Mar 14th-Mar 18th - NYC Trip & Cycling Appearance!

March 14th was Pi Day... 3.14... get it? Well having a Mom who is a Scientist it's an annual holiday haha That day I took a bus to NYC and stayed at my friend Dennise's apartment. The next day Dennise came with me to the Meriwether Foundation cycling charity event at the David Barton gym! Former Miss USA, Nana Meriwether, invited titleholders nearby and friends to cycle for the cause.

It was nice getting to meet some of the other states! 

We did the cycling class and I was huffing and puffing! It was very challenging but I was happy to help the great cause and to have the intense workout before competing for Miss USA!

Later Dennise and I went out to eat with her sister Casta and her husband David which was really nice! The next morning I woke up and saw an article posted online about the pageant. 

Then I got ready and went to meet up with Nathan Helsel who is a stylist that Nana Meriwether connected me with. 

Him and a group of friends were out to brunch and they were really nice! After we finished I told him that I was going to go shopping for a dress for my Miss USA Road to the Crown interview at the Miss Universe Organization. He came with me to Intermix and helped me pick out a nice yellow dress which is my favorite color. Then I did some shopping on my own and later Dennise came with me for Miss USA interview training with Don Baker.

This session was part of my prize package and I got a good amount of information out of it. One thing that was very useful was a technique on how to start an answer to a question to make your answer sound decisive and confident. During the session he had me stand up and he asked me some questions to practice the technique. It went well and at the end I purchased his book from him. The next morning I took a very early bus ride from Manhattan back to Rochester, New York. 

The reason why I left so early was so that I could help my Mom and other instructors teach the Fairport Karate Academy after school class at Brooks Hill Elementary. It was St. Patrick's Day so a lot of the kids wore green which was cute. 

After class I went with Mike's family and family friend Jorge to Carrabba's Italian Grill and we had a great time! The next day I had fun going to the archery range and working at Scott Miller. At night Mike and I hung out in his studio while he worked on music!

Mar 10th-Mar 13th - Proclamation & Miss USA Location Announcement!

On Monday I went back to Brooks Hill Elementary to help teach the Fairport Karate Academy after-school program with my Mom. A lot of the kids were well-behaved and learned a lot. When training with FKA there is so much more than just learning karate moves, there is respect, discipline, focus, and with the children we teach about stranger danger and what to do if a stranger approaches you.

After karate I went to dinner with my best friend Liz to celebrate her birthday! I felt bad that I was not in town on her birthday so I was glad that we found a time to get together! Happy Birthday Liz! :) The next day I worked at Scott Miller during the day which was fun and then I went to the County Office Building. My parents, Mike, and my best friend Sarah came with me to watch Legislator Fred Ancello and Legislature President Jeff Adair present a proclamation to me. To say I was extremely honored would be an understatement. 

To be recognized for becoming Miss New York USA and for the community service I have done really meant a lot to me. After the ceremony we went to Bonsai restaurant where our friend Russell is the manager and we had a great time! 

The next day I was supposed to work at Scott Miller but we got a couple of feet of snow overnight and it was not stopping so it was a snow day for a lot of businesses. 

I spent the day focusing on planning my meals leading up to Miss USA so that I was not eating as much sugar and making sure to get a lot of protein in order to build muscle. Thursday was Mike's brother-in-law Jon's birthday! I woke up early that morning to watch Donald Trump and Miss USA 2013, Erin Brady, announce where Miss USA 2014 would be held!  

In about ten weeks I would be headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to go after one of my biggest dreams! We looked up the host hotel where I would be staying and the address was...

Seven has always been one of my favorite numbers and I when I see important numbers to me I take it as a sign so I got really excited! Later we celebrated Jon's birthday and told him that in a couple of weeks we were all going to Los Angeles to visit Mike and have a vacation together! Later that day I had a Skype session with my pageant consultant Michelle Holmes who owns Joyce's Boutique.

Afterwards I had a meditation session with Mike's family friend Jorge who was in town from Peru. Then I got ready to head to NYC the next day!

Mar 3rd-Mar 9th - Read Across America Appearance!

