answering your questions...

Good morning, dear reader friends! I am so glad to have you stop by for a visit on this lovely September Sunday morn!

 A couple weeks ago, I shared a reader survey regarding my October series. I want to say a HUGE thank you to every one of you dear readers who took the time to share your thoughts in the survey. Your responses were so appreciated and I had such fun reading your answers. And I must tell you that several of your thoughts gave me ideas for my autumnal writing. (Thank you again!!) 

One of the questions in the survey was an opportunity for you, my readers, to share any questions, comments or requests you'd like to see in a blog post. And while there were a handful of responses that I am going to be devoting an entire post to, there were a few that I thought would be best answered in a more short-form sort of answer. So that's what today's post is...simply me answering some of your questions. 

Let's begin!

♥ Has fall always been your favorite season?

Yes! Even when I was a young girl, autumn has always stood out as extra special to me. My mom loves autumn and she has always made our home extra cozy in the colder months as well as just making lots of everyday things special, too. We have lots of cozy meals with delicious food we love using lots of recipes that have been in our family for a long time. The holiday season in the autumn through the end of the year has always been extremely special in our home, too. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all stand out as such fond memories to me growing up. And there's just a lot of little things and traditions and ordinary days made into something memorable and lovely that have always made autumn so beloved to me. Autumn and winter are nearly tied for first place in my heart (autumn just a bit higher), then I enjoy spring second and summer last. The only reason I've ever really loved summer was that there was no school when I was younger, and my sister and I could play with our friends all day and go swimming. Summer's never been a favorite of mine. Where I live, it's just way too hot for me, and the heat actually makes me feel very worn out and even ill at times. Anything about 75 or 80*F is too hot for me, and our summers stay in the mid to upper 90s and even into the 100s. And that's not even considering the heat index. Not to mention, that our summers seem to last forever. Autumn doesn't well and truly begin for good in my neck of the woods until November.  Perhaps, if I lived somewhere where the summers weren't so intense or long, I could actually come to love summertime. But not really where I live currently. It's always autumn and winter! (And those aren't nearly cool or cold enough for my liking. Ha!)

♥ One reader asked how I wear my hair.

I love wearing my hair down, and prefer it that way, too. But in the hot weather, it's just too dang hot and humid to do so a lot of the time. So I usually wear it up in a ponytail, half-bun sort of thing, or in a claw or Flexi clip. But my ideal way is to wear my hair down. I always keep my hair on the longer side, with the shortest length being right at my shoulders. The longest I've ever had my hair was where I could just about tuck it into my pants in the back. I love wearing a side braid, pulling the front sides back with a barrette, or wearing a headband. I love picking up headbands and scrunchies and cute barrettes at Claire's when they have their "buy 3 get 3" sale. And I've also found some really cute pieces at the Dollar Tree, and Walmart, too. And lots of the time, I just wear it down with nothing added. I'm super simple.

♥ What beauty products do you use? 

I'm a no makeup kind of girl. I don't believe in wearing makeup. I also don't use any products in my hair or heat style my hair or anything like that. No dye, no beauty treatments, etc. It just all goes against my values and beliefs on authenticity and beauty and such. So the only product I use on my face is Alba's oil free moisturizer. I've used it for just over a year and I love it. My skin tends to be oily and any other moisturizer I've tried makes me break out like crazy. This is the only one that I've tried that doesn't. It also doesn't make my skin feel greasy or sticky when it's on. Because my skin is so sensitive and prone to being oily and can get break-outs if I use most products, it can be quite tricky to find something that meets my health standards and actually works. But, I have also found a face cleanser that works like a charm. I've used for almost 5 years now and it made such a difference in my skin. It's the TreeActic Charcoal Acne Exfoilating Face Wash. I've tried several face washes over the years and none worked for my skin. This one is magic! From the first wash, I've been in love. 

My hair also tends to be on the oily side and so I have to be careful about what products I use there as well. I used to wash my hair every single day but about 5 years ago, I decided I wanted to try and not wash my hair every day. It took me a long time to find a shampoo and conditioner that I love but I finally have. Now I'm able to wash my hair every second or third day. I love using Andalou's Sunflower and Citrus shampoo and conditioner and Desert Essence's Lemon and Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner. (I also love using the Desert Essence lavender bar bath soap.) I'm incredibly picky about what kinds of products I'll use on my body. I only use healthy and natural products, but I also want to not spend a fortune. These are all great prices and when I see them on sale, I get several to last. I only use about two face washes per year, one shampoo and conditioner combo lasts at least a couple months...and my sister and I use the same ones. I'm a firm believer you can find healthy, good-for-you products that don't break your budget. Watching YouTubers and such can have you believing otherwise with all their fancy and super expensive products, but I have found in the "real world" there are plenty of healthy, and affordable, options.

