Liebster Awards #3 and #4

Hello! Once again I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award, this time by J and E @thewildbookworms and by Nicola @NympadoraWinterfell. Thank you so much to these amazing bloggers – now go and check out their blogs! I have done this award twice before, here is the first, and here is the second (this month already!).

The rules:

1. Acknowledge the blog who nominated you and display the award

2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger gave you

3. Give 11 random facts about yourself

4. Nominate 11 blogs you think are deserving of the award

5. Let the bloggers know you have nominated them

6. Give them 11 questions to answer

(I will not be nominating anyone, I’ve done a bunch of awards this past month… so, here is the dril, if you think this is something you want to do, consider yourself nominated, answer 11 of the 22 questions bellow, drop 11 facts and link back here)

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J & E’s questions:

1. Favorite book? (We know, it’s hard to choose!)

I can’t do it, don’t make me do it, please…

2. Do you have any pets? What are their names? 

I don’t have any pets at this moments, though I had a few along my life. Now I content myself with my brother and my sister’s dogs :). They are two malteses, their names are Snow and Junior.

3. Best subject in school?

Math probably, Biology, …

4. Lucky number? 

7! It was my school number for many years.

5. What’s your go-to outfit? 

Jeans and t-shirt. Unless it’s weekend, then it’s sweat-pants and a t-shirt… not ashamed of that.

6. Are you short or tall?

1.60 m, I guess average. Although, with 3 brothers and sisters all at 1.84 m, maybe I would say I’m super short… my nephew and niece are already catching up to me, and they’re 12 and 13.

7. Cats or dogs?

Dogs. Though I had a cat once.

8. Preferred ice cream toppings?

Crunched hazelnuts.

9. Favorite food? 

Portuguese typical dishes (cozido à portuguesa, favas and arroz de pato – see picture to get the gist).

10. Best gift you’ve ever gotten?

I don’t know… I honestly can’t think of anything material that I can include in this category. My mom once gave me a trip to the Philippines because my sister (who was supposed to go with her, cancelled last minute). Forget about that, I just reminded that when I was 9 my older brother gave me and my sister our first dog, she was a Serra da Estrela, and her name was Estrela (Star).

11. What do you want most for your life?

Be happy (is that too cheesy?!). I guess finish my PhD and find an academic position that I truly like. Preferentially in a cold country.

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Nicola’s questions:

1. What is your favorite book? and Why?

I don’t think I could choose… please don’t make me…

2. Where do you read?

On the bus, train, at the lunch table,… but I prefer the bed.

3. What book/books would you recommend to someone who likes fantasy?

Right now I’m riding the ACOTAR train, so A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.

4. What sort of music are you into?

Everything expect techno and trance.

5. Do you watch TV shows and what are they?

I do watch a LOT of TV Shows, so many in fact that I couldn’t possible list them all.

6. What do you usually do on a normal weekday?

I get up at 6:15 a.m., shower, get ready and go to the university and then I work. After that, home, shower, diner, computer, books and bed.

7. If you were to live a book character’s life, who would you want to be?

I’m very tempted to say Tessa Gray from The Infernal Devices…

8. Where are you from in the world?

I’m from Portugal. More specifically, I’m from Lisbon (the capital), but I’m living in Barcelona (Spain) right now.

9. Are you a shy or loud person?

The two aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m shy, but when I get really mad or really excited, I’m loud as hell. If I’m pissed, trust me, you want to step aside ;-).

10. Why did the chicken cross the road? Hehe

To get to the other side?!

11. Do you ever read aloud?

Not usually, sometimes I do need to read a certain phrase out loud for it to really sink in.

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11 Random facts about myself:

1. My middle name is Alexandra, and all my family calls me Xana.

2. There is only one person in the world who calls me Alexandra, and she’s the only one allowed to do that.

3. I hate the heat, seriously, hate it with all the power of my being.

4. I have one tattoo on my shoulder blade, which my brother paid for when I was 19.

5. I sometimes buy clothes at the men section, yep, pajamas, sweat pants, super heroes t-shirts… the works 🙂

6. Once when I was 16, I wanted blue highlights, so after the whole process, the color didn’t take, and I ended up with blonde highlights, which I hated. I vowed never to mess with my natural hair color ever again.

7. I have 2 older half-brothers and 1 older half-sister, I’m an only child from my dad’s side.

8. I hate discotheques and partying all night out… my sister hates this.

9. A music that’s ALWAYS on my mp3 player: Joni Mitchel – Both Sides Now. I would go as far as saying that it’s my favorite music.

10. I played Volleyball for my school team when I was 12-13 years, I still miss it.

11. I just bought my plane ticket to go to South Korea and Japan in October (super excited!)

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Thank you again to J and E @thewildbookworms and by Nicola @NympadoraWinterfell. This will be my last Liebster Award, I think I have to draw the line at 4… 😉