and the award goes to...

Last month, Dana of I Adore What I Love included me in her Liebster Award list and I was absolutely honored! So, instead of a Blog Gal interview this month I'm completing her Leibster survey and nominating my fave bloggers to participate too.

The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to fellow bloggers!  I absolutely, positively adore the concept and idea of this award and all that it stands for and I'm excited to nominate some of my dearest blogger friends and see their Blog Gal survey answers!

Here are the rules for myself and my nominees: 
1. Mention the person who nominated you with a link to their blog2. Answer the eleven questions they posed to nominees3. Nominate eleven other bloggers4. Create eleven of your own questions for them to answer5. Notify your nominees

Dana put together a great questionnaire, so I'm going to start off by answering her questions...

Q1. How long have you been blogging?
A1. My first blog, Life Guide by Erin launched almost 6 years ago in April 2008! It is still in it's very original form but it was technically the launch of Color Me Styled if in concept only. Get UR Daily E launched in October 2010 and still is a morph between a traditional blog and a traditional tumblr. It is a lot of my own content, but a fair amount of "re-blogs" from other inspiring tumblr users! Color Me Styled launched in July of 2012 as a lifestyle blog and I consider it my "real blog" but I love them all dearly. In January 2014 I co-founded the Windy City Blogger Collective and I do a fair amount of blogging for that site as well. 

Q2. Is it your full-time job?
A2. Yes and No. Earlier this month (March 2014) I launched a consultancy called Erin Marie Marketing by Design so most of my work exists in the digital media and blogging world but Color Me Styled & Daily E do not pay the bills.

Q3. Sum up your style in 5 words or less.
A3. Prepster, Unique, Comfortable, Fun, Approachable

Q4. What is your favorite restaurant in Chicago?
A4. This is almost impossible to answer because I love so many but the most incredible meal I've ever eaten was at Schwa. 

Q5. Salty or Sweet?
A5. Both combined. But usually salty.

Q6. What is one thing that nobody knows about you?
A6. I'm a pretty open book but most people forget that I lived in California for a year.

Q7. Who is your favorite Bachelor and/or Bachelorette?
A7. I have never watched the show, honestly. I've followed people's tweets and posts about them but I have not spent a minute watching.

Q8. What is your go-to workout?
A8. Walking - I try my best to walk as much as possible. I do enjoy yoga too and for years I worked out with a trainer and lifting weights is so empowering!

Q9. Reality or Scripted TV?
A9. Scripted... and comedies or HBO shows. My favorite show on TV right now would probably be Parks and Rec but I rarely watch live TV so I'm as caught up as Netflix will allow me to be. 

Q10. Tell me your favorite on-line stores!
A10. Design Darling, Made by Girl, Milk and Honey Boutique, and GILT

Q11. Back to blogging... any challenges so far?
A11. This winter has been brutal so I feel like I haven't been able to take the outfit pictures I'd like to. I have a grand vision for Color Me Styled and I am working on the redesign now so the HTML and CSS is challenging but super fun to build the site of my dreams (at the moment)

Bonus Q: Have you ever felt weird telling people about your blog?
Bonus A: Yes. It is a strange thing because people who are not bloggers do not understand it. But I have learned to frame it as a creative outlet and that it has brought some amazing people and opportunities into my life!

Thank you again Dana for including me! Now, allow me to nominate the following bloggers for this fun little blogging version of the grade school chain letter! It was difficult to narrow down this list!! I love so many bloggers!

Blair from The Fox and She
Caitlin of A Cheeky Fox
Christine of View from 5 ft 2
Danielle F of Allusional
Katherine of Paytington & Co.
Kit of The Kittchen
Lauren of Lion and Maven
Megan of Stylish and Scatterbrained
Sara of Project Soiree
Shaheen of Lows to Luxe
Tomissa P of She Loved Life

Since I've got my Blog Gal questions already set, I'm going to include those for my nominees to answer and add a few others.

1. What is your favorite thing about blogging?

2. How long have you been blogging?

3. NY or LA?

4. Twitter or Facebook?

5. Magazines or Books at the beach?

6. What is your favorite dessert?

7. If this famous person wasn't so famous and you two could have been under normal circumstances, you'd be BFFs...

8. Sitcoms or Reality TV?

9. Favorite type of take-out?

10. What one thing is always in your bag? (besides your phone, and wallet)

11. What is the favorite thing you've learned or been able to do since you've started blogging? Is there one skill or event that really stands out?

I'm looking forward to reading the answers by some of my favorite bloggers and maybe for a Blog Gal post down the road I'll just link to their answers!!