30 Random Questions

01. Excluding romantic relationships, who do you love?
I love animals and this is why I make ethical choices from the food I eat to the clothes I’m wearing, the plates I’m buying and the seat covers of the car I use.
I wanted to give an answer a bit more different than the usual friends and family.

02. What is your earliest childhood memory?
Going with my grandparents to the tea rooms and having a lovely swan eclair. It was a treat not because I was eating something sweet, but the whole experience. They treated me like a small adult and it was very special for me. I made the eclairs at home and they were amazing. Recipe on my food blog, CookStyle.

03. What book has had the greatest influence on your life?
Obviously the Primer Book, as in the Alphabet Book. I learned many things from many books, but none as life changing as being able to read.
Another book with great influence were “Freud and Jung on Religion”, the first psychology book I read when I was 15. It made me even more eager to study the human mind at University. I should read it again.

04. What three questions do you wish you knew the answers to?
1. What was before the Big Bang, if it was something?
2. How the Earth will look like in 2,000 years or 20,000 years?
3. How our history would have been like if the Roman empire would have remained as it was for another 1,000 or 1,500 years?

05. What is the greatest peer pressure you’ve ever felt?
The greatest peer pressure I felt was to have children. From the age of 26, being married with a good job and owning property meant that I was under pressure to have at least a child. As the years went by, this didn’t go away. Sadly, I just stopped talking with the acquaintances (and a few friends too) who felt they should impose their views on my life. If I don’t enjoy spending time with someone because they can’t stop themselves to ask me personal questions instead having a lovely chat about movies, books, holidays, recipes and home decor, why bother to meet in the first place?
In addition to having babies, I also experience peer pressure from getting married and loosing weight to choosing the “right” political party. I’m pretty confident with my choices, but it’s still stressful.

06. What’s the biggest lie you once believed was true?
One of the biggest is that Santa was real. That was not even something that made my Christmases better as a child. I would have rather known that my parents and grandparents where the ones getting me the gifts. I also think I would have had wonderful memories of making gifts for my relatives, like a drawing or something similar, given the choice. It’s a shame.
I had a discussion about this with a couple of parents and they said it’s magical for the kids to know Santa is getting them gifts. Well, I stick to my opinion, less “magical”, but more nurturing and real, gifts are made by parents & grandparents & relatives that love them and want them to be happy. I can’t imagine anything better for a child at Christmas.

07. In your lifetime, what have you done that hurt someone else?
Of course, everybody does, sometimes not even realizing. I wish I didn’t.

08. What’s the best part of growing older?
Cake and pizza for breakfast. I don’t eat those often though as it’s not healthy, but I can do that if I want to.

09. What’s been on your mind most lately?
Something that I want to start in a couple of years. It will take a bit of time to make sure it’s something I really want to do.

10. What do you think is worth waiting for?
I can’t think of anything. Some things take time, but that doesn’t necessarily makes them better.

11. What chances do you wish you had taken?
I took most of them.

12. Where else would you like to live? Why?
I would like to move to another city in UK because I love discovering new places.

13. What motivates you to go to work each day?
The pleasure work gives me.

14. What do you wish you had done differently?
Nothing, as I like where I am and, more importantly, how I am.

15. What is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?
I think both are one and the same: being a realist. Sometimes it’s better to have a pair of pink-shaded glasses to view the world through them.

16. When was the last time you lied? What did you lie about?
Can’t remember. I try not to lie and I would skillfully avoid the answer or say something I think it’s true that is a bit related to the question without saying the more important thing, that can be hurtful.

17. What made you smile this week?
My dog, he makes me smile every single day. My husband also made a couple of jokes that made me ROLF.

18. What’s the best part of being you?
I would say that my view of the world.

19. What motivates you to be your best?
The fact that I have to be with me every single moment for the rest of my life.

20. When was the last time you lost your temper? About what?
I don’t know, it might be politics or economy. My husband is always laughing when I start “yelling” at the telly and tells me I should stop arguing with it. I know he is right, but I get so annoyed and I know I can’t hurt the telly’s feelings, so I can yell at it.

21. What will you never give up on?
My values. They might change in time, as I change, but I will never give up on them.

22. When you look into the past, what do you miss the most?
The naivety to think that some people will change enough to be different.

23. How would you describe the past year of your life in one sentence?
Business as usual, I had ups and downs, I saw and tried amazing things, I cooked and I enjoyed time with loved ones.

24. What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
Talking with someone on the train? More details on: How I met hubby. Maybe it’s not the most spontaneous thing I’ve done, but surely it’s the most important spontaneous thing I did.

25. What makes you uncomfortable?
Lots of things. I have a bit of anxiety and a phobia and I don’t feel comfortable with public displays of affection (unless is a hug & kiss on the cheek). I don’t feel comfortable if I’m in a group and someone is talking too loud and getting attention from others. I don’t feel comfortable with personal questions and I would avoid them as much as I can.

26. If you had to move 3000 miles away, what one thing would you miss the most?
I moved almost 3000 miles and I missed things I never thought of, like green walnut jam. I don’t know what I would miss if I moved 3000 miles again.
I looked online to see what places are ~3000 miles from Liverpool:
Guinea-Bissau – Bissau
Kazakhstan – Astana
Chad – Ndjamena
Kuwait – Kuwait City
Turkmenistan – Ashgabat
So, I can say I would miss the British weather (I love it!) and I imagine all sort of other things too, especially if I moved in a place that would be so different. I like that I’m living in a country were being gay, transgender, catholic, protestant, muslim, atheist, covered from head to toes or in a crop top and shorts is legal and widely accepted. I like that I live in a country with a lot of diversity that still holds on to traditions. I love the history and the care most people have for their culture. I also love the Queen and the Royal Family.

27. What worries you about the future?
Being able to do what I want.

28. What one ‘need’ and one ‘want’ will you strive to achieve in the next twelve months?
Both are one and the same, but I don’t want to share them on my blog. I’ll say what I need and want regarding my blogs. I need a better structure for promoting posts on social media, unless they aren’t seen and it’s a shame (because I do value the work I put into the blogs) and I want to do more recipes for my Taste the World project.

29. What life lessons did you have to experience firsthand before you fully understood them?
Unless you can experience something firsthand you can’t fully understand.

30. Do you like the city or town you live in? Why or why not?
I like Liverpool a lot. It’s a lovely place with lots of events and nice museums. I like walking in the city centre and on the docks. There are plenty of shops in L1, Metquarter.