Answer Me This, Vol. 5 - Childhood Embarrassment and More Tea

Linking up with Kendra over at Catholic All Year for her Answer Me This Q&A type link-up, which is fun and way easier than coming up with my own original bloggy content.
 

1. Beach or Mountains? Where would you rather be?

BEEEEEEEEACH. Toes in the water, a** in the sand! The mountains are nice but I feel like there's so much more to do at the beach that doesn't require sturdy footwear. I like riding my bike and playing volleyball and lying in the sun and surfing and wave jumping and bonfires and stuff. Plus, there's no chance of snow at a SoCal beach, ever, which really makes me happy and relieves the whole "oh-sweet-Jesus-I-hate-the-cold-and-the-snow-and-why-is-white-stuff-falling-from-the-sky-and-did-I-mention-it's-cold!?!?!?!" thing.  Beach is best.

from Wikimedia Commons

2. Which is more fun: Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?

 Christmas morning has always been a bit of a let down for me because I know that after breakfast and presents we're not going to do anything. Christmas Eve is much more special because the whole family comes over and we have tamales and chili and give gifts and hang out. I think that's the main reason we don't do a nice sit-down Christmas dinner - because we had the crazy big fiesta the night before.

3. What's the most embarrassing childhood outfit you remember wearing?

 5th grade, we did polaroids in front of the class Christmas tree which we then used to make into ornaments for our parents. I was feeling ambitious so I brought a Top Secret outfit to school. It consisted of a crazy quilt tree skirt (my grandmother actually made tree skirts meant to be worn as skirts because my cousin and I dressed as Santa's elves at Christmas parties for family and friends), a winter patterned turtleneck (penguins and snowflakes) and a Christmas vest (bells, holly, angels, etc.). Alone, any one of these pieces makes a statement. I put them all together. At 10, I didn't exactly have any fashion sense and didn't realize that putting 3 loud patterns together was a bad idea. My mom laughed and said it was charming before pointing that out, though.

4.  Your house is quiet, you don't have to do work (housework included). What do you do?

 Tea time with a book and writing letters! This is actually what Sunday mornings sometimes look like for me. I ignore the housework I should be doing, make myself a nice pot of English Breakfast and some soft-boiled eggs and settle at the table with my letters or a good book. It's my few hours of sanctuary while my housemate spends 3 hours at church.

from Pinterest vie this Tumblr

5. What movie do you want to watch when you're feeling under the weather?

 I have my go-to favorites: The Princess Bride, Ever After and Shakespeare In Love are the main ones, as well as The Swan Princess and Thumbelina. Sometimes I change it up with The Lake House or The Holiday (even if it's July, that's such a good movie).

6. Did you have an American Girl doll when you were little? If so, which one? 

Nope.  There were a lot of times when my mom thought about getting me one of those custom ones that look like you, but in the end they were quite expensive (even in the 90s) and I had plenty of toys that I loved and I wasn't overly sad to have missed out. I did read some of the American Girl books, and always loved the classics: Kit and Samantha.


So that's it for this round of Answer Me This! If you have a blog, answer the questions and link up with us over at Kendra's in this post. Don't have a blog but still want to play? That's okay because this whole thing is made up and the posts don't matter - leave your answers in the comments either at Kendra's post or right here! I'd love to hear from you.

love,
Willow



*Author's Note: None of the images in this post are my property. They are from all around the internet. I have given credit as best I can where possible. The text in this post is my property, not that you'd want to steal it anyway. Thank you for not suing me.*

Answer Me This, Vol. 4: Beards and Other Hairy Situations

This week Answer Me This is being hosted by Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas! Cuz Kendra decided to up and go to France of all the silly things. I love Answer Me This because it's a Q&A style thing that's way fun and easier than coming up with my own bloggy content. Here we go!!!

1. What's the scariest thing that's ever been in your yard?

In my childhood home, I swear I saw a coyote prowling around in our backyard once but my dad insisted I was dreaming (I maintain that I wasn't.). We know for sure we've had possums and raccoons and skunks and gophers and moles but nothing bigger than that. At my current address, the scariest thing in our "yard" was a drunken brawl involving a lot of screaming and breaking glass and such that had spilled out from across the street. That was a little scary.

