Celebrate Our 1st Birthday with Sexy Women!

Happy Birthday!

My blog is 1 year old, thanks to all of you, (okay, I had a little something to do with it, too) and we’re having a party!

I mentioned last week that I had 4 guests of honor and I wanted you to guess, from the hints I gave you, who they are. Reading my post comments should have given you enough  clues to figure it out. Sadly, no one was brave enough to venture a guess. You’re going kick yourselves when you see who they are!

You missed out on a great prize, too. I was giving away a vacation for two in Fiji for a month! I guess my hubby and I will have to go ourselves. 🙂 Darn! Have a piece of cake. It’ll make you feel better.

I was going to reveal all of them to you today…but…I’m not. They are such smart, sexy and full-of-heart women that telling you all about two of them takes up a whole blog post. Keep in mind, there was so much great stuff to tell you about these guests, that the post is a bit long, but totally worth your time!

So, I’m going to reveal two today and two next Wednesday! I’ll give you til next week to guess the other two, if you have the guts to guess. The Fiji trip is mine now, but I will still offer  a prize to anyone who can guess these two guests.

They were:

Guest #2 lives in a mid-atlantic state, loves a football team not of her state and is Mom to several critters.

Guest #3 lives in central NY, loves to play in the dirt and has a way with words.

On to my first two guests! Guest #1, take it away! 

SWF Seeks Blogger BFF

When Marcia first contacted me that I was her number 1 stalker commenter and she wanted to feature me on her blog, my first thought was “Which ballgown should I wear to her place?”

Hardly.  I’ve always been more like one of the guys.  Well, not in any good athletic ability kind of way, my arms are the size of pipe cleaners!  But I’m kind of a goofball.  For a month in high school it was speculated that I was in fact one of Jim Henson’s Muppets come to life.  No kidding!  Apparently I laugh like them and have several muppet-like quirks such as I rarely use a knife to cut my food.  *shrug*  I just don’t like it.  

So when Marcia said she wanted to know what makes me sexy, smart, and full of heart, I looked under the bed.  There’s got to be some of that stuff under here somewhere!  *coughs from dust bunnies*

Well, Marcia, here’s what I dug up after lots of stress-filled binge eating soul searching:

What Makes Jess Sexy – –

I’m normally not a fan of stigmas, but I’ve always been ok with the ones I get for being a redhead.  I’ve never had to dye my hair.  I’ve had a variety of haircuts, some good, some bad, but they’ve all been red.  Because of my gorgeous red hair, my skin is incredibly white.  I mean my legs have never seen the sun.  It’s the truth; they’re whiter than Bob Barker’s Price is Right coif.  If I were to go to a blacklight rave, I couldn’t unleash these legs, people would think the cops showed up!  Hey, turn off those search lights, we’re trying to dance here!  So I feel my sexiest in blue jeans!  

I know some people must think it’s incredibly sexy to be as petite as I am.  At 5’2”, I’ve been called a pixie and told I look like a doll.  Lemme tell ya, I feel sexy, too, when I have to climb the racks at the grocery store just to get the food I want on the top shelf!  I’ve also been called a Ketchup Monkey, but that’s a term of endearment, right?  

Are scars sexy?  Cause I have lots!  My blog is called Jess Witkins’ Happiness Project, but only because Jess Witkins’ Gravity Challenged, Band-Aid Afficionado was taken.  Who knew?  I happen to think Neosporin is really sexy.  Have any of you seen the film  My Big Fat Greek Wedding?  You know the Dad character who believes Windex fixes everything from achy elbow joints to acne?  That’s how I feel about Neosporin.  It’s helped to make what could’ve been giant chunks of skin missing from my right index finger, left knee, and nose bridge just mildly pink-colored scars.  So yah, Neosporin is just as sexy as your favorite get down and dirty, sexy-time song!  Jungle Boogie…Jungle Boogie…Get Down, Get Down…

What Makes Jess Smart – –

You know that game you played when you were younger, the one where you and your siblings made faces at each other until someone would say “You’re face is going to freeze like that!”  Well, I am incredibly smart at making faces you wouldn’t want your face to freeze like…

I am also smart at remembering random facts of information.  For instance, I once read in third grade that a lion can leap a 5.5 meter fence with a whole cow in its jaw!  I still find this pretty fascinating, and am so glad I spent all these years remembering that tidbit of animal factitude.  If I ever find myself in the middle of the African savannas, you can bet I WILL NOT be dressing up as a cow!  Dairyland, be damned, I’ll pay homage to my homeland in some other way.  

