Leaving no Rhinestone Unturned

 This has come up in conversation a lot recently so I feel like I am ready to be open about it. For a pretty long time I have been a big fan of Dolly Parton.   If you know me pretty well you know this doesn't seem to fit my personality but I have always just appreciated that she is proud of who she is. Sure she is slightly outlandish but she is her own person and she has enough sense of humor to make fun of herself once in a while.

My admiration for Dolly began at a fairly young age but has hit a growth spurt recently.  Every Christmas for as long as I can remember we listened to the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Christmas album as we decorated our Christmas tree. And we listened to this on our record player. I mean with a cover like this one who could resist adding it to their Christmas playlist? 

 My first Dolly Christmas Miracle occurred during my freshman year of college. I went to Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania for a year (very far from home). I was shopping in the local CVS and wonder of all wonders, I found the Kenny and Dolly Christmas album on CD for sale in that CVS! The other girls I was shopping were at a loss for why I was so excited and because I was still pretty shy about my love for Dolly, I did not really explain it to them.

This year my Dolly Christmas Miracle was beyond my wildest dreams.  First, I had heard that Dolly stared in a lower budget Christmas movie called "A Smokey Mountain Christmas". I was disappointed that I couldn't get this movie on my Netflix but I was willing to let it go. Then Christmas day what should be showing on CMT but "A Smokey Mountain Christmas". I was no cinematic masterpiece and there was this weird plot twist with a witch but all in all I am glad I can say I have seen it.

Not impressed with that chain of events? Just wait.  Before Christmas I entered a radio contest online to win tickets to see "9 to 5 The musical" at the Peace Center in Greenville. If you don't know "9 to 5" was  a film staring Dolly that became the highest grossing comedy of 1980.  I figured I hadn't won the contest when no one contacted me after Christmas.  Tuesday morning I woke up to my phone ringing,  I put on my best "awake voice" and answered it. The nice lady on the phone informed me that I had not only won 8 tickets to "9 to 5" I had also won dinner for 8 and a limo ride to the show!  The only catch was our tickets were for that night! So my sister and I called our fellow Dolly fans (yes there are others out there and they know who they are!) and we had a truly magical night. I don't know if you are used to riding around in a limo, but I am not and the "where did I leave my limo?" jokes really didn't ever get old.

What am I doing now to deal with post-magical Dolly/ Limo night letdown? (that feeling you inevitably feel when you wake up the morning after a fun night and you don't find a limo waiting to take you to work). Besides being unable to get "9 to 5" out of my head, I  discovered this gem of a book.

 This really is a great read and I am gathering so many priceless Dolly quotes. My favorite so far: "It costs a lot to make a person look this cheap". True that Dolly. True that.