Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The Liebster Award




Well this is a first!

Just before the holidays Sparklingly was nominated by the very sweet Amanda at Pickles & Honey (thank you!) for The Liebster Award! To "accept" I have to:
  1. Write 11 random facts about yourself (whoa that's a lot)
  2. Answer the 11 questions given by the blogger who nominated you (with pleasure)
  3. Create 11 new questions (harder than I thought it'd be!)
  4. Nominate 11 bloggers and mention them in the post (um, we'll see)
  5. Thank the blogger who nominated you and tell the bloggers you’ve nominated (thank you again!)
I don't know much about how this award got started, but I do love the chance to take a quiz! (I'm the person that loves filling out forms...well, not bureaucratic ones).

Here we go!


A few random facts about me (11 is requested, let's see how far I get):
  1. I used to always paint my toes red and my fingers clear/white. Then I got more "adventurous" and did shades of coral/pink/nudes on both, but stopped a few months ago (part of my series of tweaks)...the natural look is starting to grow on me. But I'm always worried my nails look unkempt and therefore I look slovenly.

  2. When I was younger I used to draw up elaborate plans for the farm and orchards and gardens I would one day have. I'd even pull down the encyclopedias and look up species of chicken and hens and goats and scribble them into the various pens and pastures I laid out.

  3. I spent an incredible amount of time outdoors as a little girl—when we moved from NYC to VA we suddenly had a huge yard at the end of a cul-de-sac (which meant a ginormous forest beyond our house) and I spent almost all my time outside. Even when we went to our parents' store (when we couldn't stay home alone), it was a shopping area between a horse farm and a ravine-like area. Every weekend (until we were old enough to work) we'd muck around in the woods.

  4. I learned to read at a really young age and get zero motion sickness (thank goodness), so I am always with a book in hand (or on my device). This made car trips between NYC and VA zoom by. I even walk down NYC streets reading now.

  5. Some of the foods I love now (eggplants, mushrooms, brussell sprouts, meat) are things I didn't enjoy very much when young.

  6. Whenever I doodle, it's always nouns that I like: names of people, places, streets, towns, etc. I threw a fit when the best apartment I found after university was on a street whose name I didn't like. I actually don't like my street name now, but, it's not bad (how great would it be to live in NYC and be on...Pearl Lane or Maiden Lane or Waverly Place? Sadly, I don't live on any of those).

  7. I have wide feet, which makes shoe shopping immensely annoying...although they were the means through which I met my Sicilian Swede, so at least they've got that going for them. 

  8. I'm still holding onto the belief that a town like Star's Hollow exists. 

  9. Fun fact related to the previous point, I've also thought I'd open an inn or B & B some day. I could be Lorelai.

Amanda's questions answered:


  1. Do you prefer the city or the suburbs?
    City...with access to the countryside

  2. What book are you currently reading? Or if you’re not reading one at the moment, what’s next on your list?
    Just finished re-reading the 1,000-page book I first read on our honeymoon: "Memoirs of Cleopatra" by Melissa Gregory. An excellent piece of historical fiction. Yesterday I picked up Luisa Weiss' "My Berlin Kitchen" from my library. So looking forward to it!

  3. Cardio or strength training?
    Strength training

  4. What place would you most like to visit?
    Funny you should ask...I think first is either Turkey or Egypt.

  5. Favorite kind of cookie? Don’t even tell me you don’t like cookies.
    Oooo, anything gooey and coconut-y or gooey and chocolatey / almond-y / hazlenut-y. Or, anything with cardamom, pistachio and / or rosewater. Gluten-free and sans sugar, please. If you have a favorite, I'd love to hear it!

  6. If money didn’t matter, how would you spend your days?
    Crafting, reading, walking, puttering about in nature somewhere, cooking, planning/organizing (anything: parties, vacations, budgets), editing (I love red pens!), making lists, gardening.

  7. Do you prefer bigger social settings, or more intimate get-togethers?
    Oh goodness, intimate get-togethers. Big social settings make me incredibly nervous—and I've been known to stay home rather than deal with it!

  8. Coffee or tea, or both?
    Coffee in the morning, tea in the evening.

  9. What’s one of your goals for 2013?
    To let the little things go...will be sharing more about this soon.

  10. Do you have a favorite blog post that you’ve written?
    I don't think I've written enough to have one! Ask me again in a few months.

  11. What’s the best part of a typical day for you?
    My mornings. Puttering around in the early morning light. Relishing having the apartment all to myself. Candles lit. Something nice cooking in the kitchen. A slow, easy start to the day.

My 11 Nominee questions:

  1. What's your earliest memory?

  2. What was your favorite TV show 10 years ago? Favorite now?

  3. What song did you dance to with your spouse at your wedding...or what's another special song you share with someone?

  4. Cat or dog?

  5. Do you know how to drive stick?

  6. If money didn’t matter, where would you live and what kind of home would you have?

  7. Dessert or cheese course—which do you order more often after a dinner out?

  8. Do you still get paper magazines? Any you'd suggest?

  9. What are you most proud of having done in 2012?

  10. iOS, Android or Blackberry?

  11. Which side of the bed do you sleep on?

My nominees:
Anyone who wants to play! Since I've only just recently started this whole thing (and I keep it mostly private from "real life"—and those that do know about it don't write online...at least that I know of!), I don't think I could even link to 11 other people, so, if you see this: have at it!

Just leave a comment and let me know.

Enjoy!

4 comments :

  1. Thanks for posting, J! I found myself agreeing with a lot of your answers and the nail polish thing made me smile. Up until the last year or so, I NEVER had unpainted nails. I keep my clothes mostly neutral, but I love the super sparkly and bright nail polishes. When I learned what was in them, I started going sans polish, but it was surprisingly hard! I also feel like it makes my nails look a little unkempt, but I'm getting used to it...finally. :) I just discovered mineral fusion polish though, so here we go again!

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    1. Sure, it was fun to think about these!

      Sidenote about my newfound non-manicured nails——the little parlors around me give me Major Rage because:

      (1) the ladies always yell at me for a bigger tip (I'm sorry, but for a $20 manicure/pedicure, isn't $4, or 20% enough for the 30 minutes total you spend with me?!)

      (2) they never last long and so my perfectionist nature starts getting antsy when my nails chip on Day 4

      And I'm rubbish at doing my own nails so it's either go every 2-3 weeks and deal with Major Rage or ignore my nails altogether, which is my new mantra (and backed up by my new found knowledge of the chemicals in nail polish)...or, it was until I saw this mineral fusion nail polish you mentioned. Oh dear... ;)

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  2. I've become a pro at doing my own nails, but that's just because I refuse to pay someone to do them for me! Maybe start with something sparkly that's more forgiving? I just bought the mineral fusion in "sparkling shale" - so pretty. Check it out at Whole Foods. :)

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    Replies
    1. Ooo, that's a good idea——will take a stroll over to WF and check out the sparkly mineral fusion colors. Thanks, Amanda!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a note—you're about to make my day!

XOXO,
J.