Liebster Blog Award

This post is long overdue! The very beautiful, and overwhelmingly sweet Katha over at Kathastrophal (how cute is that name?!) recently gave me the Liebster Blog Award! Isn't she the sweetest? If you haven't checked out Katha's blog yet, you certainly should. She is absolutely stunning, incredibly sweet, and frequently posts photographs of some of the most delicious looking pastries you have ever clapped eyes on. I've contemplated licking my computer screen. For real. On a theoretically less cringe-inducing note, the award carries with it the requirement that I share with you ten random facts about myself. Here goes!

#1 - I had pet hermit crabs when I was a little girl. I can't for the life of me remember their names, but I used to insist on taking them for walks. I carried them around on the palm of my hand so that they could get fresh air, and enjoy the great outdoors. As I'm sure you can imagine, this didn't always end well. I got pinched a lot.

#2 - I feel really uncomfortable around strangers. I usually mask this by cackling like a hyena, and being overly animated, neither of which help with anyone's discomfort. I end up feeling even more uncomfortable because people (understandably) think I'm slightly unbalanced.

#3 - I once used my lunch money to liberate a rat from my middle school science class. Mr. D was going to feed the poor thing to his snake that afternoon. I thought my mom was going to have a heart attack when I walked up to the car at the end of the day clutching a sad little rat in my hands.

#4 - After two years of working towards a PhD in History, I decided that I was tired of huddling in a corner chewing on my hair, and crying myself to sleep every night, so I made the executive decision to leave Academia. I'm going back to school to earn my teaching credentials so I can teach high school History.

#5 - I'm an appallingly bad cook. I mean, BAD. As in, I almost burnt down the kitchen in my old apartment trying to cook Mr. CP dinner before we started dating.

#6 - In true girly fashion, I'm terrified of spiders. I tend to squeal at a pitch that only dogs can hear whenever I see one.

#7 - I am horribly disorganized. It's sad, actually. I thought about resolving to get better about organization, but I like to be realistic in my New Year's resolutions.

#8 - Mr. CP and I are going to be moving to Colorado sometime this year -- probably in July or September -- and we couldn't be happier about it. We're ready to live some place with sunlight.

#9 - The single greatest sorrow in my life is that Hogwarts isn't real. At least, that's what I'm assuming. Otherwise, I'd be left to assume that I just didn't get an invitation and am, in fact, a muggle, a thought which is too depressing to even contemplate.

#10 - I'm absolutely convinced that Muse's song "Star Light" is about Dr. Who, a belief that Mr. CP finds endlessly hilarious and/or frustrating. He's been trying to convince me for several years that I'm wrong, but my belief is apparently unswerving.

I'm supposed to pass this award on to just one person, but that's impossible. I've limited myself to two people who I haven't given awards to before (that I can remember). Kassi (The Closet Intervention), Sarah (Coming Unstitched): it's your turn!

I Bet You Didn't Know...

Top: Lowland Rugosa Tank/Anthropologie

Cardigan: Halogen/Nordstrom

Jeans: Gap

Boots: Abound/Nordstrom Rack

Head band: H&M

Necklace: Aaaaall over the place

Bracelet: Gifted

First and foremost, allow me to apologize for the funky lighting in the photographs. Apparently I managed to stand in the only -- and I do mean only -- patch of sunshine to be found in Seattle today. What are the odds?

The last post I wore jeans in seemed to be a big hit with all of you, my beautiful, wonderful, oh-so-spectacular readers, so I figured I would post another jeans-centric outfit. I wasn't sure about pairing the dark blue top with the dark blue bottoms, but I think the cardigan and boots did a nice job of breaking up the monotony. You can't tell in the photographs, but the embroidered flowers on the top literally glow. Thank you, metallic thread! Swoon! I kept looking down at my shirt while I walked, and mumbling random phrases like, "Preeeeeeeetty" and "mmmphmmmph glooooooows! mmmphmmph." (Note: for the purposes of this post, "mmmph" = random mumbled noises) No one pulled their children away from me today, but I did get the stink eye from a couple people. It's okay, though; I had my beautiful glow-y blouse to soothe my wounded spirit.

The ever-beautiful and exceptionally sweet Alex of Delayed Missives recently gave me two new blog awards! Hooray! A fellow Scotch lover, I'm eagerly awaiting the day when Alex comes to Seattle -- or I go to New York -- and we can bond over our mutual love of malty, peaty goodness and, of course, fashion. ;)

These awards carry with them the requirement that I share 7 random facts about myself. Ruh roh... this could get interesting.

1.) I love coffee. Have I ever said that before? I don't think I have. I love coffee so much, in fact, that I have at my disposal at least a dozen different ways to brew up a cup and/or pot. However... ahem, unfortunately for Mr. CP I'm terrified of most (read: all but one) of the coffee-making implements we have -- I'm illogically convinced they are going to explode on me -- so until very recently it was among Mr. CP's many duties to make sure that I was caffeinated in the morning. In an effort to "empower my womanity" (his words, not mine), we bought an idiot-proof, user-friendly Nespresso machine. I can now make my own coffee. I feel empowered.

2.) I will maintain until my dying day that a three-pronged fork should be called a "threek." I therefore refuse to call it anything else.

3.) I have an inexplicable attachment to hoods. It's a fair bet that 9 times out of 10, if I'm sitting around the house, I'm wearing a hood. 

