The Liebster Award

In terms of the blogging world, my blog is just a baby blog.  So, it was a surprise to be nominated by Dana from I’ve Got Cake for the Liebster Award.  If you haven’t seen her blog and you have an interest in food and fashion, definitely check hers out!  This stylish and sassy girl writes with so much personality and all of her recipes look so delicious.  Plus her fashion photos are COOL – if only I had style like her…  Thanks so much Dana for the nomination – it’s flattering to be nominated, but it’s extra flattering to be nominated by someone so effortlessly cool as you are!

The Liebster award is awarded to bloggers with under 1000 followers to try to promote their blog a little and also bring together a community of bloggers.

As part of my acceptance, I have to do five things:

1. LINK back to the person who nominated you
2. SHARE 11 facts about yourself
3. ANSWER 11 questions set by your nominator
4. NOMINATE 11 people who you think deserve the Liebster Award
5. ASK your nominees 11 questions to answer
6. AFTER YOU PUBLISH your Liebster post, go to your nominee’s blog and let them know you nominated them.

 

So I’ve already done number one… now for number two.

 

11 facts about myself:

1. I am the middle of five children (four girls, one boy – my poor brother).  I love being part of a big family.
2. I’m actually a twin but my twin died before birth.
3. I’m an English teacher but did consider becoming a primary school teacher or a PE teacher at one point!  I’m also qualified to teach Classical Studies.
4. I love basketball even though I’m very short!  I’ve played since I was about 11 years old.  I love watching NBA and I’m a qualified coach and referee.
5. I used to really love watching cricket.  I even went to watch test cricket matches and was really obsessed with Dion Nash at one point.  I still watch it now but mostly ODIs – I don’t have the attention span to watch test matches anymore.
6. I’ve always known that I wanted to be a teacher.  Even so, I didn’t realise how much I would love it until I started teaching.
7. I’m a cat person.  I’ve had a dog and rabbits before, but I much prefer how independent cats are.  I find needy pets a little bit annoying.
8. I’ve had ACL reconstruction surgeries on both of my knees as I’ve busted them playing basketball.  Not only that, but two of my sisters have also had to have both of their ACLs repaired as well.  (Bad knees in my family.)
9. I married my first love.  🙂
10. I love Jane Austen’s books.  I love watching movies of her books, I love reading her books and I love (good) modernised versions of her books.
11. I hate walking uphill.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m lazy or because I have short legs.

 

So now to answer the questions from Dana:

