The Liebster Edition - HandbagMafia

I have been nominated for a Liebster Award by the unparalleled Pinky Poinker. When I first saw a Liebster post, I had no clue what it was.

After extensive ~~googling~~ research, I learned that it is an award that exists only on the internet and is passed around by bloggers to other bloggers. The idea is to answer a few questions and to paste one of these babies into your post:

I think the Liebster Award is basically the blogger equivalent of an encouragement award. You know the ones? I had a handful of them in primary school:

“Awarded to Amy for always trying her best!” “Awarded for consistent effort!” “A+ for effort!”

Story of my life! But I’m not complaining- it’s very nice to have your efforts noted and it’s certainly a step above the other awards I got- you know the ones you get just for participation? A nice bit of cardboard with your name on it that basically said “Thanks For Showing Up!” I got loads of those. So enough faffing around and down to business. The Liebster Award means I have to answer a bunch of questions as determined by the person who awarded it to me.

1. What makes you happy?

Many things. I’m a pretty happy person. I love hanging out with my family, of course, but also spending time with my husband. People often say they married their best friend and that’s definitely true of us. No one makes me laugh like he does- we have the same off beat humour and are completely irreverent. Whether it’s making up ridiculously rude limericks or having one of our famous pun-offs we spend a lot of time laughing. What could be happier than that? There’s also wine. And food. Did I mention wine? Wine makes me happy!

2. Why did you start blogging?

I started because of this one time when I, along with a bunch of other parents, kicked up a hell of a fuss and landed myself on the telly, explaining to Kochie that breastfeeding in public does not need to be “discreet”. After that surreal episode, I came across an article about the whole fiasco on a website maintained by ~~some misogynistic creatures~~ “Men’s Rights Activists” which you can read for your own amusement via this link (Don’t worry I used a do not link so you’re safe to click through!). I’d been toying with the idea of a blog but this hilarious post gave me the thing I’d been lacking- a name. HandbagMafia was born because I like having a voice- even if it was just me speaking into the ether, it was good to get my thoughts out. I blogged sporadically for a while until I got to know Emma, who blogs at 5 Degrees of Chaos. She dragged my butt through the blogger basics and together we hosted a blog carnival to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week. Through Emma, I discovered the Australian blogger community and started writing with much more frequency- I guess this could be added to question 1- it makes me happy!

3. What is the best thing that anyone has ever said about your blog?

That they read it! I’m always amazed that people actually read what I have to say. Even if no one did, I’d probably still scratch out my thoughts here. But knowing there are actually people interested enough to read my posts, comment on them and share them is very humbling and I’m very grateful!

4. What is one piece of advice you would offer or one saying you live by?

I wrote a little thing a while back about words to live by and the essence of what I said there as true now as it was then- just don’t worry about what people think. Be yourself, do your own thing. Consider what you think before worrying about how other people might respond.

5. What are your top three bucket list items?

A passport, my own home and a trip to an elephant sanctuary. I want to travel but it won’t be for a while yet, I want my own home because renting is bleerghh and who wouldn’t want to go to see elephants living peacefully and doing their thing without fear of hunters? I think that would be amazing- even more so in a world where all game hunting was simply a terrible chapter in our history and not something practiced anymore.

Elephants in Botswana- Gorgeous

6. What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?

Oh I have quite a few pleasures and none of them guilty- who has time for that? Good food, sleeping in, a massage or an excellent bath complete with bubbles and a good book. Pinky says hers is eating garlic bread for dinner and I’d be all over that!

7. What is one product or service you cannot live without?

Coffee. I like it. I need it. More.

8. What is your favorite Australian travel destination?

I love travelling in NSW to see my country cousins and I’ve been all over the place but my all-time favourite destination is Melbourne. Melbourne, to me, is our culture capital. To get all Australian about it, the place is literally chockers with culture. The street art is phenomenal, the bars are often artworks in themselves and the places you can eat are top-notch.

Also, from a Sydneysider’s point of view, it’s laid out so nicely:

9. What two countries make you the happiest to visit?

I’ve never been, unless you count Tasmania (which is lovely, by the way). So far, I’ll say Australia and Australia!

10. What is your dream destination?

I’ve always fancied going to Italy because I’m fairly certain I was born with an Italian stomach (Pasta- come at me!) and also Scotland. I started reading the Outlander series as a teen and I’ve had a mildly obsessive interest in Scottish history and culture ever since. That series turning into a TV show has done nothing to put me off, largely thanks to Sam Heughan who plays Jamie- a total crumpet, as Mumabulous would say- and a prime example of your typical Scottish male, I assume.