liebster

The other week I was BEYOND excited to see that Miss Tiffany over at Living Savvy awarded me with this:

You're probably all thinking "Huh? The WHAT?" Well this award is for up and coming bloggers, and I was beyond flattered that such a talented lady like Tiffany thought of me for this award! Woo Hoo! So here is the deal with this award. Upon accepting it, I'm supposed to do 5 things:

1. Choose 5 other up-and-coming blogs to award the Liebster to. These blogs must each have FEWER than 200 followers 

2. Show thanks to the blogger who gave me the award and link back to them (done, done, and done!)

3. Post the award on the blog (check!)

4. List the bloggers I gave the awards to with links to their site, and leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award. (that'll be coming up shortly!)

5. Share 5 random facts about myself that my followers might not know.

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Okay, here goes with the random facts:

Fact 1: I've been a vegetarian since I was quite young. I won't go into great detail here, but what started as a combination of picky eating (understatement of the century), stubbornness, and being grossed out by seeing how hot dogs were made has led to a way of life that I enjoy more and more every year. The older I get the more creative I feel I can be with recipes and trying new foods as I go out into the world. It's not always the easiest choice, but overall I feel good about it. (Let's just say being a veggie when I lived in Peru was not easy). Michael enjoys it because it means he doesn't have to share his bacon/steak with me. Win-win!

tallarines saltados con verduras 

Fact 2: I used to sell cheesecurds. Greasy, fatty, fried cheesecurds. In a tiny, hot trailer. Now, for those of you from the Midwest- you're probably thinking "YUM". For those of you from the rest of the USA, you're probably thinking, "fried cheesecurds? wait..what ARE cheesecurds?" Google them my friends. They are little pieces of unhealthy heaven. They don't exist here in VA and it's heartbreaking. Anyway, back to the job:   I worked for my neighbor's company working long LONG days in humid summertime with a bunch of crazy kids around my age. We'd take turns frying the curds, mixing the batter, serving them up in paper boats, and taking the money. People would be in a line 30 people long as early as 9 am to eat these. Yeah, they're THAT good. Not the most glamorous of the jobs I've held, but probably one of the most fun.

Yup, that is 17 year old me; makeup-less, sweaty, in the middle of a 16 hour shift...

Fact 3: I've been to 27 U.S. States, 8 countries, and 4 continents

To say I love to travel is an understatement. I know a lot of people like to travel- this isn't a wild and exciting fact- so I'll share with you a few things I've learned from being in other countries: 

1. Never take good plumbing for granted. In Peru you don't flush toilet paper down the toilet- you throw it in a trash can next to the toilet. No, I'm not kidding.
2. Bolivia is cold. I'm from MN, and I know cold...Bolivia...it's COLD.
3. Everyone on earth should visit the concentration & death camps in Poland. Even when you think you know all about the Holocaust, you don't until you go there.
4. Israel is NOT A TERRIFYING PLACE. Sorry to use all caps, but the media makes it look like a scary place full of bombs and hate. There is love, sunshine, and a lot of good looking men & women in uniform, just like here in the USA. Stop hatin' on it folks.
5. Surfing is hard. It's not easy and glamorous like the people in movies make it look like. It involves drinking a lot of ocean water and getting your body thrown around like a rag doll. That being said, if you're going to try to learn to surf, do it in  Montañita, Ecuador:

aaaand that's not me. I took the picture, though!

Fact 4: I consider popcorn a food group. I could eat Trader Joe's White Cheddar Popcorn every day and not get sick of it. Seriously. I know, I'm the perfect picture of a healthy eater, right? If I could only eat 5 things for the rest of my life they'd be: TJ's white cheddar popcorn, raspberries, corn on the cob, perfectly ripe nectarines, and some form of noodles...probably mac & cheese. As for drinks, I can't live without ginger ale, milk, or skim lattes. (Hey, no one said they had to be fun facts- just random ones!)

fact: it gets under my skin when they correct me at Starbucks...which is hypocritical since I worked at Caribou for 4 years and always corrected people too. karma, i guess... 

Fact 5: I'm really superstitious about certain things. You know when people say "knock on wood!" in order not to jinx themselves? Whenever I say that I actually knock on wood-or a wood like surface. Yup, I do. It doesn't stop there folks. The "find a penny pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck" thing? I only pick up face up pennies, because when I was little someone told me if they were face down you'd have bad luck. Mmm hmm. Are you thinking I've officially gone off the deep end yet? No? Then here's one more: I'm a huge Green Bay Packer fan, and I wear the same jersey for every game. I got a new amazing Clay Matthews jersey for Christmas from my uncle this year- but I couldn't wear it on game day because I was too nervous to mix it up. Other than the playoff game- the only time the Packers lost this season was the day I didn't wear my jersey. I felt guilty for weeks for that loss. It's a little ridiculous.

Lambeau Field 2010


Thanks for the fun, Tiffany!


Hope you all will still follow the blog after learning I'm a popcorn loving, cheesecurd selling, superstitious vegetarian...
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....and as for the blogs under 200 followers that I'd like to pass this award on to:

A Simple Affair - You all know I love Carly dearly- she is a creative lady, a witty writer, and too stylish for her own good. When I started this post she had under 200 followers but she's so dang popular she's over it now. Watch it Carly- you barely made the cut!!
Run Dream Cook - Julie constantly amazes me with her will to keep running- she just did a half marathon. The though of running that far terrifies me. You're amazing, Julie.

The Urban Slant- I feel a little silly passing this award to Julia since she has twice the followers I do- but anyone under 200 is fair game! How could I not be amazed by someone who quit her day job to follower her dream??
since '86- Courtney's blog is actually a new one I follow- and I like it because it's a true lifestyle blog. Courtney shares a little bit of everything in her life - and is totally fun and easy to relate to!
styleash-  Ashley has SO much style inspiration- her blog name doesn't lie! I love seeing the gorgeous looks she shares daily. Ash, if you're reading this- get yo'self an "about me" so we can know more about your stylish behind.


Congrats ladies!