More questions from readers! Part I and Part II.
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These questions are all from San.
What do you consider your best personal quality?
I'm a great gift giver and I always remember to send birthday cards.
Do you sleep on the right or left side of the bed? Is it important to you?
I sleep on the left side of the bed, no matter where we are. More than a decade ago, I broke my left leg. It was a spectacular break. Because of this, I like to be able to stick the bottom part of my left leg out of the covers at night because weight (even just the weight of our duvet!) can feel unbearable.
Prior to the broken leg, I didn't have a preference and I actually slept on the right side when I was sleeping with my husband at home, but we would willy-nilly choose sides if we slept in a hotel or whatever. Now, no matter what the bed, I sleep on the left side.
Did you even know you'd get an answer this in-depth with this question?
Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry? What's the story?
Well...it's obviously my wedding and engagement rings. But I have a confession to make: I rarely wear them. I have terrible eczema on my hands and wearing them exacerbates it. It makes me sad, but there you are. In order to find this photo, I went through my blog archives. No one asked, but here are two fun posts if you'd like to know what our early married lives were like. Also, Suzanne commented on one of those posts! From 2010! What a crazy long blog friendship.
I really only wear earrings and bracelets on a regular basis. I wear sapphire studs in my bottom holes (to replace the sapphire in my engagement ring that I can't wear) and silver hoops in my second holes, as well as a hoop in my cartilage hole. But the bracelets. The bracelets are where it's at.
I have one "nice" silver bracelet from Twisted Silver that I wear almost daily. It was a present from my husband years ago. It doesn't look like they still make that bracelet, which is too bad because it is fabulous. I also buy cheap bangles with colors on them when I travel. I have maroon and gold from when I went to Minnesota, green and red when I went to the Christmas store with my mom, and so on. My nieces love to wear them when I visit them. And sometimes my nieces make me rubber band bracelets and I love that more than anything. On a regular day in the summer, I will wear ALL of these bracelets.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?
I would stay here. I like it here. It's a good location for both our families. We have a great house. We have friends. Our jobs are here. But I'd definitely get a second home on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis.
The following questions are from Stephany.
What makes a book 5-star for you?
I have written an entire post on my star rating system, so I will try not to be too repetitive. Five stars is an enthusiastic thumbs up from me. I would not hesitate to reread the book, I will recommend it widely, and it has probably become my entire personality for the duration of the time I was reading it. This doesn't necessarily mean I don't have any criticisms of the book, but just that I thought the premise and execution were super well-done.
These are generally the types of book that are instant favorites. They make me wonder what I'm doing with my life, how such brilliance exists in the world, and if people are born brilliant or if it's something we can all strive for. These are books that go on my shelf in that small section devoted to the utter radiance of the human condition.
So, yes, I'm somewhat stingy with five star ratings. I'm less stingy with 4 and 4.5 stars, though, but I mean, really. How many books truly are works of genius AND appeal to me?
What is your least favorite holiday?
Interesting question. I basically like any excuse to party, but I struggle with Columbus Day. I also find Father's Day really difficult. I feel like the reasons for this are pretty obvious.
But you know what? I like all the weird special days: National Donut Day? Count me in. National Rescue Dog Day? I will celebrate! National Talk Like a Pirate Day? Argh, matey.
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And that's a wrap on AMA questions. If you still have burning questions, feel free to ask!
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What's the last 5-star book you read? What made it five stars for you?
Such a long blog friendship!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I sleep on specific sides of the bed, too, always. No idea how we ended up where we did (I'm on the left, he's on the right), but that's how it is.
The last five-star book I read was Broken Harbor by Tana French. It is such a beautifully written book, and the mystery is contains is well plotted, and the whole thing is completely devastating. Like you, I'm stingy with five-star ratings but very free with four stars. And I consider a four-star rated book to be pretty fantastic.
I don't even know how we became blog friends. How did we meet so long along?
DeleteI do think it's interesting how we default to sides of the bed. I guess it makes sense in your own bed (who wants to use someone else's pillow?), but the fact that it translates to OTHER beds is fascinating. What an interesting question to ask someone!
These are all questions that I wanted the answers to and would never have thought to ask.
ReplyDeleteI sleep on the left side of the bed at home. The right side is closest to the door so when the kids were little it put my husband closer for any dad duties that came up in the night and on the front line for any night time emergency. When we travel we unconsciously follow the same pattern of having him closest to the door.
Boo to eczema for limiting the amount of time that you can wear your rings. I have a ton of cute little necklaces but somehow I stopped wearing them when COVID started.
