And I Didn’t Even Have Time to Pick Out a Dress…

I’ve am shocked an in awe that I was chosen by Melissa from Kensignton Cottage for the Stylish Blogger award because she loved our kitchen makeover! Thank you so much for thinking of me, Melissa!

Lucky for me, I can stay right here in my sweat pants because this award doesn’t come with a big ceremony or anything. As a recipient, I’m just supposed to tell you 7 things about myself you probably didn’t know and pass the award on to 7 other bloggers.

Hmmm…what to share, what to share…ok, in no particular order…

1. I LOVE American Girl dolls. Sort of odd, for a grown woman, I admit, but I appreciate them as collector’s items and for integrating reading and history into imaginative play. There was a time not so very long ago when I actually owned every single one of the historical dolls, but then they kept making new ones, we had kids & I had better things to do than spend money on dolls for myself. Anyway, I really want to visit the American Girl store in NY or Chicago one of these days. And speaking of Chicago…

2. I am a little obsessed with Oprah. My biggest lifelong goal has been to be a guest on her show, (not just in the audience, I want to be a personally invited guest, darn it) but now that it’s ending I’m kind of devastated that won’t happen. Even if I get to be on one of her OWN network shows it just won’t be the same. The dream has died. 🙁

3. I think my home town of Baltimore has the best regional food in the country. I’m not quite sure what’s wrong with the rest of the world because they still haven’t figured out how to make a decent crab cake or that snowballs & pit beef are amazing.

4. I hate the idea of skiing. My husband loves it & he usually goes a few times a year. I just really don’t want to pay $200 to freeze my butt off, fall down a hill, and be forced to ride that terrifying lift thing. No thank you.

5. I think my best parenting accomplishment to date is that, even though they are only toddlers, my kids have good manners. Earlier today we were out and Nicholas needed to ask a lady something & he started his sentence with, “Excuse me, ma’am…” People usually comment on how adorable it is, but my kids know it is expected. Now Nick actually corrects our manners. (and he’s usually right!)

6. My favorite book will probably always be Just As Long As We’re Together by Judy Blume. I read it the first time in fifth grade and I loved that it started with the Sentence, “Stephanie is into hunks.” A boy-crazy main character who shared my name? Loved.

7. I cannot spell, but I used to write all the time and I really should get back into it. In fact, in middle & high school I kept four separate note books. One was for short stories, one was for poems, one was a regular diary and one was my “boy book,” which was a separate book where I wrote about boys (in case you couldn’t tell from the title) because I decided that my diary should only include more philosophical things. As far as I know, all of these books were destroyed in Hurricane Isabelle when my parent’s house flooded. I bring this up because my new ultimate goal, now that being a guest on Oprah is a dead end, is to have a book published. Hmmm…maybe Oprah will read it & I’ll still be invited on one of her shows…

Now that you know how truly lame I really am, here comes the fun part.

I hereby pass the torch on to these fabulous bloggers:

1. My friend Mary Joy at Seeds of Encouragement Sewn with Grace. Mary Joy is passionate about sharing her faith and her love of Homemaking on her blog & she helps me to remember what a privilege it is to be able to stay home with my little ones, even when it feels like more of a punishment.

2. Michelle from That Mommy Blog. Michelle and I are in the same stage of life and quickly became blog friends. She has been featuring some great Silhouette projects and recently threw the cutest winter-themed birthday party that you’ve ever seen!

3. Sandra from Sawdust and Paper Scraps. This woman is AMAZING! She’s getting ready to move and has been giving her readers a tour of her house. Almost every room includes built-ins that she did all by her onesies.

4. My real-life friend Satoko who blogs at Sunshine Smile. Satoko is the one who inspired me to get back into sewing after a 15-or-so-year absence and start making toys and clothes for my kids. Plus she is hands-down one of the most talented photographers in the world of blogs.

5. Ana White of Ana-white.com. Undoubtedly, Ana has no time to respond to this award, but I’m giving it to her anyway. Since I started following her last year, her popularity has exploded. She started as a rural Alaskan housewife who decided to make afforadable furniture because the high-end stores she loved were out of her price range. She shares the plans for free and now her site is literally getting millions of hits a day, she’s been featured in magazines, and she has a book deal! Not to mention, she has single-handedly started a nationwide grassroots movement of women building their own furniture. I am dumbfounded by what she was able to accomplish in one year.

6. Ashley from Little Miss Momma. Ashley’s an adorable young mom who has a huge talent for writing and fierce sense of bravery. She took her own source of shame and pain and turned it into Sisterhood of Secrets, a safe place for women to show each other emotional support.

7. Christianne from Little Page Turners, a former teacher turned stay at home mom (like me) who blogs about great activities to incorporate children’s literature into your everyday life with toddlers. This might be my all-time favorite blog because Christi is real-life version of the mom I always imagined I would be. Life led me down a different path, one where I needed to chase away Nicholas’ demons for him, which outweighed all of that other stuff, but at Little Page Turners there is always a great craft idea, book recommendation, or snack to try. She’s like Diet Martha Stewart, all the good stuff you love about Martha but also down-to-earth with realistic ideas and a healthy relationship with her daughters.

Ok ladies, now it’s your turn.