First Official Blog Post (Yay!)

Welcome to my new blog. Former Miss New York, Claire Buffie, designed the new Miss New York website and Blog- she did an incredible job!

Today marks one month that I have been Miss New York. That. Is. Crazy. This means I only have 11 more months to make an impact across our state using this amazing opportunity that has been afforded to me. I have some big shoes to fill thanks to Kaitlin and Claire! Trust me, there is a LOT in store.

First things first I spent the past couple of weeks visiting sponsors and doing press. I was able to get a new skin care regimen at Chelsea Dermatology, highlights at Vartali and a much needed cleaning from Rejuvenation Dentistry and Dr. Curatola. I was on Good Day New York and, in addition, I had the chance to drop by some of the businesses who supported the pageant and appear on the Yola Nash Show in Staten Island.

I’ve been doing a lot of traveling as well. Two weeks after Miss New York, I went down to D.C. to do my head shots with my sponsor Claire Buffie: Photography and Design and from there drove down to Virginia to watch the Miss Virginia Pageant. Watching Rosemary be crowned was so amazing (and I picked her from the start!) to witness. It was really cool going in to that Saturday night knowing that by the end of the day I would have a new friend and Miss America sister.

As many of you may know,  I just got back from a huge trip. Africa! I had the best time. Working with Project Empower is going to provide me with an array of opportunities to be a leader in and out of New York state and this was just the beginning. Project Empower teamed up with the Zimbabwe Education Fund (ZEF) to launch the first ever Empowerment Conference in Mutoko, Zimbabwe. Our first stop was Victoria Falls followed by Harare and then Mutoko. We worked with the elementary school children of Chimukopa on a business competition geared toward addressing a problem in their community. They had some amazing ideas and we were so pleased with the outcome of their presentations. More than anything, though, we just loved the kids’ genuine interest in learning and education. Nicole, my travel buddy, and I kept daily blogs while we were there. When we post the blogs the Project Empower site you will be able to read in detail about our trip and all of the exciting things we were able to do. We also took over 5 hours of footage so Nicole can make a short film about the experience. I can’t wait to share!

My travel turn-around time is short, though. This Wednesday I am heading to Alabama for a short visit with my family and some incredible appearances! I will be visiting the Childrens Miracle Network Hospital in Columbus, GA, East Alabama Medical Center Pediatric Unit, the Child Advocacy Center, the Dee Armstrong Show and the Miss Phenix City local preliminary for Miss Alabama. Whew!! In addition, my community is throwing me a welcome home party Friday night. I seriously could not be more excited to go home and visit with all of the people who were so instrumental in making my journey to Miss New York a reality. And…my Nana is cooking. I mean…. yeah.

There are a number of things I want to share with you, but i’ll keep you dangling from the cliff for now. Bear with me as I figure out how to navigate my blog and upload photos. Make sure you’re following my twitter @MissNewYorkMAO for the latest updates and daily pictures. That’s the best way to keep up with me and my activities!

Until next time….

xoxo