Sunday Spotlight 01- Meet Maggie!
Maggie is the leftmost friend pictured!
For the next few weeks, we’re trying something new! While I absolutely love sharing the latest about what I’m reading, watching, and learning each week, I wanted to broaden the scope around here a little bit. By now it’s clear that I love reading and watching rom coms, I enjoy comedy, action, and any romantic movie that makes me cry. Armchair Expert is my go-to podcast, and I love cooking recipes from Half Baked Harvest.
While a lot of you have similar interests, others may be looking for something a little different — more fantasy book recs, perhaps, maybe a few podcasts in the true crime category, or potentially even more reality TV shows that you can binge.
You’ve heard me reference my good friends OFTEN, and now it’s time that you get to know them a little better. While we’re all close friends, our interests couldn’t be more all over the place. Somehow, it just works!
To ease you into the change, I figured I’d start by introducing you to my friend Maggie, so things felt somewhat familiar 😆.
About Maggie
“Hi everyone! My name is Maggie, I'm a 31 year old pediatric SLP, and I live in Memphis, TN. My husband (Andy) and I welcomed our daughter Reese to the world in October, and this chapter of life has been my absolute favorite! I'm an enneagram 2w3, love vacationing with friends and fam, and adore our talkative husky Jake.”
A few more fun facts about Maggie R: She’s a twin, an animal lover, and a fantastic mom, wife, friend, and daughter. She’s just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, and Bryan once described her as the most intentional person he’s ever met. (I would agree!) His direct quote was, “She makes you feel like you’re the only person in the room when she’s talking to you,” if that gives you the sense of the type of person she is. Maggie is also the queen of puns, and her go-to dance move is finger guns.
The Format
I asked my friends to provide the same (and more!) recommendations that I typically provide in my newsletters every Sunday with their own twist. Everything you’re about to read is in their voice, and now that you know that, I’m going to avoid putting quotation marks everywhere to keep things a little cleaner. Ready? Let’s go!
Reading Recommendations
Favorite genres: Romance, usually a cute story line/quick read and Self-Help
Favorite book(s) of all time: Tie Between Love Does and Everybody Always by Bob Goff
What you're reading now: I just charged my Kindle after a year of it being dormant (hello, new mom!), but I recently loaded It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey.
Top 3 book recommendations: Either of the above Bob Goff books, or, if you’re into the YA Fantasy category, I highly recommend A Court of Thorns and Roses. For those who love a quick, fun, cute read, The Unhoneymooners. (Maggie M here: Maggie is actually who told me about The Unhoneymooners, and it was one of my favorite books I read last year!)
TV Show and Movie Recommendations
Favorite genres: Rom Com, Reality, Action — I'm all over the place!
Favorite show(s) on TV right now: Love Island UK, Peaky Blinders, & Discovering Italy
I started the Love Island journey smack dab in the middle of COVID in 2020, and it carried me through the pandemic. With each season boasting approximately 40 episodes (!!!) it's a commitment, but if you're into reality TV, then I would definitely give it a go.
Taking a 180 here, but we recently finished the final season of Peaky Blinders on Netflix, and it was nuts!
Stanley Tucci's: Discovering Italy was great and has us wanting to plan a trip to Italy ASAP. (Maggie M here: Fun fact, Maggie honeymooned with her hubs, Andy, back in 2016.)
Favorite movie of all time: About Time, stream it on Netflix. Rachel McAdams can do no wrong, and this movie leaves you appreciating the little things about each day.
Best movie you've seen lately: Top Gun Maverick. My husband is obsessed with the first Top Gun. Confession: I have never seen the first one all the way through, but the sequel is IT! All ages have raved about it from my 12 year old patients to my parents.
Cooking Recommendations
Favorite recipe: Throwing in a dessert option (see pic) that’s become a staple for Christmas office gifts, 4th of July, Thanksgiving potluck, etc. You can customize it by season with colored M&Ms or seasonal candy — yummmm!
