I love this! Are you Yankee or Dixie? Take the quiz and see.

My Yankee bellefriend Dena Marino from Staten Island, NY, sent me this quiz. You remember Dena don’t ya? She’s was the woman I blogged about that loves to toot, toot, toot her northern horn full out and on her terms!

Dena is 48% Yankee, that’s according to the quiz, not Dena. Dena would tell you she is 100% Yankee. My score was 61% Dixie, a definitive Southern score according to the computation. I think 61% reflects a little southern rebellion don’t you?

Give it a try….it’s fun! Are you Dixie or Yankee?

100% is pure Dixie and 0% is pure Yankee.

Access the quiz here. Be sure to let me know your score!

Okay, so… Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me… Happy Birthday to me!

This past weekend, I celebrated my 54th birthday, and it felt FABULOUS! As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much more comfortable celebrating me and allowing myself to be showered with love, affection and adoration from the people around me. Celebrating who you are IS the Rebel Belle’s first step in Discovering Freedom and Bold Self-Expression, you know. And, these days I’m much better at poking fun at myself and having a boatload of fun.

Last summer, I hosted my first The Rebel Belle Rocks the Weekend party and workshop. A blast was had by all. I tailored the workshop from Suzanne Falter-Barns’ How Much Joy workshop, a fabulous piece of work.

Well, this year for my birthday, I decided to keep the fun going and see just HOW much joy and fun we really could stand. Being that I’m into bold self-expression and all, I asked my guests to create and wear a hat that expressed the essence of who they were.

I’d like to share a few of the pictures with you. Are these hats creative or what? This is truly southern bold self-expression at its finest!

Women at times are so busy taking care of the needs of others, they forget to unconditionally love, honor and nurture themselves. They hesitate to celebrate and openly share their uniqueness with others and fearlessly make themselves #1 in their own lives.

Recently, I received this email. It reminded me how fabulous women are, how we love unconditionally and the gift we are to the world.

I share this with you—because it says it all.

One Flaw In Women

Women have strengths that amaze men. They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don’t take “no” for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They’ll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love. They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH. You are amazing. You are unique. You are a gift to the world. Celebrate you!

In celebration of women, I am offering a free 45-minute consultation with the purchase of my e-guide, The Rebel Belle Guide to Bold Self-Expression – 7 Steps to Discovering Freedom Full Out & On Your Terms! This one-time offer and bonus will end December 31, 2006. Order now.

The final question, “What guidance would you offer to young southern women of today?” What poured forth was way wise wisdom for any woman, anywhere, at any age…

Listen to your own voice and trust your own instincts. The earlier you tap into your intuition and trust it, the better off you will be.

Be who you are all the time. Trust yourself, trust your inner voice. Take time to get to know you. Send time with yourself. Get to know what you really want.

Speak as well as write your hopes and dreams, no matter how outrageous you think they are. Don’t let other people limit what you know, believe and want to do. Keep dreaming, dream as big as you possibly can. The only thing that stands in the way is you.

Work your assets! Use your charm.

Be yourself. Don’t be afraid. Step out of the box. Embrace your freedom.

Listen to yourself rather than the culture around you.

I would tell them to break out of the box… but would they know what that means? Be independent!

Get out of the mold and be yourself. Think for yourself. Stand on your own two feet. Know who you are. Know your beliefs, thoughts and feelings and then share that part of who you are with others.

Stay true to yourself. Get quiet and listen to your heart. If you are passionate about something, pursue it and go after it. Don’t let others stifle or limit your dreams. “If it flips your skirt, go after it! Follow your dreams!

And, from my northern “bellefriends”…Respect yourself, your values and your opinions. Don’t let others tell you that you don’t know what is true for you.

Let yourself be who you are, whether it fits into an already determined label, path, and identity or whether it doesn’t. Let yourself be fully who you are Do what you enjoy and do whatever it takes to know what that is. Listen to yourself.

Thank you ladies for sharing your hearts, truth and bucket.

So what did my southern “bellefriends” say about their “southern roots” and how it expanded the expression of who they are?

The “be seen and not heard” thing taught me to listen on a deeper level.

I thought the stork burped or something and dropped me off. Being uncomfortable compelled me to find my own internal fit.

All of the experiences, the good, bad and indifferent played a part in molding me into the fabulous phenomenal woman I am today. I wouldn’t change a thing.

I got to embrace the softness of being a woman. The southern softness is deep, essential and totally in my essence.

I am beginning to bloom at 50, discovering I don’t have to be what others want me to be. The southern label and all it brings encouraged me to get out of that small box. I am strong, single, independent and proud of it.

Thanks to my southern role model mom, I am a strong independent woman, who can be accommodating without losing herself.

I’ve learned I do have choices. I could close the book on what everyone taught me and re-open it myself. I get to choose my morals and values and I get to be me.

It’s taught me to be true to myself, to think for myself and stand on my own two feet.

I was taught to follow certain rules and roles or be ostracized. Who I was supposed to be felt limiting. So I have broken out of the mold to get to MY real roots, and be me!

Doesn’t this sound like all women who seek to re-claim their voice, power and passion and live life on their own terms?

I believe women have buckets of wisdom to share from their personal journeys. Stay tuned for the answers as I ask my oh so wise southern “bellefriends”, “What guidance and perspective would you share with young southern women today?”

Continuing from yesterday, the second question I asked these southern belles was, “How did being a southern woman tend to keep you small or hinder you in the expression of who you are?” Their answers:

In my professional life I found an attitude of, “Hi honey, that’s nice, now go home and cook something”.

I was raised to be eye candy, have sex, make babies, and hire someone else to do the work. Men are the breadwinners in the family.

The southern rules of the polite exterior and sharp critical interior didn’t make sense to me.

I was told I was too loud, and that if I didn’t look like everyone else I had a serious character flaw.

As a black southern woman I felt invisible, unrecognized and not acknowledged.

I was taught it was arrogant to “toot my horn”.

I thought l had to cross over and take on more of a male role to be successful and powerful as a woman.

I was challenged to fit into the lace, frills, fru fru and “you all” type definition.

I thought I had a standard to live up to and it was quite confusing for me.

I didn’t know until I was a teenager that it was okay to use something other than white toilet paper or white sheets.

I think it was just the freedom and play. I really get how the charm benefited me, and yet when I moved out of that mold it was as if “all eyes were on me with who do you think you are?”

I was crushed that I couldn’t sit Indian style in my dress.

Stayed tuned for tomorrow. Hear how the southern belle label enhanced and expanded the expression and power of these same women.