From now on, I will not be blogging here on mayde.net. Here’s why:

I originally set up this website with the intention of creating a professional nameplate site for myself in order to promote my freelance work. Then, in the spring of 2010, I decided to stop taking on regular freelance work in order to focus more on my day job and my family. That decision changed the nature of this site completely, and it went from being a professional portfolio to a personal blog with a portfolio on the side. Even though that was the direction my life was heading in, I’ve never felt quite right about having my personal and professional information side-by-side like that, since I have two very different intended audiences.

After debating this issue with myself for several weeks now, I’ve decided to return this site to its roots and move the blog to its own URL.

Introducing:

LifeInTheBurgh.com is where I’ll continue to blog, share photos, and post more “personal” information. This site will continue to host my professional portfolio, and will remain my nameplate site, as it was originally intended.

Going forward, I think this separation will allow me to present myself and my content in the best way possible.

So, please, keep reading, keep commenting, keep visiting my blog, only do so at its new home: LifeInTheBurgh.com.

And if you’re subscribed, remember to update your RSS feeds!

“How are the dogs doing in your new place?”

Answer: Quite fine, thank you.

When we first got there, they weren’t really sure what was going on. We’re talking about two dogs who’ve never been off-leash, except at home and at the dog park. During the first couple of weeks, we’d let them out, and they’d sit by the front door until we let them back in. It was only when we let them play with my in-laws’ dogs (a 2-year-old pitbull and a 15-year-old German Shepherd) that they’d actually go off and run around in the woods. There were, however, a couple of problems with this:

1. My in-laws’ German Shepherd is old and cranky and doesn’t like to be around our dogs, since they’re still young and playful.
2. On the 3rd or 4th day we were in the new house, we got a phone call from our neighbor about the dogs being on their property. Oops!

So for the time being, we put our dogs on a run outside when it’s time for them to go potty, and we have to keep them separated from the old, cranky German Shepherd. When Dan and I are at work during the day, our dogs tend to stay upstairs in our bedroom, where they’re around familiar smells. When we come home at night, they do more roaming around the house and are slowly getting acclimated to the new environment.

Our dogs are definitely creatures of habit, so now that we have a routine for them, they seem to be settling in and enjoying themselves. At least, until winter comes.

Have you ever gone through a major move with pets? How did they handle it? Let me know in the comments.

Want to read a really funny story about dogs and moving? I suggest you visit HyperboleAndAHalf.com. 

While I don’t consider myself an Apple fangirl, I will always defend Apple in the great Mac vs. PC debate. Apple products have brought a lot of joy to my life, and have contributed greatly to all of the work I’ve produced over the years. Therefore, I feel it’s only right to post a little something about Steve Jobs’ death.

Steve was an inspiration to all developers and designers, myself included. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that he was talented, he was a genius, and he contributed more to the world of technology than most people ever have or will. The world lost a true visionary yesterday, one that will always be remembered for his big ideas and his ability to turn those ideas into reality.

Thanks for everything, Steve.

But I’m going to break that rule just this once to make a little announcement. I got a new job!

As much as I absolutely loved my old job and my former coworkers, I was commuting 6 hours a day for most of the summer and I simply couldn’t take it anymore.

Just in the nick of time before I started going crazy from my long commute, an incredible opportunity presented itself and I couldn’t say no.

So here I am, a proud new employee in a new job with new coworkers who are equally as fantastic as my old coworkers. And, my commute is now only an hour each way.

But the best part of my new job is not the commute. It’s that I get to continue doing what I love – working in higher education and online marketing. Very few people can honestly say they love what they do for a living; in this case, I am extremely grateful to be in the minority.

* Photo by Seattle Municipal Archives.

We were originally hoping to attend the last weekend of the annual New York Renaissance Faire, but since it was supposed to rain all day, we opted to go to Medieval Times instead. Dan and I have been to Medieval Times several times over the last ten years, but it’s still one of our favorite places to go on special occasions. Sunday afternoon, we drove two hours south to New Jersey and made it there early enough to hang out before the show actually started. (Anyone who’s been to Medieval Times knows that the hour before the show is the best part. You get to hang out in the lobby, take pictures, buy stuff, drink beer, and visit the torture museum.) Dan’s sister went with us and, once there, we met up with a few of Dan’s new coworkers.

The last time we went to Medieval Times was a few years ago, so some things had changed since our previous visit. This made the experience all the better, since there were new things for us to see and do. Once the show actually started, it was the same routine we’ve come to expect and love, so I can honestly say we weren’t disappointed. Especially when, at the end of the tournament, our knight was declared the winner!