Favorite cookbook or food blogger: Half Baked Harvest and What's Gaby Cooking
Favorite restaurants in your city: Our favorites in Memphis are, Andrew Michael (Italian), Coastal Fish Company, and Central BBQ.
Go-to lazy meal: Trader Joe’s sweet potato gnocchi with chicken and asparagus (one pot meal, FTW!) Although…we just bought an air fryer, and the tater tot game is forever changed.
Podcast & Music Recommendations
Favorite podcast: The Morning Toast
Favorite recent episode: Ep. 98. Yikes: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Favorite music artist: Right now, NEEDTOBREATHE and Justin Bieber
Best album or playlist: Any NEEDTOBREATHE song can get me in the right headspace on the way to work, and my favorite songs are Banks and Multiplied. Biebs is also constantly playing in our house — everything from 'Baby" to his most recent bangers.
10 Favorite Things
I’m writing this from my current stage of “mom life” and in no particular order:
1. Air Pods: They were a birthday gift from my friends last year and have been incredible. I used to have Beats and loved them, but the option to have only one AirPod in these days is clutch. I can still hear a baby crying while also being hands free and able to get things done around the house.
(Maggie M here: We have a close friend group of 5, and we all pitch in $20-$25 to buy each other one nice gift instead of several little gifts. It’s affordable and fun to come together several times a year to plan something special for friends. Highly recommend if you have a close knit friend group, too!)
2. Keekaroo changing pad: Mamas, every time someone asks me for must-have baby products, the Keekaroo is always first on my list — I can't imagine not having a wipeable surface for a changing pad. It's a little pricier than some of the alternatives, so I recommend adding it to your registry as a potential group gift. We have certainly gotten our money's worth, and the fact that it's so easy to clean incredible!
3. Apple Watch (Apple sponsorship, HMU): Even before having a baby I was notorious for losing my phone under pillows, in the couch cushions, etc., so the ability to ping my phone is amazing! I love connecting with friends and getting those extra steps in with their encouragement, and I couldn't function at work without my watch to keep track of the time during my treatment sessions.
4. Align Leggings WITH pockets (and dupe): I will never not buy leggings with pockets again. I bought the Align leggings with pockets during pregnancy, and they were my favorite maternity purchase because I can still wear them now. Pockets are a must for me, and you can usually find my phone, an AirPod, baby wipes, and snacks in there — the list goes on! I also purchased the Colorfulkoala dupes from Amazon, and I really like them too. The main difference is they offer more compression than the Lulu version.
5. Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40: I recently switched to this tinted moisturizer because I was looking for something with lightweight coverage and SPF, and this is a winner in my book! I wear it daily, and it gives me just the right amount of coverage while also protecting me from the sun.
6. Mom's One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book: Every year I would make resolutions to journal more, and every year I would start strong and eventually stop UNTIL I was gifted this journal at my baby shower. It's exactly what is says it is - one line a day to recount events from that day. It's been so fun to complete, and I love looking back on the days since my daughter was born and being able to remember smaller things like her first time eating a strawberry to bigger things like when she started crawling.
7. Anthro Hair Clips: These have a cult following with my friends and fam and for good reason! They hold all hair types in place regardless of length and come in a bunch of colors/patterns. (Maggie M here: I totally agree — I’ve used these so much over the last year and featured them in a favorites video a while back!)
8. Grocery Pick-Up: While this isn't a tangible thing, this service has been a saver of time and money for us! In our household, my husband and I are both notorious for adding extra "treats" when we go to the grocery, so this has saved us from that and kept us accountable in our meal planning pursuits each week.
9. Hatch Sound Machine: Fun fact, we were gifted this from our baby registry before Reese arrived, and we loved using it so much we bought a second one for our bedroom. I love that you can customize and save your favorite settings (which comes in handy for those late feeds), but my favorite feature is the ability to turn it on and off from our phones.
10. Packing Cubes: I love the process and anticipation of planning a vacation almost as much as I love taking them! I highly recommend packing cubes to save space and keep things organized.
