Miss Warner Robins 2016

Last Saturday evening I got my pageant fix!  A new Miss Warner Robins and Miss International City were crowned along with Miss Outstanding Teens for both cities.  The pageant started at 6:30 p.m. and ended at 11:30 p.m.  My husband kept asking, "How long does this last?"  I reminded him that I love watching pageants as much as football!

Tess Hammock, a 21-year old student at the University of Georgia, won the title of Miss Warner Robins 2016.

Caroline Burnette, a 19-year old student at Georgia Southern University, won the title of Miss International City.

Grace Thomas, a 16-year old student at Houston County High won the title of Miss Warner Robins' Outstanding Teen.

Mandolyn Howard won the title of Miss International City's Outstanding Teen.

All four young ladies will go on to compete at the Miss Georgia pageant next June.

Hopefully these ladies follow in the footsteps of recent local winners.

Betty Cantrell, Miss Warner Robins 2015, won the title of Miss Georgia and will compete at the Miss America pageant on September 13.

Two years ago, Olivia McMillan won Miss Warner Robins Outstanding Teen and went onto win the Georgia title and then became Miss America's Outstanding Teen!

I cannot wait for the Miss America Pageant on September 13th.  I'll be back next week with my favorite contestants!

Cherry Blossom Festival

The 33rd Annual Cherry Blossom Festival is underway in Macon, Georgia.  There are lots of ways to "Party Till You're Pink"  with nightly concerts, food trucks and fair food, amusement rides, a parade, arts and crafts, luncheons, and tours of historic homes, churches, theaters, and museums.  There is truly something for everyone to enjoy...to celebrate spring and the beautiful cherry blossoms.

In 1949 the late William Fickling, Sr. discovered the first Yoshino Cherry tree in his back yard.  During a trip to Washington, DC in 1952, he spotted a tree that looked exactly like his tree.  On a return trip, he compared a cutting from his tree to those around the tidal basin.  It was a perfect match!  Upon his return to Macon, he learned how to propagate the Yoshinos and began freely sharing them with the community.  There are now 300,000-350,000 Yoshino Cherry trees in Macon.

Pink bows are tied to any and everything here in middle Georgia and talented artists have painted the cherry blossoms on automobile windows and business storefront windows.  The whole town is decked out in pink! 

My mailbox is adorned with a pink mesh bow and cherry blossoms.

Of course, if you have a festival and a parade in the South, you simply must have a queen.  Congratulations to Queen Jaedyn Ellis and the Cherry Blossom Royalty!

The Queen and her Court:  (left to right) Tolu Sogade, 3rd runner-up; Valerie Davis, 1st runner-up; Queen Jaedyn Ellis; Kiara George, 2nd runner-up; and Savannah Alday, 4th runner up.

The Cherry Blossom Festival will be going on now through April 4, 2015.

Miss Universe 2015

The new Miss Universe will be crowned tonight.  I'll be watching with my popcorn and diet caffeine-free coke and cheering for Nia Sanchez--not only because she our country's reigning Miss USA, but because she gorgeous!  Her red gown was my favorite of the evening at Miss USA last year!

The 5'8" brown-haired, brown-eyed beauty is not just a pretty face with a fabulous figure.  She's a fourth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.  I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I wouldn't want to make her mad.

I LOVE this green gown...pageant perfection!

Of course, she is tall, slim, and toned.  Look at those long legs!  She said that she is counting down the minutes until she finishes the swimsuit competition and she can finally indulge in her favorite treat.  "I have a jar of Nutella I'm going to have backstage."

The pageant will be televised tonight at 8pm EST on NBC.  Here's hoping she brings home another crown tonight!  Good luck Ms. Sanchez!

Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014

Congratulations to Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014.  The 24 year-old Miss New York beat out 52 other contestants to win the coveted crown and at least $50,000 in scholarship cash.  She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and hopes to become a physician like her father.

Nina looking stunning in the "Shoe parade."  That dress...love love love!

Her canary-yellow evening gown was perfection.

Nina rocked her zebra-print bikini in the bathing suit completion.  She said that she has battled bulimia in the past and lost approximately 60 pounds before winning the title of Miss New York.

I absolutely loved her talent--a classical Bollywood fusion dance.  Nina traveled to LA to train with Nakul Der Mahajan, a choreographer for the "So You Think You Can Dance" television show.

Unfortunately, as soon as the tiara was placed onto her beautifully coiffed hair, social media was abuzz with racist attacks in the fact that she was the first woman of Indian descent to ever win Miss America...calling her names such as  "Miss 7-11."  This is so ridiculous.  

Responding to the remarks, she said, "I have to rise above that.  I have always viewed myself as first and foremost American."

I'll admit that going into the competition, I was hoping Miss Georgia would take home the crown.  Although Miss Georgia is incredibly beautiful, her talent was lacking.  In my opinion, Nina scored 10's at every stage of the competition.  She deserves the win and I look forward to following her reign!