Weeeeekeeenddd

You guys, this has been a very long week.

But it is finally Friday and I am so thankful because THIS GUY is coming to visit-

:) :) :) :) 

Oh yeah, as well as three of his teammates. So, I will be hosting four defensive linemen in my tiny apartment this weekend. Somehow I don't think the relaxing weekend I so desperately need will be making an appearance until this week. Oh well. 

Happy Weekend everyone! 

Weekend Happiness

Two great things happened this weekend. 

1. My Blackberry died. Which is a good thing, because then I picked up this beauty:

Consequently, I spent all Friday and Saturday instagraming everything I came in contact with, as well as playing enough Words with, Scramble with, and Hanging with Friends games to leave me with a visually impairing headache right between my eyes.  

2. My Giants won the Super Bowl. (Just in case you were living under a rock and didn't already know.) 

To make the win even more memorable, the last time the Giants won the Super Bowl (against the Patriots I might add) was my senior year of high school. Now I have two Super Bowl celebrations for each of my senior years. Pretty cool, huh? 

Happy, happy Monday! 

PS: Is anyone else having a hard time wiping the grin off their face after this weekend?!

Arbitrary Friday Announcements

Yesterday, an unfortunately ill bird decided the entire hood of my car was a good place to get disgustingly sick. Apparently. 

It's days like this that I really miss living in the same town as Loverboy; he would have that car of mine shining like new in no time. 

In other news, it's Friday. The first of many long weeks of the semester was mildly boring at best, yet exhausting nonetheless. I am not especially looking forward to next week, when the work load piles itself upon my already busy schedule. However, tonight I plan on celebrating a very happy hour with my girlfriends to catch up on the life I've missed out on since Student Teaching began.  

Tomorrow, I have to drive back up to Jersey, but I'm not complaining.  I am going bridesmaids dress shopping with my future cousin, followed by dinner with C (fingers crossed) and C's sister's engagement party on Sunday. 

I've been driving the beau a little crazy the past two days with my indecisiveness and constant interrogating about his weekend plans  (consequently, mine). I annoy myself with how much I obsess over scheduling and minor details...I can only imagine how much I frustrate a boy as laid back as C. And you know what? He still likes me.  And I like that. 

Thanks boo xoxo 

Rewinding the Weekend

Thanks to my ditzy sister who doesn't yet quite understand how to use her Kindle Fire (love ya Sar!), two DVDs including Bridesmaids and Crazy Stupid Love, were unexpectedly delivered to my home on Thursday.  I already watched (and reviewed) Bridesmaids, but I was excited to bring Crazy Stupid Love to Loverboy's this weekend, with every intention to review it today. Unfortunately, after about 28 minutes into the film, we both fell asleep. Hopefully I'll finish it soon...

Mind you, we didn't fall asleep because it was incredibly boring.  We were just incredibly exhausted from the weekend's events. 

It snowed in Jersey this weekend, so on Saturday we woke up to a blinding white reflection through the window. That morning I also had plans to meet with my realtor to sign the lease for my beach house for the summer(!!!); there was no way I was letting the snow stop me from getting that accomplished. (Big thanks to C and his SUV for getting me to Belmar. What would I do without that boy?)  Meet my summer 2012 residence:

 #happyjerseygirl

The snow, however, did prevent me from moving back to school on Saturday. I had to wait until Sunday afternoon for the ice to melt to get my silly rear-wheel drive sports car out of the driveway. I hate the snow, but glad that it earned me an extra day lazing around with Loverboy ;)  

Finally, am back in College Park for my final semester and I have a lot of unpacking to look forward to:

I surprise myself with how much stuff I haul back and forth. I am a chronic over-packer. It is an issue.

And most importantly, the weekend ended on a high note because THE GIANTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!! Needless to say, I am very excited for a repeat of Superbowl XLII :) :) :) 

Happy Monday, everyone (even those non-Giants fans)! 

Wish me luck on my first last week back at school. AHHH. 

Another Boring Post

All creativity that once occupied my mind has been replaced with stress and academic exhaustion.  For this my first semester of senior year is to blame, with notable contributions from my natural habit to stretch myself too thin. 

So, I'm sorry I haven't had anything terribly clever or sentimental or even remotely important to say for the past, I don't know, three months?  

Thursday night at 7:00pm when my last fitness class ended, my weekend began.  Fridays are typically dedicated to working all day at the CYC when I don't have a) student teaching b) randomly scheduled classes or c) a road trip to NJ. 

