Two of my fellow bloggers, TangledLou at Periphery and Kat at My View Through Kat Eyes, recently honoured me by presenting me with a truly lovely award:

I can’t tell you how touched I was to be included in both of their lists for this award – and how much it made my day each time! Thank you so much, my friends, for the kind and wonderful gesture.
Now, I understand that accepting this award involves a couple of things:
- First of all, I am to let you in on seven secrets, little-known facts, or random oddities about myself.
- Secondly, I am to pay it forward by presenting the award to some other deserving bloggers, so that you, too, can share in their sweetness.
I can do that!
So without further ado, here are seven random things about me:
- I am allergic to penicillin, kiwifruit, and rabbit dander.
- I am math phobic, though a good part of my paying job requires me to work with numbers. (Thankfully, I have unrestricted access to calculators and Excel spreadsheets!)
- I am far too honest, so much so that I have a difficult time telling jokes or playing pranks or writing fiction.
- On several occasions I have found disgusting things in restaurant food – a fingernail clipping in my Orange Julius (slurped up through my straw), a live baby slug covered in dressing crawling in the middle of my Caesar salad, a heavy-duty box staple embedded in my dessert, a short and curly hair in my nachos… the list goes on and on. I’m either cursed, or else extremely observant.
- I skipped Grade 1, mostly because I’d already learned to read before I got there.
- I learned to wrap gifts properly when I worked at Hallmark (back when I was 19/20), and now that’s one of my favourite parts of giving Christmas and birthday presents.
- I always wanted an older brother, but by then it was too late.
Now, on to the pay it forward part!
- Notes from Maggie’s Farm
- Good Grief Guru
- Becky Cochrane
- Much Needed Advice for Women
- Classic NYC Story
- Genre Impaired
- Faith in Ambiguity
If you haven’t already found these wonderful people, please take a few minutes and check out their blogs – you won’t be sorry!

Hello, Dawn ~ I loved your confessionals although my stomach lurched a couple of times. I haven’t told you before, but I also love the typewriter keys graphic. It’s poetic. And, I love the way you use layout and white space in your writing. The arrangement makes things come easier, and my eyes don’t wrestle with what I’m seeing. Thanks for all of those things.
Red Dirt Kelly recently posted… God, Faith, Manias, and Post Game Interviews
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 18, 2012
Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate the compliments, and loved getting some input. Sometimes when you’re working on a blog design, you get so that you can’t even see it properly anymore – it’s great to have feedback as to how it’s seen through someone else’s eyes. Thank you again!
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
Twitter: frommaggiesfarm
February 18, 2012
Girl! You are not going to believe the coincidence of what’s coming your way tomorrow. !!!!!!!
Thank you so much for your kindness. (I skipped first grade, too!) I really appreciate your support, and so enjoy your blog.
margaret christine perkins recently posted… party gras!; creole-style barbecue shrimp
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 18, 2012
Oooh, I am intrigued! And it’s nice to meet a fellow grade skipper!
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
Twitter: frommaggiesfarm
February 19, 2012
http://frommaggiesfarm.blogspot.com/2012/02/around-farm-morning-ritual.html
More accolades for you! lol
margaret christine perkins recently posted… around the farm: morning ritual
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 19, 2012
Accolades are the BEST! Thank you SO much!
Dawn recently posted… Inspiration, achievement, and possibilities, Oh My!
I like it. I really, really like it 🙂
Thanks so much Dawn for granting me this fantastic award. How fun! Guess what my next Happy Thought is going to be? 🙂
Thanks so much. I really enjoyed surfing through your site tonight. You have done such a fabulous job here. It’s unique and transparent. A winning combination.
Cheers,
Shawna
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 18, 2012
Thank you so much for the kind words! I’ve really enjoyed discovering your blog. 🙂
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
I’m honored!!
And yeah, I’m a little disturbed by your collection of findings in restaurant food. I on the other hand have never found anything disgusting in my food, but it makes me wonder if I just wasn’t perceptive enough…?
Classic NYer recently posted… On Red Hook
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 18, 2012
In that particular area, it’s a better thing to be imperceptive! 😉
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
Thank you so much, Dawn! I’m very thankful to have you in my blogging life.
I concur that you are very deserving of this award, agree with RDK about the awesomeness of your site and I, too, always wanted a brother. Oh yea, and the baby slug thing…:(.
Soooo, is it my turn to share seven secrets, little-known facts, or random oddities about myself and pay it forward? 🙂
Sabrina recently posted… Coffee, a Musical and Complications from Prescription Drugs
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 18, 2012
Yes, please, if you feel so inclined and have the time!
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
Twitter: 33tarakathleen
February 18, 2012
Thanks so much! I’m so flattered. 🙂 I got this award back awhile ago, so I won’t irritate my readers with seven MORE things about me, but I really appreciate it . http://faithinambiguity.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-hate-chain-letters-but-i-love-good.html
Congrats to you for well-deserved recognition! 🙂 I really enjoy your blog.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 18, 2012
I had a feeling you’d been awarded recently, but just couldn’t leave you off the list! 🙂
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
Congratulations to you! I wonder what non-food items I have not discovered in my foods – makes me pause and wonder with a grimace etched across my face. I also wouldn’t have minded a stint wrapping presents since I don’t love the process, yet I love presents that look well wrapped. I, in fact, have two presents on our table that I need to wrap today – perhaps I will try to turn it in to an “act of love” and see if that works any better.
Elise Davis recently posted… My Naked Kids
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 19, 2012
That’s a wonderful idea – I love it!
I used to hate wrapping presents, but I think it’s because I just didn’t know how to do it properly, so it became an exercise in frustration. Once you learn a couple of simple techniques, suddenly it’s a whole lot more enjoyable!
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
Hello Dawn, I found your site via Sabrina and decided to stop on by.
Katrina recently posted… Have You Ever???
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 19, 2012
So glad you did, Katrina – very nice to meet you! 🙂
Dawn recently posted… You like me, you really like me!
Thank you very much. As soon as I can figure out how to pay this forward, I’ll include it on my blog. So many of the blogs I’ve enjoyed for a long time are inactive now, so I’m trying to find new places to enjoy.
Becky recently posted… Runway Monday All Stars: Puttin’ On the Glitz
Twitter: alphabetsalad
February 20, 2012
You’re welcome! 🙂
Dawn recently posted… The joys of working from home
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[…] from an unsolicited reader, a fellow blogger I have never met. Thank you to Dawn Storey from Alphabet Salad who honoured Good Grief Guru with this […]