Answering All Your Q&As!! // ft. my dancing, blogging thoughts, Harry Potter, + much, much more

It’s time to answer all your burning questions about me!

Just kidding. I’m pretty sure no one is that curious, and it’s likely that you forgot you submitted questions to a Q&A in the first place…but hey! You did! And today I’m going to answer them for you. I hope my exuberance is coming through the computer screen at you right now.

Back at the beginning of June, I had a google form in one of my posts that invited you to ask any questions about me! The Q&A is in honor of Purely Olivia reaching 500 followers, which by the way, I am still crying over asjdiewlncs thank you. So many of you submitted some great questions and I’m looking forward to answering them in this post!

There are so many questions about all kinds of topics- reading, blogging, writing, dance, and a lot of other random things too?? This is quite a long post, so please settle in, get a snack or a cup of hot cocoa, and enjoy. 😉

Without further ado, let’s get to answering some questions!

Do you write/have you written your own work, or do you just read?

I know I’ve talked about writing on my blog in the past like in the deep past, and while I’m not ruling anything out in the future, I don’t currently write my own work.

I used to write all the time and it was one of my biggest hobbies for quite a while! However, about a year ago, I started to pour my energy more into school, dance, and blogging and sort of set writing aside. I haven’t found my way back yet, but I’m okay with that.

What type of dance do you do?

This past dance season (I’m in the middle of seasons right now) I did ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical, broadway jazz, and hip hop. Next year I’m adding tap and contemporary (oh my gosh, I’m so excited for contemporary).

When I write it out, it sounds like a lot. Maybe there’s a reason I never have free time?

Why do you read more contemporary than fiction? Would you read fantasy?

I’ve talked before about why I love contemporaries, but in a nutshell, I love how much I can relate to them, not to mention that I enjoy reading popular books so I can scream about them with other people. Because ya know, I’m a book blogger and that’s what we do.

I do love a good fantasy every once and while! I’m actually getting more and more into fantasy and I nearly always enjoy it when I do pick it up.

What is your favorite color?

I always feel like I will be slightly judged by my answer, but it has to be pink. Pink is like my spirit color and I think that’s the Hufflepuff in me coming out.

Did you get to see Hamilton?

Sadly, I didn’t. It was in my city recently and I knew so many people that went and I kind of died inside every time I saw people posting pictures from it???

In case you were wondering, that’s how I felt watching the small hope that somehow I’d win the Hamilton ticket lottery slowly burn away. But it’s okay, I do have hope that I’ll be able to see it one day!

What is a book that you think should be made into a movie?

Agh, so many. I wrote a post about this two summers ago (please don’t try to find it because you will REGRET IT) and I’m still holding out hope that Hollywood will read my blog and take my thoughts into account. *ahem*

BUT, to answer your question, I think Since You’ve Been Gone would be such a cute movie. It would be the perfect chick flick for Netflix and I can see it becoming such a popular summertime movie??

Would you call yourself a feminist? Why or why not?

Yes, I do call myself a feminist! A feminist is someone who supports social, political, economic, and personal equality of sexes and I support that with all of my being. How could I not?

Why did you decide to start blogging?

I started blogging way back just over five years ago, and back then, I didn’t know about the book blogging community, I didn’t know about interaction or web design or any of it, I didn’t even use WordPress as my blogging platform.

Yep, I knew nothing. All I knew was that I thought blogging seemed like fun and I wanted to share my thoughts on books and what I ate for lunch and the random adventures I was having? That’s why I started- just that simple desire to share my life somewhere, even though I didn’t really care if anyone even read it.

What are your plans for the future, or do you not know?

I think this question is talking more about big picture future? If so, then: I plan to attend college and then get a job. I don’t know what I want to study or what I want to be or where I want to go to college but it’s okay I’m okay, not stressed about that or anything. I also hope to eventually get married and have a family and, if I’m lucky, do some traveling too.

Do you prefer rereads or new releases?

This is such a hard question because I love new releases and rereads so much.

I think at the end of the day, I prefer rereads. Even though I love discovering new characters and plots and new favorites, there’s nothing more comforting to me than a reread. The most content you’ll find me is rereading Harry Potter or Mysterious Benedict Society or Percy Jackson, just soaking in the familiarity and nostalgia of the story.

Do you have any birthday/Christmas traditions?

Birthday traditions, no. I love my birthday, but it’s always fairly relaxed and there’s no set plan for each year. I don’t have the party planning committee to plan me something like in The Office.