With no reason to drive the 3.5 hours home (C's game was away in East Jabib this week), no classes, and a closed CYC, I had a Friday off.  Before you let yourself get too excited, however, let me remind you how incredibly busy I have been since the moment I moved back to College Park. Instead of "laying around eating and watching TV in my underwear" like my boyfriend so supportively suggested I do, I spent all day trying to be productive in the realm of academics. 

First of all, I woke up early (which was fine considering I went to bed before 11 the night before) to do the Body Pump challenge with some group-fit cronies. For those of you unfamiliar with the Les Mills Challenge - just know it's an hour of non-stop heavy weight lifting that leaves your pores dripping with sweat and accomplishment.  

After two hours of being at the gym it was time go home, make lunch, do a load of laundry and begin my endless amount of school work. I sat down at the edge of my bed to take my sneakers off one minute, and, much to my dismay, woke up 50 minutes later, drooling, confused, and still donning sneakers.    

Damn you, Body Pump and your unwillingness to cooperate with plans of academic productivity.  

Six hours, one grande skinny mocha, endless Facebook interruptions and a dinner medley of squash, zucchini and sweet potato later, I completed one long assignment.  

I decided that one assignment was enough for today, because hey, I still have Saturday and Sunday to procrastinate further, right? Right. 

So now I lay in bed enjoying the ambiance of burning cinnamon scented candles and the sweet sounds of Ray LaMontagne Pandora Radio. My homework may not yet be done, but my nails are freshly manicured for the second time in two days, my body is well-rested and I for once am in absolutely no rush.  

Recently my friends have been calling me "grandma" (hi Jess and Diana) and I guess tonight I can't really blame them. Maybe I'm the worst college student in the world tonight, but tomorrow I will be bright eyed for an early tailgate and I have one less assignment to worry about when I go out on Saturday night. And who knows, maybe my creativity will come back to me in sweet dreams tonight. Hallelujah. 

xx GrandMaggie 

Halloween hit a little bit too close to home this year. 

PS- I was supposed to share this wildly uneventful night with my dear friend Kelly - she apparently fell asleep in her towel after showering at 8:30. Needless to say, she never made it down, and I no longer feel like the lamest student in CP. Looks like we're tied, Kell ;) xoxo 

I Need A Weekend from My Weekend

The past four days have been a whirlwind of Halloween costumes and homework, and I have totally been slacking on my blogging game. I apologize, dear friends. I hope you all had a wonderfully busy weekend as I did, maybe with a little extra time to breath, and I hope you all stayed warm!


Also, can you believe November is already here? Seriously, where has time gone? 

There really are no words to describe my weekend beyond exhausting and unpredictable, so allow my pictures to do more explaining:

Halloween Night One: Toddler in Tiara

Saturday: Our Annual Parent Tailgate for the football game was endured through snow and sleet. Thanks for driving all the way from the blizzardy state of NJ, Momma! xoxo I get my tough side from her ;) 

Too cold to take pictures outside, we were the smart ones hangin' in the heated bathroom! 

More of my favorite chicas xxoo

Unlike most students, we actually made it to the miserable game. Hey, at least we checked one thing off our bucket list: front row seats baby!! 

Mom was bundled to say the least! Ha! 

After we warmed up on Saturday we ventured to DC for "Nightmare on M Street." A really fun costume bar hop - I dressed up as a toddler again because how could I not? 

And finally, on Monday we had huge plans to go out for the reaaal day of Halloween, and I decided to dress as a Grandma. Too bad I got SO in character that I opted to stay in to watch Hocus Pocus and write lesson plans. What can I say? The old lady really came out in me, but I'm ok with it.

Happy November, everyone!

One of Those Days

I actually woke up three minutes before my alarm. Which is rare considering my alarm goes off at 5:42 AM and it always comes entirely too early.  Surprisingly bright-eyed and well-rested, I got out of bed immediately and began to dress in one of my most professional and teacher outfits - more time means a more put-together Ms. Y.

My coffee was brewed early enough to enjoy an entire cup instead of the third of a cup I typically have time for, and I was out the door nearly fifteen minutes before usual. I was really looking forward to extra planning time before the students arrived.

With umbrella in hand, I high-heeled my way through the ten minutes of rain it takes me to walk to the parking garage at which my car is parked. Once I made it to the dry shelter of the parking garage, I hiked up 5 flights of stairs to my extremely inconvenient parking spot. (Have you ever walked up 5 flights of steps in heels and a heavy school bag before the sunrise? It is miserable. Don't do it.)

Eventually, my car was in sight and I could not wait to finally have a place to relieve my shoulder from my 200lb bag.  

