Sunday, January 16, 2011

There she is... Miss America!

Before I start posting about our trip, I thought I'd share one more blog about "regular life" here in Michigan!

I just posted about Auburn winning the National Championship, now I thought I'd post about my birthday night and my Miss America party! (A National Championship AND the Miss America Pageant all on my birthday week.... could it get any better?!? ;)

For those of you who don't know me well, you may not know that it was my lifelong dream to become Miss America. I wrote about it on my old blog here (and about how God changed my path). Though I no longer compete in pageants, I did compete for 19 years, so it was a BIG part of my life. And while I never fulfilled my dream of becoming Miss America, I still love the Miss America Organization (and all the wonderful memories I have from my time as a titleholder!)

So, every year, I try to get a group of girls together to watch Miss America! We wear crowns and girl talk and just have a fun girl's night. This year, it just happened to fall on my BIRTHDAY!!! So some sweet girlfriends came over to help me celebrate. Check out the pictures below!


First, my sweet husband took me out for PF Chang's (my favorite!) 
for my birthday lunch, so I have to include this pic! Thanks honey!

This was our "spread" for the Miss America party! 
Notice the crown shaped candy bowl and the silver tiara's stacked up for everyone to wear! ;)

A close up of the Miss America Crown cookies! I didn't do a great job decorating them, 
but they still turned out ok! I was SO excited to find a 4 point crown cookie cutter at Hobby Lobby! 
For years you've only been able to buy one online (for $13 a piece, no thank you!) 
The Miss America crown has 4 points & they stand for 4 values - Style, Service, Scholarship, & Success!

It was my friend Jessica's birthday too! 
Here we are making a wish before blowing out our candles....

All the girls in our tiara's! Taylor, Rosie, Sarah, me, Jessica, & Tina!



We all had SO much fun together, and I enjoyed sharing more about The Miss America Organization with them. I cannot say enough good things about the MAO! I helped me pay for college (I graduated debt free!), prepared me for the future (by perfecting my interview skills and public speaking ability, giving me more poise and self confidence, and helping me learn how to fundraise and represent a cause I am passionate about - very important skills to me now that I run my own non-profit!) , and on top of it all, I made so many incredible friendships while competing!


I wish our new Miss America all the best as she sets out on an exciting year full of incredible opportunities. I must say, I was very impressed that a 17 year old was that poised, well-spoken, and talented, but I was even more impressed when I read her blog and got to see her inner-beauty too. See the blog for yourself here and find out more about Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan!

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