Receiving and sharing the Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Right around the time that this site came into existence (April 2009), blog awards and tags were going through a zenith of sorts. I was touched as can be to receive many blog awards from fellow bloggers during the first few months of Chronically Vintage's life back then, and have continued to enjoy the others that have come my way in the years since.

Sometimes it hasn't been possible for me to devote a post to an award that I've received, and in other cases, if I've already blogged about a certain award because I previously received it from someone else, I might not do a second "repeat" post about it. However, I truly have enjoyed and appreciated all of the blog awards that have been extended to me.

In more recent years, as there seem to be fewer of these floating around in general, I've tried to post about those that I've received, when it's been feasible to do so. It might take me a while to get a chance to write about said awards, but I keep a tiny running list of those that I still need to blog about, and aim to get to as many as I can.

On that note, the wee hours of this pleasantly warm morning seemed like a great time to sit down and devote a post to the Very Inspiring Blogger award, which I received for the second time this past January from the wonderfully lovely Mrs. Williams from the blog Vibrant Vintage, then a third time in March from very sweet Chelsea of A Sartorial Statement.

Now, the first time around when I received this award, it was in the thick of the aforementioned zenith, and though I acknowledged it in this post back in 2009, I don't recall ever specifically dedicating a post to this exact award. So now seems like a great time to do just that.




I was tickled pink when both of these gals gave me Very Inspiring Blogger Award, and am so happy that I get a chance today to share seven random facts about myself, as per the guidelines for this award, and also to extend it to a handful of the many (many!) other bloggers out there who constantly inspire me with their own stellar sites. 

♥ Seven totally random facts about me ♥

1. Ever since I can recall, I have absolutely loved sleeping outside during the warmer months. Be it a quick afternoon nap in a hammock or an evening spent under the stars in a cozy sleeping bag, few things lull me to sleep as easily, or wonderfully, as being out in the fresh air.





2. I love cardigans, which is scarcely an unknown fact about myself, however did you know that my collection is now nearing thirty in total? Wow! And to think there are still numerous colours (pale yellow, I'm looking at you!) and assorted styles of cardis out there I'd love to add to my closet (it will always be a collection in progress).





3. Though I wouldn't describe myself as being an athlete per se (I was a willing participant who gave it their best shot, but I am so, so not a competitor, I just enjoyed playing for the sake of having fun), during my childhood (long before I became chronically ill), at one time or another, I played the following sports a team level: soccer, basketball, badminton (my fave!), and track and field. I also took gymnastics, swimming, figure skating, tennis, and dance lessons (and was on my high school dance team).





4. Very often when I'm stressed and/or worried, I clean or organize with great determination. This harkens back to my childhood, when I found that doing so could sometimes give me a temporary sense of inner peace and control over various uncertain, stressful elements in my life (all the while keeping my environment clean, which is something I love no matter my state of mind). Now I just find it relaxes me when I'm stressed, and like to joke that you can tell how worried I am about a situation based on how tidy my house is. :)





5. More than anywhere else in Canada that I've yet to visit, I want to travel to the Yukon, specifically to Dawson City, as I have family ties stretching back to the Klondike gold rush there (my great-grandfather, Charles Burkhard, was amongst the mass wave of prospectors and adventure seekers who came north after gold was discovered in the Klondike, however unlike most, he remained there long after the rush had died down) and have felt an unmatched pull towards the arctic ever since I was knee high to a gold pan.






6. In much the way as some musicians can hear a song once and then play it perfectly without being given the sheet music for it, I've always been able to eat dish for first time and then, very often, replicate it pretty much spot on identically from scratch (without a recipe or list of exact ingredients). This cool skill really comes in handy if I fall in love with a dish at a restaurant that I know the chef is not likely to fork over their recipe for to the public anytime soon.

7. I am immensely grateful for the years of my youth that I spent in the Girl Guides of Canada. I feel like I learned a tremendous amount from my time in Guiding, far beyond knot tying and orienteering. I grew more confident (a huge plus for an incredibly shy, quiet child like myself), forged wonderful friends, became more independent, and acquired scores of real world skills which I still apply to this day (plus I can make a mean campfire banana boat! :) ).

