My Very Pink Christmas!

This really has nothing to do with being Mrs. New York US but I wanted to share it because I am so very excited! I first saw a pink Christmas tree in Kauffman's (now Macy's) 5 or 6 years ago and fell in love. I would of bought it then and there but it had already been sold.

Since then every Christmas I talk about how I want a pink Christmas tree with pink lights. To which both my husband and my boys always reply "No way! That's nuts. Christmas trees are green not pink."

This year Steve and I went to the mall in Buffalo supposedly to do some shopping and have dinner. Much to my surprise he really was taking me there to get my pink tree!! I was grinning from ear to ear. It is 7 1/2 feet tall and has over 750 pink lights on it.
A disclaimer does come with this picture as I live in a house that was built in 1860. We are in the process of renovating it and those curtains and wall paper came with the house. Let me tell you they are worlds better than the large yellow and orange daisy's that were in my kitchen.

Surprisingly enough, my sons took the fact that we were having a pink Christmas tree quite well. My oldest just smiled and laughed about it. My youngest told me that he did not care as long as Santa would deliver to a pink tree.

Website Photo and Autograph Card

Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. Which is what happened when Sheila and I tried to take a photo for my appearance cards and the home page of the website. I felt so bad having to tell Sheila I did not like any of the pictures she took well enough to use. I was hoping it was just me being silly but when your best friend tells you that you look like the Joker from Batman you need to listen. Thanks a lot Lisa! lol

I booked an appointment with Excess Studios to have my photo taken. I knew they did beautiful work as they were the very generous sponsors of Jacquie Wilder (my friend and 3rd runner up) and had taken amazing photos of her. http://www.excessstudios.com/

The day I had my pictures taken the weather was terrible! It took me well over an hour for a 40 minute drive. The trip was well worth all my trouble as they did an amazing job once again and I have a beautiful picture for the homepage for the website which was important to me as I think it is strange enough that my face will be the first one you see for the next year. I didn't want to scare any one away before they were able to enjoy the rest of the Mrs. NY US website.
Since I was in a bit of a time crunch to get my appearance cards done for my appearance at Fantasy Flight I used some of my crowning photo's for my appearance card.

I don't think it turned out too bad!

Crown Plaza Hotel and Hospice

Sheila and I met at the Crown Plaza Hotel our host hotel for the pageant to take some photo's and introduce me to some of the hotel's wonderful Staff. Everyone I met was so nice and they made me laugh as no one wanted to have their picture taken with me because they said Sheila had made me look too good. Monica Rapini, Meetings Manager & Stephanie from the sales staff both took the plunge and posed for a picture with me. I think they both look amazing!

We were also trying to see if we could get some nice head shots and a photo for the website with out all the fancy photography equipment. Sheila started out doing my make up very soft and light. Sheila is an award winning make up artist and amazes me with her talent every time I have the privilege of working with her.
The lighting on this day however was not on our side. The beautiful make up Sheila spent an hour on did not translate well in the photo's and my very pink lips ended up looking quite red. I love this photo with the nutcracker as I think we look like brother and sister since our make up is almost the same. LOL

After we were done at the crown plaza we traveled to Niagara Hospice to deliver the check for over $500 that was raised through the "Gift of Love" baskets at the pageant. This organization holds a special place in Sheila's heart as they were there for her when she need help with her parents. They were very grateful for the donation! One of the people I had the privilege of meeting was Dr. Lori. She was very excited to hear that the pageant would like to make Niagara hospice it's charity of choice.
http://niagarahospice.org/

Winterfest in the Village of Oakfield

Dec 1st, 2007 was Winterfest in the Village of Oakfield. There were tons of activities that took place all day. There was free chili, a meet and greet with Santa and a scavenger's hunt to name just a few. One of the businesses that participated was the Caryville Inn located on Main Street in Oakfield. Not only do they have the best food and atmosphere in Oakfield but they are were one of my generous sponsors for the Mrs. New York United States pageant.


I was not able to participate in the day's activities since my oldest son had a basketball game which lasted most of the day. Plus it was pretty cold as well and I am not a huge fan of doing anything that requires me to be cold. lol The Caryville did invite me to come down and help out with the drawings for the prizes from the scavenger's hunt. Players had to find all of the businesses listed on a card and visit each of them for a punch on their card. When you had visited all the businesses you returned your card to the Caryville Inn to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize which was a trip for two to Toronto.

While I was waiting to draw the grand prize name and announce the winners of all the drawings I was able to visit with Miss. Kendal a bit. She brought her scrap book with all of her beauty pageant photo's in it to share with me. She is a beautiful and very smart young lady!

The mayor of Oakfield, Ray Cianfrini enjoyed all the activities of Winterfest. Ray was also one of my very generous sponsor as he and his son own the Cianfrini Law Firm located on Main Street in Oakfield.

I also had a chance to chat a bit with Betty one of the owners of the Caryville before the drawing. She was kind enough to help me pronounce the winners names so I said them correctly.

At 6PM I reached into the fish bowl and pulled out the winning ticket.

The winners name was Laura and she was very excited to have won the trip for two to Toronto! Her husband was equally as excited and they thanked me repeatedly for pulling their name. I was happy that the person who won was present to claim their prize.

Betty was also very kind and asked Steve and I to stay for dinner on her! Thank you!