I am also incredibly talented and smart at doing voiceovers.  In fact, I may have missed my calling to be a Voiceover Artist.  I can do all the major accents, several characters from both Saturday Night Live and Mad TV, a pretty decent Eartha Kitt, several types of schoolchildren, and one awesome impersonation of Gizmo singing from the Gremlins movies.  These talents came in very handy when competing in the storytelling category of Forensics in High School.  I have several trophies to show for my skillz.  Trophies=Smart in by book.  

What Makes Jess Full of Heart – –

Doctors assure me I do have one despite the trips to the hospital and number of stitches received and teeth pulled.  

I think what makes me full of heart is that I’ll do anything for a laugh.  Or a hug!  I like to get people to go on adventures and have fun in life.  A psychologist might say it’s because I’m more likely to do these things with the safety of others, but to that I say, “You’re right, Doctor Know It All Brainypants!  But I’m in the business of making memories with people!  It’s called friendship!”  When people hang out with me, we eat cake for dinner, get lost in the woods after dark, maybe or maybe not move a tombstone and find a human skull in Ireland!  That takes apologies heart to gain these people’s trust back!

I learned all about how to love from my family.  They say “Home is Where the Heart is” and I believe it.  As a youngest child, my family repeatedly showed me how much they loved me.  Whether it was the time my siblings ganged up together to leave me tied to a stop sign on the corner street, or the time my dad spelled my name wrong on my birthday cake, or the time I learned there was no Santa Claus by thanking my mom for the gift “Santa” got me and she proceeded to tell me about the craft show where she picked up said “gift from the North Pole.”  Yes, my family gave me all the valuable, life developing lessons I needed to be full of heart.  Now, I never leave a friend behind, I have impeccable spelling, and I will never be the one to tell my nearest and dearest that make-believe people aren’t real.  

Well, that about wraps me up, folks.  A big thank you to Marcia for letting me get my sexy, smart, heartfelt self on over here.  Now this Single White Female’s quest to find a Blogger Best Friend Forever is complete!  I definitely found one in Marcia.  Thanks for always putting it all out there, letting me be a part of an amazingly fun and supportive group like our Life List Club, and reminding every woman out there she is Smart, Sexy, and Full of Heart!  

See you all in the comments section!

 Jess Witkins claims the title Perseverance Expert.  She grew up in a small Wisconsin town as the much younger youngest sibling of four, she’s witnessed the paranormal, jumped out of a plane, worked in retail, traveled to exotic locations like Italy, Ireland, and Shipshewana, Indiana, and she’s eaten bologna and lived to tell about it!  She deals with it all and writes about it!  Come along on her midwest adventures; Witkins promises to keep it honest and entertaining.  Go ahead, SUBSCRIBE, you know you want to.
Follow on Twitter:  @jesswitkins

Wait, I have to wipe the tears from laughing so hard! Thanks, Jess for being one of my most loyal supporters and a very special friend. Could you package up your sense of humor? I’d buy it at any price! Thank you for being here today.

Okay, now let’s welcome Guest #4!

Marcia, your idea is lovely and I’m so honoured to be included. I respond to your posts because I enjoy them and I appreciate the obvious effort it takes. Your information is always valued and I’m a big fan of your writing style.
Okay, here’s some “stuff” about me.
Sexy (??) – I’m 67 years young and still can’t believe it. Sports have always played a big role – tennis, golf, skiing, cycling – and I’ve been blessed with good health.
Smart – The greatest life lesson was to understand every day is a gift, to be embraced and appreciated. This truth was the legacy left to me by my late husband when I was widowed at 43 in the midst of a wonderful life – fabulous marriage and sons, aged 12 and 13. Two years later returned to university for a degree in education. Twenty years later began writing and am now being requested to speak to women’s groups. Great fun!

