ok, this was fun! I actually read through the rules and here we go. I was tagged by Lauren Felts of The Holy Kale, my favorite foodie blogger. Here are the rules:

RULES:

Post these rules.
Post 11 random things about yourself.
Answer the questions the person who tagged you set for you in their post.
Tag new bloggers to participate
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer. (questions on bottom of post)

11 random facts about me:

I have a weakness for vintage, brown leather purses, particulalry old Coach bags (not new styles)

I do lunges while my tea water is boiling

I really don't like wearing color. Although I'm trying and am getting into magenta.

I don't like the way gardenia smells.

I'm thinking of getting a tattoo in the inside of my wrist b/c lately I've been feeling too grown up and the punk rock river rat in me is feeling left out.

I usually dye my own hair

I'm currently working through a heel fear. I now wear 2.5 inch relatively comfortably.

I'm 5'11. I lost an inch in a back injury.

I can't hear very well out of my left year due to a kayaking thing. And I don't mind. When the world is too loud, I can muffle it.

My game as I walk to my car is to add up the cost of my outfit. If I look awesome, and it all came together for under $100, I win. If it's more, I have to have a moment where I think about whether it was worth it.

I love clothes swaps, sales racks, TJMaxx and thrift stores. Not because I'm cheap (necessarily). Mostly because I like the hunt. I like to test my "eye" for something good.

Questions asked by Lauren:

1. Biggest Indulgence? Mornings and a pile of magazines. It is one of the times of the day when I am thankful to run my own show and my decision to not have children. I can sit on the couch, have a cup of great coffee, and read every word of Allure or Glamour (both on Sundays). I had a few years where I tried to pretend I was too “smart” for magazines, and should be reading dense books instead. I like a dense books, not first thing in the morning. Early morning, I want to know about magenta lipstick and other women’s beauty rituals.

2. Sweet or Savory. What food specifically? Both. Sweet: Dark, 70% chocolate, fair-trade, once a day. Savory: Ketchup. I love ketchup. It’s absurd. I know. But I love it. It’s part of being from Brazil. We love ketchup. 

3. Greatest Talent? Traveling. I am a really good traveler. It takes talent to be a really good traveler. There's a difference between a traveler and a tourist. A traveler is always at home, regardless of location. A tourist (which is a totally ok thing to be) feels far from home on a trip.

4. What would your Best Day Ever look like? Make-out session with my man, See #1 above, stretch/walk, open email to discover Allure’s beauty editor, Heather Muir, decided to do a big feature on us, get a phone call from a big account, write a great blogpost, feel like my outfit rocks all day without that feeling half-way through that it’s not really working, then have an afternoon on the river. Seriously lame, I know. My Best Day Ever involves emails and phone calls.

5. If you could do 1 thing everyday, what would it be? Eat buttered french bread dipped in coffee. Or dance. Either one would make me happy. I can't eat french bread, so maybe I'll start dancing.

6. What is your Life Calling? BijaBody and RootedinBeauty. No doubt about it. It took 31 years for it to be clear. But when it called, there were flourescent lights and sirens.

7. 2 Million Dollars, 3 Months Off, Where would you go and What would you do? (My lameness will continue). I don’t want 2 months off. I would be in Latin America, using the money to create women-owned agricultural projects, then come back with part of the cash, develop a bunch of sweet beauty products using some of the ingredients we just planted. Basically, I would do what I do now, but on steroids. Man, I would make really good use of money.

8. If you had an extra $1,000 a month (not for savings), what would you spend it on? Beauty Products and Clothes. Easy. 

9. Quality that people most admire about you? Tenacity? I can pull a good outfit together? Ability to text me a picture of their zit and I can ususally tell what caused it? Not sure.

 10. What is your biggest Political, Social, Environmental or Religious Concern at the moment? Women’s social economic situations in really poor parts of the world. I know women are poor here too, but once you’ve seen a Trash Dump based community, and hear the stories, you know it’s different. When women are empowered with work, a lot of other things change like sexual abuse, environmental degradation and children’s lack of education. I spent some time in a tiny LAtin town where the locals were poor, but the women had banded together to create a recycling program. It took ridiculous effort, was disgusting work, and they didn’t get paid, but it was worth it to them.

 11. Thing in your life that makes you smile or feel grateful everyday? My dog, Lua.

Questions for other bloggers:

1. Silver or Gold?

2. Favorite percentage of chocolate?

3. Go-to gift under $30?

4. Favorite time of day for a cup of tea?

5. Favorite scent?

6. Biggest time-waster in your day?

7. Book that affected your life?

8. Go to outfit, day or night?

9. Things that make you nervous?

 10. What is your biggest Political, Social, Environmental or Religious Concern at the moment?

11. The healthiest ritual you have every day?