And almost instantly my smooth morning transformed into an unbelievable series of bumps. 

I forgot my car keys.

Not only did that mean I had to walk down 5 flights of stairs, walk uphill to my distant apartment, but it also meant that with my car keys were my apartment key and my building swipe, locked hopelessly in my bedroom.

With no other options, I shouted profanities at myself, swearing I would forget my head if it weren't attached, and jogged as best I could in my Nine West heels back to the building.  I banged furiously on the first set of locked doors for someone to buzz me in, and when I was let in, I requested to check out a spare key for my apartment.  Soaking wet and breathless, I succeeded.  With keys in hand I jogged back, got in my car, and hit infinitely more traffic than I would have thirty minutes earlier.  About three days later (exaggeration, but still) I arrived at Hollywood ES not 15 minutes early like I hoped to be, but actually 10 minutes late.

And then because there was no point in pouting, I carried on with my day like a big girl.  Except for the fact that I think all the early morning running left me unusually swollen, so the pencil skirt I thought was a good idea in the morning was terribly uncomfortable and border-line suffocating for the remainder of the day. No bueno. 

I made it through 7 hours of pencil-skirt discomfort but could not wait to get home and unzip myself to freedom. I parked my car in the metered lot immediately behind my apartment (Lord knows I wasn't making that 10 minute trek in high heels for the 4th time) and got out to pay the electronic meter only 50 yards away from my spot.  By the time I paid my fifty cents and returned to my car, a rent-a-cop was printing my ticket for $15.

Me: "Excuse me, I just got out of that car to PAY the meter. Literally two minutes ago."

Cranky Meter B*&^h :"Oh I'm so sorry, you'll have to write an appeal to the company telling them that."

I couldn't tell if she was genuinely sorry for so terribly screwing up, or if she just genuinely was too dumb to realize her mistake. Either way I stormed off, angrier than I was 9 hours earlier. 

Thankfully my day never got any worse, my preschoolers were adorable as usual, and although I had to teach 3 hours straight of fitness classes after the CYC, I was more so therapeutically tired than exasperatingly enervated.  

This morning I decided to wake myself up only after a full 9 hours of sleep, cut up a little banana to go with my heaping spoonful of peanut butter, and enjoy a peaceful jog around the lake wif ma bff Kate. After a refreshing shower, I picked up some last minute things for Halloweekend and worked my shift with my favorite kids in the world, the Yellow Room.  Let's just say I'm looking forward to a weekend that should be much better than the day my week ended. 

Surprise, Surprise!

My close friends can attest to the fact that when I get excited it is nearly impossible to shut me up. It's my nature to want to share good news and enthusiasm with anyone that will listen. 

With that being said, imagine the mere torture it was for me this week to not blog, tweet, nor facebook about my excitment with not one, but THREE thrilling surprises lined up for this weekend! Torture, I tell you. Pure torture. It was probably also tortuous for my close friends at school who had to hear the same thing come out of my mouth over and over again because I had no one else to tell. Sorry guys. 

And now you, my loyal bloggies, can hear what all the pent up excitement was all about:

Saturday I drove up to CT to surprise my Christopher at his football game. The drive up north was totally worth it because not only did he play one of his best games this season, but the Hawks WON and he literally jumped over the fence in front of the bleachers after the game to give me a kiss. It's times like these I wish I had paparazzi following me so someone could have captured that moment... I love surprising that boy. 

---

 Directly from Connecticut we rushed over to Hoboken to celebrate C's sister's engagement!!!!! Her boyfriend of nearly 3 years (whom we all adore) gave her a ring earlier that night in NYC and a group of us surprised her afterwards for tear-filled celebration. I'm so happy for you guys! xoxo

And now I have Wedding Fever, but that's neither here nor there because C already told me I better "go get medicine." Oh well, I'll just have to live vicariously through his sister ;) 

---

On Sunday came Surprise #3: Aunt Boo Boo's surprise 50th!  

        

Success.

And then we celebrated, ate, drank and carved pumpkins. Because what else would you do on a beautifully crisp Autumn Sunday?

My simple heart carving :o)

Hehe, get it? 

And the night was ended with the lighting of some of our pumpkins. How cute are they? 

I decided not to go back to school right away, because I wanted to buy some more time with my loverboy. Surprise, teachers! No Maggie in class today. Instead of driving back to school at the buttcrack of dawn, I let myself sleep in (and made my boyfriend check my tire pressure.) Later C made a pitstop at Nordstrom with me and we treated ourselves to a classy IHOP breakfast! A relaxing ending to our nonstop action-packed weekend.

