The Liebster Award is a peer award for Bloggers by Bloggers. I’m proud to be kicking off my new year with a nomination! Thank you Caffeinated Writer, Danielle!

The Liebster Award recognizes blogs with less than a 1000 followers and strives to increase collaboration and encourage readership. It’s like that old Faberge Organic Shampoo Commercial, you tell two friends and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on…and eventually I hit a million followers! I like this award!

Once nominated*, the nominee should answer a couple of questions on their blog and then nominate others, providing those bloggers with a new list of questions.

Danielle’s questions for me:
What is your favorite flavor of jellybean?
I like grape jelly beans. Or maybe I just like purple.

What’s your favorite Christmas movie?
How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

If you could live in any period of history, when would it be?
I’ve been told I’d be a good Hippie, but I think I’d rather be a Beatnik. The 50’s is about as far back in history as I’m willing to be jungled up, lol.

Tell me 5 things that I’d see when I walk in your door.
Yourself (there’s a mirror on the wall), original (watercolor, photography, and book) art by me, shoes, coats, and dog fur tumbleweeds blown by the breeze of the opening door.

What kind of celebration would there be on a “St. YOU” day?
Wow, is she playing right into my vices or what?! Please know, folks, that I was provided with these questions!

That said, a celebration on St. Mary Day would definitely include sending cards. 🙂
And drinking beer.
Live music.
Nachos.
And maybe even a parade.

Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Despite my vanity, this one is tougher… Please tell me they’re going to play me younger, thinner, cuter, and tan. (I look good tan.)

Give me three words that describe you.
I am Creative. I am Quirky. I am Kind.
(and I adore alliteration)

What was the best birthday you ever had?
That Chicks on Parade image above? That was a pretty cool birthday celebration. 🙂
But the one that really stands out happened a couple of years ago, when we were invited to a reunion party for a band out of the 80’s from U of I called Otis and The Elevators. It was at somebody’s house in Chicago– well, it was between several houses and in the alley. They had food and beverage and live music. It was very, very cool and it fell on my birthday, so very very VERY cool.

If you were a ghost, where would you haunt?
Am I haunting, ooooooh? Or just hanging around? I’m going to say I’m just hanging around, I can’t imagine either being bad or haunting bad people for the rest of my afterlife. I’m checking in on my kids, and their kids, and my husband (and his new wife). Visiting family near and far. Traveling to exotic places that my physical self was unable to view. I’m probably a beach ghost. Or a music venue spirit. A Coast Ghost! Or a Stage Wraith! Ooooooh!

What kind of car did you wish you had when you were a kid? What about now?
I always thought I wanted a Mustang. A  red convertible Mustang.

Like this.

But I love the car I have now. It’s a black Nissan Rogue.

If you had to make an iPod playlist named after yourself, what songs would be on it?
Oh please. Had to? Try and stop me! I’d call my playlist, “Yes, I think this song is about me” and I’d fill it with Mary Songs.

Okay, that’s it for my questions, now I nominate my favorite bloggers that should be your favorite bloggers and ask them a series of questions.

I featured bloggers I enjoy back in May with my Sweeps Week. I don’t know how many followers these folks have, they might not even qualify for the Liebster Award! But I’m going to share the same bloggers because I want YOU to check them out and I want them to a) grow in their web success and/or b) BLOG.

I proudly nominate:
1. One of the most genuine and truly balanced people I have had the pleasure to know personally, Kelly Epperson Simmons. She probably has a million followers already (so you must already follow her, too).
2. My favorite Grandma, author, and humorous blogger, Christine Cacciatore, author of the The Life and Times of Poopwa Foley. Let’s all read her old posts and encourage NEW ones.
3. RB Austin has updated her blog site to 1publishedgirl, for quick bits of opinion and insight, but you’ll want to keep up with her Trihune Series activities on her website.
4. Christina Lamphere, The Koalafied Wife needs to get back to her Adventures of a Newlywed blogging with amazing recipes and fun stories about her husband and cat. Perhaps she will kick off a new blog habit by answering the questions for the Liebster award?
5. Since Sweeps Week last May, Cindy Karnitz had been a very busy writer. Keep up with her progress and monthly recipe releases here.

And these are the questions I’d like them to answer in acceptance of their Liebster Award (or just because it’s fun to talk about yourself, lol)
1. Describe 8 a.m. in your house.
2. Where was your best vacation, when and why?
3. Share a strange habit that you’re guilty of.
4. What is the one song that you would pull over to the side of the road to properly appreciate in all it’s high-volume car stereo brilliance?
4a. What song do you turn off immediately? Like in the middle of a conversation with your passenger before the first few notes are even complete.
5. What is your least favorite chore?
6. What is your proudest moment in writing?
7. Quick! The first childhood memory that pops into your head.
8. What book(s) are you currently reading?
9. Give yourself a new nickname. Now explain it.
10. What aren’t you doing that should be doing because you’re doing this?

Thank you! Now, it’s your turn… I look forward to reading your answers and connecting with the blogs you nominate.

*The Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.
2. Answer the questions your nominator gave you.
3. Tag some bloggers with less than 1,000 readers.
4. Think of questions for the bloggers you have nominated.
5. Let them know you have nominated them through social media or their blog.