Tags and Challenges

The Sunshine Blogger Award #3

Saraina Whitney

The Maidens of Green Gables, Grace and Katherine, tagged me for another rendition of the Sunshine Blogger Award!

(Which has been around for a long time, hasn’t it? That was one of the first tags I ever did on this blog! But I enjoy it since there are brand new questions each time. 😇)

If you haven’t yet checked out the Maidens of Green Gables, make sure to visit their blog! It’s so cozy, delightful, and old-fashioned. 🥰️

The Rules

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

the Q&A

#1 What’s something you’ve done recently that you were nervous/scared about, but has ended up being a really good thing/experience?

Working part-time at a coffee shop. I’ve been training at one in a nearby town and it’s been a very good experience, but as can be imagined, I was very nervous to begin. I still secretly dread seeing customers come up, which is funny because…it wouldn’t exist without customers. But being forced to have social interactions has helped me see that I have the same capabilities as anyone else. 😜

#2 If you were to open a shop, what kind of shop would it be?

A blend between a bookshop, a music shop, and a tea shop (which also would offer an assortment of freshly baked cookies).

Just imagine it.

#3 What’s the last book you read that you thought was the cats meow?

Roseanna M. White’s The Lost Heiress and The Reluctant Duchess, the first two books in the Ladies of the Manor series.

THEY ARE SO INCREDIBLY MARVELOUS AND BREATHTAKING.

White absolutely nailed the best-friends-to-lovers romance trope in The Lost Heiress and proved that the trope has potential to actually be far more conflict-ridden and tension-filled than enemies-to-lovers. Justin…I adore him. And Brook was simply delightful. And Roseanna M. White’s writing…it’s so flawlessly balanced between action and thought. Dialogue and internal emotion. Poetry and the cut-to-the-chase bare-bones.

Someone tell me how she does it. *sobs*

And The Reluctant Duchess, my goodness. That story had one of my favorite marriage-of-conveniences ever. Brice (current favorite male lead) was so gentle, self-sacrificing, and understanding with dear Rowena and the trauma she went through. (Yes, I cried at one point, why are you looking at me like that?) They both grew each other and learned from their mistakes in a mature, godly way.

I’ll save the rest of my rant for another time. 😉

#4 You’ve gotten a callback from each of the following plays, which role will you take: Meg in Little Women, Winnie Foster in Tuck Everlasting or Sally in Your a Good Man Charlie Brown?

Meg in Little Women! And I’m not just saying that because I sadly don’t know any of those other two options. 🤭 I always related with Meg. I’m probably a mix between her and Jo.

#5 Share 3 items on your wish list!

A Kindle, a 1940s-style dress (wrap or collared with buttons 😍), and books.

#6 What is something you’ve recently learned that blew your mind?

Oh my, I love this question so much. Let me think about this for a minute…

Oh no. All I can think of is one horrifying fact I recently had the sorrow of learning.

My younger brother had been relaying this story he’d heard from someone, and the short of it is, a guy was to kill a rat, but before he could, it JUMPED ONTO HIS CHEST.

😱

Rats can jump.

As if I needed any more reason to despise them.

#7 What’s a movie or tv show or book series or fandom you’ve gotten into recently?

I don’t know…wait. I do know. The early seasons of the tv show Columbo (an old-ish crime drama)! It’s kind of a guilty pleasure thing, but I can’t help enjoying it. Columbo’s quirks are just so funny and ingenious.

As for book series, yep. Roseanna M. White’s Ladies of the Manor. All her historical fiction set in the 1900s, really.

#8 Your current favorite song?

Skin by Cimorelli.

It’s so powerful and one of my favorites they’ve ever done.

#9 Describe your perfect day including food!

Let it be noted that this is the question that made me place this blog post on hold for over a month.

What kind of perfect day? Is it a perfect week day? Or a Sunday? Saturday? A perfect day spend at home? Or spend out and about?

*wonders why I’m over-analyzing this*

Okay, a perfect day would be one spent writing, never at a lack for inspiration. I’d have a writing sessions outside in the sunlight, no bugs to annoy me (this is the perfect day, right?), and one inside with a warm cup of tea. And some chocolate. Then I’d have a long dance party of sorts with my siblings, where we sing to our favorite songs at max volume. Or I’d get together with friends and have a tea party, then watch Pride and Prejudice together. And then I’d read my favorite book till midnight, happy-cry over it, and sleep in until 8 o’clock in the morning.

How’s that?

For breakfast, I’d have cinnamon rolls with hash browns and cheesy scrambled eggs. Lunch would be Chick-Fil-A, which I haven’t had in exactly one hundred years. Dinner would be hamburgers with a nice salad, with whipped cream over spice cake for dessert.

#10 What is your favorite movie that’s set in another country?

Too hard. 🤣 The ones coming to the top of my mind are Anne of Green Gables and Pride and Prejudice. And the 2009 BBC Emma.

Huh. This is making me realize that most of my favorite movies are partially or fully set in the US.

Interesting…

#11 You have to research one of the following historical events: The Chicago World Fair of 1893, the Lake Peigneur Disaster of 1980 or Operation Mincemeat?

*suspiciously searches Operation Mincemeat*

*sees something about World War II*

*snorts* Obviously Operation Mincemeat.

