May 31st-June 6th - My Birthday, Miss USA in Las Vegas, & Grand Canyon!

On Thursday I took the train home to be with everyone to celebrate my birthday before we left for Las Vegas! Mike picked me up from the train station and we went to the mall to look for shoes that I could wear to the pageant. I bought a pair of black heels by Jessica Simpson that were fancy enough to wear with a cocktail dress but are casual enough to wear with other outfits.

The next day Mike's family planned a dinner for me and they made eggplant parmesan that was ridiculously good! It was Mike, Helen, Scott, Allie, and our friend Jorge all celebrating together which was really nice. They also got me a scrumptious cake and ice cream that we all shared!

June 2nd was my birthday!! That morning I went to the mall to look for a pair of shorts I wanted to get my roommate Dennise for her birthday which is the same day as mine! Afterwards I went to Scott Miller salon and Allie blow-dried my hair and put a little curl in it which was so nice of her. Then my parents, Mike, Liz and I went out to eat together at Benuccis Ristorante and had a great lunch! My parents also surprised me with an amazing birthday cake after we ate! It was good to celebrate with them before we had to head to the airport to go to Las Vegas!

We picked up our luggage and flew to Nevada! Sarah was meeting us there since she flew from New York City so as soon as we landed we met her at baggage claim. Then we all took a shuttle to where we could pick up our rental car. There was a huge line of people using the same car rental company and so we had to wait there a while until we could pick ours up. Then we drove to our hotel and checked in and got a little bit to eat at Manchu Wok since that was the only thing open that late.

Afterwards Mike said he wanted to give me my birthday present and he pulled out a Tiffany's box! I was not expecting a gift like that and when I opened it up and saw a beautiful necklace with a bright yellow gemstone, I was speechless!

I had a great birthday with family and friends and was looking forward to the rest of the trip!

The next day we went to lunch at the Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay. Sarah and I were so excited by their milkshake selections and we got a nutella milkshake and a cookie dough milkshake with chocolate frosting and they were the best milkshakes ever! I wish that I could have that cookie dough milkshake every day.

Right after we did a little bit of shopping and then Sarah and I got ready to go to the Miss USA 2012 Pageant! I decided to wear a simple black satin dress that I had and Sarah wore a black dress with gem accents. My Mom drove us over the Planet Hollywood and we walked up to a huge crowd of people waiting to get in just like I remembered from the year before.

When waiting to get in I saw Georgina Vaughan who was Miss Nevada Teen USA my year at Miss Teen USA and later became Miss Nevada USA 2009. We said hi but could not meet up because the line was moving. Sarah and I got in pretty quickly and found our seats. The show began and it was so exciting to be in the crowd cheering with everyone and seeing the amazing lights on the stage!

The opening was a fashion show of each contestant wearing different kinds of dresses by Sherri Hill which was really neat. Then the hosts Giuliana Rancic and Andy Cohen announced the top 16 and I was sad that New York, Kansas (Miss Kansas Teen USA my year at Miss Teen USA), and Virginia (Miss New York Teen USA 2004) did not make it but there were many contestants who placed that I predicted based on their interview videos and the preliminary competition.

Then the top 16 participated in swimsuit competition while Cobra Starship performed "You Make Me Feel" and "#1 Nite" which was fun to watch!

Afterwards, the contestants were narrowed down to ten who then showed off their beautiful dresses in the evening gown competition. There was also a nice tribute to Dick Clark who had hosted the pageant in the past for a few years, as well as the videos to get to know more about each contestant in the top ten.

Everyone was holding their breath as the contestants were narrowed down to five!

                                  Georgia!                            Nevada!

Rhode Island!

                                Maryland!                                Ohio!

(photos by Fadil Berisha taken for the Miss Universe Organization)

Each contestant answered a question about themselves and then it was time to have the judges ask the final questions. The judges were Marilu Henner, Arsenio Hall, Ali Fedotowsky, Rob Kardashian, Dayana Mendoza, Joe Jonas, Cat Cora and George Kotsiopoulous. It was time for the final look before announcing who the new Miss USA would be and while each contestant walked down the runway Akon performed his new song "America's Most Wanted" which was pretty fitting for the occasion.

And the new Miss USA for 2012 is...
                                Olivia Culpo Miss Rhode Island USA!

We were right by a group of Olivia's family so it was so exciting to see them watch their loved one become Miss USA and they were so ecstatic, obviously! I congratulated them and Sarah and I stayed around for a little while Erika, who was Miss Delaware Teen USA at Miss Teen USA with me in 2006, and I were texting to find each other. 

Out in the lobby Sarah and I found Erika and it was good to see her since we had not seen each other since 2006. Then we saw Morgan Woolard who was Miss Oklahoma Teen USA our year, later went on to be Miss Oklahoma USA 2010 and was first runner-up at Miss USA 2010! I talked to her for a little bit which was nice and then I saw Johanna Sambucini, Miss New York USA 2012, who I had not met yet so I introduced myself to her. She said that she knew of me from the pageant and she was really nice! 

(Myself and Erika, Miss Delaware Teen USA 2006)

After visiting in the lobby, Sarah, Erika and I ate at P. F. Changs right near the pageant in Planet Hollywood. There was a long line but we walked around and got seated pretty quickly. The three of us had such a nice dinner catching up! Sarah and I walked back to the hotel and my parents were in the casino but I was tired and went to bed.

