The Liebster Award is a great way to start the week!

So the super sweet and adorable Jen from Glitterary Girl was kind enough to pass along the Liebster Award to me this weekend! Lemme tell ya, when I got her comment this morning - it sure was a fabulous way to start a Monday :)

The Liebster Award is given to up-and-coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. The word around the blogosphere is that "Liebster" is German for kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, valued, cute, pleasant, endearing and welcome, which to me, sounds like an incredible compliment :).

So the rules for accepting the award are as follows:

1. Each person most post post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, and then create 11 new questions for the people you tag with the award.
3. Chose 11 bloggers (with less then 200 followers) and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them about the award (social networks accepted).
5. If you have not done so already, follow the tagger and visit at least three nominees. Spread the love!
6. And remember, no tag backs!

OK GO-

11 things you proooobably didn't want to know about me. ;)

1.) My favorite color is red.
2.) I despise all seafood. Even the smell makes me nauseous.
3.) I'm a terrible klutz. Once, when I was young, I had just gotten the cast off of my broken arm, and I still had it in a sling when I broke my other arm. I'm pretty much a rock star bone breaker.
4.) I was in a tornado when I was 6 years old. My mom, brothers and I were all in the house when it happened. We barely made it to the basement and when we stood up, there was no longer a house above us.
5.) I met B on eHarmony. Apparently, online dating ISN'T just a scam ;)
6.) I am a crazy cat lady. I'm thoroughly convinced I had 900 of them in a past life and was very happy about it.
7.) Along with number 6, I can also talk to cats and they talk back. Every. Single. Time. If I roll down my window and start talking to a stray kitty it will stop in its tracks and start meowing back at me. I think I'm the Cat Whisperer.
8.) I've mentioned this before, but I feel its important you know I'm a giant Harry Potter geek.
9.) I'm about as girly as you can get for growing up with two athletic, gun toting, video game playing, stinky older brothers. (Who are pretty much my best friends)
10.) Speaking of video games - I love them - and can play the Sims for days at a time.
11.) I'll likely never move back there, but Chicago will ALWAYS be my home, and always have my heart. It's truly one of the best cities in the world!

The answers to my questions from Ms. Jen:
1. What's a quirky fear of yours?
This is easy - I just dealt with it yesterday! I have a really weird thing with going up steep hills or inclines in any kind of vehicle - whether its a car or a rollercoaster or an airplane. I feel like I'm going to flip over backwards! Its so strange. I start crying involuntarily and I have to sit all the way forward with my head between my legs. Living near the mountains and driving up all these hills in the Pacific Northwest has not helped.

2. How long have you been blogging?
Since March! So... just over 4 months or so. Wow, has it been that long already? I'm still loving doing it every day :)

3. Who is your hero?
I dont know that I really have a hero, but if theres anyone I've always look up to, its definitely my parents. I probably don't say it enough but they are both such strong and amazing people. They have really taught me how to be an independent, free spirit, not afraid to do my own thing and stand up for my opinions!

4. What's your favorite shade of lipstick or gloss?
I normally dont wear much color, I'm a Blistex Sleek & Shine fan to the max. But I recently discovered Revlon's Just Bitten lip stain and balm, and now I rock 'Gothic' all the time! (It's a pretty shade of red!)

5. What is your favorite season?
Fall, hands down. I'm obsessed with Halloween, pumpkin or apple flavored and scented everything, sweatshirts, football season, the beautiful colors, crock pot meals and crisp cool breezes.

6. Do you subscribe to any magazines?
YES. I was a magazine journalism major in college, so I'm kind of a magazine whore. Right now I'm only getting Marie Claire and Good Housekeeping in the mail though, I also get Us Weekly on my iPad (which, PS, if you love celeb gossip and haven't checked out the new Us Weekly app on your iPad yet - DO IT. Its awesome. I love reading them on my super clear HD screen and then being able to just archive them to my cloud instead of having their paper counterparts sit around my house for months on end!)

7. What is one place you really want to travel to?
Australia! I've always wanted to go. I hear amazing things about how beautiful it is there, and there is so much to do!

8. Household chore you hate the most?
Cleaning the cat box. Ew. Just. Ew. I love my Lilly and Rosie, but oh man do they leave me some stinky treats some times. Conveniently enough, B always 'forgets' to do it too when I ask him lol.

9. Are you an early bird or a night owl?
NIGHT OWL. I wish I could say early bird, I want to be SO bad. But I can't. I can't tear myself out of bed in the morning. In fact, I have to shower at night, put my clothes out for the next day, and pack my lunch the night before like a grade schooler because if I didn't, I'd have to go to work lunchless, stinky and in the same pair of jeans every day. I'm that bad.

10. What's your favorite reality show?
You want me to pick just one?? Can I say all of them?! Yes, I am a reality show junkie. I love my Bachelors and my Bachelorettes, and my Bachelor Pads for that matter... I also can't get enough of the Real Housewives of Orange County and Beverly Hills, as well as Teen Mom and 16 & Pregnant. Yes I'm 28 going in 12.

11. What store would you like to get a $1000 gift card for?
Anthropologie! I LOVE their quirky and unique items, and their clothes fit my body type much better now. Truly gorgeous stuff in their folks.


And now, I'm passing the Liebster on to these 11 amazing blogs:
The Leaflet
An Alaskan Weredork
Work it
Work Clothes, I Suppose
Back East Blonde
Sparkle is a Color
A Rambling Fancy
Marriage by Design
Brittany's Notebook
Life Etc.
Secondhand Couture

And here are your questions ladies!
1. Link us to your favorite post!
2. What article of clothing can you not live without?
3. What's in your purse?
4. What is your favorite book of all time?
5. What's your favorite thing to cook?
6. Favorite movie of all time?
7. Heels or flats?
8. What are the top 3 things on your bucket list?
9. What is the biggest risk you have ever taken?
10. You can only shop at one store for the rest of your life - what store is it?
11. What inspired you to start blogging?

Whew, that post took awhile! But I hope you feel like you know a little more about me, and I can't WAIT to learn more about the 11 lovelies above!