Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Women's Expo, Jan. 18th-20th



On Friday, Jan. 18th I attended the women's expo at the Minneapolis Convention Center as Mrs. Minnesota-America and joining Faith Schway, RaeAnne, Sarah Sprayberry, Miss Minnesota Teen USA and Shonna Ochu, who was a contestant at last year's pageant.
It was a great weekend, I spent 3 days talking to people about the pageant and my experience at Mrs. America. It was also fun shopping and meeting all the different vendors at the expo. Even though it was one of the coldest weekend's in January, we had a good crowd as the weekend progressed.

















Here we are having fun at the expo, me, Faith, Sara Sprayberry, Miss Teen Minnesota USA, and one of my students at the Premiere school of modeling and a top 10 contestant at this year's
Miss Teen Minnesota USA pageant, Delanie Neal.










RaeAnne, Samantha, Sara, Faith, me, and Kaylee, Miss Minnesota USA.










Here I am with Dr. Crutchfield and his adorable daughter. He was one of the speakers at the expo talking about skin care.
Having fun with a band that was performing at the expo.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Trip to Miami, Florida!

On Saturday, Dec. 29th my husband Sam and I were invited by my directors Faith and Carl Schway to join them in Florida. We stayed in beautiful Ft. Lauderdale which I have never visited before and it was just gorgeous there. Everybody had a bigger yacht then the next person, it was crazy. We celebrated New year's Eve and New Year's Day there and did alot of shopping for my new boutique. The styles are number one down in Miami's South Beach.
Here we are celebrating New Year's Eve at the famous Joe's Restaurant in South Beach. It was the best shrimp and chocolate cake I ever had!






Here is Carl enjoying some crab at Joe's Restaurant.















After dinner we decided to stroll along Miami's South Beach and what a sight it was. I would say around 300,000 people were all over the street just partying and having a great time. Before the fireworks we decided to check out some stores, (or course) and we walked into this really cool store called Wild Thing.




Here I am with Dennis who was a super nice guy who surprisingly new a little Greek. As a gift he gave me a Swarovski green pen with a matching green Swarovski watch! They are both super sparkly and Dennis thank you very much for the gorgeous gift! Oh, he also said that it looked like I was going to have a boy even though my doctor has told me it's a girl. We shall see Dennis!



Here we are modeling my new gifts! Thank you again Dennis!














Faith and Carl just before the New Year's fireworks were to begin. Thank you Faith and Carl for the wonderful hospitality. We had a blast with tons of laughs and great places to visit with you both.









My husband Sam and I just before the fireworks were to begin overlooking South Beach. The weather was perfect and the fireworks show was incredible!













The fireworks overlooking Miami's South Beach. It was truly one of the best fireworks show I have ever seen.






























After the fireworks we thought we would beat the crowd and head back to the car to get an early start out of the ramp. When we got to the car, it wouldn't start! Apparently the lights were on and the battery went out! Faith and I couldn't stop laughing because Sam was on the phone with the rental car guy who was in Utah trying to help us and Carl was under the hood!




























After we got the car to start, the next day we went and did some more shopping. We had so many bags that Carl had to buy a suitcase! haha. We would throw all our shopping bags into the suitcase and Carl was nice enough to pull the suitcase to all the shops! It was hysterical!










That evening we went to a fantastic shopping mall and ate at the Grand Lux Cafe which is owned by the Cheesecake Factory. I had one of the best burgers ever! The decor was gorgeous and we all had a great time relaxing after a long day of shopping.











There was one day that was in the 60's but felt a little colder than that with the high winds. So Faith and I are dressed pretty warm. Thanks for the hat Faith! Here we are at the Bal Harbour shops. That mall had the best shops I have ever seen. Stores like Dior, Hermes, Fendi, Gucci, Versace, and really every couture brand you can think of. Here we are at a really cool store, Lulu Couture.







Here is just some of the scenery, every day was in the 80's except for one day. The palm trees are so beautiful.














As we're driving to Miami, you can see all the beautiful cruise lines.










Here is a boat that we decided to purchase, hahaha, yeah I wish!!

Oh, and here is the house that we purchased right on Miami's harbor. O.k. once again, I wish! It's nice to dream :)

The design of each home we passed was incredible. Here is just one of them.

All in all, it was a fantastic time and we're glad we decided to take a winter vacation before the baby arrives in March.