Happy Long Weekend Friday

For your enjoyment, one of my most favorite videos of ALL TIME

Planning for the long weekend

With no real plans (for the first time since June) for the weekend, PB and I are totally free this LONG weekend to finally see all the movies that we didn't get to see this summer. Is Avengers still playing anywhere??

Here are my top 3 for the weekend- lord knows I have been know to finish one movie and walk right into the next (I am looking at you Minority Report)

Dark Knight Rises: PB turned to me in bed last night and said "you know what is crazy? We STILL haven't seen Batman!" This is number one on both of our lists. Anne Hathaway is PB's #1 celebrity crush. We once saw her walking down the street in Brooklyn and I have never seen him do the happy dance like he did that day. I hope he does it again after the movie.

Sleepwalk With Me: Ever since Mike Bribiglia appeared on This American Live telling his wild sleepwalking story and then again with his epic tale of being in a car accident by a drink driver only to be the only that ends up paying for it (its a must listen), I fell in love. I am so glad this limited released movie is showing in Brooklyn. Thanks!

To Rome With Love: Last year after I saw Midnight in Paris, I called PB and asked right away if we could go to France. I haven't heard the same fanfare for To Rome With Love but honestly, I would be perfectly content watching Alec Baldwin and Penelope Cruz in Italy with the sound off.

**one late addition. I just found a theater somewhere deep in Brooklyn that is still showing the Avengers. Road Trip!

(image from Oh Happy Day)

Just so we are on the same page

There is nothing wrong with going to Chipotle at 10pm after you have been out for after work drinks. Just to be clear.

Trend Spotting for the fall

Ok so I know that I still have a few days of summer and if there is ever a chance to get tanner (carefully...sorta) count me in. But these are the days that I do get a little excited for Fall, specially the clothing. One trend that I have seen a few times on both Pinterest and the subway is the denim vest. I wasn't sure when I first saw it but these pictures make it look so cool and weather friendly that I am now totally on board and searching for one. So far I have come up with this one and this one which is more my speed but less my price range. Would you wear this?

(photo 1 from here) (photo 2 from here)

Podcasts

Maybe it is because my commute is 45 minutes door to door and the majority of that time is underground with no Pandora available. Maybe its also cause it feels like its educational...or at least expanding my mind. Regardless the reason-- I LOVE PODCASTS! I have been known (well only I know this) to replay them for PB if I think that they are really important or something that he would like but not necessary listen to on his own. Here are a list of some of my favorites:
This American Life: Two words: A duh. This almost always number 1 podcast on itunes is in my weekly rotation. For road trips sometimes I save up a few and totally indulge. Ira, in the words of everyone dorky who has said this once, you da man.
*side note, doesn't PB sorta look like Ira?

The Nerdist: You remember Jenny McCarthy from her Singled Out days right? So remember the part when there was another person also hosting that show? Remember, he was Chris Harwick? Well guess what, he didn't pose for Playboy but instead created The Nerdist, a website platform for all things nerdy-- including the podcast. The guests tend to be comedy based and are almost always entertaining. I cannot wait to listen to the Joan Rivers one. Also, I highly recommend the Jon Hamm episode, as if you had any doubts of how cool he is.

Joy the Baker Just writing these words make me sing the song "Joy the Baker, Shutterbean" All I can say is start from the beginning. This show where Joy and Tracy discuss the most important unimportant topics is so fun and goofy that I have had to look like a crazy person laughing by myself on the subway. But for sure start from the beginning, the show is jam packed with inside jokes and call backs. Get on it.

Here's the Thing. . Dude, could Alec Baldwin be in anymore things? Everywhere I look (or in this case listen) homeboy is there. But here's the thing (ha)-- it is awesome. The Billy Joel interview is amazing, both are so good at impressions, at times I wasn't sure who it was. His guests are amazing, his voice is soothing, and it's the perfect podcast to listen to while drinking a glass of scotch looking out of a window with a deep look on your face from a fancy office a la Jack Donaghy.


What about you? Anything else that I should be listening to?
Also-- shout out to Freakonimics, Go Fork Yourself, The Moth and The Splendid Table. Love those guys too.
(PB pic from his facebook page) (Ira Glass Image from here) (Joy The Baker Image from here)  (Here's the Thing Image from here)

Get Your Geek On

Science in a Can is pretty awesome tumblr, I am loving their tagline " One paragraph articles explaining the universe.The blog even shouts out Badass Scientist of the Week, a pretty cool honor.

For some pretty amazing pictures of Earth at night released by NASA, click here
(Moon photo from Here) (Mars Rover photo from Here)

What do you do with old magazines?

Why are magazine so hard for me to throw away? I hold on to them as if they will go up in value over time instead of going up in clutter. PB has been on an organization kick recently and sitting on the kitchen table right now are about 20 old Bon Appetit magazines that I have to sort through, rip out what I want to keep and get rid of the rest. We are new to living together and it does seem fair, I hardly ever crack these open.
So my nightly project is to go through them, they have been sitting there since last week, I have done 2 so far.
What do you do with old magazines? Why do they seem to valuable? Is National Geographic the only magazine where this works? Do you guys know of any cool way to keep magazines that PB wouldn't consider clutter?

(photo 1 from Morning Light) (photo 2 from Tina Fenwick)

Trying to go to bed earlier

Before PB moved in, we were in a long distance relationship. Besides getting to know the Amtrak schedule better than I ever thought that I would, I also became a lot more flexible on my bedtime. We would talk every night at 11. Or originally that was the deal. But 11 would get pushed to 11:15 because Top Chef was running over, and then pushed again to 11:30, Call of Duty ran long and finally by the end, we were talking each night at 11:45. When he moved in, we vowed that we would go to bed earlier. So with the clock clicking towards 11pm, PB brushing his teeth, I am signing off. Good night and sleep tight.
(photo by yours truly)

Back to the real world

This summer has been a bit of non-stop action. And then August came and turned the volume up to 11. Barb visiting from Austin, Rach moving out, PaulieBoy moving in, a quick trip to Turks and Caicos, countless trips to Ikea after work, Ericas wedding and finally -- the cherry on top, a longer weekend in Cape Cod with my family.

Cape Cod time is my favorite and the Tuesday night to Monday morning felt significant enough that I would relax without counting down the days (in a dreading way) of when we had to go home. The hard part was leaving while my sister and her family stayed through the week.

And now we are back to reality, last night loading up at Fairway for the week, back at my desk to where I know all too well the pattern of my boss's walk. Back to going to the gym, sending out and responding to emails, voice mails, text messages.
But maybe I can escape a little bit longer through some of these images.
This one in particular gets me every time. Would you jump off a cliff like that?  I would like to think that I could but not so sure....

(photo by Harley Haskett)

Reporting live from Brooklyn

How do you start a blog? Google was able to answer the logisitics of that question for me but what I am still wondering is what you should say in your actual first post to make it something that you ( and by that I am mean me) will feel ok putting out there is the world. Well here goes. I'm Maddy reporting living here from my couch in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn where I live with my man and my dog.

I was out for drinks the per night with a friend that I hadn't seen since middle school. We turned 30 this year and seemed to both like our jobs but crave more. This had led me to be at a comfortable stand still and instead she enrolled in a part time MFA program one night a week after work. I was impressed.

I am not sure what I want this blog to become but I know that I want it to be a mind exercise for me, a way to flex some creative muscles that might otherwise go slack. I vow to commit to you dear blog. For the next three week, posting a minimum of 5 times a week.

Let's go!

Pics to come