Bye-Bye #47, Hello Bloggers

Though the big 20 Something Bloggers meetup isn't until the end of June, I am already crossing off #47 on my list--attend a blogger meetup. This weekend, Jenn, Maxie, and Deutlich traveled to the Burgh to spend Saturday with local bloggers Angela, Drew, Andrea, and Mermanda (me, duh.) Us bloggers and special guest Andrew enjoyed a cozy lunch at Buca di Beppo, where we practically had the place to ourselves. (Good thing, because bloggers are a chatty bunch when we get together! Shocked? Me neither.) Photo by Deutlich After stuffing our respective faces with lasagna, chicken saltimbocca, and other various Italian nom noms, we embarked upon a fruitless search for redbull to refuel thy tired and hungover blogging folk. Unable to settle for inferior energy drink imposters such as Amp and Monster, we sought our sights upon Starbucks, where caffiene flows like the Nile. Properly "juiced," bloggers walked to the Monongahela Incline to give the out of towners a proper view of the Pittsburgh skyline. Maxie read a sign that claimed the weight limit of the incline to be eight occupants per seating section--a total of 24 passengers per car. She wondered what the real limit was, and proposed an experiment. Not wanting to die at the hands of a curious blogger, we all respectfully declined our chance to be part of a Very Scientific Study. Maybe next time, Maxie, dear. That evening, we headed to Kaya for Latin American, Southeast Asian, and Caribbean-inspired grub and deliciously fruity drinks. Mmmmm.... Sangria! There was lots of polite dinner conversation--I swear the word "balls" was used less than a dozen times. And lots of laughs. I'm so glad we were all able to get together! My first blogger meetup a smashing success. It didn't end there, though... Andrew and I took in a few strays named Deutlich and Maxie for the night. After a good night's rest, Andrew cooked us all breakfast, which we enjoyed over some Backstreet Boys. Our guests then headed home with full bellies and stacks of The Printed Blog, which Jenn lovingly bestowed upon all of the bloggers after lunch.

Fangs and Football

My weekend in photos: I saw Twilight. Yeah, I loved it. So what? I crossed another one off my list. My first taste of Sake.
(And probably my last. Ick.)
Welcome to the SUPER BOWL! Go Steelers! Eat 'n Park really is the place for smiles. If you aren't familiar with the Smiley cookie... you obviously aren't down with the Burgh. Nom nom nom! It was a really close game... you could cut the tension with a knife. But I don't have to tell you... I'm sure you've already heard all about SIXBURGH! Woop!

Oh, how I love crossing things off lists!

Just crossed off another item on my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. #8 Send an anonymous gift This one was super fun. A coworker of mine has been out of the office recovering from a major operation. I sent her some cheerful flowers and a Get Well balloon--with no name on the card. (Shhh! Don't tell her it was me!) If someone sent me an anonymous gift, I think it would drive me bonkers trying to figure out who it was from. How would you react to receiving an anonymous gift?

100th Subscriber Giveaway!

Inspired by Your Ill-fitting Overcoat, I've decided to have a giveaway in honor of my 100th subscriber! Always one to take advantage of an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone (wait... I love birds! Why am I killing two of them?), the featured prize is handmade. Feast your eyes upon the prize: Now, I don't know who the Brown Family is, but they might be a little angry about us stealing their identity. For this reason, the winner will be able to customize the stamp with their own name and address. Pretty clever, eh? This custom rubber stamp is pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen. I'm ordering one for myself ASAP. If the winner would prefer a different custom stamp from the babyjewels shop, a similarly priced stamp can be selected instead. Here are some of my other favorites from her shop: The fabulous Cat, of babyjewels on Etsy, has offered to throw in a free ancient ink in the color of the winner's choice--up to 40 colors to choose from! To Enter: Comment on this post, telling me your favorite mythical creature. If you don't have one... tell me your secret hidden talent instead. (One entry per person, thanks.) To get an extra entry, tweet or blog about the contest, linking to this post--and put a link to your tweet or blog in the comments section of this post. The winner will be selected randomly. You have until 5 p.m. (EST) January 30th to enter. Good luck! And don't forget to subscribe to Cusp of Normal if you haven't already. I'll host another contest in honor of my 200th subscriber. Have a great weekend!

101 in 1001 Update

As mentioned yesterday, I want to complete at least 40 items on my "101 Things in 1001 Days" list by the end of 2009. This does not include things I crossed off in 2008: #72 Get engaged #85 Read 50 books in one year #100 Frame mermaid/fisherman paintings) So, by Jan. 1, 2009--I hope to have at least 43 items total crossed off my list. I'm happy to report that yesterday I crossed off: #7 Buy a homeless person a hot meal See my full list and track my progress here. The other half of my new year's resolution is to read at least a dozen books that I didn't get to last year. Here's my list of books I want to read so far: Love in the Time of Cholera The History of Love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Musicophilia Water for Elephants The World Without Us A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Running with Scissors The Gift of Fear A Million Little Pieces Finally, regarding your questions about whether I'll be posting pictures of my wedding dress, the answer is no. Andrew reads this blog and keeping the dress a surprise until he sees me walking down the aisle towards him is very important to me. I hope you all understand!

The very first thing to be crossed off my list...

Is number 72! Last night, Andrew proposed while we were decorating the Christmas tree! He was handing me the ornaments and I was strategically placing them on the boughs. After I had hung what I thought was the last ornament, I stepped back to admire my work. That's when he, on bended knee, held out one last ornament. A peacock with a diamond ring around its neck! We even have the moment caught on tape. Andrew told me he wanted to make a video of us decorating the tree and then speed it up and put it to music. Always on the lookout for blogging material, I thought this was a fantastic idea. But who knew I'd get to later rewind the video to watch my jaw hit the floor as a diamond-studded peacock was presented to me!? I'll share the video once Andrew edits it for me. Yay! We're engaged!