As I said, I'm a no make-up girl. I let my hair air dry 98% of the time. The other 2% of the time, I will blow-dry my hair...that's in the wintertime when I have to go out and don't want my hair to freeze to my head. Ha! I use different homemade essential oil blends for holistic health purposes, and they even double as perfume because they smell good. I am very much a believer in natural beauty...the beauty that you already possess and not giving into the make-up and so-called beauty culture. I have lots of thoughts on this. Ha!  

♥ What is your all-time favorite book and least favorite book?

My favorite book....hmmm? How to pick just one! I've only been reading fiction books for a few years and haven't found a ton of "favorites". I've read lots of books that I've liked and even loved, but I'm not sure how many I could call actual favorites. But there are four that are for sure, hands down "favorites": The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer; First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen; Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo; and Vittoria Cottage by D.E. Stevenson. I literally cannot pick just one out of those four! And as for my least favorite...I'll only talk about fiction here. There are too many nonfiction books that I consider "my least favorite" from my nonfiction-only  reading days to mention. But as for fiction, my least favorite is Matilda by Roald Dahl. I read it last year after having loved the movie since I was a little girl. And I thought the book was absolutely horrid! I hated every minute of it! And will gladly stick to just watching the movie. I also really hated reading the one and only Aurora Teagarden mystery book I've ever read. I love the movies, but the book was just horrible. A book doesn't have to have the most amazing writing for me to love it if the story and characters and setting are good. But the writing in that Aurora Teagarden book was just awful...and there wasn't anything else to even come close to saving the book. I've never read anything like it since.

♥ What are your favorite YouTube channels and blogs?

I don't actually watch a lot of YouTube. I find most of YouTube ridiculous and prefer smaller channels as well...with smaller viewerships. I don't watch family YouTubers for lots of reasons. The main being that I don't believe in the exploitation of children on the internet. So if that is what you're looking for, you're in the wrong place. 

I also have lots of issues with much of the world of YouTube and being a "YouTuber" or "influencer"...one of the most ridiculous terms in our modern culture. I will spare you my many rantings and opinions on this. But in short...I don't prefer things that feel like they were purposefully done for the camera or when people go on an outing just to get something on film. I prefer watching more authentic, real life, "I would be doing this even if I wasn't filming for YouTube" kinds of videos. Probably the kinds of things most would call "boring". I don't like watching videos in homes that are set up for YouTube. I also find it incredibly insane the sorts of things that people film and put on the internet. I'm sorry, but I don't think every aspect of your life is meant for the entire world to see. All of this goes completely against my nature and feelings about authenticity. With all that said, again, I watch very little YouTube and am quite particular about what I like. I literally only watch one channel regularly, and any other YouTube that I watch is if I'm looking for something specific.

And as for my favorite blogs. I literally only read one and that is Susan Branch's blog. I've loved her writings, illustrations, and books since I was in my early twenties. And I love them even more now. I will quickly mention that she and I are on two totally different spectrums in the political world which became obvious to me when I looked her up on Twitter a few years back. But I appreciate that she doesn't bring politics into her blog or books, at least as far as I have read. Her writing is beautiful, lifegiving, uplifting and magical. I've also really enjoyed watching several of her talks on YouTube. Here's one that I loved awhile back.  (I am also a total nerd and love watching my favorite authors on YouTube when they share about their books, how they write, or just about themselves and how they live.) 

I used to read a ton of blogs back when I first discovered them when I was 14, but now I literally only read one. And I don't watch a ton of YouTube. I'm much more of a favorite tv shows and movie watching kind of gal. I do also use YouTube a lot for listening to music, and of course, I love Spotify and I adore my CD collection, too. Those things I could talk about forever.

♥ How much time do you leave for reading?

