Vanna's Voice

   

April 20, 2006 is a day I will never forget! I received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of the proudest days of my life! I remember when I first moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and walked down Hollywood Blvd. I saw all the stars names embedded into the sidewalk. I said to myself, "One day I'm going to have my own star!"

The moral to this story is... never give up. Follow your dreams. You CAN achieve them!

My star is located in front of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

During Going Green Week, I wore a few dresses made by ecoSkin, a company that creates clothes for a healthy environment. Watch this video to learn more.

Here is a photo of my two cats. Stella is the grayish one and Kiki is the brownish one. Stella is three and Kiki is eight. They love to sleep with me every night. I have had cats my whole life. I wouldn't know what to do without them! They follow me everywhere and sit in my lap constantly.

I cleaned out my refrigerator this past spring, and you won't believe what I found!

Do you want to know something about me that no one else knows? It's silly but... I wear unusual colors of nail polish on my toes! My favorite is blue, but I wear all the funky colors! Every once in a while, I might wear a normal color like hot pink but rarely. I always do a French manicure on my fingers.

What color nail polish do you like to wear?

I was cleaning out my pantry and found an old half-empty box of instant mashed potatoes, which I hadn't used for a couple of years. I washed its contents down the garbage disposal, just like I always do with any leftover food. About an hour later, I was at the sink again washing out a mug when I realized that the water was not going down the drain. It was clogged. Oh my gosh, the instant potatoes swelled up in the pipes! I tried to unstop it with a plunger but that didn't work. I had to call a plumber and on a Sunday! Well, two hundred dollars later, I learned my lesson. Be careful what you put down the garbage disposal!

By the way, this happened to me once before with collard greens. So, don't put cooked greens down the drain either!

  Here are a few photos from SeaWorld Orlando where we taped four weeks of shows during season 26. I was fortunate enough to get close to the animals during the Wheel of Fortune prize shoot. Above, you can see me in the water with a beluga whale, posing next to a sea lion, and standing very close to Shamu. What wonderful creatures they all are.

Have you visited SeaWorld?

One of the first comments I get when I am recognized is, "You look so much smaller and shorter in person!" I'm not sure why that is, but they do say that the camera adds about 10 pounds to you. For those of you that are interested, I am 5 feet 6 inches tall and weigh about 115 pounds. Pat Sajak is 5 feet 10 1/2 inches tall. People have always thought that he was short, but he's not.

Many years ago when I was visiting Paris, France, I went to a taping of the French version of Wheel of Fortune. It was very strange seeing another girl turning my letters! I wanted to jump off the bleachers where I was sitting and go help her but of course, I didn't. Did you know that locally produced versions of Wheel of Fortune air in a dozen other countries, including Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Brazil? Our version airs in Canada, too!

Have you ever searched any popular video websites for clips of Wheel of Fortune from around the world? I'd bet you'd enjoy a few of them!

Do you have more than one child? Do you ever spend one-on-one time with them? I think it's a healthy thing to incorporate into your life. I know we all have such busy lives these days and it's easier to take all the kids out at the same time, but our children grow up so fast and then they are gone. It's good to have some private one-on-one time together.

I try and spend individual time with each of my two kids. For example, I will take one of them out shopping, for ice cream, to the movies, or even out to dinner. I think that they enjoy this special attention. Try it and let me know how it goes!