On Monday Mike and I went to the archery range and then I helped teach karate with my Mom for the Fairport Karate Academy after school camp at Brooks Hill Elementary. The children were so cute and they had a lot of fun!

The next day I was not feeling well but I was asked to be on a selection committee for Resolve of Greater Rochester's Resolutionary Awards.

There were several of us who were chosen to read the nominations of people in the community who have helped those affected by domestic violence or who have worked towards ending sexual abuse. I was honored to be on the committee and it was an extremely difficult decision to choose a first, second and third place of each of the powerful stories that we read. Then later that night I saw an article posted on the Philippine Edition which was exciting!

On Wednesday I trained at the front desk at Scott Miller in Webster which was fun! At night I had dinner with Mike's family and they made shakshuka and it was delicious! 

The next day I posted facts about Multiple Sclerosis because it was MS Awareness Week and with my Aunt having MS it was one of my goals to use my title to help bring awareness to this disease. Then Corrin, Miss New York Teen USA, and I went on a road trip together to NYC!

My good friend Dennise was sweet to let us stay at her apartment. In the morning we drove to Central Park and I went to the dentist's office for him to take molds of my teeth to make a certain type of less intrusive veneers for my teeth. Then Corrin and I drove to Block Institute in Brooklyn so that we could read to the children for Read Across America day! I read to the children at this school when I was Miss New York Teen USA so it was special to go back as a Miss titleholder.

We each went to multiple classrooms throughout the day and read different Dr. Seuss books to the children. They were so adorable and it was a lot of fun!

Afterwards Corrin and I stopped at a Friendly's to get dinner and then we drove back home. The next day I hung out at Mike's house with our doggie Massimo.

I spent a lot of time looking for an interview dress online for Miss USA. I found an Herve Leger dress that I thought would be perfect. There was a website where they were selling past season Herve Leger dresses at a significant discount and the dress I wanted was on there! I ordered it and I waited weeks but it never came, come to find that the website was either no longer in service or fraudulent but luckily my card was not charged! Later Mike and I went out to eat with his sister, her husband and some of our friends. Of course we enjoyed an amazing dessert platter. 

Then we all went to watch our friends in the cover band Something Else perform at Brickwood Grill and we had a great time! The next day I helped my Mom with the business-side of things for Fairport Karate Academy and then we went to the dojo to workout together! Afterwards I went shopping for clothing for appearances and for Miss USA!

Feb 28th-Mar 2nd - Miss USA Boot Camp!

On Friday I left for Miss USA boot camp! The directors of the Miss New York USA pageant were also the directors of Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island so they wanted to have a get-together of all of their titleholders to prepare for their national pageants. I got on a bus to go to Syracuse to meet Miss New York Teen USA, Corrin, so that we could drive to Rhode Island together. It was a pretty stressful drive because my Miss USA profile was due that evening. I had answered all of the questions but I also needed to submit my headshot and I had not received the final edits of my photos! I finally received them while I was driving but then I had to choose which photo I would submit.

(Photographer: Fadil Berisha, Makeup Artist: Yuko Takahashi, Hair Stylist: Errol Karadag)

I asked the opinion of my loved ones, my pageant directors, and my pageant consultant and everyone liked different photos. Since there was not much time left I decided to go with what my pageant team chose since they knew more of what the pageant looks for. The only problem was that the photo they liked did not get touched up around the mouth so there was a little bit of lipstick higher on one side than the other. I really did not want to submit my Miss USA headshot with a mistake like that so I started to message some photographers that I know to see if they could retouch it. My friend Lucy from NYC photo duo Pony & Brett said she could do it right then for me!

It was getting very close to the time that my Miss USA profile needed to be submitted (we had about five minutes) and my pageant director and coach we're getting nervous, as was I! I felt bad giving her hardly any time to fix the photo but she got it to us last minute (literally) and I was so thankful for her help! Thank you so much Lucy! I sent everything over to the coordinators and they submitted my profile right when it was due (possibly a minute late haha but they said we were fine). It felt good knowing that everything worked out and was done!

We all recovered from basically having a panic attack and went to meet our sister-state titleholders in a conference room! It was nice getting to meet everyone and our directors Debbie and Cindy gave us each a notebook and pen with our name and title on them! Then they told us that next we were all going to a hockey game together!

