I woke up this morning and did my usual- you know the whole “click snooze on my alarm 3 times, finally roll over on the 3rd ring and drag myself out of bed” thing that I do each morning.  While checking my email and social media accounts to see if  this here blog  had gained some world wide recognition overnight, I found  via Twitter that  I’d been presented the Liebster Award by a couple fellow bloggers over at The Party Girl!  Imagine my surprise to learn that anyone even knows who I am (outside of my family and friends) let alone  follows my blog and on top of that wants to present me with an award for it?!?!? I didn’t even know what the award was yet, for all I knew it could have been the “you have the suckiest blog of the year please spare us all your awful writing”  award, but I could care less because at least it would mean  that someone actually come here and read my stuff (my glass stays half full people). Well luckily the award is not the you have the “suckiest blog award”, it’s actually  the total opposite- it’s the “you have a really cool new blog and we want to get to know you a  little better award”. The Liebster is presented to new  bloggers in an attempt to learn a bit more about them and to promote their blog. So thank you The Party Girl for deeming this blog worthy of any mentions it truly made my day!

So this is what I now must do…

• Post the award on my blog  (like I’ve done above)
• Thank the blogger(s) who presented this award to me and link back to their blog (again thank you The Party Girl us party blogs gotta stick together!)
• Write 11 random facts about myself
• Nominate 11 bloggers who I feel deserve this award and who have less than 250 followers
• Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter
• Ask the folks I  nominate 11 questions of my own

So here goes nothin…

11 Facts About Moi…

1. I come from a family of musicians, my dad is a singer, my brother’s are singers my cousins a singers, my aunt & uncle are yep! SINGERS! I however am not, have never been and will never be.
2. I am however a full time corporate trainer. What the heck is a corporate trainer ? Well I’m the person who comes into a company and trains their employees on either, a new computer program they need to learn or  a special skill like time management or conflict resolution. I fell into the trade by total accident after attending a birthday party with a friend. I chatted up some folks in the backyard of the party all night (there was rum involved) and found out I happened to be talking to the manager of the training department who then asked me to interview for a training position on her team. The rest is history, or as I like to call it, serendipity.
3. I auditioned for a main role in the 90’s  LL Cool J sitcom “In The House” when I was 16 and got to the last call back but was denied the part because they thought my boobs were too big to play the part of a high school student whose mom trusted LL Cool J to be her babysitter.
4. I have OCD when it comes to listening to the radio in my car. I have to have the stations in order by station number and I have to click the buttons in order of those numbers to get to the station I want to hear. 
5. I’ve had dinner with Tom Cruise 
6.  I almost married some guy to get him a Visa but I declined after he wanted me to come to Transylvania for our fake honeymoon and my mom convinced me it was a scam to sell me into sex slavery (seriously what would we do without our mother’s infinite wisdom?)
7. I like to say I was raised in California but I grew up in New York City as I lived there for 5 years in my 20’s. I went in thinking the experience would be like “Sex in the City” and while it was NOTHING like that it was still a wonderful experience.
8. I didn’t get my drivers license until I was 21
9. I’ve been on a couple reality shows
10. I used to be friends with Kim Kardashian before she was “Kim Kardashian”
11.  I was raised an only child but I have 10 siblings that I love dearly. We are the funnest rowdiest bunch you will ever meet!

 

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11 Questions From The Party Girl

1. What’s the story behind your blog’s name?

I was looking for something that would combine my real name (Winter) and the topic’s that I would be blogging about. I wanted the  name to  have a” nice ring to it”, which is something I think I’ve accomplished because now my family and friends refer to me not as just “Winter” but rather “Weekends With Winter”, it’s not above them to greet me with a “Hey Weekends With Winter is in the house”!!! I also thought it should be something that I could use creatively if the opportunity to branch out to other business adventures presented itself. I imagined what I would want to see on a product line, or even a television show. I really dreamt big when I was thinking about my blog name because I wanted it to be a spring board to the things I see in my future-everything that is fun, relaxing, and inspiring- which is what the weekend is!

2. What are you favorite blogs?

Inspiring content and beautiful aesthetics :  The Everygirl

Creative parties on a budget: Parties For Pennies 

Everything food, party planning, great idea’s, healthy eating, advice, drinks, shopping: The Kitchn

Hospitable entertaining, great recipes and stories from the heart: The Reluctant Entertainer

Pretty Stuff, Frilly Stuff, Fun Stuff: Sugar and Charm;  Best Friends For Frosting ; The Sweetest Occasion

Talented & powerful writers with thought provoking content: For Harriet

 3. Where were you born and were did you grow up?

I was born and raised in Long Beach California home of Snoop Dogg, Cameron Diaz and some of the best people in the world!

