31 Things You Didn't Know About Me (+ Giveaway!)

I turned 31 yesterday and I thought I'd do something different and share 31 things about myself. And if you manage to get through my entire list, you'll reach the giveaway. Which is pretty awesome if I do say so myself! (Resist the temptation to skip down to the bottom of this post!). 

Here goes: 
  1. My favorite color is purple (followed closely by yellow these days).
  2. My favorite movie of all time is Before Sunset.
  3. I'm an only child but having 5 cousins who all live within a 15 minute radius makes me feel like I'm not. 
  4. I just got over my fear of planes this past year. 
  5. I'm addicted to coffee. I started taking sips of my parents' coffee behind their backs when I was 5 years old. They tried to stop me but eventually gave up. 
  6. I'm also addicted to Code Red Mountain Dew. 
  7. I have a sweet tooth. (I almost always have candy in my apartment or bag or desk at work ...) 
  8. My biggest shopping vice is bags. (Duh!)
  9. I took piano lessons for over 10 years and can still play and read notes.
  10. I'm left-handed.
  11. I took ballet/pointe and jazz for 5 years. 
  12. I own a vinyl record player.
  13. The first movie I ever saw in a theatre was The Little Mermaid with my Dad. It's still my favorite Disney movie.
  14. I love Audrey Hepburn. I've seen 10 of her movies (and I'll eventually get through all of them!).
  15. My favorite childhood book is a toss-up between Anne of Green Gables (I have 3 copies of this book so far + all the movies) and A Wrinkle In Time. 
  16. I'm afraid of crickets. I mean, I don't like bugs period. But my family has witnessed me yelling and running away at the sight of a cricket more times than I'd like to admit. 
  17. My baking specialty = red velvet cupcakes. 
  18. "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" by The Darkness is one of my happy songs. 
  19. My first concert was The Backstreet Boys. (I'm only mildly embarrassed by this.) 
  20. I collect postcards. Whenever people travel, I ask them to send me one (it doesn't count if you just hand it to me). I have postcards that are 15+ years old and I plan to never throw them out. 
  21. I also save movie tickets in a jar. I still have ones from middle school. 
  22. I can't swim, not even float. I only sink. 
  23. I went out of the country for the first, and only time so far, a few years ago. London & Paris! 
  24. I constantly wish that I could sing and play the guitar. 
  25. I've known one of my best friends since I was 7 years old. It's such a rare thing and I'm so grateful for it. (And my other two besties I've known since freshmen year of college!)
  26. I am not originally from New Jersey! I was born in Queens and lived in Elmhurst for the first 7 years of my life.
  27. Dawson's Creek inspired me to become a web designer and developer. The first website I ever made was a fan site for the show. 
  28. I was named after Rachel from the Bible.
  29. I'm only 4' 11½". 
  30. And yet, my favorite kind of shoes are flats.
  31. I want a Chanel bag one day. 
***

Giveaway Time!
I'm really excited about this giveaway! I'm including a bunch of different things: ARCs that I've read recently and enjoyed, finished copies of some of my favorite books plus a few other surprises. The giveaway will run until July 14th so I hope you guys will enter! (US and Canada only.)

Some awesome ARCs
Behind the Scenes by Dahlia Adler
One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington
Strange & Ever After by Susan Dennard
The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
The Queen of Tearling by Erika Johansen
Some of my favorite books
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Fingerpints of You by Kristen-Paige Madonia
Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly
How to Love by Katie Cotugno
Assortment of book swag!
HarlequinTeen notebook
Throne of Glass tote bag
Exquisite Captive bracelet
Signed bookmark & sticker from Susan Dennard
Signed Be With Me bookmark
Life by Committee bookmark




Thank you to everyone who called, texted, Facebook'ed and tweeted!
Every message made my day extra special <3

14 comments

  1. So 3 things I got from this post:
    1) My birthday was yesterday too!!!
    2) I'm also left-handed!
    3) I'm also 4'11"!
    I was really excited to discover these things haha. Happy (late) birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've only just realised that the giveaway is for US only and I'm in the UK, haha silly me!
    Nonetheless, happy late birthday I hope you had a great day!
    The Little Mermaid is also my favourite Disney movie and red velvet cupcakes are amazing <3
    one girl one book

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy belated birthday! :D I loved this, especially because it's fun to see how we're similar (my favorite color is purple, I have a sweet tooth, I took ballet and jazz, I love collecting post cards too - especially from bloggers, and I went out of the country for the first time two years ago - to London). Of course, there are some differences as well. ;) And hey, you SHOULD be embarrassed that Backstreet Boys was your first concert. Mine was NSYNC. Way cooler ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy happy belated birthday to you -- hope it was fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy belated birthday! I hope it was great and enjoyable! I don't really enjoy sweets all too much but I *love* chocolate! I usually have a piece of chocolate somewhere (antioxidants! haha, at least that's my excuse!).

    ReplyDelete
  6. WHAT?! You're 31? Holy crap. I thought you were in your early 20s like me :) Congratulations on aging extremely well, and hope you had a wonderful birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't believe your 31!!! Happy Belated Birthday!!

    There are a couple of things I wanted to comment on after reading all 31 facts about you :). My favourite colour is also purple!! I LOVE AUDREY HEPBURN!! Which ones are your favourite? I haven't seen them all yet but so far Sabrina, Funny Face and of course Breakfast at Tiffany's. I actually broke out into song when I read "I Believe In A Thing Called Love", this song is just soo good!! I need to move my movie tickets into a Mason Jar, right now they are in a box from a Roxy watch I got back in grade 6 o.O. I also collect concert tickets and tickets from events.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love that your favorite colors are purple and yellow - those are the colors from my college, so they kind of have to be some of my favorites too. (: I am also afraid of crickets, but I know that it is because they jump and it unexpectedly and sometimes TOWARD me, and I cannot deal with that. I cannot! I love your list of 31 things - what a fun thing to do for your birthday! I hope you have had a wonderful birthday time!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Eeep, Happy Belated Birthday, Rachel! Hope you had a blast. =D

    I adore Before Sunset! Such a beautiful movie.

    Gah, I'd love to own vinyl record player some day.

    I haven't watched an Audrey Hepburn yet. Hope I finally watch one this year.

    You've been to Paris, yay. I think everyone should visit it once in their lifetime though, I've never been. Yet. Hehe.

    Such a cool post! Loved it. =)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I LOVE YOU RACHEL <3 It makes me really happy that I actually knew a few of your 31 facts about yourself, and was simply nodding when I read them. Honestly, it feels like we've been friends forever at this point, doesn't it? Happiest of birthdays yet again, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can't swim, I'm an Audrey Hepburn fan (though probably not as big as you are), and I'm named after Rachel from the Bible, too! Happy Birthday, and thanks for the awesome giveaway--I REALLY want to get my hands on an ARC of LANDLINE and that Throne of Glass tote!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy (late!) birthday!!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Happy belated birthday!! A fun fact about me is I'm a twin!!

    I just started my book blog (http://bookcatpin.blogspot.ca/) and would love to meet some bloggers! Please visit me if you have some time, thanks!!

    ReplyDelete

with love,

Rachel