When we got home that night, we stuck with tradition and pulled out the top tier of our wedding cake, saved in the freezer since our wedding day. (We actually pulled it out that morning so it had time to thaw, but that’s beside the point.) Despite some hesitation and fear of food poisoning, we cut slices for Dan and I, as well as for his sister and parents. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I took the first bite, and…

…it was pretty gross. The frosting had some freezer burn, the cake was stale, and it tasted very gritty. But despite how bad it might have been, and despite the fact that no one actually finished their piece of cake, I’m still glad we followed through on this tradition. It was fun to see our cake again, and it was a sweet reminder of our actual wedding day.

Thanks again to Ellie-gant Cakes for our wedding cake (which tasted delicious when it was fresh!), and a special thank you to all our friends and family who celebrated with us, or who wished us a happy anniversary!

I can’t believe how fast this past year has gone by, and how much we’ve accomplished in our first twelve months of being husband and wife. Being married has definitely been different than just dating, but in the best way possible. My husband is my best friend and the love of my life, and I’m so lucky to be able to celebrate this special day with him.

* Photo by Marcia Ciriello.

That’s the question being asked most often today, isn’t it?

10 years ago today, I was in 9th grade. As I walked into my 3rd period American History class, my teacher announced that “history is being made right this very moment.” But he wouldn’t elaborate any further, so we went about our usual lesson and didn’t think much of it.

Right before the period ended, one of the hall monitors came into the room and whispered something into the teacher’s ear. She must have been giving him the go ahead to make the announcement, because it was then that he told us: “The twin towers have been hit.”

I don’t remember if the towers had fallen yet at that point, but I do remember walking through the halls in between classes and hearing about other students who were being pulled out of school because they had a relative who worked in the towers. My high school was only about 70 miles from New York City, so it was common for people to commute to the city for work on a daily basis. I even had one classmate whose brother had been on one of the planes.

I spent the rest of the school day in a daze. In some classes, teachers attempted to get through their planned material; in others, we just sat and watched the news for the full 40 minute period.

One of my most distinct memories from that day was walking home from the bus stop and seeing my mother running down the road to meet me, tears in her eyes. We were fortunate in that we didn’t lose anyone we knew personally, but we still mourned along with the rest of the nation as we watched the horrific events unfold again and again on TV.

10 years later, we as a country are still mourning. Though time may pass and people will move on with their lives, America will never forget the heroes and victims of 9/11.

Photo by melifaire.

We celebrated his impending arrival two weeks ago with a baby shower put together by my sister’s friend Amy. The decorations, the games, the cake, the ingenious centerpieces made from reusable baby items – all done by the fabulous Amy.

While I can’t take credit for much, I did help Amy set things up on the big day, and I’m so pleased with the way everything turned out.

Browse through the photos below, and maybe you’ll be inspired for the next time you need to plan a baby shower!

The Room

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Picture 1 of 9

The room, decorated in greens and yellows.
The baby's gender was a surprise!

That red marker on the above map is where we’re located. So far, we still have electricity and aren’t experiencing anything other than a bad rain storm. Sure, it’s windy and downpouring, but this isn’t any different than the other rain storms we’ve had in the last couple of weeks. Not yet, anyway. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how bad it’ll actually get.

This has been a crazy week here in the Northeast. First, there was the earthquake on Tuesday, and now this. We’re hanging in there, just trying to stay safe and dry. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as things progress in our neck of the woods.

Updates:

2:14 am – Lights started flickering.

6:28 am – Power went out.

11:00 am – The worst seems to be over. Still no power, but no major damage in the area, either, except some flooding. Fortunately, our house is mostly unaffected and everyone here is safe.

The river near our house was overflowing its banks.

Flooding around our local Post Office.

New little rivers that formed post-Irene.

I had a video embedded here and, for some reason, it stopped working. Click here to view a video I took of our neighborhood after the storm.

3:00 am, Monday – Power was restored at our house, but many others nearby are still without electricity. My thoughts and prayers go out to these people, and all those who have been negatively affected by “Mean Irene”.

Are you being affected by Hurricane Irene? How are you dealing with it? Did you feel the earthquake on Tuesday? Let me know by leaving a comment.

I love your show Design Star. What I do not love is this:

Why must you feature each week’s losing contestant on the show’s homepage? The only reason I ever visit your website is to watch Design Star, and each time I log on to watch a new episode, my excitement is immediately diminished upon seeing the homepage, where spoilers abound.

Please rethink your website design, and stop showing me who loses before I even get a chance to see the show.

Your fan,
Mayde