Quizzle.

Today I have the day off and I'm choosing to chill out for the day and enjoy some time off. In my time off I decided to do another quiz thing. I got this from Zoella's blog. I'm trying to type but my fingers are so darn cold in comparison to the rest of my body which makes writing all of this out slightly harder.

Me... 

Do you have any siblings? 

Yes, I have a sister who I love very much.

How old are you? 

21, going on 22.

What's your height? 

5ft 6 I think?

What's your top/dress size? 

At the moment I'm about a size 14/16. It's tough because I have a large bust which kinda throws off my other measurements. That said I just got a coat that's a size ten.  

Do you have any diet plans/tips? 

I just count calories, eat a pescetarian diet and try to eat lots of foods and meals recommended by nutritionist Kimberly Snyder in her books. It was about 6 months after I started that I found out Tom Hiddleston and I drink the same breakfast smoothie.

Do you workout/How do you stay so slim? 

It's been hard exercising since my knee injury but I swim a lot. I've just taken up low impact aqua aerobics classes. I do a spot of weight lifting at times too. Any movement is good movement. 

Do you have any pets? 

Yes. I have a dog, four cats and a brood of chickens (most of which are rescued ex battery hens)

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? 

I chill out with friends ad family. I'm a gamer. Sometimes I try to cook. I vlog. I read. I watch movies. I'm a writer too so I spend a good deal of time writing.

Who inspires you? 

My family and my partner, mostly. 

What do you feel is your greatest achievement? 

Earning my first publishing deal and graduation from university. It all happened within a few months and was a truly glorious time for me. To get a publishing deal at such a young age is amazing let alone the fact that it was my first time even sending any work off to a publishers. I suppose I'm very lucky. 

What do you value most in life? 

The people (animals included) who make it worth living.

What is your dream job? 

I'm one of those people who has trouble focusing on one thing. I'd love to be a writer but I'd also love to be a film director and a vlogger and someone who worked with charities and non profit organisations and someone who worked in television and advertising and... Oh God, I don't even know. As long as I can be a writer... anything after that is just grand.

What did you take for your GCSE'S?

Maths, English Literature, English Language, Advanced Science (Double Award), ICT, Geography, Drama, French, Spanish.

Do you make good grades? 

Maths - C

English Literature - A

English Language - A

Advanced Science (Double Award) - 2 B's

ICT - C

Geography - B

Drama - I can't recall if I got an A or a B

French - A*

Spanish - A

What is your ethnicity? 

White, Scottish.

Do you want to get married later on in life? 

Certainly. I wouldn't say it's essential to me as I know it is for some people but based on my current relationship I'd say yes. 

Do you have any phobias? 

Spiders. Flying (I'm not the best person to sit next to on a flight, even if it's short). Heights. 

That said I had to do something at work the other day that my boss was too scared to do because there were loads of spiders and he was scared of them. For some reason I was suddenly able to deal with spiders. 

Have you ever had a near death experience? 

Haven't we all?

Do you get mad easily? 

Hmm.... not really. I can get grumpy about things but I tend to remain chilled out about things. I like to verbally vent my frustrations and then just move on.

Favourite childhood memory? 

Gosh, it's hard to choose. The first thing that came to mind was going to the hospital to meet my little sister for the first time. I'd been an only child for so long and I felt weird but also really good. Being an older sister came with an element of maturity I was comfortably settling into. 

Beauty/Shopping... 

Heels or flats? 

Flats. I'm too clumsy for heels. 

Favourite moisturiser? 

100% Pure/Raw Organic Shea Butter

Where do you buy most of your clothes from? 

Primark

Favourite Shop? 

For what? Or just in general?

Favourite makeup brand? 

MAC.

Favourite drugstore makeup brand? 

Barry M

Favourite nail polish brand? 

Barry M 

What was your first makeup item? 

I remember my grandmother used to give me these cheap, giant make up sets. Nothing was the best quality but I loved playing about with it. It made me feel grown up. Not even sure of the brand.

If you had your own makeup line what would you call it? 

Poet

What are you into the most, if you HAD to choose one..Jewellery, Makeup, Shoes, Clothes? 

Clothes. I like jewellery but I definitely buy more clothes. When it comes to make up I don't buy lots of make up. I stock up on more expensive, good quality items. 

What is your favourite shoe store?
I honestly don't know the last time I bought a pair of shoes so I really cannot answer this question.

At what age did you start wearing makeup? 

Pfft. Probably like... age 10? I don't know. I grew up surrounded by very glamorous women. I just wanted that glamour for myself as well.

Do you wear falsies? If so which brand? 

