Question of the Day: What makes you happy?

What makes you happy?

Well, here's my partial list of things that make me happy:

- Days when the sun is shining and the temperature is between 65 and 75 degrees.
- Date nights
- Cute Instagrams of doggies! (like here, here and here)
- When the plane touches down at my destination
- When the immigration officer stamps my passport and says "Welcome!"
- Watching FC Barcelona score goals
- Dancing to "my jam!" (I have several)
- Coming home to a clean house & the hubby cooking a yummy dinner
- That moment when I see the bus coming down the street
- When whatever I'm baking/cooking/making comes out delicious.
- Walking into a local coffee shop and the smell of freshly-brewed goodness that hits my nostrils!
- Snail mail
- Being in California
- ... and my mom-- it's her birthday today and I want to wish the most amazing, wonderful woman in my life a very happy birthday! Love you, momma!

 


How about you- what makes YOU happy? And if you need a little pick-me-up, here are 64 Mind-Blowing Facts that Will Make You Feel Incredibly Happy.

Question of the Day: Memorable interaction with a stranger

What's the most memorable interaction you've had with a stranger?

I was actually going through old Facebook "notes" (remember those?) and I came across this one I wrote when I was in university about an interesting encounter I had while on my way to class:

My interesting encounter of the day...

Granted, I encounter quite a few interesting people on a daily basis, but not many that make me want to write about it. Today was one of those encounters... the type that makes me think about it all day.

Anyway, on to the story...
I was walking to the bus stop to go to school. When I got to the crosswalk, there was a guy, about my age, standing there holding a red tulip and a yellow tulip. As I approached the crosswalk, he says "Well good morning miss." "Good morning," I reply.
And the rest of our conversation goes like this:
Him: "Heading off to school?"
Me: "Yup."
Him: "Do you like flowers?"
Me: "Ummmm... sure... Yeah, I do..."
Him: "Here..." (handing his tulips towards me) "take one... please, you really should, I insist.."
Me: "Oh... ok..." (I take the red one because I'm wearing red today. I like coordinating my shirts with the flowers strange guys give me) "Thanks..."
Then as I try to cross the street, he says:
"You know, don't you?"
Me: "Wha... know what????"
Him: "Nothing..." He starts walking away, he turns around and goes "Just be careful today.." (right when he said that, I was tripping out, like what the heck is this dude talking about?!) Then he says "It's supposed to rain a lot today, so be careful.."
I don't know if he added that last part because he saw fear and confusion on my face, or he was just really trying to warn me about the rain?
Anyway, I tell him thanks. Then he tells me to have a nice day and I tell him the same. And we go our separate ways.

Now, the part that has me tripping out is when he asked me "You know, don't you?" I can't stop thinking about it. Is something supposed to happen today I should be aware about? Is something dangerous happening today? Something fun? Some party I should have been invited to? Some social, activist-type stuff going down in the streets I should know? Was I supposed to know something about the tulip?  WHAT SHOULD I KNOW?? My mind was going a million miles a minute, trying to figure it out and coming up with hypothetical reasons and situations.

...then maybe I'm just over-analyzing it (as most females do in situations). But I don't want to be totally naïve about it.. because what if something does go down today I should have known about? I guess I can't say I wasn't warned.

Or maybe he was an epiphany? What if I'm supposed to explore and question our encounter because there's something I need to know, something that would be useful or important in my life? Is the tulip supposed to tell me something? I do believe things happen for a reason. Was this encounter with this tulip-bearing guy just a coincidence or meant to happen? Am I supposed to learn from this? Or maybe he just knew that I'm a socially-aware person, and that I just KNOW.

Hmmm, who knows? At least I got a free tulip out of the deal.

the red tulip

This was definitely a memorable interaction! How about you-- what is a memorable interaction you had with a stranger?

Question of the Day: Celebrity Dinner Party

 Your celebrity dinner party. Who would you invite?

My celebrity list would probably be super long-- but here are a few that would be on it  for sure though (off the top of my head):

1. Erykah Badu - because she's my inspiration & favorite artist

Via

2. Natalie Portman - because she's my favorite actress

3. Justin Timberlake - because duh.

4. Gael Garcia Bernal - because he's my fave actor

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 5. Anthony Bourdain - also an inspiration of mine

6. Jimmy Fallon - because I love his show & he just seems like a fun guy

7. Kevin Hart - one of my favorite comedians

8. Aziz Ansari - also a favorite comedian

9. Brandon Boyd - because he's amazing & I've loved him since forever

Via

10. Danica McKellar - so I could tell her all the stories about how I was constantly told "You know who you look like? Winnie Cooper!" when I was younger-- and also so we could compare in person if we still look alike.

