Gold Medalist, Dawn Harper in Aspen, CO at the Silver Rush Event hosted by SNOW magazine

Olympic Gold Medalist Evan Lysacek at the Silver Rush Event in Aspen, CO

The Silver Rush Event in Aspen was the first event I planned as part of my new job. Not bad, if I do say so myself :)

Don't let the wine fool you, I was hard at work.

Boulder, CO

Pearl Street; Boulder, CO

Side trip to my old elementary school on a trip to Ft. Lauderdale.

SNOWbiz Media Event (NYC)... the event that was the bane of my existence from March - July!

(click here to see a video from the event)

St. Augustine's own DJ Applesauce in NYC at SNOWbiz Media event

My work uniform.

A beautiful walk to Blockheads on a beautiful evening in NYC

Next stop, Saranac Lake NY

Not a long trip but just enough time to teach this little cutie how to be the next Honey Boo Boo

And hang out with my 2 favorite sisters

Small plane fear, conquered.

currently reading

I have a confession to make: I am a reader.

All those years of mandatory reading, book reports, and novel quizzes really have a way of making reading everything but an enjoyable experience. Towards the end of college I had had enough. I was sick of it. I was sick of being told what to read, when to read it, how to interpret it, and especially that sickening feeling that I got (every time) knowing that finishing the terrible book was only HALF of the work and that no-doubt a book report or some sort of reflection of said book was in my near future. 

By the time I graduated just the very thought of reading stressed me out.

Over time I slowly started reintroducing books back into my life, realizing that part of my problem was that I had no idea what kinds of books I event liked to read! For 20 years I would get a list of required reading and painstakingly make my way down the list not even bothering to take into account if I actually liked what I was reading. At the time, they were all the same genre to me: Required.

Fast forward a few years and you would have no idea that I used to be an ex-reader. My iPad, specifically the iBooks app, has made reading infinitely less risky. iBooks allows me to preview books before buying, see how a book is rated among other top sellers, read my books on all my devices (iphone and iphone), but most importantly I can decide if I like a book, an author, and the storyline before committing my (precious) time. I'm in all or nothing kind of girl - and during the first steps in my quest to enjoy reading, I hated that I was buying books that I wasn't sure I was going to like, after all, I didn't even know what I liked!

A few things I've realized during my intervention:

• I have a pension for reading smut (ie: The 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy)
• I like autobiographies 
• I've recently become a huge fan of listening to books on tape (yup, that still counts as reading in my book)
• I prefer reading on an eReader vs. a "Real" Book 
• Reading makes falling asleep much easier

I've been invited to join a few book clubs in the past few months but have politely declined. Just the thought of mandatory reading and a group discussion gives me hives!

Currently I'm reading:

• Most Talkative,
  by Andy Cohen          
• The 19th Wife, by Davis Ebershoff