Thank You Hallmark for Listening to this Baby Boomer

Those of you who read my blog regularly may recall when I wrote about my all expenses paid trip to the Hallmark Headquarters in Kansas City. I was one of seven Bloggers chosen by the greeting card company to give feedback on a new line of cards called: Journeys. Four out of the seven of us were baby boomers.

Well I gave them my HONEST opinions about a lot of stuff and I even offered suggestions---as did the other bloggers who attended.

Folks, Hallmark really LISTENED to us and has come up with another contest, at our suggestion. Check it out:

Hallmark is launching the second phase of the consumer card design contest today, which invites people to make their pets the star of the show. They are asking America to send in their funniest, most endearing, cutest, or most creative pet photos, along with a corresponding “birthday” greeting. As with the last contest, these entries will be judged and voted upon, and the winners will be turned into actual greeting cards.

Sixty-seven finalists will have the opportunity to have their cards printed and sold to the public and to winning cash prizes. In addition to being sold in stores, the grand prize winner’s card will be available for sale at hallmark.com for at least a year and may become part of another card collection! That person also will win $1,000 PLUS a trip to Hallmark with their pet for a professional photo shoot and workshop with Hallmark’s creative team.

People can log in at www.hallmark.com/you anytime between now and Feb. 3 to upload their best pet photo and birthday greeting.

Thank you Hallmark for listening to what we baby boomers have to say.

Meet the Bloggers from the Hallmark Conference

After I accepted the invitation for the all-expenses paid trip to the Hallmark Bloggers Conference in Kansas City, I learned I would be one of about a half dozen bloggers from around the country attending.

I kept thinking to myself, “How did they find me?” It was the SAME REACTION I had when I was interviewed for the New York Times. My Publicist says I’m more popular than I think I am. Well, if that’s the case, why haven’t I sold a million books yet?

WHATEVER!

Anyway, my first contact with the others came on the morning of the conference. (I got in too late to try to socialize the night before). I wasn’t surprised that I was the only African-American but I was a little surprised at the make-up of the group. Four of us were Baby Boomers and the other three were Echo Boomers I guess (all under the age of 30).

The person I recognized right away was Dotsie Bregal for the NABBW. She looks just like her picture on my Baby Boomer Diva Web of Fame.

The person I seemed to gravitate towards almost immediately was Jerry Stearns. Jerry has a blog called: yourlifeafter50.com I learned that Jerry was from Fargo, ND. He’s the first person I’ve ever met from there. He’s married with children and he’s not someone who sends cards just because---but what man really does? I liked Jerry. He wasn’t pretentious and I learned during lunch that he had a softer, gentler side.

Jennette Fulda is apparently known as the PastaQueen. Why I don’t remember. I must have been having a menopausal moment when she was talking. But to tell you the truth, she was the quiet one in the group---so quiet that I hardly knew she was there unless she was right in my face. I recall her saying she lost quite a bit of weight---50 pounds or more I think. She was from Indianapolis.

The “Valley Girl” in the group was Stephanie Quilao. Her website is: www.backinskinnyjeans.com Stephanie was proud to proclaim that she lost 25 pounds so far and she wanted Hallmark to offer cards of encouragement for people who were fighting the battle of the bulge. She was spunky and pleasant to be around and quite knowledgeable about the blogging world.

Elizabeth Thielke hailed from Nashville. She is the author of three websites. I like the www.busymom.net one the best. Her genbetween.com website is quite informative. I learned that Liz and I shared a few things in common. We’re both only children and taking care of our elderly parents. Her mother has Alzheimer’s---so does my mother-in-law.

Last but not least was Sylvia Hall. She was the only “local” person in the group. Sylvia loves to write and dreams of getting a Hallmark gig someday. In her “other” life, she’s a teacher. I learned that we also share something in common: we both write for www.passionateforlife.com

I visited her blog: www.sylvias-journal.blogspot.com. She’s very colorful with words and is obviously very passionate about her writing.

I’m glad I got a chance to meet these bloggers because, otherwise, I would’ve probably never interacted with them in cyberspace.

