And the Winner is…

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sunshine award

I hear my name called.  I put a hand over my mouth and make my “what?  I’m shocked” face.  I hug my husband who sits to my right and Adrian Grenier who sits to my left.  He grabs my ass discreetly.  I giggle, and he kisses my cheek.   I make my way down the red carpeted aisle to the marble steps, my red silk dress flowing behind me.  My four inch Valentino heels click click click on each step.  I reach the podium, look out at the crowd and begin.

“Thank you, Beth from www.bethteliho.wordpress.com  for this nomination.  I am truly grateful and humbled that you thought of me.  The Sunshine Award…wow.  And from you?”  (I sigh here for dramatic effect) “I remember sitting across a table at a restaurant with my friend, Beth.” (I point to her where she sits on the first row, smiling and blushing in a green dress that brings out her eyes.)  “We were talking about her book, which is so incredibly awesome, and one day you’ll all read it, and I told her that she needed to get on Twitter and Facebook and maybe even start a blog, and then she did, and wow….she’s one of the best bloggers out there, and then she…that same girl…the one who’s my blog hero…creates an award and nominates me.  I’m speechless.”  Well…not really.

I told her that  I wrote an acceptance speech in jest, and she said I should, so I did.  That’s the best I could come up with, Beth.

I’m supposed to tell you seven things about me.  Seven (funny, funny Beth)…here ya go.  Brace yourself…actually I’m not all that interesting, but I follow the rules:

1. I have FOUR brothers, eight nephews, and no nieces.  My mom had four brothers.  My dad had four brothers, and my husband has two brothers.  Somehow in all of these XY chromosomes, a second X appeared, and my mother birthed a girl, and then weirdly and unexpectedly another XX – my daughter.

2. I  have an unhealthy, slightly obsessive, high school girl crush on Adrian Grenier.  It started 15 years ago and hasn’t stopped.  My friends think I need an intervention.  I know what I need.

3. I hate shopping, and make-up, and most things girly…to the point where my husband gets annoyed and always asks why he married a boy.  See #1.

4. I am extremely competitive in sports, games, and anything that is a competition.  I get really into it, and I really really dislike losing.

5. I once had to have over 50 stitches in my face. Actually it was more, but I never could get past 50 when I counted.  The driver side window of my car decided to go through my head.

6. I play the piano, and I’m not too terrible.  I love to hear a song and then tinker around on my piano until I figure it out, playing it over and over and over until it’s perfect.  Sometimes I break down and buy the music, but I prefer to play most songs by ear.  My kids love playing, “play the song from…” game.  And they get really excited when I play their requested song for them.

7.  I attended the 2007 Emmy awards.  I even got to buy an awesome dress and walk the red carpet with the celebrities.  My husband won a contest at work, and he chose me to be his date.  Highlights of the night:  I sipped champagne with Ali Larter.  She’s even prettier in person.  Keven Bacon winked at me, so next time you play the “Six Degrees of Separation” game, you’re one degree closer.  You’re welcome.  And the best and biggest highlight: I breathed the same air as Adrian Grenier.  I missed him on the red carpet though.  Apparently, punctuality wasn’t important to him that night.  It’s ok.  I forgave him.

Emmy's photo

My Questions from Beth:

1. If you could go back in time ten years and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
Hmmm…to go back to 25. I would tell myself to wear more sunscreen and to stop smiling all the time that those laugh lines would be permanent. Nah….I think I’d tell myself… “Be still. The best is yet to come, and spend more time with your mother. She won’t always be the same.”

2. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked and not just because I like that feeling…wait…who said that?

