What a sweet surprise! Sexy Past 60 was nominated for a Liebster Award by Lora Tucker Kaasch, a woman I am honored to call a friend.  Although she lives with RA, she is one of the most active women I know, and a continual inspiration to everyone she meets. Since I thought I recognized it as a German word, I looked it up and it means:  “liked very much, darling, sweetheart.”  I’ll take it, thank you, Lora!

What I was asked:

1. What was a profound turning point in your life?  Having the conviction to write my first play and enter it in a competition in 3rd grade. Although I lost to Randy Dayton’s play about Martians, I knew that I wanted to be a writer!
2. Hot, sun and sand…or cold snow and mountains?  Give me turquoise water and Bain de Soleil, any day!
3. Number 1 on your bucket list?  Since having a “bucket list” implies that I’m thinking about kicking it, I just have a treasure map of images I’d like to experience; quiet beaches, solitary pools of water, romantic waterfalls.
4. What’s your favorite libation?  A very, very Dirty Tito’s Martini.
5. What do you do to unwind from a long day?  Sit down, put my feet up and indulge in #4.
6. Who is one person who changed your life for the better?  Zan Ray
7. Kindle/iPad/ or an “old fashioned” book?  I love my iPad for convenience and night reading…but love the weight, feel and smell of books!
8. Where did you go on your last vacation? We rode a Harley down the coast of northern CA with another couple. Going to do it again next month with even more friends this time.
9. What’s your specialty meal? Thanksgiving: turkey, sourdough stuffing with artichokes, Chipotle mashed sweet potatoes, home-made cranberry sauce.
10. If you could do anything in the world, what would it be? To publish a book that would be a fun read, and help women feel great, and great about themselves…and let me meet Ina Garten and Ellen DeGeneres.
11. What’s your favorite thing about blogging? That I get to sit down when I’m doing it!

11 facts about myself: I was born in St. Louis. My Mom used to take us from NY to St. Louis to San Antonio then back home to NY, on the train each summer in the 1950’s. Karen VF and I used to lie to our mothers about where we were sleeping, and slept on the beach in the Hamptons. I played drums in school. I studied Spanish all through high school because I had a crush on the (only) Spanish teacher. I wanted to convert to Judiasm when I was 15. (My father said “no.”) I wanted to be a hairstylist when I was 16. (My father said “no daughter of mine…”)  I wanted to be a Pan Am stewardess upon graduation at 17. (Dad = Absolutely not!)  My son Jason Austin was born in 1971. I became a hairstylist in 1976. And I moved to Austin in 1978.

I want to acknowledge these 11 Bloggers/Writers/Sources of Inspiration for me:

1. Lora Tucker Kaasch – Rheumatoid Arthritis: Hope Courage Inspiration.com
2. Joseph Rosenfeld Personal Brand and Style Strategist
3. Melissa Johnson Lombard – MelissaLombard.com
4. Carla Crownover – Austin Urban Gardens on WordPress
5. Nina and Paul – WheelingIt.com
6. Gina Waterfield – Gina Marie Life
7. Susan Tolles – The Flourishing Life.com
8. Ari Seth Cohen – Advanced Style on WordPress
9. Ilene Haddad – IleenieWeenie.com
10. Tara Mohr – TaraMohr.com
11. Danielle La Porte – DanielleLaPorte.com

Check them out, you’ll find lots of great reading, I’m sure.  And, if anyone is making Dirty Martinis – call me!

XO Donna