Program Book Cover

The long awaited pictures I took back last Sept are finally a reality. The cover shot was kept a secret until pageant week...so here it is folks...thank you Clay Spann for making me look like a cover girl...and speaking of covers, Mary Richardson also put this cover shot on the second page of Supermodels Magazine. Fun stuff!!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Laine Berry the new Mrs. International. She will champion Go Red for Women as her platform for the year. It has truly been a wonderful journey to hold the title of Mrs. International for the year but it was nice to relinquish it to a woman that I know will promote her platform passionately and use this year to make a difference. I know that might sound trite to those of you not familiar with pageants but I have to say that pageants have truly given me a voice piece to promote causes dear to my heart. I know that more awareness has been brought to Heart Gallery because of the opportunities I had as Mrs. International. So that all pressing question that I keep getting from people - are you going to do another one?? Let's just say my newest title that will be occupying me for hopefully the next 18 years is "Mommy" ;-)
Pictures: These are all the formers with the newly crowned Mrs. Int'l -Laine

WGN talk Radio, Chicago

This afternoon I was on the Steve Cochran show on WGN Radio. For those of you who haven't been to Chicago, the studio is right on the corner of The Tribune Tower, a Gothic building located on Michigan Avenue. WGN Radio (720 kHz) broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Ave. As you can see from the pictures Greg and his parents came down to watch (and listen)- they actually have a speaker system that projects the show into the plaza so passer byers can hear it. When Dan, the interviewer found out that Greg was outside he insisted he come in and do the show with me. Reluctantly, Greg came in and we had a blast! They even put us on for two segments of the show talking about Go Red for women, Foster care and what it's been like for Greg being "Mr. International" :-)...of course the crown was tried on too.

Union League Boys and Girls Club

The new PR firm is doing such a wonderful job of keeping me very busy this week at Mrs. Int'l. One of the appearances was speaking at the Smart girls program at the Boys & Girl's club on the west side of Chicago. I truthfully can say I have never gotten such a reception as these girls gave me. You would have thought Julia Roberts came into the room. I was able to share some encouraging words with them and hopefully inspired them to continue pursuing their dreams. Of course the crown made quite an impression and each lady tried in on as it was passed around the room. I think that's my favorite part about the crown - letting little girls try it on b/c the look they have when they are wearing it is priceless. After that we made crowns which they each decorated and insisted I autographed...I always think inside "who am I" that they would want my signature but the teacher said they rarely get visitors at their club and this was really special for them. I bet they didn't realize it was truly special for me too!

Mrs. International Week

Unfortunately, you won't see very many pictures of my week due to me completely destroying my digital camera right before I left. I forgot to take the camera out of the baby bag and the spray sunscreen cap came off and just sprayed its little heart out all into my camera and the rest is history. We didn't have enough time to go out and buy another so Jay & Tre loaned us their brand new camera (what true friends they are) although they did mention it was totally under warranty so not to worry if we broke it ;-) Being that it is much larger than the little one I had, I wasn't able to tote it everywhere with me so I'm relying on others to email me their shots and I'm ordering some. With that said, enjoy the few I did take.
Pictures: I had to take pics of these beautiful bouquets b/c I wanted to remember them and the wonderful people who gave them to me. When I arrived in my room there was a wonderful bouquet from Mel & Mary, the directors of Mrs. Int'l. Mrs. New York, Lori, sent me such a sweet bouquet to congratulate me on a great year. These ladies were truly thoughtful and I had a great time getting to know them. Mary and I took a picture in the Lobby next to the banner with all the contestants pics. We took a group photo in front of the theater before heading to our dinner party that evening.

Chicago here we come!

