Marissa Collections's Jay Hartington

If “Generosity Is Good For Your Health”*, then Jay Hartington must be in superb shape! He’s today’s featured BIG WIG for The Golisano Children’s Museum’s BIG WIG Night at the Museum, and he can be summed up in three words:

Cool, calm, collective

Here’s why Jay is someone you’ll want to meet at the Big Wigs Night at theMuseum…

Jay and MarissaCollections has been a supporter of The Golisano Children's Museum since the museum's capital campaign. Every year he tries to find a new, interesting way to continue this support.

When asked why, Jay elaborates...

C'mon provides a great launch pad for the children of this community to learn and be creative. Having a daughter of my own makes it all that much more special, and we look forward to visiting for years to come.

So what's this BIG WIG do in his spare time?

Work ;) read, play tennis, and travel... His one bad habit he won't break is checking his phone too much, and unfortunately, it's the one thing he can't live without. But his dream day would be walking aimlessly around NYC with his family and letting the day play its course.

Sounds lovely! But if you can't get to NYC, then you might spot Jay at the last restaurant where he ate dinner, Bleu Provence.

...and his one piece of advice to anyone?

Be curious in life.

Jay's Favorites:

Season: Fall

Holiday: Thanksgiving

Book: Good Earth

Place in the world: Sardinia

Fast Facts:

Beaches or pools? beach

Dark or milk chocolate? dark

Straight up or with a twist? straight up

Flowers or chocolates? flowers

Laptop or desktop? laptop

Motorcycle or bicycle? bike

Health food or junk food? a little of both

Morning or night? night

Coffee or tea? coffee

Thanks for stopping by the blog! We hope to see you at the Big Wigs Night at the Museum on February 7th! Please call 239-260-1714 or visit cmon.org for tickets or sponsorship information.

*”7 Science-Backed Reasons Why Generosity Is Good For Your Health”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/01/generosity-health_n_4323727.html

Fire Commissioner, Cattleman, Chairman

When Chairman Chris Lombardo was recruited to the museum by Simone Lutgert and Shelia Davis, like a gentleman, he didn't say no to the two ladies. He agreed that a children's museum was important to the community because, as he said, "I am a big kid, and I need some place to go."

As far as his involvement with ANight at the Museum, he was the Chair of the Board, so...

That definitely makes him perfectly suited for this year's theme: BIG WIGS!

But even though he's most known as a fire commissioner, he's also a cattleman and loves to go exploring! He has an antique swamp buggy but occasionally races Formula One style cars.

If you're looking for ways to connect with Chairman Lombardo at the Big Wigs Night at the Museum, try these conversation starters!

1. He prefers tea. Earl Grey with one lump of sugar... sugar, not some silly artificial sweetener. He wants the real stuff.

2. He prefers evening. Late evening.

3. When given the choice of chocolate or vanilla, he chooses vanilla... but says Pistachio is the real deal.

4. Between oceans and pools, he sides with oceans. Why? "...because it has sharks... it is not a real adventure unless there is something in the water that could eat you."

 ~ Quotes from Chairman Lombardo ~

On last year's event: "I loved the band! But I also liked the sculpting, and the nitrogen bubbles and digital graffiti and..."

On his favorite part of the museum: "The air launch rockets! But soon it will be the NEW digital Graffiti wall."

On pink or black: "Sunset, that is my favorite color, but if you insist, it would be black over pink."

... and now for the giveaway...

Always be in fashion with a C'mon t-shirt! See Rafflecopter details to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please call 239-260-1714 or visit cmon.org for tickets or sponsorship information for Big Wigs Night at the Museum.

Giving Thanks and Books!

UPDATE: We have a winner!!! Kai W., please check your email! Thanks for everyone who entered. Please check back for more fun giveaways!


Happy November!

This month the Sassy Chicks are feeling gifty and giving away all kinds of goodies!

Here's the first giveaway:

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three autographed books!
These books are new and will be given to one winner with a U.S. mailing address.

Connect with the authors on Twitter!

Cecy Robson     |     Julie Ann Walker     |     Jessa Russo

As always, thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check back to see what else we're doing this month!

As Heard at Retreat

What happens when four writers rent a house in Sanibel, Florida and decide to set goals?

These "As Heard at Retreat" are "as heard" and not necessarily "as said."

Can you guess the speaker?

a. Lynnette Hallberg
b. Diane O'Key
c. Amanda Flower
d. Marisa Cleveland


1. "If I didn't love you, I'd slap the shit out of you."


2. "...and now I've sliced my finger open."


3. "If an alligator eats her, I'll never get over it."


4. "You have to eat at least one Cheetos."

5. "I like to be right. I don't handle being wrong too well."

6. "Every time I travel something traumatic happens, but I keep doing it anyway."

7. "I will drown my sorrow in guacamole."

8. "Come here. I told Lane I would pinch you." What?!?

9. "Did I show you the picture of me signing his butt?"

10. "Well, I'm doing great with the writing. Nicole will be so proud." -- word count = 0


11. "You can't cure stupid."


12. "Whoo, I'm all hot and bothered."


13. "You just lost your Cheetos for an hour!"


14. "If I'm going to have to drink it, I need it to be frozen. Like a slushy."


15. "Well, it's time to get these two into bed."


16. "I'm totally screwed up."


17. "It's going to hurt, you will cry a lot, and you'll wish you never did it, but it will be worth it."


...and here are some pics we snapped during our writing breaks...

