A Lazy Saturday...With Awards!

I am so happy it's the weekend. Life has been busy and I'm in need of some downtime. I plan on getting a good nap in this weekend...kind of like Oscar.

I do have some other things to accomplish this weekend besides catching up on my sleep. One is to make a couple of delicious things the way I have been doing every weekend since I discovered Pinterest and developed a blogging addiction. I've found so many new recipes that I can't wait to try, and have also had fun making some old favourites that I haven't made in a long time.

Blogging has been great, not only for letting me make an online journal/cookbook of sorts, but also because I've discovered so many fantastic blogs that are full of great ideas. Since my blog is pretty new, it's always lovely to get some positive feedback about it.

I got that in the form of a couple of awards passed on to me by two bloggers whose blogs I really enjoy following: the Versatile Blogger Award from Jutta at Creative Chaos, and the Liebster Blog Award from Kristin at Grateful Belly. Thank you both so much! That brings me to the second thing I have to do this weekend: write my thank you post and pass these awards on!

The rules for the Versatile Blogger Award involve thanking the person who gave me the award, sharing seven things about myself, and passing the award on to fifteen other blogs and commenting on those blogs to let them know that you have passed the award on to them.

"Liebster" means "beloved," and it is meant for new blogs to help spread the word about them. The rules for this award involve displaying the award somewhere on my blog, passing the award on to three to five blogs that have less than 200 followers, and say thank you to the person who gave you the award and link back to them.

I may have to fudge the rules a bit and mix in my Liebster Blog Award recipients with the Versatile Blogger Award recipients to total fifteen blogs, but I hope nobody minds!

Here are seven random things about me:

1. I could spend literally hours at a time in a bookstore, and frequently have. I'm between books right now - does anyone have any good suggestions?
2. I don't really like breakfast food very much. I'll eat breakfast, but it doesn't really get me overly excited. The closest I come to a breakfast I really enjoy is cold pizza. Or maybe huevos rancheros - that I like.
3. I used to work as a barista so I'm kind of picky about my coffee. I actually prefer espresso-based drinks to straight coffee, and caramel macchiatos are my absolute favourite - vanilla syrup, steamed milk, espresso and caramel syrup. Yummy!
4. I'm allergic to exercise. Okay, not really - but I hate working out or jogging. I much prefer team sports, like soccer or softball. Probably because my competitiveness outweighs my laziness. 
5. I'm a first-time dog owner, so training our miniature schnauzer has been an adventure. There are probably a lot of things I would have done differently, but all in all he's a pretty well-behaved and charming guy. The few things we can't seem to stop him from doing is barking at practically anything that moves, and stealing things like towels and tissues to chew. I guess you can only un-schnauzer a schnauzer so much, but we'll still try to work on his manners.
6. I really like reality television. I'm not proud of it (especially because of my enjoyment of the really terrible reality shows), but there you go.
7. I love to sing. I get particularly loud about it when I'm in the car. When I lived on my own in my apartment, I always had my iPod with me and sang all the time, especially when I was cleaning or doing dishes. I still wonder if my neighbours hated me for it...but I never got complaints so either they didn't mind, or the building had good walls and they just never heard me (I'll go with the second one).

I am passing the Liebster Blog Award to these blogs:

1. Bringing Beauty
2. The Kitchen is My Playground
3. Sane Simplicity
4. Cooking, Crafts and Freedom
5. The Chronicles of Cardigan

And I am passing the Versatile Blogger Award to these blogs:

1. Inspired by Felicity
2. Days of Chalk and Chocolate
3. Northwest Lovelies
4. Addicted to Recipes
5. The Tattered Tag
6. Garden Therapy
7. The Sweet Spot
8. The Bailey Daily
9. Life in the Doghouse
10. Keep the Tail Wagging

These blogs are fantastic. If you are enjoying a bit of a lazy Saturday too, stop by and say hello!