I really enjoy reading old-school tag posts and I haven't done one in absolutely ages so I thought it was about time I answered some interesting and not-so-interesting questions for the benefit of anyone who'd like to find out a bit about me. You'll see that some of these are pretty standard but I've tried to develop my answers a bit so they're more than just a couple of words or a yes/no response - happy reading!

1. What is your middle name?

My middle name is Hannah - apparently it was going to be my first name but my parents couldn't decide between the two and it ended up as my middle name, although I think it would have suited me quite well. Fun fact: there is in fact a writer called Sophie Hannah and my dad has a lot of her books which is quite surreal.

2. What was favorite subject at school?

English for sure. I loved everything about it, from the books we would read to writing essays, the classes and even the teachers! A lot of people don't understand why I decided to study geography at university since English was always my thing and to be honest I don't fully understand it either, but thankfully geography at uni is a lot better than it was at school.

3. What is your favorite drink?

Elderflower pressé, because I'm a wannabe hipster. I'm also partial to rose lemonade.

4. What is your favorite song at the moment?

I'm really loving Aurora's album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend and I think my favourites from that are Warrior and I Went Too Far. She reminds me of a Norwegian version of Lorde in a way and I really hope she goes far because I love her voice and her songs, they're stunning.

5. What is your favorite food?

In terms of type of food definitely Italian because pizza and pasta, but I also really like Mexican flavours. My favourite meal is probably veggie chilli con carne with nachos and avocado, followed by literally any type of ice-cream. 

6. What is the last thing you bought?

The last purchase I made was to enroll on a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course which I am currently making my way through in order to fill up my last month of summer holiday and also put in on my CV, but in terms of physical objects it was probably books of some kind.

7. Favorite book of all time?

This is literally an impossible question to answer so I'm going to go with top three:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

8. Favorite colour?

Purple! It always used to be green but then it changed for some reason.

9. Do you have any pets?

Not currently. When I was little and lived in the UK we had two black cats called Misty and Jasper but we had to leave them behind when we moved, and now my dad is allergic to dogs and cats so there's not much chance of getting another.

10. Favorite perfume?

Honestly my current favourite scent is the pink grapefruit one by The Body Shop, it's not exactly a perfume but I'm obsessed with how fresh and zesty it smells.

11. Favorite holiday?

I'm assuming this means in the American sense so definitely Christmas, winter is also my favourite season and Christmas is pretty much the highlight of it - I love the cosyness, goodwill and tradition of it all and especially the run-up to the big day throughout November and December. 

12. Are you married?

No - I'm 19.

13. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?

Well I live 'out of the country' in that I'm English and I live in Belgium, but I also study in England so basically too many times to count and it depends which country you mean. In terms of other countries I've been to on holiday, off the top of my head I can think of France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Iceland, Greece, Canada, the US etc.

14. Do you speak any other language?

I've been learning French since I was about 5 and I also did Dutch for 6 years at school and Spanish for 2 years. Unfortunately while I can remember a decent amount of Dutch most of my Spanish has gradually slipped away! I was very fortunate to go to a school which put a lot of emphasis on language learning (perhaps too much in fact) but I'm not a natural linguist by any means.

15. How many siblings do you have?

I have one little brother who isn't actually that little any more, he's taller than me.

16. What is your favourite shop?

For clothes shopping I love Forever 21 and H&M but in general one of my favourite places to wander round is a little antiques and crafts place near where my grandparents live: the antiques section is full of interesting things and you never quite know what to expect, and there are also little craft stalls where you can watch artists at work (painters, sculptors, potters, woodworkers, jewellery-makers) and buy their creations - it's absolutely magical.

17. Favourite restaurant?

In general I'd have to say Wagamama's or Pizza Express, but I really love Flat White Kitchen which is a little independent café/restaurant in Durham where I'm studying. It's not the cheapest place in the world to eat but it's well worth the money and it has some amazing food, especially the avocado and poached eggs on sourdough toast which I have been known to Instagram on occasion.

18. When was the last time you cried?

For about the first time in my life I can't remember - so probably some time way back in June.

19. Favorite blog?

Again I'm going to have to do a top three here:

Fashion Whit

Mermaidens

"Ice cream" whispers Clara

I'm also really loving Alternating Paths, which is run by a girl I've followed on Tumblr, Polyvore and Instagram for years.

20. Favorite movie?

I think if I had to pick one it would be The Great Gatsby (the 2013 remake not the older ones) but I also really love Stoker (2013), The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Heathers (1988). 

21. Favourite TV shows?

Twin Peaks, Sherlock, Doctor Who, The Great British Bakeoff, The Tudors, The Addams Family, Outnumbered - that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm not a big TV watcher but I get really into the ones I do watch.

22. PC or Mac?

I have a PC, it's a super swish HP one that weighs literally nothing and I'm in love with it.

23. What phone do you have?

My UK phone is an iPhone 6 because I'm basic like that, my Belgian phone is a Nokia Lumia 800 which is a brick in comparison and it slowly dying a death.

24. How tall are you?

About 165cm which I believe is 5’4″.

25. Can you cook?

If you give me a recipe I can follow it just fine but sadly I don't have much instinct when it comes to cooking. I enjoy spending hours creating complicated vegetarian dishes during the holidays when I have a lot of time on my hands but I doubt I'll be so enthusiastic when I go back to uni soon and have to cook for myself for the first time...

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