The next day we ate lunch at Max Brenner in Caesars Palace where I had made a reservation and it was yummy! We started out with hummus, then I had a pasta dish and finished with lava chocolate cake and chocolate, peanut butter, banana pizza!

We were stuffed but we went into some stores around there in The Forum Shops.

Then we decided to do something different and go to an outlet mall. My Dad and Mike went to an outdoor mall that had Guitar Center and my Mom, Sarah and I went to a nice outlet mall and bought a couple cute things. Then I found out my friend Gloria who was Miss New York Teen USA 2001 and Miss New York USA 2007 was stranded at a motel by the airport because her flight was overbooked. We went and picked her up and headed to the Ballagio to see the water show!

We walked in the Ballagio and looked around and then decided we were hungry so we found a place called Yellowtail to have a little something to eat.

After we ate we went onto the patio and watched the water show from the Ballagio rather than from the street which was really nice!

Gloria had to get up the next day to fly out so we brought her back to her hotel after but I was glad that we got to spend some time with her. We wanted to visit the Wynn so we went there and first saw their Ferrari dealership and then walked around.

We found a cute cafe to sit down and get a snack and we wound up getting a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting for us to share. Then it was time for bed so that we could get up the next morning and go to the Grand Canyon!

In the morning no one wanted to eat except Mike and I so we went to Paris and ate at a really cute place where you feel like you are eating outside with the cloud painted ceiling and old-fashioned street lights.

Afterwards we got picked up and we all headed on our big adventure! I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon so I was really excited that we were finally going!

Shortly after driving everyone was saying that they were getting hungry so we stopped in a small historic town called Boulder City and had lunch. It was a cute town but definitely small and with random stores. Then we were on our way again until we reached the Hoover Dam where we drove around there to take in the cool sight. I had not visited there since I was about 10 years-old so it was definitely neat to see it again!

Then we drove on and on in the dessert, which I thought was really interesting but Mike and Sarah fell asleep haha. I thought the Joshua trees were cool and I liked spotting cattle that were resting on the side of the road.

All of a sudden we got to a part where the road turned to all gravel and it was really bumping to drive on for about 45 minutes. There was one big hill that we saw buses trying to drive up and they were sliding backwards and causing a big cloud of dust from the wheels turning in the gravel.

We finally made it onto a smooth road that was near where we were trying to get to! I started to see what looked like part of the canyon and it was neat to see the layers in the huge rock with some bright red hues! We were directed to park in a lot and go inside to purchase tour tickets. A big bus took everyone to the first stop to see the Grand Canyon which was called Eagle Point because part of the rock looks like an eagle with it's wings spread!

Seeing the Grand Canyon was breathtaking. It was something I have always wanted to see, walking up to the edge and looking out across the horizon with the on-going carving into the massive rock of Earth.

It was a dream come true that my parents and I got to experience this together and on top of it having Mike and Sarah there was so nice. 

We enjoyed the view for a while and then my Mom took out her telescope that she brought. Being the Scientist that she is she wanted us to be able to see the Transit of Venus where Venus was passing in front of the sun. This is something that will not happen again for another 115 years so my Mom wanted to be sure that we got to see it!

She bought us each solar glasses to wear and set up the telescope with a solar lens. It took a while to get it working and focused but then we finally saw the black dot of Venus in front of the sun! I am glad that we all got to see it and it was interesting to see some of the sun spots too.

Then my Dad spotted little animals that seemed like a cross between a squirrel, chipmunk, and prairie dog and they were so cute! I wanted to take them home haha

Nearby we saw a little performing area where there were demonstrations of Native American cultural music and dancing. I remember seeing demonstrations in Onondaga, NY when I was younger so it was neat to see one again. We also walked around and went into the different native dwellings that they had there which was interesting. After, we got on the next tour bus and went to another stop to see more of the Grand Canyon.

I am glad that we decided to explore this stop because it looked really cool! We walked up a small hill and when we got to the top we saw a giant pyramid of rock with people standing at the top of it!

Of course my Mom went right to it and beat us to the top haha It started to get really windy the further up I went and I knew that Mike was waiting by the bus stop for us to come back so I did not go all the way to the top. It was really neat

I cannot express what having this experience with my loved ones meant to me. Thank you Mom and Dad for making this trip happen, I love you!

We went back to the van and started heading out of the desert. On our way it was so cute seeing cattle walking alongside the road and even standing in the road where we had to drive around or wait for them to move haha

When we were close to Las Vegas I made a reservation at Rainforest Cafe in MGM Grand Hotel. Dinner was great and I love the experience that goes along with dining there.

After getting back to the hotel there were only a few hours until we had to bring the rental car back and get to the airport for our 6:00am flight. I had to pack all of my belongings and wound up pulling an all-nighter (good thing I can sleep well on planes)! 

We boarded the plane, said adios to Las Vegas and headed to Detroit, Michigan. Sadly we had to part ways there because Mike and my parents were going back to Rochester, New York and Sarah and I were going to New York, New York. 

PS I would have had more and better pictures from the trip but since then my iPhone was stolen. :(

Everyone made it back safely and Sarah and I unpacked and I went to bed! I had such a great trip and was spoiled that everyone could come with me since I was going no matter what to watch the Miss USA pageant! I am so thankful for the great experience! :)