The Girl Behind the Blog (And the Mystery Blogger Award)

I was very surprised and excited to see a recent comment on my post “Fringe” saying I was nominated for the Mystery Blogger Award. To be completely honest, I don’t really know what this award is…I’ve seen little blogger awards on other websites, but I’ve never really known what they’re about or who created them. Regardless, it’s still cool to know that someone thought to nominate me. This award comes with a few rules, which I’ll explain below, as well as some questions to answer. Read on to learn a few random facts about me!

I’d first like to thank Jaimie for nominating me! Jaimie blogs over at Life and It’s Adventures and discusses topics like travel, her city, food, and just everyday thoughts on life.

Here are the rules for the Mystery Blogger Award:

• Thank whoever nominated you and include a link to his or her blog
• Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
• Nominate 10-20 bloggers you feel deserve the award
• Answer the questions from the person who nominated you
• Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice
• Notify your nominees by commenting on their blogs

Here are three facts you probably don’t know about me:

1. While I’ve participated in high school tennis and cross country the past three years, my favorite sport is actually soccer. I played it for as long as I can remember up through my freshman year of high school. I took up cross country because I thought it’d be fun (lies—there’s nothing fun about running) and I really do enjoy playing tennis. I prefer singles because I like the individuality of the sport; it was my teammates that ultimately drove me away from soccer.
2. I have extremely vivid, bizarre dreams, and I almost always remember them when I wake up. Each night, I look forward to going to sleep because a) sleep, duh, and b) it’s like watching a strange show on television—my dreams are so entertaining!
3. I used to hate jeans. I remember being a toddler wearing those elastic waist-band jeans with snaps along the inner legs, and I would not stop crying because I hated the feeling of them so much. I would walk with my legs spread out so far that they’d form an equilateral triangle with the floor, just so I didn’t have to feel them rubbing against each other as I moved. Nowadays, I don’t dislike jeans, but I also don’t wear them that often because my school dress code doesn’t allow them.

And now here are my nominees for the award! I know the rules say to nominate 10-20 bloggers, but I wanted to be authentic in my selection by only choosing blogs I actually read and really enjoy. Which left me thinking of two bloggers:

Olivia over at Absolutely Olivia

Kristie at Fashion Not Fear

Olivia is a fellow teen blogger who writes posts about fashion, advice, activism, and more. She always has the cutest, moody pictures with an eclectic style, and she seems really genuine and kind. If you like my content, I’m sure you’ll love her stuff too!

Kristie’s blog and online boutique have the best message—to live fearlessly each day in everything you do. I love that concept so much (I try really hard to face my fears on the daily) and she incorporates it into fashion seamlessly. She constantly has new posts with tons of great fashion tips, and I always feel so inspired after leaving her site.

Here are the questions that Jaimie asked for me to answer, followed by my responses:

What is your favorite childhood memory? This is honestly such a hard question…I have so many amazing memories! However, one that really stands out took place at our old beach house on the Puget Sound in Washington State. I was probably 6 or 7 years old, and my family brought foldable chairs down to the concrete boat ramp right on the water. The night grew dim, and a salty breeze briskly blew on our faces. With the soothing sounds of persistent ocean waves rising and falling against the pebbly beach, I anxiously waited for bursts of color to light the night sky…It was the 4^th of July. Finally, when the light show began and my ears rang out with distant booms, I watched house upon house release their fireworks into the navy sky. The Sound stretched out like a bay across the horizon. The perimeter of beach houses framed the night with an assortment of colors and shapes of fireworks, varying in size with the respective distance from my seemingly small and insignificant family. As I grew sleepier and colder with each passing minute, the distant skies turned stormier. I realized that we no longer watched manmade beauty alone; rather, nature joined in the symphony of illumination by providing flashes of lightning. As I slowly drifted off into sleep, curled up in my foldable chair, I watched the magnificent celebration of independence, with man and nature finally in accord.

Why did you start your blog? What inspired you? As you can read on my About Page, I started Graceful Rags because I really wanted a blog…and had wanted one for years by that point. While I initially didn’t know on what topics my blog would focus, I quickly came to realized I wanted a fashion blog—those were the types of websites I spent my time reading, and I felt a huge lack of affordable and practical fashion inspiration. Most bloggers that I followed wore designer pieces and tutus to casual get-togethers; I wanted to be different by providing outfit inspiration that wouldn’t break the bank and could actually be worn on an ordinary day.

What mythical creature do you wish existed? This is a fun question! I think it’d be really cool if fairies existed…I’ve always loved them and how they turn flowers into little homes and what-not. Also, dragons would be cool (as long as they’re nice and don’t roast me with their flames). Dragons just seem so beautiful and majestic.

How would you survive the zombie apocalypse? Quite honestly, I probably wouldn’t. I think I’d just let a zombie take a bite out of me at the very beginning so I wouldn’t have to constantly live with that horrifying feeling of being hunted (you know, the one you used to feel while playing tag with your siblings as a kid). At least, that’s what I always do in my bad dreams—I just give in at the beginning so I don’t have to worry about it! Hahaha, weak, I know.

If you could switch careers, what career would you choose? Obviously I don’t have a career yet, but my dream job (at the moment, it changes regularly) is being a costume designer. If you’ve been following Graceful Rags for a while, you know I love creating costumes, whether that be a flapper girl outfit, Frankenstein’s monster, or anything else. In my mind, being a costume designer for movies is the best of all worlds—you get to attend all the award ceremonies, while looking fabulous, of course, but you don’t have to deal with the fame of being an actress. Win-win!

Thanks again for all the fun questions Jaimie!

Here are my questions:

• If you could go anywhere in the world right at this moment, where would you go and why?
• What is one of your fears and how have you overcome it in the past?
• If you could be any type of animal, what would you be and why?
• Do you prefer road trips, flights, or train rides when you travel?
• If you could time travel to a specific decade, which one would you transport to?

I know today’s post is a little different, but I enjoyed sharing some random facts about myself with y’all. Have a wonderful Wednesday! And feel free to answer the questions for yourself in the comment section down below. Let’s start the conversation. 😉

Miles of smiles,

Grace

Black Mock-Neck Top: Arizona via JCPenney, $11 // Olive Skirt: Down East Style, $30, debut on blog // Black Sandals: hand-me-down // Black Cat-Eye Sunglasses: Charming Charlie, $7 // Black Elephant Purse: Francesca’s, $20