Mock Interview in MN

Last week I had the mock interviews up in Minneapolis that Holly, my pageant coach, set up and they went great! I learned a lot from the "judges" and they gave some great feedback! I hope to apply what I learned next week at the next mock interviews. Yes, I will be heading up to MN again on Monday, June 2, but this time it will be a "fly in, fly out" type of deal. Louis has to work that day, so I will be taking all the kids with me, instead of just Wyatt (I will go into more detail later). The kids will miss half a day of school, but it is the second to the last day, so I don't think they will miss much. And since I can't really afford to take any more days off work, I have to be back in Iowa the same night, so I can work the next day! It won't be the most enjoyable, but I have more than just the mock interviews to get me up there!
As I was saying, I was up there last week, but I took 2 days off work for it, and spent the night at Mom & Dad's. I actually met up with Mom around 12:30p at the Eden Prairie Mall after I met the current Mrs. Minnesota, Bessie Giannakakis, to get a swimsuit from her that she had at her boutique (more details to follow). Anyway, Mom and I hung out for about an hour and a half, catching up and eating lunch. Then she took Wyatt home with her so I could meet up with Sarah Moses of "The Pageant Shop" to try on gowns! That was on the North end of the cities just north of 694 (if you are familiar with Minneapolis), and Mom and I were on the South end of the Cities by 494. So I had a little jaunt to get there by 3p! I met Holly at Sarah's so she could give her opinion on the gowns. I went there with a budget in mind and Sarah was pretty good at keeping it within my budget, but none of those gowns were making an impression, so she started pulling a few that were above my budget, and, of course, I found the perfect dress out of that group! Sarah and Holly both absolutely LOVED the gown on me. I had reservations at first, because I wasn't sure how the top part was going to fit, but they assured me that they knew an excellent seamstress who would make it fit like a glove! Once they allayed my fears, I knew it was "THE" dress! It's kind of like when you go wedding gown shopping! Like I said, this dress was a bit out of my budget, but Sarah and I worked out a deal we were both comfortable with. But, not only did I get a new gown...I also picked up a cocktail dress and new swimsuit! The cocktail dress has to be white for the opening number on the evening of the competition and Sarah had a white, full-length gown on clearance that would be perfect once it was shortened, so that also went to the seamstress! The swimsuit is a bright orange, one of my favorite colors of the moment (more on this in another blog) and really shows off my legs and butt!.....Which I have been working real hard on at the gym! I am excited about it, because it really "pops" with my hair and skin tone! Holly is adding a few sparkly beads to it to dress it up a little. Once we got the dress situation figured out, Holly and I headed back to her place and she worked a little with another client she had while I sat in and listened. Ok..... so I added a few hints and stories, too! Then it was off to the mock interviews! I did not leave Minneapolis until after 8:30p! I am hoping that I will be able to leave a little sooner next week so I don't get home so late.
Ok....more on the swimsuit I got from Bessie..........It is to replace the costume I wore 2 years ago representing RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa...it's world famous!) Two years ago, I just wore a bikers outfit that consisted of a brightly colored, tight fitting shirt, black spandex pants, brightly colored tennis shoes and a pink helmet. Not very flattering or sexy on stage! So Holly came up with an alternate idea, still using the RAGBRAI theme. This is where the swimsuit comes in....It is a sparkly, turquoise one piece and we will be adding a flowing skirt to mimic water. What does water have to do with RAGBRAI you ask?!? Well, the tradition is that when they start the bike ride all the riders have their back bike tire in the Missouri River and when they finish the ride 7 days later, they dip their front bike tire in the Mississippi River, which coincidently border Iowa! In fact, Iowa is the ONLY state that is completely bordered on two sides by major riverways! So we wanted to incorporate that into the costume, which makes me the "river". I will also be carrying a bejeweled bike tire out with me to represent the bike! Caisha loved the idea and so do I! Can't wait for it all to come together! I will be picking up the Gown, cocktail dress, swimsuit, and costume all on June 2! I will update you then!

Mrs. Iowa Pageant

The pageant is coming up REAL fast! I am furiously trying to get my interview skills more polished & to "whip" myself into shape! I think God has sent me a great person to work with, though. It was a little weird because this pageant coach just contacted me out of the blue. Her name is Holly Ernst and she was the commentator for the Beauties of America Pageant the year that I won, and she was Mrs. MN in 2006, the year that I got first runner-up for Mrs. Iowa. I've known her for close to 5 years now, but never real well. Even so, she has been one of my biggest fans and cheerleaders since I started competing in 1999. Anyway, as I said she contacted me by email to see if I was doing the Mrs. Iowa Pageant this year and offered her services to help me prepare! I was a little skeptical, because I know that most pageant coaches charge anywhere from $65 - $100/ hour and we definitely can not afford that right now. So I asked God if He sent her to me and to give me a sign that He had. Well, I talked it over with Louis, about the cost of working with her and the benefits it might afford me in the competition, and he figured I should at least give her a call and see what she charged. So I called her the next day and we worked out an understanding that would benefit both of us. I knew right then that God had sent her to me!
Holly has a mock interview session set up on May 20th in Minneapolis, so I will be taking a day & a half off from work to participate in that. I know it will help me tremendously, especially since Holly video tapes it. I think it will be great to see, as well as hear, myself in "interview mode"! I have come up with my own way of preparing for interview this year by being on some of the radio stations here in Central Iowa. I've been on a country station, a classic rock station ( a little nervous for that one!), a christian station and a news talk station. So they have all been very different, which I think will benefit me a lot! I will be making a repeat appearance on the rock station, country station and the news talk station in the 2 weeks before the pageant. I've always toyed with the idea of being a DJ, but wasn't to crazy about the hours. Maybe it will be something I can do after the kids are older. Anyway, Louis says I sound GREAT on the radio! (translation: great = hot!). I do have a lot of fun doing it, though!
The pageant competition is June 6th & 7th in St. Paul, MN. Interviews are late morning, early afternoon on the 6th and stage competition is the evening of the 7th. Since the MN directors took over both IA and WI, there will be 3 crownings that evening. This year MN has the least amount of contestants around 5-6 ladies, which is VERY usual for them! WI has about 7-8 ladies and IA has about 9-10 ladies! So the competition for Mrs. Iowa should be a good one. I do better when there is competition. Something about it being more of a challenge helps me to do better and stay focused. Please keep me in your prayers that weekend, especially late morning, early afternoon on the 6th (Interviews. Not my strong suit!) If you are interested in going to the competition on the 7th you can contact the Fitzgerald Theatre or Ticketmaster for tickets. They are between $25 & $35. Wish me luck!!