Today’s #FebPhotoADay is front door. Since my own front door is lackluster at best, I decided to showcase the door of one of my favorite city buildings: the public library.

The Harold Washington Library is amazing. A must-see if you are ever in Chicago!

I was also tagged by my good friend Melissa in a fun meme called the Lucky Number 11 Survey.

Because it’s Melissa, and because she asked such great questions, I decided to try it out.

Here are the rules:

1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions.

My 11 Things:

1. I’ve never had stitches or broken a bone (*knocks several times on wood*). The only time in my life where I should have had stitches (but didn’t) was when I hit my chin on a swing set at daycare as a three-year-old. Unfortunately, the provider did not feel the need to send me to the hospital or call my parents. When they arrived, everything was fine, but I was left with a nice chin scar.

2. That said, I am guilty of giving my brother stitches. Not on purpose, of course. 😉 When he was still in diapers I used to crawl into his room and hide between his dresser and the changing table. He would see me in the reflection of the mirror and start giggling, and once my mom or dad put him back on the ground would run to find me. As I’m sure you can guess, one such “run” did not end well – he tripped and bumped his forehead on a sharp corner. The whole drive to the hospital I kept screaming, “I killed my brother!” My parents must have been so proud.

3. I’ve lived in four states, and one of them twice: Illinois (birth through 2.5), North Carolina (2.5 through 6), Minnesota (6 through 18), Illinois (18 through present) – and Arizona for a summer, which totally counts because I had an AZ driver’s license and it doesn’t expire until 2052. Yep.

4. My hair was blonde/dirty blonde until I was four or five years old. Now there is no trace of blonde anywhere, though I did go through a highlights phase in junior high and the beginning of high school. (Aside: I loved that hula swimsuit.)

5. My middle name is Lynn.

6. I have 23 first cousins on my side, 20 of which are in Papa Bender’s family (he’s the oldest of 10)!

7. I used to believe I would be a WNBA star. I was obsessed with basketball – obsessed. Trading cards, jerseys (both WNBA and NBA), memorabilia, you name it. Our family even had season tickets to the Minnesota Lynx for several years, and I would go so far as to paint my face half green, half blue, with white around my eyes.

8. Once my WNBA dreams subsided – sadly – I became an avid golfer. I contemplated walking onto the Northwestern golf team but ultimately decided I wanted to focus on my broadcast journalism degree. Now I’m not a professional golfer or a professional journalist. I don’t regret my decision – though I do think it would have been a lot of fun!

9. My favorite things in the world to do alone are read and write. They’re also pretty high up on my list of favorite things, period. But I’m assuming if you have read this blog for any period of time that you may have known this one already!

10. I was given a teddy bear when I was born and have kept him ever since. He may be a little on the, er, old side, but I’m hoping my future child will love him as much as I have. His name is incredibly original, too: Bear. Oh, and I may have accidentally bit out his eye. I think it gave him character.

11. That’s my brother. Break dancing. At a school dance. When I make a wish at 11:11, on a wishbone or in any other manner, it’s always the same: I wish for my brother to live a long, happy life that is afforded the same opportunities as the rest of us. I’ll stand by that wish forever – and so far, so good.

Melissa’s Questions:

1. If you could be one bird, what would it be?

Source

A hummingbird. It would be amazing to know what it feels like to flap wings 80 times per second.

2. PB or chocolate on a desert island?  You can’t have both.

That’s a tough one! Ultimately, I’d have to go with peanut butter. It’s more versatile, in my opinion.

3. Mountain or ocean?  You still can’t have both.  haha!

Mountain, hands down! I love looking at the ocean, but I am admittedly afraid of going too far in and also am highly seasick. The mountains and I get along much better.

4. If you could live in a different era, which one would it be?

Also a tough question! I love historical fiction, but also realize through reading it that we have it pretty good right now. Would it be lame of me to want to revisit my childhood (the 90s) as an adult? Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind the Roaring 20s.

5. What president, dead or not, would you like to have lunch with?

I think I’d want to go back to our roots and speak with good ol’ George W. Washington, that is. 😉

6. What is your favorite book of all time?

You are full of tough questions, Melissa! If forced to choose, it would definitely be in the Harry Potter series. I switch off between Prisoner of Azkaban and Half-Blood Prince.

7. You win the lotto, who do you call first?

This is ironic because I just wrote a post on the lotto for DreamChamps today. Assuming I was already with Bobby, I would definitely call my parents first.

8. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?  To watch live?

No surprises here – football and football! 🙂

9. What was your favorite cartoon to watch growing up?

I was a Nickelodeon child. But if we’re talking specifically about cartoons, I’d say it’s a toss up between Doug and Rugrats.

10. How long have you been best friends with your best friend?

Nine years with Bobby, and nearly six and a half years with my best gal pal, Sam.

11. What is your favorite comic from the Sunday paper?  Come on…I know you still read it!

Aw, I feel so out of the loop because I don’t read them anymore! But I do love Peanuts and Dilbert.

***

Thanks for the great questions, Melissa! As usual, I am going to be lame and extend my “tag” to all of you. But I mean it – I’d love to hear your 11 things, as well as your answers to Melissa’s questions. Let me know if you post about them on your blog, or leave a comment below!

Abrazos,