Let's Talk // Meet the Blogger

In the interest of full disclosure, it's 12:03 am and I'm currently drinking sparkling apple juice and eating Frosted Flakes from the box.  I definitely don't need to be.  

A few weeks ago, my blogger friend Esme from Ezzlepops nominated me for an award post, which means that 1) I feel really flattered 2) I get to answer some questions and 3) I am very, unforgivably late about getting this post written and published.   

1. How's life?

It's a

To Pray . . . Or Procrastinate // Guest Post

Today's exciting because there's a guest blogger writing here!  Kiera usually writes over at Narwhal Knits, but today she and I are trading spaces to share a little bit of our faith story.  

Today, I'm going to be tackling a difficult topic. Well, not terribly difficult, but generally, the 13-25 year old demographic really loves to procrastinate. So I'll be writing this behind a tree, trying not to expose myself... too much. (; 

The idea came to me after reading this: 

A Friend To // 5 Kinds of People You Need in Your Life

Hey, everyone!  Big news: Nina's blogiversary giveaway is still going on here, which means that you have the chance to win a $50 Target gift card (yes, please), a DIY coffee mug, and some delicious coffee to help the new mug feel useful.  I'll wait while you go take advantage of that, because Target and caffeine. Go ahead. 

In other news, those of you who haven't been around until very, very recently won't know that a brand-shiny-new link-up started here last Tuesday.  That happened. (The idea behind it + how to participate here.)  And it was great - several blog friends wrote posts, and it was so rewarding to see how writing about the good of life affected each of them.  I'm looking forward to where this project will go in the future.  

Before I hit publish on my very first link-up Tuesday morning, I was honestly scared that I'd be the only one participating.  Which would have been fine, I guess, if a little disheartening.  I'd sent e-mails out to many bloggers that I know, inviting them to participate, but, true to form, I'd sent them less than 48 hours before the actual link-up.  Oh.  Thank God for friends, you guys.  Some of the lovely people I've met through this little blog were right there with me, helping to make my idea come alive on short notice.  I so appreciate the ones who are there, no matter how little notice you give them.  It's good to have people like that.  

It's good to have all kinds of people, actually.  I love the people I'm surrounded by because of the way that they each a have a unique influence on me.  One friend can't handle all that I need in a friend, so they all share in shaping me and supporting me equally and well.  As I become more convinced of the indispensability of all of my people, I become convinced that there are some people that everyone needs. 

// A friend to laugh at you

You know, that friend who thinks that every single thing you do is funny.  Who laughs ridiculously hard while everyone else is groaning.  Who never lets an attempt at humor go unrecognized.

// A friend to do whatever with

Sometimes, people have weird ideas.  That's where all the genius technology things we have come from, probably.  Even if you're weird ideas aren't getting you anywhere, you need someone willing to help you make them happen, no questions asked.  

// A friend who knows

I'm bad at having this friend, because I don't like to tell people things.  As someone who deprived myself of this person for a very long time, I can vouch for the fact that it's vitally important to have a person who knows next to everything about you. Everything, from your opinion on the important stuff to how you like your ice cream sundae.  Because sometimes emotions happen and judgement gets skewed, and you need someone to tell you how you feel and hold you accountable.  Also, it's good to have someone who can anticipate when things bother you or elate you and listen or celebrate accordingly. 

// A friend who's better

The one that you love, but are secretly a liiiittle jealous of.  They show you how to be good at something and provide the inspiration to get there, wherever "there" is - faster, kinder, happier.  

// A friend who grounds you

I truly value the people in my life who tell it like it is, every time.  Some of the best advice I've received has come out of their mouths.  They have strong character and are unwavering in their actions and beliefs, even when they're alone.  In a world that often chooses the tolerate-everything path of least resistance, friends who stand firm are rare and beautiful. 

And that, everyone, is how I indirectly say all the sappy things that I secretly want to as I'm thinking about leaving for college and saying goodbye to getting regular face time with some of the best people I know.  I get nostalgic so easily it's ridiculous. 

