28 Random Facts About Me!

This is going to be a very self-centered post, but Hey! Every once in a while, I think it’s allowed to stop talking books and focus on myself, especially with my 28th birthday coming up this Sunday, May 12th!

I would love to know how you usually celebrate your birthdays. Big loud parties or quiet family dinners?

I used to love my birthdays when I was younger. The excitement of inviting my school friends, creating different games, decorating my room with balloons! During more recent years, I tend to lean more towards family dinners and weekend get-aways. Something quieter and more relaxing than the craziness of hosting dinners.

There are going to be a lot of facts, so I’ll try to keep them short!

1 – My name actually starts with an “O” – Olexandra. At least, that’s what my passport says! “Olexandra” is a Ukrainian version of name Alexandra. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. The good thing is that most people just call me “Alex”. Although, I did have clients who called me “Olex”… hm…

2 – When I was younger, I used to re-read books ALL THE TIME! It was insane. I’d read the same book 10 times in a row. And now I don’t re-read books at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3 – I had the habit of reading while eating. But when I say habit, it was more of an obsession! I couldn’t eat without a book. (nowadays I just watch YouTube. Ha-Ha)

4 – I’m an immigrant! This is something I’ve never considered myself to be until I started writing this post. Basically, I was born in Ukraine and lived there until 17-years-old. When I finished high-school, I moved to Algarve, Portugal, where I live now. 🙂

5 – As a result of the previous one, I speak 3 languages fluently. My first language is Russian (I do understand Ukrainian but I’d need a couple of months of practice before I’d be fluent in it). Portuguese and English are both my second languages. At work, I often use both, as we have a lot of foreign clients. And Blogging and reading are exclusively in English.

6 – Sometimes I talk out loud when I’m alone. Okay, this is a pretty big secret obviously, that’s why I’m telling it to the Internet. I wouldn’t call it “talking to myself”, but I enjoy having conversations out loud to structure my thoughts and very often to brainstorm blog post ideas. If you never tried this to help you develop your ideas, I highly recommend!

7 – I was a very quiet child growing up. My favorite pastime was playing with books. This was before I could read properly. I used to have a lot of illustrated books, so I’d pick up a few huge ones with a lot of illustrations and pretend them to be an imaginary world, with houses, forests, villages, etc. And I’d find some small objects – coins, rocks, whatever, and they would live inside those books. (I hope I explained this well, it was a pretty fun game that could last hours!)

8 –I spend too much time on YouTube. Youtube and Instagram are the top two things that devour my time! I can spend HOURS watching bookstagram videos and it’s never enough.

9 – I’ve never broken a bone! Let’s keep this way, shall we?

10 – I graduated from Law School in 2015 and currently I’m a Trainee Lawyer. My job and hobby are so different, and I love it. I get to be very technical during the day, and then let my imagination and inspiration run wild on these pages.

11 – I’m a big fan of video games. And I played World of Warcraft for more than 6 years. This one sounds crazy even to me (6 years?!), but I was a huge World of Warcraft fan. It was of course about the progress and the fun of the game, but also about the community and people I got to meet.

12 – I rarely swear and I hate to see swear words in books. It’s one of the triggers that immediately pulls me out of the story.

13 – Can I be called a Game of Throne fan if I never read the books? Okay, I read the first book. Twice. And I love the TV show! But I couldn’t deal with George R.R. Martin descriptive writing. I might give them another try when the TV show is over.

14 – My boyfriend says that I eat a lot and don’t get fat. According to him, it’s a gift. I might as well enjoy it while I can!

15 – I don’t really listen to music unless it’s radio and I’m driving.

16 – But when I was younger and was watching and re-watching «One Tree Hill», I always wanted to have Peyton’s ginormous vinyl collection. It’s beautiful! But I moved on to book collection instead.

17 – I know we already talked about my love of video games, but this deserves a separate point – I love watching League of Legends tournaments, even though I never played League of Legends!

18 – I’m an early riser. My grandma would be so proud of me right now! During my teenage years, I could sleep until the afternoon, and my grandma would bang on my door every 5 minutes saying “Wake up! It’s almost noon!” 😀

19 – I never liked the romance in Harry Potter books.  It was all about friendship! And then it was ruined by pairing them up with each other. Meh…

20 – My favorite fruit is CHERRY! Nhom. Wait, are cherries fruits or berries?

21 – I also love all the pastry that has cherries. Cherry pies, cherry tarts, cherry cakes, cherry anything.

22 – The first thing I ever baked on my own was a Banana Bread and it turned out delicious!

23 – The cat that often appears on my Instagram pictures is called Rocky. I found him on the street when he was just a tiny kitten teeming with fleas. He was so little that we couldn’t use any strong anti-flea products on him. So my vet gave us a very diluted anti-bugs spray that only slowed them. Every evening I would sit with him on my laps and pull out every single flea I could find. I think he knows how much I love him! This year he was diagnosed with FIV or Feline Aids, and even though it’s not as deathly for cats as it’s for humans, we still need to be very careful and take some extra measures to strengthen his immune system.

24 – I’m 1.80 m or 5.9 feet tall. Which means that I almost never wear heels!

25 –My boyfriend’s name is also Alex. I guess it was a very popular name in the nineties. 😀

26 – I used to hate everything pink. Until I realized that I didn’t really dislike the color, I disliked the fact that “girls are supposed to love pink”. Now, I’m slowly adding some pink touches in my wardrobe.

27 – At the moment, my favorite color is yellow. It always changes. I remember liking lavender many years ago.

28 – I’ve never dyed my hair. Even though I love ginger hair and always wanted to try it out. I guess I don’t feel like dying my roots every single month!

And that’s a wrap! All these weird facts are now going to stay forever on the internet for everyone to see.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO SHARE. LEAVE SOME RANDOM FACTS ABOUT YOURSELVES IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

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