Getting to Know You (Plus a Birthday Giveaway!)

Getting to know alll abooooout youuuu...



HIIIIII IT'S MY BRITHDAY TODAY. I am 23 years old, which is one of those weird in between birthdays that don't actually mean anything, other than the fact that I will spend the next eleven month of my life saying my own age wrong. AGE IS HARD. Anyway, I've been meaning to put together a personal, "Getting to Know You" kind of post so you can... well, get to know me beyond my opinions on shipping (highest form of being) and instalove (*hisses*).

Random Facts About Moi, Gillian, the Person Who Writes the Wrongs:

1. I love musicals, as evidenced by the title of this post, which is a reference to The King and I. I've probably seen about twenty or so on stage and a bajillion onscreen and a good quarter of my iPod is showtunes.

2. Disney. I like it, you know, a little bit. Just a tad. Disney movies, princesses, land, animation. You name it, I love it. I take pride in knowing all the lyrics in all of my favorite movies, which is most of them. If you made me choose a favorite I'd punch you in your most vulnerable body part, cry, and then reluctantly choose Beauty and the Beast, because it speaks to my soul. Also it came out the year I was born! SYNCHRONICITY.



3. I draw a lot and by a lot I mean A LOT. I've even got a Tumblr full of my fanart. It's what I do when I want to unwind and turn my brain off.

4. I also write. It's what I do when I want to get wound up and my brain won't shut the hell up.

5. I bake and I eat and I am basically in a very passionate, stable, and devoted relationship with food. I am a diehard foodie with an enormous sweet tooth, and I once conquered a meal that was seventeen courses. There is no food I will not try except for tomatoes, and I do really mean that. I have eaten bull's testicles and basically every organ that's edible. One of my favorite things to do is travel to exotic locales and eat simply everything.

 6. I am half-Spanish. Es la verdad. ETA: As my mother pointed out to me this morning, I am technically a quarter Spanish and a quarter Mexican. But whatever. Pretty sure all my genes are Spanish down the line.

7. Television is like a religion to me, as is pop culture. My favorite shows of all time are Gilmore Girls, Friends, The O.C., Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,Veronica Mars, and ten more I can't think of right now. Favorite shows on the air: The Mindy Project, Game of Thrones, Castle, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Orphan Black.

8. I'm also a total movie buff, though I CANNOT watch scary movies of any kind. My favorite movies are the ones with 1) musical numbers 2) really excellent kissing 3) British accents 4) period clothing and/or 5) dancing.

9. Exercise of any sort is the bane of my existence, even though I played soccer very competitively up to freshman year of high school, when I realized that exercise was the bane of my existence.

10. I have a rescue mutt named Ginger and I swear I have never loved a living being more. She is part pit bull and the goofiest bundle of love ever, so if you bad mouth pit bulls in my presence, I will eviscerate you with glee.

11. I really really really really really really love coffee. It is the elixir of the gods and I wouldn't be able to word or brain without it. I am not to be approached in the morning until I have had at least two cups.

"and the walking and the words putting into sentences doing."

12. I have a twin. No, we don't have ESP. No, we are not identical; he's a boy. Unless he's been keeping secrets from me for 23 years to the day. That would certainly be a birthday surprise.

We can't do this, either.

13. I'm 23 years old today. There is actually nothing much different between being 22 and 23.

14. I am five foot two and I cannot get the spices off my top shelf without a step stool. I also have Cinderella-size feet, which obviously means I am destined to marry a prince one day. (Harry, call me.)

15. I've been obsessed with royalty since I was six years old and visited the Tower of London and learned all about crazy sexinating kings chopping off people's heads and getting married and then chopping off the heads of the people they married. I'm a total history nerd, especially when it comes to Tudor England or the last Romanov family.

16. If I were a student at Hogwarts, I would be Ravenclaw. If I were a demigod, I'd be the daughter of Athena. Or the goddess of cupcakes. Is there one? There should be. If I were a member of Tris' dystopian Chicago, I would be deceased.

17. I will never be okay with what happened to Finnick Odair.

18. I will never be okay with the whom Jo March ended up with.

19. I really like it when people use the word "whom" and generally consider grammar to be humanity's greatest achievement.



20. My middle name is Elizabeth, named after Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. I have been both a booknerd and a Janeite since I was in utero. Clearly I was forced into this life.

21. I have spent all but one year of my life in Los Angeles, which means I am biologically incapable of handling weather of any kind.

"I'm a child of Southern California. I can't go out in this. I'll melt."

22. I know without a doubt that if I hadn't been part of the Harry Potter generation, I would be a fundamentally different person. I'm glad I'm not that person.

23. Blogging is the best thing I have ever done in my whole life, because it means I get to meet all of you.

Now you hopefully know me a little bit better! In celebration of my birthdayyyy, I'm giving away one of the following books, aka my best reads of 2014 so far:

Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen
Ignite Me by Taherah Mafi
Any of the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan
A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
The Unbound by Victoria Schwab
Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
Cress by Marissa Meyer

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Thanks for making this blogging experience the best ever, internet people! I'd love to get to know all of you, too. Tell me three facts about yourself!