Christmas 5QF!

Oops! I did this Thursday night and forgot to post it yesterday!

1. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
I always opened presents on Christmas Day when I was younger, and I always loved the anticipation. However, my wonderful fiancé always opened them on Christmas Eve after the get-together at his great-grandma's house. After we started dating, we established a pattern for Christmas Eve: my grandma's that day, his great-grandma's that night, followed by Santa gifts at his house and then my house. It will probably change this year, given the circumstances.

2. What is your favorite Christmas cookie (or candy)?
A friend of mine from high school hosted a Christmas cookie swap, and I went home with about half the gingerbread cookies she made. So, I will say gingerbread!

3. What's the worst Christmas gift you've ever received?
When I was younger and we did those "buy a gift and draw a number" things at school, I would always buy a really cool girl's gift. And I would always go home with a cheap plastic jewelry box. Note to parents: do not buy cheap plastic jewelry boxes for your child's Christmas exchange.

4. Christmas song that you love?
OK, let me just say, I LOVE Christmas music! But if I have to pick favorites, I have to say "The Christmas Waltz," "Baby It's Cold Outside," and "O Holy Night." What, you honestly expected me to pick just one?

5. How many trees do you put up?
Just one. Our apartment doesn't have room for multiple trees. When I moved out on my own, my mom and I split our ornaments, and we have enough to decorate my tree and hers!

5QF!

1. What is the first nightmare you remember?
Oh, man. I probably wasn't over 5 or 6 years old when I had this nightmare, but I'll never forget it. I dreamed there was a baby vampire in our smaller bathroom, and somehow it started sucking blood from my foot. Granted, I've had a lot scarier nightmares over the years, but that's the first I remember.

2. Even if you're not a sports fan, what's your favorite sport to play/watch?
OK, it's always kind of a tie between college football and baseball, but I think football wins out in the end. There's just something about the atmosphere at a college football game: if your team's winning, there's no better place in the world to be. Hotty Toddy!

3. If you could pull off one piece of trendy fashion, what would you want it to be (jeggings, hats, thigh high boots, etc.)?
Platform heels. They're so gorgeous, but I cannot walk in heels to save my life.

4. Did you make good grades in school?
Please! Fourth in my high school class and summa cum laude at Ole Miss. But I don't like to brag... :)

5. What magazines do you subscribe to?
Brides (because YAY I finally have a reason!) and Glamour (which I've subscribed to since I was in high school).

Another 5QF!

1. What were your school colors?
Well, let's see...I went to a lot of schools, so I'll just give you a list:
HCS (elementary/junior high) - blue and red
NSHS (high school) - officially red and white, but the cheerleaders' uniforms sometimes had a little blue or black trim
NEMCC (community college) - black and gold
Ole Miss (university) - Harvard crimson and Yale blue
So basically, I'm a red/blue girl.

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?
I really like compliments on my writing. The other day, my editor commented on how beautifully I write, and that really meant a lot to me.

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?
I buy Angel Soft. It's cheap, but it's the only kind I like!

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?
Both, actually! When I was younger I wanted a telescope for my birthday, and my mom and aunt and uncle bought me one, but they couldn't get it to work so they threw me a surprise party instead. Then this year, I threw a surprise 70th birthday party for my grandma. My sister and I started plotting it a year ago. I still can't believe she didn't find out until she walked through the door!

5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?
My laptop. I write, I read, I plan, I design. I cannot live without it.

5QF!

1. Is there something you've always wanted to try but just can't muster up the courage to actually do yet?
OK, my inner dork is about to come out. You see, I have this dream...to be going about my business on a perfectly normal day...and suddenly I and everyone around me breaks into a perfectly choreographed song-and-dance routine. This dream rears its head whenever I watch musicals or my favoritest show of all, Glee. I want life to be a musical, but since that doesn't happen, I would at least like to be in a musical. Only...I dance like a white girl. And my voice isn't what it used to be. And I would probably get stage fright. Granted, if I'd had the opportunity to do this in high school, I probably would have. But I went to a teeny tiny school with no arts program to speak of, so there you go.

