Flashback to when I was trying on gowns at Dolce Bleu about a month ago! Next to me in this picture Morgan who just won Miss Auburn this past weekend! It's so exciting to hear about someone who is accomplishing her dreams. She was wonderful girl and it was great hearing about her platform and experiences with pageants. This was her third time and it worked like charm! Morgan I wish you the best of luck at Miss Washington! *I am really happy she wore that dress for competition because she looked stunning in it and it's not the normal "Miss America" kind of dress. |
0 Comments
Last week I was dead sick with the flu. I was in bed and out of work for 4 days. A bright and shining moment appeared twice in my haze when I received my crown and then my sash. I completely wasn't expecting it and was so excited to receive them! This is my first crown so I can't say anything about it other than it fits perfectly with the message of Miss Earth. The sash is simply beautiful. It is embroidered and rhinestoned and just perfect.
Receiving these made me all the more excited for the pageant to come! I mean, I think about it often enough, but it inspired me to start my detox (Sunday we start!) and workout for the pageant. I'm determined to work as hard as I can and see what I can achieve. I'm new to pageants and relatively unsuspecting of all the work that went into them but I understand better. I am constantly inspired by the grace, elegance, and passion of the young woman I see winning pageants. I've met a few off the pageant scene and even then they are full of grace and kindness. I aspire to be that kind of woman. I'll keep you all updated on my platform work, fundraising, and everything else that comes with pageantry! If anyone is into pageants and stumbles across my blog feel free to offer and words of wisdom. Every bit helps :) Here's my bucket list that I made last year when all the sudden it hit me that 25 wasn't that far away. I think most people in my generation fear 25 because that's when you're supposed to married and thinking about kids and buying a house. That being said, everyone in my generation that doesn't have a trust fund (and maybe those who do) know that that's almost impossible and quite frightening. It's like looking forward to disappointment.
That being said bucket lists are really an easy and fun way to narrow down what's important.
Apparently some girls, especially girls in the "big leagues" of pageantry do not share their pictures of the gowns they try on. I on the other hand, believe that it's not just the gown but really the woman and how she wears the gown that is important. That being said here are the 5 dresses I tried on before my friend and I got desperately hungry (I need better planning for next time I know!) We went down to Dolce Bleu in Sodo District of Seattle. It's a cute boutique with many prom dresses but lots of gorgeous on-trend 'pageant gowns'. The staff were helpful and friendly but not overbearing what so ever which I really appreciated. The pageant is 7 months away and I'm still raising money for the entry fee; I can't afford a dress from a boutique right now. Although I wish I could have because they were having an amazing sale! 50% off! Say what? I know for a fact that a majority of my friends don't like pageants and that watching me shop and try on gowns is not on their list of things they want to spend their time doing. Probably not even in their Top 100 list. For that reason, I really appreciated my friend coming and shopping with me. She has great taste and lead me to some amazing gowns I'm not sure I would have picked out. After we picked the gowns they put them in a dressing room and I had to borrow shoes. They must think I'm a poor candidate going to a nation pageant and not remembering shoes while trying on gowns... I'm a complete gown shopping noob. I only ever went to 2 semi-formal events in high school and I decided to go about a week before both which ended up with me buying an awful black dress I settled for. To this day I still cringe looking at the photos. The other time I just borrowed a dress from a friend who I'm positive had never missed a single school dance and had a wide selection. These experiences resulted in me having absolutely NO clue on what size I am. That being said, the gowns look nice but I look forward to trying them on in the proper size. At Dolce Bleu, the have a lovely couch area in the middle with a red carpet and a 3 fold mirror (check out their instagram to see). Another pageant girl was their trying on gowns but she was competing really soon in the Miss America system. It was great seeing her try on dresses, make comments, and help each other out. It's amazing the diversity their is in pageantry; especially when all you see in the media are women who all look the same and where televised pageants focus on the aesthetics while so many decisions are based off interview and "About Me" sheets. At one point, we actually got a picture together in front of their new Jovani background for photo-ops. It felt so glamorous and boy do I need to work posing and body awareness! The woman taking the pictures was very kind and knew how to make us smile. I cannot wait to go back and try on about 20 more dresses! The next time I'm bringing my boyfriend and then getting input from my dad. They both have very good taste! I recently came across the #MyVeganStory campaign on Tumblr and decided to my part too!
