Miss Richmond County 2011: 2010

Talk about going straight to work! After about three hours of sleep, I woke up bright and early for my very first appearance as Miss Richmond County. I couldn't have asked for a better place to spend my first day representing Staten Island. The March of Dimes is an organization geared toward helping families with premature babies as well as babies with birth defects and essentially working towards stronger and healthier babies. I got to mingle with families who have experienced the warmth and love of the March of Dimes and its volunteers. Due to my mother's battle with cancer while being pregnant with me, I myself was born premature. I was so unbelievably touched by the stories shared by the families that day. Not to mention the pure joy pouring out of all the children at this event. I fell in love with each and every baby there and could have easily taken them all home. They had such a zest for life which literally brightened up the room. I can't stress enough how wonderful this first appearance was and how much I loved working with the people of the March of Dimes.

For more information about the March of Dimes:

http://www.modimes.org/

This blog is far overdue but here it is!

On November 13, 2010 I was crowned Miss Richmond County 2011, which was the start of my journey to compete in Miss New York. Needless to say I was more than thrilled to hear my name called by the wonderful and beautiful Kimberly Ferdinando. I was fortunate enough to have had support and positive wishes from family and friends which made this entire process so much more worth while. That day was filled with so much excitement, elation, and genuine surprise. Here's a little recap of the day to explain what I mean:

I woke up to get ready for interview and felt so wonderful. My mom and I were laughing and giggling the entire morning while I was getting ready. As I was doing my hair we heard my dad come home (or so we thought) and continued going about our business. Until MY GRANDMA came and knocked on my door. She lives in florida so needless to say it was more than a shock to have her there. You can only imagine what the women in my house were like that morning. I was only allowed to shed a few tears of happiness though because my makeup was already half done for interview =). So, once I composed myself, I went into interview more prepared and relaxed than I've ever been.
I then got ready for the pageant where I got yet another surprise. My friends from school came all the way from Pennsylvania to surprise me. I got a sneak peak (mwahaha) of them in the hallway before the pageant started. As if I wasn't already beaming, I took the stage for the opening number and "did my thing" as my mom likes to say. I couldn't have been more excited, thrilled, elated, happy, and did I mention excited, to hear my name called as the second Miss Richmond County. I was even lucky enough to be crowned by an old pageant friend Kimberly Cantoni. The day was full of wonderful surprises and a perfect happy ending. I am on my way to compete at Miss New York, fulfilling a dream I've had since I was six and had my first taste of pageants.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. -Maya Angelou