2. If you had $100 handed to you in cash without your significant other knowing about it, what would you spend it on?
Honestly, I would probably put it back to use on my wedding dress (!!!!). Or, you know, find a pair of awesome yellow shoes to wear for my wedding. My fiancé HATES it when I buy shoes.

3. What was your favorite piece of playground equipment as a child?
The swings!

4. Do you prefer a sweet or hearty breakfast?
Oooh, hearty and salty and artery-clogging, please! A doughnut's OK as a snack, but give me sausage, biscuits, bacon, and eggs!

5. Are you a Neat Freak or a Messy Bessy?
Um. Gonna have to go with messy here. Neat people do not take their their clothes off the hanging rod and lay them on a chair instead of putting them in the closet. They also do not neglect to unpack a suitcase from a weekend trip for two weeks. Or have a mountain or dirty clothes in their bathroom. Yeah, let's go with messy.

I Missed 5QF, So I'm Doing It on Saturday

1. What's your guilty pleasure?
That's an easy one. Shoes. Oh, how I love shoes! Boots, flats, heels (though I don't wear them that often), flip-flops, sandals (ohhh sandals!)... I. Love. Shoes. A local shoe store, aptly named My Favorite Shoes, had a 75% off sale a few weeks ago. I promptly spent $70 on a necklace, a pair of flats (regular $70), a pair of short boots ($50), and a tall pair of brown leather boots ($170!!!). See them here. Then I went back later that week to a 70% off sale and bought two pair of "Grove shoes" (both regular $52) and a killer pair of Madden Girl heels($70). Then I got a new pair of tennis shoes and a pair of gladiator sandals on a weekend shopping trip with my mom. And she visited me yesterday and bought me two more cute pair of shoes. Problem? What problem?

2. What is your favorite TV series?
It was *sniff sniff* Nip/Tuck. Oh, the insanity! Oh, the hot doctors! (Mm...Dr. Troy.) But, since last Wednesday was the series finale (yes, I cried; no, I don't feel closure), I guess my current favorite show will have to be Glee, which returns next month. Yay!

3. Can you speak any foreign languages?
Un poco español.

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A lot, but not enough. See Question 1.

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M's...peanut, almond, straight up regular, etc.?
Wait, they make almond M&M's?! Apparently we don't have those where I live. It varies, but I think peanut is my favorite.

5 Question Friday!

1. Do you sing karaoke? If so, what is your go to song?
Actually, I've never done karaoke. I did own a karaoke machine once, though. And this one time, on my 21st birthday, after I'd had a few drinks, I REAAAAALLY wanted to go do karaoke. Unfortunately, the karaoke place wasn't open that night. I did, however, take music lessons in junior high and performed at the mall and my school's beauty revue. And I sang at church.

2. What is your favorite coffee drink?
A Red and White Chocolate Mousse from Latte Books, which sadly closed down years ago. It was coffee with white chocolate and raspberry with whipped cream and chocolate on top. When I'm in the mood for one I just ask for a coffee with raspberry and white chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Mmm....

3. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?
You know, I actually think I would keep the name I have, even though I used to hate it. No one spells it right, and half the people I meet can't pronounce it right. (Seriously, how hard is it to say Anna and just stick a J on the front?) I can't imagine myself with any other name. My mom told me recently that she had wanted to name her daughter Christina and call her Christy, and she made the mistake of telling one of my great aunts who subsequently named her daughter Christi. Also, I was supposed to be a boy (apparently they didn't have sonograms back in '87) and my name was going to be Clinton Gerald...which is now my (half)brother's name. Mom just doesn't have good luck with names.

4. Were you ever bullied?
Not really, but I can remember a couple of times I was "picked on."

5. How often do you eat fast food?
Um...can I plead the fifth? Let's just say I eat it more often than I should. I'm trying to do better, though.