Liebster Blog Award!

Wow! This is incredible! Thank you so much to these two lovely women who nominated me: Eva from Healthy Glow Nutrition and Claudia from Dip It Black. I nominate each of you in turn because I LOVE both of your blogs and I always look forward to hearing what you have to say about nutrition and fashion. You rock! 😀 😀 😀

What I love most about these kind of awards is the opportunity to pull back the curtain and share a bit more of myself with all of you. This award requires me to answer 11 questions about myself, and then to nominate 11 other great bloggers and ask them 11 questions. Since this came to me twice, I’ve got 22 questions to answer! Phew! Get ready to sit back and hear a whole lot about me right now, lol.

Eva’s Questions:

1. What inspires you? What doesn’t inspire me?! I seek inspiration in other people’s stories; most notably those I read here on WordPress or amongst my close friends and family. What moves me are the stories where someone overcomes a particular hardship and proves that they’re capable of doing anything in spite of the obstacle. I hear that and it helps me quit complaining and to stay on target because if they can do it, so can I.
2. What is your favorite dessert? Oh gosh, really?! Haha. I’d have to say pie, and usually apple pie or a mixed berry pie. Otherwise a vanilla cupcake with exceptional vanilla frosting does it for me too. I’m simple.
3. What is your favorite comedy? I don’t watch a whole lot of television or movies (currently) and comedy doesn’t usually top the list. But my favorite comedy of all time also makes my list for top films of all time, and that’s Airplane. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and rent it. It’s pure comedic genius. 
4. When you were a child, what did you want to be when your grew up? It was a tie between an archaeologist or a writer/artist. I blame Steven Spielberg and Indiana Jones for putting the archaeologist idea in my head. Writing came from an obsession with books at a young age and art from a drawing hobby. I gave up art in my teens, but obviously writing stuck!
5. Why did you start a blog? Ah, a loaded question with so many answers. If you read my blog you’ll see that I’m still struggling with what I’m trying to accomplish through my writing. I suppose I started out of a desire to do something nutrition-related that would allow me to both organize my thoughts and explore new ideas. It’s evolved past that into a melting pot of recipes, social commentary, and personal experimentation with fitness and diet. I imagine it’ll continue to change as I grow and change, so I’m embracing that as part of the process.
6. What is your favorite part of blogging? It’s cathartic. My prior writing experiences felt so constricted, like I couldn’t really express how I felt or what I believed.  Each of my posts now are written with a freedom I only ever felt while keeping my journal, which I still maintain. It’s important to keep some of the personal stuff aside and to keep the blog as something more universal. But I love the feeling of sitting at my computer and typing without inhibition. What’s even better is getting feedback from others. I always hope people will read what I’m putting out there, but to actually get the response is SO rewarding. 
7. What would be the name of your ‘reality show’ to describe your life? Oh man, I’m terrible at these kinds of things! I don’t know, “Obsessive-compulsive in the City”, lol. No one would watch my show but that’s me all the time. 
8. If your were to give a speech on any topic, what would it be? More than likely it would something related to body image and identity because those are the topics that I’m most closely connected to, especially when it comes to food and nutrition. 
9. If you changed your name, what would you change it to? I wouldn’t. My dad gave me my name and I love it. 🙂
10. What is your dream career? I ask myself this question constantly. I don’t have a definitive answer like “doctor” or “lawyer.” I’m committed to going to nutrition school and getting an R.D credential, so I’ll say nutritionist. But mostly I want to be able to write, meet people, and share stories about wellness and food, so whatever career allows me to explore that is where I hope to be. 
11. If money was no object, where would you live and why? Impossible to answer! I haven’t spoken much about travel on my blog, although I plan to in the near future. I’d have to say London. I’d move there in a heartbeat. It has an energy and vibe that’s similar to New York but it’s also Europe and I often feel like I have more in common with a European lifestyle and social ideology. Plus I have close friends based in London which is an additional incentive. 

Claudia’s Questions:

