Be Unapologetically You

The very lovely Michelle at Boomer Eco Crusader tagged me for this lovely tag.

This tag is all about sharing your genuine and authentic self. Like Michelle who tagged me, I’m really bad at hiding my feelings or being political or being anything other than just “me”.

The tag was originally created by Izzy Matias and it’s such a fun idea.

The Be Unapologetically You Tag rules

1. Use the Be Unapologetically You banner in your post. It can be your featured image or not. It’s totally up to you. 
2. Include the link to this blogging tag in your post – here it is!
3. Answer the 7 questions in this tag. 
4. Nominate between 5-10 bloggers, link their blogs, and tag them on social media to notify them. 
5. Most of all, have fun!

Be Unapologetically You Questions

1. Introduce yourself and your blog while sharing one trivia about you that not that many people know. 
   Hi! I’m “Smell” from Smelly Socks and Garden Peas. I blog about all sorts of things, rambles and rants, foraging and using hedgerow fruits, gin, the odd bad poem, reading, loss and miscarriage, and some running.
   I speak fluent French and communicate daily with my colleagues in French, sometimes I dream in French and my life goal is to retired somewhere in the countryside with cheese and wine.
2. What topics do you love “geeking out” about that you would say are topics that give you bliss? 
   Bliss, hmm. Well, I’m afraid I spend a lot of time thinking about running, planning where to run, calculating my pace, lusting after shoes, and randomly purchasing kit of questionable necessity. However, I’ve been absolutely floored by a really bad cold for the last two weeks and I’m really feeling the withdrawal symptoms.
3. Do you blog about them? Why or why not? If not, would you like to blog about them one time? 
   Yes, but I try not to overwhelm my blog with running waffle. My blog is the opposite of niche, it’s meant to be a real representation of life as a working mum handling loss and all the challenges of daily life. Running has been a real crutch for my mental health over the last two and a half years and it is an important to my overall well being.
4. Would you say that you are living life by being unapologetically you? Why or why not? If not, what would your life look like if you were unafraid to share more about the things that make you happy?
   Yes absolutely. It gets me into scrapes though! I tend to say whatever comes into my head, I get passionate and sometimes a bit bolshy, stupidity pisses me off and I’m often not sensible about saying the right thing or keeping my mouth shut with the wrong people. Someone I consider a close friend is anti-vax and a COVID conspiracy nut. She recently heard that I was critical of some of her behaviour and has cut me off – accused me of being harsh and then refused to engage or let me justify my opinions. And that hurts. A lot. So while I’m feisty, I’m also sensitive and get hurt easily, maybe too trusting.
5. Permission to geek out & be unapologetically you: share with us one thing you fangirl or fanboy over and how you became a fan of it. It can be anything. Your love for soy candles, your favourite food, a boy band or an underrated film.
   I’ve got to say that since the whole COVID lockdown thing happened I have totally fallen in love with my PJs. I always thought people who got home from wherever and changed into their PJs were slobs and lazy. Now I LOVE my PJs, I wear them whenever I’m home and I just bought a pair of joggers so I can wear them anytime. I mean seriously, PJ bottoms in particular are the comfiest thing ever and make jeans feel like a form of torture.
6. What do you love the most about being a fan? Share a fun or unforgettable fan experience. 
   This is a bit of a hard one to answer. I guess meeting loads of drivers during the Le Mans drivers’ parade several years in a row was pretty cool. There’s rather a good photo of me with Paul Drayson somewhere and some of himself with Ryan Dalziel and Alan McNish.

My Nominees

Kathy at Baby Boomer Super Saver on Twitter @BabyBoomerSaves

Lynne at Was That a Dinosaur?

Rayo at The Alycone on Twitter @The_alycone

One Dot Short of a Smarties Box

Sumedha at The Wordy Habitat on Twitter @thewordyhabitat

Betsy at ParentingIsFunny on Twitter @BetsyK1