I want to know  . . .

 -What kind of friend do you think everyone needs?  

Cheers!

Allie

I Can't Actually Juggle // GIVEAWAY



A few weeks ago, Holly from Summer Sky Designs nominated me for the Liebster Award.  (Thanks, Holly!) Actually, it's been exactly a month.  I'm finally getting around to sharing with you who I fangirl over, how I feel about dark chocolate, and exactly how afraid you should be if we're in a car together.

1// What do you fangirl over?

I'm not much of a fangirl-er, because usually I like to act like I'm too cool and don't care that much (even if I'm borderline obsessed).  But the closest I probably ever come is with The Office, my first ever Netflix-binge experience and favorite show, ever.  Also, Zac Efron.  Always Zac Efron.

2 // Three weird, random facts about you?

     -I'm trying really hard to learn how to juggle. This face would be a lot cooler if I already knew how.

     - I really like to be the one to pour the cereal from the original box into the bins we keep it in after we buy it.  If anyone else does it, I get pretty disappointed.  I know, I don't get it either.

     - I came very, very close to not passing my road test.  I promise I'm a safe driver, but that happened.

3 // What are you most proud of?

My mom.  That's a who, but she's a hard worker and I respect her a lot for it.

4 // What would be your dream place to live?

THIS IS SO HARD because I like exploring and would love to live all over the place, but I think I could probably be pretty happy for a long time somewhere by the water, preferably the ocean.

5 // Favorite dessert?

I think I've probably come across three desserts that I didn't like in my entire life.  But if it involves dark chocolate, I'm usually pretty happy. 

6 //What are you doing at this moment besides writing this post?

Being in study hall at school and pretending I have nothing else to get done - oops!

7 // Do you have any pets?

Yep!  I have a dog named Eddie who's adorable and a cat named Si who I'm not friends with. She's mean to me.

8 // What superpower do you want?

Flight. It's kind of a classic.

9 // If you could meet anyone (past, present, or future; fictional or real), who would you want to meet?

Malcolm Gladwell.  He writes for the New Yorker and has a few book out, and he has met some of the most interesting people! I'd love to know what that's like. 

10 // Fruits or veggies?

Fruit! Pineapple. Mmmm.

11 // What do you want your legacy to be? In other words, what do you want people to remember you by/for?

I'd like them to remember that I was different, which I guess is what everybody wants.  So, that's going well.  That I influenced people around me for the better and did hard things and got the most out of life that I possibly could.

Also . . . for giving away free stuff!  It's Nina's 3 year blogiversary today, and she and I and a couple of her blog friends are giving away fun things to celebrate!  If you win, you'll receive:

-a $50 Target gift card

-a DIY mug design of your choice

-fresh Appalachian Morning coffee from Nina's favorite and local coffee shop



the grand adventures of me || the new wifestyle || emily finta || endliss bliss || reckless

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, and have a great Wednesday!

Allie

The Basics // A Day in Detroit Link-Up

I've lived outside of Detroit ever since I can remember, and ever since slightly after I can remember, the city has had this draw for me.  Before I drove around Belle Isle or attended a Red Wings game or found out that the DIA is free sometimes, I'd ask to go to Detroit.  At the time, I had no idea what Detroit was other than the closest big city, but as I've gotten the chance to explore more, I've come to find that 8-year-old Allie's hunch that there was something really, really cool out there was spot on.  Here are some of my favorites.

Belle Isle | Belle Isle State Park sits in the middle of the Detroit River, right between the U.S. and Canada. It's home to an aquarium, a zoo, that monument down there, lots of woods, and a coast guard station.  The monument is pretty huge, and even though the fountain doesn't run anymore, it's pretty striking as you drive across the bridge to the island.

