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I have been slipping a little bit...but I attribute it to the fact that it's actually getting cooler in North Florida.  I almost feel like my Northeast blood is somehow subliminally convincing North Florida to start playing along with the fact that it's the fall weather.  Pumpkins!  Halloween!  Cool, crisp air!

Normally, it does get cold in North Florida in the middle of winter, and although it doesn't get as cold (or any snow) as the Northeast does, we still get twenty degree weather.  But this year, it's getting cooler sooner!

So...here's where I've been slipping...the Coffee and a Book Chick blog has received a few awards from some other fantastic blogs in the past few days, and it's taken me a bit to catch up!

There are just such fantastic and amazing book bloggers out there and I'm so excited to introduce you all to these four, in the event you haven't come across their blog yet!

I received The Versatile Blogger award from Kittie Howard's blog on her stories and life experiences -- I so love catching up on her site!  Thank you!  No rules on this award this time, so I get to just issue this out -- yay!  So I'd like to issue this to and introduce you to:

The Versatile Blogger

1. Tedious & Brief -- books and film, and my fellow co-host for The Historian Readalong at On the Ledge Readalongs
2. Down The Rabbit Hole -- I love YA books, and that's what is discussed here, and I so love her blog name and her site address (AmberInBlunderland)
3. My Reading Room -- I just came across her site, and it's fantastic!
4. Peppermint, Ph.D. -- Wonderful insights at this blog, you must stop by!

And then from Page Turners Gone Wild, I received the Cherry on Top Award!  Woohoo!!  Thanks!!  All you have to do is answer one question, pass the award on to six people, and thank the sender to the award -- so again, thank you!  (And I love her blog name, too!)

Question:  "If I had the chance to go back and change one thing in life, would I, and what would it be?"
Answer:  Heck, yeah!  I could go on and on... and would probably pick I should have tried to everything I could to be the chick version of Indiana Jones.   Indianette?  Love it.

And I'm issuing out this Cherry on Top Award to...

1. Living Outside the Stacks -- Great book reviews and fabulous social issues discussion!
2. Buttery Books -- Oh, yes, a book blog dedicated to taking the wonderful books we all read and review, and using that as inspiration to creating recipes that are based on that book!  (Example:  Corelli's Mandolin Greek setting in Cephalonia generated some amazing Greek food -- breads, baklava, ahhh...)
3. Under My Apple Tree -- The site is clean and beautiful, and the reviews are fabulous!
4. Vintage Reads -- Just because.  It is absolutely wonderful.
5. Wicked Awesome Books -- How could you not like this YA site?  Check it out!
6. The Unread Reader -- I adore this site, simply fun!

And then, last but not least the One Lovely Blog Award...

I received the One Lovely Blog Award from Book Loving Mommy and Bibliosue!  Thank you!!  The rules are to thank the one who awarded you (gracias!) and pay it forward to 15 other bloggers newly discovered!  So, here goes:

1. The More You Read
2. The Reading Life
3. The Literary Amnesiac
4. The Infinite Shelf
5. Tell Me A Story
6. Beachreader
7. A Writer's Review
8. Literary Musings
9. Bookgirl's Nightstand
10. Reads, Reviews, Recommends (Kate Evagelista)
11. Steampunkery & Book Reviews
12. Giving Reading a Chance
13. e-Volving Books
14. Another Book Junkie
15. Fragments

THANK YOU!!

Now, back to reading! :)

Happy Reading,
Coffee and a Book Chick

Well, it is a beautiful day out when one blogger gives another an award -- and you want to know something else?  I got the Life Is Good award from TWO of my favorite bloggers, so I feel pretty smug and good about myself.  Okay, I know, I shouldn't use the word "smug" when accepting an award...!  :)

If it wasn't for that lil thing called "work," I would have posted this last week to thank them both.  I just got back from a business trip to Minneapolis, and it is with delicious, guilty pleasure that I get to chat about these two bloggers, and then talk about the award, and, of course, moi!  Oh, and then on to the next six cool bloggers it goes!