For Christmas, my family always goes to the candlelight church service on Christmas Eve and then open one present that night. We also always go to my grandmother’s house on Christmas day and celebrate with my extended family, and I love it so much! Christmastime is one of my favorite times of the year.

What’s the first book you can remember reading on your own?

I don’t even know. This probably isn’t the first book I read on my own (I’m guessing it was a picture book first), but one of my earliest memories of reading by myself was reading The Boxcar Children. I was seriously obsessed with it.

What is your favorite hobby besides reading?

I don’t know if dancing counts as a hobby? I like to think of it as a sport, even though I know that’s a whole controversial can of worms. So, if that counts, then dancing!

If dancing doesn’t count, I would have to say hand-lettering. I don’t get to do this that much, but when I do, I always love the creativity and it’s so relaxing to me.

Top 5 contemporaries you’ve read?

Considering how many contemporaries I’ve read as of late, this was surprisingly easy to answer. A List of Cages, Foolish Hearts, Simon Vs., Starfish, and Darius the Great is Not Okay are my current top five.

I linked all the titles back to my review if you want to hear my thoughts! To put it briefly, I love and adore each of these with all my heart and will eternally be rereading them.

What is your ultimate 2000s throwback song?

Anytime I want a throwback that I can still sing like it isn’t a throwback, I definitely play Year 3000 by the Jonas Brothers. It’s truly iconic and I may or may not still know every single word.

What is one superpower you’d want?

I know this is the typical response for an introvert, but I really would have to say invisibility. I wouldn’t want it so I could spy on people or because I don’t want to be seen- I just feel like it would be nice to be able to melt into crowds every once in a while and observe without feeling watched.

Chat about your clothing style?

I usually am pretty relaxed about my clothes! Right now I’m wearing Nike shorts and a Comfort Colors shirt, which is the extent of my wardrobe in summer. I wouldn’t say I’m a trend follower, but I do adapt to the current trends if it’s something I like! (Example, I have white vans just like every other girl at my school. Though that might just be popular in my school, I have no idea.)

That isn’t me and I don’t own any of those pieces, but that’s kind of my style?? (Though we all know 99% of the time I’m in leggings and a sweatshirt.) Basically, I’m no fashion blogger and never will be, but I try to wear cute outfits at school or if I’m going somewhere with friends, and I do like to buy and shop for clothes!

How do you find the time to blog and review consistently, while still trying to read and manage life?

For me, if I didn’t make time for blogging, it probably wouldn’t happen. During the school year, I’m so busy with school, homework, and dance that I can hardly even think about blogging during the weekdays. I have to remember to make time on the weekend, and sometimes that means staying up a little later than I planned to or putting off just a little bit of studying. Don’t be like me.

I definitely have to make sacrifices to blog consistently and juggle everything else going on in my life, but it’s all worth it to me because I love it so much!

What blogs do you love reading?

SO MANY, ahhh. I follow 87 blogs, and I don’t know if that’s a large number or a small-ish number? But I do know that I truly love all the blogs I follow.

I recently talked about some of my favorite blogs in my 2019 Book Blogger Nominations post, and I would recommend every single one of those blogs to everyone. Another blog I adore that isn’t a book blog but has bookish and lifestyle posts is Zoelogist!

If you could visit any bookish world, what would it be?

I feel like a gif is needed right here.

I know, I’m such a nerd, but I couldn’t imagine picking anything besides the wizarding world. (Don’t worry, I’d go after Voldemort was gone.) I just love Harry Potter so, so much and I don’t think that will ever change.⚡️

Do you or did you used to like dolls?

I used to love dolls! Growing up, American Girl dolls were my favorite. I not only loved the dolls, but the books and movies were such a huge part of my childhood, too.

As a kid with a big imagination, I always loved dolls and could spend hours in our playroom just making up story after story about them in my head. Those are really great memories to look back on!

Ideal significant other?

This is such an interesting question, but I’m honestly not sure. I’ve never dated anyone and don’t plan to for a while. Some of the qualities that my non-experienced self hopes a future significant other would have are: a faith in Christ that helps me grow in mine, kind, intelligent, understanding, likes to laugh.

Favorite celebrity?

My favorite celebrity has been Taylor Swift for as long as I can remember. I’ve been listening to her music since her very first album came out! (Picture little Olivia lying on her bedroom floor next to her CD player, listening to all the words and writing them down so she remembers them. Yes, that was me.)

Since she’s such a public figure, I know people have lots of differing opinions on her, but I have a positive one. I’ve been to some of her concerts, and her genuine kind nature has really come out as she speaks to the audience, not to mention I love her songs and a lot of what she stands for. I just think she’s a great human being!

