A First. And Second. And Third.

In recent weeks (well, to be "honest", not really so recent), I received the HONEST SCRAP AWARD from three different blogger friends. My very first award! And while I did gratefully thank each immediately upon receipt, I have been remiss in acknowledging them here. In true pro procrastinator fashion, I meant to get to it right away... and then didn't.

So first off, I need to publicly thank these ladies for deeming me and my little blog worthy of their esteem: PK of Room Remix, Janet at The Gardeners Cottage, and Jill at Forever Cottage.

I was not familiar with this award so I googled it to find out what it means. Here's what I found: "This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul."

Well now... I don't know about all that "depths of my heart and soul" stuff, or that there's anything close to brilliance going on here, but, frankly, I'm so impressed with each of the above blogs that it's quite something to have them notice mine and I really am flattered.

In order to officially accept this award, I have to follow a few rules:

1) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.

2) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.

3) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.

4) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

Whew! Alright, I've taken care of #1; here's #2:

Ten Random Honest Things About Me

(prepare to be fascinated)

1) Quite often, I will catch myself unconsciously selecting a mug for my morning coffee that matches the pajamas I'm wearing.

2) While growing up here in Southern California, I lived within a bike ride's distance of both sets of grandparents' homes and only as an adult did I realize how fortunate that was.

3) I love to watch Ghost Hunters on SyFy by myself with (most of) the lights off and (all of) the doors locked (like that makes a difference to ghosts!) because it scares the you-know-what out of me. Watching it with someone else is a lot less spooky and even a little embarrassing.

4) I was so certain that my one and only baby would be a girl, I papered the nursery walls in pink and white plaid. Good thing I was right!

5) When I was in kindergarten, I was allowed to take the milk money all the way (probably 50 feet) to the grade school cafeteria and pick up the little cartons of milk for my class. I don't remember how many times or exactly how long my turn lasted, but when I think about it, I can still smell that cafeteria kitchen. It was a warm, sweet, delicious, fantastic scent. And I've never smelled anything just like it since.

6) My husband grew up in Massachusetts. I've known him for twenty years and I still get a kick out of his accent.

7) In a former career, I planned a corporate event that took place in Elvis Presley's Palm Springs getaway home. While there was not really much left of the King—framed artifacts here and there and the master bedroom was reportedly as it had been in his day—it was still a great location and a fantastic party (if I do say so myself).

8) I make a mean chicken pot pie... when I cook... which isn't all that often because...

9) ...my husband does 99% of the cooking in our house. It just sort of worked out that way and he's happy to do it so who am I to infringe upon his happiness, right?

10) For Halloween, when I was about twelve, I dressed as a box of Tide laundry detergent. That said a lot more about my future as a graphic designer than it did about my affinity for cleaning products or my latent housekeeping skills.

There you go! Ten new things you know about me!

To fulfill the last two requirements, I'm going to break the rules just a little. If I were to hand out seven of these awards myself, based on whose blog impresses and inspires me or to bloggers who have encouraged me in some way, I'd have to give it right back to those three who gave it to me. Obviously, and with good reason, they've already received it and as this award has been making the rounds like wildfire lately, the others I would choose may have also received it by now. So I am going to do this: encourage you to visit the following blogs to see why I think they are brilliant and inspiring and beautiful and fun to read.

Room Remix

The Gardeners Cottage

Forever Cottage

Struggling to Be Stylish

Content in A Cottage

Jan's Gems

Mille Fiori Favoriti

I'm going to leave it up to these bloggers whether they choose to respond to this shout out as an "award" or simply as my sincere thanks for always entertaining, informing and inspiring me. If you're not familiar with them, go now and see what I'm talking about. Honestly, you'll be glad you did!