I can't believe it has already been a year and my time has come to bid adieu to my title of Mrs. Int'l. Our dear friends Izzy & Audrey became certified as respite care providers specifically for us so we could rest assured that our little girls were well taken care of and able to stay in their own beds each night while we were gone. What a blessing they are to do this for us!
Every now and again, Greg enjoys watching those travel/food channels with the top 10 destination deals...well, on one such episode it was all about top hot dog destinations, and being that Chicago is known for its hot dogs, Greg took note of where we "had" to go. After we deplaned and picked up our rental car, Greg had the address plugged into the Magellan and we were off to find Superdawg. Thank goodness for GPS because we found it no problem. And in case you were wondering if those shows do an accurate job of listing the tops in their category...yes, it was Super! (So good, we stopped there on the way out...but that's for another post)

One final appearance

Other than my upcoming week at Mrs. International which is less than one week away...I had my final appearance as Mrs. Int'l at a "Go Red for Women" luncheon in Los Angeles. The day was filled with an expo where I had my finger pricked to find my "numbers" - cholesterol, LDL, BMI, etc...there were booths offering heart healthy samples of snacks and pamphlets to inform of heart disease being the number one killer of women. After the expo, I was invited to be a guest at a wonderful luncheon, along with my mom and Eddie Peterson, the director of the California Int'l pageants. They had several inspirational speakers but the one that truly stood out to me was a young lady (17 yrs. old) who suffered from a stroke at age 15. She had insight beyond her years and gave an amazing recount of her story. Kate Jackson (former Charlie's Angel) also spoke as she also faced a major heart surgery. It's been a pleasure to partner with the Go Red Campaign...I've definitely learned a lot myself and encourage you to visit the American Heart Association for more information on a Go Red Campaign in your area.

Mrs. Maryland Pageant

I know, I know, it's taken me forever to post...can I blame it on the kids ;-) I seem to be doing that a lot lately. At the beginning of April I traveled to Maryland to judge the Mrs. Maryland Int'l pageant. It has been a lot of fun traveling to these different states and getting to spend time with some of the ladies I competed with last July in Chicago. Sherry ran a wonderful pageant... great contestants and I throughly enjoyed my time. Greg flew in after I was done with my "responsibilities" and we had ourselves a little vacation - we needed it after all that has gone down the past few months. Those will be stories shared on another blog post.

Mrs. Arkansas International Pageants

Mrs. Idaho International Pageant

I had the opportunity to judge the Teen/Miss/Mrs. Idaho pageants this March. While it was nice to sit on the "other side" of the stage, I have to admit it is really difficult to judge! Autumn put on a wonderful pageant and we judges we're treated in true style. It was great to see Vicki again, Mrs. Idaho Int'l...just two days before the pageant her ear drum ruptured but she was such a trooper and made it to the events without anyone being able to detect anything was wrong. I also spent some time visiting the Children's Hospital and signing autographs for the kids. Talk about troopers, even though some of them were very ill they still put on smiles for me when I came in to visit.

Lakewood Mall Heart Gallery

On Feb. 9th the Lakewood Mall hosted the Los Angeles Heart Gallery. It was a great event complete with the gallery, Jazz Angels, 94.7 the Wave Hosts, a booth for children to make Valentines for our Foster children and vendors giving out free stuff from CPK, Helen Grace, etc...I helped organize the event with Stephanie the director of Heart Gallery and we both spoke along with several Foster families that adopted. CNN reporter Ron Roberson came and covered the event and also had me on his radio program the week prior to advertise the event. The gallery remained up in the mall for the next few weeks and was a great success!

Go Red for Women - Minnesota

I'm lucky enough these days to post pics..more info about this event to come...

21st Annual Productivity and Quality Awards

Today was the PQ Awards celebration luncheon held at the Grand Hall of the Dorthy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Last month the County of Los Angeles Board of supervisors interviewed our Heart Gallery as a potential top three contender of 81 PQA entries. (We had made it to the top 10 at that point) Here's a brief explanation of the awards as written by CEO William T Fujioka

Each award-winning project represents the finest innovation in County public service. Greater productivity, cost savings, and collaborative partnerships are valuable outcomes of these first class enterprises. These projects align closely to one or more county strategic goals, report significant cost benefits, and show quality improvement. The Awards event celebrates the outstanding projects created by dedicated employees who continue to enrich lives for the people of the County.

While the luncheon was for employees of the county I was very honored to be invited by the commissioners themselves to be a guest at the event and participate in being awarded alongside the DCFS directors Stephanie & Sari. We had an amazing lunch and the presentation of awards was creatively done incorporating Star wars-esk type media videos of the winners programs. While we didn't win the top three awards we were very honored to be recognized as a top 10 program in our county. Chuck Henry, news anchor for KNBC4 was the Master of Ceremonies and I met several key people from our community ranging from the Board of Supervisors to Sheriff Lee Bacca.