1. What’s a day in your life? Take your time… paint a picture for us.
   At the moment, a day in my life is pretty unpredictable because bubs is still very young.  It’s also not terribly exciting so you might not want to read this…  Bubs sleeps pretty well, so I usually get to sleep until about 7am, then up for a feed.  She’s started on solids now so it’s quite amusing to see how she reacts to what I give her.  If she doesn’t like something, she makes vomiting noises which is pretty dramatic for a 6 month old!  Then she plays while I have breakfast.  I usually do chores or other boring things like that, but sometimes we go out and catch up with friends or family.  Bubs normally has a nap and then I get a bit of time to myself – reading, watching terrible daytime television, baking, having lunch, blogging, more chores, etc.  Then it’s time for another feed and more play time.  I love hearing her giggling and talking to herself!  When she has her next nap, I sometimes do some exercise to keep myself active, such as the exercycle.  I also love dancing (although I’m pretty sure I look terrible doing it!) or maybe some pilates or yoga.  I also might start on dinner.  Then it’s time for baby’s dinner.  Usually hubby comes home from work around then and he takes over – feeding, bath time and then bed time.  Meanwhile, I finish off dinner and we get to sit down and have a catch up over the day’s events.  After that we relax on the couch, watching TV, chatting etc.  Then one more feed for bubs before bed time for us.
2. If you could only keep what piece of clothing in your closet, what would it be and why?
   Man, that’s really hard.  Probably my Manu Ginobili singlet because it was a present a long time ago from hubby and Ginobili is my favourite player.  It has more emotional value to me and would be harder to replace than my other closet staples like my black skinny jeans.
3. Do you prefer music or books? Why?
   These questions are SO hard!  I’m an English teacher, so probably books.  But I do really love music too.
4. What’s something you’d secretly like to wear but haven’t worked the courage up to try it?
   I bought a blue dress from ASOS just after I had bubs.  It turned out to be a bit clingier than I had realised so I haven’t tried it on as I’m still working on losing the baby weight!
5. What are 3 guilty pleasures of yours?
   I don’t snack much, but once I get started, it’s hard to stop!  I can usually eat a LOT of chocolate (any decent quality milk chocolate in particular) or a LOT of chips (has to be ready salted kettle chips).
   I really like to watch or read romantic comedies in my downtime.  This might not be such a guilty pleasure if I wasn’t an English teacher, but generally these books aren’t terribly literary so I can imagine my department all laughing at me as they read this.
   The last guilty pleasure is that I’m addicted to Farm Heroes Saga at the moment!  Haha…
6. What are 3 bad habits of yours?
   I don’t like to share my kitchen space when I’m cooking.  I used to get really annoyed when people watched me cooking or tried to help.  This has changed a bit now because of bubs – if I didn’t accept help from hubby, we wouldn’t eat until midnight.
   I always notice dirt.  I’m pretty sure this annoys hubby to no end – he calls me a germaphobe.  I can’t help myself.  I have to have things clean.
   I tend to dwell on the negative.  This is a habit I’m really trying hard to break.  I might have a fantastic day, but if one bad incident happens, I tend to think about it for too long.  I need to learn to get over things faster!
7. What post would you re-do if you could? Link to it.
   Probably the post I did on Bill Granger’s chocolate chip cookies.  It’s turned out to be my most popular post and I probably would have put more effort into it had I foreseen this.
8. When you take pictures for your blog, do you already have a concept in mind or are you kind of winging it?
   I don’t take most of the photos – that’s hubby’s job.  Hubby says he’s winging it – his goal is just to “take nice photos.”  (And probably to do it as quickly as possible because I’m usually hovering nearby whinging about how I want to eat already!)
9. What are the ways your drive engagement within your blog?
   I take part in Bunny Eats Design’s Our Growing Edge blogging event sometimes.  I’ve also started my own series on the blog called The Domestic Gourmet which showcases and celebrates home cooks.  I’m also on Pinterest and on Zomato.  My latest venture is starting a Facebook page – so here’s a plug to have a look at it and ‘like’ it!
10. What do you find is the optimal posting time?
    These days, whenever I can!  When bubs is napping/sleeping usually.
11. What message do you want people who read your blog to take away?
    To be more adventurous and try new things in the kitchen – whether that be new ingredients, a new cuisine or a new recipe.  Food is so exciting and there’s so much satisfaction when you discover something you’ve never come across before.  Show people you love them by filling their tummies!

 

11 nominees who I think deserve a Liebster award:

1. Boni and Kelly from Two Honest Truths.  Great photos and in depth reviews of places to eat.  I’m always jealous of all the places they go to eat!
2. Evelyn from 100 Days of Evelyn.  What a cool blog – the projects she undertakes are amazing!  I love how much effort she puts into making everything look beautiful.
3. Chez from Chez Moi.  Lovely photos and great writing.  She seems like a fun person to be around!
4. Tiffany from Heartshrooms.  Such a CUTE blog!
5. Sarah from City Julep.  Everything on her blog always looks so yummy!
6. Thomas from Vinicombe’s Food & Coffee.  This is a new blog and already everything on it looks amazing!
7. SP from Third Culture Cooking.  Delicious looking food from someone who seems to have a really interesting life!
8. Nom Nom Panda.  Knowledgeable blog about food – Nom Nom Panda takes on some truly impressive challenges in the kitchen!
9. Josette from The Brook Cook.  Great photos (notice a trend?) as well as wonderful recipes I always want to try out!
10. Laura from Cooking from the Heart.  A lovely collection of recipes inspired by Laura’s grandmothers.  So nice!
11. Suzan from The Lazy Suzan.  This blog always has yummy looking food and her writing is filled with personality!

They’re all food blogs, but hey, that’s what I like!

 

And lastly, 11 questions for those I have nominated:

1. Where did your interest in food come from?
2. What is your favourite food indulgence?
3. What is your favourite post on your blog and why?  Link to it.
4. Is there a food/dish that you really hate?  Why?
5. What is your favourite kitchen gadget and why?
6. What is your favourite cook book and why?
7. Is there a country you would like to go to one day just to try the food?
8. What is one of the best food experiences you have ever had?
9. Are you an optimist or pessimist?
10. What is one skill you would really love to master?
11. Would you rather give up salt or sugar for the rest of your life?  Why?

Well anyway, if you’re still reading, good effort!  This has been a rather long-winded and self-indulgent post!  I hope you’ve enjoyed finding out some pretty random things about me.

If you have been nominated and decide you have the time to accept the award, I would love it if you comment below with a link to your acceptance!