1. What’s your favorite dish? This is easy. My favorite is sancocho which is a classic Dominican stew that I grew up eating. It’s super complicated and takes hours to make. Of course my mom makes the best sancocho in the world and it’s the ultimate comfort food. I love it!
2. What do you like to do most when it’s raining outside? I usually stay in bed wrapped in my comforter watching old movies or streaming video courtesy of Netflix. Or I take the time to read or paint depending on my mood. 
3. What are you thinking about the most? Oh boy, what don’t I think about?! I suppose these days I’m mostly thinking about my blog and all the ideas I have for future posts. I spent a lot of time in my head going over things a million times and I usually overthink things. But I’m learning to let go little by little so that I can actually enjoy the experiences more and spend less time overanalyzing. Not easy, but so necessary. 
4. What would you do to stop hunger and war in the world? Start local and pay it forward. It’s hard enough to try and change one person then to attempt to shoulder the weight of a world’s worth of issues. The only way to create change is to start with yourself and to reach out to others with kindness and generosity, hoping they’ll pay it forward with your example. 
5.  Why did you choose this name for your blog? It just sort of came to me completely out of the blue. I thought it was a cute play on words since I knew I wanted to do a nutrition blog. Unfortunately, Food for Thought was taken so I had to make a few creative changes to make it more me. It all worked out in the end. 🙂
6. Who’s your favorite fashion icon and why? I don’t follow fashion as closely as I used to, but I absolutely love everything Oscar de la Renta does. His clothes are so gorgeously feminine. I wish I had a bottomless bank account and endless galas to attend so that I could fill my closet with his gowns. 
7. What makes you crazy? Awkward situations and self-righteous people. The former is pretty self-explanatory but the latter has to do with personal experiences. I believe in being steadfast with your beliefs and that you have a right to defend your opinions, but I really can’t tolerate people that are inflexible to the opinions of others and are also rude to boot. I’m not a confrontational person, and I usually go out of my way to avoid the awkwardness of confrontations so these kind of people annoy me to no end. Sigh.
8) Who do you admire and why? Amazing, strong women like my mom and my friends. Similar to Eva’s question about what inspires me, I think the people who stand up to impossible situations and remain committed to their ideals and goals are the most admirable people around. I aspire to have that kind of strength daily. 
9) What’s your biggest dream? My biggest dream is to finally feel comfortable with who I am, how I look, and my career. All major things that will take me time to work though, but when I think about a happy future, that’s what comes to mind. Oh and of course a gorgeous husband who cooks for me and flies me all over the world. It’s a dream, right? 😉
10) What are the blogs you love the most? The blogs I love are the ones where I can feel the passion behind the writer. Whether its through photography, or recipe sharing, or story-telling, that blind love for whatever topic is being blogged about can reach through the screen if the bloggers are wholly committed. There are tons of blogs out there but the ones that stand out (like the ones listed below!) share that passion with me, and I love that. 
11) Which book are you reading atm? (or which magazine?) I wrote a whole post the other day about Justin Cronin’s The Passage in anticipation of the sequel due out this Tuesday. I’m a bit weird about my reading. I usually go through a couple of books at the same time where I jump around a lot. So I’m also reading Miriam Nelson’s The Social Networking Diet, and I just finished Reflected in You, a contemporary romance. I’m trying to shake the romance addiction, but its so hard! As for magazines, I subscribe to Cooking Light, Fitness, Conde Nast Traveler, and Lucky. 

Alright, sick of me yet?? Now it’s time to turn the tables on the blogs I admire and nominate for the Liebster Blog Award!

Without further ado, here are the incredible nominees :

1 & 2 . Healthy Glow Nutrition and Dip it Black : so we’re going in a circle here, but that’s okay because I adore both of your blogs and your writing! Eva- you’re my twin! I love hearing your thoughts and reading about all the nutrition topics you write about on your blog. You’re amazing and it’s been wonderful sharing stories with you. 🙂 Claudia- your enthusiasm and devotion to fashion is so infectious. You remind me of myself years ago with all that energy! Keep it up! Each of you are deserving of the blessings and I look forward to reading all of your future posts. 🙂

3. Start2Finish12 – for Kyndra’s truthful story-telling and her inspiring journey towards wellness and the NY Marathon. She’s my personal superhero and an amazing friend. 🙂

4. IronCaliberHers– for Natalie’s commitment to fitness and a renewed emphasis on nutrition with her recent gluten-free challenge.

5. Fierce Diva Guide to Life – for Ilene’s INCREDIBLE writing chops and for being a superhero in yoga and momhood despite all the roadblocks.

6. Findingelina– for her fun storytelling and her great recipes. I’m especially looking forward to her upcoming paleo challenge!

7. Food Facts and Fads– for Sally’s insightful articles and commentary about nutrition topics and food policy.

8. The Healthy Flavor– for Brandi’s delicious recipes that inspire me to get to the kitchen as quickly as possible and attempt to pull those dishes off with equal finesse.

9. BananaBuzzBomb– for Heidi’s fun stories about running and fitness while maintaining a vegan/raw diet.

10. Thirtysix24Thirtysix– for Naomi and Elle’s searing honesty and amazing job of creating a wonderful dialogue about fitness and body image.

11. RecipesHappen– for Bonnie’s infectious enthusiasm for her recipes and couponing, but also for introducing me to the Saturday Upsides!

…room for one more!

12. petit4chocolatier– for Judy’s delectable recipes. Her site is like my food porn. Seriously.

Here are my 11 questions for you:

1. What’s your favorite dish?

2. Why did you start a blog?

3. If you changed your name, what would you change it to?

4. Why did you choose this name for your blog?

5. What makes you crazy?

6. Which book are you reading atm? (or which magazine?)

7. What inspires you?

8. When you were a child, what did you want to be when your grew up?

9. What is your favorite part of blogging?

10. What is your dream career?

11. If money was no object, where would you live and why?

This was so much fun! Congrats to the nominees and remember to pay it forward. 🙂