Miss International 2010 - Days 5-9

Looks like I got really behind on updating my blog while I was away!! Chicago kept me BUSY BUSY BUSY, but it paid off because I am the new MISS INTERNATIONAL 2010!!! But that's skipping ahead. I want to be fairly detailed with my account of Nationals because I want the girls for next year to be able to come back & read this, so they will feel really prepared!

The cocktail party on Tuesday night was really great! All the girls looked so beautiful, & after dinner we got to hear a great motivational speech about finding our destiny. My favorite part was when he reminded us that our goals should not be something where we don't have control of the final outcome. Those types of things (pageants, sports, etc) should be our fantasies, but our goals should be things that we want to accomplish that we can control. It was a great concept to keep at the front of our minds as we went into pageant week! Here I am with some of the other contestants & again with Sydney (my Teen) & Kristin (our director - and Director of the Year Award Winner!!!)

Wednesday we went to the Skokie Public Library (which is AWESOME), & we got to read to the children. Here is our group!

Later Wednesday, we had rehearsals! Thursday morning was interviews. Hardest interview I've ever had!! Which was actually good. I like a challenge :) I didn't take a picture of my group before going into interviews though. Sad! Later that day was more rehearsals!! Mostly we just watched the Teens because they had their prelims that night. I loved going to watch them because they were all so amazing! Every girl had stage presence & confidence to be admired. Here I am with some of the gals before Teen Prelims

Friday was rehearsals - EARLY!! And all day long! Teens had the day off...lucky girls. Then Friday night was the Miss Prelims. I loved seeing all the girls' Fun Fashion outfits & Evening Gowns. I wish I had taken more pictures! Our opening number outfits were HOT! What do you think??

Saturday was more rehearsals & then FINALS!!! I was thrilled to be called into Top 10 along with my Teen!! And I was even more excited when she was called 3rd Runner Up. She really did wonderful!! And after the 4 runners up were called, I was okay with the fact that I had made Top 10. I was happy with that placement, so you can imagine my surprise when I was announced as the new Miss International for 2010!! WOW! Look at this amazing TOP 10!

And below is Top 5 in order at the Coronation Ball following the pageant

Finally, below I am with Clay & Joey from the Competitive Image. I am so very excited to work with them this whole year as they are sponsors for the Miss International Pageant!! They do beautiful photos & fabulous wardrobe. Look for many posts about my visits to Alabama to see them!!

Again, I am so thrilled at being crowned Miss International. A big thank you to my mom (who made my fun fashion!) & to all the girls who let me borrow clothes & shoes to complete my pageant week wardrobe - y'all are the best! And I am happy to report that I won each category at Nationals just like I did at State! Couldn't have asked for a better week with a better group of girls!! Thanks for your support!

XOXO,

Miss International 2010 - Days 3&4

My time in Chicago is going by so quickly!! I can't believe it's already Tuesday night!!!!! Monday was a lazy day for Momma & I. We were thinking of going into the city because she has never been, but instead we stayed in the room so she could continue sewing my Fun Fashion outfit - talk about last minute! But it looks FABULOUS, & she is the absolute BEST mom for making it for me! It's almost done - very exciting!

Then Monday night pageant activities finally started! Orientation was really great! Here I am in our messy room before going down.

Not only did I get to meet the other girls, but we had two incredible speakers from Go Red For Women. They were both women in their 20's who suffer from heart disease. I couldn't do their stories justice by trying to post them here, but let me just tell you I was truly touched. One of the girls was in her early 20's & just had her 5th heart surgery. I can't even IMAGINE what that is like. It just goes to show us that heart disease is real & can effect anyone! Please visit www.goredforwomen.org  to learn more about the signs, your risk, & what you can do to stay heart healthy!!

Today we met early in the lobby & boarded a bus to Navy Pier in downtown Chi Town.

