Congratulations Betty Cantrell, Miss America 2016

Being a huge pageant fan, I'm still on a high from the Miss America Pageant last Sunday night. Congratulations to Betty Cantrell on winning the crown!  The $50,000 scholarship prize will go a long way in helping Betty to finish her college education and go on to pursue her dream of performing on Broadway!


I saw Betty compete at the Miss Warner Robins pageant last year and knew that she was destined to win at the National level.  She is a beautiful girl and her talent is beyond fabulous.

My town of Warner Robins, Georgia is so proud of Betty and rightfully so.  I mean, what are the odds of having a Miss America from your town?  My husband estimates that the odds to be 1 in approximately 18,000!  Not since 1958 has a Miss Georgia won the crown, back when Neva Jane Langley--from the next county over (Bibb) brought home the title.  So yes, Houston County is excited and you can tell from the newspaper covers and signs all over town.

I was happy to see four of my Top Five picks make it to the finals (GA, LA, SC, TN), along with AL, CO, and MS.


"Healthy Children, Strong America" is Betty's platform and you can tell that she has been eating right and working out...she looked fabulous in her bathing suit.  Lord have mercy, I have no idea how those girls prance around on the stage wearing those shoes!

Can we talk about Betty's talent gown?  Take her stunning red gown, add a gorgeous necklace and perfect hairdo, then pair that with her voice...a goose bump inducing opera performance of Tu Tu Piccolo Iddio, from Made Butterfly.  It was hands down THE best performance of the evening.

Betty, I'm in love with this song and your performance!

Now there has been a lot of controversy about Betty's crop-top evening gown.  I have to say that when contestants began wearing these several years ago, I was not a fan.  But they are popular and I have grown to love them. 

 Betty was not the first Miss America to wear a two piece evening gown.  Deidre Downs, Miss America 2005 wore a crop top and looked stunning also!

I think Betty rocked her gown.  With a figure like hers, she can wear anything and look great!

Betty looking very happy the morning after the pageant at the annual toe dip in the Atlantic Ocean...surely she was on a natural high!

Congratulations and good luck during your reign Miss America!

Miss America 2016

The 95th Miss America pageant is this Sunday and the winner will be crowned by Miss America 2015, Kira Kazantsev during the live ABC broadcast from Atlantic City, 9-11pm.  

Chris Harrison and Brooke Burke-Charvet will be the hosts for the evening.

 But the big news is...

Vanessa Williams will return to the Miss America stage as a Head Judge!  Remember her Miss America reign?  In 1983 she became the first African-American woman crowned Miss America.  Seven weeks before the end of her reign, a scandal arose when Penthouse magazine bought and published unauthorized photos of Miss Williams.  She relinquished her title and was succeeded by the first runner-up, Suzette Charles.  

Vanessa Williams then launched a career as an entertainer, earning multiple Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award nominations.  There just might be drama y'all, so you don't want to miss it!

Vanessa was beautiful in 1983 and is just as beautiful 32 years later.

So, who will win the coveted crown this year?

Here are my picks for the top five...in no particular order:

Miss South Carolina, Daja Dial

Miss Georgia, Betty Cantrell

Miss Florida, Mary Katherine Fechtel

Miss Louisiana, April Nelson

Miss Tennessee, Hannah Robison

It's a weekend full of football games and my favorite pageant ever.  Good luck to all the contestants!

Miss Warner Robins Pageant

A belated congratulations is in order for the winners at the Miss Warner Robins/Miss International City Pageant.  I attended the pageant a couple of weeks ago and can say that it was such a professional event.  The girls were not only beautiful, but talented also!

Here are the new Queens:

Miss International City 2015, Charlene Bibeau and Miss Warner Robins 2015, Betty Cantrell.  Both of them are gorgeous and talented ladies!  They were my favorites to win.

The teen winners...again, beautiful and talented young ladies!  Miss Warner Robins Outstanding Teen 2015, Kelsey Hollis and Miss International City Outstanding Teen 2015, Lelyn Stewart.

"HERE'S WHAT I WORE"  Lilly Pulitzer 'Janice' dress, Ralph Lauren shoes, and Tory Burch clutch.

The emcees for the pageant were two beautiful ladies...Kimberly Hilliard Sharpe, Miss Warner Robins 1989 and her sister Kelli Hilliard, Miss Warner Robins 1991.   {They did an awesome job!} Along with the judges, the emcees received goodies from a local bakery in Warner Robins...Wilson's Bakery.  They talked on and on about how delicious the treats were that they received.  Of course, I had to stop in to check the place out for myself on my way out of town to see my friend Joy in Tybee Island.

Wilson's Bakery is located in an old strip plaza on Watson Boulevard...the main drag in Warner Robins.

They have a variety of goodies to choose from and I took quite some time deciding what to get.

I settled on these to take to Joy's...The doughnuts are covered in chocolate and nuts y'all.  Lord have mercy, we had them for breakfast the next morning and they were delicious!  Wilson's is well-known in Middle Georgia and loved for their finger cookies--the ones on the right-hand side in the box.  They are definitely good too.

Today I'm traveling to my new home in Warner Robins, Georgia.  I'm ready for this new phase in my life and happy to be going back to the land of my birth...the Deep South.  Y'all pray for me...I'm gonna have a hard time resisting Southern cooking on a daily basis.