It's Raining Memes!

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There's an old saying that goes: "When it rains, it pours". Most of you have probably heard it before and even used it yourself. It means that when you wait a long time for something to happen, and it finally does, it usually happens over and over again. Well, this phrase seems very appropriate for me this week. Why, you may ask? Well, sit tight and read on. All will become clear.

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Last weekend, I was finally tagged for my first meme by Gabi from The Feast Within. I was pretty excited. After almost of six months of blogging, I was finally tagged for a meme. It felt like a kind of rite of passage. I confidently thought, "Five interesting facts about myself? I can do that."

A few days later, I was also tagged by Lori from The Recipe Girl. I'm a big fan of Lori's popular site, so I was really flattered to be tagged by her. I felt like one of the popular girls in school; one of the "In Crowd". Then I thought, "Uh oh. Does this mean that I have to come up with ten interesting facts?" The "I can do that." quickly became "Can I do that?". I started to get a little nervous. I suspected that I was going to have to dig really deep to keep this SGCC fact fest from becoming a great, big YAWN!

Are you still with me? Good, because there's more.

The day after that, while I was still fretting about my first two tags, I heard from one of my very favorite people, Jen of Use Real Butter. She was tagging me too! What! Again? Holy Crap! Fifteen interesting, little-known facts about myself! Not even my own mother could find that much to say about me! Tiny beads of sweat began to form on my brow, and I felt just the slightest bit queasy. But, Jen has always been there for me. She encouraged me when I doubted myself. If she tagged me, then tagged I would be.

Not more than a few hours went by when I heard from my good friend, Cakelaw from Laws of the Kitchen. Do I have to even say it? Yup. Tagged again. By this time, I was hyperventilating and had begun to lose all feeling in my left arm. Just when I was about to call 911, I noticed that this was a different meme from the others. It was a Food for Gossip meme. I didn't actually have to think up my own facts. I just had to answer some preordained questions. Thank goodness for small miracles!

So, now do you understand why I say "When it rains, it pours."? In a good way, of course.

All right, then. Let's get started. If you need a break half-way through, feel free to go make yourself a sandwich or something. I'll understand. Oh yes, and please be kind. I'm flying without a net here!

The rules for the first three memes are as follows:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.

2. Share 5 facts about yourself.

3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post, and list their names- linking to them.

4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

So here goes:

1. I was born in Westchester Square Hospital in Bronx, New York. My early years were spent on Morris Park Avenue and at St. Clare's of Assisi Catholic School. I loved it there.

2. I'm a first generation Italian-American. My dad was born in a little town in the Lazio region of Italy called Esperia. When he came to the United States in 1956, he originally had tickets to sail on the Andrea Doria. He traded his tickets with another guy because he wanted to sail three weeks earlier with some friends. He got here just fine. The Andrea Doria sank!

3. I have one husband, one daughter, one brother, a mom and two adorable nephews.

4. My parents moved us to Florida in 1972. I was the only black-haired, brown-eyed girl in a sea of blue-eyed blondes! I hated it!

5. I was always "performing" as a child. As a preschooler, I used to memorize television commercials and recreate them for all of my parents' family and friends. These "one woman shows" were the talk of the town. (Hey, where's my Tony?)

6. I've always loved to write, especially poetry. In elementary school, other kids would pay me to do their creative writing assignments for them. I had a great little business going. (I probably shouldn't admit that, though. Oooh, I hope Sister Stabile isn't reading this!)

7. I was the editor of my high school literary magazine, which won 1st prize that year from the Florida Scholastic Press Association. I also won 1st prize that year for my original poetry.

8. When I was in high school, I won a national jingle contest sponsored by McDonalds. My arrangement of "You Deserve a Break Today" in 3-part harmony, was played all over the airwaves. I didn't get to keep the prize money, though. I was guilted into donating it to the school chorus fund.

10. When I was a child, I had a fabulous collection of Barbie dolls. I actually had one of the original Barbies, given to me by an older cousin. (Do you know how much that is worth?!) My mother hand made dozens of gorgeous Barbie clothes for me, including a beaded satin wedding gown and a real mink coat. When I went off to college, she gave the whole collection, clothes and all, to the little girl down the street, without even asking me. I was absolutely heartbroken! I'm still bitter about it.