You all MUST stop by, get to know, and follow their sites - CMash Loves to Read has a beautiful site full of fantastic insights and *awesome* giveaways and Estella's Revenge is witty and battles through with cool reflections on all things books and ramblings.  THANK YOU to both amazing bloggers -- I love your sites!!

In order to accept the award, I must link back to thank the one who issued it, answer 10 questions, and then pass it on to 6 bloggers.  So here goes!!  (Answers are in bold, and the six bloggers I'm passing the award onto are below!)

1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?  I am somewhat anonymous -- I usually go by just Coffee and a Book Chick, but for those who don't know…ta da!!  My name is Natalie!  :)

2.Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side.  At the risk of making my husband cheer in delight, although I'm pretty good about acknowledging defeat, I'm pretty sure I'm usually right about stuff.  Okay, maybe not all the time.  Well, sure, maybe most of the time.  I don't know.

3.What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror? I see a young (ish) woman who married an amazing man, has an incredible family (in-laws included!!), and two kids (okay, one dog and one cat!).  I'm someone who doesn't like to take advantage of other people, and I try to be honest in absolutely everything that I do.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?  Freshly made mojito (not the mix kind -- blah, only the freshly crushed mint).  And coffee, no matter what season!

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do? Well, I usually annoy everyone around me by reading excessively.  Or, we take the cool Roma the Dog to the beach so she can frolic through the North Florida waves.

6.Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?  Absolutely, running my own business and having children.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?  Hmm.  It's tough to look at yourself twenty years ago and separate what you think you were to what everyone thought you were -- I know that I got along with everyone, but it's not like I got invited to all the coolest parties or anything…their loss, right?  :)

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see? Not to get all down and all, but probably the most poignant moment in my life was when my mother passed away.  My father, sister and I were at her bedside and it was absolutely crushing.  She passed on Mother's Day 6 years ago, and I can still feel that moment.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?   It's pretty easy to share my true self, cloaked in my pseudo-veil of anonymity!

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?   Good gracious, READ!  I talk on the phone all day long with work, so sometimes I just come home and keep my mouth shut and don't say a word to anyone.  Even when my husband asks me a question, I just nod an answer back -- which actually works out well for him!  No nagging, right!!

Now passing it on to six FANTABULOUS bloggers!  I wanted to introduce you to two non-book bloggers as well, since I know we all have other hobbies, right?!  :) 

• Grace Protzman Photography -- I mean, seriously.  Just GORGEOUS pictures -- and where I sometimes get the images on my blog.  She'll be getting her images set up on iStockPhoto.com as well.  You can also check her out at Digital Graces!
• Weekly Bite -- Some of you may remember that I'm a vegan/vegetarian, and Weekly Bite is written by a Registered Dietitian.  This is the blog I like to go to for her recipes.  She posts all types of recipes (not just vegan/vegetarian) along with musings on life as well, so check it out!
• Tedious & Brief -- A new-to-me blogger on books and film, check him out!  We're also co-hosting the readalong for The Historian as well!
• Silver's Reviews -- Elizabeth is a new-to-me blogger, and I absolutely love her enthusiasm!  Welcome this new blogger to your Dashboard!
• The Crowded Leaf -- I'm so excited about presenting this award to The Crowded Leaf and you also MUST jump onto Rozlyn Press, which is the brainchild of The Crowded Leaf.  It's a small press founded this year for female fiction novelists, and they also provide freelance editing advice for your work.  I know some of us bloggers are also writing our stories out there, so jump onto both The Crowded Leaf and Rozlyn Press.
• Picky Girl -- Picky Girl was my inspiration to get started in the book blogging world.  This is how I came across her blog -- I had just finished Elizabeth Kostova's The Swan Thieves and I was trying to find specific information on a painting that was discussed during the story.  Somehow I came across Picky Girl's site and I was so excited when I commented on her blog and she responded!  When I started looking around on her blog, I saw an entire community of people that had the same love that I had -- reading!!  Picky Girl's reviews are so incredibly thoughtful (click to read one of my FAVORITE posts), and I want to personally thank her for her encouragement to start blogging!