While I adore reading and books and all the bookish things, I also love other things too. I'm not one of those "one interest, one track mind" kind of people. That's just not how I'm made. So, with that said, I do many other things besides reading as a hobby and such. I don't always read every single day, though I do read most days. Sometimes I'd just rather watch a movie or tv show that I love, or work on my journals or knitting, play in the kitchen, or do something else.  I love reading, but I also love other things too. My heart holds many affections. {{smiles}} But most days, I do read...at least a bit. Also, I mostly read at night before bed. Sometimes I'll read for a couple hours and other times I only read for 15 minutes. Sometimes reading makes me tired and I fall asleep right when I begin reading. Sometimes I'm a fast reader and can fly through a book in just a couple of days. Other times, I'm a slow reader (sometimes by choice, other times, just because it's how I'm reading at the moment), and it takes me a month or two to complete a book. And sometimes I start a book, get halfway through, put it on my shelf, and return to it a year later. I'm a weirdo when it comes to reading!

I also want to say that I am not a person who puts away 100+ books on my yearly list of books I've read. I usually have two books going at once, but I enjoy reading at a leisurely pace and just for fun. I'm not reading for a number goal on GoodReads or because I have to or to try to impress the internet world. I read for fun and because I want to. I am 100% a mood reader and don't hesitate at all to put down a book that I'm not absolutely loving. There's a reason why I rate most of my books 4 or 5 stars...I won't read anything that I'm not loving and thoroughly enjoying. I say all this because the bookish community online can be intense, and that's putting it lightly. One reason why I hesitate to do a bookish YouTube channel is because I am not one to read books "just" to fill a prompt on a reading challenge or to read books that don't really interest me just to talk about them in a video. That, for me, is not what reading and the reading life is supposed to be about. I know not all BookTubers do that; certainly not most of the ones I watch. Just the thoughts swirling round my mind...

 

♥ Do you have a GoodReads?

Why, yes, I do. You can find me here.

♥ Are you still knitting or doing embroidery?

 

I haven't done any sort of knitting or embroidery in over a year. Last year shortly before my dad became ill, I started a knitting project, but it got put in my knitting bag and I haven't picked it up since. Life was all about survival mode then. But I want to return to that project soon. It's an infinity scarf using the most gorgeous yarn. I have an infinity scarf that I got from an Etsy shop one Christmas, and it's the perfect size and length. And I wanted to recreate it in a different color scheme. So that's what I've got in my bag at the moment. 

As for embroidery, I have one project that is nearly done but I came across a stitch that was causing me a bit of trouble. I just couldn't get the hang it and was getting frustrated, so I put it aside for the moment. That was two years ago...ha! And I've got another one that I just barely began last spring before everything happened with my dad. I've literally just started to even begin getting back to myself since last summer's traumatic events, but knitting and embroidery are definitely something I want to return to soon. I find that autumn and winter really inspire me towards those kinds of crafts.

♥ Does your sister have the same likes as you?

For the most part, my mom, my sister and I all share lots of the same interests. We do most things together and enjoy nearly all the same things. The biggest difference in our interests is the kinds of TV we like. My mom likes the oldies like I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, Hazel, Leave it to Beaver, etc. My sister likes Korean dramas. And I like a mix of things...Call the Midwife, 7th Heaven, Home Fires, Rizzoli and Isles, Shetland, and Gilmore Girls (which my mom loves too). My sister likes some of the oldies that my mom does; I do not. My mom likes the crime shows I enjoy; my sister does not. My mom and I both enjoy some Korean dramas but not nearly as much as my sis does. But we also enjoy some of the same shows as well...The Amazing Race, Blue Bloods, The Middle, Heartland, cozy mystery series, etc. Our hobbies, personalities, values, interests, likes and dislikes, are all very similar. We're all each very much our own people, but we also are very similar too.

Well, if you've made it this far, well done to you! You all asked some great questions and gave me lots of ideas for future blog posts, so if I didn't answer your question, it's probably because I am planning on dedicating an entire post to it.

I also want to say THANK YOU so much for all the enthusiasm you all showed about my October series...

For the remainder of September, I will be sharing old posts from my archives and draft folder and just editing them a bit. They are mostly from my old blogs that I've saved. I am going to be spending most of September writing and working on my October series, because YES! It is coming back to the blog this autumn! I'm so excited to share these posts with you all...and do bear with me through September with these older, but updated posts. I want to dedicate all my writing time to the October series and make it exactly how I want it to be. I hope you're looking forward to it as well! 

Until next week, readers...

may you find magic in your everyday, ordinary moments.