I was totally (and pleasantly!) surprised to find that my colleague (and someone I admire greatly and aspire to be like one day) Jenny Badman nominated me for the Liebster Award!  Yay, awards!

Basically, the Liebster Award is a way for bloggers to share the blogs they read and love with others, which I think is super awesome. So when you get the award, you have to do 2 (technically 3) things. 1. You nominate other blogs for the award. 2. You answer a bunch of random, quirky questions and 3. You share 11 random things about yourself. So sit back and relax, and let’s do this thing.

Get excited.

What is your favorite book?

I’m so bad with picking favorites. I’m so indecisive, and my moods change so fast. Here are a couple books that I love. The entire Harry Potter series (Order of the Phoenix is my favorite); To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee; Bossypants, Tina Fey; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth Grahame-Smith; The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood; My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett; Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Douglas Adams;  Water For Elephants, Sara Gruen …ok, I’ll stop there.

What is your greatest fear?

Well I’m afraid of 3 things. Two of them are pretty normal, the 3rd is a bit “out there.” 1. Clowns. 2. Tornados 3. Being in a car/train/airplane, falling asleep and then the car/train/plane crashes or something and I die and I don’t know that I’m dead. I realize how weird and morbid the 3rd one is, but I can’t help it. That’s why I rarely fall asleep while travelling.

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

Floo powder. I want to have floo powder. Which I guess is technically not a power, and more of an element, but I don’t care.

Ok, on second thought, fire scares me. Let’s just go with apparition.

What is the quality you are most proud of?

I really hate qualitative (no pun intended) questions like this. I guess that I’m proud of thoughtfulness? I like being able to help people out and pleasantly surprise them. Like Leslie Knope.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

When people refuse to try new food. I can’t stand picky people. It’s one thing if it came from a restaurant and you don’t want to try it, but if someone spent their time making something from scratch and you refuse to try it because you “don’t like avocado” or something equally lame, I’m pretty sure they’re reserving a special place for you in hell with all the other rude, selfish people. There are lots of foods that I thought I didn’t like until I actually tried them (see: tomatoes, beans, avocados, and sushi). One little bite to placate someone’s feelings isn’t going to kill you. Unless you’re allergic to shellfish and they’re serving shrimp, in which case you get a pass.

Who is your idol?

I’ll go ahead and be cliché here and say my mother. Tina Gallimore is a force to be reckoned with.

You don’t mess with Tina Gallimorski… she will CUT YOU.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

Oh God, where do I even begin. My brother would probably say it was the time my pants fell down in the middle of Ruby Tuesday’s. He tells that story pretty much anytime I introduce him to new people, which is annoying because it happened when I was in 5th grade or something like that.

Where do you draw inspiration for how you live your life?

My parents, my friends, fictional characters I admire, and Jennifer Lawrence.

If you could live in any era, which era would you choose?

I want to be 16 in 1980 and live through the 80’s. I love the 80’s. What a great time for music. And fashion

I really think I would’ve flourished in the 80’s.

If you could have lunch with ANYONE – living or dead – who would you choose?

Why do all of these questions have to be superlatives?! My catchphrase is like that old Lay’s slogan, only mine reads “Betcha can’t pick just one.” I want to pick one person from like 10 of eras and then have one amazing lunch where I learn all about the history of the world from people who were actually there to see it. Here’s my lunchtime Super Group lineup: Eve (the one from the Bible, not the rapper… although to be honest, I’d be fine with either), Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Queen Elizabeth I, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Freddie Mercury, Princess Diana, Will Smith, Tina Fey, and all of the Spice Girls.

What is your ultimate life goal?

I want to be a good friend, to make people laugh, to love and to be loved, and to see and do as much as I can before I die.

11 random things about me:

1. I can wiggle my eyeballs.
2. My favorite movie is the Princess Bride.
3. My go-to karaoke song is Don’t Stop Believing by Journey.
4. I have a scar on my forehead in basically the same spot as Harry Potter (but it’s not a lightning bolt).
5. I hate mushrooms.
6. I hoard board games. I own probably 50 different ones, and I’m constantly buying more.
7. I love gossip, but I’m terrible at keeping secrets.
8. Mario Batali tweeted at me once.
9. I’ve been to Dubai.
10. My favorite planet is Neptune. Don’t ask me why, because I have no reason for it.
11. Batman is my favorite superhero (and if you even try to argue that he’s not technically a superhero because he doesn’t have any super powers, I will light you on fire).

The final bit of this thing is to share the love with some other bloggers I love, so here you go. Please go check out these awesome blogs: Table Scraps, Greenville Bites, and Foodmancing The Girl.