Second Times a Charm?

Ok guys. Here we go. I've been promised that I will not ... WILL NOT, get bumped from this one. If I do, I'm going to egg someone's brownstone or something. (Kidding, people, kidding. I've never done that before.)

Here's what I'm talking about --------->

I'm one of the Models of Hope for this slammin' cause. As most of you know I'm fairly obsessed with children but I also have a personal tie to this cause. One of my good friends was diagnosed with cancer our junior year of high school. Ever positive and radiant she handled herself with an admirable sense of grace and confidence as she battled the disease. Unfortunately we lost Stacy to cancer our first year of college.

I've donated my hair to Locks of Love 3 times to date (this time around it's slowly making it's way back) . It's always a test in humility, but the first time I thought, "ugh, this bob is really un-cute on my round face ..." then, I nearly hit myself. My gosh, my hair grows back. Often times these children will go through rounds and rounds of chemotherapy to attack their cancer losing every bit of hair they have. To give them some sense of comfort or confidence, through donating hair to be made into a wig is the least I can do.

SO, now that I've talked about that ... I'm a Model of Hope in this event. Here are the deets:

"St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
St. Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center to be designated as a Comprehensive
Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and
medical communities around the world. Our patients and their families come to us during the darkest hours of their lives expecting the very worst. But time and time again, parents have described the feeling of hope they experience when they walk through the doors at St. Jude. No family is ever asked to pay for treatment at St. Jude and no child is ever turned away because of an inability to pay - thanks to the generosity of people like you."


I'm so excited about this opportunity. But, here's the thing: you can sponsor me as a model ... If you do, I'll model like I did at Miss A. Scratch that. I 'll walk like a supermodel. Slash really, really try. Don't donate for me though. Donate for Stacy. Donate for the child that is suffering but overcoming this disease in a valiant way. Donate for those you know who have beaten, or lost the battle to this disease. This will be epic.

Humbly yours.

LT

PS: Don't disappoint me. ;)

Fat Lady, is that you? OMG, are Pigs Flying?

Indeed, indeed! Vermont has legalized gay marriage.

The only thing better than this is the fact that I'm celebrating Jesus' resurrection in Hampton with my family. Nothing trumps Jesus (I mean honestly, we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blow out candles on Christmas Eve ... and this is not my attempt at a joke either).

But come on! Vermont, Iowa ... my hat is off to you. Hopefully the rest of our nation is starting to get the idea that civil liberties shouldn't be limited to those that are in love with the opposite sex. As I said in an article at the beginning of the year, I know I don't want to be judged for who I fall in love with, nor do I want to be restricted in my rights in conjunction with that - so what gives me the right to do just that? Nada.

I love this. LOVE it.

PS: Heterosexual married couples experience over 1,138 rights that homosexuals are denied. For reals.

PPS: Hey, Wall- Street-ers and politicians alike, wanna boost the economy? By allowing same-sex marriage there would be 2 billion flowing into the wedding industry alone. Neat, eh?

Tune In!

I forgot to let you all know that I will be chatting live on Pageant Radio. Don't believe it exists? Try me.

12-1220!

xo

Hey, you! Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks!

Kidding, kidding. I got a hot dog, just like the ones my mom fed me every single Friday night in the Fall from the moment I could chew without choking until I got shipped off to college. You know, at my dad's football games. This is him. I've always been "Coach Smith's daughter". Finally when I went to Miss America there were about four weeks in there where he said people called him MY DAD. Talk about victory.

Anyways, back to the point. Saturday morning I went to the Yankees v Cubs exhibition game at the new Yankee Stadium. First of all I want to applaud the 4 train for getting us there in record time. Who knew you could get to the Bronx from midtown in, uh, 15-20 minutes? If you live in the Bronx and that isn't normal, sorry (the F train really stinks too if it makes you feel any better), but I was impressed nonetheless. The game was many things; one being fun. It was also windy. Really, really windy. And I had to deal with a couple of Cubs fans who weren't too thrilled with the 10-1 outcome (hence we didn't see the end of the game). Crippling defeat is never worn very well. Again, joking. I'm talking smack like I'm some sort of avid baseball fan which I'm most certainly not. I think it's just because I don't have a team though ... maybe sooner than later I'll be recruited to wear the red and blue. If so, that's ok, because then I can switch it out for both seasons -- the Giants wear those colors, too!

The new Yankee Stadium!

Then I hurried home, cleaned my room (cough, cough, MOM!), and eagerly anticipated the arrival of Ashley Wheeler, Miss Vermont. Ashley and I got really close on the reality show, kept in touch before Miss A, and then have obviously done so since. There are so many good stories behind our friendship but here is one:

We ate a lot on the reality show due to the endless cookies, cakes, and ... chocolate covered strawberries. It was another one of those nights we were stuffing our mugs at 2am, after filming for hourssss, and I DARED Ashley to fit as many chocolate covered strawberries in her mouth at once. Ironically, the new Miss America, Katie Stam, was sitting there as well. And oddly, Ashley took me up on the dare. She proceeded to choke on a strawberry, ask for the Heimlich (but I kept laughing ... I knew she had a good diaphragm to push that stuff back up - I mean she won talent, y'all), and it came back up just in time for the current Miss America, Kirsten Haglund to sit down beside her. Of course she just popped in another one and we carried along our merry way. Obviously she is the jam. End of story.

