Aahhh… October! Not only is Fall in full swing around here in the East Tennessee mountains, but in the blogosphere, it’s Blogtober! I did this challenge last year, so for the second year in a row now, I’m challenging myself to write a blog every day this month! So welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere and to Green Acres Meets Paris! I hope you’ll stick around with me this month where hopefully you’ll discover some new favorites {fall fashions, booties, movies, books, recipes, and more} as well as learn a little more about me!
I discovered Blogtober last year when another blogger friend {Tamara of Love of Mode} wrote about the Blogtober challenge on her blog. I did a Blogtober challenge last year, and I’m not going to lie… it was hard coming up with 31 blog topics. I normally only write about 10-12 blog posts a month and those mostly comprise of monthly series {pre-determined by my editorial calendar}, like “Man of Style”, “Woman of Style”, “Wanderlust Wednesday”, “Dinner Party”, and “Links I Love”. So there are five blog posts you’ll need to check out later this month!
Now on to Day 1 of this challenge…October is my favorite month, not only because I got married in this month back in 1998, but it’s also when the colors start to change and there is a crispness in the air that just smells like Fall! I like pulling out my scarves and my booties and sweaters. Coming up this month, I’ll share some fall fashion inspiration as well as some booties I’m wishing were in my closet.
As I mentioned above, I got married in October 1998 to a good ol’ country boy named Mike. Together we live in his grandmother’s house, which his grandfather and his brother-in-law built with their own hands back in the 1950s. We live out in the country, where my neighbors across the road are cows {although I haven’t seen them recently, so they may be living in a different pasture down the road somewhere}.
So as an introduction to me and my blog, “Green Acres Meets Paris”, I thought I’d share 10 Facts About Me. A couple of years ago, I was reading blog post after blog post where bloggers were sharing 50 random facts about themselves. So I decided to give it a go and wrote a couple of “random facts about me” blog posts. It was a two-part series where I shared a total of 50 facts about me.
Some of those facts from two years ago have changed, because {believe it or not} a lot has happened in two years. For instance, I shared in the first “random facts about me” post was that I’d never been to Disney World or Disneyland. Well, now I can that I have been to Disney World. I went there this past June with Elizabeth and Pam, a couple of fellow bloggers, when we were in Orlando for the BlogHer #17 conference. I also mentioned in this post that we have three dogs. Well, our oldest furbaby, Dakota, passed away two years ago on November 11th {on Veteran’s Day, to be exact} at the tender age of 16. So we now just have two dogs, Daisy and Doc. However, we were adopted by a sweet country cat {loving named KitKat} who gave birth to three kittens, although only two survived.
Want more random facts about me? I going to try not to repeat some of my facts from a couple of years ago. So, here goes…
1. I finally upgraded from my mini iPad to a MacPro to write my blog posts. It is much easier to type on my Mac as opposed to the mini keyboard I was using with my mini iPad.
2. I got a Vespa at Thanksgiving last year, but because it’s a 250cc, it requires a motorcycle license, which I’ve yet to get. But I will get it… soon I hope! I occasionally ride it to and from dinner with my husband, who follows behind me on his Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail. We have taken a couple of short trips to neighboring towns {around 50 miles round-trip}, but I haven’t gotten up the nerve yet to ride it to work. Traffic is crazy busy, and the even crazier drivers on Pellissippi Parkway heading towards Knoxville often reach speeds of 65mph or more. I need to feel more comfortable riding my Vespa and and taking short trips around my neck of the woods before I venture into the high-speed world of the big city.
3. As much as my husband loves car shows and going to them, I’m usually bored when I accompany him to the shows. I either end up sitting behind whatever car we take to show {the 1929 Ford or the 1965 Rambler American or the unfinished BroncLo} reading a magazine or a book, or I walk around and let him ramble on about the wheels, the engine, or the stance of the car or truck. I go mainly to support him and his business, The RPM Garage {go check him out on Instagram, @rpmgarage22}.
4. I started BIHRT {pellet therapy} in March of this year. Since my total hysterectomy in June 2015, I was ushered into surgical menopause with a flurry of severe hot flashes, night sweats, decreased energy, low libido, insomnia, and hair loss. I did some research and read several books by Suzanne Somers where she wrote about menopause and bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. BIHRT has changed my life. I have three small pellets injected into my buttock/hip {alternating hips every three months} and only have mild symptoms about a week or two before my next round of pellet therapy. Want to learn more about this? You can email me or leave a comment below and I’ll tell you all about my experience with pellet therapy.
5. I chew a lot of gum, sometimes three or four pieces a day, and I chew it way past its prime, where there is no flavor left. I always {and only} chewed Big Red in high school. There were a few kids in my Economics class who called me “Big Red” because I had Big Red gum with me at all times. I’m not sure they really knew my real name. I have expanded my chewing gum flavors to include spearmint and peppermint, but I love the flavor of Big Red the most.
6. When I publish a blog post, I try to schedule them to post at 11:00 AM EST. I’ve read a lot of other blog posts from so-called blogging experts that say to be consistent in when you post {i.e., days of the week, time of day}. Don’t ask me how I came up with the 11 AM post time. Just trying to be consistent, I guess. Except for today’s post, all other posts are {or will be} published “on time”.
7. I have tried keeping a bullet journal, but I am not as artistic as all those other bullet journal keepers. My current bullet journal {pictured above} is where I write down ideas for blog posts, keep travel plan ideas {like our upcoming trip to Las Vegas}, and create small mood boards. I also have a Moleskine weekly calendar that I got in one of my FabFitFun boxes last year, and I used it all the time in the beginning. Now it’s more of an after-thought. I still carry it everywhere with me and I do look in it about once a week. Then I realize I’m not even looking at the right week, or heck, even the right month! Gotta get better at organizing my day/week/month.
8. My husband and I still have date nights. We are childless {by choice}, except for our furbabies. He will occasionally call me on my cell phone and ask me out on a date, as if we had just recently met. And sometimes on Saturday or Sunday, when I’m inside the house {blogging or cleaning or whatever} and he’s out working in his garage {a.k.a. The RPM Garage}, he will call me on my cell phone and order breakfast or lunch. We have been together almost 21 years, and on Oct. 17th, we will celebrate our 19th anniversary.
9. I have still never been outside the continental United States. When I win the lottery, I’m going to do a lot of traveling! First stop… Paris! Why Paris? Well, my blog is “Green Acres Meets Paris” so I need to “meet” Paris IRL! Maybe I need to just write French President Emmanuel Macron and see if he can help make my dream become reality by inviting me to Paris! A girl can dream, right?
10. I’m like Sheldon on “The Big Bang Theory”. I have “my seat” on the couch and if we have company over to our house {which to be honest with you, is rare}, I don’t really like anyone sitting in my spot. If someone does happen to sit in my chair, I then usually sit on “my” bar stool and secretly wish they would leave so I can have my spot back. {Side bar: My husband and I got rid of our dining room table in favor of a tall bar, which is why we have bar stools.}
So there you have it – 10 random facts about me. What is a random fact about you? Leave your random fact in the comment section below and see if we have something in common!
Until tomorrow…
Yours Truly,
Vanessa