 Love you, Chris.

Cheers

This week has been   l o n g.

Which seems to be a common theme this semester.

Another common theme? Exciting weekends. This one happens to be one for which I am most excited. So so excited.

 {Details to come...}

Cheers to a very, very happy weekend. 

This Weekend...

...There was a lot to be proud of.  First and foremost, I'd like to say that this weekend was awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I spent a lot of time with three of the most fun, beautiful and genuinely amazing girls you could ever wish to meet, my roommates. I was so happy to be able to spend an entire weekend in College Park without traveling if for no other reason but to be able to spend every waking moment with all three of my roomies.

 Love them, and before I get too sappy, let's recap.

 I went all out showing my Maryland pride this weekend, making appearances at three of our Division 1 athletic events donning red and chanting "M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D" to the point of vocal exhaustion. On Friday we made our way to the Men's Soccer game against Duke (boooooo). We showed up a little late due to much needed gab sessions and Halloween costume planning, but we made it right before the end of the first half to contribute to the largest crowd Ludwig Field has ever seen! Not to mention, we WON! Talk about Terp Pride baby. 

Directly from the game Kate, Sarah and I made the trek over to Comcast Center for the annual kick-off to basketball season,

.

The nearly three hour event was composed of the Gymkana troupe jumping through rings of fire (as seen on America's Got Talent during the semi-finals!), the cheer squad performing their totally impressive routines, an alumni game with returning Terrapin superstars and an introduction of the Men and Women's basketball teams. 

They always leave me on the edge of my seat

Tired Terps. 

Sean Mosely making a grand slam-dunking entrance 

Our brand new Coach Turgeon - can't wait to see what this season has to offer!

On Saturday I decided to treat my body to a short jog and an early morning yoga class before putting it through a marathon of tailgates and football cheering.  Our first stop on the road to bodily destruction: Pig Roast. Let me tell you, it was delicious. And my stomach paid for it later. Beer and pork...Talk about being full all day!

Next up we roamed over to the parking lots mingling between a whole bunch of tailgates. Something about Homecoming makes the hardcore tailgaters come out to play and makes the day that much more fun.

When we finally made it into the game, the Terps were leading Clemson steadily. For awhile I thought we were going to see a HUGE upset.  Unfortunately, no such luck.  The Tigers pulled out a win in the last quarter, and although disappointed, did the loss slow us down? Heck no. 

We left the game and walked over to the newest College Park Sports bar for some post-game remediation. The bar was PACKED with dancing Terrapin fools, which just goes to prove the quote on the back of this year's homecoming t-shirt: "Booze even if we loose." 

Inspiring, I know.

I have tried to dedicate Sunday in its entirety to recovery...and Sunday is coming to an end yet I still have much more work to do to get there. At least Jill and I were able to walk over to Bobby's Burger Palace for a savory meal of all the unhealthy foods I wouldn't allow myself to eat if not totally disillusioned by the effects of a long weekend: A juicy burger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake. 

  

Ah, the price we pay for an unforgettable college weekend.

Can't forget the overwhelming pride I had for my Mama this weekend; she completed all 39.3 miles of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer AND even walked some of those blocks with the beautiful Reese Witherspoon!

 My Mom is seriously inspiring and I love her. You go Mama!

I hope you all had a weekend to remember, I know I did.

I PASSED

I came out of Body Pump Training alive... incredibly sore, but alive.  It was a very exhausting 27 hours but I already feel stronger and more capable as a fitness instructor.  I can't wait to launch the class next semester here at UMD!

Unfortunately I missed all three of my weekend football games. Even more unfortunate was that all three of my teams lost :( Looks like I'll need to be available to cheer next weekend for the sakes of all my boys.

Since BodyPump consumed my entire weekend, I have not much else to report. And now while I watch "Kim's Fairytale Wedding" (I'll admit it) I will prepare for tomorrow, the first day of my full week of placement at my Student Teaching assignment! Ah! OH, and my intramural soccer team's playoff game. AND our attempt at beating the Guinness World Record for largest Zumba class right here on campus this Tuesday! (Totally come - 6pm @Cole Field House, everyone is welcome!!!!) Aaaaaand the exhaustion continues ...

Wish me luck as I battle gluteal soreness and overall muscle exhaustion in teacher-high-heels tomorrow, (and the next day, and the next day,) up until Friday when I think I can finally relax.  Forgive me in advance if I don't make many appearances in the Blogosphere this week, my brain already hurts.