We went on a SeaDog (speed boat!) to view the city from the water & then went to the contemporary art museum. That just reaffirmed what I already knew - I don't understand contemporary art AT ALL. Ah well. Then we headed to the Boys & Girls Club for lunch, autograph signing, picture coloring, & general merriment :) They were soooo fun!!! Here I am with my bff, Frankie

We had a blast! In about 30 minutes we have a cocktail party where we get to dress up allll fancy! YAY! I will start taking more pictures, but in the mean time you can check out Paula's website. She is the photographer for the week!

XOXO,

Miss International Pageant 2010 - Days 1&2

Howdy from Chicago!! Ok so the picture is of the musical, but it's still cool!! Mom & I actually got here on Saturday afternoon, but we have been busy little bees since arriving! We woke up early, early (5:17am - AH!) on Saturday morning, got ready, finished packing (me), & headed to the airport! Sebastien came over to pick us up (coffee in hand like the sweet boyfriend that he is!) & of course had to help us carry our luggage to the car. We have...drum roll please... too much stuff! Duh. We're going to a PAGEANT! But I have to admit it was a little excessive. Even though Mom & I both made lists of clothes for the week (mine was a color-coded Excell sheet! COOL!), we still probably over packed. What can ya do?

As we sloooowly made our way to check our bags at the airport, the man behind us offered to help us with our bags since he only had a carry-on - see duffle bag above. I'm guessing he's just going somewhere for the day because who can just take one bag anywhere?? HA. The airport check-your-bags guy even turned a blind eye to the fact that one of my bags was overweight - so sweet! So we made it to Chicago without incident! Our hotel is great & the staff is really nice. The cookies at check-in are D-E-LICIOUS! After we unpacked everything, we took a nap :)

Saturday evening was the Mrs. International finals competition, so I made my way over to the theater to cheer on Mrs. Texas, Natalie McLarty. She looked absolutely fabulous & represented our state well!! I also got to meet some of the other Miss Contestants at that pageant, so that was a lot of fun!

Sunday we discovered that there is a grocery store right next door & then across the street - dun dun dunnnnn - a mall!! We went & got some food for the week & then did some SHOPPING! Nordy's is having a fall sale already, so as you can imagine our suitcases will be even more full on the way home :)

Sydney, Simone, their momma, Kristin, Isabella, my mom, & I all went to dinner last night & had a blast! Today is my first day of activities - Orientation tonight at 8! I'm so excited to get things started & share what I've been doing to promote Breast Cancer Awareness & Early Detection as Miss Texas International!! I'll try & post a blog each day about the activities so you can keep up :) Have a wonderful week, I know I will!!

XOXO,

These Boots Were Made For Walkin'

I have lived in the great state of Texas for about 12 or so years now, & I have never owned a pair of boots. That is just unacceptable! I decided to remedy that by taking a trip to Cavenders. Ummm WOW! The selection of boots is amazing (not that I'm an expert or anything, but still!), & the customer service is just fantastic. The people working there were so very nice! Here is part of the selection - can you say overwhelming??

And after I saw this advertisement though, I knew I should have gotten boots a long time ago! Talk about a kickass slogan! I just had to share. I thought it was AWESOME!!

                                                  

"You know what I look good in? First place." That's where my little brother would say - BAM. So now I was even more pumped to find me a perr-a-boots! (That's my best Texas accent)

I told the guy who was helping me that I had never owned a pair of boots before. After dropping his head & shaking it in disapproval, he led me over to the women's section. He explained that finding the perfect pair of boots is a long process. There are boots made more for dancing, dressing up, hanging out, riding, etc. Who knew? But I'm a "know what you want & go out & get it" type of girl, so it didn't take me long to decide! I knew I wanted hanging out boots with a little bit of color. And after trying on super-pointy-toed ones & not-pointy-at-all ones, I knew I didn't want those! And wouldn't ya know it the ones I fell in love with were the only ones ON SALE! YEAH!! Some of the other salesmen came over to explain to me how boots are supposed to fit, they had me walk around in them, & after discovering that one of them is an Aggie (whoop!), we did a little two-stepping just to make sure these boots were perfect :) It was really such a fun experience! Here are the ones I decided on

Yes I know, they are fantastic!! A beautiful light brown color with some turquoise stitching. Now wherever I go people will know that I'm a Texas girl! 

