April 25th, My Pre-pageant Party 7pm

Minnesota and a few Iowa contestants came to meet and greet at my home on Saturday night. Directors Faith and Carl Schway, Mrs. MN '06 and coach, Holly Ernst, Mrs. MN '07, Bessie Giannakakis and Bessie's boutique owner, Sarah Moses of the Pageant Shop and Jason Young of Youngquest Fitness were all in attendance. Cheryl Trainor and Robin McCaffrey were there to meet the contestants and talk about the upcoming rehearsals. The night was a fun, social event with lots of delicious food cooked by my husband and Patty Cake, my favorite chocolate cake ever!

Thank you to all who came and made this evening fun!

April 25th, Social Butterfly Fundraiser for Children's Cancer Research Fund

One of their hippest fundraisers of the year, held at the happening Trocaderos Bar in downtown Minneapolis, The Children's Cancer Research Fund had me help announce their raffle winners. Little did I know who would also decide to come to the event with her husband and neighbors...Holly Ernst, Mrs. Minnesota America 2006! It was so fun to see her in a social setting with her hubby! He is a hoot for sure but had to bring her home early so he could go fishing at 5am! The next upcoming fundraiser is the Macy's Glamorama event...I'll keep you updated on that upcoming fashion show!

Friday, April 24th Hair District Pre-Pageant Party

Many of the Contestants from MN came to hear about the Hair District services and to get to know eachother. Stage-level hair and makeup is very important and Jamie and Emily definitely made me look my best! Mrs. Minneapolis, Mrs. St. Paul and Mrs. Mankato were a few of the contestants who attended.

April 23rd Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce Luncheon

I met so many interesting business owners from Eden Prairie and saw some friends there as well. The Chamber of Commerce of Eden Prairie is so successful and helps people to network that they have an 85% renewal rate--quite high! My most recent event to help the Chamber was their Home and Garden show---very fun!

Monday, April 20th Hair District Modeling event

Hair District had a training for the stylists from the other Hair Districts to teach about their product line, Bumble and Bumble. Bessie, Nichoel Skramstad-Mrs. Minneapolis and I all modeled --having our hair and makeup done. Gairee is the manager of the Edina location and a sweetheart, pictured here with the owner. Andrea from the Hair District, does my hair extensions and color and Emily does incredible styling! Jamie's makeup was stellar and I received so many compliments at work that morning!

April 19 Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader Competition/Try outs

Tryouts for the MN Vikings Cheerleaders were held at the Pantages Theater and an after Party was at the restaurant "Seven". I was one of the judges deciding which 8 out of 54 women would be the next Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders and be in their Swimsuit Fundraising Calendar.
Tami Krause, Mrs. Minnesota International 2009 and Choreographer for the Cheerleaders, was the MC for the evening.

I judged on stage question, swimsuit and overall beauty and personality with fellow judges, Sarah Moses of the Pageant Shop, Holly Ernst, My Pageant Coach and friend and former Mrs. Titleholder as well as Fitness Trainers and a former Cover winner and Vikings Cheerleader.

We had a ball and chose 8 striking, fit and beautiful women as finalists. Here they are pictured above. Holly & Sarah went on to judge them last night for the final round, with the winner achieving the status of Cover Model for the Vikings Cheerleader Calendar.

April 19, Special Olympics Award Ceremony

After co-hosting the "Malaria No More" Event, I took a nap, headed into work and then took a nap and headed to the Special Olympics being held at the Minnetonka Middle School. I had never worked with the Special Olympics before and I'm sure this was one of my most favorite events so far! These kids/adults had the most unbelievable exhuberance I've ever experienced!!

When announcing the awards, I decided to make it very "sports announcery" like at a game---calling up each team and awarding them their medals..."Chaaaaasskkkkaaa Hawks----You are the wiiinnnaaaahhhhhss!!!" "RED ROOOSTERS Come on Up!!!"

They ran up and one athelete wrapped his arms around me and planted a huge kiss on my cheek, then jumped up and down hooting and hollering.The other volunteers said they were worried he would pull me down cause he was so big!