{To learn more a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

♥ ♥ ♥

This isn't the first "x number of random facts" post I've done before over the years (for example, here's one from nearly four years ago that specified recipients share "ten honest facts" about themselves), and I highly doubt it will be the last. I enjoy these posts a lot as they allow me to share some neat little snippets of information about myself with all of you, which you might not have previously know about me.

As I adore getting to my readers and fellow bloggers better, too, I'd love to extend the Very Inspiring Blogger Award to the following ten people (as well as to absolutely any of my other readers who would like to receive it, too), all of whose blogs I adore visiting and being inspired by.

1. Bunny from Bunny's Victory

2. Emileigh from Flashback Summer

3. Frances from Polka Polish

4. Holly from Veronica Vintage

5. Jamie from Chatter Blossom

6. Joanna from Dividing Vintage Moments

7. La Toya from Mid Century Pink

8. Mariela from A Girl of Many Interests

9. Monika from Crazy Vintage Cat Lady

10. Sean from The Fictionista

♥ ♥ ♥

If you've already received this award before and/or, don't feel like blogging about it, please don't worry in the slightest. These awards are meant to be lighthearted and fun, not to feel like an obligation of any sort.

Should you like to take part and continue passing this award along however, all you have to do is write a post akin to this one with seven assorted facts about yourself and then continuing passing the Very Inspiring Blogger Award on to whomever your heart desires.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Williams and Chelsea, for the lovely blog award. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and love that I finally, at long last, got the chance to blog about receiving the Very Inspiring Blogger Award and to pass it along to some of the wonderful blogging ladies out there who inspire me as well.

Vintage 365: Happy Thinking Day!

✯ Day 53 of Vintage 365 ✯

{American Girl Scouts celebrating Thinking Day in February 1952. Image via the Life Magazine archive.}

 

Those who've spent time as Girl Guides, Girl Scouts, or Boy Scouts, might well remember what day February 22nd is. Aside from being the 53rd day of the year, this late February date marks Thinking Day, the day on which both Lord Baden-Powell and his wife, Olave Baden-Powell, were both born (32 two years apart from each other).

Lord Robert Baden-Powell is best remembered and loved for being the founder of the Boy Scout Movement (in 1907), which in turn lead to the creation a couple years later (in 1909 at the famous Crystal Palace Rally, when a group of girls showed up insistent they they be allowed to join in with their brothers and male peer as Scouts) of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.

Since those humble beginnings over a century ago when an outdoor club for youth was built around some of the field training tactics Baden-Powell learned during his years spent in the British Army, Scouting and Guiding has expanded beyond the UK to encompass over a 130 countries worldwide (Girl Guiding officially started in Canada in 1910, Girl Scouting took off in the United States in 1911/1912) and is now one of the largest non-profit, youth-centered movements of all time.

Since 1926, February 22nd has been observed as World Thinking Day, a day upon which Guides and Scouts the globe over reflect on the spirit and meaning of Guiding - both in their own lives and in the impact Guiding/Scouting has had on society. Parties, community service projects, camps and myriad other festivities are often held by Guiding and Scouting members on (or around) Thinking Day to celebrate the lives of the Baden-Powells (Lady Olave Baden-Powell was the first World Chief Guide) as well as the importance of the movement as a whole.

Just as I'm sure many of you were, I was involved with Girl Guiding as a youth for numerous years. My little sister, some of my aunts, my youngest cousin, and my paternal Grandma, were all Girl Guides as well at one point or another in their lives. Guiding was a deeply important part of my childhood and an experience from which I learned a great many valuable life skills and lessons. These days I keep my love of Guiding alive by collecting and trading Girl Guide and Girl Scout badges and other memorabilia.

Come the 22nd of February, I still observe Thinking Day. Doing so is a terrific way to honour the memory of my time in Guiding, and moreover what the world gained thanks to Lord and Lady Baden-Powell's founding of the Scouting and Guiding movements

Robert Baden-Powell once said, "The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others,", and I can certainly say that being a part of Girl Guides helped to make that true for me. Whether you've ever been a Guide/Scout or not, I hope that the spirit of happiness and fellowship that these organizations hold dear rings true for you today and always, my wonderful friends!