Versatile Blog Award!

I am thrilled that a blogger I deeply respect and admire nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award!

The Versatile Blogger Award Guidelines:

When you consider nominating a fellow blogger for the Versatile Blogger Award, consider the quality of the writing, the uniqueness of the subjects covered, the level of love displayed in the words on the virtual page. Or, of course, the quality of the photographs and the level of love displayed in the taking of them.  Honor those bloggers who bring something special to your life whether every day or only now and then.

Given these guidelines, I feel very honored to be recognized by a fellow blogger, and especially such a well-established blogger, for this award.

Joely, of FashionBeyond40, nominated me for this amazing award!  Thank you!  I really enjoy the variety of high quality content Joely posts regularly.  One of my favorite types is her "happiness is . . . " posts; they're always different, but I always learn something about her life.

Now, in acceptance of this marvelous award, I will share 7 things about myself, and nominate 15 other bloggers for this prestigious award!

So, 7 things about me!

1. I've never had a cavity, but I had a root canal at 20.

2. I've loved makeup since childhood; I would watch my mother getting ready in the morning at her makeup table and marvel at all the beautiful colors of eye shadow!

3. I'm 5'8, but I wear the same jeans/ pants inseam as my husband who is 6'2.

4. I am obsessed with turquoise.

5. I have an unhealthy addiction to purple eye shadow!

6. I never made sweet tea for myself and kept it around religiously until I moved out of the south.

7. I was 23 when I enjoyed my first peanut butter & jelly sandwich; it was peanut butter & strawberry.

Now, for the 15 blogs I nominate!

1. Bridgette Ramos, I nominate you for your fantastic attitude, beautiful style, and wonderful blog appearance!

2. Elle Sees, I nominate you for your grace and charm that fill every post; your approach to beauty blogging helps every technique, tool, and product feel accessible!

3. Best Beauty for My Buck, I nominate you because your product review sheet is amazing, and I know you'll always have a tip that my wallet will appreciate!

4. Intrice Blog, I nominate you for your overall sweet attitude, your support of my blog in its early stages, and for your wonderful approaches to writing product reviews!

5. A Fresh Start On A Budget, I nominate you for your wonderful tips about budgeting, staying motivated, time management, and link up parties!

6. Mish Mash Musings, I nominate you for being one of the coolest ladies in the subscription box review game!  I love your candor and silliness!

7. Our Twenties, I nominate you for your beautiful writing about life, fashion, beauty, and always showing off your smile!

8. Glamour And Giggles, I nominate you for your glamorous and fun approach to beauty and reviews!

9. Megan Joy, I nominate you for your effortless approach to all things beauty! I've learned so much from you!

10. This Teacher Wears Makeup, I nominate you for your unique approach to beauty and product reviews!

11. Brendy Beauty, I nominate you for your lovely reviews, feminine aura of your blog, and your sweet photos!

12. Manly Man Lee, I nominate you for your honest reflections, and humorous candor! 

13. Andie Conn, I nominate you for the amazing space you create for those of us who suffer with depression!

14. The Smoking Thurible, as one of the rare theological blogs I read, I nominate you for willingness to share your sermons beyond the pulpit in the blog-o-sphere!

15. The Inspired and Inspiring, I nominate you for your willingness to be open and vulnerable about your journey!

 I hope that all of you amazing bloggers are able to pass along the favor to other wonderful blogs!

I hope that all of my readers have found a new and exciting blog (or two!) to read and follow!

Liebster Award and Nominations!

First, I want to thank Kelly of SimplyKelina for nominating me for this award.  I love her friendly blog!  The color scheme is so happy, and she demonstrates a lot of attention to detail.  I enjoy her writing style that is open and honest as well as insightful about products.  I definitely encourage you to spend some time reading her posts!

I am so incredibly honored!  I am also really excited to share with all of you a little bit about myself, and also bring some great new blogs to your attention.  As many of you know, the Liebster Award is an award that is passed from blogger to blogger.  It is a wonderful way for bloggers to encourage and support one another as we all grow and develop as bloggers.  Through the Liebster Award and the One Lovely Blog Post Award we learn about one another as bloggers and as people.  Additionally our readers learn about exciting new blogs that are emerging in the blog-o-sphere!

11 Random Facts about Me:

1. I am allergic to Aloe.  No, I'm not joking.  Aloe Vera on sunburned skin for me is like thousands of fire-ant bites on top of the sunburn.  I can stand it in a few products, but never lotion.  That means products with aloe won't show up in my reviews very often.

