Burning Questions

It is always a lovely thing to be appreciated for your contributions in this world, be they small familial niceties or large, humanitarian actions.  Even the things that fall somewhere in-between; like the blog you created.

In the past week I was given two generous awards:

A Leibster Award here), granted to me by a dear friend at GCOGH and fellow blogger/book-hound Selah from A Bibliophile's Style.

(this will be my third, see the first here)

If you don't want to go back in time to see my first, that's okay...but it was probably the funniest thing I have written here so you might want to reconsider.

and

A Golden Blog Award from the most eloquent, kind and beautiful Jan from Fort Smith Stylista

Since the "Golden Blog" nomination only requires the revelation of 10 random facts and the "Leibster" requires 11 and then some, I am going to roll the random facts together...figuring I probably couldn't come up with 21 facts anyone would care to read about!

Onward to the facts.

1.)  I read everything that my children are reading (for school and pleasure) so that we can have actual conversations about it.  I have been able to read and re-read some amazing literary works this way!

2.)  I love landscape and point of view photography, and when traveling I often forget to take pictures of the people I am with.

3.)  I hate making decisions.  Big ones, small ones, any ones.  Hate It.

4.)  I used to think I was "good with animals" until I got a puppy.  She turned out amazing but I hated that dog for her first 2 years...she fought me for Alpha Female the whole time.

5.)  I started writing a children's book that seemed pretty good, but was never able to come up with an ending that resolved everything.  I lost the flow of my story and it never came back!

6.)  Sometimes I dream of a bohemian life, one unencumbered by possessions and lived across the globe.  Usually after my children have utterly destroyed my house.

7.)  I watch a crazy amount of shows about Alaska and Hawaii, and am a reality TV junkie.  (not The Bachelor or that kind of stupid reality TV, but like Life Below Zero and Deadliest Catch and Sister Wives)

8.) I have been married for almost 18 years, and still adore my husband.  There are days I look at him and can't believe we ended up together.

9.)  Parenting teenagers has been the most challenging thing I have ever done, and I fear I am not doing it at all well.

10.)  I would rather drink my vegetables than eat them.  Blendtec rules.

11.)  Laziness is my biggest flaw, and is something I find very difficult to overcome.

Selah posed some excellent questions...here they are with my answers, but feel free to answer them yourself and send them to me!

#1 Who is your style icon and why?  Perhaps Audrey Hepburn because she always wore simple, beautifully tailored clothing.  Currently its also Beverly from the blog Beverly Like Hills because she is bold and brave and mixes textures and patterns like a pro, as well as having a shoe closet I would kill for.  My body shape is like neither of those women however, so there is a small problem with that!

#2  What was your favorite book as a child?  I am not good at picking any one thing as a favorite (please reference above #3) but I recall reading  Island of the Blue Dolphins and the entire Ursula LeGuin Earthsea Trilogy hundreds of times.  I was disappointed that my daughter enjoyed neither.

#3  Have you ever been compared to a famous person?  When I was younger and had longer hair people thought I looked like Demi Moore.  Which I never got.

#4  Book first or Movie, and why?  I have never met a movie that I enjoyed more than the book from which it came, so I prefer to read the book and skip the movie.  Half the time with movies though, I didn't even know there was a book so there you have it.  No decision made, yet again.

#5  What made you start blogging?  I found GCOGH, started taking outfit pictures for that and began to think that if I was going through all the trouble to take the photos I ought to do something else with them.  I love to write, so a blog made sense to me at the time.  Had I done ANY research at all on the "over 40" blogs out there though, I never would have started.

#6  Favorite color combination to wear?  Denim and black or denim/black/white.  There is something so chic and clean about it.

#7  Favorite literary genre, and book/author within?  I read everything and anything and (again referring to fact 3 above) don't like to pick a favorite.  HOWEVER, I love a good comedy and snort gleefully while reading anything written by Christopher Moore (LAMB being so good I cried AND snorted).  I also enjoy a good dystopian world story, and anything written by Jane Austen.  [Although I will admit that I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies before reading the actual Pride and Prejudice.]

#8  Describe your style in 5 adjectives.  Easy, layered, accessorized, patterned and denimy. (I made that one up)

#9  Who is your oddest celebrity crush?  I think it's an obsession more-so than a crush, but The entire Kilcher family from Alaska's Last Frontier.  (an aside...the singer Jewel is actually the daughter of Atz Kilcher)

#10  Do you pattern mix?  Why or Why Not?  I am TRYING to do it, but I seem to gear toward all the same size prints which are very hard to mix together.  I can put stripes with anything though!  ;o)

#11  Do you say pa-JAM-as or pa-JAHM-as?  I say pa-JAHM-as.  And that was my favorite question!!!  I also say the word water so that is sounds like wadder, in case you care.

WHEW!  That is a whole lot of information.  Here are a couple more pictures to distract you.

weird, smirky face 

I have to do a little digging to find some people to pass on nominations to...if you want one, hit me up!  ;o)

XO,
Alyssa