Vanna's Voice

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays!

On August, 15th, 2011, Wheel of Fortune staff members and I joined Maxwell House and Rebuilding Together for a volunteer event at the Gary Center in La Habra, CA. The day started with me unveiling the current donation totals that Maxwell House has given to Rebuilding Together as part of our Bonus Round partnership. Each time someone wins the Bonus Round $2,500 is added to that total. Can you believe we're already at $87,500? I hope we make it to $200,000 by the end of the year! Rebuilding Together will put it to good use helping communities across the country. After the speeches, we all rolled up our sleeves to make improvements to the playground, paint railings, build planters, plant herbs and vegetables that people can use and distribute kits of food to families who need it most. After all our hard work, the day came to a close with the Gary Center's Founder, Allen Stafford, raising a flag that flew above The Capitol Building in Washington D.C. on the center's new flag pole. Everyone left the event feeling so good about helping out the Gary Center and community of La Habra. It was a fantastic day, and I'm so thrilled to have been a part of it.

Back in June, Pat, Alex and I were featured in USA Weekend magazine's "Why We Love Game Shows" cover story. Here's a behind-the-scenes image of me from the photo shoot.

Since Kiki is not with me anymore, I decided to get a new kitty. My daughter named her Coco. She's a Bengal. I still have Stella who is 5 years old. The first few days after I brought her home were hard. Stella did not like us adding a new member to the family! But as you can see in the photos, now they love each other and play and sleep together.

While shooting on location in New Orleans, we encountered some sudden southern rain, which led me to ask, "How do we shoot in the rain?!"

It's Fabulous Food Week in New Orleans, and I want to know, what's your favorite dish? Share your favorite in the comments.

We're so excited to be back in the Big Easy!

In case you missed it, Pat and I recently shared a few eco-friendly tips that could help save you money.

For those of you who didn't see my submission video, I claimed to have a mock affliction called "The Vanna Effect". After spending a week living the high life in L.A., I can now say I have a very real affliction- "The Post-Vanna Effect." Its symptoms include difficulty transitioning back into reality, delusions of grandeur, and a need to wear a ball gown at all times. How does one contract this rare disease? Let me take you back to the beginning.

My grand prize trip started in the wee hours of Monday morning. The lack of daylight couldn't dampen Joanna, (my guest), and I's spirits though, because we were flying first class to Hollywood! The plane ride was incredible- fine dining, hot towels, seats that lied flat! We almost didn't want to touch back down to land. Land started looking a lot better, though, when we found out we'd be traveling to our hotel in a limousine with our own personal driver at the wheel!

Several champagne glasses of soda later, we were rolling up to the Sheraton Universal in style. As if we weren't already feeling like rock stars, we were informed by the front desk upon check-in that we'd be staying in the vice-presidential suite! Wheel of Fortune had made us L.A. royalty.

The next morning, our driver took us to CBS studios for my dress fitting. When we got into the building I was in for a surprise- Vanna and a camera crew were there to greet me! Meeting Vanna for the first time was unreal, she was so kind and made me feel right at home. After that, it was time to get down to business and try on some dresses! There was everything from fiery red to feathery pink, but in the end we all decided I would wear a gorgeous, beaded, strapless gown for the show. I was all ready for my close-up.

Finally, the taping day arrived. We were taken to the Sony lot where Wheel of Fortune is filmed. As soon as I stepped out of the car I was met by the camera crew and my prep team, and I was whisked away to be transformed into Vanna for the day! It started with a manicure/ pedicure, and was followed by a rehearsal with the Wheel contestants. I found out that Vanna's job is a lot harder than it looks! You have to remember so many things at once in a fast-moving environment: always smile, clap, turn towards camera, don't trip, walk fast but graceful, don't trip, know where to expect any letters called in each puzzle, remember how far into the puzzleboard to stand, don't trip, face Pat, keep smiling, make sure you light up every letter, look into the camera, and don't stop clapping!!! The letters are also trickier to light up than Vanna makes it look; you have to press on the screen with a lot of force. I was getting so much advice during the rehearsal I started feeling overwhelmed and nervous, I didn't want to mess up my one shot on national television!