2. I grew up in Georgia.  My husband and I moved to Chicago, IL in 2008 and then out to the Bay Area in 2011.  I love sweat tea, fried chicken, and shrimp n grits.  But I also love a good deep dish pizza, and am learning to embrace this substance called tofu - especially if its fried.

3. I've been playing D&D for the past year with a group of friends, and I love it.  Its such a great outlet.  I enjoy using my imagination, and spending time with friends . . . all without a computer screen!

4. I want to be a seminary professor and teach courses in Old Testament/ Hebrew Bible when I grow up.

5. I am obsessed with shea butter.  Chicago winters taught me the secret to happy feet: shea butter and fluffy socks.

6. My hair isn't just straight.  My hair isn't just curly.  My hair is both.  When its short I can bring out a lovely beach wave if I'm patient.  When its long I have to fight the frizz for nice straight locks.

7. I finally decided to let my eyebrows fill in, and I've never been happier with my face!

8. I recently gave up my contacts for a lovely inexpensive set of dark purple frames.  My eyes thank me everyday for this choice.

9. I am a feminist, because I believe that neither men nor women are benefitted by gender role stereotypes that trap an individual into life roles that don't necessarily fulfill them mentally, emotionally, or intellectually.

10. The status of women in the world matters very much to me.  I believe that women need to love one another, encourage one another, and support one another, especially with the current religio-political atmosphere of our country and our world.

11. My husband and I have one of the most empathetic dogs on the planet.  His name is Barley, and he's a corgi-lab mix.  We adopted him when he was 1 year old from the local pound in Marietta, GA. He's been a loyal member of our family for 6.5 years. He loves people, and he remembers them; he even remembers which people belong together as a couple.  He knows when we're physically ill or simply not okay emotionally.  Barley is famous for being "nurse dog."  He follows whoever is not okay all around the apartment, naps with them, and is super cuddly with them until they are better.

 My Questions for the nominees:

1.  What made you start blogging, and what is your favorite thing about it?
I have thought about blogging for a while, but I could not figure out what to blog about.  Over this past summer I've really become obsessed with beauty products, learning to love my body, and celebrating my own beauty.  Then I joined Birchbox and saw their opportunities for bloggers inspired me to actually start blogging.
My favorite thing about blogging is meeting and getting to know so many fabulous women who participate in the blogsphere as bloggers and readers!

2.  What are your top three must have items (Beauty, Electronics, Clothes, Anything)?
My top three must have items definitely include good coffee, a comfortable pillow, and the perfect lip balm.

3.  What is your "guilty pleasure"?
As a doctoral student, there is always something I should be working on for my program.  Blogging and bubble baths are my guilty pleasures; both are ways that I take time for myself and reflect on the world around me.

4.  What is your favorite item or products to review on your blog?  If you do not do reviews, what would it be?
Right now, I'm really enjoying reviewing skincare products.  My mother has always had really good skin, and she taught me from a very young age that if you take care of your skin, your skin will take care of you.  Now, I enjoy sharing with other women about the amazing skincare products I've found!

5.  What one tip would you give yourself as a new blogger if you could go back and start from the beginning? 
I would tell myself to only blog about topics that I actually care about, and focus on building relationships with other people.

6.  What is your favorite quote?  (Or pick one you like if you do not have a favorite)
My favorite quote is from Albert Einstein, "If you cannot explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

7.  What is your favorite time of year and why?
My favorite time of year is fall, especially in Northern IL where the trees actually change color, the leaves crunch under your feet, and necks long for scarves, heads for hats, and hands for gloves.

8.  How do you juggle your other priorities with your blogging (Work, kids, etc)?
I'm patient with myself; balance in life takes practice, and no set of strategies is permanently effective.  Since my family is me, hubby and puppy, I have a little more flexibility with my schedule.  I try to set aside time over the weekend to devote to typing up posts that will auto-release throughout the week.  Every day I try to spend some time on facebook groups and keep up with a few of my favorite bloggers.

9.  What is your favorite thing about the holiday season, besides family?
The hustle and bustle of shopping, cooking wonderful foods, and decorating our little apartment with my hubby.  I realize that I can't say family, but I'd love to be able to say friends.  Many of my friends here in CA are from East of the Mississippi, so we gather together during the holidays to celebrate together.  Its like our pseudo-family.

10.  What is the best new product you have tried since starting your blog?
I had a lot of fun reviewing the Old Factory Candle Gift Set.  It was the first sponsored review I got, the candles smell really good, and I get to host a giveaway for them!  I'm really excited!!

