Delightful deja vu

Well whaddayaknow - I've been lucky enough to be nominated for another Liebster award! Yippee!

This time I've been nominated by the brilliant Rhia from Virtual Rhiality (do you see what she did there?). The rules of the Leibster award centre round the number 11. Answer 11 questions, write down 11 facts, nominate 11 bloggers, and ask them 11 questions. A whole lot of 11s.

Rhia's 11 questions for me:

1. What is your favourite book or author?

I've recently developed a serious obsession for witty Victorian mystery novels with huge brooding men (werewolfness optional), a fair bit of swooning around in corsets, and detailed descriptions of the repeated consumption of afternoon tea.

So far this year I've devoured the entire Alexia Tarabotti series by Gail Carriger and the Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn. Both series' are absolute genius; I've loved every single book so far and will now be spending my days impatiently tapping my foot until the next instalment is released. 

2. What is your favourite type of cake?

ALL CAKE. If I had a gun to my head and was forced to pick one (by some baked-goods-opinion-poll-obsessed psychopath) I'd have to go chocolate. The birthday cake I made myself this year was pretty damn good, even if I do say so myself....

3. What's the one thing you love that most people you know hate or dislike?

The musical musings of Britney Spears. Pretty much all my friends listen to "cool" music and have no time for Britney. It's a good thing they've all got a few other nice characteristics or I probably wouldn't be friends with them any more....

If you don't have time for Britney, I probably won't have time for you. 

4. Favourite sandwich?

Hmmm... tricky. I'm going to go for extra mature Cheddar cheese and Marmite on thickly sliced fresh tiger loaf with butter. I very rarely eat bread so, rather ridiculously, sandwiches are a bit of a treat for me (says the girl who eats bars and bars of chocolate every day).

5. Favourite childhood toy?

I had several favourite toys when I was little, including:

• A bear called Andrew; who now sits on top of our dining room dresser
• A doll called Gabrielle; who was the reason I discovered the Tooth Fairy, Santa and the Easter Bunny *whispers* weren't real. I tried not to hold a grudge against her about it, but we ended up falling out and I have no idea where she is now. Sorry, Gabs.
• A knitted version of Ted Glen from Postman Pat, which my Mum was FORCED to make me because every time he came on TV I'd go and kiss the screen. Apparently, even when I was 2 I had a thing for handy men with excellent facial hair....

Errr.... swoon?

6. Favourite colour?

Blue. Another bane of my poor Mother's life - not only was her TV screen covered in affectionate toddler smudges, but at the same time I insisted to only be dressed in blue. And absolutely NO DRESSES. Thankfully my younger sibling is of the male persuasion, and it was therefore rather handy in the end that my Mum had lots of blue dungarees lying around. 

7. If you could invent one thing to make your life easier what would it be? 

A machine that could exercise your body for you whilst you slept. I hate exercising, and how great would it be to clock up eight hours of dreams about huge plates of waffles, and wake up with a body like Rhianna's?!

Damn you Rhianna and your self-control with not eating too many waffles.

8. If you could learn one new skill/language/craft etc what would it be?

I'd love to learn how to do proper upholstery, although I think I'd also have to learn the art of patience to go with it. I'd also love to be able to paint. Then again, speaking another language would also be rather awesome- I'm absolutely hopeless at picking up languages. 

9. If you were a superhero what would your power/name be?

Sarcastagirl. I'd be really good at busting through windows, tossing around a few scathing comments, then wandering off in search of a cup of tea and a snack. 

10. If you had a whole day to yourself & loads of money; where would you go? What would you do?

I'd charter a private plane to take me, Tom, and my parents somewhere exciting like Iceland or Rome. My parents have only really travelled as far as France, and I'd love to show my Mum some more exotic places. We'd be picked up at the crack of dawn and nap on the plane before a day of exploring. Naturally, the plane would come complete with a five star chef to make us an excellent breakfast to keep us fuelled for a whole day of adventures. I'm thinking waffles. Mmmm.... waffles

Iceland. Not too far for a day trip, right?

11. If you could achieve one thing this year what would it be?

Currently, my biggest goal is to get a job where I can write for a living. Preferably waffling on about velvet sofas, floral patterned teacups, and storing beautifully shaped pasta in jars. 

11 facts about me:

1. One of my incisors is yellowy-orange at the end. It's something that happened when my Mum was cooking me in her belly, so no amount of bleach or whitening toothpaste will ever get rid of it. I don't mind it really though, because it reminds me of an upside-down candy corn sweet.

Corn toof.

2. I really don't like the sensation of wet jeans/trousers against my legs, or damp hair pressing against my neck. It makes me cross. 

3. I've used a knife and fork to eat a meal about three times in the last decade. Most of the time I just use a fork- it's one of my party tricks.

4. When I was younger, I never felt the cold. I'd wear tiny shorts and t-shirts in the depths of winter (at the time I had no thighs and the abs to go with them). Then I went skiing on a school trip and have pretty much felt cold ever since. I think the cold got into my bones. Now I'm cold all the time, but it's ok because I don't have the thighs or abs for tiny clothes any more anyway. 

Perhaps there's a direct correlation between cheesecake consumption and feeling chilly?

5. Tom and I cook pretty much everything from scratch with the exception of pasta and bread (which we're working on starting soon). Tom is brilliant at seasoning, chopping, and using herbs and spices.... I am sous chef and mostly in charge of grating cheese and making gravy. At least one of which features heavily in most of our dinners. 

6. I love being the wingman of the party. Not the life and soul of the party; but sitting next to the life and soul of the party chipping in with reasonably witty observations when I feel like they'll get a good laugh*. But there are some days where I feel very quiet indeed and just like to sit and observe.

7. I think my Mum is absolutely beautiful- she has so many laughter lines and I hope I have twice as many when I get to her age. She also has the kindest heart.

8. When I was little, my parents encouraged me to learn the piano. They took me to a lovely teacher with a tabby cat called Tabitha. I can't remember what the lady's name was now, but I remember having a massive tantrum in her back garden after passing my Grade 1 and saying I didn't want to do it any more. My parents said I didn't have to, but warned me I'd regret it. So I stopped. And I do. 

Imagine those last two sentences accompanied by sad piano music. But played in completely the wrong tempo, and with only the right hand, because I can't play the piano. Boooo.

9. My parents have just moved from a house an hour away into a flat at the end of our road. The first question everyone asked me when I told them was "And how do YOU feel about that?". Haha.

10. I have really vivid dreams, and can sometimes remember them for hours after I've woken up. Which is (mostly) fun.

11. I'm no good at hiding my emotions on my face. My bestie can tell when I'm being judgemental even before I can!

I like to imagine my judgemental face looks like this. 

Once again, I'm going to break the rules (because this is technically my fifth Leibster award**), and just answer the questions and write the facts. However, you should all definitely answer Rhia's questions on your blogs too because they're a lot of fun. 

Katie xxx

* My ego is sometimes like a very needy cat; furry and requiring constant stroking.

** I might build a virtual awards trophy somewhere on the internet