So she came to NYC and we had SO MUCH fun playing. We had a couple of other ladies over on Saturday night. Talked, and laughed, and caused some general calamity. Really, really good time. Thank you, lady friends.

Sunday Ash and I explored (SoHo, Chinatown ...) then she caught her flight to Aussie to see her beau. Leaving me with a gorgeous day outside and time to play! Here comes the tragedy of the weekend ...

I went rollerblading with Paul. (The night I met Paul, Halloween, he had come over to my house with some other people and the rest of the story will remain a mystery ... perhaps due to some discrepancy ... but one thing we can all agree on is I definitely slipped on my 'blades to show him my skills ... through my pint sized apartment.) It was SOO pretty, yet SOO dangerous. 3 minutes on rollerblades is plenty of time for me to break my neck. And I did. Kind of. But, I actually broke my butt. I think I really did. Too bad I can't get a pink cast, that's all I've ever wanted out of a broken bone.

Fun and cute rollerblading. vs.

Me rollerblading. Less cute. More pain.

After my spill and more 'blading, we stopped by the grocer, cooked up some dinner and watched Ocean's Thirteen. Paul made potatoes and ate a carton of strawberries. I made some chicken fajitas. It was good. And I was content.

Great ending to a wonderful weekend.

Now I'm just enjoying the rain!

Praise the Lord!!

Equality. That whole "All men created equal ..." may finally hold some meaning. Thank you, Iowa.

I'd like to think of this issue as a parallel to the case of Loving v Virginia. Looking back and understanding the Civil Rights Movement was just ending 40 years ago is almost defeating. We may have come a long way, but we certainly have a long, long way to go.

I'm getting the tingles just thinking about this excitement!

And yes, I said praise the Lord!

Lisa Smith's Articles

When I got home this past Thursday night guess what I had PILED up on my nightstand? You guessed it ... newspaper/magazine articles collected by the one and only Lisa Smith.

So I've decided I'm going to put some of my favorite finds of hers on my blog. She has pretty impeccable taste, and I'd like to think I have a secure sense of style myself. With that said, here is your first treat!

These Gold plated Bangles with Swarovski crystals are awesome AND they're inexpensive ...

Cute right? Go check them out here. You should actually explore the entire website. It's awesome. Some definite good finds. And, if your man friend is looking for some ideas just tell him he should start reading my blog. I'll put him on the right path.

I'll have another one for you next week from little Lisa ... until then, au revoir!

PS 8 - Staten Island

Yesterday I went to Staten Island's PS 8 to hang out with the kids, and tell them to make right decisions. Each state contestant for Miss America has the opportunity to give the "Right Decisions, Right Now" program in schools across her state. Ironically, this program is sponsored by RJ Reynolds. Why ironic? Because the main focus is to discourage teens from smoking, underage drinking, and drug use. I mean really? RJ Reynolds? Wow, talk about trying to make yourselves feel better.

The students at this school were absolutely adorable. They were a younger crowd than what I've been seeing so it was refreshing to see their zealous little eyeballs darting around the room trying to figure out what the heck I was wearing on my head.

This is one of the first grade classes during their "reading club". The President, of the club would choose a student to sit in the "author's chair" and read a book to the class. Here we are thumbs - upping reading!

With little kids there is naturally a PHENOMENAL commentary. Here are just a few:

Girl 1: You look like a princess. (it's weird, crowns give off that impression.)
Girl 2: You are so pretty!
Girl 3: You are REALLY beautiful!
Girl 4: You're GORGEOUS!! You're EVEN MORE gorgeous than ME!!!!!

My crown got a smooch (and a tug) from one of the students. So cute!

We walked into the next classroom and the bell was only moments away ... these kids looked like they were about to pop off the running block. And this dialogue ensued:

Teacher: Everyone say hi to Miss New York!
Student: My mom is making jelly tonight!!!!!!!!!

And, alas, every single class asked me how old I was. One kid guessed 18. I suppose I should feel honored, but for some reason I just don't ... haha.

But, the greatest moment of my appearance yesterday was the end. I returned to the office to thank the principal Lisa Esposito for allowing me to visit with her students. Since the bell was getting ready to ring she asked if I would like to say something over the PA system. Since I'm naturally a very shy person I was a bit nervous. HA. Got you. Are you still awake? Keep reading. I of course said yes! But then we plotted ... Since it was April Fool's Day I made the following announcement, " Thank you so much for having me here today, what a great group of students you are! Since it is a special day I would like to announce that you have NO HOMEWORK tonight. Have a great afternoon!!". Note that I did not say April Fool's at the end. The principal was dying ... and I was lacing up my running shoes. I was scared those teachers were going to come after me!

Lisa Esposito, resident trouble-maker/Principal at PS 8, me, and the Vice Principal.

I hope everyone's Thursday is everything you dreamed of and more. It's almost the weekend people!