Liebster Blog Award!

I'm going to go about this blog post all wrong. 

I know I know I know I know I know... please don't kill me. Rules are meant to be broken, am I right (at least that's the motto... but if it's the rule that rules are meant to be broken then I guess rules AREN'T meant to be broken and so on and so forth)?

Ahem.

I was awarded by one of my lovely readers (Emma of Read Bake Stitch) for the Liebster and, if my memory isn't failing me, I was tagged to do this a LONG time ago as well by someone... but they weren't a follower of mine? Haha I found it a little strange so I didn't indulge my answers to them (I'm such a tease, I know).

Essentially, from what I gather, this is an award given out TO bloggers BY bloggers; the requirements?  

1.) Your blog must have below 200 followers, and

2.) You must be tagged (or 'awarded') by another blogger.

Then you are supposed to follow some fancy rules (all in quantities of 11... which I don't understand the importance of, haha):

1.) You must post 11 things about yourself,

2.) You must answer the 11 questions your tagger has asked you (ooo, saucy!!),

3.) You must create 11 new questions to ask other bloggers (wait for it...),

4.) You must tag 11 other bloggers who have under 200 followers (but no tag backs [doesn't saying that just bring out the five year old in us all?]).

Phewfta!! Now that all of that is out of the way, here's where I'm going to be a 'rebel' and break the rules: I'm not tagging anyone. I know, I'm a horrible person; you can throw (soft) things at me. I will, however, mention some (I'm not sure I have 11) lovely bloggers with under 200 followers that I actually THOROUGHLY enjoy so that I can spread the word of their blog to my readers.

So, I'm not asking them any questions either (if they really want me to, they can send me a message and I'll generate some good ones!!), just merely spreading the love :)

So take the jump below if you want to learn a little more about me and see who I would have tagged if I were doing this post properly!!

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Eleven Things About Me (that you may or may not be aware of):

1.) While I may be a beauty addict now, I actually didn't start wearing makeup until I was about 15/16 years old and even then I only used concealer on my teenage zits and borderline raccoon eyeliner. My mom had to beg me every year to be a girl for once and at least put on makeup for my school pictures haha.

2.) I am a HUGE nerd. And no, not the kind of nerd who is really naturally smart and carries a cornucopia of pens in their shirt pocket. I was (and still am, though not even close to the extent I used to be) a connoisseur of Japanese culture... I was a manga/anime nerd, okay!!?!??!?!? My brother introduced me to Pokemon and my chance at being a popular kid in my middle school career was over from then on out...

3.) I have two very large tattoos on my back (they take up... maybe 1/3 or 1/2 of my back?) and plan on getting more as the years go by (and my bank statement improves).

4.) I was pre-dental my first three years of undergrad but, after a few apprenticeships, decided it wasn't the thing for me after all (much to the disappointment of many elders in my life).

5.) I was a waitress for six years and it ruined my back, most likely for the rest of my life (thanks a lot heavy trays of food for demanding customers!).

6.) I have an older brother that, if you saw the two of us together in public, you would NEVER guess was related to me (we definitely got opposite sets of our parent's genes).

7.) I speak three languages (though I'm definitely not fluent in the two that aren't my native tongue, I can get by enough to probably live in each country with no problem/language barrier).

8.) I can wiggle my bottom eyelid of my left eye (it's weird... but everyone seems to want to see it haha).

9.) I contracted, and survived, the swine (or "Swine Flu"/H1N1 virus that went around in 2009).

10.) I love trashy TV and don't care who knows it; it makes me feel better as a human being and makes me feel like I'm actually going places with my life... what's wrong with that?

11.) I have an extreme case of 'b**** face'. Seriously, if you ever see me out in public, PLEASE say hello and don't be deterred by my horrendously scary gaze!! That's just the way my face is when I'm relaxed, I promise! Here is an example from when I was up at a friend's cabin (many years ago) and they called out to me to take my picture... I thought I was making a pleasant/happy face that they were coming down to the lake!!

What my mind was thinking: "Oh hai friendzzz!!!" What my face says: "the F*** do you want???"

11 Questions Asked By My Nominator Emma:

1.) What is your favorite book? 

This is really hard for me (I'm an avid reader, thanks to my mom), but, for nostalgia's sake, I'm going to say A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was one of the first 'real' books that my mom had me read and, no matter how many times I read it, I fall in love with the characters all over again; Smith just has a way of projecting a movie before your eyes through her words and the tale is extremely touching. Other honorable mentions are Norwegian Wood (Murakami), The Time Traveler's Wife (Niffenegger), Angus, Thongs, And Full-Frontal Snogging (Rennison)... I have a very strange taste in books, I know.

