I was a shy kid growing up. Not so much with the kids in my neighborhood or our family friends, but in school. I think part of it was my personality, and the other part may have been that I only spoke Greek at the time I started kindergarten. Back then, with a unique name like Toula and no way to communicate with the other kids in school, I became shy and insecure, which made it hard for me to make friends early on. I eventually picked up the language, but the shyness and insecurity stuck with me through elementary school, junior high, and high school, and even trickled into college a little bit. I actually thought I was invisible to most of the kids in school, but when my high school senior class voted me “Quietest” for our class characteristics, I realized I wasn’t as invisible as I thought. What got me through those lonely school years was the fact that I had a great family, and great neighborhood friends to go home to everyday after school.

I have no problem striking up a conversation with anyone these days, including some of my classmates from school, if I happen to bump into them. I love meeting new people. I've always been a bit chatty outside my school environment; that hasn't really changed. Since I'm so chatty, my friends find it hard to believe that I was actually quiet in school. I just tell them, “I’m making up for lost time.”

I went to a local college for two years and got my degree in Office Administration. I couldn’t imagine leaving home to go to school. I’m too much of a homebody. I've never lived outside of Connecticut and probably never will.

I didn't really want a career—I never had that desire, but I wanted to at least have a degree in something. Obviously, I was going to have to find a job at some point. Most of the time, when you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, they’ll tell you a doctor, a teacher, a firefighter, etc. Me . . . I’ve always wanted to be a mom. I always pictured myself married with kids, and I hoped to have the opportunity to stay at home with my kids, just like my mom did.

I got a job after college, in 1988, working for an advertising/promotion company as an Administrative Assistant. It was a small, family-owned business with only a handful of employees, which was great. I knew the corporate world wasn’t for me.

I liked my job, and my personal life was great. I was very happy and content. Then, in 1996, a certain tragedy changed everything. I knew my life was never going to be the same. There were also a few serious illnesses in my family that followed. Those experiences made me a stronger person . . . and each experience made me into the person I am today.

In late 1997, I met a great guy at a picnic that one of my cousins had that summer. After dating for six years, we finally decided to make it official . . . .

Glen and I got married in 2004

My dream of having a family and becoming a mom finally came true, when our daughter, Lexie, was born.  

In July 2004, after working at the same company for almost 16 years, I went on maternity leave. I had planned on returning to work a few months after my daughter was born, but after I held her in my arms for the first time, I knew I was going to have a hard time leaving her to go back to work. After talking it over with Glen, and with his support, I made the decision to leave the job I’d had since graduating college, to stay at home with my daughter. I'm happy to say that I got my wish. I’m now a stay-at-home mom and loving every minute of it. I’m so grateful to Glen for all his hard work and for every sacrifice he makes so I can have the opportunity to stay home and be with our daughter.

About seven months after our daughter was born, I started looking into ways I could make some extra money from home to help with the household expenses. After researching a few different business opportunities, I made the decision to start my own online business, Lil’ Sunshine Enterprises. When my daughter was a baby, her whole face would light up when she smiled, so I started calling her “little sunshine.” Since she was my inspiration for the business venture, Lil’ Sunshine seemed a fitting name . . . and so, Lil’ Sunshine Enterprises was born in March 2005, offering invitations, announcements, event favors, personalized candy bars, unique gifts, and more. Click on www.LilSunshineGifts.com to see all that I offer through my site.

I have my daughter to thank for inspiring me to start my own business, and now she’s done it again by inspiring me to write the children’s book, What Can We Do Next? The book is based on Lexie and her imaginary friend. If you click on A Book Is Born, you can read about how I came up with the idea for the book.

I never really thought about writing stories or books and trying to get them published. The things I have written are more for personal reasons than for sharing with everyone. Growing up I did write goofy scripts and put on variety shows with the neighborhood kids that we videotaped every summer. I also took guitar lessons and used to write down ideas for songs. A lot of the notes I jotted down were based on what I was going through in my life at the time, but the notes were never developed into actual songs. Now that I've published this book, I'm hoping to do more writing. I have a few other ideas for stories, but haven't had a chance to concentrate on them yet. Right now, I put my thoughts down . . . and I'm hoping I can eventually find the time to start working on them soon.

A few extra tidbits:

• I'm the oldest of three. I have a younger sister and a younger brother.

• I love the music, movies, and TV shows of the 80s. Whenever I hear an 80s song or catch an 80s TV show, etc., it always brings back some great memories. I also love some 70s music. Whenever I hear a certain song from the 70s or 80s, I can usually think back in time and remember where I was, or what I was doing at that time the song was playing. 

•  I've always been a night owl, since I was a little kid. These days, I love to stay up between midnight and 4:00 a.m. That's the time I get most of my work done. There are no interruptions . . . . it's so nice and quiet. I'll put my 80s music on and usually work on returning emails, marketing, website updates, or any orders that I have to fill. I don't know what it is about that time of night (or morning, actually), but I've always loved staying up. 

•   I'm a huge junk food junkie and chocoholic.

• Two of my all-time favorite movies are The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz. I had the pleasure of traveling to Austria back in 1995 and had the opportunity to go on a Sound of Music tour. I got to see all of the places where the movie was filmed. It's amazing that even after all of the years that have gone by, a lot of the spots were exactly the same. Of course, I had to recreate some of the scenes from the movie, and it's all captured on video. 

•  In 2002, we went to Vegas and had the chance to visit a wax museum . . . and guess who was there? Judy Garland. Pretty life-like isn't she? 

Because I'm a big "Wizard of Oz" fan, I always said that if I ever had a daughter, she would definitely have to be "Dorothy" for Halloween at some point, whether she wanted to or not. Well, Halloween 2007, when she was three years old, Lexie decided that she wanted to be Dorothy for Halloween, and without any influence from me . . . imagine that! To make it fun for her, we dressed up too.  I wore a witch’s costume, and even made my husband dress as a scarecrow. He wasn't too happy about wearing the hat, especially because the straw itched . . . but he was a good sport about it. 

If you've made it this far, you've actually made it through all my rambling. Thank you for taking the time to visit my site. I always enjoy meeting new people, so please feel free to contact me anytime. I’d love to hear from you.

Take care.

Toula Magi

t.magi@yahoo.com