Pageant Lounge TV Interview at the Ethnic World Pageant

Click the link to see my interview on You Tube

Click Here: Pageant Lounge Interview

Toys for Tot's and Christmas Caroling

December is off and running.  I started off the month by celebrating my 34th birthday on the 1st of the month and getting ready for another busy weekend of appearances and family gatherings.  My Saturday started off with the US Marine's Toys for Tots Foundation.  They were sponsoring a huge Toy Drive at Knotts Berry Farm in Orange County California.  For the donation of a $15 toy you got free admission to the park.  This is an annual event that draws in folks from everywhere seeking a day of enjoyment at the park and a chance to donate to the less fortunate.  This was my second year participating in this event and I was joined by some of my pageant sisters from Gold Coast Pageants.  After spending a fun day in the park riding rides, watching snoopy on ice and the Christmas Parade, it was time to move to my next journey.  My final stop for the night was at my Uncle's retirement party.  After 34 years of service he is retiring from the Los Angeles County Probation Department, whom I still work for.  My mother and grandmother have also been Probation officers as well.  Between the 4 of us we have given Los Angeles County well over 100 years of service.  Can you imagine how many lives we have touched and how many at risk children's lives we have made a difference in?

Sunday morning I was up bright and early taking Bianca to compete at the Gold Coast Christmas Pageant.  Not only did she win her division, holiday wear and a few optionals we even meet Travis Barker the drummer from blink 182 and his ex-wife Shana Moakler Miss Teen USA 1992 and Miss USA 1995 whose daughters were competing as well.

After a quick stop at another family gathering our final destination was at the 29th Annual Holiday Caroling Festivities in Canoga Park.  Over 200 carolers gathered at 4 retirement homes to bring holiday entertainment to the residents, staff and caregivers.  Not only did the carolers include girl scouts, boy scouts, various celebrities, politicians, Santa Claus, elves, and more but also some of our 4 legged friends (therapy dogs).  Check out the list of just a few of the celebrities in attendance below. We had a ball singing what seemed like every Christmas song every written, we even sang Feliz Navidad and Hanukkah songs.  I was also a featured celebrity with a group of professional Opera singers singing  "Ave Maria".  At some of the homes we had a full live band even including violin's, harps, guitars, keyboards, drums and more.  So you know we were treated to a good old jam session as well as songs lead by some famous voices including the lady that sings in all of the Toyota commercials.  Bianca was the youngest caroler in attendance and she donned a special Santa's helper outfit to match mommy.  The residents got a kick out of seeing her and yes she did sing along.  For being only 2 years old she did a good job even though I think she was singing "tinkerbell" in instead of "jingle bells", but hey who could tell the difference!

Alex Del Zoppo & Fred Herrera-Original members of Sweetwater Band from Woodstock

Carl Verheyen-World acclaimed guitarist for Supertramp and “The Carl Verheyen Band”

Don Peake-Musicians Hall of Fame member, guitarist- Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Jackson 5

Florence LaRue-six-time Grammy winner and original member of The 5^th Dimension

Prescott Niles-bassist of “The Knack” performed #1 hit “My Sharona”

Mike Pinera-guitarist Iron Butterfly, Alice Cooper, Blues Image with hit “Ride Captain Ride”

Patricia Zappa-Singer/author of My Brother was a Mother: A Zappa Family Album

Patrick Waskielis-Drummer w/Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds w/Billboards #1 & #4 singles

Kevin Jones-Keyboard player Ozzy Osbourne

Sheree “Sheryl” Green-Adams -Original Mickey Mouse Club Mousketeer

Trey Carlisle-actor portrays “Earl Jr.” on TV series “My Name is Earl”

Alan O'Day-Pop-singer/artist of the #1 hit "Under Cover Angel,",

Holiday Time

Unfortunately on my way to work one day I was in a car accident so without my wheels I was stuck at home the weekend of Miss California USA and Miss California Teen USA but a big congrats to the new tittle holders as well as my friend Alaina Bliar who made 2nd runner-up in the Teen division.

With the holiday season in full bloom remember to stop and not only give thanks but to tell your friends and family that you love and appreciate them.  Don't forget the reason for the season has nothing to do with eating lots of food or shopping until you drop.  Please make a donation to a local charity or do something nice for someone who can't do the same for themselves.  "It is more blessed to give than it is to receive"

Stay tuned to hear about my holiday adventures, so much to do, so many events, not enough of me to go around........

