Beacon of Hope

In a kingdom not too far away, there once was a girl....(okay a little older than a girl, but she was female!)

This girl had a blog.

In this kingdom there was a luxurious spa named Sego Lily Day Spa where the utmost in royal pampering treatments were given. This spa had a contest to select a royal blogger for their spa. The winner would become the most pampered princess in all of the land.

The girl blogger was encouraged by her dear aunt to enter Sego Lily's contest. The girl thought, "Why not? To be or not to be, that is the question. And to be is the answer!"

So the girl did enter the contest. The girl nearly tossed her royal cookies when the announcement came throughout the land that she was selected as one of the top five bloggers. This thrilled the girl. The girl worked wearily petitioning her fellow bloggers and friends to vote for her to become the new royal blogger. Her fellow bloggers and friends grew weary of the girl's constant outcries begging for support. At times they wanted to toss her into the mote. But they never let her down. They supported her throughout the long and intense ordeal.

The girl knew the odds of her becoming the royal winner were slim because the other four damsels were some of the best bloggers in the land. But she still kept her hopes high. The girl was in constant wonderment about the big day the royal winner would be announced.

One day the girl was asked to meet at the royal Sego Lily Spa for the much anticipated announcement of the lucky winner. She was told to bring her family and friends along as well. The girl was beyond excited to finally learn who would become the most pampered princess of all the kingdom.

The girl's family and friends were all taken into the back of the Sego Lily palace while she waited in the luxurious parlor to meet and talk with the fair damsel Jackie, who was to tell the girl who was chosen as the winner. The girl was a bit surprised when no announcement was made and the beautiful damsel Jackie asked the girl to come hither to the back of the palace. The girl followed her to the back and as she opened a door to enter she was greeted very loudly with party horns, confetti flying, and excited screams of "Congratulations!" by her royal family and friends and the entire spa family. A crown was placed upon her head and she was given the most beautiful bouquet of flowers she had ever seen! She had won! She was to become the most pampered princess in all of the kingdom!

She was in royal shock!

And continues to be to this day. The only thing that will bring her out of it is a few massages and a lot of pampering. Sego Lily to the rescue, once again, of a damsel in distress!

Someone pinch me! Or better yet, massage me! I still can't believe this is happening! Is it really true???

What an honor! A true honor. I feel so humbled. Each one of the other four finalists deserved this every bit as much as I did. If there was a way to share it, I gladly would! I am grateful we were able to do the TV segment in the beginning so I could meet them. Angie with her bright and warm smile. Amanda's wit and clever poster. Heather who is just as sweet as she can be. Unfortunately Robin was unable to make it and so I didn't get to meet her, but I love her blog. Each one is so gifted and talented, that I feel honored to just be in the top five with them. Thank you to each, for being so kind and gracious. You really are all amazing women.

And a huge thank you to Sego Lily for your generosity and for how wonderful and memorable you made the celebration for me and my family and friends. Everything was done with such class and style, just like your spa. I was, and continue to be, overwhelmed by your generosity and support. I look forward to working with you and getting to know you all much better. I can't thank you enough!

I feel like Miss America!

I have always wanted to be crowned as something. It started way back when I was a little girl and watched the Miss America pageant each and every year. I envisioned myself one day being handed a gorgeous bouquet of flowers while having a much too heavy tiara placed on my head and a sash wrapped around me. Then confidently walking the runway waving in the elbow-elbow wrist-wrist fashion to my adoring fans. As I make my way to the microphone to give my acceptance speech my hand begins to do that rapid fluttery thing in front of my mouth (which for some unknown reason is supposed to keep the tears at bay...but never does.) Okay, so the odds of that vision ever coming true were worse than having a heatwave in Iceland, or me giving up chocolate in the near future. But I still loved dreaming about it. That's as far as it went though. I never really thought about what I would be doing after the crowning.

But I AM NOW! Oh boy, am I ever!!!

Okay, back to earth for a bit. I know I am NOT being crowned Miss America and I also know that I am NOT receiving some scholarship or car. Not me. Not even going to appear on the David Letterman show or ride on a float in a bazillion parades. Nope.

Waaaaaaaaaay better than that!

Alright, you can beam me back up Scotty! Who wants that when they can have ONE YEAR'S worth of PAMPERING!!! Yes, ONE YEAR! 24 spa treatments! Now that's a vision that is out of this world! Miss America eat your heart out!

Is there a better dream that could come true? I think not!