10 Random Things You Might Not Know About Me

Since my last two posts were very meaty and dense, I thought I'd switch gears this week and treat you to a quick 'n' fun post about none other than myself. Now before you go on about how vain I am, I think we have to admit that we all love reading about other people's lives. I mean, why else would blogging be so popular? (or maybe that's because we all love writing about ourselves...)

I'm not sure if all of these would qualify as "fun facts" you would share while going around the room on the first day of class. In fact, I think they're more fun than that type of fun fact. Read on and see if you agree!

Fact #1: Really Likes cocktails 

1.) I've been writing this blog for two and a half years. Crazy, right? But I actually wrote a different blog beforehand where I talked solely about Meatless Mondays and, from time to time, the local food movement. It's pretty cringe to look back on it now, but it was fun at the time! It also just goes to show that I've been obsessed with food/food practices for way too long.

2.) I have naturally curly hair. It took a lot of my running friends a while to figure this one out, because whenever I'm running, my hair is back in a ponytail. And whenever we have social events I blowdry it straight. But I'm a curly girl. And while it's sometimes a pain to keep up with, I wouldn't have it any other way. I've been trying to wear it naturally more, but in high school I used to blowdry my hair straight (ish) every day. To a point where my friends would joke "Where's Leda?" "Oh, probably blow drying her hair..."

3.) I really don't love wearing makeup. I only just started getting into lipstick, and even then I struggle with applying it. While I love a good pop of color on my lips, I dread both putting on and taking off makeup. I also always feel weird when I have too much makeup on- like I'm not myself. Even for the most formal of occasions I'll skip over cakey foundation and opt for just a dab of concealer under my eyes. I know everyone's obsessed with makeup at the moment, but I could just never be a beauty blogger. Like, not even if you paid me.

4.) I love pilates. It's what I do when I'm not running (or after I go for a run). I've taken yoga classes before, but I like the dynamic element of pilates that certain yoga classes (not all) don't seem to have. Also, I do my pilates alone, in my room, which is really convenient. I'm a huge fan of Cassey Ho from Blogilates for daily workouts- she's fun, radiates happiness, and her program is free! I'm really glad I started doing pilates about two years ago to strengthen my muscles along with my cardio.

5.) I've been in 4 school musicals. I've never been the star of the show, though. But when I was 10, I did get pretty close! I played Brigitta Van Trapp in the Sound of Music and I had a fair few spoken lines and a bit of solo singing. After my breakout role, my career quickly went downhill and I was in the "ensemble" of three more school musicals before I gave up theater to focus on my running.

6.) I've performed a song in Japanese live on stage. And I don't even speak Japanese. How did I do it you ask? Well I just memorized words that meant nothing to me. And then my bestie (who's a native speaker) and I performed it at a talent show in high school. Can I put that on my CV?

7.) I can touch my tongue to the tip of my nose. It's my hidden talent, I guess. My brother is even better at it than I am! It must run in the family...

8.) I'm really passionate about pickles. Okay maybe this is just because the UK doesn't properly satisfy my pickle-related needs, but I'm obsessed with Grillos Pickles and no other pickles can compare. Here in the UK, you can usually only get gherkins- no Jewish or Italian pickles can be found. My pickle obsession also goes along with my love of ketchup, salt and vinegar crisps, or really anything with vinegar.

9.) I used to play percussion. Snare drum, bass drum, timpani, xylophone. You name it, I played it (not particularly well, though). Being a percussionist in the school band was actually the "coolest" instrumental group to be in, as far as I'm concerned. My claim to fame is probably when I had the honor of doing the horse "whip" sound on "Sleight Ride."

10.) I'm amazing at learning lyrics. I can listen to a song just twice and know most of the lyrics. This comes in handy especially when I'm trying to impress people with my rap skills (just kidding but maybe not...). But my memorization goes deeper than lyrics because I was also pretty good at memorizing sheet music back when I used to play classical piano. Same thing, right?

So those are some random tidbits about me. Did you learn anything new?