Miss Fullerton Pageant

The first event I attended as Miss Santa Barbara County was the Miss Fullerton pageant on February 7th, 2009.

It was a total learning experience...

I wore a blue Calvin Klein dress that I got at Loehmann's. My little and I matched almost identically. Sadly, I was having major problems with the top part of my dress since it was strapless, so before we left Patti's house, she pulled out some handy dandy double stick tape which we stuck to my skin. It worked! (Only for a little while though...)

My hair was straight because for some reason, a guy asked to straighten it at the mall the day before, which I didn't complain about.

Patti and Sandy both came with us, with Patti driving Stephanie's mom's giant suburban (which made the ride quite comfortable...) It was a rainy day, and Jillian and I kept counting the rainbows on the drive there. We found an unusual amount, surprisingly. We took it as good luck.

We went to Marie Callender's for dinner and I had had the most impossible time eating my sandwich. I remember it fell everywhere, but on my dress, thank god. (Must've been the rainbow luck coming in handy...)

We pulled into the parking garage and were finally able to put on our crowns. I had no idea before this but you're not supposed to put on your crown in the car, only when you get there. Jillian and I tried to do it and of course failed, so Patti had to undo our clips and put it our crowns on the proper place on our heads. 

We finally got inside and I was amazed at the size of the auditorium. 10x bigger than the one we competed in. Chaya and Carley, the 2008 teens, met us all there.

It was the first time I had ever seen a pageant from an audience's perspective, so it was interesting sitting in the chairs and trying to guess who we thought was going to win. (I'm pretty sure Jillian and I guessed spot on.)

After the pageant, we had to get up and take pictures with the new Miss titleholder, Jessica. She played the piano beautifully and was the one that Jillian and I both were hoping would win the crown. 

 

Doug (the local photographer) even snapped a few of us up on the stage. (Much to our excitement.) It really is a well-documented organization. After my year is over, I know that I'll have hundreds and hundreds of photos in my crown. 

We finally left, with the protection of umbrellas, and made our way to the car. We took off our crowns and prepped for the drive home. (Uggs and blankets waiting in the car...) Due to the rain, there was a lot of traffic so it took quite a while to get home. Also, we had to drop Stephanie and the suburban off at her house in Calabasas. 

Overall, it was a fun night. A genuine bonding experience with the other girls.