Working the Runway

This morning I modeled in a fashion show fundraiser for the Long Beach Center Guild of Ability First. Ability First provides programs and services to help children & adults with physical and developmental disabilities realize their full potential throughout their lives. I modeled clothes from local boutiques and was the "grand finale" with my crown and gown at the end of the show. It was so cute to hear the women literally "gasp" when I came out...that crown is a show stopper and they weren't expecting it :-)

Official Pictures updated on the Int'l Website

So many of you have been asking to see my pictures and I'm happy to announce they are up and running on the Mrs. International website. I haven't received/seen any "hard copy" pictures of the shoot but I was pretty excited to see these. Clay did an amazing job on the makeup and hair and needless to say he is a talented photographer. Obviously, you can see how fun the wardrobe was...thank you to Joey!

An Afternoon with the Marines

Today I had the honor of singing the National Anthem at a BBQ lunch/Car show at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base to honor our servicemen & women for what they do to ensure our freedoms on a daily basis. The Viper Car Club came with a host of cars and even brought in some of the wounded warriors in true style. I had the chance to speak to many of the men and talk about their experiences and life as a Marine. I've never seen & heard so many young men in one place say "Yes Ma'am" and "Thank you Mrs. Int'l, Ma'am"...they wouldn't even crack a smile for the camera :-) But that's what I love about our Marines and the discipline they have and the respect for our country and what it stands for...as the Colors came forward and I sang, I could look out and see Marines all over the parade deck standing and saluting...the first time I've ever seen such a deep respect for the song. I'm used to ball parks where you're lucky if a hand goes across the heart...these boys understand what it truly means and for that I am grateful. Thank you to all who serve our country and sacrifice on her behalf.

Performance Quality Award

Today I joined the directors of DCFS/Heart Gallery L.A. to present the Heart Gallery to the Los Angeles Commissioners. Each year the Commissioners choose county programs for the "Performance Quality Award". The award goes to innovative and exceptional County programs that make a difference. Our Heart Gallery has landed in the top 10 and is now being considered for first place (they award gold/silver/bronze). There will be a luncheon late Oct. to present the awards to the winning programs so we're very excited to see if we've made the final three. Sounds like a pageant :-) The exciting part is that there are grants we can apply for depending on how we are ranked.

KCHF -TV 11 Santa Fe, NM Talk Show

Preparing for the interview:


With the host of "Issues & Answers", Diane:

During my time in Santa Fe, I was interviewed on a local talk show called "Issues & Answers". Normally speaking, the show interviews Congressmen & Senators (since it is located by the Capitol). Fortunately for me they gave me a 30 minute segment specifically addressing Foster Care advocacy and the Heart Gallery. It was a wonderful interview and I hope to upload it so you can listen - I'm not savvy on how to transfer everything over to the blog yet...so stay tuned.

Outside the Studio:

Dothan, Alabama

This week I flew out to Dothan, Alabama for my official photo shoot as Mrs. International. Part of my prize package is a photo shoot with Clay Spann. I was so excited about this b/c his work is absolutely amazing. He truly knows how to capture the most beautiful images of a person and not only is he the photographer but the hair and makeup artist too! I've always wanted to do a photo shoot that was "high fashion" and not just the typical pageant head shot and I must say...high fashion it was. I can not wait for you all to see some of these pictures. Joey, who heads up the wardrobe side of the business donated a $10,000 wardrobe for me!!! For having only met me at nationals, he sure had a feel for my style b/c the pieces he bought for me were right up my alley. From designer pantsuits to elaborate couture evening gowns...I was a kid in a candy store. The whole day of the shoot was too much fun, I wish it didn't have to end. If you're interested in working with Competitive Image (Clay & Joey's business) don't wait till the last minute, they are in high demand and some women book appointments up to a year in advance! I can see why though, they really know what they're doing in all aspects of making you feel and look great.
So, where are pictures from my trip you ask?? After forgetting my camera in my hotel room and Terry so graciously going to get it for me, I realized I left my photo chip in the computer...so, no pics :-( You'll just have to wait to see the official ones.

Long Beach Press Telegram

The Fri. before I left for New Mexico I had a phone interview with staff writer, Adam Pringle, of the Long Beach Press Telegram. Here's a link to the article: Click here