you like me. you reeeaaallly like me.

I am pleased to report that one of my very best e-friends, the lovely and saucy jCam has given me my very first blog award! Cue the choir of angels and check out my new hardware:



I always hoped my first major award would be an Oscar for my tour de force performance in "Valentine's Choice: Not Without my Brie", but this will do just fine. So, in order to be a gracious winner (no James Cameron antics)I have to complete the following checklist:

A. Shout out to jCam: Thanks Boo! I'm so glad that the Internet has brought our kindred spirits together. I can't wait to meet baby coconut, both virtually and one day in real life! (I've taken to calling jCam's bambino coconut since she keeps comparing him/her to legumes. It makes me hungry.)

B. Link jCam's bliggety blog: if you haven't already, start following jCam's "Freakin Awesome Blog" if for no other reason to watch the progress of her adorable sock monkey nursery. HerFreakinAwesomeBlog.

C. Copy the award to my blog. Done. I totally did that first because I LOVE ATTENTION. What do you expect from an only child? Restraint?

D. List seven interesting things about myself. This was harder than I thought but I gave it a whirl:

1. Apparently I reached the peak of my physical beauty at age 3 when I moonlighted as a baby model. Once I was in People magazine modeling baby evening wear (naturally) with a bunch of other children whose parents were famous (side note - mine are not famous, I was the one "normal" kid of the bunch). I remember that Lynn Redgrave's little girl was a horrible brat and kept eating the jelly beans out of the martini glass I was holding as a prop. The photographer yelled at me and I cried. In retrospect this might have been the beginning of my unhealthy relationship with martinis.

2. I hate ice cream. When I tell people this the reaction falls somewhere in between an audible gasp and a look that screams, "What? Do you kick puppies in your spare time too?" I just don't like ice cream. It's cold (hurts my teeth), milky (not a fan) and usually just obstructs my path to cake. In short, ice cream sucks and you can't convince me otherwise.

3. I collect vintage books. The star in my collection is a first edition "To Kill a Mockingbird" with intact dust jacket. I also have my eye on a first edition " Wizard of Oz" at my local vintage bookstore; I just have to convince Mr. Valentine this $400 is totally justified. I'll do it...just you wait. (Insert menacing laughter.)

4. I have never seen the movie "Dirty Dancing". I don't find this that odd but other women my age have a hard time believing it. I've tried. It's boring. Plus, I like my Jerry Orbach as a grizzled detective or a dancing candlestick or no way at all. RIP Detective Lenny Briscoe.

5. I've been in a couple of bar fights. I can't really elaborate but suffice it to say it is NOT a good idea to try to swipe a beer out of my bucket while my back is turned.

6. Although I am a certifiable OCD nut job when it comes to cleaning, I have a junk closet in my house that is a disaster. Sometimes I open it and just stare. It's totally like Monica's secret closet in "Friends". I'm not sure if it will ever be cleaned, but a little clutter is good for the soul I suppose.

7. One of my happiest moments was the second I told Mr. Valentine that I'd scored four tickets to the White Sox World Series. They sold out in under eight minutes and I managed to get four at face value! He thought for sure that I hadn't been able to get them since they went so quickly and I'll never forget the look on his face when he found out! We had an amazing time at the game we went to, a grand slam AND a walk off home run to win it. They went on to win the series and I was able to give my husband a gift he still talks about to this day.

So that's it! Now I have to nominate seven bloggers for this award. I'm sure some of them have gotten them before but I don't care:

My gorgeous lil' sorority sis at i.me.mine

The beautiful & hilarious Jamie at His 'n Her Towels

One of my real life best friends Taylor at Curly in the City

Carrie at Laugh, Love, Eat Ice Cream, she makes me want to move to Washington.

Lauren at With Two Cats whose idea boards are to die for.

Leslie at Twice the Fun Twice the Love whose adorable twins make me grin from ear to ear!

And finally Buckin at The Garden Gourmet whose recipes make drool and garden makes me envious! She's probably gotten this award a million times. She's like Queen of the Blogoshphere.

I do have an honorable mention as well: Jeanne at Cheese Underground. Yep. It's a blog about cheese. Are you really that surprised?

XOXO,