The Heidelberg Project | This may be my favorite Detroit thing, ever.  It's a block or two of houses in what I consider to be one of the sketchier areas of Detroit that's been designated as a place for artists to cover with art however they please.  The houses are painted with polka dots or covered with old records or stuffed animals and the vacant lots in between hold sculptures and cardboard cut outs.  Anyone can create whatever they want, and the result is eclectic and interesting and as diverse as Detroit's people.

John K. King Used and Rare Books | Old, hardcover, wall-to-wall books fill five stories of the building, which dates to the first half of the 20th century.  It sits right off of the freeway - in fact, John K. King was actually moved 600 ft to make room for road construction in 1949.  I could easily spend all day and my entire bank account forever and ever there.

Joe Louis Memorial and The Spirit of Detroit | Downtown Detroit is decked out in some cool art - a tribute to Joe Lewis (and, it's speculated, the Black Power movement) and the Spirit of Detroit, who gets dressed up when Detroit sports teams are winning.  

The Whitney | Old Detroit mansion turned fancy-shmancy restaurant.  Your meals comes with a tour of the house - pretty grounds, balcony views of the surrounding city, and old, ornate decorations.  (P.S., the food is also really good.)

                      

Joe Louis Arena | It's where you go to watch hockey, mostly, but when the Wings are elsewhere the arena hosts concerts and speakers.  (Also: special guest appearance by my lovely cohost + the brains behind this linkup, Allison!) 

Riverfront | I'd never been to the Riverfront area of Detroit until a couple of months ago, and I've been missing out!  Maybe it's just me - I've been kind of fascinated with bodies of water since I freaked out over the waterfalls at Yosemite when I was 2.  There are cruise boats docked every so often and a walkway for exploring - my kind of place.  

Speaking of Detroit, today's March 13th, aka 3.13, aka 313 Day, aka Detroit Day because 313 starts just about every phone number in Detroit.  To celebrate, Allison and I are hosting a link up for our fellow Detroit area bloggers so that we can virtually explore the city and everything it has to offer!  We're excited to have some talented writers linking up with us - check them out!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.blogsomethingbeautiful.blogspot.com" title="Something Beautiful"><img src="http://i59.tinypic.com/2yzalut.jpghttp://www.image-maps.com/m/private/0/kia94bp8l3f3tltghisvv3je17_313-link-up-button.jpg" alt="Something Beautiful" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

Did I miss anything?  What do you love about Detroit?  If you've never been, what about your own city? 

Allie

I'm Partying Today // Liebster Nominee Link-Up

We're partying around here today, because that's all that's appropriate at the end of what (to me) felt like the longest, coldest wintry  cebruary week of all times.  Maybe it's because I've been running outside, so the cold is just that much more real to me?  Or the fact that spring sports are almost here and so I keep expecting it to get warm and for the snow to melt?  Or the heeee-uuuge government test that I'm taking today and the hours on hours on hours that I spent studying for it?  All valid possibilities.  Whatever the reason, partying is in order.

First things first:  more party people, because I'm not really a party person myself so I need help.  Enter: the lovely ladies who I talked about last week - the ones who I'm nominating for my customized version of the Liebster Award.  They're going to hop on and add links to typical posts from their blogs so that you can meet them and see what they're like, because they're great.  Seriously, they are. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Second things second: partying.  Like a concert party.  I want you to know that I'm being a risk-taker today, because I don't usually do blog posts about concerts or musicy things because I don't go to concerts frequently and I'm not musical.  So,  I sincerely hope that I'm not inciting your wrath forever with this one.  If you hate it, just know that it's not a new norm and please come back someday and give me another chance.

Deep breath.

Here we go.

The concert's name is Winter Jam.  Maybe you've heard of it?  It's 10 different Christians artists and a speaker that tour the U.S. for a few months during the (you guessed it) winter, and I went last weekend and it was so fun!  In other words, I got the softest free t-shirt ever and there were giant balloons involved and I found a boy band that totally beats One Direction, complete with accents and cool hair.