I rarely do.

Lipgloss or mascara? 

Mascara 

Whats your worst shopping habit? 

I tend to spend a lot of money on bright, bold printed pyjama bottoms rather than actual clothes to wear out of the house. 

Do you have a signature scent? 

I wear the original Christina Aguilera perfume. 

How do you take care of your hair? 

I try not to over wash it so that I don't rob my hair of those healthy natural oils. I also try not to use any heat to dry or style it unless it's a special occasion. I give my hair really long breaks after applying hair dye (which often involves a week or two of really obvious roots) and I use lots of good quality shampoos and conditioners.

Whats the colour of your natural hair? 

Naturally I'm a brunette. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. 

What are your views on plastic surgery? 

Well, if it makes you happy then go for it. Who am I to police your body and what you want to do with it? If it's what you want, then go for it. For some people it gives them a real boost of confidence or fixes a pre-existing problem.

Do you bite your nails? 

Unfortunately so.

Other/Random 

Would you rather grow a beard or go bald? (haha thanks Laura for that one) 

Go bald. I think younger women can really rock the hairless head look. I already have a side of my head shaved. Just look at Amber Rose and how great she looks. I don't think that I could pull off a beard.

If you could know the date you were going to die, would you want to know? 

That I was loved and that the people I loved were going to be OK.

Which five male celebs would be on your "list"? 

• Nikolaj Coster Waldau
• Gaspard Ulliel (preferably with his long hair)
• Jason Momoa
• Orlando Bloom
• Lee Pace (but he'd have to wear his Thranduil costume regularly and say "I can wait")

Aaaand my list of ladies:

• Kate Beckinsale
• Rhona Mitra
• Drew Barrymore
• Liv Tyler
• Yvonne Strahovski

If you only had 24 hours to live how would you spend it? 

At home with the people that I love. I'm a simple person, really. I just want to be somewhere comfortable surrounded by loved ones.

Do you have a favourite book? 

Ooh. Not sure. I never have an answer to this question. How are you even meant to choose?

Do you watch any american tv, if so what is your favourite? 

Yup. Masters of Sex, Orange Is The New Black, Greys Anatomy, America's Next Top Model...

What is your favourite type of sandwich? 

Subway sandwich: Veggie patties on 6 inch Italian bread with tomatoes, green peppers, sweetcorn, carrots, lettuce, black olives, a butt load of jalapeño peppers and BBQ sauce. Oh baby.

What is your favourite reality TV show? 

Anything that starts with "The Real Housewives Of ______"
I watch The OC, New York and Beverly Hills.
Also I only JUST found out that there's a new season of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
I need my trash TV fix.

What wesbite do you visit the most besides youtube, blogger & facebook? 

Twitter

Who is your favourite blogger? 

At the moment I'm really loving Louise Pentland/Sprinkle of Glitter.

Who is your favourite makeup guru? 

Tanya Burr

Do you like photography? 

I do. A New Years Resolution of mine is to get into photography more.

What is your fave style to decorate your bedroom, chic, modern, vintage..etc? 

I suppose I prefer vintage though my room could most generously be called "shabby chic"

It's kinder than saying "a messy shit hole"

Do you like stationary? 

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

I HAVE A DEGREE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 

OF COURSE I LOVE STATIONARY

I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT WE ALL DO.

IT'S LIKE AN UNWRITTEN RULE.

Are you into Ghost hunting? 

Nope

What is your favourite disney film? 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Whats your favourite desert? 

Anything chocolatey. 

Do you like swimming? 

I love swimming.

Do you drink juice? 

Yessum

What's your favourite movie? 

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Do you eat fries with a fork? 

I don't eat fries. We call them chips. I don't know, I just find them boring and they're kinda stodgy so... just no.

Do you like cookies? 

Of freaking course.

If you could move anywhere, where would it be? 

Venice, Italy. 

It's such a serene place. Even when it rains it's still so beautiful. 

Savoury or sweet? 

Sweet.

If you had to describe yourself as a fruit, what fruit would you be? 

Apple.

Favourite flower? 

I like those white and pink orchids.

Favourite colour? 

Green

Do you drink energy drinks? 

Not since I graduated from university. Ha!

Do you drink coffee? 

I only just started drinking coffee again. Just one cup of black coffee within the day. The rest of the time it's green or white tea.

If you could have a dinner party with 5 celebrities, dead or alive, who would you invite? 

Kurt Cobain, Anne Rice, J.R.R Tolkien, William Shakespeare, George R.R Martin.

I was going to add Peter Jackson but I already invited Tolkien and things might get awkward.