I can see us possibly moving somewhere warmer or closer to the kids if they move away later in life. I wouldn't mind staying here as long as I can travel;-)
A five star book is something special. I don't really have a rating system but if I did then I think most of my books would be 4 and 4.5 stars. I've reread a couple of my all time favorite Nevil Shute books recently that are 5 stars, but the last "new" 5 star'er was Strange Sally Diamond.
There are no bad holidays. This time of year gets a little dark and emotional for me so sometimes I have a hard time with Christmas prep, but I still love it. Even a meh like Columbus Day means a day off work so I'll take it.
I have a million necklaces and I love so many of them, but because of my scarf habit, I rarely wear them. I don't like it when they get tangled in my scarves.
DeleteI have SSD from the library on your recommendation! I'm hoping to get to it by the end of the year, but I'm trying to complete some year-long reading challenges, so we'll see if I can fit it in.
I just got completely lost in your old archives, those wedding photos are gorgeous and YOU are gorgeous. Holy moly, how beautiful. And what a dress. That dress is perfection! Ahhhhh now I want to go back and read all your archives *surfaces hours later*
ReplyDeleteThe last 3 out of 4 five-star rated books I read were rereads, which feels a bit like cheating, but the fourth was a new read, and it was The Dutch House.
Thank you! I loved how I looked and felt in that wedding dress. (Don't go too far back in my archives. Apparently I didn't know what a paragraph break was...)
DeleteI also almost always sleep on the left!!! I think it started because the right side is usually closest to the door and my husband would get up earlier than me (plus, maybe some primal instinct of protection)? Anyhoo...the left side stuck.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite jewelry is definitely my wedding band + engagement ring. After that it would have to be earrings because I literally don't own a single bracelet, and own 1 (maybe 2) necklaces. I am not a jewelry gal, but LOVE ME some earrings.
I basically wear the same earrings every day, so I don't fiddle with earrings much. I used to be a necklace girl, but once I discovered bracelets, I never went back to necklaces. I wish I could wear my wedding rings more often, but I am always impressed when other people wear theirs regularly.
DeleteWell, this makes me feel better. I don't wear my wedding ring either. I can't wear it while I'm working, and I used to wear it otherwise but then take it off for work, then put it back on... it got to be too much of a hassle and I was afraid I was going to lose it, so I just stopped wearing it. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that you're a great gift giver, judging by your posts- you really think about what the person likes. And I know you're good about sending cards!
Oh, I have to go back and look at your wedding pictures...
It does make me sad that I don't wear them more often. Maybe I'll wear them on Christmas Day! We'll see what happens to my hands.
DeleteI love that there's a bunch of traffic to my wedding photos. LOL. Fifteen years ago! I look like a baby in those photos.
I devoured the wedding photos too--absolutely gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteI'm a tough grader, so my last 5-star book would be Cloud Cuckoo Land, which I read over a year ago!
Wow! No 5-star reads this year. You are a tough grader!
DeleteThe last 5-star book I read was The Henna Artist - I just couldn't see a reason to give it less than 5 stars. It was so good!
ReplyDeleteHmmm...this does get good hype. I'll add it to my TBR and see what happens.
DeleteI am always unsure about the bed side logistics...is it based on standing at the foot and looking at the head or sitting up in bed looking at the foot? If it is the latter, I am left side ALWAYS. I don't know how people swap or just willynilly get in bed each time so that it could be different. I even make my tentmates sleep on my right (looking at the foot), which could cause a pickle when you are sleeping with your Dad or your brother or your buddy who has their side of the bed too! Luckily they either cave to me or they like the right.
ReplyDeleteOh, interesting about what is the left and what is the right side of the bed. I use the side of the bed where my left foot is closest to the edge, so I call that the left side. It's the right side if you're looking at the bed from the foot, but the left side if you're laying in the bed. Does that make sense?
DeleteIt does, and that is probably how I would think of it, although in baseball you view it from home plate, not from the viewpoint of the outfield for instance... so I just wanted to make sure!
DeleteThanks so much for answering my questions. I am not surprised you think your best quality is giving gifts. I know you enjoy that and are good at it! :)
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued to hear that you really only wear earrings and bracelets. My go-to piece of jewelry afe definitely rings and necklaces. I don't even have my ears pierced.
People are so different! I can't wear rings because I have eczema and all rings irritate it. I rarely wear necklaces because I'm a lady who loves a scarf and necklaces get tangled. But if rings and necklaces work for you, rock on!
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