After lunch, I was taken into hair and makeup and the time until my big debut was ticking away. It wasn't too long before my wardrobe was complete, and my taping was next! I met up with Vanna and Pat behind the puzzleboard, where all the mysteries of Wheel of Fortune lie. I was having such a great time talking to them, that before I knew it I wasn't nervous anymore. They were we so much more wonderful and supportive than I could have imagined. When my puzzles came up, I was thankfully able to remember everything, and, more importantly- I didn't trip! Even better, the winner of my show won two trips, a lot of cash, and A CAR! The whole experience was a blast, and over in the blink of an eye. When the taping was finished, I got to see the four other contest finalists and my family, who had flown out to see my show. As we were wrapping everything up I was told that I got to keep my beautiful dress! What a dream! Not long after, we returned to our hotel and the big day was over.

So there you have it, how I came down with my "Post-Vanna" predicament. Once you live the Vanna life it's hard to go back, but I'm taking it day by day.

I'd like to say a special thank you to my Wheel of Fortune "prep team" who helped guide me through the week. I miss all of you characters! And, an enormous thank you to the Executive Producer, Harry Friedman, for making this opportunity available. I will never forget the friends I made during the trip or the great memories I now have. Thank you so much everyone!

It's hard to believe that it wasn't too long ago that I came across the Vanna for a Day contest. I was watching a clip from Live with Regis and Kelly when I first made the discovery. Kelly was talking about the contest and making a plea to take up the Vanna torch and be the temporary glamorous, graceful face of Wheel of Fortune. If other leading ladies were hot on trail of the contest, I knew the competition had to be steep! I visited the official website, and the prize was just too good to be true. A trip for two to LA for a week, AND the chance to star as one of the greatest television personalities on America's favorite game!? I've been a Wheel of Fortune fan my whole life, but I never thought there would be a chance for me to be on the other end of the T.V. set, and as Vanna White! I was so excited about the contest I popped my head into my roommate, Joanna's, door to tell her what I'd found, and before I could even say I was thinking of entering, she started screaming, "You're going to win! YOU'RE GOING TO WIN!" I told her that if she'd help me film my submission, she'd be my LA guest if I won. I mean, she was almost jumping up and down, who could leave that support system behind? And so, the great plan was hatched.

Everyone has been asking me how I came up for my video idea, and I have nothing more to say than it really just popped into my head shortly after finding the contest. I wanted to do something funny and creative to make my video stand out, and what better than a mock letter touching affliction that occurred as a result of watching too much Wheel of Fortune? I knew if I had fun making it, people would have fun watching my entry.

Finding out I was a finalist is such a great memory. I got the call one evening, and Joanna was right in my doorway trying to get news out of me. When I hung up, I told her I was one of the five finalists and so began a long period of girly squeals, laughing, and jumping up and down in circles. And, in moments when we were really getting ahead of ourselves, deciding who our celebrity boyfriends were going to be while in LA. When our excitement could no longer be contained, we were out the door and running through our dorm parking lot. It was a fun night.

The online voting period really took me aback. I started an online event that I invited friends to in order to spread the word, and it spread like virtual wildfire. Friends of friends of friends were suddenly voting diligently for me every day! The support I got was overwhelming and heart warming. My local newspaper in Wooster, OH even ran a front-page story on my finalist status. It was astounding how many people believed in me, and worked to help me succeed. I cannot possibly thank them enough.

A couple of weeks later, it was time for the winner to be contacted. I'd already been told it would be around a time that I had a class, and about forty minutes in I excused myself to take the call. It was a woman's voice on the other end, but not just any woman, Vanna White herself!!! I was so excited when she told me I'd won, but I was trying to stay calm and quiet because I was still in my classroom building. When I hung up, I couldn't believe it. Then I couldn't believe I had to go back to class and not tell anyone. So I guess you could say my win was awesome and agonizing at the same time.

Above all else, I have two wonderful ladies to thank most for this incredible experience. The lovely Vanna White who so generously welcomed a stranger into her life for a day, and Kelly Ripa! Kelly, I'm sorry that I took the title from you; I hope you can forgive me. But, if you ever need the day off, I'd love to sub in for you next! After all, I do have some experience now!

Tune in Thursday, March 24th, to see how Katie did as Vanna For a Day!