Bring Your Own Sunshine

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”

One of the awesome things about being a blogger is the community you can build of people who share common loves. I’ve found the healthy living blogging community to be so much fun!  I feel like I know the people whose blogs I read, even if I have never met them.

Such is the case for Brittany over at My Own Balance. I started reading her blog a couple of months ago, and quickly became a regular visitor to her site. I have a feeling that if we knew each other in real life, she’d easily convince me to do Zumba with her (She posted a cute video of her dancing the other day and it totally made me want to dance along with her!). When I checked her blog out yesterday, seeing that she nominated me for the Sunshine Award made me smile. Thanks girl!

The Sunshine Award is a way for bloggers to acknowledge other bloggers that brighten their day. It’s currently circulating around the blogosphere, and I think the concept is cute. In a world where there is so much judgment and insecurity, I find the friendly & supportive nature of the blogging community to be so nice and refreshing. I’m all about the love!

Here are the award rules:

• Include the above award logo in your blog post.
• Link to the person who nominated you.
• Answer 10 questions about yourself.
• Nominate some bloggers and let them know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

And now for Brittany’s questions:

1.) Where is the best place you’ve ever traveled?

Hmm, that’s a toss-up between Sicily and Thailand (I blogged about my trip there last year here, here, here and here), but if I had to choose, I think I’d pick Sicily – which I just did a whole post on last week here!

2.) If you could only eat one thing for an entire week, what would it be?

I’m not sure if it’s technically considered “one thing,” but I could eat fruit all day long. Strawberries, banana, apple, blueberries, watermelon, peaches, raspberries, pluots, cherries… you name it, I love it!

3.) What’s your favorite book?

Though I do love to read, I’m not a big “favorites” person. The only books I couldn’t get enough in recent memory are the Hunger Games series. Love em!

4.) What’s your favorite form of exercise?

Oooh toughie, I suppose I’d say hiking. I love being able to get a sweat session in, be outside enjoying nature, and also getting my pup some exercise all at the same time. Kickboxing comes in a close second though!

5.) If you could live in any city in the world, where would you live?

I feel like I couldn’t give an informative answer to this question unless I had visited every city in the world! I would love to live in a city in Europe somewhere for a few years – perhaps Barcelona, Florence, or Dublin?

6.) What’s your favorite kind of flower?

Depends on my mood…right now I’m loving the sunflowers sitting in my kitchen:

7.) Atlantic or Pacific?

I’m a born and raised East coast girl, so Atlantic!

8.) What would you do if you won the lottery?

I would travel the world, donate lots of money and volunteer lots of time to organizations dedicated to helping animals & people in need, share my wealth with my loved ones, buy awesome houses (one on the East coast, one on the West coast), open a wine/olive oil/dip tasting business and enjoy my life as I do now! Whew, a girl can dream right? 🙂

9.) Why did you start blogging?

I really love food and living an active, healthy lifestyle, and had been reading healthy living blogs for awhile. I realized that it would bring me happiness to be able to share my passions and life by starting a blog of my own. Last year when my Marine was deploying, I decided it would be the perfect time to take up a new hobby of blogging, and it was a great decision! It has become an awesome part of my life.

10.) What would your perfect day look like?

My perfect day would be spent with my favorite people and my dog. It would involve hiking in some gorgeous area in perfect weather, followed by wine drinking, the eating of bread, cheese & fruit, and relaxing outside at the beach/on a boat/at a winery.

Now for my 10 questions:

1.) What’s your current favorite song to exercise to?

2.) What food reminds you most of your childhood?

3.) Who is your favorite celebrity?

4.) What’s one destination on your bucket list?

5.) What is your favorite kind of animal?

6.) What food/recipe do you most frequently make?

7.) What’s your favorite movie or TV show?

8.) Number #1 dessert pick?

9.) What’s your favorite life motto or quote?

10.) What’s one thing you’re looking forward to?

Here are the bloggers that I’m nominating for the Sunshine Award:

Gina at Health, Love and Chocolate

Hillary at Nutrition Nut on the Run

Sarah at Making Thyme for Health

Davida at The Healthy Maven

Meg & Bek at fitnessCrEATures

Heather at Better with Veggies

Readers, tell me a bit about yourself! Answer a few of the questions in this post in the comments below.