Lights... Camera...

Q. What’s more fun to wear than a beautiful evening gown?

A. Dozens of beautiful evening gowns.

Today’s main event was an all-day photo shoot for Rodney Alfred, the gown line by Minneapolis’ own Rod Simonson. Words simply can’t describe the beauty of these pieces (or the photography, by Jana Noonan), so I’ll just wait until I have photos to post. Soon, hopefully.

Break a Leg

Tonight marked the second annual Ameriprise Financial Ivey Awards – a celebration of Twin Cities theatre. Solera hosted a pre-show VIP reception. Attendees included Mayors R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis and Scott Coleman of St. Paul; representatives from KARE 11, WCCO, the Pioneer Press, Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine; and Sun Country’s CEO Shaun Nugent. Scott Mayer, one of my judges at Miss Twin Cities, coordinated the event – and did a fabulous job with it.

The show itself was spectacular. There are 64 participating theatre organizations in the Twin Cities metropolitan area (selling more seats per capita than any other American city besides New York), and each was represented. My favorite performance of the evening was the final number: a 26-member youth ensemble comprised of members of all the children’s theatre companies in the area. They performed “The New World” from Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World with intense energy and excitement. As emcee Isabel Monk O'Connor said, “If these youth represent the future, then the future is bright indeed.”

Up North

My older siblings live in southern California, where the sky is perpetually blue and temperatures rarely drop below 50. They can gloat all they want in mid-January, when we Minnesotans battle below-zero weather and windchill temperatures so low schools across the state are required to close.

But they don't have fall.

Not like this, at least...

Autumn's glory, displayed prominently in Duluth

As previously mentioned, the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra performed their season-opening concert this weekend. The 75th-anniversary season, nonetheless! Copland's John Henry, Brahms' Double Concerto, and Symphony No. 13 ("The Organ Symphony") by Saint-Saens comprised the program.

Viola section of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra

I was also able to spend some time with Angie McDermott, Miss Austin, who attends the University of Minnesota-Duluth. I've been to Duluth quite a few times throughout my life (my dad grew up there and my Grandpa and Uncle Dan still live there), but she showed me some places I'd never been - including a fabulous ice cream shop with a view of the lake. (And by "the lake", I mean "Lake Superior" - largest freshwater lake in the world!)

Self-portrait (or should I call it a selves-portrait?) with Angie

I'll be back in Duluth mid-October. Hopefully the hills will still (bill gill fill mill... sorry, couldn't resist!) be ablaze three weeks from now. I'll be sure to take plenty of photos so you Californians can experience autumn vicariously!

A Perfect Day

Stellar. Seriously.

This morning, I co-hosted the North Suburban Beat for CTV-15 with Carla Beaurline... fun AND educational. I minored in journalism, and it's definitely a potential career path for me - especially if I can combine it with music in some way. You can watch the video here. I really got into the swing of things about halfway through, when I remembered that it's not about me reading the words off the teleprompter (even though that's fun); it's about connecting with people and providing them with information they can use. Next time, I'll make sure to think about that from the beginning.

Next, I had a photo shoot with my eye surgeon, Dr. Marshall Everson of Edina Eye Physicians and Surgeons P.A. at Steve Silverman Imaging. [I'll post some proofs once I have them.] The entire staff at Edina Eye is remarkably kind & generous - special thanks to Lisa Sundberg (Marketing Director) and Christina Scherbing, who helped me select sunglasses to protect my new 20/15 vision! Purple frames with rose-colored lenses... delicious.

I then made the trek up to Duluth for rehearsal with the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra. We rehearsed the Organ Symphony by Saint-Saens, which I first played as a member of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies back in the day. I love witnessing the progression from the first rehearsal to the concert, and this will be no exception.

Rally Capping

Today, I performed the National Anthem on my viola at the Twins vs. A's game. Some highlights of the experience:
-Walking through the backstage tunnels, being introduced as "National Anthem"
-Jumbotron!
-Hearing the reverberations throughout the Dome as I played. Surround sound... times a million.
-Post-performance accolades: TC (the mascot) bowed down to me and gave me a big bear hug, and the players in the dugout applauded.
-Dollar dogs. Baseball just isn't the same without a hot dog :)
-Glo Westerdahl, Community Relations Coordinator for the Twins, was amazingly warm and hospitable. Thanks, Glo, for making this happen!

O'er the land of the free...

Yay Jumbotron!

With the audiovisual crew - their jerseys were awesome!

The day would have been even better if the Twins had won, and if Liriano's arm injury hadn't been exacerbated. But the glass remains half-full: Liriano is young, and with proper medical care should still have an excellent career (or so my experts tell me); and the Twins can still make the playoffs.

Here's to hope!

In the City of Angels

Well, technically we were in Santa Monica.

We (the 52 Miss America 2007 contestants) lived on the 7th floor of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Yes, it's as incredible as it looks. I roomed with Kristen Eddings, Miss Washington, who is wonderfully genuine, has a great sense of humor, and loves coffee as much as I do. The majority of our time was spent within our production groups. Emily (New Hampshire), Janie (Colorado), Blaire (Tennessee), Lizzie (North Carolina), Katherine (Idaho), Pili (Hawai'i), Melanie (Ohio) and I comprised Team Aqua.

The Miss America staff, in conjunction with PB&J productions and CMT, kept us remarkably busy with a variety of events, including a dinner party in Hollywood at the historic Roosevelt Hotel.

Our production crew was fabulous. They filmed over 1,000 hours of footage, and I'm positive it will boil down into a great 2-hour show ("Pageant School" - to be aired in January on CMT, MTV, and VH1). We also met executives and producers from CMT, who filmed our "Up Close & Personal" interviews. These will be available on cmt.com in December, and then you'll be able to meet all my new friends!

The Aqua Girls - in our hoodies by Ed Hardy

My fabulous roomie - Miss Washington, Kristen Eddings

Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood - I thought these were Dick Van Dyke's handprints, but they actually belonged to W.S. Van Dyke. Oops.

Doris Roberts was one of our celebrity guests at the Sunday night dinner party

Many thanks to the Miss America Organization, PB&J, and CMT for a great week! And to my new Miss America sisters - thank you for being friendly, genuine, and FUN - I can hardly wait to see you all again in January!

Look out, Las Vegas :)

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

At the end of every summer, Minnesotans gather in capitol city St. Paul for 12 days of celebration. The State Fair showcases the finest of Minnesota's agriculture, art, and industry. I experienced three days at the fair this year:

Saturday, 9/2:

Performance and interview with Lee & BT on Cities97

I also won a dance contest - no joke!

Tuesday, 8/29:

An interview with Lois Mae on KOOL108

Moon & Staci from KS95 - this duo is FUN

Brian Gotter, weatherman extraordinaire, pulled me on WCCO-Channel 4's noon news

Sunday, 8/27:

Assisting a budding virtuoso at the Minnesota Music Educators Association booth

With MMEA volunteers Bill Webb and Sarah Chelgren

And, because no State Fair experience is truly complete without some small indulgences, I enjoyed a Pronto Pup, Honey-Sunflower Seed Ice Cream, and cheese curds. Deep-fried dairy products just have a way of bringing people together.