We walked over to the Rhode Island Convention Center and we watched the Providence Bruins play from our suite while eating food they had out for us! 

While we were having fun eating and watching the game we had some visitors coming in and out to say hi! 

The next day we all had a catered lunch in the Rhode Island Convention Center where we got to get to know each other more. 

Then we found out that a young girl named Scout from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, her sister Tess, and their parents were coming to meet us! We gave them tiaras and walked down a runway with them to show them how to catwalk but they didn't even need teaching, they rocked the runway! 

A Marlow Photography was at the Convention Center to take promotional photos of the titleholders and when Scout and Tess found out that they were going to do a photo shoot they were so excited! We went into the studio to watch the end of their photo shoot and I got teary-eyed seeing how happy they were. It is moments like seeing these two young girls have an unforgettable experience that are the reasons why I wanted to become Miss New York USA. 

After the girls left, Michelle Holmes went over runway walking and posing with all of us for evening gown and swimsuit competition. Then Michelle and our directors Debbie Miller and Cindy Provost went over a lot of information on preparing for nationals and what to expect while competing for the national title. I took a lot of notes on things that I should buy and what to pack. That night for dinner we all went to Ten Prime Steak & Sushi where we were in a private area with a custom menu for us! 

Dinner was great but of course I was most exited about dessert, especially because the chef brought us out everything to try! There was cotton candy, creme brûlée, chocolate lava cake, espresso topped ice cream and apple turnover with maple ice cream! Yum! 

The next morning Christina, Miss Rhode Island USA, and I were up first for our photo shoot with A Marlow Photography! Jacklyn Beauty gave us a makeup lesson while doing our makeup for the shoot. We each shot in a couple of different outfits and it was fun! 

(Photographer: A Marlow Photography, Hair/Makeup: Jacklyn Beauty)

While I was doing the shoot the other contestants were in a fitness lesson. I caught the very end of it and I talked to the trainer about getting protein as a vegetarian. I also got to see Amy Diaz, Miss Rhode Island USA 2008, who was demonstrating for the trainer. It was so nice of him to give us fitness resistance bands to workout with! 

Then we all went to a private dining room at Centro Restaurant and Lounge where we had a delicious lunch. That concluded our weekend trip and it was such a great experience! Thank you everyone who helped put the trip together for us! We said goodbye-for-now to everyone and Corrin and I headed back to New York together. 

Feb 23rd-Feb 27th - Modeling Job & Scott Miller!

On Sunday I drove down to NYC so that I could go to Pennsylvania to shoot for Boscov's!

The drive through Auburn was really pretty so I stopped to take in the scenery. Shortly after, near Cornell, I had an unexpected stop when an emu walked out into the road! I waited to make sure that it was away from the road and then I looked for someone on the property to make sure that they knew what happened. 

That night with the help of my parents and Michelle Holmes, my official pageant consultant, we chose my childhood picture to submit to Miss USA for their website. When I was younger my parents and I would go to Mendon Ponds Park and I loved when the birds would land on my hand to get bird seed!

The next day I drove to Reading, Pennsylvania to shoot with Boscov's again! 

It was a fun day and I also got to talk to Allyn Rose, Miss Maryland USA 2011, who is now a coordinator for the Miss New York USA pageant. Right after the shoot I drove back home to Rochester, New York.

The next couple of days I did more front desk training at Scott Miller in Webster which was fun! There was a lot to learn and remember but I really enjoy the job. On Thursday I got a package in the mail which had a phone case, business cards, thank you cards and signs for my Miss New York USA appearances! 

During the day I went to lunch with my friend Heather who I know from modeling in Rochester and she was on the board for Rochester Fashion Week. Heather is also into pageants so we met up for some Japanese food to catch up on everything. 

Afterwards I got my hair blow-dried at Scott Miller because I was leaving for a pageant bootcamp the following day. Then I trained some more in the office and later at night I picked up Mike from the airport! I was happy that he was home from LA but I felt bad that I had to leave the next day. We got to see each other a little bit and then I packed for my trip!