Saturday, November 22, 2008

Miss California USA Competition Day 1: Preliminaries


Hello, my beloved readers! I had hoped to do a post each night of the pageant but it all proved to be pretty exhausting so by the time I got to my room, I just wanted to sleep! LOL. So I'll recap each day of the competition in its own post. Let's get started!

Day 1 of the Preliminary Competition took place on Friday, November 21 in Palm Springs, CA. It was our first time on stage in front of both the audience and the judges and we did swimwear and evening gown. There was no opening number or dancing so it was straight to business. The Preliminary Competition for Friday was for Swimwear and Evening Gown.

I started my morning early, grabbed some light lunch and then had my boyfriend drop me and my bags off at the Riviera Resort and Spa, where the festivities were taking palce. All the contestants checked in, picked up our sashes (which we are required to wear anytime we're out and about in the hotel), and got settled into our rooms. My roommate is a sweetheart (Jan Humphrey - Miss Northern Valley) so I'm glad that I have someone that I get along with to be with me.

First we all met in the Grand Ballroom early in the day to get organized, hear announcements, and then did a huge run through dress rehearsal with all the girls. I'm contestant #35 but the teens go before the miss contestants so there was a lot of downtime. After we gave the house mothers (our den mothers if you will) our evening gown with the shoes and accessories, we headed to our rooms after picking up our box lunches. We had one hour to get ready for the preliminary competition and we were asked to wear our swimsuit underneath the outfit that we planned to wear after the competition. So I wore dark jeans, my swimsuit heels (taupe), and a maroon top with my lime green bikini underneath. I got my makeup and hair together and then walked with my roommate to the dressing rooms, where we all got undressed, lotioned up and waited our turn to get onstage.

Now one of the most memorable things about this pageant thus far has to do with "butt spray." I don't know how many of you are well versed in the art of pageants but butt spray is like God to pageant contestants because of its ability to keep our swimsuit bottoms from riding up. We didn't know if anyone would have any on hand so we began searching for this oh-so-miraculous butt spray. One of the house mothers had a can of spray and I've never seen so many girls line up to have their butts sprayed with glue. It was my first time and I can't tell you how weird it is to have glue on your backside! LOL.

The swimsuit competition went really well! The judges took a moment to really warm up to us, but I still got out there and gave them my fierce walk and great smile (Tyra would have been so proud of me!). After our swimsuit walk, we immediately ran back to our dressing rooms and put on our evening gowns. Then we hit the stage again. And that was it! The prelims were over and after the event, we got to spend time with our friends and family, so I was able to be with my boyfriend for about an hour and then they ushered us to our rooms, where the house mothers did bed checks.

So that was Day 1! On to Day 2!

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