Who are some bloggers you’d like to meet someday?

I have to say, I’m definitely too scared to actually ever meet anyone in real life that I met online! Not that I think any of you are robots or criminals, but still, stranger danger and basic Internet safety. 😉

But, in an ideal world where 1) that would be safe and 2) I wasn’t too shy anyway…then all of you? Like at a giant blogging convention? That would be amazing.

Describe your ideal home?

Can I just say Hogwarts?

Gansey or Logan to spend a day with?

I know exactly who put this question and it’s such a great question, but also extremely difficult for me because Gansey (The Raven Cycle) and Logan (Gilmore Girls) are two of the loves of my life.

As hard as this is, I think I have to pick Gansey. At the end of the day, he has more redeemable qualities, and I just, how could I miss a chance to see his boat shoes?

Would you call yourself an environmentalist? Why or why not?

Yes, I would! We only get this one Earth, and we need to do all we can to protect it.

Favorite authors?

This is based solely off of their books, by the way! I haven’t met any of these authors or done too much research into them, so it’s not based on their personalities. Though I’m sure they’re lovely people.

• J.K. Rowling
• Rick Riordan
• Jane Austen
• Heather Vogel Frederick
• Adam Silvera
• and a lot of others I’m definitely forgetting at the moment!

Top 5 favorite TV shows?

My favorite shows fluctuate- these are my top five at the moment, so some of these are shows that I do love, but maybe won’t go down in my forever TV hall of fame?? Because we all have those. Friends and The Office and Gilmore Girls are all-time faves that I think will always be in my top five, though.

By the way, in case you were wondering, I am in fact very upset that Netflix US is taking both Friends and The Office away because I honestly don’t know what I’m going to watch once they’re both gone.

What is your favorite song?

I don’t think I can pick an all-time favorite song, so I’ll just go with my current favorite song, which is I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber.

Do you like trees/nature/hiking/surfing?

I do like the first three- I’ve never tried surfing, mostly because I don’t live anywhere near a beach and have never been to a beach where surfing was super popular. I wouldn’t be opposed to trying it?

But at the same time, I think I’ve watched the movie Soul Surfer too many times to ever get that into surfing.

Do you have any pets?

Yes, I have a yellow Labrador Retriver named Brees! After a football player named Drew Brees, which was not my decision. She’s adorable and I love her.

These are some pictures I had of her in my WordPress library, so I must have posted them at some point- ISN’T SHE THE CUTEST EVER.

What movie adaptation of a book do you like better than the book?

This was actually so hard for me to think of an answer for, because I don’t watch that many book-to-movie adaptations, and when I do watch them, it’s for something like Harry Potter, and of course I’m always going to pick the book over the movie.

I think I’ll say the A Wrinkle in Time movie. I saw it when it first came out last year so it’s been a while, but I remember I really liked it and I only semi-liked the book??

Favorite book quote of all time?

This probably makes me a horrible bookworm, but I…never, ever keep track of book quotes I like in books. No matter how much it impacts me or makes me laugh or how beautiful it is, there is zero chance of me remembering it later. Wow, typing this out just made me realize how sad this is.

I guess I’ll have to be basic™ and say this iconic quote from Dumbledore because it’s like the only book quote I actually can recite.

“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light.”

What are some of your favorite foods?

I love a lot of food, but some of my favorites are any kind of pasta, chicken, strawberries, and of course chocolate.

I relate to this child on a spiritual level.

What does blogging mean to you?

This is a great question to end it on, and the simple answer is, blogging means everything to me. Having a place to talk about books and life and just put my thoughts out there into the void is amazing! There’s nothing like it, and I’m so thankful to live in this day and age where blogging is possible.

I’ve met so many kind, loving souls, gotten a lot of book recommendations, and had the most wonderful time. Blogging is the best, and I love it so much!

There we have it, I finally answered all the questions. This is probably the longest post I’ve ever written- it’s going to end up being 3k words once I finish this outro.

If you made it this far, I LOVE YOU, you’re incredible, and I’m very impressed! If you didn’t and you’re just seeing this when you scrolled to the bottom of this post- I love you too, and I don’t blame you because there’s a heck ton of words here. 😉

Thank you for all the wonderful questions! I hope you guys liked reading my answers as much as I loved reading them. Again, thank you for sticking with me this far, and I hope you all have a lovely day!✨

What are your favorite shows and books at the moment? Do you have any pets? Are you like me and forget to keep track of book quotes? I’d love to talk with you in the comments.

Credits for the image used in my featured image >> Photo by Nadia Valko on Unsplash