Miss Southern California & Miss Long Beach Pageant

What a busy time it is in the pageant world right now.  So many pageants and just not enough time to make it to all of them.  Two of my last appearances were at the Miss Long Beach and Miss Southern California Pageant and the send off party for the Miss California Coed Pageant Contestants.  The Competition was fierce at the Long Beach Pageant and there were titleholders everywhere. The judging panel included my friend Andrea Preuss who is a former Mrs America and Mrs United States and two former Miss USA's.  I couldn't even get my camera ready fast enough to snap photos with everyone that was there.  I had a few friends competing and they did an awesome job.  A big Congrats to two girls I used to coach, Londonn Winters for making top 3 and Isabelle Richards the new Little Miss Southern California. Also a big congrats to everyone who competed at Miss Royal Essence Nationals, Miss Black Globe and Miss Nevada California Tropic Pageants which were all held the same weekend. My daughter was even 3rd runner up at the Nevada Pageant for California Tropics, so congrats to Bianca too!

The next weekend I spent at a send-off party with the California Coed girls getting them ready for Nationals over Thanksgiving week.  Unfortunately I won't get to go to Nationals with the girls since my daughter is turning 2 that week and we have a jam packed weekend with Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Yo Gabba Gabba Live and parties.  I know so many girls are getting ready for Nationals with American Coed and National American Miss so I wish them all the best of luck, you will all do a great job.  Be yourself and smile big!

New Photo

Hi everyone I just wanted to quickly share with you my new photo compliments of the Picture People and Glitz N Glitter Graphics.  What do you think?

Pageant Queen at Work

After taking a little break from my queenly duties to stay home and take care of my sick little one, I am now back on the job to keep you updated on what Ms. Earth has been up to.  Unfortunately, I had to cancel a few appearance's including a walk for cancer, 2 pageants, and a fundraiser for child abuse but my motherly duties must come first!  But now I am back on the job full speed ahead.


Did you attend the Cold Creamery Ice Cream Social to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation?  Well I made sure that I did.  And even on my way to the Social to make my donation to the Foundation I lent a helping hand to someone in need.  I ran into a frantic grandmother in the parking lot who just found out her grandchild was in a car accident and had to be airlifted to the hospital.  She panicked when she found out and left work right away to get to the hospital.  In her hastiness she forgot her purse at work and was now stuck and had no gas or money to get any gas to go to the hospital.  Boy do I know what that feels like to be stranded somewhere with no purse or any other means to get gas, I have been there a few times myself. So I gave the woman $10 so she could be make it the hospital. She was a little suprised when I pulled out a $10 bill which was more than she asked for and then she left swiftly headed back to her car down the street at the gas station.  See I knew there was more than one reason that I was supposed to go to Cold Stone Creamery that night.

My next adventure was a very fun and fashionable one.  I attended Orange County Style Week at the Irvine Spectrum.  All I can say is WOW and I think I found my next fashionwear outfit for my next pageant.  After a quick walk down the red carpet, goody bags and lots of tasty treats came an awesome fashion show with desgins by students at the Fashion Institute of Merchandising and Design that were inspired by Cadilliac (the car company).  Let me tell you they showcased 9 students and every single one of thier designs made me say wow, as well and got me to thinking about stalking a few of them to design me a few things.  There was also a show by Nikolaki Designs by Nick Verreos of Project Runway.  He also had a few celebrites there wearing his designs, two of them were former Miss Universe winners.  Here I am with Brooke Lee Miss Universe 1997, she is the last Miss USA to take the Universe crown and the oldest woman to ever wear the Universe crown (she was 26 at the time).

My next adventure lead me down to the city of San Diego to the Miss Plus California and San Diego Cinderella Preliminary Pageants.  This event was 2 pageants in one so there was something for everyone including a visit from Cinderella herself and Prince Charming.

I also had the opportunity to attend the Miss and Teen California Latina Pageant.  All I can say is WOW!  This was an awesome production.  After walking the purple carpet at the beautiful Maya Hotel located on the water in beautiful Long Beach California you entered a ballroom that rivaled the ballrooms at some of the wedding recetions you see on My Fair Wedding with David Tutera on the WE network (but minus the flowers).  I had a front row seat for the competion so I got to see all of these young ladies up close and personal.  They competed in interview, fashionwear (teen), swimsuit (miss), evening gown and onstage quesiton for the finalist.  There was aome stiff competion amongst the 27 contestants and they all did a great job.  Congrats to the director Jennifer Rodriguez for growing her program and giving Latina's the opprtunity to grow and pursue thier dreams while making an impact on their communities.

