The Liebster Award

Last month, April of the fabulous blog House by Hoff passed along the Liebster Award to me and my blog.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Liebster Award, it is an award given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  Me?  Up and coming?  I'm blushing right now.  Seriously, it's nice to be recognized, especially by someone as talented as April.  Thanks, girl!  Just this week, another very creative blogger passed the award along to me.  Thank you to Laurie from Laurie's Little Bits of Creativity for thinking of me.

Bloggers who choose to accept the Liebster award should follow a few rules (don't worry, they're fun rules).

1. List 11 facts about yourself
2. Answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you
3. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate
4. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or less followers to nominate

 

So, I'll start by listing 11 random facts about myself.

1. I'm intolerant of cold weather, probably more so than anyone you've ever met.  I wear heavy sweaters when it's 60 degrees, and I won't even consider short sleeves until the mercury hits 80.
2. I've moved eight times since graduating college.
3. Given the chance, I would eat Italian food every single night.
4. I talk to my dog - a lot.  He's the only one here all day.
5. Tina Fey is my BFF in my head.  I'm convinced that she's exactly like me, and if we ever met we'd be besties.
6. I read In Style magazine, but you'd never know it to look at me.  I am one of the least fashionable people I know. I wish I was better at pulling a look together, but it's not a talent of mine.
7. I enjoy wine, but I'm not a wine snob - all vintages and price points are welcome here!  Unfortunately, the same can't be said for ice cream.  I definitely have a preference for the higher quality, higher priced varieties.
8. I've never been had much luck thrift shopping, but that all changed recently.  I think the key is finding the right place to shop.  I just found out that my local Goodwill is a goldmine!  Sending a shout-out to my oldest daughter for convincing me to go.
9. I taught myself to sew after my first daughter was born.  I got pretty good at it.  I made lots of cute outfits for both of my girls.
10. I really enjoy cooking healthy meals for my family.  I really hate cleaning up after cooking.
11. Coming up with eleven facts about myself is harder than I thought it would be.  :)

Now, here are the answers to the questions that were given to me.  Like I mentioned before, the Liebster Award was passed on to me by two different bloggers, which means I should be answering 22 questions.  Since I've been working on answering April's eleven questions for a month now, I've decided to save Laurie's questions for another time. 

 

1.  How do you balance blogging, family, and other responsibilities?  I don't feel that I do a very good job balancing everything.  If you see me posting more than three times in a week, you can be sure my house is a disaster.  If you notice that I haven't posted in awhile, I've probably spent some quality time with the kids and the house probably looks pretty good.  With me, it's more of a trade off than a balancing act.

2.  If you had to be on one reality show, which one would it be?  I certainly wouldn't fit in, but I'd love to be on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to experience all of the fabulousness that is just everyday life to those ladies.  Also, I'd like to be there to tell those women to stop throwing parties.  Nothing good ever happens at those parties, but week after week they continue to have them.  Lucky for us it makes for great entertainment!

3.  If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?  Just one?  That's so hard.  War, intolerance, greed, cancer...there's no way I could pick just one.

4.  What's your go-to beach read?  I don't really read gossip magazines, but something about lounging on a beach makes me feel like I need to catch up on what's going on with my favorite stars.  There's something so decadent about lounging in the sun with a People magazine and a frozen drink.

5.  What is your least favorite chore or daily task?  Laundry, because it never ends and there always seems to be a pile either in my bedroom or my living room.

6.  What is your idea of a perfect day?  On a perfect day, I would wake up at around 8:00 to chocolate chip banana bread (made by someone else).  I'd have a DIY project started by 9:00 and finished by 12:00.  My family would then join me for a walk with the  dog and some quality time.  I'd also have some time to do some reading out on the patio before heading to Bonefish Grill for a dinner consisting of bang bang shrimp and pomegranate martinis.  Yum! 

7.  What song takes you back to high school?  Hahaha.  I think April is trying to get me to admit my age.  I was in high school when all those great teen angst movies starring the Brat Pack and related actors were popular, so any song from one of those movies takes me back.  In Your Eyes (from Say Anything),  Don't You Forget About Me (from the Breakfast Club) and If You Leave (from Pretty in Pink) are a few examples.

8.  What are your favorite blogs?  All of them - lol.  My absolute favorite ones feature lots of pretty pictures and DIY projects, like Centsational Girl, A Thoughtful Place, HiSugarplum, Home Stories A2Z and Honey We're Home.

9.  Tell about one personal belonging that has the great sentimental value.  I have a portrait of my girls that was made when they were little.  I love remembering how cute and funny they were at that time.  I'm proud of the young ladies they are becoming, but it's fun to remember simpler times.

10.  If money were no object, what home renovation would you tackle?  Without a doubt, if I had unlimited funds, I would give the kitchen a complete overhaul.  Did you ever notice that I never show pictures of my kitchen?  There are two reasons for that.  The first is that there's nothing remarkable to show.  The second is that it's so dark that it's almost impossible to take photos in there.  The cabinets and floor are dark wood and the counters are black granite.  I'm trying to come up with some ways to lighten and brighten things without making any major changes or spending much money , but I haven't quite figured it out yet.

11.  What do you consider your biggest strength or talent?  I think I'm pretty level headed, and I don't easily become flustered in situations that might upset other people.  Life's too short to get worked up over unimportant things.

I'm passing the Liebster on to these amazing bloggers.

• Nicole at Mendez Manor
• Jenna at Rain on a Tin Roof
• Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles
• Jamie at Better With Age

Finally, here are my eleven questions for my nominees.

1. Where is your favorite place to get home décor items?
2. On a typical day, if I knocked on your door at 10:00 AM, what would you be doing.
3. On a typical day, if I knocked on your door at 8:00 PM, what would you be doing?
4. What is your favorite television show?
5. What are your favorite blogs?
6. Silver or gold?
7. What is the one item in your wardrobe you can't live without?
8. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
9. How would you describe your decorating style?
10. How or why did you start blogging?
11. If there was an emergency and you could only grab one thing in your house before leaving, what would it be?

I can't wait to see how my favorite new bloggers answer my questions.  It's always fun to learn more about the people behind the blogs.  Please visit their awesome blogs to see why I nominated them.