NYC Media Tour

My roomie Miss Oklahoma, Lauren Lundeen

May 7-9, 2012, 44 Miss USA contestants traveled around New York City to garner media coverage for the upcoming Miss USA 2012 pageant airing LIVE from Las Vegas on June 3, 2012 on NBC. We stayed at the beautfiul Helmsley hotel in Manhattan. I am official in love with this amazing city. The media tour was an incredible experience that I will never forget.

Live! With Kelly

Today Show

Mr. Tump

WPIX 11

Brother Jimmy's BBQ

Variety's Night of the Rising Stars

The Children’s Charity, Variety of St. Louis, has been a huge support for special needs kids of St. Louis for close to 80 years.  Variety has a strong bond and an exquisite history in this community, and St. Louis can rely on Variety to care for their children.  Over time Variety has advanced and has become a big part of the lives of St. Louis children.

Diana Ross

This year, Variety hosted their Dinner With the Stars and Night of the Rising Stars which featured Joe Buck and the amazing Diana Ross. The event raised over $3 million dollars which means 14,000 children a year are able to receive help from Variety. Incredible!

My mom was my date for the event

Thank you to Mollie Francis and the Variety for inviting me to be a apart of your special event. My mom and I had a great time meeting all the Variety members and dancing the night away to Diana Ross! "If I have someone who believes in me, I can move mountains." -Diana Ross

You don't need to spend a fortune to look like a million bucks

One thing I absolutely love is the joy of bargain shopping! Some of my favorite stores are H&M, Nordstrom Rack, and Marshals! I love the feeling of really getting a bang for my buck. With that being said, I recently discovered a (not-so-hidden) gem in St. Louis called Women's Closet Exchange. The store has built a reputation for making designer fashions available, and affordable, to everyone. They carry designer brands such as Louis Vuitton, Manolo Blahnik, Chanel, Marc Jacobs, St. John, Escada.. the list goes on! "We travel the country regularly in search of the hottest contemporary fashions typically found only in exclusive boutiques and high-end retailers, allowing us to offer you “now” style without the “ow” at the cash register. In fact, we have a saying around the store: “The Only Difference Is the Price!” -WCE

 

When I stumbled upon this store, I instantly fell in love! Not just with the store but the women too. Sue, Laura, Diana and everyone who works at the store are amazing. They are a fun group of ladies and nice as can be! (Fun fact: Rachel Zoe is a also a huge fan of WCE) So naturally, when they asked me to walk in their Spring Fling Fashion Show, I gladly agreed. I later found out that they would be filming for their upcoming reality show. Be sure to catch their show on the Style Network. The girls describe it as the "Pawn Stars" of resale clothing. I, for one, cannot wait to watch these wild women on their resale escapades!

USO Salute our Heroes Gala

After a fun day of visiting Wildwood Middle School, it was time to get ready for the USO Salute our Heroes Gala at downtown's Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the arch. 

The Salute our Heroes Gala was a dinner to honor our local military heroes. The 13 honorees were selected by their peers for their extraordinary bravery, loyalty and heroism. 

We sat with chairman of the board, Al Kaste, his wife, and his two daughters, as well as St. Louis sculptor Don Wiegand and his wife. 

Thank you Kathy O'Connor, Chris Trotter, Sara Colvin, and everyone at USO Missouri for inviting me to this special event. It was truly an honor to be surrounded by so many incredible service men and women for the evening. I look forward to many more events in the future.
 

Wildwood Middle School

Thank you to Dr. Maxwell, Dr. Dickens, and Mrs. Hedrick for letting me visit your school!

I had a wonderful experience visiting the Timberwolves at Wildwood Middle School yesterday. This was my first time visiting middle school students and they sure were fun! First, I visited Mrs. Cain's class and discussed the importance of good communication skills, getting involved in extracurricular activities, and the the word "popularity".

Thank you Mrs. Cain!

Then I visited my friend Megan LaTempt's class. Megan is truly an amazing teacher and individual. Her class was such a great group a kids. One in particular, BJ, told me I looked like a ray of sunshine. Made my day. :)

Thank you Megan!!

Next, I visited Mrs. Vlasich's classroom. Another awesome group of kids. I just can't say enough good things about the students and teachers at Wildwood Middle School. They are an impressive bunch of friendly, smart, and kindhearted individuals!

 

Lastly, we headed over to the gym for a little physical education! I was able to answer any questions from the students then we played volleyball and basketball.

Bootcamp #1

Over the weekend, I was able to see all my beautiful Vanbros sisters because it was our very first bootcamp! We had a great weekend full of learning, bonding, and.. eating! Friday night, we went to a yummy dinner at Brio on the Plaza. The following evening we decided to mix it up and try Gordon Biersch at Town Center followed by delicious gelato! Luckily, this weekend's focus was not fitness and nutrion :)

Daryl Woods & Miss Missouri Teen USA

The weekend was led by Nashville's very own Daryl Woods from Fearlessly Me! Daryl really helped us understand how to become the best "us" that we can be and I have already began applying what he has taught me to my everyday life. Additionally, we were able to practice mock interviews with John and the rest of the team. Weekends like last remind me how fortunate I am to be apart of the Vanbros family. The weekend also put into perspective just how quickly Miss USA is approaching and I cannot wait! I am so excited to arrive in Vegas with my best heel forward! As Daryl (or Babe Ruth) would say, “You can’t beat the person that never gives up."

Cardinal Glennon's Homer's For Health

Cardinal's players Matt Holliday and David Freese teamed up with Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center to help make a difference in the lives of children. Fans can make a pledge for every home run hit in the 2012 regular season. Pledge's can be as small as twenty five cents all the way up to ten dollars. To make a pledge, visit glennon.org.

Last week, my friends over at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center put me to work on the phones for the Homer's for Health telethon. Fox 2's Tim Ezell, Matt Holiday, and even the Blues Towel Man came out to help! A HUGE thank you to everyone who called in to make a pledge. Now lets get a lot of home runs this season and maybe even another World Series win, if that's not too much to ask :)

It was wonderful being able help out at Cardinal Glennon's Homer's for Health telethon. I have worked with Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in the past and love everything they do for the kids. Thank you Rose Fogarty, Dan Buck, and everyone at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center for letting me be apart of your special event.