Bird On My Arm

Miss Minnesota week is on its way! The girls arrived on Saturday to check-in and enjoy a night out of bowling. I had 2 shows that day, so I unfortunately was unable to attend. The girls are lucky they missed out on my insane bowling skills ☺ Last year I did get the lowest score… I guess you could say I am the best WORST bowler ever!

On Sunday, I woke up bright and early to finish packing and move into my hotel room. A huge THANK YOU to my family for helping me organize everything. This year I have my own room with a couch. (The perks of becoming Miss Minnesota.) I met up with the girls as they were making door signs for their hotel room doors. Since I had to head to the Quality of Life interviews, Miss Winona Lauren made my door sign. It looks great!

Congratulations to our five Quality of Life finalists: Liz Abbas, Bethany Beniek, Tiffany Gunderson, Kathryn Knuttila, and Allison Lordback. They all did a wonderful job on their interviews, and the judges have a tough job deciding who will receive the award.

Our first official appearance was at the Mall of America. The girls could not stop laughing at all the looks we were getting as we walked through the halls in cocktail dresses, crown and sash. For me it was another typical day as Miss Minnesota, I had done this walk so many times before. We had a delicious lunch at Panda Express, and then headed to Glitz for our fashion show. It was wonderful to see all the family and friends that came to support us. As soon as I saw my mom and dad, I gave them each a huge hug. I know I had only been gone for about 5 hours, but it still felt like days. I started the program out by introducing all the contestants, and then speaking on behalf of Gillette Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network. Glitz was very generous to make this day a fundraiser for Gillette by doing a silent auction and accepting donations. Before the girls started their fashion show, I sang a song off my CD, and then it was time to see the dresses! All the contestants looked beautiful, and the dresses were amazing. I was tempted to buy so many, but after this weekend I’m not sure where I will wear a long flowing gown.



We were able to chat with our supporters who came to the show. Thank you to the Miss Mankato committee who gave me an adorable Miss MN Bear ☺

Then it was off to a wonderful meal at Crave for dinner, and back to the hotel for rehearsals. The show is going to be so fun this year! If you have not purchased your tickets yet, you better arrive early Saturday evening. After rehearsal I was off to bed by 9:15! It was the first night in months that I was able to go to bed before 11:30 PM.


I was so excited for Monday morning as we were visiting Gillette Children’s. This was one of my favorite appearances from last year during Miss Minnesota week as well. When we arrived at Gillette we were greeted by the whole Gillette team: Andrea, Becky, Kate and Darlis. They had tables set up for us to make cookies with the patients and hand out autograph cards. Half of the girls made cookies while the other half would take a tour of the hospital and then they would switch. Since I volunteer at the hospital every week, I know the hospital quite well so instead of a tour I stayed with the cookie group. I had told the girls prior to this experience how life changing Gillette can be, and it was so rewarding for me to watch each titleholder interact with a patient and smile every moment. The delicious cookies made all of us hungry, so it was perfect that we had Panera right there at the hospital. It was a wonderful way to start our morning!

Then we popped the umbrellas back up, and headed off to the capital. Where we met with Lt. Governor Carol Molau. It was an amazing experience as she asked every girl, individually, about where she was from and their platform. Then we were able to learn about her job that is constantly changing day-to-day… sounds like the job of Miss Minnesota ☺

Dinner at Fuddruckers was full of little kids in the restaurant collecting all of our autograph cards and then back to the hotel for more rehearsal.

Tuesday started out at the zoo, which I have not been to since last year. It was a beautiful day and we were able to walk around until meeting for the Bird Show at 11am. As soon as we entered, I knew this show was going to be different. First, 21 girls in crowns and sashes makes any little kid curious, and the way we all sat in the same row made the perfect autograph line. Once the show started the host could not help but notice us. He even did a special presentation for us with a bird that looked like she was wearing a crown, with the “Miss America” theme song. But my all-time favorite part of the show was when the host, Dave asked for a volunteer. I raised my hand right away! Then he said this volunteer needed to be an adult, I kept my hand raised. Then he said this volunteer had to be very brave, hand still up. Dave then said the volunteer must have a dollar, and with my hand still raised I shouted, “oooo I have a dollar!!!” At last I was picked for the bird show. After folding the dollar up, I held it out in my hand and the bird fell to my arm and took the dollar. Except I didn’t see it since I closed my eyes as soon as the bird started to come towards me. Since the bird had to return the dollar, I made sure I kept my eyes open to watch the whole thing. We definitely have some great photos from that event.

The rest of the day we were at the Theatre running the show, and had a huge dinner at Buca’s. We are halfway through the week, and I only have 4 days left as Miss Minnesota. Stay tuned to hear about the preliminary competitions and who will be the new Miss Minnesota 2010.

Always
Brooke