11.  If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Right now, I'd want to go to Jersey City, NJ.  My dear friend of 26 years is pregnant with her first child, and I would love to visit her to see her lovely glow! :-)

I hope you had fun learning a little more about me.  I can not wait to read about my nominees!  And here they are!

1. Naomi at Broke College Beauty
2. Elyse at Reflect & Review
3. Lauren at Little Blushing Birdie
4. Yolanda at Cutie and Her Beauty
5. Amy at Bay Beez Momma
6. Marcey at Lowndown on Beauty

Alright you lovely Ladies!  Here are my questions for you:
1. Why do you blog?
2. What do you blog about?
3. What are three pieces of advice you would share with other bloggers?
4. What are three things about blogging you learned during the past month?
5. When is your favorite time of day, and why?
6. What is your favorite beauty product, and why?
7. Who is one of your role models in life?
8. Coffee or Tea?  Why?
9. Where did you grow up?
10. How has blogging impacted your life?
11. What is your favorite color?

The Official Rules of the Liebster Blog Award (From the Wording Well Website):

1.  Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

2. Display the award on your blog (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 5-11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers

6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

7. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.)

8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

*If you copy and paste the rules, please make sure to give credit to Lorraine at Wording Well. Thank you!

#myfavoritethings

One Lovely Blog Award Post

Special thanks to Carol for nominating me for this award!  She has a lovely lavender blog where she provides wonderful reviews for beauty, skincare and hair products as well as Birchbox reviews!  I can't wait to learn more about her!  Make sure to check out her site!

Special thanks to Shea for nominating me for this award!  I love her spunky blog!  She collects funny cartoons for your daily chuckle needs, reviews a wide range of subscription boxes, and shares great tips and tricks.  I can't wait to learn more about Shea.  Definitely head over to her site!

A little About the One Lovely Blog Award:

The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by fellow bloggers for those newer and up-and-coming bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and also to help the new blogger to reach more viewers. It also recognizes blogs that are considered to be “lovely” by the fellow bloggers who choose them. This award recognizes bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to connect with viewers and followers. In order to “accept” the award the nominated blogger must complete five steps.

Steps to Accept the Award:
1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog. 
    (My link: laughingscholar.blogspot.com)
2. List the rules and display the award logo in your post.
3. Add 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers you want to know better.
5. Follow the person who nominated you on bloglovin'.

Seven Facts about Laughing Scholar (aka Suzanne):
1. I rarely maintain a consistent hair cut.  I tend to follow this cycle: chop it to my shoulders, grow it out to my mid-back, and chop it off again.  I managed to maintain a style for a whole six months, but it almost broke my piggy bank!
2. I have a love-hate relationship with the color yellow.  I love happy yellow colors, but I can't wear them.  They make me look like I'm sea-sick.
3. My mom is one of my best friends.  She lives back home in GA, and I miss her terribly.  3000 miles is really far away.
4. For me, Thanksgiving = Pumpkin Cheesecake!  I can't wait to bake one later this month for all my friends.
5. I have found that listening to audiobooks is the best way to pass the time while relaxing in a bubble bath.  Before I discovered this I really didn't enjoy baths, because I'd just get so bored!
6. I genuinely like people.  I think that people are fascinating and amazing!  I really want to hear all of your thoughts about my blog posts.  I love having conversations! :-)
7. I have an on-going love affair with Burt's Bees products.  My mother got me hooked.  I just started using their shampoo and conditioner, and I am in heaven!

So, here are the lovely blogs I nominate!

1. Elle of ellesees.blogspot.com

2. Rachel of thisteacherwearsmakeup.blogspot.com

3. Wendy of 2littlerosebuds.com
4. Brenda of www.brendybeauty.com
5. Victoria of bestbeautyformybuck.blogspot.com
6. Joely of www.fashionbeyondforty.com

7. Jaimie of www.glitterwithgrace.com

8. Phelicia of stylishbloggerista.blogspot.com

9. Maggie of www.dixiedollsglow.com

10. Erica of sassypantsreveiws.com
11. Sari of sarissweetlife.blogspot.com

12. Sandee of samorelion.wordpress.com
13. Celise of geekspath2beauty.wordpress.com
14. Angie of www.lifewangie.com
15. Jessica of sassygalbeauty.blogspot.com

Alright, all you lovely ladies!  I cannot wait to learn more about you when you post your facts!  :-)

#aboutme #myfavoritethings