3. Beth asked: If you were to take me on a date, where would we go and why?
I think I would take you to Rosa’s on a Tuesday for lunch. It looks something like this: We sit and talk for hours, face to face. You eat a delicious vegan burrito (I called ahead and had them prepare this. I’m awesome and thoughtful.) while I eat my non vegan tacos full of trans fat and cholesterol. We sit and eat and talk, and of course, we notice that every time we look out the window, another giant truck is going through the drive thru, and then about three hours into our lunch, a huge, silver F250 creeps slowly through the drive thru and stops right in front of the window. We turn our eyes to the big silver truck as the driver side window rolls down and this tattooed bearded guy sticks out his finger and points to you and gives you that “come here” sign coaxing you with that teasing index finger of his, and you look at me and say, “really?”, and I say, “well yeah…I know I’m a catch and all, but I knew if you were to have a fantasy date, you should get your fantasy, so here you go. You’re welcome.” He looks at you, smiles and says, “Wow. You’re even prettier than your Avatar photo.” And I watch as you and your almost fiance/sex tape partner walk back to the silver truck and get in. The window rolls up, and there may or may not be rockin’, but I’m not knockin’ because well…I still have a big trans fat cholesterol full taco to eat, and it’s delicious.

4. Above all else, what are you afraid of? Suffocating, literally and figuratively.

5. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
Adrian Grenier – and publish a book.

6. What has been your favorite age to be and why?
I’m 35 now, and I really thought it was going to be tough, but so far, 35 has been my favorite. I think it’s because every new year with my kids is better than the last. I always say, “I love this age,” talking about my kids’ age, and yet, I like the next age even better.

7. Coffee or tea?
Wine – oh ok. Coffee.

BLOG NOMINATION TIME!

Nominees: do with this what you want. No obligations. If you choose to do an awards post, answer the questions I had to answer, and give 7 facts about yourself. Then nominate any amount of bloggers you choose up to eleven. Because Beth is funny – see:  7:11

  1.  Beth over at http://www.bethteliho.wordpress.com – because she’s Beth.  I read the rules like 14 times, and it doesn’t say that I can’t nominate her even though she created the award.  I mean…she is sunshine, in every way, and she makes my world…brighter.
  2. Clair Duffy at http://www.thegrassisdancing.com/  She always seems to post while I’m sleeping (maybe because she’s in Sweden), but I usually read her words from my phone while I’m trying to make myself get out of bed, and she always wakes me up with a smile.
  3. Kate at:  http://anothercleanslate.com  She’s so cute and fun and makes me smile…and well…brings me sunshine.
  4. Dana with http://www.kissmylist.com  She probably has about a zillion awards, but she’s funny and snarky, and I like her.  She is also very supportive, and that’s great to this baby blogger.
  5. Aussa:  http://aussalorens.com/  another great blogger who always makes me chuckle.  Always!  And she’s hot, too.  I’m sure she has more followers than God, but still, she brings me sunshine, and I love her blog!

I could keep going, but Beth already nominated most of my favorites, and I don’t know if I’m allowed to renominate them, and I’m still not sure I deserve to be nominated in the first place.  I’m going to try to say nominate again.  See, “nominate!”

21 thoughts on “And the Winner is…”

  1. Thank you so much, Mandi! I definitely do not have a zillion awards (that would be Kate), and I’ve never received one from someone who went to the Emmys. How cool is that? Loved your favorite age answer – I feel like whatever age I am is my favorite. Not sure how much longer that will last, though!

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    • It’s all about perspective when it comes to age. It might last…forever. I really enjoy your blog, and you were one of the first that popped into my head. (Autocorrect kept trying to change popped to pooped, which would make that sentence completely different). Thank you for your fun words and for repeatedly making me smile.

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  2. I laughed out lots so much to this Jim just turned up the TV to drown me out!! I can’t believe you actually did an acceptance speech!! Lol and it’s so damn perfect I LOVE IT!! And you even got your ass grabbed…..woo hoo!

    Now let’s talk about our date!!! Holy shit. You win dates. No offense, Lizzi. You’re date was magical. But Mandi gave me hot sex with my ADAM. In a truck. Post vegan burrito (thx, M, for the mint just before I ditched you for hot, dirty, steamy truck sex). I’m glowing a little right now. And having a cigarette. *sigh*

    I love a your answers. They were sweet, and funny. Like you. And I know for a fact that thing you want to do if you couldn’t fail? No. Not Adrian. The other thing. It will happen.

    And you nominate me back?? Whaaaa? Awwww. Loving you so hard right now. Thank you. I’m falling over with gratitude for that, and all your very kind words on this post. I wuv you to the moon and stars. You know this. And I love how you told the story of how I’m blogging because of YOU.