I could go on & on. If I really had all these celebrities over for dinner, I don't know what I'd do with myself. I would probably be freaking out and they would all think I was a weirdo.

How about you? Who would you invite to your celebrity dinner party?

Question of the Day: Dream Job

If you could have any job, what would you want to do/be? 

This question is pretty simple for me- a job that would pay me to travel the world. I would want my own travel show-- I would get to see and experience so many places, all the while getting paid to do so. Heck. Yeah.

How about you? What job would you want? 

Question of the Day: Someone like yourself

 If you met someone, just like yourself in every way, would you get along? Why or why not?

I think that we would definitely get along! I am a very easy-going, down to earth, fun-loving girl. If I met someone exactly like me, we would get along just fine. I like people who are just chill, down for whatever, open-minded.... like me!

And I try to surround myself with people who are like me-- so many of my friends are the same way. I think that's what attracted us to each other. Our similar personalities just clicked instantly.

How about you? Would you get along with someone just like you?

Question of the Day: One-Way Ticket

 

If you could leave tomorrow with a one-way ticket, where would you go?

I asked this question to my friends & fam on Facebook last week. I got some good answers -- like California, Italy, Poland, England & Dublin.

But this is what I would do: I would get a one-way ticket to Portugal (probably Lisbon). Then just train and/or ride a motorcycle my way east- hitting Spain, France, Germany, etc. etc. hit Turkey and Greece. Then take a ferry south to Africa and make my way down to South Africa. I mean- how amazing would that be?!

Yeah. I think that sounds like an awesome plan.

How about YOU? Where would you go?

Question of the Day: Childhood Song?

 

Which song always takes you back to your childhood when you hear it?

A ton of songs always take me back to my childhood when I hear them. My parents love to listen to music and dance (oh yes- they can get down!). So we were brought up listening to all kinds of music- but mainly pop. My brother and I grew up listening to artists like Janet Jackson, Tears for Fears, Michael Jackson, Salt-n-Peppa, Prince... the list goes on and on.

This song, though, brings back a lot of memories. When we were younger, my brother and I would make silly videos. There is a video of my brother and I dancing to this song and it's great. Little did we know at the time what the song was about, but we would sing/rap to it all the time. And I remember one day, my dad asked us "Do you guys know what this song is about??!" and we said "Nope!" and continued singing it. We knew (actually, still know!) all the words. And it's still "the jam!"

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Tag Team - "Whoomp! There it is!":



How about you?? What song takes you back to your childhood when you hear it?

Question of the Day: Strangest Compliment?

 
What's the strangest compliment you've received? 

Shortly after graduating high school, I got a job at a Panda Express. I had a co-worker who was about my age. From the moment I met him, I knew there was something a little... different about him. He acted a little weird. Said off-the-wall stuff. And I would always see him looking staring at me from the corner of my eye. It made me feel a little uncomfortable, but I would ignore it.

One day, the staring was going on a little too hardcore. I was finally fed up, so I went up to him and asked if he was ok and if he had a problem. He said: "Will you get mad or offended if I tell you something?" "Uh... no. I guess..." I said, slightly confused and scared. "Well, I just want to tell you that you have the prettiest ears I have ever seen."

What. The. Hell. Right??!! And to be honest, he was probably dead serious. He didn't crack a smile or a giggle or anything.

So that was definitely the strangest compliment I've ever received. I'm sure I've received other strange ones, but that is the one that will forever stick in my mind as the winner of the strangest/weirdest/creepiest. I mean, I think I have average-looking ears. Apparently, the dude thought highly of them. 

I quit that job shortly after that occurence.

So how about you? What's the strangest compliment you've received??

Question of the Day-- travel alone?

If you could travel anywhere in the world, but you'd have to leave your loved ones behind, would you?

This is really tough for me to answer because most, if not all, of my traveling has been done with J. I haven't traveled alone.. ever. But I'm down to do it- it's just not my preference. I think if an opportunity did arise for me to go on a trip alone, J would support me 110%. I know that he thinks it would be good for me.

So I guess the short answer to this questions is yes, yes I would. (With a few conditions, such as as long as it's not for an extended amount of time).

What are your thoughts?

linking up with Nicole