My Crazy/Amazing Week

I know this is a little late but I have been such a busy bee this post had to wait a little longer than I wanted it to. The kick off to last week was of course Easter! I had the opportunity to help out with the annual Rotary Community Easter Egg Hunt. This huge event allowed kids up to nine the opportunity for fun, and of course some special prizes! It was held at the Lake County Fairgrounds which gave a huge amount of space so that egg hunts could be divided by age groups. I got to help hide eggs, sign autograph cards while people were waiting for the hunt to start, and play a little in the area with the little ones while they hunted for eggs. This event was such a blast and great to be a part of, and I got to meet a lot of great kids!

Next on my to do list was to take the dreaded MCAT's on Friday. This test basically determines my chances of getting into medical school on the first try, I won't find out my score for a few weeks so please keep your fingers crossed for me!

After the MCAT exam it was time to switch gears and put my pageant hat back on, Friday night I arrived in Fresno for Miss California orientation! On a funny side note I got to see fire works two nights in a row, they were lighting up the San Jose sky as I was driving in the night before the exam, and then again my first night in Fresno, I felt so loved!

Saturday morning all 58 Miss contestants and 44 Teen contestants jumped out of bed bright and early to get our orientation started. My morning started with a yummy fruit filled breakfast and coffee, then off to a quick welcome meeting. Next stop was my mock interview that went really great! Volunteers sat on our panel and gave a five minute interview (half the time we use for actual competition)  for each contestant. I was asked a lot of great questions, got some amazing feedback, and feel more prepared for Miss California to start than ever! Throughout the day I also spent time with some of the contestants and the CEO of Miss California Bob Arnhym discussing current events, it was a real insightful conversation that helped me look at other people's perspectives on the issues.

After my interview I showed my talent to some more awesome volunteers who checked to make sure it was within the time requirement, and for a little extra practice for me. My dance is to "Turn The Beat Around" by Gloria Estefan, it is really fun and sassy and will hopefully get the judges dancing in their seats. If you want to get a sneak peak I will be performing it at my fundraising dinner on the 28th of this month (contact me for ticket details).

Then it was off to onstage movement practice where we practice our walking for the fitness and evening gown portions of  competition. This section was taught to us by Agnus and Jonna and was so insightful! I got to practice this and Make-up with Gwen's People. Gwen is the director of the Northern California field.

Gwen's People during walking practice with our focused faces.

Make up was one of my last stops in our busy day and was so much fun! Linda Ontiveros is the official make up artist for Miss California and she is a miracle worker!!!!! I had so much fun with her and I'm now completely prepared to look stunning on stage.

Before make-up with the lovely Miss Napa.

During make-up.

After make-up, with my fabulous miracle worker Linda!

After a busy day there is nothing I love more then a tasty dinner with the contestants and volunteers. This is our fun time where we got to socialize and get to know each other a little better while getting to eat tasty food and raffling off tons of prizes!

From left to right is Miss Marin, Miss Napa, Miss Mendocino ( my roomie for state!), Miss Solano, Miss Sonoma, and Miss Lake County!

After our dinner it was time for a quick change into rehearsal clothes. During rehearsal that night and the next morning we worked on the opening number, the evening gown production number, and our walking patterns for swim suit and evening gown. This was when I got to spend a lot of time with the Deltas which is my competition group.

Delta's for the win!

Sunday we had more rehearsal time and a couple of meetings. Before I knew it the busy weekend was over and it was time to say good bye, but not before a few photo ops!

All of the contestants with Noelle Freeman Miss California 2011.

Gwen's People!

I had such a blast last week! Easter was a wonderful appearance, I'm glad the MCAT's are over, and orientation was a blast! I miss my fellow contestants but we will be back together soon!