so i’ve been tagged again, and i’m supposed to tell you seven things about myself. it’s rainy and dreary and i’ve been stuck in the house most of the day, so here goes:

1. i have nine tattoos. i got my first tattoo a few weeks after i headed off to university at the age of 17, 17 years ago. i got my most recent tattoo last year on our worldtour. each one is deeply symbolic, but i don’t think i’ve ever told anyone what they all mean. for a while, it used to piss me off that everyone and their brother started getting tattoos – as if that somehow made mine less special, when i had invested so much of my identity in them. then i realised i was being ridiculous and got over myself.

2. i love to bake. cakes, cookies, breads and biscuits. it reminds me of snowy winter days when my mother would make batches of cookies with all of us kids, cozywarm in the kitchen with the wood-burning stove glowing and the smell of cinnamon in the air. i have several treasured recipes passed down from grandparents and great-grandparents. it kills me that i’ve never really been able to get my baking mojo going here in the u.k. – apparently my skills don’t convert well into metric.

3. i love cats – but at heart, i am a dog person.

4. i love being *on* the ocean and *near* the ocean, but i hate being *in* the ocean. i had recurrent nightmares about sharks as a kid, and didn’t watch “jaws” until i was an adult. even now, if i’ve been watching an oceanic nature special, i will have a hard time falling asleep.

5. i am a big foot snob – my toes are always manicured, my heels smooth. i own a fantastic pair of italian designer hot pink patent leather stilletto sandals, and have been waiting for the perfect occasion to wear them out. i do not, however, generally go anywhere that would merit wearing such spectacular shoes. my pink shoes are more aspirational than practical.

6. i turn 35 in just a few weeks time. eeeep!

7. i am currently gearing up for the “temperature wars” that take place every winter in our household. i was gifted with my mother’s reptilian circulation, whereas jonno sits around in t-shirts on even below-freezing days. it makes for a constant struggle – j opening windows for “fresh air” every chance he gets, me bundled in layers of jumpers and cranking the heaters to their maximum setting. we seriously need an independent arbitrator up in this joint, and it’s only october.

hey mercedes – eleven to your seven

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Like this post

Unlike