XOXO,

Travelin' Tuesday - Brussels, Belgium & Cologne, Germany

Ehh not so fun. I combined these 2 cities because we didn't really do much in either!

BRUSSELS, BEGLIUM
           We went to Brussels because it's the head of the EU, & we actually got to go to the European Commission & got a lecture there about how it works. I wouldn't recommend it if you're not into law, but that's why we were there & I believe everyone found it very interesting! The best part about Belgium though was the desserts!!

Chowing down on some cookies! And of course everyone knows about Belgium waffles. We definitely had those too!!

The Mannequin Pis statue is here too! I thought it would be bigger, but it's so tiny!! It's just the statue of a little boy peeing...classy I know. But it's famous, so I took a picture!

There are pretty buildings in Grand Place & an okay park to hang out in.

But that park is where we got our camera stolen! (And then got it back from the guy with Sebastien's smooth skills). Really Belgium is the only place we had any problem with pickpockets. Another guy in a group had his wallet stolen there! Scary. So for me Belgium is someplace I don't need to go back to! On that note...

COLOGNE, GERMANY
           There was actually a pretty neat little shopping strip here in Cologne which was nice because Sebastien had some school stuff he was working on, so my free time was spent window shopping!!

Here's a view of the strip! There were lots of stores that were common (Zara) & some cute boutiques that had reasonable prices. This is where I did most of my shopping on this trip. Who would have thought?






Cologne is best known though for 2 things. It has a beautiful cathedral that's right in the middle of town. You can pay to go all the way up to the top for a spectacular view! Here are some pictures I pulled off the internet because mine didn't turn out so hot

Don't be fooled! It looks pretty cool, but really it is not worth the trip to Cologne just for this cathedral.  No offense, Cologne! The second thing the city is well known for is the Chocolate Museum!! YUM! Of course we had to go while we were there! It's located just along the Rhine. One of the workers even let us behind the rope so we could get an extra taste :) We sure do loooove our chocolate!!

The coolest thing we got there was chocolate beer! But we took it back to our hostel, put it in the fridge, & forgot to bring it with us when we left :( So I can't even tell you how it was! So sad.

There really isn't much more to say about either of these places, so I will leave you with some pictures. First, what the heck kind of window display is this?? Belgium is weird! (It's diapers if you can't tell...)

Next, this man was huge! I had to take a picture of him. This was in Germany.

And lastly, Cologne (and other places as well) will try to lure you in by having pictures like this:

"Ooooo Ahhhh," But please know that it does not really look like this. Oh & here is a map of Germany so you can see where Cologne actually is (West...near Bonn)! It was just a short train ride from Paris, so this is the first place we went when we left Paris on our way to Munich.

XOXO,

Website Information Updated!

Just wanted to let y'all know that my website, www.ashleyelizabethsmith.com, has updated information about breast cancer & new appearances photos! Check it out!

XOXO,

Fairytales

I'm a big movie buff, but some of my favorites are fairytales!! Whether they involve princesses or just fabulous women (ie Elle Woods!), they are always fun to watch & put me in a great mood. I thought this Monday could use some fairytales :) Enjoy!

XOXO

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!! I took this picture of Tobias yesterday - he just loves America! I've had some pretty interesting 4ths the past couple of years. Two years ago, Sebastien & I were in Germany celebrating the 4th. We met a few other Americans on a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, so the group of us went around Germany searching out fireworks! We finally saw some, but nothing like here in the States of course. Then last year I was in NYC for the fourth!! It was awesome because it was the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage, so the fireworks were AWESOME! We watched from a rooftop apartment which I thought was very New York of us :) This year our plan is to go to Lake Conroe with some friends & watch the fireworks out on the boat. If the weather holds up, I think it will be lots of fun!! Of course I'll post pictures later. Have a safe & fabulous 4th!

XOXO