Five Things.

I found this interesting blog tag from a new follower/new blog I follow called Rah. I fancied filling one out myself. It's pretty late right now so some of my answers are a little short or mushy but, you know, deal with it.

Five Things You Need Everyday

1) Love. 

God, yeah. I know. It's a totally soppy thing to say but I thought it had to come before I said my laptop. It's true, though. Every day I speak to someone I love be it my partner, one of my parents, my sister or even a pet. I have to be in contact with someone that I love. They remind me of my ambitions and make me feel secure and confident in myself. 

2) My laptop. 

I use it to blog. I use it to write and store my novels and poetry. It stores all my music and files. It's really such an important hub of information for me. Hopefully the novels and poetry I write on here will one day be real books on shelves and all the work I do on here will pay off.

3) Alone time.

Of course I love my relatives and my partner and my pets but outside of that I'm actually I'm quite a quiet person. I can become very easily over-stimulated and anxious at social events and all I want to do is come home, throw on some comfy clothes and be very, very quiet.

4) Books.
If you look around my bed you'll find a pile of books either side. 

5) Nourishment.

I mean obviously we need food and water to live and whatnot but I like to curl up with a mug of tea. I like to wake up and prepare a glowing green smoothie for breakfast. I like to make my spicy 5 vegetable burrito. 

Five Books You Would Recommend 

1) The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien
(I can't list The Hobbit and FOTR/TTT/ROTK because that would take up most of this category. It just so happens I'm re-reading Fellowship at the moment so READ THEM. I'm remembering why they're amazing)

2) Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

3) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 

4) Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

 

5) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Five Materialistic Wishes For Christmas Presents

1)  A treeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Seriously though. At the moment I'm in love with the idea of planting tress and giving back to the Earth. Call me a hippy all you want but a £3.50 tree from Homebase would be the nicest gift from anyone who can't think of what to get me.

2) Failing that... anything off of my Amazon Wishlist. It's full of cheap books and I don't mind a second hand read. 

3) Any inexpensive yet cool Game of Thrones/Hobbit/Lord of the Rings related merchandise to fuel my inner nerd.

4) Drawings. I love when people draw me cute, silly stuff. I have a whole section of my bedroom wall with drawings and writings from friends of mine. If it's cool, good and fairly inoffensive I'd probably love it.

 

5) A small packet of flower seeds/bulbs. This is for the same reasons as the tree. What's better than growing your own flowers/plants?

Five Places You Wish To Visit

1) New Zealand (Waikato and Wellington mainly)

2) Canada

3) USA (like a big road trip across the whole country)

4) San Diego Comic Con.

5) Netherlands (Utrecht and Amsterdam)

Five Adjectives That Describe You

1) Nerdy

2) Creative

3) Loving

4) Hopeful

5) Free-spirited

Five Things You'd Say to People About Life

1) It's nice to be nice. Sympathise with others. Be kind and respectful to everything and everyone you share this world with.

2)It's never too early to plan ahead and think about your future.

3)It's important to remember to take care of ourselves. Far too often we're told to live a lifestyle that does the exact opposite. 

4)Take chances and put yourself out there. You'll get over rejection and failure in time but if something good can come from a situation then it's surely worth it.

5) Don't carry negative feelings around with you. They are literally not doing you any good at all.

 

Tag, you're it! 

I tag anyone who is reading this. I got it from a cool blogger called Rah whose blog you can see here. Rah also just left the tag open to anyone who came by it. If you want to fill this out and pass it on, let me know. I'd love to see what you have to say.

Get to know your writer!

Hey! Today the results of the 2013 Cosmo Blogging Awards are announced. I know one or two people nominated me but I'm not currently able to see if I made the shortlist. Whether I did or didn't doesn't matter as I'm happy to have even been nominated. If I have made the shortlist then I thought it might be nice to let you get to know your blogger a little bit so I'm more of a person and less like some sort of disembodied, faceless typist somewhere in the world...

- Birthday?
23rd of February

- Where were you born?
Aberdeen, Scotland.

- Favourite food?
The answer used to be friend lemon chicken with stir fry noodles but I can't do that since I no longer eat meat so now the default answer is pizza. Always pizza.

- What is your favourite kind of chocolate?
If I'm being posh I'll say Ferrero Rocher. If not...Peanut M&Ms.

- What countries do you most want to visit?
New Zealand, Australia, Canada, USA (for the old American road trip, of course)
In New Zealand I particularly want to visit Wellington, Waikato, Christchurch and the Bay of Plenty. I'm hoping to make it to New Zealand next year or maybe even during winter this year. We shall see.

