Five: A Random Blog Survey

After seeing this survey on Julie’s, Brittany’s, and Courtney’s blogs, I thought it would be fun to fill out myself. Especially after wistfully glancing over the photos of travel locations and jamming to the music selections! I decided to go alphabetically in each section, but there are shout-outs to a few of my number ones 🙂

 

 

Five Places I’m Dying To Visit

The Alps (Austria/Switzerland) – I never managed to get to the Alps when I was studying at Oxford, but I’ve always wanted to go. I love mountains and valleys and big open skies, and after hiking in the English Lake District last summer I’d love to tackle some of the gentler terrain on foot. Plus there would be a side trip to see Vienna and Salzburg, which I’d enjoy both because of my Austrian heritage and the ability to take a Sound of Music tour.

 

 

 

Big Sky country – like I said, I love big open skies. This refers to Montana, but I’d love to go anywhere out West where I can stand and look around and just see nature’s beauty for miles. I’m definitely more of a natural wonders girl.

 

 

 

Hawaii – people have told me Maui and Kauai are the places to go but I’d love to do it all!

 

New Zealand/Fiji – they’re close together so I’m going to squeeze in two destinations to the far-off islands of beauty. I’ve already been to Sydney, Australia, but every photo I’ve ever seen of these places makes me think they’re worth their own trip.

 

Yellowstone National Park – and many of the other national parks, from Glacier to Bryce to Acadia. After reading A Walk in the Woods, I don’t think I’m Appalachian or Pacific Crest Trail material, but I would want to hike some rather than just driving in for the day. It’s on foot that I’ve had the best experiences.

 

 

 

 

 

Five Foods I Eat Every Day

Apples – I can’t remember the last time I went a day without one. My favorite is the Pink Lady, but I’m also a fan of homegrown Macintosh/Cortland, Braeburn, Jazz, Granny Smith, and more.

 

 

 

 

Eggs – scrambled or in an omelet. Sometimes twice a day. Sometimes I go to two diners on the weekend, one for brunch and one for dinner, and have two omelets. Because they’re awesome.

 

 

 

 

Greek yogurt – even though I’m cutting back on dairy after my recent elimination, I won’t be giving it up entirely. I love my ice cream, but if there’s one dairy product that’s an everyday occurrence, it’s Greek yogurt, for breakfast or a snack.

 

 

 

 

Peanut butter – nothing more need be said. Except when I substitute with sunflower seed butter.

 

 

 

Sweet potatoes – baked or fried, often with my eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

Five Talents I Wish I Had

 

Flying – I don’t mean a plane, I mean actually flying. I know this is impossible. And yet…

 

Making a Soufflé – something I never dreamed I could master. Then again, I never thought I could do more than scramble eggs prior to the last few years, so who knows?

 

Photography – not just for the blog, but for capturing memories, I’d love to learn more about angles, lighting, and the way to frame the moment.

 

Singing – never my strong suit, it’s why I did ballet and let the music speak for itself.

 

Web Design and Coding – helpful for this Luddite of a blogger.

 

 

 

Five Healthy Food Bloggers I Wish Would Cook For Me Every Day

 

Ashley at Fit Mitten Kitchen

 

Brittany at A Healthy Slice of Life

 

Christina at The Blissful Balance

 

Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean

 

Michele at The Paleo Running Momma

 

 

Five Instagram Accounts I Love

 

The Allergy Free Wife – I want to sneak along in her suitcase and find all these amazing treats.

 

Camping With Dogs – nature’s beauty and adorable puppies.

 

In It 4 The Long Run Blog – have you seen how talented Georgie is? And it’s not just her photographs of food that make me drool, it’s her dedication to blogging and commitment to the BGB Community alongside Christina.

 

Love Me Feed Me – I found this girl through the #bgbcommunity hashtag and I can’t stop marveling.

 

Positive Vibe – motivational and inspirational quotes. Of course sometimes my fellow BGB’ers get me going all by themselves…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Things I Wear (Almost) Every Day

 

Leggings – if it’s below 60 degrees, every day after work and on weekends. Shorts when it’s warm. I object to real pants.

 

 

 

My pink pearl earrings – given to me by my parents for my Oxford graduation/21st birthday. I rarely wear any other jewelry but these suit me perfectly and I almost never take them off.

 

 

 

Running shoes – whether it’s my On Clouds or New Balance 980s, I run 4-5 days/week.

 

 

 

 

Tretorn tennis shoes – for the walk to work and kicking it around the city. I’ve got basic white and navy, polka dots, and purple flowers currently in my closet. It was a close call between these and my Sperrys!

 

 

 

 

Twistband hair ties – ponytail or around my wrist in case I want to ponytail it.

 

 

 

 

 

Five Songs I Listen To On Repeat

 

Beautiful Every Time (Lee Brice) – It’s not just about the love between two people, it’s about all the love you have in life for all the people in it, and the little moments that bring us joy. I almost went with Love Like Crazy, but let’s just agree that Lee Brice is one talented country musician.

 

Scarecrow (Alex & Sierra) – I first heard this song play at the end of an episode of Hart of Dixie and couldn’t get it out of my head. It’s incredibly catchy and perfect for walking through the park in spring with a bounce in your step.

