Donetta's Delights

25 Random Things About Me:

1. I’m a horrible list maker. So this request is a real stretch…

2. I’ve now lived in New York City for 10 years…which means I’ve lived in New York longer than I’ve lived anywhere else my entire life. But, I still claim California as “where I grew up” even though I haven’t lived there since 1993.

3. My hair is naturally strawberry blond. It’s getting darker as I get older and sometimes it’s more blond than strawberry, depending on how much time I get to spend in the sun.

4. I was voted teacher’s pet in the 6th grade.

5. I readily admit that I have just about the ugliest toes known to man. But, that doesn’t change the fact that I hate wearing shoes. If I could, I’d wear flip flops 365 days of the year. Sadly, office protocol and snow prevents me from realizing this dream at this point in my life.

6. Midway through kindergarten, I was moved up to first grade, so I was the youngest in my class until I graduated from high school. But, it took me a total of 7 calendar years to earn my bachelor’s degree. So in the end, I was older than everyone I graduated with.

7. I subscribe to the Disney on demand channel. And right now I have a poster of the Jonas Brothers hanging in my office.

8. My love of Apple products is not recent…it started with the first Mac that was brought into my family home when I was a kid. In 7th grade, I had to make a newspaper for my Johnny Tremain book report and everyone thought it was SO cool that we could use different fonts for the headlines (this was a ground breaking moment, by the way).

9. I don’t like talking on the phone. And, I really don’t like to return phone calls. I usually end up on the phone for about 5-6 hours of my workday. So, if you happen to talk to me after work, don’t take it personally if I keep the conversation to 10 minutes or less.

10. I was called into the principal’s office in Junior High for questioning about a food fight. Sadly, I didn’t do any of the food throwing…I just got caught in the path of a thrown milk carton. Also sadly, I smelled of milk for the rest of day.

11. When I was younger, I swam so often during the summer that my hair turned green. Every Saturday I would have to sit in the sun with lemon juice on my hair to bleach my hair back to blond so that I wouldn’t have green hair for church.

12. One of my favorite moments ever was ice skating on the Eiffel Tower.

13. I have a goal to visit all 50 states before I turn 50. I only have 8 to go: Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Oklahoma.

14. I love carousels. Central Park has the best carousel ever. It’s fast.

15. I’ve had a not-so-secret crush on Harry Connick Jr. since I was 15. His “Red Light, Blue Light” tour was the first concert I attended. Just a few months ago I considered calling in sick because he was giving a free concert for members of his fan club and I really wanted to go.

16. When I buy chocolate, I tend to buy the seasonal varieties (Valentine’s, Easter, 4th of July, whatever). I think that they are fresher that the regular, unseasonal varieties. And who likes old chocolate? Not me.

17. I was saddened to see that the kids in my ward relied on posters to remember the words to the songs during the primary presentation in November. I think memorizing the songs is one of the most important things they can learn in Primary. Those songs stay with you for life.

18. I didn’t send out my Christmas cards this year. The boxes of cards are still sitting on my kitchen counter. I think this is the first time since my mission that I didn’t send cards. I just ran out of time.

19. I love going to the top of things: The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the St. Louis Arch, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Pike’s Peak, etc.

20. When traveling, if I see a funicular on the map, I have to ride it. I was so sad that the funicular in Budapest was down for repairs when I visited Castle Hill (also sad because it meant I had to climb the mountain). Luckily, on the same trip I was able to ride a funicular at Petrin Hill Prague.

21. I think that the secret to enjoying food in London is to stay away from traditional English food. Every other style of cuisine was fantastic.

22. I still think that my mission was longer than everyone else’s. I was convinced that the end of the world would come before the end of my mission. Luckily, it didn’t. Don’t get me wrong – it was still the best (and most difficult) experience of my life…but sometimes time went by so slowly…and yet at other times it went by so fast.

23. I have a great affinity for our neighbors to the north. I think I’d like to marry a Canadian one day. Know any good ones?

24. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a doctor. That quickly changed once I started taking chemistry in college. At that point, I ran away from the sciences and decided upon a career in communications. Do you know what grade I got in that horrible chemistry class? I got a B (Still the lowest grade I got in my 7 years in college). At the end of the day, though, it’s OK because the creativity of public relations suits me much better than even I thought imaginable when deciding what area of communications to pursue.

25. Final confession: I listen to MoTab on the subway in the  mornings.