Friday Faves

First off, to all the veterans out there, thank you.  Thank you for volunteering to do what you do. 

Secondly, I'm excited to introduce this Friday Fave, Vanessa from Gourmet Runner!  She's hilarious - I always get a kick out of reading her blog.  You will too.  Promise.  Annnnd, Vanessa will be running her very first marathon this weekend!  So stop by and spread the blog love!

Side note, does anyone know why Blogger isn't loading the bottom of my photos?  It has been doing this for a while now...

Blog Name: Gourmet Runner



Where are you from? Well this could be a while...I was born in South Africa, then moved to Hawaii and Germany with my family. I went to University in Pennsylvania, spent a few months living in England, and then finished off my college career in New Jersey before moving to Hong Kong for 4 years. Now I call Georgia home!


When/why/how did you start blogging? I started blogging in March of this year. I'm not afraid to admit...I have a little girl crush on Hungry Runner Girl (Janae) and read her blog all the time. I thought it would be fun to start my own!


What is one of your all time favorite songs? One that each time it comes on, you stop and turn it up. Gosh, I have a ton of these. For the last year or so it has been "King of Anything" by Sarah Bareilles. Too catchy!


Now, confession, look in iTunes, which song has the most plays? This is awkward. "Forget You" by Ce-Lo Green. Except, the unedited version. (Sorry, mom!)


Do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? I love to read! Lately I have been devouring books on running, but my all time favorite authors are Thomas Hardy, John Grisham and Betty Smith.


What was your favorite book as a child? I loved Roald Dahl growing up. Anything by him was divine, but Matilda was an all time favorite!


If you had a signature scent, what scent would that be? Does sugar have a scent? Probably something very sweet, maybe vanilla.


When you meet someone new, what is the first thing you notice about them? Their confidence! I am pretty shy when meeting new people, so I am always impressed at confident people.


Do you have any tattoos? Is there a story behind it?  No way! I am deathly afraid of needles, so no matter how cool they look I would never get one.


Do you have a mantra, verse or quote that inspires you? My running mantras change all the time. A phrase or just a single word might come to me on a run, and that carries me through.


For you athletes - what is your ultimate goal race/achievement? My first marathon is this November, so right now my goal is to finish that! I love long distance running though, so I would love to run a trail ultramarathon eventually.


What is your dream vacation? Bora Bora! Hubby and I joke about this all the time. I promised him a trip there one day on my dime, so I better start saving!


What advice would you give to bloggers just starting out? I would say to really be yourself. Don't try to imitate other bloggers, but write about what comes naturally to you. And use pictures, who doesn't love pictures?


You can read about her weight loss journey here.

I'm so excited for you to run your first marathon Vanessa; I know that you are going to ROCK THIS RACE!  (and totally beat Oprah, you've got this!) Good luck and have a great race!