Patricia, summer 2011, Antibes, France

From the heart – Family and friends drive my life. I remarried 6 years after being widowed and for 16 years have been mom/stepmom to 7 adult children and six grandchildren. My greatest pride is my happy, loving family and my strong circle of friends. As you are well aware, I’m a great believer in the power of friendship and value new connections such as the wonderful Wana711 group that has come together through our writing. I have a strong faith in the power of personal interactions and an inherent trust in the goodness of people in general all over the world. As much as I love Canada, travel is a big part of my life (ever since I lived in Europe for a year at age 21) and wherever I go I find this trust reinforced. That fills my heart.
I was given a Kodak Brownie camera for my 6th birthday and have been a shutterbug ever since. Travel and family photography are my focus (pun intended) now. I’ve always told stories through photography so the shift into writing felt quite natural. My friends and family tell me I leave the longest voicemail messages ever so they are not surprised I’m writing novels!
I had a wonderful childhood, close family. Lived mainly in the province of Ontario but we did move to Quebec for three years and I also have a strong attachment to Whistler, British Columbia where we have family and visit frequently.
I went to work and travel in Europe for a year at age 21 in 1967 with a girlfriend (still a dear friend today and member of the “Bridge Club”) Thus began my love affair with that part of the world. My husband and I travel frequently and have enjoyed several longterm stays in Europe including the recent 4-1/2 months in the south of France.

Patricia's real Bridge Club. She is in the light blue sweater.

I’m a good person to call when you need a volunteer (when I’m in town!) and love to do what I can to stay involved in education – even if it is as simple as going on field trips with my grandchildren.
I began writing The Bridge Club just for fun for my “real” bridge club which has shared a friendship of over 45 years. The novel turned into something more serious but the fiction is most definitely based on fact and these women have been my biggest cheerleaders!
Currently I’m in the midst of completing my second novel which I hope will be ready for summer reading!

Patricia Sands lives in Toronto, Canada and has degrees from the University of Waterloo and York University. With a happily blended family of seven adult children and, at last count, six grandchildren, life is full and time is short. Beginning with her first Kodak Brownie camera at the age of six, she has told stories all of her life through photography.

Her award-winning debut novel, The Bridge Club, was published through iUniverse in September 2010 and was a finalist in the Foreword Reviews 2010 Book Of The Year (general fiction) and the 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (First Novel – over 80,000 words).  Also a Flash Fiction Finalist (Winter 2010) with Women on Writing, she is currently working on her next novel.

 “It’s never too late to begin something new,” she enthuses. “As the saying goes, just do it!” 

THE BRIDGE CLUB – How far would you go to help a close friend? Is there a place where you might draw the line and simply have to say no?

The Bridge Club is an entertaining and often moving tale through four decades that span the segments of a woman’s journey from youthful optimism to embracing the challenges and opportunities presented in life’s later years.

The story meets life head on, affirming that true friendship is a priceless asset.

psands.stories@gmail.com, www.patriciasands.wordpress.com, www.patriciasandsauthor.com

 Patricia, I have loved getting to know you and travel vicariously through you. Your book touched me, made me laugh and cry right along with you and your friends. It’s great to see their real faces in your photo and try to match them up with the characters in your book. I want to be as beautiful at 67 as you are…inside and out. Thanks for being here.

These ladies exhibit the qualities I admire in women – confidence, humor, compassion, sense of adventure and so much more. I think I chose my first subjects well for this blog about sexy, smart and full-of-heart women. What do you think?

I hope you all enjoyed my guests and the birthday cake. The party continues next Wednesday with Guests #2 and #3. Be here or be square!

Don’t forget about The Life List Club Friday this week! I will be guest posting over at Jess Witkins’ place about how I tamed the social glutton in me! Come visit me there. Meanwhile, Sonia Medeiros , of Not All Who Wander Are Lost, will be minding the store here with another of her fab posts!

On Saturday this week, I have another special guest and the winner of The Life List Club Milestone Party prize, Darlene Steelman from Sober Living-Life at Full Throttle with a post about the important stuff you probably forgot to include in your list of goals. Don’t miss it! BE HERE – Saturday!