Bio of Barbara Nowak

Come September 24, 2010 I'm getting away from it all and bonding with my girlfriends (and Saucy Sister, of course) in the prestigious Napa Valley.  We have 12 spaces available if you'd like to join us.   Here's our exclusive itinerary.  Call Tamara at 877-494-6386 to reserve your place in the vineyards.

Hi!  I'm Barbara, first-born of the Saucy Sisters.  Birth order experts will tell you that the oldest child in a family develops good leadership qualities.  Of course, they also warn that certain children may become overbearing, expecting everyone else to do what they tell them to.  You'll have to ask Beverly which statement best describes me.

I once had a boss in my previous life in corporate America who said I was really good at delegating.  I don't think he was paying me a compliment.  And these days there's no one for me to delegate to.  I've been trying for years to get my husband Paul to bend to my will.  So far, it's been a failed effort. 

Without any children to boss around ( I mean nurture), I've applied my leadership skills to training our two dogs, Rocky and Daisy.  "And how's that workin' for you?" as Dr. Phil might ask.  As well as can be expected, considering that while I desire complete obedience, I rarely enforce it...or get it. 

In fact, it's probably the other way around.  When Daisy needs more room in bed to stretch out at night, I willingly curl up in a ball at the corner of the mattress so I won't disturb her sleep.  When Rocky demands entry at the front door, I automatically run down two flights of stairs to accommodate him.  As you can see, I'm highly trainable. 

The professors at Beaver College weren't all that aware of my trainability.  (Yes, Beaver College.  Since I matriculated, it's been renamed Arcadia University.  When high school students started doing their college searches online, they were often blocked from the Beaver College site.  The need for a new moniker became obvious.)  I didn't exactly put my best academic foot forward at Beaver.  But it was a memorable four years that netted me a diploma and friends who remain an important part of my life decades later.

A group of us still gets together every year for a long weekend.  What do we do?  I'm sure you can guess.  We eat (lavishly), drink (too much but short of what might hurt us the next day), hang spoons on our noses, laugh ourselves silly and generally act like we're back in college.  Or worse. 

After college I headed straight to the nation's capital with my political science degree in tow.  I ended up at a high-powered Washington lobby organization taking influential media types out to 4-star restaurants for 3-martini lunches.  (Or was it 3-star restaurants for 4-martini lunches?)  Washington was excellent training ground for my eventual move to sunny L..A., where I easily transferred my martini skills to power lunches at The Ivy. 

That was then...and this is now.  How, you might wonder, did I get from L.A. to Franklin, Tennessee.  The simple answer is country music.  My aforementioned husband Paul, after years of toiling in the legal trenches, decided he wanted to become a country songwriter.  He came home from work one day more depressed than usual after learning that his writing partner was leaving for Nashville.  When I asked Paul if he wanted to move to Nashville too, his answer was direct:  "Yes."  That was it. 

If you're wondering how that all worked out, I have two responses.  You can find some of Paul's "food" songs for download in our store.  And he's practicing law again as his day job.

My day job is at Saucy Sisters World Headquarters -- currently on the third floor of our house in Franklin.  When I'm not writing, recording, rewriting, cooking or editing, I'm full-time Concierge to Rocky and Daisy.  And that's just the way we all like it!