The Monday after I graduated from college I began a career as a flight attendant traveling the world and having a wonderful time. My college friends began to marry off and I made new friends who also married off. So, I made more friends who mostly married off as well. By this point, I had been in 17 weddings and maid of honor in six of those. I went to visit a friend and was playing Barbie with her daughter when I was informed by this 6 year old that Barbie could not be happy without a prince. I said, "Of course she could! I was happy! I loved my family and had seen the world." But, this little princess told be it could not be done and she had all the fairy tales to prove her case. All princesses only ended up happy when they found their prince! On my flight home, I thought about this conversation and decided fairy tales must change! I was not anti-prince. Just anti-damsel in distress. I wanted girls to marry because they found the love of their life after they loved their life. Because I knew even a prince could not make a miserable person happy. True happiness comes from within and from helping others. So, I wrote a book Princess Bubble and published it with a friend. We cashed in our savings and decided it was worth the expense to empower girls and remind them they are a princess with or without a prince. Word got out about our message and we appeared on The Today Show and CNN. But right in the middle of spreading the meaning of "Happily Ever After" my world crashed and my father suddenly died. We were thick as thieves and I was holding back tears of pain while making TV appearances about how to be happy. I still believe my message but missed my sweet daddy. Meanwhile, my mother told me she had someone to fix me up with. A State Senator,Bill Hamrick, who had been at Auburn the same time I was and who was also in his 40's and single. I did not think much about this but thought it was worth meeting him. Bill's mother was also working on Bill encouraging him to call me and he had even less interest in meeting someone his mother suggested. But, one night he had a dream and remembered a girl he had seen in college who smiled at him and he did not have the never to approach. The next day, Bill clicked on the link to my CNN appearance to see who this girl was his mother wanted him to meet and saw I was the girl from his dream the night before. We met, fell in love and were married 6 months later. Our wedding day, I shed a few tears and looked up at the sky begging God for a sign from my daddy. Shortly after we said our vows a double rainbow appeared across the sky and I know it was God and my father smiling down on us! First, I found happily ever after. Then I found a prince to share it with!

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Mr. Bubble Enters the Scene...

Princess Bubble co-author, Susan Johnston, married Georgia State Senator Bill Hamrick, Mr. Bubble, on June 13th.

Recently, my life took an unexpected turn I NEVER expected for myself and I met a prince. This relationship has made me even more passionate about the message of Princess Bubble because we both feel so strongly about being happy first and then as secure happy people you are able to encourage each other to fulfill their dreams and be a better person. Not expect the other person to be the dream” said Susan Hamrick.

Princess Bubble stars a princess who is confused by the traditional fairy tale messages that say she must find her “prince” before she can live “happily ever after.” Princess Bubble dons her “thinking crown” to research traditional fairy tales, interviews married girlfriends, and even takes counsel from her mother, who advises her to sign up at FindYourPrince.comFindYourPrince.com. With a little help from her fairy godmother (this is still a fairy tale after all), Ms. Bubble discovers that “living happily ever after” is not about finding a prince. “True happiness,” the book reveals, “is found by loving God, being kind to others, and being comfortable with who you are already!”

“We are definitely not anti-Prince,” said Webb. “We just believe that young girls today are bombarded with so much inaccurate advice on how to build their self-esteem—messages that focus on the outside rather than what’s within. We want to change that message.” Johnston Hamrick, recently married, said, “Princess Bubble is a better version of us. She is educated, well traveled, wants to make a difference, owns her own castle and had also been a bridesmaid and is told in the story that she will wear the bridesmaid dress again.

Happily Ever After can be shared or lived out on your own. But, first each girl must realize she is a valuable princess that is worthy of respect from herself and others.

Happily Ever After! And welcome Mr. Bubble!!

Modern Princesses Redefine Fairy Tale Endings for Young Readers!

You know how the story goes—Prince Charming, “Happily Ever After,” The End, right? Is this the ONLY option today’s moms want to share with their young daughters? Two successful girlfriends are offering parents an updated version of the traditional fairy tale. No longer a “Damsel in Distress,” this princess travels the world, helps others, and finds “happily ever after” even before she finds her Prince!

With wisdom gleaned from their careers as independent, globe-trotting flight attendants, first-time authors Susan Johnston Hamrick and Kimberly Webb have crafted a new generation of fairy tales that celebrates singleness and self worth. A contemporary fairy tale for all ages, Princess Bubble was written to reduce the overwhelming sense of failure, self-doubt, and despair that many youth face.

Three most common disorders in girls: low self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders

 In 2003, breast implants tripled from 3,872 to 11,326 in girls under age 18

 Girls ages 12 to 19 spent over $8 million on cosmetics in 2005

(Source: Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls,2007)

 “I adore sharing the Princess Bubble message with my daughter because it teaches her that happiness comes from within,” said Kim Daniels, mother of two.