Ambition: To be happily married for the rest of my life, and to be well-respected by whatever community we settle in (preferably a small, safe suburb near a bigger city). This, ultimately, is more important to me than career aspirations, but if I had to think about those, I first and foremost want to be able to say I made a difference, however that comes about (and if it involves books, art, people with disabilities, cats, or anything English, so much the better).
Bad habit: Being very rigid in my opinions and schedule. Also, being very negative.
City: London. I've spent a combined total of about 4 weeks there, and I loved it. Easy to navigate, relatively safe (at least it seemed that way to me--don't tell me otherwise) and full of excellent museums (including my favorite, the National Portrait Gallery) and parks (also including my favorite, St. James' Park, near Trafalgar Square).
Drink: Mostly water (I recently heard this helps stave off wrinkles, which is excellent news because I'm already starting to get crow's feet), but I also like milk (for breakfast) or tea.
Education: B.A. in English and Women's Studies, UNC 2008 (Magna Cum Laude), MSW in Nonprofit Management, UNC 2010. I'm currently daydreaming about the possibility of a Ph.D. in healthcare ethics or a second master's in theology and bioethics, but I don't think it will come to anything as Brian will be in school for many years to come. I am auditing a medical ethics class in the fall though--I figured I'd better take advantage of working at a university while I can.
Food: Anything "ethnic"--Indian, Thai, Persian. My favorite is aloo channa masala--curried chickpeas. SO GOOD.
Guilty pleasures: TV and chick lit. I recently found a coworker who also enjoys chick lit and we've started to trade books. I always feel like I should be reading the classics, but sometimes I just want an easy reads with a happy ending. I'm also addicted to WAY too many TV shows.
Hometown: New Bern, NC: Birthplace of Pepsi and Colonial Capital of NC.
Ice cream: This changes based on how I'm feeling, but I've always really enjoyed mint chocolate chip and chocolate chip cookie dough. My favorite ice cream stores are Maple View Farms in Chapel Hill/Hillsborough (homemade on the farm and DELICIOUS) and the Cow Cafe in New Bern (made at the Maola plant in town).
Jonesing for: Chocolate. Constantly.
Kryptonite: Any kind of baby animal (even things like raccoons and possums, which i do not like AT ALL when they are full grown).
Lookalike: Hm. Not sure--when I was younger I always wanted to look like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and I think I do to some extent (although without the abnormally large eyes). My real lookalike would probably be my grandmother--I saw a picture of her at my age and it essentially could have been me with a 40s hairstyle.
Movie: I have several favorite movies, but my most recent favorite is The King's Speech. British history (and royalty), great classical music as a soundtrack, and 2 of my favorite British actors (Helena Bonham-Carter and Colin Firth) are a fabulous combination, plus the addition of a touching family story AND the lack of any awkward sex scenes and almost all profanity makes it a perfect movie.
Nicknames: My childhood nickname was Honeybee (due to the stuffed honeybee I treated as a baby doll, feeding it bottles). Brian calls me Sarita sometimes, but generally I don't have a nickname as an adult.
Obsession: Reading (and finding new books to read). England and English history. Museums. Chocolate and baking things using chocolate.
Perfume: Alas, because strong smells give me migraines, I can't wear perfumes (or, usually, scented lotions). If I could though, I love things that smell like vanilla--I once read a book where the main character, a chef, dabbed actual vanilla behind her ears as a perfume, which sounded like a good idea to me.
Quirk: Too many to name? I think my favorite one, though, is that my eyes change color--based on what I'm wearing but also based on how I'm feeling. Green for sad, blue for angry (so Brian tells me!), gray/green for serious, light brown for happy.
Regrets: Not joining more groups and making more friends in college. Sometimes I also regret my choice of graduate degree and think I should have gone for Library Science, since I love books so much.
Starbucks: Only when desperate for caffeine, and it is absolutely the only thing available (which only happens about once every 2 or 3 years).
Talent: Baking. If anybody ever needs to gain weight, send them straight to me--the number of fattening desserts I can bake grows by the minute (I just made my first carrot cake yesterday, and it will not be my last).
University: UNC-Chapel Hill (although I grew up being taught to cheer for University of South Carolina, since it's where my dad/grandpa went).
Vacation: Due to the fact that we only get to see our families once every 6-8 months, all our vacations are spent at home or visiting college friends. Plus, we're broke. But one day, when we have money and time for vacations, there are so many places I'd like to visit I can't even name them all (the rest of England and Austria being two of my top).
Wine: I rarely drink wine except at social situations where it's offered, but when I do I prefer the pink, fruity variety.
X: X to doubting myself.
Years: 26
Zen: I think "zen" is a silly notion...but I suppose my idea of zen would be curled up in a comfy armchair with a blanket, a book, and a good cup of tea when it's raining and/or snowing outside.