2. Beards. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Depends on the beard! If it's a short, nicely trimmed beard, I am all for it. But scraggly, all over the place beards that are bigger than a man's head? Not so much my cup of tea. I'm okay with a little 5 o'clock shadow or stubble, but it's not my favorite. I do think it's interesting that a variety of facial hair has come back into fashion.

very nice

not so nice

3. If stuff breaks, can you fix it?

Depends on the thing! If it's a domestic issue like a plugged up drain and drain-o and a plunger can do it, I'm on it. I like to think I'm pretty handy around the house, since I can hang curtains and usually put things together if they break.  I have this pink plastic tool kit my mom got me when I moved into my first college apartment which has come in pretty darn handy, too.  I'm good with glue and tape and hammers and screwdrivers but if the garbage disposal stops disposing, I'm calling Daddy. Major plumbing and electrical issues, I call a professional.

4. What was your first car?

I have SUCH fond memories of my first car. It was a 1974 Volkswagon Superbeetle and I loved that thing. It was light yellow, stickshift, looked like Tinkerbell's head (think her hair color) and it was wonderful. It was so me, too. I had it for about 2 years from when I first started learning to drive at 15 to when it finally died at the end of October in my senior year. Her name was Kiki, and she was a dream. From the crappy stereo that played my very first mix CDs to the sound of 3 backpacks rattling around in the trunk (which was in the front, of course) on the way home from school with my friends, to standing on the roof and singing songs from Rent with my girls in the senior parking lot, it was a great car.

Me and Kiki off to school. (Fall, 2006)
Yes, that is the all girls, Catholic school uniform.

Of course we had to replace the clutch twice and it seemed to always have something on it that needed fixing, but I didn't care, I loved it. When Kiki died I drove my mom's car for about 2 weeks until we found a replacement - my current ride, a 2002 Mustang V6 in bright yellow. I was bummed it was an automatic but it was truly much more reliable and "safe" (who gives a teenage girl with a love for speed a Mustang?) and Stefano Esteban (I ascertained fairly quickly that my car was a flamboyant Italian man) and I have been inseparable since then.

Me and Stefano headed to school.(Fall, 2007)
Love how I'm wearing my Senior Sweater.

5. How often do you eat out?
Far more often than I like or care to admit. Because I work so late most nights I'm not all that interested in cooking food at 8pm that I won't be eating until 9pm or later. I'm hoping that as my schedule returns to normal after The Great Office Move of Never Happening Again Ever I can get back to regular hours and feeding myself properly.

6. Why is your hair like that? 

Moderately well-behaved curls at a concert last summer.

I have naturally curly hair (and I mean curly, not wavy or or kinky, I mean frizzy and curly and generally unmanageable) and it's naturally part sunkissed blonde and part brownish blonde. I usually get the brownish blonde bits touched up so that my hair doesn't look like a weave with grown-out roots because I don't think that's very pleasing to look at. I had hair past my waist until I was 13 and I've had it between my elbows and my ears ever since. I cut it again when I went really ridiculously fun short when I was 19 because I was going to Germany for a week and didn't want to have to mess with it, and I chopped it off at the beginning of last summer for the last time in a long while. (Each time I cut it short I donated it to Locks of Love.) I'm trying to grow it out again and see if some length can make my hair a little more cooperative.

This was 2 1/2 years ago when my hair was longer
(still not quite to my elbows, though)

Also, I'm going to dye it pink this summer. Not all of it and not hot pink, but some sections will have a bit of pink, even if I have to do it myself (which no one wants).


If you have a blog, answer the questions and link up with us over at Haley's in this post. Don't have a blog but still want to play? That's okay because this whole thing is made up and the posts don't matter - leave your answers in the comments either at Haley's post or right here! I'd love to hear from you.

love,

Willow



*Author's Note: The images of men with beards are NOT my property - all of the others are. All the text in this post is my property. Thank you for not suing.*