So let's CELEBRATE these bloggers and pass on the award!!  WOOHOO!!

Happy Reading!
Coffee and a Book Chick

I don't win.  It's not in my nature.  I usually trip on my breakaway before the goal is scored, the team I want to win loses, and if I really want it to be a sunny day, I think of rain so I can get the opposite.

But things are going to change now because dagnabbit, the coolest chick *ever* at Bookgirl's Nightstand shot me an award for The Versatile Blogger, and I am excited to participate with this group of fantastic folks!  And the rule is that I tell you seven things about me.  Easy, right?  When put on the spot, I get all knackered at the idea of trying to figure out what would be interesting for you to know about me.  So here's what I got:

1. I believe that we can all pool our collective good energy and figure out what happened to Amelia Earhart, thus I am considering starting a blog to research it.  My brilliant husband put the idea into my head.  He's absolutely fabulous.
2. I have a dog named Roma and a cat named Puppy.  That's right, the cat's name is Puppy because my husband and I thought we were never "cat people" until a stray kitten showed up in 20 degree weather one night in North Florida and ordered us to open the door with his intense stare and loud mouth.  We thought we would just watch him for a little bit and lo and behold, the cat slowly became ours and the name that we jokingly started to call him has now fully stuck with him.  And, yes, he rules the house and our 60 pound dog is wonderfully gentle with Puppy the Cat and Puppy the Cat beats the heck out of Roma the Dog.
3. When I was a kid I saw Return of the Jedi 5 times and wanted to be a Jedi.  But then I also wanted to be an archaeologist because of Indiana Jones.
4. I initially became a vegan 3 years ago partly for health reasons, and partly because I really didn't like the process of how food eventually got to my plate -- I instantly lost 30 pounds and felt so amazing that I couldn't even believe it!  I've sort of become a little more lenient since my honeymoon in Italy last year and now consider myself a vegetarian, but feeling like I'm going to return to my vegan ways fairly soon.  And I've found some incredible recipes on Weekly Bite's site!  Who would have thought being a vegan or vegetarian would be so tasty!  I even was a guest blogger on it, which was a complete honor!
5. I am completely addicted to the iPhone App game called Angry Birds.  Do not download it.  You will stop reading for days on end just to spend hours trying to get your birds back from the pigs.
6. I was born in Manila and lived in Greece and Venezuela before moving to the States as a kid, and have visited almost all of the states in the US.  I love to travel.    Which means that I should tell you that my husband and I went to Rome and Southern Italy for our honeymoon last year and we felt like we should move there.
7. I went to college and got my degree in English and Creative Writing but somehow fell into the corporate business world.  But I've missed writing and that's why I'm in the book blogging world -- not only to write and write but most of all to meet all of you!

So many thanks to the fantastic blogging friends I continue to meet!  I love to support my friends in their enterprises and blogs and I thank you for all of the support you've given me!  Thanks for reading about me!

The rules require that I pass this on to fifteen bloggers!  And now I humbly pass the award on and introduce you all to ...

• Kathy at The Literary Amnesiac
• Stacy at A Novel Source
• Caitlin at Chaotic Compendiums
• Sara at Wordy Evidence of the Fact
• Nat at Book, Line, and Sinker
• Shannon at Giraffe Days
• The Bibliophile by the Sea
• Heather at Book Addiction
• Sara at Loving Books
• Alayne at The Crowded Leaf
• Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves
• Whitney at She is Too Fond of Books
• The Avid Reader's Musing
• Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading
• A Desperate Reader

Happy Reading and Meeting Fellow Book Bloggers!

Coffee and a Book Chick