4.) I once got a concussion while having a nerf war. It's a long story, but I'll boil it down. Mr. CP stole my nerf gun and tried to run away from me; I latched on to his leg, and stupidly refused to let go (I'm tenacious that way); he pulled me along the floor (he's tenacious that way); I bonked my head on my jewelry armoire; I got knocked out. Fin.

5.) I talk in my sleep. Apparently my favorite thing to ask about is "cantaloupe." For the record, my favorite fruit is bananas.

6.) The absolute last place you ever want to find me is in the kitchen. I'll either end up burning the room down, or producing something so foul that not even alley-scavenging raccoons will want to eat it.

7.) I don't talk about it much on here, but I love reading. Lately, I've been wading my way through Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard (headache much?), and also re-reading the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. I recently finished re-reading Silas Marner by George Eliot (one of my very favorite books), Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, and Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault.

Now I get to pass on the awards to some other lovely people! =D Hooray! In the interest of spreading the love, I tried to give these awards to a different group then last time. ;)

Kassi at The Closet Intervention

Laura at The Blog of Worldly Delights

Rebecca at The Plus Side of Me

Dotty at Dash Dot Dotty

Karla at Frugal Big Girl

Gazel at Bonjour Gazel

Sara at The Woollen Mitten

Loren at Frock Stock

Two Blog Awards

Hello, hello! I'm officially back from my brief trip to Colorado. I have yet to edit the photos -- that's my task for tomorrow morning -- but I'll post those sometime tomorrow. =D

While I was away, Karla over at Frugal Big Girl gave me my very first blog awards! Hooray! I'd like to offer up a great big thank you to Karla. She really is one of the sweetest people you'll ever have the good fortune to meet. I was so excited when I saw that she had given the blog the awards below, and I couldn't wait to get back and share the news with you.

Here are the rules:

Link back to the blogger you got the award from

Write 7 random things about yourself

Fill in the question form below

Give the award to 10 other blogs and let them know

7 random things about me:

1. I love poetry. I can't write it to save my life, but I thoroughly enjoy reading it. My favorite poets: Tennyson and Rilke.

2. I'm terrified of spiders. Jump-on-the-bed-and-screech-at-a-pitch-that-only-dogs-can-hear terrified of them. They're a-holes. And I maintain that they occasionally growl at me. 

3. I played the role of Ruth in my high school's production of The Pirates of Penzance. I dyed my hair gray, too. It didn't come out for... well, longer than I would have liked. 

4. I've read all of Jane Austen's novels 5 times (that I can remember). I hate them all, and have since the first read through. I just keep thinking I need to give them another chance... and another... and another.

5. I like Scotch, Bourbon, Stouts, and IPAs, which apparently makes me unique among women.

6. I rock first-person shooter video games. I have no idea why or how, but I do. I can't for the life of me play any other sort of game, but shooters? I put both Mr. CP and my father -- both avid gamers -- to shame. (Ruh roh... them's fightin' words)

7. I worked as a historical consultant on a documentary about the Alaskan Gold Rush. I thought it would make me more like Indiana Jones. It so didn't. At all.

Question Form:

Name your favorite song: My all-time favorite song is "Let Go" by Frou Frou. Not far behind are "Guns Gold Girls" (Metric), "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Map of the Problematique" (Muse), "Houses" (Great Northern), and "A Sight to Behold" (Eisley).

Name your favorite dessert: It's my very own Sophie's Choice. Pumpkin pie. I love good pumpkin pie.

What pisses you off: People with a sense of entitlement.

Your favorite pet: I just love animals. I don't really have a favorite.

Black or white: Black.

Your biggest fear: Spiders. See above.

Best feature: Probably my eyes. They're green, my very favorite color!

Everyday attitude: Happy and friendly, with a dash of sarcasm thrown in for good measure.

What is perfection: Perfection is entirely subjective. However, I will say that I don't really believe in "perfection." I think that what makes life fun and interesting are all of its imperfections.

Guilty pleasure: The Vampire Diaries. It's like Dawson's Creek with vampires. FTW.

Bloggers: I Pick You!

Gracey at Fashion for Giants: I think she already has one or both of these, but I'm mentioning her anyway. She's friendly and hilarious, two of my favorite qualities in a person!

Caroline at Second Hand Shopper: She's one of my UK blog friends! She's so adorable, and has some seriously fantastic items in her closet.

Lenore at Lather Write Repeat: We have a lot of the same things in our closets. It's unsettling.

Reading in Skirts (Tia): She's seriously awesome. She rocks some of the coolest hair ever. She also leaves consistently hilarious comments on my blog that never fail to make me smile!

Reading in Skirts (Mia): Another hilarious commentator on this blog. She has some of the cuuuutest skirts ever. I often squeal when I visit her posts.

Nicole at Ruby Nite: She has an amazing collection of dresses and petticoats. She's fantastically adorable. 

Lilli at Frocks and Frou Frou: What do I even say about her? She's adorable, and she has a magnificent dress collection.

Inna at Skippy Says: I love this girl. She's sassy. She's hilarious. She's sarcastic. She's stylish. In short: she's awesome!

Laura at The Blog of Worldly Delights: I heart Laura. She's beyond swell. =D She's funny, she's smart, and she's a whiz with the sewing machine. Put simply, she's ah-mayzing!

Bekah at Matters of Merrymaking: Bekah is, indeed, a merrymaker. She also has some killer outfits. She always looks comfortable, put together, and super duper cute.