    Awesome nominees! I’m in stellar company–love every one of them BIG.

    I also just win longest comment ever.

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    • I was in no way trying to give ME any credit for your blogging. YOU are the blog hero. Not me. And I’ll take that out if that’s the way it came across. I just remember that day. It was one of my favorites, and it was a turning point for you and the seven. At least, I think it was. But seriously, I don’t want to take any credit for your blog. It’s yours. All yours. And it’s PURR-FECT!!!!!

      But I will take ALL credit for the awesome date. I mean, that date was fun, and I’m way sorry about the mint. Missed that. Sorry. But Adam doesn’t care.

      The kind words are true. You are amazing. In so many ways. And I adore you. A lot.

      Sent from my iPhone

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      • It was all you! YOU are the reason I’m blogging, tweeting, all of it! I wasnt implying you were trying to take credit, I was emphasizing that you should get credit!! And I love all my days with you, but yes, that day was huge. You’re my book whisperer. I couldn’t do it without you. So serious.

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  3. Also, you got the image on there all by yourself! That sounded really demeaning and I don’t mean it like that, but kudos for figuring all that crazy shiz out!

    And you trump every story with your Emmy story! So. Freakin. Cool.

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      • The “norm” is to come up with your own set of questions for your nominees, but as you can see (with mine), you can really do anything you want. I wasn’t feeling particularly clever when I was making my post, and I liked Gwen’s questions (she had 10 or 11 for her nominees but I picked seven of them to answer). It’s up to you.

        Don’t worry about duplicates with Lizzi! People will just do a combo post for both of you usually. Happens all the time. It’s all good.

        Sent from my iPhone

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  4. Woah, I have four brothers as well! Samesies, huzzah! And the 50 stitches in your face thing is very VERY scary. Don’t even know how to think about that.
    Congrats on the award, I loved acceptance speech– am I guessing that this means you’ve read Beth’s book? OooOooOOoo….
    Also! Thanks for nominating me! Ah!

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    • Haha! Four brothers! *fist pump* You must be tough. And yes, I HAVE read Beth’s book, and I’m so dying for her to get it out here already because it is SOOOOOOO good!!! Seriously – I’m not just saying that because we’re friends. Her book sinks into your skin and walks around with you…all day long. I can’t wait for her to publish.

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  5. Thank you!! I rather like that I’m your alarm clock – and this post made me smile when I woke up this morning! I am so jealous you went to the Emmys!! Not least because any time I’ve managed to sneak in to something fancy, it’s winter in Stockholm and I look like the Michelin man which isn’t a great red carpet look – double the reason to want to go to a proper fancy do in LA!!

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    • I have to give my husband all of the credit for the Emmy’s. I had nothing to do with that, but it was fun. I hate shopping, but I actually enjoyed shopping for that dress. I can’t imagine you would look like the Michelin man in anything, but next time you sneak in, post a pic!

      I love waking up to your posts…seriously. Last night I read your post before bed…and I had a hard time falling asleep. Love Identity – will keep checking back for more.

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      • Whoever was responsible, it’s still pretty cool! Will do – am waiting to hear if I have a pass for the Guldbagges, which is the Swedish equivilant of the Oscars (though infinitely less glamourous!!) and if I do, I am going to sew sequins onto a ski suit and will definitely post a pic of that 🙂

        Ahh that makes me squee with happiness… not that you couldn’t sleep, sorry about that. But actually a bit that you couldn’t sleep… sorry! Thanks again.

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    • OMG – will you be my best friend, Rachel? I love you for saying that. Thank you SO much. It’s the one time I had my make-up professionally done, so I will give the make-up artist ALL of the credit for any beauty. Unfortunately, I don’t see any red carpets in my future, but that’s ok. Once was good enough! Thanks for reading. 🙂

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  8. Stopping by for first time, so this is perfect post to get to know you. Thanks for visiting Dana’s guest post on my site today. She’s the best and obviously has excellent taste in bloggy buddies! And Kevin Bacon winked at you?! That definitely counts as a degree!

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