2.) If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?

As I mentioned in my 11 facts above, it would have to be Japan. Not only did my childhood make me fall in love with manga/anime, the many years since then have developed my love for the language, the culture, the fashion... basically everything about Japan and thus it is a lifelong dream of mine to one day spend some time there.

3.) What's your guilty pleasure song? Be honest, everyone has one!

Hmmm, this is really hard for me since I really don't hide from people the things that I listen to!! I bust out to pretty much anything that tickles my fancy (though country is the only thing that will never tickle me... I can't stand that genre) but I suppose the 'guiltiest' thing about my singing habits is with rap. If there is a rap song that I am really into at the moment, I will sit in front of my laptop with the song on repeat and the lyrics on my screen until I memorize and can rap the WHOLE song; it's both impressive and embarrassing at the same time depending on who my audience is.

4.) What's your most embarrassing moment?

Just like the last question, I'm not too sure that I have one!! I just don't let embarrassing moments get to me all that much, but I suppose if I had to pick one it would be this (get ready for a novel story):

 At my senior prom (the only prom I went to... I can't handle organized dances) we went out to a Japanese restaurant called "Ichiban" in Minneapolis for dinner where they do teppanyaki for your meal. Our chef was very funny (you know, rolling an egg across the grill and yelling "egg roll!!" in a heavy Japanese accent or tossing a pad of butter onto the grill and shouting "butterfly!!") and somehow must have been under the impression that we were there for a birthday party rather than a pre-prom feast. So at the end of the meal when they were asking us all what kind of ice cream we wanted (it was included, as many Japanese steakhouses do) he and the manager that was assisting him were VERY insistant on figuring out whose birthday it was. We tried to tell them that it was nobody's birthday but finally, to get them off our backs, I just said "okay okay it's me", figuring they might just add some whipped cream to my ice cream or something; maybe some sprinkles. They looked delighted, and, when they came back with our tray of ice cream, they brought out a SUPER fancy sundae for me with a candle and everything and had the whole restaurant sing me "Happy Birthday". Here's a picture where you can see how embarrassed I was:

5.) Do you play a musical instrument? If not, what would you love to play if you could?

I don't (unless you count my voice), but I have ALWAYS wanted to be able to play the piano or violin (I'm double jointed though and the joints in my fingers freeze up too often for me to ever be dextrous enough for all of that finger wiggling).

6.) Have you got something that you have had since you were a baby?

Yup, I've still got my (now tattered) baby blanket!!

7.) If you could invite one famous person to dinner, alive or dead, who would it be?

This is really difficult, as there are SO many famous people whose brains I'd love to pick, but I'd probably pick Freddie Mercury.

8.) If you could eat the same thing over and over for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Ugh, this is another really difficult question since I'm SUCH a foodie and have so many different favorite foods!! I suppose though, if I HAD to choose, I would pick thick crust pizza (either plain old cheese or sausage and mushroom) with some ranch to dip it in. Mmmmm...

9.) What's your favorite perfume?

Emma, you're killing me, haha!! This is another one where it REALLY depends on my mood/time of year (weather makes a huge difference in how a perfume plays with your chemistry!) but I'd probably be able to narrow it down to Thierry Mugler Womanity EDP or Fresh Brown Sugar EDP.

10.) Team Edward or Team Jacob? (Hhahahhahah!)

I don't have many feelings towards the Twilight series, so I'm going to change this one to 'Team Gale or Team Peeta' haha :) In which case, I am DEFINITELY Team Peeta!! He just... guhhh I don't know if it's that I relate to him or that he just had the capability to melt my heart to mush (I love how I'm talking about him as though he's a real person *sob* #realitybites), but I definitely ship him over Gale ANY day.

11.) What is your dream career?

Being an art professor at a private college in Minnesota; private so that class sizes are small and I can really work with and get to know my students and Minnesota because that's where my family and (most of my) friends are!!

If you've made it this far: CONGRATS. You basically deserve an award in return just for reading all of that, but I hope you enjoyed regardless of my rambling!! I figured it just might be nice if you want to get to know me a little better :)

And, as promised, here are the blogs/bloggers that I said I would mention which/who I thoroughly enjoy: 

Jane of life'sentropy

An-An of AnanSays

Victoria of Little Bird Blue

Kathy of My Peach Days

Shu of shulikesclothes

Ta-dah!! I hope you're all having a great weekend :)

xoxo - Cassie