award appreciation.

Thank you so much to Enkelt Liv…(Simple Life) for the Leibster Award nomination and to Jet Set Brunette for the One Lovely Blog Award nomination. As someone who is fairly new to this blogging world, it is an incredible joy to hear that Wardrobe Vibrancy made you smile. Let’s continue the circle of inspiration and appreciation!

Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Isn’t that sweet? Blogging is about building a community and it’s a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.

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

The rules seem to overlap for acceptance of these awards, so I’m going to be a bit bold and accept both at once! The rules for acceptance are as follows (keep in mind that I’m melding the directions for both awards in this post)…

• Post the awards on your blog.
• Thank the bloggers who presented the award and link back to their blog.
• Write 11 random facts about yourself.
• Nominate bloggers who you feel deserve this award.
• Answer questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees questions.

Here goes nothing.

Random Facts About Me

1. I would merrily eat ice cream or gelato on the coldest day of the year.
2. I have a severe case of wanderlust and it doesn’t seem to go away with age.
3. I met my fiancé on a service trip to Ethiopia (see wanderlust in #2).
4. My sister and I are both getting married in 2015.
5. I could sit for hours on end in a coffee shop, preferably an independent coffee shop with comfy chairs, giant mugs, delicious snacks and books.
6. The Landmark Forum and coursework was the impetus for starting this blog. Don’t google it and read all of the strange reviews. For me it was an incredible experience.
7. I am an organization freak. I don’t like to bring anything home that doesn’t have a specific place.
8. I sometimes feel like a 60 year old woman in a 27 year old body.
9. I love flowers, especially wild ones. I wish that I could wake up surrounded by them everyday.
10. I hate cloves and licorice. I like almost every other food and flavor.
11. When I was little, I told people that I was going to be an “artist” when I grew up. I interviewed my art teacher for a research paper.

Nominations

Beyond simply nominating these three blogs, I want to acknowledge them and draw your attention to their lovely sites.

• modern muse and musings – Nicole and I started this blogging journey together. Her artistic blog and views on life continue to inspire me. Definitely take the time to check out her artful and expressive blog.
• 101 Days, 101 Strangers – Aliya is a wonderful writer and an inspiration. In her blog, she goes on a journey to meet a random stranger every day for 101 days and to feature them in a blog post. I had the privilege of being featured on her blog recently.
• a life well consumed – Leslie, a fellow blogger in Vancouver, explores life, style, local events, and food. Check out her little corner of the world.

Some Questions Answered

1. How are you, really? I love this question. It is so rare to be genuinely asked. I’m doing really well at this particular moment. Warning: the way that I’m feeling at this moment will probably change often throughout the next hour.
2. What is your favorite part about today so far? Waking up later than usual and drinking a giant cup of coffee.
3. What do you think is one of the most undervalued professions right now and why?
   Creative professions are incredibly undervalued. Melding art with work requires a serious amount of commitment, motivation, perseverance and skill.
4. How do you feel about public speaking? I love it and it terrifies me.
5. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their warmth. Their openness.
6. When you open someone’s blog for the first time, what makes you keep reading? Beautiful, clean images. Honest writing. Coordinated fonts and images.

Questions Asked (for Nominees)

1. Why do you blog?
2. If you are having a terrible day, what brings a smile to your face?
3. Are you a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person?
4. What scares you and excites you equally?
5. When you open someone’s blog for the first time, what makes you keep reading?

Thanks for bearing with me throughout this lengthy post. I am feeling incredibly appreciative to all of you for your support and recognition!