The concert was headlined by Skillet, which usually isn't my favorite.  My brother always blasts it in the kitchen when it's his night to do the dishes, and our house is small so you can't escape the loud anywhere.  I thought that I would unenjoy them in person as much as at home.  I was wrong.

I think it all started when Jen Ledger came out onstage before the show for Q & A with the audience and started being adorable.   She's Skillet's drummer, and she talked about her story and how she likes her coffee in the most open, honest way.  She's from out of the country, and she ended up connecting with the Skillet people in the most unintentional way in the world.  She used to have stage fright, and she likes her coffee with lots of caramel.

And then there was the actual show.  It was so good!  There was fire and Jen drummed while getting lifted up and spun and, yeah, it was loud and, yeah, there were a ton of screaming people.  I loved it.

And then Family Force Five, which was a party in itself.  I quickly identified with the band's lead singer, who walked out in this blazer and danced in almost the exact same way that I do when I'm at home and no one's watching.   He's my spirit animal.  

Giant balloons happened.  They came out of nowhere and made me forget everything other than how to get a chance to hit one of them for the remainder of the song, at which point a bunch of professional balloon poppers walked around and popped them all. 

My favorite: for King and Country.  For the thirteenth time, I don't know things about music, but I know that every single guy played multiple instruments, that the music sounded just how I like music to sound, and that they had an amazing message to share.  Here, just listen.  

Joel and Luke are brothers from Australia who are in America for over 300 tour dates with their five other band guys (you can find tour dates here, by the way).  After seeing 4 or 5 songs at Winter Jam, I've got my heart set on seeing them in August.  I couldn't get enough of their sound and fancy king-related outfits, and I'll definitely be back for more. 

The music side of the show was great - all of the artists are crazy talented, as would be expected of artists at a concert that you pay money to see.  Even better was the fact that we got the chance to get to meet them a little bit.  They all were really great about sharing stories and spent a lot of time interacting with the crowd, and they were all so humble and real.  I mean, I'm sure that everyone who gives concerts tries to be humble and real, but I've been to concerts before and this was different.  I'd recommend it, every time.

That's about it for Friday partying, unless you want to go give those songs another listen - be my guest!  Go have a great weekend and relax (or don't) and enjoy it.

See ya!

Allie

How Many Michael Scott Quotes? // Liebster Award

Guess what? Hump day!  

Never gets old. 

These last couple days have been a little bit of an emotional roller coaster, partly because I inflicted myself with finally watching the last two episodes of The Office twice in twenty - four hours.  I'd been avoiding finishing the series on Netflix for weeks because I just couldn't bear the thought of the show being over, but I finally broke down and did it.  And then tore my heart out again the next day because I had to watch them again.  I mean, that's like having your fish die twice or breaking your leg twice or going through a break up twice.  (At least, I imagine that's what it's like.)  It was rough.  

In other news, my friend and the blogger behind Just Another Girl nominated me for the Liebster Award, and that's gone a long way in brightening up my Office-less life.  (No, I'm not overreacting, thanks.) The Liebster Award is a way for new bloggers to get to know each other and to being attention to blogs that they think are worth a look - it's really cool!  Because I'm not over The Office yet and I love doing Liebster-y things, alllll of it is here for your enjoyment today. 

1 // What's your favourite season? My instinct is to say spring, but think that's just the cabin fever talking because, nine times out of ten, I'd say fall.  These below-zero temps and ceaseless snow have me wishing for that first day of spring something fierce, I must say.  Honestly, once it hits 30 I'll be pretty happy. 

2 // If you could go to any concert/festival for free which one would you go to?
TSwift.  Sue me. 

I want to dance to Shake If Off and belt Blank Space and jam to all of the old country Taylor and I mean meeting her would be okay.  Plus, front row seats to this would cost in the nieghborhood of millions of dollars normally, so I think this is a good use of my free concert pass.

3 // If you could only live with one make up for the rest of your life which one would you choose?
That's be my foundation, because sometimes my skin decides to mutiny and it's not pretty, and some people just don't understand. 

