liebster award

I’ve been a bad blogger lately, and at some point I’ll blog about why, but for now, this is a good distraction…. A fun little Q&A sesh via Kate @ Quarter Century Southern Living when she nominated me for the Liebster Award!

I’m sure many of you are wondering: What the heck is the Liebster Award? – I myself didn’t really know what it was until I read Kate’s explanation.

So here’s the jist of it, right from her words:

• This award is given to new or up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
• The award is then passed along to other bloggers in the same category to help spread the word and support one another.
• Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
• Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
• Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.
• Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
• No tag backs (aka, don’t nominate the person who nominated you).

Simple enough, I suppose! And definitely fun. It reminds me of those surveys that we used to pass back and forth in the livejournal days. Right? Who is with me??

At any rate, here were my questions to answer:

1. What is your dream job? 

If I could trade places with a Broadway actress for one week, I’d be satisfied. Or maybe I wouldn’t be satisfied- maybe it would be like opening a Pandora’s box and I’d just want more. And on a totally unrelated note, I always thought it would be a blast to be a writer. Professionally. To spend my days wherever I wanted– my kitchen table, our patio, Starbucks, whatever, and just write. And still make money. Those who do that are lucky.

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2. What is your ‘happy place’?

It’s a tie: Cape Cod and the Poconos. I say Cape Cod because my family and I spent every summer there when my brother and I were kids. I have so many good memories of beach days, morning coffee, delicious dinners out, sun-streaked streets with shops and flags. But the past few years have been marked with weekends spent in the Poconos, afternoons on a deck overlooking the lake, glasses of wine outside, kayaking, hiking, & waterfalls. Both places equate serenity and peace.

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3. If you could travel somewhere that you have never been, where would you go? 

Without hesitation, I will have to say: Australia! Everyone know knows me knows about my (un)healthy koala obsession. I may or may not own four stuffed koala toys, one of which may or may not be a pillow pet…. Koalas aside, I would love to take a trip with the BF to both Australia and New Zealand, to see the Lord of the Rings filming locations, and just to be somewhere entirely new and different….

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4. What is your all-time favorite movie?

Considering the above response, I think I have to “cheat” and lump all three Lord of the Rings movies into one response. A Tolkien nerd at heart, I have a special place for those little hobbitses….

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5. Why did you start blogging?

To take a page from my blog’s “about” section, this blog started in the midst of culinary madness. It used to primarily be a cooking blog (hence its title) and somehow spiraled out into a lifestyle and “everything” blog. But to be fair, my blogging days have been long-lived, since the days of Livejournal (this is TWO livejournal references in one post now…) I remember coming home from a long day of classes in college, kicking my cowboy-boot feet up onto my dorm desk, taking a big sip of student-center coffee and getting ready to update the good ol’ LJ…. I suppose this is a bit more “grown-up” but sometimes I miss those days!

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6. What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday?

I love low-key Saturdays. Waking up late, making breakfast and coffee with the BF, maybe running some errands or cleaning a bit, hitting the gym, planning a fun dinner to cook. Of course, it’s fun to change it up every once in a while- plan a weekend away, or get in the car for a day-trip adventure, but I believe in the little moments, the details, the everyday beauty of things.

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7. What is one goal you have that you are yet to accomplish?

I keep saying that I want to take a dance class, and I haven’t done it yet. I should stop talking about it and start doing! That, and a formal yoga or pilates class. Unless you count the one time my friend Jill and I attempted to go to a yoga class, only to find out that we had the date wrong, so we went to Whole Foods for salad instead. A for effort, right?

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8. What is your favorite quote?

I have to pick just one??? Well, I suppose it would be this quote, from the (original) Little Mermaid:

9. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Probably Thanksgiving or Christmas. Both holidays involve spending time with my favorite people, relaxing at home, and eating. I enjoy all the festive decorations and gift-giving creativity that goes along with Christmas, but Thanksgiving is a long-standing tradition in my parents’ house, and a little taste of childhood all the same.

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10. What was the best part of your day?

Today was not really a great day, and I’ll write about why another time, but I suppose the best part involved being near people I love during a very hard time. For someone who is usually one talkative gal, I have been rather quiet today, and there’s something special about just being silent with someone else, without need for words.

~*~

11. What is your all-time favorite book?

Oh gosh- this is a hard one! I suppose I have two: Summer Sisters by Judy Blume & Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult. Both books are ones that I read and fell in love with in high school, and have probably read at least two dozen times since.

And now, for my nominees: (I’m cheating slightly because I can’t think of 11 people!)

Claire @ Indulging in Guilty Pleasures

Jenny @ Jenny Teacups

Meg @ Good Morning Midnight

Dyan @ Awake & Open

Laura @ Loophole in my Dreaming

Kristine @ Beauty in the Buff

Here are your questions, if you do so choose:

1. If you could have lunch with a famous person (living or dead), who would it be and why?

2. If you could play hooky for a week from work, what would you do?

3. What is your all-time favorite meal?

4. What are your three go-to beauty products?

5. Coffee or tea and why?

6. What makes you feel better when everything sucks?

7. Who do you call the most?

8. If you could go back in time and talk to yourself as a 15-yr-old, what advice would you give?

9. If you could go ahead in the future and talk to yourself in 10 years, what would you hope to see?

10. What is your biggest regret?

11. What is your greatest accomplishment?

Happy blogging! More soon….