After announcing each winning team, I started chanting as each team got up "WOOOH, WOOH, WOOH, HOOH" I took photos with every first place team and at one point there was a bit of a mix up where the 2nd was the 1st and the 1st was the 2nd...well, you get the idea...the great thing was, the 2nd place team was not too upset. The new first place team went crazy!! They knew the difference! AFter I while, I gave up my own inhibitions and was taking pictures while jumping in the air and getting excited with them!

One Boy after another came up for photos and hugs and one came up multiple times but I told him he had hit his "2 kiss limit". He was so excited to get a picture kissing my cheek!

The picture of me with Kevin in the blue shirt is after he came over for a hug. The people behind me said that his face was priceless because he looked sooo happy.
Although I was deliriously tired, I had such a great time and didn't want to hand my mike over to the next "announcer"...
I will definitely be announcing again after I give up my crown-This time I'll wear one of my daughters crowns...they really love it and feel special when they are given their award by a "Princess".
What an amazing and special group of kids--I can see how you could learn alot about unconditional love from them.

Change the World 2009 Benefit for Malaria No More Co-Host

Tonight I co-hosted the "Change the World" benefit for "Malaria No More" at the Hopkins High School with Fox 9 anchor Jason Matheson. Christina Koskinen was the brain child behind this benefit for Brooke's Bandwagon and "Malaria No More". The number one killer of African Children. Jason was such a pleasure to work with--a kind soul with a killer sense of humor!

Tonight we introduced a diverse group of talented kids from Minnesota, ranging from a 14 year old singer/dancer/performer Paige Huschka, to hip hop dancers Free 2 Dance ,The Prairie School of Dance, 625 Beat Street and The Fire Dance Team.In addition, "The Seeker" sang a song from his album, and the Ultimate winners were Reike Hall, taking 2nd place and the very athletic co-ed Dance Team, Dance Exchange who did a gymnastic dance routine that was spectacular!

Judging was Miss Twin Cities 2009, Brooke Kilgarriff, Miss Teen International 2008 Meghan Herickhoff, Dancer Alison Holker, featured in High Shchool Musical Movies and a finalist on "So you think you can dance", Justin Stein, Radio Disney Pop Star, Karla Holt, from KARE 11 News, and Paris Bennett, American Idol Finalist and Pop Star.

Tibbe Luell, Mrs. Washington County 2009 was kind enough to volunteer her time to help me obtain signatures on my MENC petition during this event. Thank you Tibbe!!
I received several compliments on my Claire's Collection Blue Gown from the Pageant Shop! Thank you Sarah---it's on sale girls!

I met so many wonderful people at this event, Including 2 girls who told me they had heard of me from their babysitter, Hannah Bott, who used to take care of Chloe when she was just a baby! (We call her Hannah Montana) Here's a picture of me with them.

April 18th Wired 20/20 Mentoring Event at the Mall of America

The largest Mentoring event of the year was held at the Mall of America to promote Mentoring and the positive benefits mentoring has on the future of these children.

WCCO anchor, Liz Collin interviewed my mentee and I on the stage of the Market Square and gave Tyiteana free tickets to ride a few rides. She loved it! We stopped for a photo with 2 of her favorite cartoon characters, Dora and Diego. "Swiper, no Swiping!" I also met a wonderful group of Christian mentors for inner city girls, Project Diva--www.projectdivas.org whose motto is "motivating one young lady at a time. What great work they are doing!

April 17th Press Event for "Malaria No More" fundraiser

Ruby Tuesdays in Eden Prairie at 3pm. Today I interviewed with the Hopkins High School Newspaper, the Eden Prairie Sun and local news crews, along with the celebrity judges, Allison from "So you think you can dance"pictured here with her new baby girl, and Paris Bennett from "American Idol." Christina is the brain child of this fundraiser and has been working very hard to make this event a success!

April 16 Eden Prairie Art Center Opening Fundraiser

The friends of Eden Prairie Art Center hosted a fundraising event at the City Center Garden Room. Proceeds from the evetn aid in equipping the Art Center with art equipment. World Renowned singer and fellow Shop NBC Host, Connie Kunkle sang Broadway Songs and a silent auction was held. My boss, Paul Kelly from Shop NBC and fellow Host Libby Floyd joined in the silent auction and went home with lots of goodies!