My New Questions

  1. What place in the world would you least like to visit?
  2. Why?
  3. What time to do you wake up in the morning?
  4. Is that the time you WANT to wake up at?
  5. What’s a situation that always gives you the ick?
  6. What’s a movie/tv show that you desperately wish was clean enough to watch, but isn’t?
  7. How is writing going for you right now?
  8. What’s something you’ve never regretted doing?
  9. Describe a memorable stranger who, for whatever reason, you haven’t been able to forget!
  10. What’s the theme of your current WIP?
  11. And stealing one more question from Katherine and Grace, what’s a mind-blowing fact you recently learned?

I Tag…

I’m very curious to see your answers to these questions! But if you’re otherwise occupied or indisposed, I know of no law legally binding you to do this.

Unless…you do?

What kind of shop would you open? What’s something you’ve done recently that made you nervous at first, but was a good experience in the end? Are most of your favorite movies set in the country you live in? What would your perfect day look like?

27 thoughts on “The Sunshine Blogger Award #3”

  2. Ack! This was so fun and you’re questions are gold! I can’t wait to do this with the girls…Sisters Three thanks ye!

    Surpisingly…similar to you! I want a book/coffee shope/bakery with organic coffee and baked goods!

    And most my favorite movies are set in other countries…hehe…primarily England…lol…or a made up animated place *shrugs*

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    1. YAY! I can’t wait to see your answers!! 😀

      *enthusiastic high five* Kindred spirits, indeed. 😊 That would be SUCH a delightful place to go and relax with a good book!

      Lol! Yeah, a lot of my favorite movies are also set in England or a made-up fantasy place! 😆

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  3. So fun to read your answers, Saraina!! I can totally relate with your new experience!! I just recently got a part time cleaning job and it’s been a really good experience, but as it’s new, it’s also very stressful! 😜 Congratulations! Working at a coffee shop sounds like it will be really fun once you get comfortable!
    Can I come eat breakfast 🍳 at your house on your perfect day? It sounds so good! 😀
    Your shop sounds really neat! What would the music part be like?? Please tell me a jukebox is located somewhere on the premises! 😀
    Let me know if you get your 1940s dress – that would be so fun! I love the 1940s! (Do you have any favorite films set in that era?)
    Your the best, Saraina!

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    1. Ahhh thank you, Katherine!! Ooh, congratulations on getting the job! Aww, yes, I know exactly how you feel! I hope it gets less stressful as time goes by. 😉 😊 Yes, working at a coffee shop is a lot of fun!

      PLEASE DO. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it…

      Thank you! OHH YES! We must have a jukebox somewhere on the premises. *jots that down to remember*

      Girl, it will be a dream come true if I ever get those dresses. 😍 I shall let you know! (Well, I’m trying to collect a list of movies set during that time, because I don’t watch as many as I’d like! But some that come to mind are the first Captain America, Unbroken, and The Magic of Ordinary Days. XD What’s your favorite ’40s-era movie?)

      Awww, thank you for your lovely comment, Katherine! ❤

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      1. 🙂 🙂 🙂
        Thank, you!
        Hmm…I don’t know if I have a single favorite. I like Since you went Away (1944), The Magic of Ordinary Days (so romantic), More The Merrier (1943), Dear Ruth (1947), Stalag 17 (1953) to name some. 🙂 I love the 1930-40s era!

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  6. My family’s been watching Columbo lately too!! I think it’s one of my favorite series’. Columbo is suuuuuch a fun character, and the villains are always so snobby it’s funny.

    This was a fun post to read, Saraina. And, about dreading customers… That feeling never really goes away, at least it didn’t for me after working in a grocery store deli for over a year. ;P

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    1. NO WAY! *gasps* Ahhh yes, isn’t it so fun?? Yesss, Columbo is such an epic, fun character – and you’re right, the villains are incredibly snobby. It’s hilarious how predictable it gets, LOL.

      Aww, thanks!! *nervous laugh* Good to know, Riley. 😜 Yeahh, I suppose I’ll get over it eventually, just not any time soon. XD Although sometimes I surprise myself and get excited to see a customer. 😆

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  7. I LOVE Columbo!!! XD I haven’t watched it in forever but my dad and I used to watch that a lot! And books, music, and tea all in one place?? I need that!!! XD And that’s so awesome that you’re working at a coffee shop!! Congrats! That must be so much fun!!

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  8. *comments almost three weeks after the post goes up just Because*

    Your shop sounds like a marvelous place 🙂

    Ahh, writing sessions with no lack of inspiration would make for a perfect day, wouldn’t it?

    But wait a minute! You despise rats?? But the domesticated ones are so sweet and cute!! You must look up pet rat videos on Youtube. Some people teach their pet rats to do tricks and it is so. so. cute.

    (Hehe. Maybe I’m just weird. But I’m a huge rat apologist :P)

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    1. Haha, thank you!!! I want it to exist! 😭

      IT WOULD. *sighs in bliss*

      Whaaat? Sweet and cute? 😱 I must see this for myself. *dashes off to look up pet rat videos* *physically recoils* Ugh, no no no! I can’t do it! Okay…what I mean is, I can see the potential for cuteness in them and I see why you think they’re cute, but… *shudders* To me, there’s something so scary about them, LOL! 🤣

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        1. *puts it on bucket list* Maybe I should just hope someone else starts one so I don’t have to 😛

          LOL! Definitely, they might grow on me! (*coughs* Erm, not literally, I hope 😂) Oh, really? Then perhaps there’s a chance I’ll become a fan too! 😉

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