9. I am a classically trained lyric soprano. I've worked in every musical genre from opera to vocal jazz. I perform mostly in my local area now, but I have toured in Western Canada, Scotland and Ireland.

10. Barbra Streisand is my idol. I was supposed to see her during her 1993 concert tour, but I couldn't make it because I was busy giving birth that day. I finally got to see her in concert in October, 2006. It was one of the highlights of my life. I cried through almost the whole program!

11. I am a licensed attorney. My husband and I have had our own law firm for twenty years. I hated being a lawyer! I practiced marital and family law for 10 years before I pretty much retired to focus on my music and being a mom. Actually, Mr. SGCC made me quit, because I got too many death threats from irate ex-husbands! He said it wasn't good for business.

12. I met my husband in college, while I was engaged to somebody else. We'll just call him "Asshole". Asshole was the one who introduced us. He and Mr. SGCC were buddies. They're not friends anymore.

13. In addition to being a foodie, I am also a hopeless make-up junkie. I hardly ever wear most of it, but just having it makes me feel prettier. I probably own over 100 lipsticks.

14. The happiest day of my life was December 31, 1993. That was the day my beautiful daughter was born.

15. The saddest day of my life was on November 16, 2006. That was the day my wonderful, sweet father passed away. I miss him terribly.

Whew! That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Shall I give you one more for good luck? Go ahead, twist my arm!

16. Even though I live in Florida, I hate the hot weather. I never planned to stay here, but Mr. SGCC got a great job in the area right out of law school, so I was stuck!

Okay, now for these three memes, I am tagging the following bloggers:

First, my Florida Girls:

Aran of Canelle et Vanille

Judy of No Fear Entertaining

Jaden of Steamy Kitchen

Jenn of The Left Over Queen

And also these fine bloggers, just because I think they'll have something great to say:

Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice

Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Sarah of What Smells So Good?

Amy of Nook & Pantry

Veronica of Veronica's Test Kitchen

Sara of Ms. Adventures in Italy

Michelle of Bleeding Espresso

Jessie of Cakespy

Peter of Kalofagas

Kevin of Closet Cooking

Gretchen of Canela y Comino

Do you need a snack, yet? I've been kind of busy writing this post, but I can offer you some cookies, a doughnut, or maybe a cupcake.

Now, for the Food for Gossip Meme:

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was singing, cooking and running around after a 4-year old cyclone.....and that's pretty much it!

What were you doing 1 year ago?

One year ago, I was still in grief mode after the death of my father. I also inherited much of the responsibility for taking care of my mother. I didn't have much time or energy for anything else.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Wise Lightly Salted Potato Chips

2. Dove Ice Cream Bars (milk chocolate)

3. freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies

4. raw cauliflower with ranch dressing (I had to include something healthy!)

5. brie with ginger snaps

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Pay off my mortgage.

2. Remodel my house and build my dream kitchen.

3. Buy a Mercedes convertable roadster.

4. Buy a flat in the St. Germain area of Paris, live there for half the year and hopefully, become best friends with Dorie Greenspan.

5. Travel the world for the other half of the year with my new best friend, Dorie Greenspan.

Five bad habits:

1. Eating too many Wise Lightly Salted Potato Chips.

2. Eating too many Dove Bars.

3. Being too much of a control freak.

4. Procrastinating

5. Apologizing all the time, even when I haven't done anything.

Five things you like doing:

1. Singing

2. Playing tennis

3. Writing

4. Cooking and baking

5. Eating

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Shoulder pads

2. Stirrup pants (Ew!)

3. Horizontal stripes

4. Anything bubble gum pink

5. Bright blue eyeshadow

Five favorite toys:

1. My teeny tiny 12-inch laptop (It fits in my purse!)

2. My new Rebel Xti

3. Photoshop

4. My Bose Accoustic Wave

5. My Shun chef's knife

For this meme, I am tagging the following bloggers:

CookiePie at CookiePie

Nikki at Canary Girl

Patricia at Technicolor Kitchen

Manggy at No Special Effects

Karen at Mad Baker

Well, that's all there is and there ain't no more. Thanks to Gabi, Lori, Jen and Cakelaw for finding me interesting enough to tag!