Thank you to Sarah Moses for loaning me this gorgeous Jovani dress for my appearance and thank you to Mrs. Ham Lake, Tamara Jett for helping out with my petition during this event! During the event, we were able to get over 100 signatures! Great job!

April 16 ACES Luncheon at Deloite Consulting

Today I learned about ACES, the largest after-school tutoring/mentoring program for inner city kids of the Twin Cities. It stands for Athletes Committed to Educating Students. I met several atheletes and Mark Rosen,(pictured here with me) Sports Commentator. A wonderful program that can touch the life of a child through email, if you don't have time to see a child once a week in a one-on-one program. Mentors are needed at any age! Here is a picture of one mentoring pair.

THank you Katina & Todd for inviting me to this event! (pictured in the lower photo with me)

St. Paul Board of Education Meeting, April 14th

The mood was somber in the room as the topic turned to the cuts in the Music Education budget. It was announced that the budget would be cut in half and then the floor was open to the comments from the community. A father and his 7 year old son came to the podium to speak, but the father had a hard time continuing, apologizing for his tears as he told of his sons love for the cello; A member of the MN Orchestra opened by playing his violin to Vivaldi. He then proceeded to share all of the benefits for the intellect that music provides and how it is part of educating the whole child, pulling our heartstrings as well as the violin strings to end his statement.

A mother sited an article written by the New York Times about a study conducted by Harvard University ---what was the one thing in common of their entire freshman class? 6+ years of studying music!! After several more tearful testimonies about the impact music makes in children's lives, the board took a 5 minute break and I was able to get many signatures from music supporters.

Today's meeting made me confirm to myself that I want my own 4 year old to start music classes this summer and recall how important music was to me as a kid--art and music were the two things I actually felt like I was good at...how can you take that confidence away from a child's development?

Visit to Prop Shop for the Prom Dress Drive, April 14th

The PROP Shop is holding a prom dress drive through the end of April! Do you have any foof in your closet that you wont wear anymore? Please consider donating your dresses! The PROP Shop is located at 15195 Martin Drive in Eden Prairie. Vickie, the manager was so kind and all of the volunteers were excited for me to come and donate some of my dresses...I only wish I had some with more FOOF!!

The many volunteers that help out to provide furniture, clothing, books, toys and jewelry to residents--there is even a FREE room! Clear out your closets today!!

Guest on the "Can Can Show" at the Minnesota Children's Hospital of Minneapolis & St. Paul

Tuesday, March 31st, I was a guest on the weekly "Can Can Show" where "The Dude" has a chosen topic and kids can call in to ask questions and win prizes. Todays topic was "Helping Others." The Dude asked the kids what they did to help others and many kids called in to give their examples. The Dude introduced me and asked me about what I had been doing to help others and surprised me by showing video clips of me and my mentee, Tyiteana dropping the ball at the Swarm game months earlier! The week before The Swarm had been there as a special guest and had dropped the video off!

Then, I read the book The Giving Tree to the kids which was one of my favorite books when I was growing up. Kids called in and asked me questions like "What is your favorite color?" Pink of course! " Do you have any kids?" "Do you like travelling?" "Where is your favorite place to visit and travel?" "Why did you want to do a pageant if you've never done a pageant?"
Then The Dude and I did a mock Pageant where I taught The Dude to walk and pose on stage, Laura & Gaston, rated him a 7 and a Q. Then we had a final question where I asked him "How do you define Integrity?", one of the questions I was asked last year by a judge...The Dude had a very long but good answer! He received a 10 and a L L for Loquacious! Then I crowned him in a very funny final moment!

The Can Can show is broadcast for one hour twice a week to all of the children staying in the hospital and since it was a very contagious time, I wasn't allowed to see any of the children other than the ones who attended the show. A sobering moment for me was when a Child Life specialist came in with a surgery puppet who teaches children about their insides. The kids can stick needles in the puppet's arms like they get in their own and can make its tumors out of playdough. That is why they are there, but it was still jarring to realize that that is what these kids are facing everyday.