My story begins when I was a kid and hated eating beef. By the time I was a teenager I was becoming more aware and wanted to incorporate vegetarian meals. I complained loudly and advocated in my group of friends to not go to circuses with animals. I got to college and one of my great friends, my freshman year, was a vegetarian. Inspired by her I made the leap. Then I watched Forks Over Knifes with my sister who was trying to go raw. That winter break I made the decision to go vegan for my health. I was overweight and trying grab back control. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a strong enough will to fight my small school cafeteria who didn’t understand that you couldn’t make my grilled "cheese” with butter on the griddle; or that vegetarian wasn’t the same as vegan. By the end of the school year I was living off of chicken nuggets and french fries. I felt like a failure. Flash forward to this past summer. I was at a healthy weight and a healthy place in my life. I had been reading a lot of things on tumblr about factory farming and watching many documentaries. When I went to Germany and felt uncomfortable eating all the meat I was. On the flight back I watched Noah. This has to be the craziest trigger of change ever. The film has 2 scenes that struck me; 1)when the father discusses why they only eat plants and the cycle of life and 2) when “men” were craving meat that they were selling their daughters and children and eating humans because they NEEDED meat. I’m not Christian and was actually raised atheist but this film made the correlations to our society and to my own thoughts very clear. It’s difficult to explain the how or why this was my turning point. Being vegan is what I call a “guilt free” lifestyle. Compared to many other lifestyles, I am not harming animals and my contribution to the destruction of our mother earth is very small. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect and there are still so many issues with labor and human rights with farming in general to addressed. All that said, I have never felt so at ease with my lifestyle than I do now. @myveganstory2015 Last year was a whirlwind of change and opportunity. I thought 2013 was crazy. This year I was in a long distance relationship with the most amazing man I've ever known. I have struggled and fought for a relationship more than I ever thought I would. I used to be a huge supporter of "nothing serious till 30" argument. I also don't believe in giving up a good thing. He's the most supportive person in my life and I wouldn't have accomplished so much without him. This year I chose my major. I hated my new department. I changed my major again. Since I've had a crazy schooling experience (boy will I post more on this at a later date) my graduation date has been postponed, once again. I don't regret studying abroad and I don't regret changing my major. I don't take out student loans and postpone other dreams to be unhappy with what I'll spend years focusing on. I'm disappointed that the German dept is so old fashioned and not very understanding, as a program, of how I learned German; that makes my majoring in it a miserable choice mentally and for my GPA. This year I have chosen my health and happiness over others. I had someone whom I considered family, touch me inappropriately. I know my family will throw so much hate for posting this on the internet but I firmly believe that we must be honest because hiding such things says it's okay. I want those who have gone through similar things to know it's okay to speak out even if your family sweeps it under the rug, ignores your feelings, belittles your experiences; it's okay to speak. It's okay to know in your heart and mind that it was wrong what happened even if the police tell you nothing will happen if you file. It's okay to focus on yourself when everyone else was worried about keeping the family together. This year, I lost most of my family and that's okay. Through therapy and reflection I understand that I have to do what's best for me and my mental state. My happiness and health meant moving out to Seattle, something I wanted to for years. This forced me to get the single best job I have ever gotten. I work with amazing people and in such a positive environment. Focusing on me I delved into what I found truly important. I started exercising more and became vegan. Focusing on me, I spontaneously decided to go to Germany and visit my friends I hadn't seen in 4 years. No matter the toll on my bank account, I needed this trip. My friendships needed this trip. It revived my passion for the German language (as much as schooling has cooled it down) and culture. Focusing on me, I made a 25 before 25 list. I crossed off so many things. This included crossing off competing in a pageant. A childhood dream that was told to me to be impossible because of money, my body, my attitude. I had one of the single most wonderful and empowering moments of my life at Miss Washington USA. It gave me such a high that I want compete again. Today is the first day of 2015 and although I'm not where I thought I'd be, I'm more passionate about life than I ever was before. I will be the change I want to see. I want to inspire and help. My generation is unhappy, our eyes are open and I'm excited to see what we can do! |
MeganMiss Earth Pacific Northwest 2015 Archives
October 2015
|