4. Do you like to travel? What’s your favorite place you’ve been to?

I LOVE to travel! Travel is like breathing to me, I have to go out of the country at least once a year in order to feel whole! My favorite place I’ve traveled is probably Africa. The people, the food, the adventures I went on were indescribable. I felt right at home and far away from home at the same time.

5. What do you love about blogging?

I love that you can connect to people you may never have connected with before. Of inspiring them with an idea or a thought or an experience you’ve had that then pushes them to live their best life. I love that my blog pushes me to be creative and to grow as a writer, to grow as a person. To commit to my passions because I have readers (albeit maybe on a few) who are looking forward to what I may have to say. Blogging has given me purpose out of the humdrum day to day of life, it has pushed me to create the highest, most incredible vision I could ever think of for my life. Oh and the events and parties I get to attend ain’t half bad either.

6. What is the number one thing you’d like to get out of your blog?

A following. It all starts and ends at who is following you and whether or not they are interested in what you have to say.

7. What’s one thing you’ve always wished you knew how to do?

I wish I was great cook! I love throwing parties but cooking eludes me totally! If I was a great cook I think I would have people over every single day of the week for some type of gathering.

8. What is your favorite post from your blog?

Probably my “Mother’s Day Should Be Every Day” post. I wanted to showcase a real life party that I planned from start to finish and this particular party was special to me because it was for my Mother. I think it was the first time I actually really started to learn staging and how important good pictures are to a blog. Reading some of the posts before that is pretty hard because it really shows how little I knew about blogging. I’ve come a long way and know I’ve got a longer way to go!

This post is right up there as well. I feel like I want to do more posts that give my readers a glimpse into who I am and not just what I do, I’m still figuring out how to do that without coming off preachy and still having fun!

9. What is one lesson you’ve learned since starting your blog?

I’ve learned so much but the biggest thing I’ve learned is that staging is everything! I used to read blogs and think how did they have this party and keep things looking so perfect and pretty. Little did I know everything is staged to give you idea’s and very seldom are the pictures I fawn over real life party pictures. It may have seemed obvious to some but for me I was blown away by the concept. A lot of bloggers have studios or areas in their home they set up for photography and just because you see a party set up doesn’t mean an actual party happened. I now don’t feel so bad when I have a party and it doesn’t look as perfectly staged as the ones I emulate.

10. What’s your favorite movie and why?

Hands down Steel Magnolia’s. I remember watching that movie when I was younger and falling in love with the  bonds the women shared and the strong female characters. I loved the relationship between Shelby and Malynn because it reminded me of the relationship I have with my mother. Plus I’ve seen it 10,000 times and no matter what I cry during the funeral scene where Sally Field has the ultimate breakdown of all breakdowns in movie history. I literally watch that movie and look forward to crying in that scene ( Ok I get it I’m a little nutty)

11. What are you reading right now?

The Passion Test “The Ultimate Guide To Discovering Your Destiny”. It is a game changing book! It talks all about finding what your passions are and living them now! It’s helped me focus on continuing to make this blog better but it’s also helped me in not stressing over how it will get there. I was able to discover what really drives me and narrow down what I’m really passionate about in my life.

 

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I Nominate

1. Jacqueline  I Sugar Plum Soirees I @SP_Soiress
2. Lauren I Lor Out Loud I @loroutloud
3. Harriet I Oh Harriet : @ohharriet
4. Shana I The Glamour Life I @tgltheglamlife
5. Cara I The Stylephile Blog I @thestylephile
6. Brooke & Jane I Life of Brooke and Jane Blog I @BrookeandJane
7. Bethany I The Free Woman I @thefreewmn
8. Jenna I Caffeine and Confetti I @Caffandconfetti
9. Vanessa I Smart Little Cookie I @Smart_Lilcookie
10. Lisa I Lisa Rosado dot com I @_LisaRosado
11. Laura I A Step in the Journey I @stepnthejourney

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 My 11 Questions

1. What made you want to start a blog?
2. What do you do in your “real life” if you’re not a full time blogger?
3. What is your favorite post on your blog?
4. If you could have lunch with anyone living or dead, who would it be? What would you order?
5. What inspires your work?
6. Why should people read your blog? What is it that you bring to the table that other blogs may not?
7. Besides blogging what other passions do you have?
8. Big or Aiden?
9. What is the best thing about blogging, what is the worst?
10. How did you pick your blog name?
11. What song or movie inspires you and gets you going and feeling inspired?