HELLO GORGEOUS. IS IT TIME TO REDEFINE WHAT LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST MEANS?

You put me on the spot

I think I almost had a writer’s block. And then it developed to the longest blog post ever.


I mean come on, you nominated me to the Hot Blogger Calendar and now I have to show that that’s what I am. One steamin’ piece of the blogosphere’s best.

Since I have been moving, I actually almost missed the whole thing. On Wednesday morning I clicked to the Hot Blogger Calendar site and realized it was full game on. There were bloggers who had gotten over 300 votes by Wednesday. And I had 15 votes.

Oh, I’m so thankful for those 15 people who had voted me, I would have been so so sad, if there hadn’t been any votes. I noticed I was listed only by my full name (now it is changed, thanks Jane and Sarah), and realized many people know me better just as Skimbaco, since I also used my company name as my twitter handle for a long time. I was trying to explain myself this must be the reason for my low votes. Of course, all my best friends are also on the list.

I panicked. I have been tooting my horn as a PR person and as a social media and networking girl, and here I was. No votes (well, 15), and I hadn’t done anything for promote my presence in the race. I had forgotten the whole thing due all the other things going on.

I had two options.

Just lay low, and hope people didn’t even notice that I was on the list, almost hope I wasn’t on the list, so I wouldn’t have to do anything. As a marketing and PR-girl, self-promotion is my biggest weakness.

My other option was to get up and do something, and at least save my face as not being the girl who didn’t even try. And you know me – shait happens to me all the time ( Shait = just a little Germanlish word we made up a few years ago, so kids wouldn’t learn a bad word for poop), and I’m not really afraid of failure, but what I can’t take is not trying at all.

So I did. I took the Hot Blogger Calendar race by the horns.

First I called my best friend, and she calmed me down from the panicked situation of me feeling being publicly totally humiliated and helped me to get a game plan. I realized that I shouldn’t just give up on it, and not just for me, but also for Jane and Sarah, who have been working really hard to get the whole calendar thing going on. They work so hard, and Jane is a dear friend of mine, I should do my best to promote the Hot Blogger Calendar, and show how excited I am to be part of it. Show what an honor it is to be part of it.

The Hot Blogger Calendar is as good as we all make it together, I thought. I had to be part of the race, I had to have the all-it-takes attitude. I had to do it not just for me, but for everyone involved.

Since I practically know half of the other amazing female hot blogger candidates, and we all know a lot of same people, I knew I had to pull out the big guns. The only way I could even just to save my face, was to use my connections in Finland – these were the ones nobody else knew. Me and my friend contacted almost everyone we knew in Finland, and posted about it to one discussion board we are both part of.

What I didn’t expect that the discussion board conversation went crazy, and there were also haters who said they’d rather vote someone else than me. They even started googling other contestants! I know my blog traffic has exploded since Wednesday, and I know suddenly even The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom has 5% of her readers coming from Finland. This is what I meant – this is as good of a thing as we all make it together. I have made a difference, even if I’m not among the winners. I helped others to get votes and traffic too.

I honestly first thought that there will be only 6 women and 6 men in the calendar.

There were over 230 women in the list, and I had 15 votes and wasn’t even in the top 100 on Wednesday morning. Mission impossible and I knew it. I still started “campaigning”- what I had to loose? I had everything to gain.

I posted a shocking picture of me. No, I wasn’t naked when it was taken, and my kids were running around the house while my husband took it in our kitchen. I was a bit shocked that some of the contestants were taking the word “hot” meaning sexy. I thought it was something totally different. There was no way I’d wear sexy lingerie for a photo, nor say that I’m sexy. So I posted a photo, which many people knowing me have thought is hilariously funny.

I guess for many people being naked or even remotely applying to it is a bigger issue than wearing sexy lingerie in public. I don’t know. I’m from Finland, and over there we go to public saunas naked all the time. And what’s better than rolling in the snow making butt-marks with our sauna-hot nekkid booties (really, I have done it, many times). Showing a little shoulder – I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Besides, I don’t even own any sexy nightgowns. I sleep naked.

Funny thing was, that my picture and link to my blog was posted on a website offering “office safe peeking”. I’m sure they were disappointed when they came (in big numbers) to my blog to “peek some skin” and saw my pictures of lemonade and Olympic uniforms. But I think these office “peekers” voted too.

By Thursday evening I was 15th on the list. I think around that time someone told me there actually will be 12 women in the calendar and I thought “Holy Sheit, I have a chance!”

Thanks to all my friends, and their friends, and all the wonderful Finns, by Friday morning I was 10th on the list. By this time many had already given up with hope, but good 30 candidates were still fighting for the spots.

On Friday I thought I had done it all. I had contacted my friends, I had asked their help. I had mixed feelings of my photo, maybe some people thought I was really trying to be sexy, while I just wanted to be funny. I had so many direct messages from men I had never even talked to before on Twitter, and even had to write someone an email saying “I’m interested in the blog ad program your company offers but I’ll pass on the amish porn” (don’t ask, he said something about a buggy).

I consulted with my best girlfriend again, and asked if she thought it was appropriate to send an e-mail to all my contacts, including my customers. I have about 10 different newsletter lists and finally as one of the last straws I sent out e-mails to half of them yesterday. And the votes started pouring in.

The thing is though, that they are pouring in for the other contestants too. I have been going from the 9th position to the 15th today, and I am so close being “in”, and so close being “out”. Can’t you see that I’m passionate about this, and I shouldn’t be forced to say “Auf Wiedersehen” to the Hot Blogger Calendar?

Just keep voting.

I promise, with this passion I’ll make it worthwhile for having me in the calendar.



Ps. Thanks for linkage:

Hot Blogger Calendar
Joolz
NeenMachine
  1. Sorry again for causing you any problems by nominating you. I hope winning was worth the trouble and “humiliation” you went through.

    And for the record, I was one of the people who took “hot” to mean sexy. I’m sorry, too, that such a thing shocked you.

  2. Great ! Voted for you too. Tuija wrote a real good post about the calendar vote and I rushed to support Finnish bloggers.

    =D

  3. I voted for you before you even showed your purdy face and started the campaign. Everything you said was well said and I love your honesty. Personally if you gave away a cute pair of those bug shoes and reqquired people to vote you’d be there up top. Sad that the people on top did everything and anything to get people to vote. It wasn’t about reputation (which you have) for them it was about being popular.(so not the case with you) So for anyone who still needs to vote I highly suggest you take a full look at Katja overall. Kuddos for staying fabulous!

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Skimbaco Lifestyle

Skimbaco Lifestyle is for nomadic trailblazers, fearless founders, rebel leaders and people who live life to the fullest.