My picks would’ve been different because it would’ve been based on who I’ve already been in contact with and interact with the most:

Mark: GoingLikeSixty.com
Rhea: thegeminiweb.com
Shirley: fabulousafterfifty.blogspot.com
Eileen: feistysideoffifty.com
Carine: whats-cooking.blogspot.com
Sharon: babyboomeradvisorclub.wordpress.com
Angela: angelabetts.com
A representative from womensvoicesforchange.org
And Me, of course!

If you want to see the bloggers go to, www.enjoyyourmenopause.com/hallmark_bloggers.html

Then check out the blog contest and add your name to the winners list, like Karen O'Bannon from Louisville, KY. http://www.enjoyyourmenopause.com/hallmark_contest.html

Mother's Day Contest Update

What a difference 24 hours makes! Since announcing the contest, I've had several sponsors offer to donate a prize. So now it gets interesting because you know what they say: The better the prizes...the better the competition.

First Place: $50 Cash, Bath & Body Works Spa Pkg (Tracy Ehman), Never be Sick Again by Raymond Francis ; 30 minute Radio Interview on Heal Yourself Talk Radio with Rebecca White; :30 promotional ad on Beverly Mahone’s podcast “Whatever!” for your business or product; ***This is a great opportunity for self-promotion***
“Delayed but not Denied” Gospel CD by Jennifer Evans (www.jenniferevans7.com)

Second: My Little Taste of Italy Gift Basket (www.mylittletasteofitaly.com), Bella Bath & Body Bar and Neways Products offered by Tracy Lewis; autographed copy of Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age by Beverly Mahone (www.thebabyboomerdiva.com) & “Chill 2 This” Inspirational Jazz CD from Michael Houston. www.myspace.com/houstown

Third: Gano Excel Coffee Gift Basket donated by Tally Green, Mothers are Forever book by Criswell Freeman donated by www.EdenFlorist.com--our motto is "Make Someone Smile Today, Send Flowers!" (Heidi Richards, owner); Blockbuster Gift Card

Fourth: Twenty minute coaching session with Doris Helge, author of Joy on the Job (www.joyonthejob.info); autographed copy of “Delayed but not Denied” Gospel CD from Jennifer Evans (www.jenniferevans7.com); God can Handle Mothers by Carlene Ward donated by: Eden Florist - http://www.EdenFlorist.com - our motto is "Make Someone Smile Today, Send Flowers!" (Heidi Richards, owner)

Fifth: One hour of free Virtual Assistant Services plus 20 percent off on all products thru May 15 from www.KeyBusinessPartners.com and Teresa Morrow; Back to the Table with my Country Kitchen cookbook by Betty Lynch (www.bettylynch.biz).

Contest open to men and women because we know there were some hard-headed little boys growing up too!

See previous blog entry for contest details.

Mothers Day Contest

"Mama said there would be days like this!"

If you had a mama like I did, she spent most of her life trying to warn you against certain things and certain people. But if you were a young person like me, you didn't listen very well. My mama used to say "If you lie down with dogs, you're bound to get up with fleas!" My ex husband proved her point! My Big Mama (grandmother) used to say "Hard heads make soft behinds!"

In 800 words or LESS, write an essay about one warning in particular your mother gave you when you were younger but you failed to heed her advice and found out later that she was RIGHT all along. For example, she may have told you not to date a certain person but you did anyway and after a while you realized it was a mistake and you could hear your mother saying "I told you so!" Tell your story. It can be humorous or very serious. How you tell it will be more important than what the actual warning was.

First place winner will receive $50
Second place will receive an autographed copy of my book “Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age” PLUS a My trademark Hot Flash Survival Kit.
Third Place: The book “God Can Handle it for Mothers" by Carlene Ward (compliments of Heidi Richards)
Fourth Place: “Mothers are Forever” by Criswell Freeman (compliments of Heidi Richards
Fifth place will receive a gift card

I WILL NOT BE A JUDGE. I'm not going to announce the judges just yet pending confirmation.

Entry deadline is May 9th. Winners will be announced on Mother's Day. All entries should be sent to: babyboomervalentine@gmail.com with mother's day contest noted on the subject line.

There will be a special surprise for all entrants and it's open to EVERYONE.