there she is!!!

Such a fun night watching Miss America with Coach and KJ while live texting with T-bone during the show!  As with football, we are a house divided (KJ did cheer for Hannah Roberts, Miss Mississippi but she was really rooting for Meg, Miss Alabama).  Both girls did an amazing job representing their states and for anyone who thinks pageants are dumb or stupid, please read on.

Over the years we have gotten to know a lot of these competing young ladies through dance classes, Buccanettes and even through our lacrosse family and you can't help but be impressed.  These young women are all at the top of their class and selflessly give hours and hours of their time and energies to various charities and their own specific personal platforms. While attending Miss Mississippi's crowning this year and last, we are always blown away by some of the contestant's scholastic achievements and personal stories (these girls are battling debilitating diseases, addiction, one contestant was a survivor of rape and one contestant recently underwent a double mastectomy as she is at risk for breast cancer).  These young ladies want to make a difference in their local communities and address issues affecting their state ... obesity, teen pregnancy, literacy, disappearing school art programs. 

Not only are these young women smart and charitable, they are incredibly talented!  We've seen some incredible dancers, baton twirlers, a comedienne, poets and singers (even an American Idol alum!). Hannah's talent at state was incredible and I will admit last night she did sound a little off. Her sweet family sat in front of us at this year's pageant and her uncle mentioned  that the humidity affects the violin strings (I've never played an instrument in my life but that makes total sense to me!  It rained pretty hard Saturday night delaying the start of the Parade of Shoes). 

I understand the contradiction surrounding the swimsuit portion of the pageant ... why are we parading these young ladies around half naked while supposedly celebrating their minds and rewarding scholarships?  Is swimsuit antiquated?  Probably.  Should it be eliminated?  Maybe. But it's more of a tradition than anything else.  Miss America began as a publicity stunt for the beaches and tourism of Atlantic City.  Do the contestants look forward to swimsuit?  Most probably do not.  But T-bone does weirdly enough.  She has always tried to stay healthy through exercise and clean eating and feels the swimsuit portion of the pageant encourages contestants to be the total package. To be women with a healthy mind, a healthy body and a giving heart. 

I also fully understand why feminists get up in arms about pageants but to me, being a feminist means supporting my sisters in whatever they decide to do.  You want to save lives being a fire-person or cardiac surgeon?  Great!  You go girl!  You want to be Miss America and save lives by encouraging monthly self breast exams for early detection?  Terrific!  You''re a stay at home mom and want to be the PTA president at your Children's schools?  Thank you!  It takes a village.  Women need to support and encourage other women.  Not tear them down. 

Here She Is ... Miss America !!!

Because T-bone FINALLY decided on the gown she'll be competing in at Miss University in October and in honor of the upcoming Miss America Pageant, I'll be posting photos of the contestant's recent photo shoot with the Godfather of pageant fashion, Mr. Tony Bowls (please note:  these are not the official evening gowns the contestants will be wearing during competition, these are from a Tony Bowls photo shoot while the contestants were in Orlando supporting their Outstanding Teens this summer).  www.MisAmerica.org

In alphabetical order (I'll post 5 photos for the next 10 days):

luv, luv, luv this red gown!  

One of my favorites!  

KJ and I wanted to go to the Show Us Your Shoes Parade so badly this year but the timing was tough -- I have my cousin's wedding in PA and then Cabo.  There was NO way I could get from PA to AC to Mexico without loosing my mind!!!  http://www.missamerica.org/parade/default.aspx  I mean, seriously!  How fun does this look!!

The Most Magical Time of the Year

Most folks have a hard time with January.  The holidays are over.  The weather usually isn't so great.  Still trying to hang onto New Year's Resolutions.  College football is over. 

I, on the other hand, love January!  What's not to love!  It's a new year and I luv, luv, luv writing in a fresh, new Lilly calendar!  NFL Play-offs are going on, Super Bowl is coming up.  Hockey is back!  The Miss America pageant!  Miss NY and Miss SC were my favorites right from the beginning.  SC was the favorite and it was hers to lose.  And she did.  I hated her gown and I thought she blew her question.  Miss NY looked like she was having fun and her tap dance was adorable (I love tap -- it's a dying art form!). She's a beautiful, healthy girl and I think she'll make a wonderful Miss America! 

