Liebster Award (man this entry has a shit ton of links!)

One of the great things about this 'award', and being nominated by the lovely Anna (thank you, again!) is seeing the other great blogs she nominated! Seeing real life amazing friends/women get recognized is pretty much the shit. (I'm looking at you A Life Less Ordinary and SEW much heART). 

The other things though, that it makes me realize, is that I do not follow any smaller blogs other than those I know in real life. I haven't done this on purpose, obviously, it is just how blogs have been weeded out in my life. I would LOVE to hear about blogs I SHOULD be following though, obviously. Lay 'em on me.

Liebster rules! (This is also a great little blurb explaining that it is, simply, small bloggers recognizing other small bloggers. I mean, what could be so bad about that!?)
**Thank the person that nominated you and link back up to their blog.
**Answer the 10 questions which are given to you by the nominator.
**Nominate some unknown number of other blogs with less than 200 followers, unknown because some say 10, others 11, others less.
**Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer.
**Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them, including a link back to your post.

Here are the questions from Maple and Me and my answers.
1. What is your favorite season?
Oh most definitely Fall....and I am SO excited to get to experience it again! Asheville, ready for this...., IT HAS ALL FOUR SEASONS. Crazy, right? So I am sure I will have a ridiculous amount of pictures of the colors of changing leaves and all the other grand features of the fall season.

2. What is your go-to comfort food?
Mac and Cheese, hands down. I never tire of it. ep. since I am not a big pasta eater in any other way, but man, there is no 'full' when it comes to some home made Mac and Cheese (or who am I kidding? I love me some Kraft blue box too.)

3. What is one skill you are working on right now?
Does patience count? That pretty much a constant in my life. Along with 'heeding my own advice'. As for a physical or tangible skill, I've been baking up a storm. Trying to learn to trust my baking instincts and such.

4. What teaches you patience?
Baking. Money. Life. 

5. Who is your fashion role model?
This is a very hard question, it changes so much. I have the standard fashion blogs I follow such as Orchid Grey, Delightfully Tacky, and Atlantic-Pacific, but as for a general fashion role model, I would say I'm too fickle to keep to one. I constantly find someone new (real person, or movie character) who I want to emulate and build off of. I would say the most recent(s) would include: Lizzie Caplan's Character in 'Save the Date', and New England yuppie culture. yepp you heard right.

6. Do you have a particular blog that you really admire? If so, which one?
I have three that I absolutely love the writing and the voice that comes through... the first would be Joy the Baker. just read ANY of her entries. I went looking through them for extra special, and really, they all are just so wonderful! Something is to be said for having no signs of pretentiousness. The second is Kendi Everyday (who had always been a standard b/c of her simple writing tone that was honest, but she won me over with THIS post), and finally Big Bang studios whose pictures and words are pure art. Just take a look at THIS and THIS and not fall in love. 

7. When you were younger what did you want to do when you were older? How do that differ (or coincide) from what you’re doing now?

I just had this lovely conversation with a new acquaintance two days ago, and in it he pointed out that 'what we wanted to be when we grew up' most likely hasn't changed. Now you man feel 'well, yes it has!' but think about it, most likely, you still would LOVE to be that, you just grew up and pushed it aside, or thought it too fanciful, or were told to be more realistic, or maybe even thought 'that isn't REALLY a job'. When I was younger, I distinctly remember three phases I went through: I wanted to be a Paleontologist, I wanted to be a Lawyer, and then I wanted to be a Journalist. Off the bat, all of these things seem like nothing I would want to do NOW, but if i think back to WHY i chose these in the first place, it totally makes sense. 

**I wanted to be a Paleontologist because you got to discover things! and you got to be in the dirt! and it was an answer that NO OTHER CHILD was going to have. SO that was an INSTANT win.

**I wanted to be a Lawyer because they got to make things right, solve mysteries, and complete puzzles.(yes, solve mysteries. I never wanted to be an investigator, or cop, or such, b/c they had guns, and could get hurt. I have always been a complete wuss.)

** I wanted to be a journalist because at the time I was really into writing poetry, and submitting pieces to magazines. And more than that, I was told I was GOOD AT IT.  Remember those children poetry contests in magazines? I cant remember the name but they were EVERYWHERE. I def. submitted to those. I even wrote a poem and read it to my 4th grade class as a 'goodbye' to them when I moved to South Carolina. 

...So I want to make things right, solve puzzles, play in the dirt, discover new thing, get recognition for being good at what I do, and have it be something that your standard person wouldn't dream of doing. You connect the dots.

8. What is your guilty pleasure?

I use this term all the time, but I DO hate it. It shouldn't be guilty. Fuck that. Just fully own up to liking it. an move on. Just because you love documentaries about pop stars (me) doesn't mean you don't also love the feeling of completing a Wed-Sunday NYT crossword (also me). But, as a general question, those things that other might consider guilty pleasures would include:

**90s R&B

**Celebrity Gossip Blogs

**Grocery store Hot bars

**YA literature

**Broadway Musical Soundtracks

**Early 2000s Pop-Punk (Something Corporate, Brand New, Fall Out Boy, Say Anything, Taking back Sunday, Saves the Day, The Academy Is... Any of there first Albums) (really, most of the music I enjoy could be considered a guilty pleasure by SOMEONE)

** Gas station cappuccinos

9. What was one piece of art that was incredibly formative to you?

Oh Man. This is such a good question. I really wish I remembered further back. I have never been one for images of the Madonna or religious works. Color and shape have always pulled me in, and Klimt and Kandinsky have always been at the forefront of my mind.  When it comes to written word, I have always been the kid who listened to the lyrics in songs. Some people were poetry readers from an early age, and even though I had my favorites, I didn't dive into that form. I had music, and lyrics, and that was my poetry. I very vividly remember as a young child (under age 9) going on car rides with my dad, just driving for drivings sake, and he would be blasting music, and then a song would come on and he'd tell me to 'just listen to the words'. It as breed into me.

10. What are three things you are grateful for right now?
**Having amazing friends around the globe

**Getting the chance to start fresh in a month

**Becoming better at articulating myself

And Since I do not have anyone new to nominate, I figured I would leave these questions here, and if you want to answer them, DO IT. Do it in the comments, do it in your own blog and link back to me, write me an email and answer them. I love reading responses, and would love to see yours!

1. Would you rather live one 1,000 year life or live ten 100 year lives?
2. If you had to watch one movie and only one movie for the rest of your life what would it be?
3. If you could have only one food on a desert island what would it be?
4. What is your favorite food to cook?
5. The last book you read was….
6. Best compliment you've ever received
7. Which is the best city in the world?
8. Show me a pictures of three stunningly beautiful things (to you)
9. You discover that your wonderful one year old child isn't yours because of a mix up at the hospital. Would you want to exchange the child to “correct the error” and have child your biological child?
10. What is something you struggle with daily?