Hello trade shows! After such a long night our hotel room opted to lounge in the room until about noon (we realized if we did this that we could skip breakfast and the rather large bill that would come with it). Before continuing, I must put in a teeny note here of thanks to my poor uncle who had to put up with Taylor and I’s makeup/flat iron/curling iron/brushes/toothpaste/etc. in the entirety of the bathroom. For a man who only lives with one woman, putting up with such things could be quite a pain. But I’m going to take a wild guess in saying that spending quality time with his lovely niece and her beautiful friend wasn’t too terribly hard. :P
After a lovely lunch in the café of the casino, Taylor and I decided to take advantage of our all access badges and check out the trade shows. For all of you non pageanty people, the trade show at Miss America is full of dresses by all designers and BLING galore! Tay played a bit of the mom role today while shopping as she gave me her best insight. Since having been involved in pageants and being some sort of fasionista (even to the point of having a degree in fashion design) I trusted her opinions. She was so incredibly helpful in guiding me into the right colors for my skin and my hair and also with the neck lines and cuts of dresses. I was just trying to get ideas for gowns for Miss Nebraska, and that I did. We eliminated many different colors right away and decided on a few. We thought through talent ideas and swimsuit colors…the whole she bang! It was great having her with me and I can’t wait to complete my wardrobe for Miss NE…who am I kidding…I can’t wait to START my wardrobe for Miss NE!
Ps. I met Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron…even got her autograph on my book!
Our shopping led to the exploration of the infamous “Strip.” And to put my Uncle Mark at ease, we promised to use the buddy system…no getting stuck in cement tubs! (You may be wondering what the heck I mean by this statement. It has turned into a bit of a joke but was definitely not a laughing matter when we were watching the news this same day and heard about two girls being kidnapped that were later found in a cement filled bathtub. Horribly innumerous turned to inside joke. Oops.) Fighting through the crowds of inappropriate card holders (you know who I speak of) we managed to find a Monopoly man. I tipped him a dollar and kindly asked to stand on his box with him for a photo…needless to say he complied. Then Captain Jack Sparrow himself jumped out to scare the twang right out of Taylor. We both got our photos with him and may have pretended not to hear him when he told us three times that he accepted tips…I just paid the Monopoly Man, what does he expect?
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| Our hotel and home of the Miss America Pageant! |
Taylor and I completely enjoyed our day and by the time we had made our way down part of the strip and back up the other side we were ready to sit and relax before the show. It was then that two men stepped into our vision and begged us for a date. Now normally I would have declined for more reasons than one. First, I have a boyfriend, second, I sometimes share too much of myself on a first date and third, I’m kind of picky. But these men…attractive at that just pulled us right in their direction and forced us to comply. But after all they are irresistible.
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| Jerry & Ben |
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| Taylor & Jerry |
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| Ben & I |
That’s right. Say hello to my date Ben and Taylors date Jerry. The perfect treat. (Don’t worry; I let my Uncle think long and hard about this one before I told him who the men really were.)
Prep work in the bathroom, assisted the beautifying and before we knew it we were headed to the theatre for the show! Teresa competed in Lifestyle and Fitness and Evening wear and looked entirely amazing! I was unable to make it to her send off so I didn’t get to see her wardrobe. But as many of you have now seen, her dress was gorgeous. And for a little change in the program, a young boy, Drew and his parents were indrodced and asked to help give awards. Drew was/is a patient at a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital and it was such an overwhelming experience to hear his story and the gratefulness his parents had for the MIss America Organization and all that we do to support CMNH.
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| Drew, his parents and Miss America's 2008 & 2009 |
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| Teresa & I |
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| My Miss New Mexico, Madison Tabet |
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| A lovely conversation with my Miss Vermont :) |
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| AND my sweethearts from SD and AL |
Unfortunately, I didn’t have any wild adventures after the show this evening but was incredibly thrilled to get out of heels for the day and momentarily rest my feet for the night. I was in complete anticipation in seeing my girl from New Hampshire the next day and could not for the white plush of the pillow hit my face as I called it quits on day two in Las Vegas.
As for my present day (11:06 pm on Thursday evening) I have died my hair, I have chosen my gown for Dancing With Omaha’s Stars, I have not yet completed my homework (but in complete honesty am actually thrilled to do so), have checked off my list of things to do and am ready to go to sleep. But first I will leave with a set of lyrics and a song that I received in an email from another Aunt. In all the struggles in life and with every moment in each day, there will be ups and downs. She helped me realize that in all of that, I can’t become blind to the glory of God’s greatness.
"Don't Miss The Glory" This is sung by Gordon Mote, who is a blind man.
I leave you in love,
Kayla
Miss Omaha
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