The Shine On Award

September 26, 2013 by Laura Haugen 22 Comments

This week I received the lovely news that The Novice Gardener named me among 14 other bloggers to receive the “Shine On” award. What an honor to be recognized by such an inspiring fellow blogger! If you aren’t familiar with her amazing blog, check it out here (and take a look at this stunning cake).

To accept the award, I have two tasks at hand. First up, to share seven random, interesting things about myself that you might not know. Here goes:

1. I grew up in Maine, anxious to travel the world. Now I travel the world, anxious to return home to Maine.
2. I used to be obsessed with the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s and watched it probably 100 times. While I still admire the elegant and charming Holly Golightly character that Audrey Hepburn plays, I would like to tell her that she should eat a real breakfast instead of gazing at diamonds.
3. My husband is much more organized than I am in most aspects, but even he is daunted by my alphabetized spice rack.
4. My favorite spice is cardamom. It seems appropriate that it has “mom” in its name. It feels like a warm hug.
5. I’ve lived in 10 different countries and visited dozens more. I’ve been to Italy countless times and will never tire of its beauty and its food.
6. I would love to visit India and China someday. And Thailand. Oh, and so many more…
7. I once dined with a president (among other guests). Okay, so I was just the note-taker for a tense discussion among diplomats over dinner, and our side had a hard message to deliver. But he charmed me with a seat at the table and a personalized box of chocolates to take home.

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And now, I get to pass the “Shine On” award along to fellow bloggers of my choice. Being a newbie to this community, I am in awe of the array of talents and inspirational work I find day after day here. I nominate (in alphabetical order):

A Lot on Your Plate

Chef in Disguise

Dreaming in Arabic

Enjoy Life, It’s Delicious

Food to Glow

Health Without Sacrifice

Ice Cream Magazine

Krumkaker

Mama’s Gotta Bake

Meg Travels

My Favourite Pastime

Ridha’s Kitchen

Spontaneous Tomato

Tortore

Tuscan Olive Grove Girl

So for all you nominees, it’s up to you whether you want to follow through with the award; just know that I have enjoyed your blog. If you’d like to participate, here are the rules of the award:

1. Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Acknowledge that blogger on your blog, and link back.
3. Share seven random, interesting things about yourself.
4. Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the Shine On Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs.

Once again, I want to thank The Novice Gardener for this honor and recognize all the folks here who continue to create and inspire. Shine on!