100 Things to Know About Me

Inspired by Karchamb, who was inspired by True Jersey Girl , I thought I would take a stab at the 100 things to know about me. It's taken a few weeks to get my list, but I think that this is a pretty good summary of me.

1. I am a Sagittarius, but close enough to the cusp of Capricorn that I feel more Capricorn often.
2. In junior high I read all I could on astrological signs
3. I don’t often read my horoscope anymore, but I do check my astroweather and pay attention to moon phases
4. I also am happy when I am in tune with the seasonal changes, but often find that life goes by too quickly and I miss out.
5. I got the nickname Mickey G in High School because I was told I look like Mickey Mouse - I was upset I didn’t look like Minnie.
6. I have an older sister and a very large extended family including cousins on both sides.
7. As a child I was very jealous of my sister, but now we get along much better.
8. My family is mostly Italian, and I love every stereotype that we fill – especially when it comes to food.
9. I consider myself a spiritual person, but don’t like to be quantified.
10. I was raised Catholic, but have some issues with the church now.
11. I am currently engaged, but not getting married for a little while yet.
12. I met my fiancé at work.
13. The first week we were dating, I asked him to work one of my events. He helped glue auction paddles and worked all weekend - I knew he was a keeper when he asked me out again.
14. He comes from a small Irish family, so holidays with the Italian crew still scare him a little.
15. I am a morning person – and my fiancé is not (he likes to remind me often)
16. I am an optimist.
17. I believe that people are inherently good.
18. I love taking bubble baths.
19. I like the outdoors and camping.
20. Although after 3 days I like a shower and a real bathroom.
21. I enjoy hiking as well, and especially sitting at the top of mountains looking down.
22. I am an occasional smoker, even though I know it’s bad for me.
23. I am allergic to caffeine – in “large” quantities - large means anything more than a chocolate bar.
24. I realized this when I was dating my ex – at first I thought I was allergic to his house, then I realized what it was.
25. I loved to read as a child.
26. The only time I got sent to the Principal’s office was because I got caught reading a Sweet Valley High book in math class (in 7th grade).
27. I still like to read, and go through phases – I’m in a food writing one now, just finished a stretch of chick-lit.
28. I was a big Stephen King fan growing up, mostly because my dad was one too.
29. I was an English major in college so I spent a lot of time on Medieval Literature, but read Harlequin romances in the summers.
30. If I could do college all over again, I think I would take more science courses.
31. I would like to go to graduate school – I just can’t make up my mind for what.
32. My favorite books could be Mist of Avalon.
33. As a child I read Charlottes Web more than 100 times – and the movie makes me cry to this day.
34. Some of my current favorite authors are Laura Pedersen, Gregory Maguire, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Alice Hoffman.
35. I still get a kick out of Harlequin romances.
36. I like TV, but have found that most sitcoms can’t hold my attention anymore.
37. Arrested Development is the exception to this rule
38. I’m sad that there is no new Joss Whedon show on the air right now, I miss Buffy, Angel & Firefly.
39. I used to make fun of those who watched Buffy – then I got addicted.
40. I think I’m becoming a sci-fi geek, as Jack got me into Stargate SG-1.
41. I like CSI and think that William Peterson is sexy.
42. Some of my favorite movies include Big Night, Princess Bride, Hudsucker Proxy, and the Back to the Future trilogy.
43. I also love anything with John Cusak and Jeremy Piven
44. I’ve always been drawn to the arts and worked at a theatre for a few years.
45. I spent my youth performing in choirs, musicals and plays.
46. My favorite role was Rizzo in Grease
47. I also directed.
48. I had dreams of being an actor as a child, but decided it wasn’t for me as I got older.
49. If I had to pick a career in theatre now, I would probably want to be a stage manager.
50. I love Eric Clapton – even his cheesy lite fm stuff.
51. I like to have music playing all the time – especially at work, it keeps me motivated – and so I keep my iPod with me at all times.
52. I love to cook – for reasons including it lets me have a creative outlet know that I’m no longer “performing”
53. I grew up spending time in the kitchen with my dad – he was more of the cook than my mom.
54. My mom was the technical queen – she was very handy when we needed phone lines spliced and re-wired
55. A friend from North Carolina told me once “You cook better than my mama” – one of my proudest moments
56. I like to try new recipes, and will read cookbooks like novels just for the fun of it.
57. My favorite chef right now is Alton Brown – I like learning the science.
58. I love cooking for friends, and wish I did it more often
59. I love to cook Italian, but I also like trying new things.
60. I had never left this time zone until just shy of my 30th birthday
61. That was a trip to Italy for work, followed by a few days in San Diego for work.
62. One of my most memorable moments in Italy was buying olive oil from the guy next door to the hotel – I could see his olive grove from my hotel room.
63. When I vacation, I like to get to know one area really well – as opposed to seeing 80 different things in 80 minutes.
64. I’ve been to FL, GA, NC, VA, DC, DE, NY, MA, NH, VT, ME, Montreal & Quebec on vacation.
65. I want to go to Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, TX, Ireland and back to Italy. Oh and England, Scotland and Greece would be cool too.
66. If I could live anywhere it would be New England – Maine, Vermont or Massachusetts.
67. Mostly cause I love winter and snow and Jersey doesn’t get enough.
68. But I would totally miss tomatoes…and my family.
69. Although the western part of NC was amazing – I loved the mountains and the waterfalls.
70. I consider myself a tomato snob – only in summers, only from a garden.
71. Preferably my garden, but living in apartments has made that difficult.
72. I love winter and don’t mind being cold, but I hate being hot.
73. I especially hate when my feet are warm, so I tend to wear sandals long into the fall and wear them early in the spring,
74. I used to love wearing heels, but now I’m old and my feet hurt when I do.
75. I enjoy doing things with my hands – and am not afraid of using power tools (like table saws, get your mind out of the gutter)
76. One of my favorite hobbies is ceramics.
77. I have taken classes for about 4 years on a pottery wheel and love it.
78. I dream of living in a great cabin in the wood, selling my pottery while Jack makes furniture.
79. I would love if this cabin were on a lake.
80. I enjoy swimming and was a competitive swimmer growing up.
81. I also played softball, but wasn’t very good.
82. I stopped swimming when I got into theatre.
83. I have one very special friend whom I have known since I was a few weeks old.
84. She was on the swim team with me.
85. I’ve am an environmentalist but I sometimes I get angry because people have negative stereotypes associated with the word.
86. In some ways I got interested in environmental movements because of food and learning about organic gardening.
87. Now I care about sustaining local farming and do as much of my shopping at farmers markets as I can.
88. I’ve been told that I’m naïve about many things, and I don’t mind.
89. I scold my fiancé for bursting my happy little bubble about politics – where I thought things were fair and politicians looked out for the people.
90. Now I’m trying hard not to become a bitter angry liberal that hates everything.
91. Unfortunately I’m finding that hard to do.
92. I don’t read the paper as much as I want too.
93. I get most of my news from the Daily Show.
94. I do not consider myself a workaholic, and will be happy if I enjoy my job and make my rent.
95. I work with workaholics and I don’t understand them.
96. I have two cats, both adopted, one from a litter of kittens outside our office.
97. I never thought I was a cat person until Moe came into our lives.
98. I hate when quizzes ask for my “favorite” of something, because I find that most of the time there is no all time favorite, but just preferences and often they are changed by mood.
99. Although I do have a favorite ice cream 90% of the time – mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles.
100. I am very happy with my life.