Ridin’ through Rochester

What an amazing past couple of weeks! I had a blast attending the Tommy Hilfiger “Men of New York” Benefit for Sandy, Toys for Tots at Chelsea Piers with Mr. New York, the 42nd St. Gala at the New Victory Theater and the African Children’s Choir Benefit with Big and Rich. In addition, I was so blessed to have the most incredible send-off celebration hosted by Mrs. Wanda and Amanda Mason at Olive’s in NYC. A huge thank you to the Mason family for hosting my celebration! It was the most beautiful setting, incredible people and best food!! I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful, caring people in my life. Thank you to everyone who came to support me and my journey to Miss America! I was truly touched by the sweet messages written on my banner. Additionally, Katie, Maria, Claire, Heather, Christina, Jesse, Shannon and Acacia….I cannot say how honestly touched I am by your generosity and kindness. I LOVE MY NECKLACE!

The next step after my send-off was…..Rochester!

My new car share sponsor, Carpingo, sent me off in my little Fiat and to Rochester I went! I am so lucky to have been given a beautiful room at the Rochester Plaza Hotel right in the middle of the city and central to all of my appearances. The staff was amazing and I was grateful to have a warm, cozy, comfortable bed for my trip…it was tiring! Upon arriving in the Rochester area, I met Miss Western New York 2012, Jesse Ladoue, for a yummy dinner at the Elmwood Inn. I had a steak. Yesssss. It was great to be able to catch up with her and hear about her journey to becoming Miss New York International. Both of us are preparing for a national experience so it was exciting to have dinner and some girl talk.

Wednesday morning, though, I was up bright and early for a full day of appearances in the Greece School District. I met Ms. Deb Heoft and we were off! I spent the day speaking to the students of both their middle and high schools about bullying and my experiences at their age. It was amazing! Although bullying is not my platform, it is definitely something that was a part of my life and it was so inspiring to see how my story encouraged the students to whom I was speaking. To top it all off, I finally had the opportunity to meet Tayrin Tapia, the remarkable woman who started DearTayrin. We had a yummy Sushi dinner in Pittsford and then headed back to the beautiful Rochester Plaza for a live twitter chat about Sexual Abuse and prevention methods. Wednesday was such an empowering day. Then, like a vision, Miss Thousand Islands 2013, Lonna McCary, appeared to spend some girl time with me! How lucky am I? We spent the night hanging out and cutting up. Then…we hit the sack for Thursday’s appearances.

Our first stop was the Career Mentoring Center for Youth where we both shared our journeys throughout the Miss America Organization, our many leadership and philanthropic positions as well as our plans for our future. It wasn’t too long before we were flooded with questions and posing for individual photos with every student. We had some time to visit with each of them and learn about their goals with college and beyond. We even watched a few pageant YouTube videos. Hilarious!

Next we scooted off to the Galisano Children’s Hospital wing to hang out with the Bingo crowd. I didn’t win a single game!! Grrr. However, while Lonna called the Bingo cards, I made rounds through the Children’s wing and met some truly special girls (no boys!). Each one a princess with a Disney themed pajamas or extraordinarily decorated Christmas trees. It is always such a pleasure to visit Children’s Miracle Network kids, but for whatever reason, a few of these really plucked my heartstrings. I hope to make the trip back as Miss America.

Our last stop of the day was to the Center for Youth After School Program at James Madison High School. I had the pleasure of speaking to roughly 40 young women about my journey through MAO and how perseverance and purpose will propel you in life. Lonna and I had a blast signing individual cards for each girl and taking a zillion pictures. It was really nice to have a ‘partner in crime’ all day long! We didn’t waste much time getting back to the hotel and taking off our heels, though. Ouch!

In keeping with the theme, that night I was able to meet with former Miss New York Org. contestant, Heather Knowles, at her family’s house. We had a ‘birthday eve’ dinner and were able to solidify some details of the recruitment event we have planned for this coming week. It was wonderful to meet her family and her boyfriend, Garrett (finally!), before hitting the sack. We both had the be on the radio super early yesterday! The Wease show was my last stop before hitting the road back to NYC. I did multiple radio interviews before grabbing Birthday Breakfast with Heather and then heading back.

Whew! 10 appearances in 3 days. Holla!

http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/spotlight.cfm?sp=57&school=7

I hope you enjoy the photos….

Much Love,

M