There are a lot of new faces around here (welcome! wish we could be sharing a pour of champagne together in my favorite coupes!) and I thought it might be fun to introduce yourself to the Magpie community via another installment of my asynchronous icebreaker series. And if you’re a tenured Magpie, please also jump right on in, because your responses to these prompts never disappoint and even, often, in the strangest way, surprise me, as I feel I know many of you personally already!
Today, let’s run with some fun fill-in-the-blanks — feel free to answer all or skip ones you don’t like! No rules, just right…
Favorite airport snack. (Remember the days of airport terminals?)
My most overused word is _____.
Childhood crush.
Title of your autobiography.
Best item you bought in 2020.
If I was going to sail around the world, I would name my boat _____.
The wallpaper on my locked cell phone.
Best scar story?
What I tell myself when I need a pep talk.
I’ll go first:
Favorite airport snack. (Remember the days of airport terminals?) Cheez-its or Haribo Sour Spaghetti.
My most overused word is nontrivial. I can’t stop using it. Now that I’ve diagnosed the addiction, you’ll notice it appear far too often in my writing.
Childhood crush. Val Kilmer. I was obsessed with “The Saint” for some reason. I also had posters of Devon Sawa and JTT.
Title of your autobiography. This changes daily. I would have tremendous anxiety selecting one.
Best item you bought in 2020. Revlon One Step. I actually feel like a proper adult, with my hair always done, because of this $40 tool, which has revolutionized the way I do my hair. (Shower, air dry hair for 30-60 minutes, then it takes like five minutes for a perfect blow out. Full review here.)
If I was going to sail around the world, I would name my boat: Circe or Anne Eliot (from Persuasion).
The wallpaper on my locked cell phone. Mr. Magpie’s handsome profile.
Best scar story? The c-section scars that brought my two babies safely into the world. (I am still waiting for the day when I can talk about the long and recently-earned scar on my forehead in an enthusiastic tone.)
What I tell myself when I need a pep talk. Straight-forward, but I actually repeat this to myself most days on the final leg of my most frequent running route through Central Park, which ends in a steep incline up East Drive: “You got it, girl! You got it, girl! You got it, girl!” For matters of the heart, the “pep talks” I lean on the most come in the form of prayer (“focus on me, not on the storm”) or the phrase: “if you understood how often people cope by projecting, you would learn to take almost nothing personally.” (An offshoot of this recent post on self-blame.)
Your turn!
Post-Scripts.
+If you are new here, this is a formal introduction to the blog and a brief background of the squiggly path that brought me here.
+Two favorite posts of mine: “She Was How She Kept Time” and “The Thrill of the Chase.”
+I own this dress in two colors in the midi length…do I need it in the blue in this shorter style?!
+These insulated slipper boots look amazing for cold, rainy days. (Love in that lilac-gray color!)
+I love striped tees on little ones — recently snagged this $13 style for micro and this $5.50 one for mini!
+A perfect, inexpensive party shoe for a little one. (Mini owns in the gold!)
+One of you must snag this gorgeous navy blue sweater — adore those buttons on the shoulder and wish it weren’t sold in my size!
+This floral smocked dress is too precious for a little one! (Sibling match with this!)
+Lusting after this floral sandal. So chic with a white dress like this.
+This cabinet!!!!!
+I must own this dress.
+Hill has been into trucks lately. Bought these for sensory play (perfect with kinetic sand or dried beans or rice, kept in a tray) and found some great new books for our library: “Trucks Go,” “Trucks,” and “Let’s Go, Rescue Trucks.”
+I think mini needs some Super Smalls for her birthday.
+Still not over this scalloped side table.
+Truly, then, these words are most serious.