The Liebster Award

In the past week I have been lucky enough to have been nominated for not just one, but two Liebster awards! For those of you that aren't aware of what this is (as I wasn't), it's an award made for bloggers by bloggers to raise their profile so that they get the recognition they deserve in the blogging world. What an honour - a big thank you to Josie and Sophie for thinking of me!

The rules are as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their site
2. Write a post answering the questions you were given
3. Nominate 5 – 11 other bloggers for the award (let them know you have done so!) and come up with a set of 10 – 11 questions for them to answer
4. Enjoy!

Thanks for your very thought-provoking questions ladies! Here are my answers to Josie's questions:

1. Would you rather be able to Instagram but never Tweet or Tweet but never Instagram? Tweet but never Instagram - just. I get so much out of Twitter: blog links, news, my daily dose of celebrity rubbish...I'm not sure I could do without it!

2. Where do you want to be in five years time? Married, comfortable and happy, hopefully having travelled the world a bit more and started a family. Who knows where in the world we might be at this point though!

3. What’s the most recent book that you’ve read? I'm currently reading Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. It's kind of Sherlock Holmes meets the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and it's a little bit addictive.

4. If you were given one million pounds tomorrow, what would you spend it on? I would pay off my wedding bills and my mum's mortgage, fly my family out on holiday somewhere beautiful for a few weeks of sunshine and then think about getting serious with some investments for the future. After I'd invested in a couple of new Mulberries. And some Laboutins. And bought up half of Kate Spade.

5. What would your perfect day consist of? My man, myself, a beach in an exotic location, a book, a bit of exploring and some good food. Simple :-)

6. What is your favourite blog post that you have written? This one.

7. What is your favourite post that you have read on someone else’s blog? I love a bit of motivation and inspiration, so posts like this from Girl Lost In The City and this from Life Outside London really float my boat.

8. What is the biggest life lesson you have learned and who was it from? It's much better to take a big leap of faith, put up with some short term pain and change your life drastically than to get stuck in a comfortable rut. My mum and Rich have both demonstrated this in their own lives and inspired me to do the same.

9. If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, which one would you pick? The Notebook. And I'd still cry every time.

10. What’s your most memorable experience of 2015 so far? Trying on my wedding dress for the first time!!

11. What fear would you most like to conquer? I have these awful nightmares about waking up completely and utterly alone in the world, with no friends and family (pretty bleak huh?!). Could probably do without those.

And my answers for Sophie:

1. What would your Patronus be? I'd love to say an Arab stallion, but that's probably too graceful...an excitable whippet maybe?!

2. If you could only listen to two CDs for the rest of your life, what would they be? Ohhhh that's really tough. Probably Coldplay - Parachutes (for the memories) and Avicii - True.

3. What do you think is your strongest personality trait? I'm very loving & loyal. Naawww.

4. What is your favourite season? Summer! Sunshyiiiiine! (but Spring in Qatar - Summer is too much like walking around in a big, dusty sauna)

5. If you could take a time machine to one moment in history, what would it be and why? Probably the early 1800s so that I could live out the life of a heroine from a Jane Austen novel

6. Tell me a secret… When I was little I used to want to marry SuperTed.

7.  What is your favourite quote? (Motivational or funny) The key to a happy marriage? Tell your wife she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck (courtesy of my wonderful other half!). He has many other motivational life quotes like this up his sleeve. I'm a lucky girl.

8. Tell me about a book that changed your life I read Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter when I was about 10 and some of the lessons in that book have stuck with me to this day! Mainly, that every cloud has a silver lining and you should always look for it.

9. Recommend me a new blog to read If you are an expat, are a fan of a bit of honest grit and a lot of humour, then you will love Kirsty Rice's 4 kids, 20 suitcases and a beagle.

10. What is the one piece of advice you would give your teenage self? Stop falling for the bad boys that will break your heart. Wait a while, because there is a real good one around the corner.


I've picked 7 very inspirational ladies for my nominations. They all have less than 200 Bloglovin' followers (as per the rules), but I am pretty sure they have many other followers besides...

- Jaime from Angloyankophile
- Anna from Penelope and Parker's Travels
- Rosalyn from Dream Days
- Frankie from The Mayfairy
- Carolann from The Two Year Honeymoon
- Lauren from The Lifestyle Diaries
- Doaa from Hungry Birds Doha


My questions:

1. What inspired you to start your blog?
2. Which one place in the world would you most like to visit and why?
3. If you could have 3 wishes what would they be?
4. Hit me up with an inspirational quote to use at the end of one of my blog posts
5. What is the best meal you have ever eaten?
6. Whose blog do you read consistently and why?
7. What's your best 'life hack' or tip?
8. What's your favourite joke?
9. If you could change one thing that you did in your life, what would it be?
10. Sunshine or moonlight?

Thanks again to Josie, Sophie and everyone who has supported Follow Your Sunshine. So far, 2015 has been a very good year!