Photos, Photos, Photos

Now that I am all caught up with appearance posts its time to posts photos from pageant week.  The Ms/Mrs Earth Pageant was held this past August in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Imperial Palace Hotel.  The competition consisted of a 10 minute panel interview, fitness wear, fashion wear, and evening gown.  There were contestants from the USA as well as other countries from around the world.  Besides the competition and rehearsals we had an opportunity to explore the Las Vegas strip  Ed Ip was our official photographer and he followed us on every excursion, there was never even a need to use your camera.  Not only is he a great hard working photographer but he is very personable and just a pleasure to work with.  He definitely knows how to keep you at ease while catching all of the best shoots.  Here is a peak at some of the awesome photos he took throughout the weekend, enjoy!  (http://www.edipphotography.com/)

Another Full Weekend

My weekend started off with a quick stop at the Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino, California. As a former Ms Route 66 Queen (2005) and a home owner in the city of San Bernardino, I always look forward to this event.  The Rendezvous is a four day long event but my weekend is already so jam packed with activities that on my drive home from work is the only free time I had to squeeze it in.  The Rendezvous is sponsored by one of the Inland Empire's largest grocery store chains (Stater Brothers), whose headquarters is down the street from my house. Here I am with the National Route 66 Ambassador Terry Kafides and Miss California Route 66 Joanna Martinez.

Next up was a journey to Irvine to judge the Orange County Cinderella Preliminary Pageant.  This pageant has age divisions for babies on up to 26 years old and even boys up to age 6.  They compete in interview or playtime, talent/personality, sportswear and party wear.  Cinderella is another pageant system that is close to my heart and as a former preliminary, state, and International Queen I look forward to any opportunity I have to spend with my Cindy Sisters.  Pictured here with me is the reigning California Overall Teen Lauren Creger, California Overall Miss Madeline Karnes, and California Cindy Girl Savannah Preuss, and below is the Orange County Overall Woman Tiffany Kaufmann.

I started out my Sunday morning at the American Coed Pageants Boot Camp for the California Queens.  I started competing with Coed Pageants back in the early 90's and this is where my love for pageants really started to grow.  As a former state Coed queen and National Woman queen I know first hand what goes into preparing for the fun filled competition week at Disney World in Florida.   The Queens spent this weekend together not only preparing for the National Pageant this November but also participating in a weekend filled with photo shoots, make-up lessons, gifts from pageant sponsors including a sponsored dinner at TGI Fridays and clothing from Celebrity Pink Jeans and just a great overall bonding experience for the girls and mom's alike.  Way to go state director Camille Winters for a job well done putting this all together. Pictured here are queens: Amy Rice, Sidnie Walls, Haley-Shea Nichols, Denise Jenkins Alexis and Randilyn Seebalac, Isabella Satgliano, Brittany Carr, and Emily Honng.

My last stop of the weekend was at the Ethnic World International Pageant in Los Angeles.  This pageant celebrates cultural diversity and community service.  The pageant was founded by Mrs Earth 2008 Yolanda Makle.  The contestants were judged on interview, community service, fashion wear, sportswear, evening gown and my favorite cultural expression.  During the cultural expression competition we saw everything from singing to dancing, to cooking and history lessons about various countries.  Needless to say after the competition I was starving for some of the delicious food we saw and heard about and I was ready to go to the airport to visit some of the wonderful countries I learned about.  What a fun way to wrap up my weekend.  Pictured below here I am on the red carpet with my daughter who had a chance to wear her crown and banner from California Tropics and be a part of the visiting royalty.  Also below is Marlena Martin Ms Ethnic World 2009 and the newly crowned Ms Ethnic World (and former Mrs California Earth) Michelle Villanova.

Busy FP Weekend (Food Fair Festival Parade & Pageant)

This past weekend was jam packed with appearance.  On Friday night I attended the opening Zorba Night festivities at the 2010 12^th annual LA Greek Festival.  This year the festival included celebrity guest hosts Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at the Historic Saint Sophia’s Cathedral.  Now while I didn’t get to meet Tom and Rita I did get to explore the festival and its delightful food.  The theme this year was “Celebrating a Taste of Greece” and oh what a celebration it was!  There were so many different food choices it was hard trying to figure out where to start.  They had everything gyro’s to loukaniko (greek sausage) to spanakopita (pastry with spinach filling) to saganaki (flaming cheese) to calamari and more.  I decided on pastitsio (greek lasagna) with rice pilaf, chicken kebob's, and a greek salad.  Needless to say after eating some humungous portions I was stuffed and didn’t even have a chance to finish tasting all of the wonderful foods I had on my hit list.  But I did save room for dessert and what a selection they had!  I decided to go with the delicious Loukomathes.  It’s sort of like fried doughnut holes topped with cinnamon, honey and grated nuts.  I have one word to describe them, DELICIOUS!  After doing a little shopping, watching the Zorba dancing and taking a few pictures I decided to head home to get a little rest to prepare for Saturday.