 

Starlight (Taylor Swift) – my favorite Taylor Swift song, and you can ask any of my friends how much I listen to her music. Some of us have literally spent hours debating the best of the best. Before this, it was Mine, and I also can’t stop with Today Was a Fairytale. Or Wildest Dreams. Okay, I digress…

 

Wildfire (Seafret) – I discovered this song after it played at the end of The Longest Ride, and when I found the music video I was enthralled. They did an experiment in London where strangers asked each other questions and stared into each other’s eyes, and this song is the soundtrack. Six months afterwards I think two of the couples got married!

 

Wildflowers (Tom Petty) – an old favorite, the way I feel about my life. I want to always feel like I’m somewhere I feel free.

 

 

Five Beauty Products I Use Every Day

 

Blue Lagoon Facial Cleanser and Toner – I don’t wear makeup, but I do make sure to keep my skin clean and bright, no small feat living in New York City. I have pretty sensitive skin but this Icelandic cleanser that my mom discovered when I was in high school does the trick.

 

Burt’s Bees Lip Balm – a winter essential, and actually well-used in all the other seasons too.

 

Burt’s Bees Facial Wipes – for when I’m on the go.

 

OGX Coconut Milk Conditioner and Shampoo – I love the coconut milk line, as well as a few of the others. I prefer to use sulfate free shampoo to keep my naturally thin and dry hair healthy, and the conditioner is great to quench my locks.

 

The sun – the best beauty product of all for glowing skin and shiny hair, in my opinion 🙂

 

 

Five Movies I Can Watch On Repeat

 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – a classic and an inspiration no matter how far past high school I get. I love that ending line. “Life moves pretty fast, and if you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” Truer words were never spoken to teenage me.

 

The Philadelphia Story – I’m a fan of both Hepburns, and Katharine makes a hilarious star turn in this comedy. It was turned into a musical on Broadway called High Society, and Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant make it easy to see how it got so popular.

 

Sabrina – my favorite of the Audrey films. A lot of people put Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the top, and I do like that movie, but I find the book version sad. There’s nothing sad about the story of Sabrina Fairchild, a chauffer’s daughter who wins the man she’s in love with – but which of the two sons of her father’s employer? You’ll have to watch to find out!

 

Silver Linings Playbook – Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper teaming up, crazy Eagles fans, ballroom dancing, Robert De Niro, happy ending.

 

When Harry Met Sally – my original favorite romantic comedy, and I could watch a lot of Nora Ephron on repeat. You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle…the list goes on and on, but if I have to choose, this is it. “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

 

 

Five Favorite TV Shows

 

Friends – nobody I know, even beneficiaries of rent control, has an insanely huge apartment and a job that lets them hang out at a coffee shop most of the day, but it’s still a classic about that phase of life when you’re living in New York City and your friends are your family.

 

Friday Night Lights – I might be from one of the most opposite corners of America to Dillon, Texas, but no matter where you live, you can’t help but root for the Panthers. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton are basically the best TV parents ever. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

 

Gilmore Girls – the first show I fell in love with, the source of epic witty banter, a mother-daughter bond I envy, and a cultural icon.

 

Parenthood – they took some of my favorite characters from two of these other shows and created another one with emotion and heart.

 

Parks and Recreation – I agree with you, Ron and Leslie. There is no sadness that cannot be cured by breakfast food. It’s that kind of optimism that makes me hopeful for the human race.

 

 

 

Five Books On My Current Reading List

The Boys In The Boat (Daniel James Brown) – as a college coxswain, I’m always interested in rowing stories, but this one is especially inspiring. It’s about the American boat that entered the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Jesse Owens won gold, and also set out to defeat the Germans.

 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Marie Kondo) – I’m always trying to clear out clutter, and while I’ve heard the part about only keeping items that bring you joy (which, let’s face it, I’m not chucking all my running socks even if they don’t exactly make my heart sing) I think it could be worth a read. 

 

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America (Bill Bryson) – before heading to Oxford for the first time, I read Notes From A Small Island, and while the chapter on Oxford scared me with its description of sheepishly genius students, I went off anyway to discover a bit of the British spirit that Bryson captured. Recently, I enjoyed A Walk in the Woods, which made me think I probably won’t be hiking the Appalachian Trail anytime soon, but did make me want to get a jump on seeing our national parks.

 

The Wright Brothers (David McCullough) – I’m a history nerd, and I love most of what McCullough’s come out with so far, especially his book about the American expat community in nineteenth-century Paris. So I’m looking forward to reading this biography about the brothers who taught the nation to fly.

 

How To Cook Everything (Mark Bittman) – just once I feel like I should page through this in its entirety. 

 

 

 

Five Random Things I Ate Yesterday

 

Dark chocolate chips – sprinkled throughout the Grain Free Banana Bread Blondies in a jar that I ate for breakfast, and sprinkled on top of my Peanut Butter Banana Chip Breakfast Sundae for dessert in the evening.

 

Honeydew melon

 

Rainbow baby carrots

 

Sunflower seed butter

 

Turkey burger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name five of your favorites in any category!

 

Which category is easiest for you to reel off?

 

Do any of my choices resonate with you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© 2016 Renaissance Runner Girl. All rights reserved.

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