Okay, so my dear friend Leah (see picture below and check out her blog, Chocolate and Wild Air), has tasked me with a question game of sorts. If you know me fairly well, you probably know that I’m obsessed with questions - in fact, I have a list of specific ones to ask new people I meet - so this intrigued me. Now, I’m not as blog-savvy or as popular as she is, so I can’t say that I’m going to pass this game along, but I want to participate still…so, enjoy the fun facts and answers to Leah’s questions!

                                (best friend on left, me on right)

RULES:
Post these rules.
Post 11 random things about yourself.
Answer the questions the person who tagged you set for you in their post.
Tag 11 new people to participate.
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
Go to their blog/Twitter/Facebook and tell them you’ve tagged them. Then link your post back to their site. 

FUN FACTS:

1. My soulmate is a basset hound named Maybel.
2. I’ve recently gotten into baking - pretty amateur stuff so far, but next week I’m attempting red velvet (my favorite!)
3. I LOVE being different. At Vandy, I was into the latest fashion trends whereas my lovely friends took more care with their studies. In LA, I was type A when the office was a chaotic mess.
4. I’m the youngest of 4 Gilberts. My 3 older siblings have played extremely important and very different roles in my life. Love you all.
5. Rings are my kryptonite. Freaking love them. Could search rings on etsy ALL DAY.
6. My room is one of my favorite places in the world and I always try to make it as such. I especially love my current bedroom because it has vaulted ceilings and I haven’t had my own room and a queen-sized bed in 4 1/2 years.
7. I have lived in some of the best cities in the world - Austin, Nashville, Aix-en-Provence, LA and San Francisco. I’m super blessed.
8. I majored in French. If you ask me “Oh. What are you going to do with THAT?”, I may punch you.
9. A good majority of my heart belongs to Falling Whistles. If you’d like to hear me talk more about it, go here. Or if you just want to go straight to the source, go here.
10. I’m a dreamer and believer in silly things.
11. One of my favorite activities is listening.

Leah’s Questions for me:

1. What was your dream job growing up? 

I wanted to be a waitress for a while, then a secretary and then a teacher. There was a stint when I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, until my mom told me I’d have to watch animals die.

2. Chocolate or vanilla, and has your choice always been that one? 

Chocolate, for sure - always have, always will. Vanilla bean on occasion, but that’s rare.

3. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

I hate that I’m a procrastinator. I’m trying very hard to live by a new mantra that you never know what’s going to happen, so I have been better recently about not letting things sit, but it’s still a big part of me.

4. What is at the top of your bucket list? 

It’s changed a bit recently as I’ve been able to cross off one of the top ones (I LOVE getting to cross things off!), so for now I’d say recording an album is in the top slot.

5. If you had to eat only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Truffle Mac ‘n’ Cheese from Sunset Towers in LA.

6. Desert island. You can bring three items. What are they?

1. Stationery kit (including paper, pens, and bottles to send in the ocean)
2. Lotion - the salt water would majorly dry me out.
3. Harry Potter 7
4. I could say iPod, but that’d kind of be a cop out, so I’ll just go with my favorite album: Pretty.Odd. by Panic! at the Disco
5. An answering machine. I absolutely ADORE voicemails. So go ahead and leave me some.

7. What was your favorite television show as a child?

First of all, I’m still a child. So, my favorite show right now is Pretty Little Liars. But, if you’re wondering what my favorite show was when I was younger well then I’d have to say Blue’s Clue’s. I watched that way past the age when it was appropriate for me to be watching it.

8. If you had to lose one of your five senses, which one would you sacrifice to save the other four?

I could probably give up smell. I mean, I’d miss some smells for sure, but I can’t really imagine life without the other 4.

9. What is your theme song?

It changes for every season of my life, but overall “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus still holds a very special place in my heart. Even though I’m not going through anything outrageously difficult right now, I love that it still motivates me. Yep, I’m a big Miley Cyrus fan. Proud of it. Okay, I’m a nerd.

10. Top five things you are thankful for at this moment?

1. So thankful for love - being loved by so many people, getting to love, having the ability to accept love
2. Being gainfully employed
3. The fact that my amazing friends don’t hold it against me when it takes me a while to call them back
4. My sisters’ close proximity to me
5. The delightful clam chowder I just finished off

11. What are you most excited for right now?

So many things! My boyfriend coming to visit in 2 days, getting to drive through one of my favorite cities (LA) and see some of my favorite people (FWamily) this weekend, my sister’s upcoming nuptials, getting to see my brother this week and going to Trader Joe’s this evening.

“wear your white shirts. get them pressed.
use your good dishes — everyday.
shave on weekends.

do not wait for special occasions.
do not tuck your best away in the drawers, in the back of the closet, in your heart.
don’t wait for holidays or invitations.

declare that your today is the special occasion.

call instead of emailing. (it feels so good to connect.)
go for coffee.

quit.

renounce your glory days. you’ve told all of those stories more than twice.
focus forward.

wear perfume for yourself. toss your only-wear-around-the-house clothes and let your good clothes graduate to around-the-house status.
intend to feel good all of the time.

write your book.

launch.

make great sex a priority. (this alone will make you more creative and free. on your death bed, you will think about all the great sex you had this lifetime.)

burn your to-do list.

write poetry. One a day.

make a point to be as encouraging as possible, as much as possible, to everyone possible.

don’t look back.

if you feel like you’re always failing, consider that this is part of being an artist. let it be a divine inclination. keep going.

enter.

leave.

eat real food.

often refuse to be in the presence of people who make you feel repressed, anxious, or pull your frequency down.

do not entertain haters.

send light to the haters.

give it away. you probably don’t need it and someone else does.

turn off the tv.

let it be easy.

burn candles. during the day.

fall in love. with yourself. with the person you’re with. with the persons in your orbit.
because no one is perfect, but you can let the love be perfect for the both of you.
because everyone — everyone — is a doorway to God.
because you can get there from here.

because life is short.”

-Danielle LaPorte