I've been tagged by one of my favorite hound-pals over at centralillinoisian - Life is Hard - Just Keep Swimming. Ok, so the challenge: tell random 7 things about myself.

1. I love the smell of coffee, love the flavor of coffee....just don't like to drink coffee. I'm sure that's beyond odd, but maybe that's part of my charm. P.S. absolutely love Vanilla Cappuccino Bars!

2. I love to read - will read nearly anything....I might draw the line at Dickinson, but that's because everytime my DSis and I have tried to read the same book at the same time, she finishes first! One day I'll have some quiet time, re-read Tale of 2 Cities, because it's one of the books I've struggled through and still remember (many years after the fact).

3. When no-one is in the car with me, I love to blast 80's tunes, country, anything I can sing to loudly. Very loudly....then I start laughing at how ridiculous I must sound/look. It's a mood picker-upper for me.

4. I can never go anywhere without...COOP. COOP is an invention to keep my coupons organized. I feel naked leaving the house without it.

5. I don't like.....bugs. I keep telling myself every spring that there really aren't that many bugs in the ground, otherwise I'd never get my mini-garden in. This year I grew tomatoes.....more than 20 plants of them. That leads me to #6-

6. My favorite meal is spaghetti. You'd think I was Italian with all the pasta I eat. I've got some sauce, a Creamy Marinara, simmering for dinner right now. I'm hoping to learn how to make a good Puttanesca Sauce next.

7. I've just discovered..... the joys of walking in the grass barefoot. growing up, it wasn't allowed (bad neighborhood, and neighbors would leave rusty nails, shattered bottles, etc. everywhere...even toss them in our yard.) I felt so decadent walking around in the perfectly manicured grass at the Chicago Botanical Gardens without my sandals on. It was my favorite part of that outing! I'm also a glutton for tourist-y things.