Sunday was the Golden Globes.  Tina and Amy did a bang up job and kept things light.  I thought Kevin Costner's acceptance speech was classy and I have no idea what the hell Jodie Foster said.  She looked beautiful but she rambled so bad.  I think she was trying to officially come out, I think she was trying to retire.  IDK. 

I thought Jessica Alba looked beautiful but maybe a little too prom?  I feel like a lot of T-bone's friends had a similar silhouette at last year's Hoover Prom. 

I have not seen Les Miserables and have no desire to see it.  Musicals just aren't my thing.  But I do think Anne Hathaway looks radiant and this gown just accentuates her long lean lines. 

Again, I don't watch Homeland and have never been much of a Claire Danes fan but wow!  She looks very sexy and glamorous!

Eva Longoria looks like she's trying to hard to be sexy with all this leg action going on. 

I am probably one of the few people who liked Taylor Swift's gown.  The color was beautiful and the back was gorgeous.  The back of the gown really made it spectacular.  Unfortunately, they didn't really show the back on the red carpet pre-shows  I thought she looked grown up and was glad to see her step out of her comfort zone. 

Jessica Chastain is getting a lot of bad reviews for the dress (doesn't look like it fits correctly in the boobs) and her hair (looks very thin on top). 

Salma Hayek!  Va-Va-Voom.  She's a tiny little thing (probably close to me in height) but she's very voluptuous.  I love how she dresses! 

Jennifer Lawrence's dress had weird boobs.  The color was pretty and she accessorized well but my eye goes right to those crazy boobs. 

I don't watch Glee but thought Lea Michelle looked beautiful.  Very youthful and age appropriate. 

I am not a Hayden Panettiere fan at all.  Having said that, let me also state that I love her and her character on the show Nashville.  Again, I think she looks fresh, young and age appropriate. 

So mark your calendars and set your DVR's for the upcoming awards shows: 

•1/27/13: 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony (TNT and TBS, 8 p.m. ET)

•2/10/13: 55th Grammy Awards ceremony (CBS, 8 p.m. ET/PT)
•2/23/13: 28th Independent Spirit Awards ceremony (IFC, 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET)
•2/24/13: 85th Academy Awards ceremony (ABC, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET)

Miss America Recap

Miss Louisiana

Miss Wisconsin

KJ & I had fun watching the Miss America pageant Saturday night. Everyone has their favorites and it's always fun to see who makes it to the end.

Miss Texas

Miss Tennessee

Miss New York

The pageant seems to be breaking from tradition and trying to focus on a more natural, all American, all around girl. But the entire show felt really rushed and chaotic. I didn't like the way they tried to interview the girls between categories. And, what in the world was Kris Jenner doing as a judge??? I think former Miss America contestants should be judges. Girls who have been through the pageant system would be much tougher on the girls rather than some reality TV mom-ager.

I really liked Miss New York and thought she was a natural beauty but did not like her evening gown. I thought Miss Tennessee, Miss Louisiana and Miss Texas were all gorgeous. I also thought Miss Florida had a really cute haircut. One of the contestants described her gown as being similar to one of Brittney Spears outfits (Miss Texas). I thought that was kind of weird. The dress looked good on her and was one of my favorites up until she made that comment in the voiceover. Another one of the contestants (I think it was Miss California -- she was wearing white) said something about her dress being "hot." I didn't think that was very appropriate. Especially when you have young, impressionable little girls watching the pageant. Miss Wisconsin's black lace gown was reminiscent of Kate Middleton's wedding gown and was very elegant.

Miss South Carolina's weight loss story is amazing but when they interviewed her after elimination she did not come across as very gracious. She mentioned that she's been asked to do reality shows or books or something regarding her dramatic weight loss. I wonder if she had won, would she have been able to perform her Miss American duties or would she be focusing on advancing her career? (plus she had really, really weird hair. I couldn't concentrate on anything else!).

And now let's talk Miss Alabama. She seems like she's very sweet and I thought it was wonderful when the girls rallied behind her and gave her a second chance (but really? did they really need a group of accountants on stage to count how many contestants were standing behind her versus the other girls???). Then she came out in formal wear. The gown looks much, much, much better in the publicity photo above than it did on stage. I don't know if it was the camera angle or what but all you saw was that massive bow. Cosmo said it looked like a crow sitting on her shoulder and I thought it looked like one of those deco-mesh bows people put on their mailboxes at Halloween. KJ looked at me and said, "Well. She won't be back. She just blew her second chance."