Again? O, ok, let’s do it. Another award….

I had a plan for today’s blog. A plan which promised greatness and fabulousness and all the things you all love best about my blog…. I was going to get a copy of Chat and do a write up for you. But something insane happened. I couldn’t find one anywhere! So I’ll have to go to some different shops tomorrow. Sorry to disappoint you all.

In the meantime, I was nominated for an award so I’ll get on with that.

The rules:
-State 10 random facts about yourself.
-Answer the questions given to you by the blogger who has tagged you for the award.
-Tag more people.
-Give them 11 questions to answer.

Ok, 10 random facts, here goes…
1. I once had an odd fixation on blueberry flavour Nutri Grain bars
2. I love cereal/fruity/nutty bars. Love them.
3. I was so totally in love with Jesse from the film Free Willy when I was younger.
4. I once asked for a monkey for my birthday and was super annoyed when I was told no.
5. I have read everything Enid Blyton has ever written.
6. I did my undergraduate degree at the university where Enid Blyton studied.
7. I’ve never seen the film, Fame.
8. I don’t really like the film Bugsy Malone. I’m sorry.
9. I have degraded myself by starting to drink decaf coffee, after spending so long attempting to develop a proper coffee habit. I’m ashamed and sorry.
10. If you spell my surname backwards, it says Yes I Am…. Maisey…. Yes I Am…. Maisey…. See?

Here are the questions asked me by Momina, the fabulous blogger who nominated me (thanks loads, by the way).

1- Who is the last person you usually think about before going to sleep?
Danda

2- Something you do alone, but wouldn’t do in front of others.
Throw my head around a bit dramatically when playing piano.

3- Do you have any strange phobias?
I’m not keen on tin foil. I used to get terribly embarrassed if I opened my lunchbox at school and my sandwiches were wrapped in tin foil.

4- One Favorite Novel that you’d like to recommend people to read and why.
Definitely F. Scott Fitzgerald. But which one? Tender Is The Night. Or The Beautiful And Damned. Actually let’s go with Tender Is The Night. Fitzgerald’s ability to write characters is amazing. The minute details of how relationships work, how interactions and people become complicated and intertwined. Everything about life gains a beautifully tragic edge when I am reading Fitzgerald. Reading him makes me want to write, makes me want to be grand, makes me want to have fantastic unachievable dreams.

5- Do you take the shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? 😛
Yup. Still got everything from the room in the Savoy. The headed paper. The sugar packs. The soap. The shower cap. Everything.

6- Do you use Post-Its?
No.

7-If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Right here in my house. On my road. On this lovely hill near my favourite park. With my lovely friends and neighbours. 

8-What inspires you?
Life. Nature. Richmond Park. People. Silly things we do and say.

9- Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
Done both. Bungee jumping more scary.

10- Do you ever count your steps when you walk?
When I was trekking the Great Wall in China and I was trying to learn some Mandarin, I counted my steps aloud from one to ten over and over to learn. That was eight years ago and I still can count to ten in Mandarin now!

11- Have you ever danced without music?
All the time. Honestly. All. The. Time.

Ok, now to tag some more people. As opposed to tagging them actually, I’m just going to highlight some new bloggers on the scene that I’d like some attention to go to because they are fab.

Lovefoodlovefashion
Marktedlord
Eatmovelove

It’s up to you guys if you want to answer the questions or not. No pressure.

1. Why do you blog?
2. How do you feel about chilli chocolate?
3. Tea or coffee?
4. Next holiday destination….?
5. Am I invited?
6. Delia Smith or Nigella Lawson?
7. Do you mind that Nigella Lawson is essentially soft porn?
8. What are you getting me for my birthday?
9. My computer has stopped letting me print things. Why is this?
10. How do you feel about Starbucks?
11. I don’t really like orange juice. Do you think this could create a problem for our friendship?

More awards. More of my nonsense.

Ok, it is time. Now that all the holidays and fancy lunches have died down, I am going to address the Liebster Award I was given by iamkaturah, who’s blog Internets Can’t Handle Moi, is a fabulous read. She’s young and witty and her blog contains a healthy amount of tongue-in-cheek.

(This is the first time I’ve ever worked out how to put a banner for an award up, very exciting! Apparently you just copy and paste…..)

