Liebster Award

As I was looking at my blog stats yesterday, I came across the sweetest comment from a blog friend, Reia, at SouthCountrySides.blogspot.com.  In the comment she mentioned she'd nominated my little blog for a Liebster Blog Award.  Being so new to the blog-word, I had no idea what that was, so I checked out her blog post about it and did a little Googling to find out the following...

Liebster is German for sweet, nice, dearest, beloved, lovely, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.  (All things anyone would want to be known as!!)  The award was started to bring recognition to new bloggers (or those with fewer than 200-300 followers) and serves as motivation for those nominated to keep blogging!!  According to the Leibster Award Rules, I now need to:

1) Answer 11 questions the blogger who nominated me posed
2) Tell 11 other random facts about myself
3) Nominate 11 of my favorite blogs for the Liebster
4) Ask those bloggers 11 questions of my own!  


So without further ado, here are the questions Reia asked:

11 - Favorite activity when you have a moment of spare time.  Besides blogging and cooking, my favorite activity would probably be needle-pointing   I have two designs going on right now - one of a church in the snow (that I'm almost finished with) and another of a big bunch of hydrangeas that will eventually be a pillow (that I'm about 1/4 of the way through).  So much fun!

10 - Favorite place you've traveled to.  Hands down St Thomas (and the neighboring islands).  BEAUTIFUL!

9 - Favorite restaurant.  I've only been there once, but it's definitely L'ESPALIER, in Boston.  It's not the kind of restaurant you can go to often because it's so expensive, but it's amazing.  We went for a 4 course "cheese dinner" a few years ago, which was a fantastic 3.5 hour event that even included singing!

8 - Favorite websites.  I like to keep track of what's going on (so various news sites), diet.com (because I work there - hehe), and all the blogs I follow! 

7 - Favorite activity to do with children.  We don't have any of our own right now - just our fur-baby, Toby!  When hanging out with friends with kids, we mostly end up playing whatever game is their favorite at the moment!

6 - Favorite "natural" food.  Hmmm...not sure...but my favorite natural food (snack) company is called NatureBox.  You should totally check them out - they deliver a box of healthy, unprocessed snacks each month. So cool.

5 - Favorite holiday movie.  It's probably a 3-way tie for Love Actually, Mixed Nuts, and The Holiday.  But I'm sure if anyone names any other holiday movies, I'll remember it's my favorite too.  :)

4 - Favorite crafting activity.  Needlepoint, cake decorating, jewelry making...i love it ALL.  

3 - Favorite animal (pet or found in a zoo, etc).  Without a doubt, it's the Dachshund (check out my little pup, Toby!).  Other than Toby, probably a chinchilla.  When I was in high school, my friend Bo and I decided we were going to breed them and be rich.  

2 - Favorite item(s) to collect.  I LOVE antiques.  Two of my favorite things to keep a look-out for are demitasse teacups and Westmoreland hens on a nest.  There are a lot of knock-off's out there - it's fun to hunt down the real ones!

1 - Favorite Quote.  I have no idea!  We're watching "Mixed Nuts"...and Phillip just said "In ever pothole, there is hope"...that'll do.  :)



11 Facts about ME!

1 - In college, I changed my major three times - Music Ed, Music Therapy, then finally Music (flute) Performance.   I thought about Sacred Music too, but didn't officially switch.  

2 - Travis (husband) and I met in our first class at ECU - Music Theory 1, which took place at 8am Monday - Thursday each week.  I spent most of my time in that class keeping my semi-nacroleptic later-to-be-husband awake.

3 - I have a little doggie named Toby.  When he wags his tail, his entire back-half flies at 180 degrees!

4 - I recently discovered I like Brussels Sprouts.  Like...REALLY like them! 

5 - My saddest Christmas memory was a few years ago when we didn't get "storybook Lifesavers" in our stockings.  I guess I had a pretty great childhood.  :)

6 - I don't like to touch the handrails on the T (the subway in Boston).  I usually make Husband hang on, and just hold on to his hand.  

7 - One time in High School, I stuffed lettuce in a guy's saxophone.  (Don't worry - it didn't hurt his horn.)

8 - I can never remember if I've seen a movie until about 30 minutes into it.  My mother-in-law thinks this is hilarious.  :)

9 - I'm allergic to soy.

10 - I love to shop, but rarely do.  

11 - I love orchids and have a "nursery" of dormant ones in my living room.  If one ever blooms again, I'm throwing a party.  



Nominations!! 

Some of my favorite blogs are as follows (besides Reia, who nominated me)!  Sorry I didn't do 11!

One Fine Wire - Mommy blogger and super crafty and sweet Courtney!  I knew the Liebster rules say less than 200 followers, but as I read about the award, I learned the original rules were less than 3,000...so I'm "going rogue" and awarding Courtney.  :)  After all, she's the one who inspired me to blog!
emylogues - She's an amazing cook!  Your mouth will water immediately.
Hard of Herring - My super awesome friend Ann, who hilariously chronicles daily life.  Hopefully she's start food blogging too, because she's a spectacular cook.
Forever and a Recipe - You guessed it...recipes!  She's also from Boston and has a mini dachshund!
AKA Bailey - Blogs about awesome nailpolish, what it's like to live in Canada (she's from Massachusetts) and random happenings.
Iowa Girl Eats - Not sure how many followers she has, but her blog is great!  She's got any recipe you'd ever need!
'A Casarella - One of the first blogs I ever followed - recipes, DIY, and party ideas
Sabers, Spurs and a Pink Stetson - Military wife, mom-to-be, and master reviewer!  I'm also incredibly jealous of her header...super cute.
The Bostonian Gentries - Great friends, and parents to THE coolest kid in the world.  You'll love the stories!

Feel free to suggest your favorite blogs - I'm always looking for more reading material!


Questions for my nominees!!

When trying to come up with questions for you all, my husband and his dad had lots of suggestions...most of which I turned down (you're welcome).  These suggestions ranged from "Who is your favorite Star Trek captain", to "Is your mom a babe?"

1  - What was your favorite toy as a kid?
2  - What's your favorite recipe - share it!
3  - What's your least favorite food?
4  - What's your favorite season?
5  - What's the favorite place you've visited?
6  - What's your favorite Christmas gift you've ever given?
7  - Are you pro-Pluto?  (aka...are you sad it's not a planet?)
8  - What's one skill you wish you had?
9  - What's one of your pet peeves?
10 - What's your favorite TV show right now?  Of all time?
11 - What's your favorite pie?  What's the square root of pi?  Have your read or seen the movie, Life of Pi?



Thanks again for the award Reia!  Now...everyone check out my bloggy friends!  :)