My Saturday was spent at one of my favorite places to go during the fall season.  The Los Angeles County Fair is the largest county fair in the United States and just happens to be in my backyard in the city of Pomona where I work.  My morning began by participating in the “America the Beautiful" parade at the fairgrounds.  Seeing as how this was September 11^th it was a very fitting theme for the day.  My platform supports youth empowerment through pageantry so what better way than to share the fun and excitement of pageantry with a parade with my girls.  I brought along my daughter and a friend to ride along with me in the parade.  It was the highlight of their day.  The crowd loved seeing the little ones along the parade route as they had a chance to smile, wave and throw red white and blue beads to the onlookers.

After the parade was over we decided to stay and play at the fair.  Yes this time I did stay away from the goats so my banner is still in tact. But again I had to sample some of the famous fried foods.  I couldn’t wait to get to the Chicken Charlie’s booth where I ordered a deep fried Klondike bar and a crispy cream chicken sandwich.  I must say I did enjoy my meal and I am still dying to try deep fried coke, deep fried peanut butter and jelly and deep fried butter.  Next we stopped by Jurassic Planet where I tried to feed a dinosaur, well sort of…

We stopped by the "a long time ago" exhibit where we saw some interesting medieval entertainment with “Piper and the Brand” .  We also stopped by the enchanted forest where I got to visit with some princesses and I tried to make a new friend.

After a full day of activities it was once again time to go get some sleep to prepare for the next journey off to Oxnard, California to Judge the Ventura County Gold Coast Preliminary pageant.  Gold Coast pageants is a semi-glitz system that has age divisions for babies on up to 50+, as well as divisions for boys, men, and plus sizes.  The directors have produced over 800 pageants in the past 32+ years.  They have been featured on shows such as “Toddlers to Tiara’s”, “Good Day LA”, “Kathy Griffin My Life on the D List”, and “The Simple Life” with Paris Hilton.  I spent the day judging the contestants as they competed in beauty and swimwear.  I must say the competition was fierce and the women 18 and up really brought it.  I would hate to have to compete against them!

Now with my weekend complete its time to rest up, until next time….

Got a sweet tooth - Make a Difference

Are you a cheesecake factory fan like I am?  Well if so here is your chance to get some good eats while making a donation in support of Hunger Action month.  By donating $5 or more through the cheesecake factory website you can get a free coupon for a complimentary slice of cheesecake.  Also for every slice of Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake that is purchased 25 cents goes to feed hungry Americans in our community.  So join in to help the cheesecake factory reach its goal of donating 3.5 million meals this month.

September is also make-a-wish month and Cold Stone Creamery is sponsoring the world's largest ice cream social in support of the "make a wish foundation".  Visit your local Cold Stone's and make a donation by purchasing a paper star for $1.  And if you visit on September 30th from 5 to 8pm you can get a free portion of Kate's Creation created by one of the make a wish kids.  It is carmel apple ice cream mixed with chocolate shavings, graham cracker pie crust, and apple pie filling.  The "make a wish foundation" helps grant the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions in hopes of enriching the human experience.

So here are two opportunities not only to satisfy your sweet tooth (one of my personal favorite activities) but it is also an opportunity to make a donation towards hunger and the make a wish foundation

California Tropics International Pageant

This past labor day weekend I spent in Anaheim, California at the California Tropics International Pageant.  This natural pageant system has been around since the 80's and mainly focuses on babies through teens.  They have various photo competitions as well as partywear, westernwear, cruisewear, and disney wear, and the grand finale main competition is swimwear.  Along with your prize package, the royalty get to participate in various photo shoots, reign at various preliminary pageants, and attend other events throughout the year.  There is even a disney cruise that you can win discounts for or if you play your cards right you can even win an entire trip for a family of four, WOW!  The contestants have an opportunity to be seen by some of the pageant sponsors for possible modeling opportunities with businesses like "Hollywood Babe" and "Intex" pool toys.  My daughter Bianca was a contestant in the baby miss division.  Although we didn't come home with a royalty title she did win National Photogenic for her age division and she was a top 15 finalist in swimwear.  I must say that we had a blast, in addition to all her new toys she bought with her winnings, we had fun at the dance party and had a chance to meet up with some old and new pageant friends.  There were a few special guest at the party as well (check out the photo) Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, and Jasmine.  It was non stop dancing, gifts, raffles, and awards.  Needless to say Bianca was sound asleep on the drive home that night.  Check out http://www.californiatropic.com/ to learn more about this pageant system.  They now have an 18 and over division but it is only for ladies single with no kids (darn).  So check them out they have preliminary pageants all the time (Bianca won a preliminary pageant this summer).

