Taking a Bow

Recently I was given the Liebster Award, an award given to blogger with 200 or less followers... I was honored... though I do have more than 200 in truth, I indeed only have 200 in Google followers... so guess that counts still. The award was given to me by a lovely lady and fellow blogger RETRO GRAN, who has a blog about living a small town life by a vintage loving Grandma. BIG THANKS!! It was so sweet of her to think my blog was worth noticing. There were stipulations to the award, such as.....

.... answer the 11 questions set by the blogger who nominated you.
 then pick 11 blogs who in turn have under 200 followers.
 then think of 11 questions for the blogs you have picked and also tell them.
and link back to the blog that nominated you.....

Now this kind of posed a problem. With all that has been going on I have not kept up on reading blogs for some time. I keep meaning to do so, but between illness and construction of our daughters space, and well illness, just has not been something I have been doing. The second thing that was so very hard was finding any blogs that I do read, when I am up to it, that only have 200 followers... so I will say this, click my profile and see the blogs that I follow and ALL of them, no matter how many followers they have, are worth visiting. So because I am not going to be able to pass the award on, I am not coming up with the 11 questions. HOWEVER, I did think I should at the very least answer the questions that Reto Gran posted for me to answer. I also will of course link back to her page.... in fact, I am going to do that right now!!! 

RETRO GRAN...

CLICK HERE for the most recent post 

CLICK HERE for the post about the award

Questions....

1. What have you learned from blogging? That it is not the following of the rules of blogging that gets readers, it is opening your heart. Being the real you. Sure, there are plenty of blogs that post nothing personal that have THOUSANDS of followers, and it looks impressive, but is it quantity over quality?  I do not have a lot of followers in any one place, and not every post is something everyone reads.. but if I only get 2-3 people that tell me how much they enjoy what I post, then it means the world to me. So to clarify, I  learned that I do the blog for myself first, be myself, show my heart and if in doing that, I touch even one persons life per post, then it is worth doing. 
2. How much time do you spend working on your blog? That really varies. In the beginning it was a lot more time. I wrote a post daily, and thought of it daily. With the move , then the death of my son in law, and the aftermath and being so very ill the entire last 5 or so months, well not as much as I would like.  I do not post as much as I would want  or like to, and most times I do not have even a clue what to write, so I just don't . I am sure that will change over time... as my life evolves so does my blog and how much I work on it. Recently my facebook fan page has taken on a bigger life than the blog and instead of the FB page being a companion to the blog, the blog has become a companion to it, and that is ok... either way, once again, I am being myself, I am showing my heart and doing what makes me feel good.. to inspire and touch peoples lives through words and photos. 
3. What is your guilty pleasure? Right now? It is watching The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie each and every day for hours on end on the Hallmark Channel. I like good, clean, and wholesome entertainment and both those shows offer that. Oh and reality shows... another guilty pleasure and on the total opposite side of the first one LOL , but what can I say, I am diverse in my tastes. 
4. Are you punctual or tardy? I try very hard to be punctual and even early most times. 
5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? That  has been changing over the years. I used to dream of Paris, and other European countries...seeing the countries of my heritage, seeing historic buildings and art and experiencing other cultures.  As my health declines I find myself just wishing to be up to going places more local and being up to it. That being said, if I was healthier, I do not think I would aim for Europe at this point in my life, I think I would desire to see places in the United States . Alaska for its vastness and beauty of nature. San Diego ,  for no other reason than it is a lovely place to go with a beach and in my own state. DollyWood, who would not love that? The list goes on and on. Reasons? Just to experience new places. 
6. What's your favorite book, tv program, and film? Anne of Green Gables was and is my favorite book of all time... really anything written by L.M. Montgomery.. also the TV programs based on the books. I do not have one favorite movie. I have many. BUT if I had to pick one that I watch over and over, Hello Dolly with Barbara Streisand. 
7. If you could throw a dinner party and invite anyone in the world, living or not, who would you invite and why? Oh my gracious. This is tough. I know many people think about this, but I never have. Not even once, till now. I really do not have a single answer as there is so many answers. I am not saying that as a cop out, as I think of it, the list would go on and on.... from authors , to world figures, to people in history that made a difference.... it would have to be a very big party! 
8. Do you have a particular style icon or guru? Again I have many. Years ago I was dressing rockabilly mixed with vintage and drew upon Audrey Hepburn and her style as well as many style icons from the mid 1940's through 1950's , but then as I fell more and more in love with styles from the 1920's and 1930's it was of course people like Louise Brooks and all her contemporaries. Right now, tho it seems more like I am channeling Hugh Hefner and living in my pjs LOL 
9. What do you draw inspiration from, magazines, films, blogs or something else? Depends what this is referring to. If decor, all of the above. Fashion, well I follow my own heart on that and as well as looking to the past... the way past! Anything else, I think I just soak in everything around me and all the experiences and people that I meet. 
10. If you had to live in any other time period besides now, which one would you pick? I romanticize  about such things, kind of like the movie Midnight in Paris... which really explored the subject, and the whys of it all. But truly, given that my life revolves around the computer, at least to have contact with the outside world , as I am basically a shut in, I would say now. But I do still always crave a simple and quite life, so it is not another time period, but just another location. 
11. What is proudest moment thus far? When I married my husband and when I gave birth to my daughters. Nothing can top those two things.