Tagged to Talk

My 11 Random facts:

1. When I was a teenager I had myself "convinced" that I had a chance of marrying Prince William (back when he was cute), because I played piano, took {horseback riding} lessons, and could speak a foreign language.
2. I read books that were way inappropriate for my age when I was younger ("Sleepers", "Along Came a Spider", etc when I was 13-14 years old...some of those books still haunt me.
3. I still would love to live in Ireland, particularly in a cottage on the north-west coast.
4. Books on my shelves need to be organized by height, tallest on the left.
5. I let my high school guidance counselor convince me that I wasn't good enough at math to go to college to be an architect (still kind of sad about that decision).
6. The praise and assurances from others regarding my capabilities makes me uncomfortable (there is a post coming on this soon).
7. I would love to be a hermit.
8. I love being home alone, but feel guilty about how I spend my time, doing things I want to do (read, quilt etc), rather than cleaning.
9. I seriously think I should have been born earlier, preferably in either the mid 1800s {circa the Civil War}, the Victorian Era {turn of the century, 1900}, or the 1940s.
10. When we first moved into our house, every night, as soon as it would get dark, I would go around drawing all the curtains and blinds, because I was so afraid someone would be peeping in our windows (I had never lived in town before).
11. {It's easy to say this now, but....} I definitely want more kids.

My random questions to be answered:

1. What was your most memorable travel destination? Ireland Why? I had been wanting to go there since I was a child, and was obsessed with seeing my "homeland". I couldn't even believe I was finally there when I did a summer session in Cork.
2. Tell a story of how you met someone famous: I've never met anyone famous, wait, yes I have, but it wasn't a "meet" as much as a pass by. My friend's father worked at ABC as a set designer and we passed Susan Lucci in the hall. Other than that: Michelle Pfeiffer came to our first store (my dad met her), Kelsey Grammer's personal assistant came to our second store to buy him steaks (I wasn't there then either), and Josh Lucas came in to our 3rd [current] store with his friend (my sister was there, I was not).
   
3. What was your greatest fear in childhood? That I would die an old maid....either that or snakes (which I still fear)
   
4. If there was one thing about your appearance that you could change, what would that be? I'd make myself about 60lbs lighter (135 sounds good to me); other than that I'm ok with myself
   
5. What skill are you most proud of? The ability to do random accents....it makes story time fascinating...not to mention it got me a part in one of our high school musicals.
   
6. Who did you wanna become when you grew up? I honestly don't know.
   
7. Is there a household chore that you enjoy? I don't mind most household chores, but actually enjoy....doing laundry, washing and folding...don't care too much for putting it away.
   
8. What book did you enjoy the most over the past year? I don't know...it's been a really long time since I read a book and was completely wowed by it. I think the one that I enjoyed the most was "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett
   
9. Show a picture that captures one of your best memories My summer in Ireland: Definitely not THE best, but one of my top 5. I had been hoping to go to Ireland for YEARS and my maternal grandparents {who were German, not Irish} were going to take me for my high school graduation present; my Oma died a month before I graduated and my Opa 3 months later. The picture is of me sitting on the edge of the Cliffs of Mohr...the moment when I really felt that I was in Ireland {as a side note: When we were there in 2006, they now have the entire fenced off with 10' high stone and plexi-glass walls so you can't get anywhere near the edge. I was really, really disappointed by that}.
   
10. If someone gave you a year-long paid sabbatical, what would you do? What would it be a sabbatical from? I guess traveling and writing, perhaps pulling together my ideas for the book(s) I want to write.
    
11. Tell about the place you live in (city, neighborhood, country… make it as big or as precise as you wish): Hmm...where I live is your typical small town, there are 2 stop lights in our town, 3 gas stations, a McDs, 1 grocery store (besides our own), a library, an old fashioned movie theater, and a post office. It's nothing attractive, numerous floods over the past 15 years have pretty much destroyed downtown, no one wants to rebuild or open a store, so there are a lot of vacant and quarantined buildings. I would love nothing more than to sink the money into our town to make it beautiful again.

Who am I tagging:

1. Sadie
2. Suzy
3. Hannah
4. Kim
5. Janna
6. Amanda
7. Bobbi
8. Maria
9. Queenie
10. Young Grasshopper
11. Carrie

My 11 questions:

1. What life event has had the most impact on you? and Why?
2. What is one character flaw of your own that drives you nuts?
3. Where and what would be your dream home?
4. Who is your "celebrity" crush? (it can be anyone, in any time period or profession)
   
5. Where is your favorite city?
6. What is a guilty pleasure of your's? (can be food, books, movies, whatever)
7. When do you go to bed? get up?
8. How many times a day do you check your email/reader/FB etc?
9. Do you run hot or cold (temperature wise)?
10. What is one thing you wish people knew about you?
11. What is one thing you aspire to better in yourself?