Antelope Valley Fair

My next adventure was to attend the Antelope Valley Fair in Lancaster, California. The fair has been around since 1938 and its signature event is called the Rural Olympics where people compete in such events as hay bailing, tractor races, and gravel truck transfer. I know when most folk’s think of California, hay bailing contests is one of the last things that would come to your mind. But here in California we really do have a little bit of everything city, everything country, and everything in between.

I spent my day at the fair of course sampling some of the delicious fair foods as well as browsing through some of the contest entries for baked goods, quilts, dolls, canned food, and table settings. There were tons of rides, food booths, and live entertainment. Some of the entertainment included turkey races which was ironically located very close to a booth that sold barbecue turkey legs. Since it was Sunday there was an entertainment stage that had various performances scheduled from local churches including drama performances, singing, and praise dancing. One of my favorite areas of the fair I must say was the petting zoo. I couldn’t wait to take my almost 2 year old daughter over to see and touch the animals up close and in person. She had a blast and giggled every time a pig or goat licked her hand. So of course I decided what a great photo opportunity to take a picture with the animals wearing my crown and banner, right?

WRONG! This photo looks innocent enough right? Let's look again at a photo taken a few seconds later....

Notice where the goat’s neck is, does it look a little strange? Well it turns out while my mom was snapping photos, a goat was eating my banner, YUCK! I guess they like the shinny rhinestones. Well all in all my banner did barely survive (thank goodness), and I had a great day at the Antelope Valley Fair.

Birthday Bags for Kids

It has only been five days since I was crowned Ms Earth 2011 and I am already off and running. Today I made a donation to the “Birthday Bags 4 Kids” organization. They are a non-profit organization that provides toy filled birthday gift bags to disadvantaged children. Each month they take on the challenge of providing more than 50 toy filled birthday bags to children ages 1 to 18, which are then distributed through local social service agencies. Although the organization is only 1 ½ years old they have already provided more than 900 birthday bags. The organization accepts donations of gently used gift bags, toys, and candy or even cash donations and they will do the shopping for you. You even have the option to adopt a child or two listed on their website each month and donate a gift filled bag specifically for that child. Today was the organization’s monthly bag stuffing day where I had an opportunity to donate toys, candy and gift bags. I also meet the organizations founder Julie Farquhar and her group of volunteers. What a wonderful group of women doing a small part to make more birthdays’ happy days. I can’t wait to go back again and help stuff gift bags. I know I remember my birthdays as a child and the happiness I received from getting presents.  Why not brighten a child’s day by giving to someone who’s family maybe can’t afford a nice birthday gift, especially when it only takes about $10 to provide one bag for one child. What better way to combine the love of shopping and giving than by adopting a child to give gifts to. I know we can all afford a $10 gift even if it means spending a little less on your own personal shopping or beauty needs. I encourage you all to considering gifting to this wonderful organization, so get shopping! (company product donations are also encouraged as well)

Check out the website http://www.birthdaybags4kids.org/

Help save a life and fight against Cancer

Did you know that becoming an advocate for the Cancer Action Network which is part of the American Cancer Society only takes a few minutes. You can play a role in helping get funding for early detection by contacting your legislators and voicing your opinion.  By signing up on the website you will receive emails with links to form letters that will be sent to the your state legislatures on your behalf via email.  This is a quick and easy way to make your voice heard.  So many of us have been personally affected by the devastating affects of cancer whether you have had friends or family pass away, or you may know someone who is battling cancer right now.  Please check out the website and do your part to make a difference in someones life because cancer will not go away but whatever we can do to fight back helps.

http://www.acscan.org/

Ms Earth Pageant

On August 21, 2010 at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, I was crowned Ms. Earth.  I must say it was a wonderful weekend spent with 12 incredible women from around the world and the US and I was honored to be a part of this group.  We competed in interview, fitness wear, fashion wear, and evening gown.  I even won best in interview for my division.  It was definitely a weekend to remember.  My 1st runner up and winner of best in fitness, best fashion wear, and overall photogenic was Rena Arellano from Florida.  The 2nd runner up and best in evening gown was Jeanette Josue from New York.  Both of these women were gorgeous, intelligent, funny, accomplished, and wonderful role models as were all the women who competed this weekend.  Now it's time for me to get busy promoting my platform, making appearances and doing charity work. Stay tunned.... (photo's by http://www.edipphotography.com/)