4 // Whats your most precious item? and how did you get it?
Because I'm a very deep human being with my priorities in order, I tend to like people and memories more than things. 

 Or maybe I just don't really have nice things.  Whatever the reason, it basically comes down the the fact that my most precious item is probably this giant box full of old stuff that I have in my room - things like old movie tickets and notes and art projects that I've kept over the years, because I'm a hoarder. That's a huge cop out because it has a lot of smaller things in it, but it's true. 

5 // What's the one thing you regret doing/look back and cringe at? 
OH BOY.  Since I like the way life is right now, there's not really much that I regret having happen to me. But cringe? How about every day of my life from age 12-14?  (I.e., this post)  I used to do a lot of talking without thinking, and that made me say a lot of really horrible, insensitive things.  Example: one time I told a girl that the guy who'd asked her to a dance had been planning on asking me first.  Which was true, but didn't need to be said.  And I wasn't even trying to be an awful jerk - I just started making conversation and that's where it went. 

6 // What's your favourite part of your body?
I am not good at being serious when complimenting myself or anyone, so here goes nothing.  Deep breath. My legs are my favorite because they're disproportionately long compared to my body which is really convenient for sports things like running. And there it is.

7 // If your life was a movie who would you want to play you/your family?
Zac Efron is my favorite, but I don't think him playing me would work out that well because we're different genders, but I think he could play my dad or something.  I'd play myself, of course, and then we'd become acting buddies and it would be amazing.

8 // Favourite quote? I've got kind of a ridiculous amount of favorite quotes, but one I've been thinking about a lot lately comes from a conversation I had with my grandpa when he came to town a few weeks ago.  He's a psychology major and a PhD and did his dissertation on Family Systems, so he knows a lot of things about people and he told me this:

"You can't blame people or get mad at them for their actions.  People do the best they have with what they know."

And then I wrote this about it. 

(Also, this one.)

9 // If you could star in any movie(new or old) which movie would you like to be in?

Ask anyone who has tried to talk to me about movies and you'll quickly find that I am not good at movies.  In fact, the fact that I've now had to answer two movie-related questions is kind of giving me anxiety.  But, since I have to choose let's say Grease because I've been obsessed lately.  And any movie that Molly Ringwald was in in the 80s, tbh. 

10 // Where do you think the most beautiful place in the world is?

This is so tough!  I think the most beautiful place I've been is either the ocean or a farm in the mountains, but every time I see pictures from rice paddies in China or cliffs in Iceland or those colorful towns on hillsides in Greece, my heart freaks out a little.  Is all the places an okay answer? Because I feel like that's actually the right answer. 

11 // Your dream job as a child and your dream job now?

When I was really little, I think I always assumed I'd be a pastor, like my dad.  He always  wore this cool dress (or robe - I called it a dress) on Sundays, and I was so excited to grow up and wear one just like his someday.  Now, I think it would be really cool to do something that involves psychology and writing and traveling, so if anyone knows of a job like that, let me know please try and convince them to hold it for me for about eight years. Thanks!


The Liebster Award gets passed around by nomination, so now it's my turn to nominate some of my favorite bloggers.  I'm going to do something a little different with this, though.  Instead of writing questions all of the bloggers to answer, I'm going to host a link up right here next Friday so that they can link up one of their most recent posts to share with you all!  That way, you can get a taste of what their blogs are like and what they usually write!

Carolyn from Carolyn's Simple Life

Live from Healthy Liv

Eden from edenroses

Kiera from Narwhal Knits

Viviane from Barely Adult

Danielle from Truly Scrumptious Cakes And Bakes

Rosie and Lydia from Two Little Pigs Down Under

Katelyn Polich from Coffee and a MacBook

Emma from A Child Found

Make sure to be back next Friday to read alllll the posts - they're going to be great!

Allie

P.S. I'm linking up with Nicole at Treasure Tromp, and I recommend it because you can link up whatever the heck you want and Nicole's lovely.