Folks of the blogosphere!! I am really honored to have been nominated for several blog awards in the past few weeks. These awards are for bloggers by bloggers. They’re basically a fun little way to shout out to your favorite blogs, help them get more followers, and give a nice little boost of self-esteem that, Hey! People are actually appreciating the crazy things coming out of my head!! If Beyoncé had a blog, she would definitely be nominated for these awards. So basically, I have now reached blog-level Beyoncé. Go me!!!!

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Awards #1&2: Inspiring Blogger Award

“The Rules”

• Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
• List the rules and display the award.
• Share seven facts about yourself.
• Nominate 15 other blogs you enjoy, and let them know that you have nominated them.

A huge thanks to Quiche Lauren and Hannah Goes to France for nominating me for this award TWICE! These ladies are both very cool fellow TAPIF assistants. Lauren did the program last year and her blog was really helpful to me when I was applying and preparing to move over the summer. Plus, she recently moved to DC so maybe we’ll be able to meet in person when I get back! Hannah is stuck in the vicious TAPIF cycle…back for a second year, and a good thing too because we happen to both be assistants in Chambéry. Oh yeah, and she’s my roommate. Thanks, ladies for the shout out!!!

“The Facts”

1. I love picture books. I came to France with one suitcase and carry on full of clothes and essentials. And a backpack full of picture books. Since arriving in France, I have bought no less than 4 more, so clearly I have a problem. Some of my favorite authors include Mo Willems, Oliver Jeffers, Jan Klassen, Tomie dePaola, etc etc etc etc.
2. Audra McDonald is my spirit animal. I have been lucky enough to see Audra twice: in Porgy and Bess and Lady Day. They are two of the most emotional theatrical experiences of my life. If you want more examples of her perfections, may I direct you here, here, here and here.
3. Tina Fey once walked in on me eating a bagel. During my senior year she came to Charlottesville for a big drama department reunion (we share the same alma mater!) and she was walking around the building reliving the glory days and walked in on me and my friend scarfing down our breakfast in the green room. Very classy.
4. Speaking of the glory days….as a drama major, I spent a ridiculous amount of hours in the drama building. So many in fact, that several of my professors suggested dedicating the lobby to me or hanging a big banner of my face. Another professor once told me he had a dream that I became a big star and everyone was excited because I was coming back to visit…much like Tina did a few months earlier. Here’s to presentimental dreams!
5. I went to Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. It was also my 17th birthday!
6. I learned French all through middle school and high school, but stopped in college because I was a little burnt out after having a crazy teacher for three years in high school. After two and a half years, I decided I wanted to study abroad in France and thought I ought to take another French class and I think that decision was one of the best I ever made. In the last two semesters of university, I managed to complete enough classes for a French minor and they included some of my favorite classes of my UVA career.
7. Whenever I have to draw a picture or think of a story, my go to topics are unicorns, mermaids, outer space, and dinosaurs.

“The Nominations”

As it turns out, I don’t follow all that many blogs…so I will echo Hannah’s call here for quality over quantity!

1. Maiden Voyage – Julia is a wonderful friend and fellow Chambéry assistant. Her writing is witty and hilarious.
2. La Vie Alpine – Rose is also an assistant in Chambéry and one of the sweetest girls ever. Her blog is always really honest and thorough!
3. Fun w/ Reading and Writing – My mom is a kickass 5th grade writing teacher who is really passionate about literacy! Her blog is a great collection of resources and thoughts on teaching reading and writing, especially influenced by the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.
4. miss ida – Ida is a friend and neighbor from college who is currently participating in Teach for China, where she has committed to two years teaching in rural China. Her blog posts are beautifully written and really eye-opening about the challenges (and rewards!) of education.
5. This Armenian Life – Madison is an old friend and even though we fell out of touch in college, I have been engrossed in following her Peace Corps service in Armenia!
6. Le Fabuleux Destin de Caroline – I have never personally met Caroline, but she is currently an elementary assistant in Valence (not far from Chambéry….she ought to come visit soon 😉 ). She’s done one of the best jobs I’ve seen at discussing what it is exactly that assistants do in the classroom, and I’ve had fun swapping games and lessons with her!
7. French Twist DC – I only recently started following this blog, but so far I’m enamored! Laetitia grew up in Paris but now lives in Washington and blogs about all of the frenchie ways of the city. Can’t wait to check out some of her suggestions when I return!
8. Rondelet by Cara – Cara was an assistant a few years ago and now is back in France working as an au pair outside of Paris. Her blog is filled with very informative posts about TAPIF, au pair life, and more!