Wake up and write until the sun rises

Finish second cup of coffee

Go outside and jog

Write, chat, write

Visit bakery for goodies

Dolphin-sighting

Write, stare out window, write

Take a Cheetos break

Watch two boats racing

Visit Cheeburger Cheeburger

Thanks, Diane!

Drink milkshakes

Relax

Enjoy the beach

Take "us"ies from the back seat

Become a National Bestselling Author!

Take pictures of geckos

Put on real clothes to go out for dinner

Take pics of each other

Let the process unfold

Commune with nature

Walk through the woods

Go shelling

Pack up laptop

Have one final group dinner

Drink wine

Celebrate being a novelist

As always, thanks for stopping by the blog!

xox
~Marisa

Lynnette Austin here! I'm so excited.

Tall, Dark, and Cowboy, a special six-box boxed set, releases June 3, 2014, and includes my Somebody Like You along with full-length books by Katie Lane, Ruth Ryan Langan, Molly Cannon, Laura Drake, and Erin Kern. 

Here's a short excerpt from Somebody Like You:

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Annelise Montjoy motored her Harley along what appeared to be the town’s main street. This was Maverick Junction?

A blue Cadillac, surely old enough to be in a museum, was parked nose-in to the curb. An incredibly ugly dog sat in the front seat.

Thank God, this, the final destination of her cross-country trip from Boston, was temporary. It looked like the kind of place you ran away from, not to. If luck was on her side, she’d be out of here in a couple weeks at the most.

And then a store door opened and her breath caught. Go, Texas! Look at that cowboy. So different than any of the men in her life. So…intriguing. She slowed to nearly a standstill and watched as he swiped an arm across his forehead, then dumped a grocery bag in the back seat of the old Caddy.

Cracking open a bottle of water, he turned his head in her direction. Her breath hitched as his gaze ran lazily over her, her bike. Then he snagged a Styrofoam cup from inside his car and filled it before setting it on the blistering pavement for the dog waiting patiently beside him.

Leaning against the faded fender, he thumbed back his battered Stetson and chugged the rest of the water. Twisting the cap back on, he tossed the bottle into the recycling bin beside the grocer’s door.

Annelise pulled her bike into a parking space across the street, deliberately turning her back on the stranger. While his clothes might have been stereotypical cowboy--worn jeans, a faded tee-shirt, cowboy boots and hat—he took everything from simmer to boiling point. The jeans hugged long legs, while the shirt stretched taut across his muscled chest. There was something very alluring about him and that surprised her. He wasn’t the kind she was usually drawn to.

He shouldn’t appeal to her.

He did.

Not so much as a breeze stirred. The flag on the post office hung limp, and the cheerful red, white, and blue balloons someone had hung outside a beauty salon drooped listlessly.

Unable to stop herself, she peeked in the bike’s rearview mirror. Cowboy was bent over, talking to the dog. Quite a view, but she wasn’t here to admire a fine jean-clad butt. She needed something cold to drink and something light to eat. Then she’d go in search of Dottie Willis and the apartment she’d rented over the internet. Maverick Junction, Texas. Annelise wished she was driving through, wished she could view it as simply a spot on the map where she’d stopped for lunch one summer day.

 

Celebrate!!! JUST BREATHE by Tamara Mataya

Hi All!

Marisa here, and I'm so super excited that it's finally May 6th and you get to read another incredible, amazing, heart-pounding, panty-steaming novel from Tamara Mataya!

Tamara is the Amazon bestselling author of THE BEST LAID PLANS, and today is her release day for JUST BREATHE.

This is absolutely a 5-Star book with such deep emotional conflict and internal growth that I found myself tense and anxious for Elle to get it right. It's raw and edgy and filled with real decisions and challenges of today's world.

So help me spread the word with some tweets, retweets, status updates, and picture shares!

Find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamaraMatayaAuthor

Follow her on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/feakysnucker

Buy JUST BREATHE: 

http://www.amazon.com/Just-Breathe-Tamara-Mataya-ebook/dp/B00K5E9VBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399373357&sr=8-1&keywords=just+breathe+tamara

As always, thanks for stopping by!

xox ~Marisa

One Night With A Cowboy By Elizabeth Otto cover reveal!

Sexy!!!!!! I've read this book and it is HOT!


Cover Reveal: Elizabeth Otto’s ONE NIGHT WITH A COWBOY (Paint River Ranch #2)
Releasing May 12th, 2014 from Entangled Publishing

One night is never enough…

Jobless, broke and struggling to support herself and her invalid mother, paramedic Sophie Miller doesn’t have time or energy for a relationship. Especially with her mother’s clock ticking down. So when the sexy cowboy she meets at a carnival proposes a no-strings one-night stand, she’s all over it. Until her one-night stand shows up again and turns out to be everything she’s ever wanted.

Tucker Haywood has his hands full running Paint River Ranch and trying to deal with all the changes pulling the rug out from under him. His past has taught him it’s better to keep women at arm’s length, for their sake. Stubborn and temperamental, Tucker doesn’t have a clue how to deal with a city girl who’s scared of squirrels and dirt.

So when Sophie gets under his skin, he has to do whatever it takes to push her away. Even if it means losing the part of himself he never thought he’d find.


This is the second book in the Paint River Ranch series, but reads as a stand-alone. You can find the highly-acclaimed first book in the series, TEMPTING THE COWBOY, on Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

You can follow Elizabeth on Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Add to your Goodreads