firstpageant1

Why I chose this pageant: Several reasons. One, my friend Michelle is the director, and having been a judge at the first pageant she directed, I knew it wouldn't be a really high-pressure atmosphere and that I would feel really welcome. Two, the timing was good - it gave me enough time to feel well-prepared, without having so much time that I would chicken out. Three, the only mandatory part of the pageant was Eveningwear/Onstage interview. All the rest of the categories were optional, which meant that I could choose the ones I was comfortable with right now, and not have to worry about the Big Scary (aka "swimsuit") if I didn't want to.

9:05 AM Arrived at Lake Lucille and quickly found the Iditarod Room, where the pageant would be held. Yay for Michelle, who is sooooooo sweet and nice and wonderful! I probably would not have been brave enough to enter a pageant for the first time if it hadn't been hers. She mentioned that there were only two of us in my age division. Still scary!

9:15 AM Mom had to go sing at church, so after french braiding my hair for Talent, she headed back toward church, leaving Heather to help me practice a little before I go onstage.

9:45ish Brandishing my new pink jumbo diabolo, I took the dance floor, the next-to-last performer of the category. My hands were shaking like mad - scared to death! But I had great music - the song "I love to boogie" by T-Rex, from the Billy Elliot soundtrack - which made me feel better as soon as it came on. My diabolo routine went well, I thought. The diabolo got tangled at one point, but I recovered quickly, gave a grin, and continued with the routine. Yay me! Overall, I felt pretty good about it. I had messed up, but I'd picked right back up after the messup, and other than that one moment, I'd performed all my tricks perfectly, even the stubborn string crawl that had taken me three weeks to learn.

10:00 AM Spent the next couple of hours watching the other optional categories, which I had opted not to enter this time around. Also chatted with some of the other "pageant people" in the dressing room. I finally relaxed a little!

12:00ish We broke for lunch, to resume around 2:30. Immediately following the lunch break was Eveningwear/Onstage Interview, the only other category I entered in. Time to start figuring out what to do with my hair. After a take-out sandwich and fries from the hotel's restaurant (yummm!) Heather got to work on me with the curling iron. The cascading curls I had envisioned were not to be - darn my stubborn hair. Heather finally managed to get the ends to turn under, at least, just in time for me to get changed into my evening gown. I love my gown. :) It's a black velvet strapless number with a band of white satin at the top, and a matching wrap, and it is gorgeous. Unfortunately, since I'd gained a couple of pounds since I'd bought the dress, I didn't realize how difficult it would be to breath! Man oh man.... my poor lungs. Mom arrived to watch the rest of the pageant.

2:40 PM Eveningwear got under way. I practiced walking up and down the hallway behind the stage entrance, and suddenly wished that I either had taller heeled shoes or that I had hemmed my gown a little shorter. Please God, don't let me trip onstage!

3:00 PM My turn! I drew my question out of the bowl and handed it back to Bridgette, who was MCing. "What is your favorite place that you have ever been?" "Well, I gotta say Disneyland!" Good answer, but too short! Realized I should have elaborated a little too late, and continued my walk around the stage. Also realized that where the application had asked for 3 words to describe myself, I had forgotten to fill in one of them. Oops! Oh well... Bridgette read my first two words "Cheerful, kind, and... um...." and I chimed in with "and incomplete!" A few chuckles... yay.. good save. :)

3:15 PM Entertainment.... a performance of "Googly Eyes", and a tap dance to "Stray Cat Strut". Very nicely done on both counts.

3:45 PM Awards! I won awards for "Personality" and "Sweetheart". I placed as princess, aka first runner up, in our age division, too. (Not so impressive sounding when you remember that there were only two of us, but hey! I still got a really pretty tiara!)

4:00 PM Packed up and headed home. Thanked Michelle for a really great day, and snuggled into the car to read my Pageantry magazine, one of the gifts that all of the titleholders had received. Fabulous day!