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Award #3: Leibster Award

The Liebster Award exists only on the internet, and is an award given to bloggers by bloggers. The award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers. The purpose of the Liebster Award is to recognize and discover upcoming talent.

Many thanks to La Virginienne for the nomination!! I started following her very recently, obviously drawn in by a fellow Virginian francophile! So far, I have found her posts to be really thoughtful. Plus, her blog layout is super edgy and fun. Check it out!!

There are some rules involved with this award:

• You must link back to the person who nominated you (but cannot nominate them).
• You must answer the 10 questions given by the nominee.
• You must nominate 10 bloggers and write 10 new questions for them to answer.

Here are La Virginienne’s questions and my responses:

Explain your blog in five words. Silly stories of special times

Why do you write? I write mostly to keep a record and share with others.

What’s your favorite song? Why? I’m not sure that I have a favorite song because I tend to listen to songs or albums over and over and over and over again in a concentrated period of time and then never again for the next 5 years…But I have often said that if I could only listen to one song for the rest of my life it would be that famous Barbra and Judy duet, Happy Days are Here Again/Get Happy. I love it for its joyful melancholy and of course for the two divas infusing it with love and passion.

What’s your favorite book? Why?  Can I pick all 7 Harry Potter books? Honestly though, maybe it’s cliché but these books are always good no matter how old I am when I read them. They’re always there for me when I don’t know what to read next. The perfect mixture between beach read and slightly more intellectual (okay, erring on the beach read side, but whatever).

What was your favorite subject in school? I’m tempted to say drama, because obviously it’s what I ended up studying in college, but honestly drama classes in school were kind of a joke…Perhaps English or French. I did take a couple of cool history classes: Topics of 20th century history and History of the Americas that I’m fond of for sentimental reasons, but I don’t think I can honestly say they were my favorites…

What was your worst? Without a doubt maths. Actually, I was randomly really good at certain functions in calculus, but pretty dense in everything else.

What show could you binge watch into eternity? Well, currently it’s Gilmore Girls, which I do love. But I would also nominate House of Cards, 30 Rock or Modern Family.

What do you wish you did for a living? I don’t honestly know…it’s sort of what I’m trying to figure out now….But in a dream world I would be a philanthropist. Honestly, can you think of a cushier job?!

If you could live anywhere, where would you be? Hmmm really tough question! Honestly I’m a big fan of DC and would love to live there for a while. But France and Italy have recently captured my attention span for now.

What would you do with 100 million dollars? First, I would travel to all the cities where Shakespeare plays take place. Just because. And then I would probably be fiscally responsible and invest it or something…not that I know ANYTHING about how that works. But it would be fabulous to have money to pay for grad school or other future-y adult-y things.

I hereby nominate anyone who has made it through this post the same blogs as above for the Leibster Award as well!!! Two awards, one blog! Congrats! But obviously, only do one set of questions, unless you really really want to do both.

Here are my questions:

1. What are your New Year Resolutions?
2. What books have you recently read that stuck with you?
3. What’s the first thing you do when you visit a new city?
4. What do you really want to learn how to cook/bake?
5. What is your favorite time of day?
6. What is your favorite time of year?
7. What is the best boy band?
8. TV or movies?
9. From what sources do you most often get your news?
10. Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hiddleston?