- What is your Twitter handle?
@GabrielleLeimon

- What made you want to be a writer?
When I was younger I met several writer in my childhood and teens. The most significant of these meetings was the time I met J.K Rowling. From that point on I wanted to create stories as she did and I've been writing ever since. It works out pretty well as my mother used to tell me that my imagination was too strong for my own good since I had such vivid nightmares as a child. I honestly had horrible nightmares about ghosts, ghouls and vampires. Thank goodness I'm now able to channel it into writing - I may as well gain something from my imagination, right?

- What are your hobbies?
I enjoy writing, reading, watching movies, going to gigs, travelling, swimming etc. Over the summer I'm planning to get more crafty and take up some DIY projects to renovate and update old clothes and items lying around my closets. I've just taken up drawing again. I'm not any good at it but it's a rather curative way to pass the time and so I find myself rather enjoying it.

- Last TV show you watched?
Golden Girls. Yes, I'm being honest here.

- Do you have any addictions?
Hair dye. I'm not sure why but I'm always changing my hair. It has been almost every colour under the sun by now. I'm happy with it whatever colour it is as long as it isn't brown since that's my natural colour. I'm currently trying to get my hair to a nice shade of blonde. Given the choice I'd then go Atlantis Blue (Directions dye) Am also addicted to Twitter.

- What do you hope to achieve over the next few years?
I hope to write and to be published. I'm aware it won't be easy but it's what I want to do. I'd love to finish a few novels and a short anthology of poetry. I want to keep working no matter what. I have a nice little job right now but it's not the career path I will follow and pursue in life. It's good for now and I'll probably work there until the end of the year. I have a job now and whether I stay in this job for a long time or until I find something more suited to me I want to work and work hard.  In general I also hope to travel, have children, buy a little home. The usual.

- What music have you been listening/working to lately?
I'm hooked on The Great Gatsby soundtrack, Carice Van Houten's "See You On The Ice" album and copious amounts of Flight of the Conchords. Also add lashings of Lana Del Rey and Florence + The Machine with generous scoops of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Also add Zadera and Autry! to the mix and it's all pretty accurate.  To keep up to date with what I'm listening to please keep an eye on my song of the day posts. I like to post the work of lesser known artists so if you have a band that you'd like me to showcase on this blog then please let me know.

- What books have you read recently that you would recommend to your readers?
I totally hopped on the Gatsby bandwagon. I'd previously read about half of The Great Gatsby a few years back but never finished because, well, I'm dreadful at committing myself to a book. I went out and immediately bought a copy of the book. I also really enjoyed Nod by Adrian Barnes. I've just started reading "A Christmas Story" by Stephen Benatar because I have a signed copy that has sat on my shelf untouched for many years. I decided I may as well read it. I'l probably write up a review when I'm done.

- What movies have you seen recently that you'd recommend to your readers?
Cabin In The Woods. Don't look up any information on it. Don't watch trailers or read blurbs. Just watch it, OK?

- What TV shows do you watch?
I'm currently in the habit of not watching much TV shows. I watch Game of Thrones religiously and I'll watch Grey's Anatomy but that's kind of it. I used to watch True Blood but lost patience with it. Maybe I'll get back into True Blood at some point. I also used to watch Dr Who but my allegiance was to David Tennant. I just haven't liked the Eleventh Doctor was much. I loved/love Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Hex and (believe it or not) Ugly Betty. I also watched Pramface when it was on because I could watch it on the tiny TV in the apartment when I was living when the show first aired. More recently I've started watching 2 Broke Girls and How I Met Your Mother.

- If you could have any car, what kind of car would you have?
Audi T-T, phantom black.
Or something green in every sense of the word.

- Are you seeing someone?
Yes, I am. We've been together for a bloody long time now and I'm sickeningly happy. 

- If you had to live in another country to the one you're living in now, where would you move to?
The easiest and laziest answer is, of course, Scotland. It's my birth country, I have family there and it's still within the UK. Otherwise I'd go to Italy (preferably Venice), France (preferably Lyon) or New Zealand (anywhere works because NEW ZEALAND)

- If you had a super power what power would you want?
Hmm. I'm not sure. The hippy in me says I'd want to be able to converse with animals because then I could command them to be my adorable or vicious soldiers of evil. That and I'd command them all to cuddle me and have wonderfully trained pets including but not limited to big cats, wolves, sloths, monkeys, turtles and honey badgers. That's be all kinda of awesome.

I think I'll leave it there for today.
If you have any other questions for me then please let me know in the comments section or click here to find me on Twitter and tweet me your questions.