The rules are that I answer the 11 questions posed to me. Then I nominate 11 other blogs and pose 11 questions to them.

1. If you were money, where would you most want to be spent?
I would most want to be spent on some amazing food. I would feel well spent then. Something unusual and very tasty. Some lovely truffle oil, maybe.

2. What is the most important quality in a friend?
Calmness. I’m not into the whole friends-with-drama scene. I like a calm life. My brain doesn’t operate well with drama. People who are into the dramatic thing, having awful boy/girlfriends, staying in jobs they hate etc. Then moaning about it. It’s irritating. I’m outta there!

3. What advice would you give to your 16 year old self?
Chill out. Mind you, I like looking back on the anxiety-fraught bad decisions of my teenage years. I would tell me to stop worrying about small stuff because I move to Africa when I leave school and things start to make sense. Life starts happening.

4. What did you think about life when you were 16 compared to now?
I don’t think I really thought about ‘life’,  as a concept. I just went to school, went to work, went to clubs. Now I think life is about finding things you like doing and trying to do them as often as possible. And it’s about finding people you like and spending as much time with them as possible.

5. Chocolate or lollies? Why?
I think chocolate. Because there is a little specialist chocolate shop near where I live and their stuff takes A LOT of beating.

6. Would you rather be a man who looked like a lady or a lady who looked like a man?
Man who looked like a lady.

7. What is the best book you’ve ever read?
It’s a toss up between The Great Gatsby and Tender Is The Night by Fitzgerald, The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd and Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeta Naslund.

8. What is 27 x 16? ( Don’t use a calculator!)
Well, 20 x 10 is 2000. And 20 x 6 is 120. So 20 x 16 is 2120. Now 7 x 10 is 70 and 7 x 6 is 42. So 7 x 16 is 112. So, technically, 27 x 16 should be 2232…. Did I get it right?

9. What is your favourite thing to cook?
Italian food. O, and banana bread.

10. If you could invent anything, what would it be?
A way to insert more hours into a day but without getting tired.

11. Why do you blog?
Because I like it. (See question 4)

So next up, my nominations are as follows:

1. Maggie of SomeoneFatHappened. Yet again. Because she said I can clean her yard for chocolate cereal bars. Four boxes of them.

2. My Little Italian Kitchen. What’s not to love? The clue’s in the title. This blog is one of my favourite recent discoveries.

3. Read Stuff With Me – this blog covers anything and everything and, predictably, is a space which encourages reading, which is a very admirable pursuit, I’d say.

4. Barcelona Street Scraps – Great photos. I love taking time out of my day to browse around the posts on this blog.

5. Reflections of a Book Addict – if nothing else, this is for recently reviewing a book I’ve been wondering about for ages and helping me make up my mind!

6. CyclingEurope.org – a great blog about all things bike-y. His book, Good Vibrations, about cycling to Italy was an obvious winner with me (I’m into all things Italy since my trip to Rome).

7. Fitness and Frozen Grapes, again. The great pictures of food, the impending move to the Big Apple, the Downton Abbey love. It’s all going on in this blog.

8. Little Commas – Because everything in this blog is beautiful. Everything. It’s all very very beautiful. Fact.

9. The Usual Bliss – Her Bliss Bits posts are lovely, that’s why. That’s not the whole reason, but it’s a large part of it.

10. The Idiot Speaketh – Because I think he needs cheering up after his wife gave him an old M&M as a congratulations….

11. Canadian Hiking Photography – This blog was a recent find and the photos are stunning. Check them out.

And my 11 questions are:

1. You go to the fridge and all you find are some garlic bulbs, celery sticks, marmalade, an aubergine, double cream and chilli chocolate. What do you make?

2. What is your favourite part of the day?

3. You can only listen to one song for the rest of your life. Which one is it?

4. How do you feel about Paulo Coelho?

5. How many of the wonders of the world have you seen?

6. What is your favourite place in the world?

7. How long do you stick with a book you’re not enjoying before you give up? Do you give up?

8. Do you think Kylie Minogue should make a comeback?

9. I’d like some good life advice. Do you have any?

10. I’m thinking of taking a minibreak for my next birthday. Any ideas?

11. Zombie films… Love or hate?