Red Dress Dash

We are ready for Dash!

It was time to tread in red.  My friend who has been the Miss and Miss Teen Illinois International director, Jennifer, escorted me downtown for Chicago's first, “Red Dress Dash,” for the Go Red Campaign through the American Heart Association.

The catered event was held at Daley Plaza. Everywhere you looked there were women, and even men, in red dresses and tennis shoes. Quite the look! Everyone then raced around the plaza in a 50-yard race to the finish. The winner was given both a trophy and a gift card, which he'll use for a girlfriend's upcoming birthday.

With some of our Red Dress Dashers!

It was great to see some of the familiar faces from the American Heart Association and Go Red for Women. And we enjoyed getting a chance to meet the many staff and students from Mercy Hospital who helped organize this race. Mercy has a great cardiology program and during the year they have many different events to help educate everyone about heart health related issues.

Be the change!

Amy Gregorio 
Your Mrs. International

www.GoRedforWomen.org

A Piece of History

The Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village is home to the Amherst Museum.  They offer a wealth of history for both New Yorkers and overall culture.  I have attended two of their exhibit openings as Miss New York International: “Modern Childhood”, a collection of games and activities that have littered living rooms across the country for centuries, and “Body Beautiful”, an impressive display of the evolution of what society considers beautiful at each time period and the lengths we went through to achieve it.

They do such an incredible job displaying the items and curating the exhibits.  I could (and have) wander(ed) around for hours and still find pieces I missed the first few times.  The staff is such a talented group and I have come to know them well.   Whenever I attend an event with them I know it will be a fun and also educational experience.

I received an email from the director of the museum sharing some information about their next exhibit: an exploration of occupational uniforms over the years.  To my surprise, they asked if they could display my Miss New York International crown and sash as part of the two-year exhibit that will open in February of 2014.   I was so flattered and honored by request.  Looking forward to solidifying the International Pageant System as a part of history!

Enjoying the interactive games at the Modern Childhood Exhibit

With Body Beautiful Exhibit Curator, Kayla Shypski

Seek Happiness,

Jesse Ladoue
Miss International 2013

Official Photo Shoot!

During orientation at Mrs. International, we were all given a date for the official Mrs. International photo shoot with Clay Spann in Dothan, Alabama. I wrote it down along with everything else we learned that night. Now, I was on my way to Dothan for that very shoot! It is an amazing gift to be given!

It was an entertaining evening at Bella’s!

I arrived Friday and was greeted by Mary Richardson and our Miss Teen International, Haley Pontius. After checking in to the hotel, we had time to catch up a bit.  Haley is kind to her core and such a standout.  Of course I adore Mary.  She is smart and powerful.  And she is also very funny and so interesting. We met up with Joey Rutherford and Clay Spann for dinner at Bella’s.  I am hungry just thinking about it! They took great care of us there.

I had a hard time sleeping because I was so excited for Saturday!  Joey and Terri had lined up some of the most beautiful and edgy wardrobe I have ever seen! Given Bella’s, I was thrilled I was able to fit in the extravagant clothing they selected.

Miss Terri making sure everything is in place.

And for the day, Clay worked his fingers to the bone with the help of Terri.  It was a great make over every time.  And I say, “every time,” because we shot several looks; each one very different from the other.  It is still a mystery to me how my hair does not cooperate for me the way it does when it is in hands of professionals.  Clay, Joey and Terri are a tremendous trio of talent.  I have no idea which pictures they have selected and I am glad I don’t have to make the final choices.  You will get to see some of them shortly when the brand new International website is launched.  I can barely contain my excitement for the big reveal! And then throughout the year more of their hard work will appear.

This look was shot for the Go Red for Women campaign and the American Heart Association.

Clay, “the magician,” at work!  This breathtaking gown was selected by Joey and accessorized by Terri. Loved it!

These are just a couple of pictures taken at the start of the shoot. You will have to check out the new International website for the final cuts!

Post-shoot with Joey and Clay.

Thank you to Mel and Mary for this opportunity and thank you to Joey, Clay and Terri for a magical experience!

Be the change!

Amy Gregorio 
Your Mrs. International

Let Us Represent You!

To kick off my senior year just right I decided to run for student council! Now my high school isn’t very large so we don’t have anything fancy, but the student council does do a lot for not only our school, but our community as a whole. From homecoming to community service events, the student council does it all.

Before the election week there was a meeting with the candidates to discuss some of the events that would be taking place throughout the year for the council. Immediately I was excited by all of the ideas and plans they hoped to put into action though the council. I was literally jumping with joy!

When I decided to run I also thought it might be fun to run with a friend and campaign together since there can be three representatives. This, of course, had never been done before, but, my best friend, Morgan and I decided to change up this election a little bit.

The first step we took was to look at the students past records of voting and what swayed their votes. Surprisingly, one of the major factors in their choice of candidate was the funniness and creativity of the posters! So, Morgan and I, with the help of our friends, came up with the craziest and funniest posters we could think of. If we were going to do this we were going to do it right!

I have never before seen quite the reaction that we received! We had more compliments from teachers and students than we can count and gained more followers than we ever expected! The majority of our poster were done with photo shop and filled with references to nerdy movies and books. I must say they are hilarious!

Morgan and I are very close and neither of us will be too upset if we lose. Instead, we will be happy for the other if they win and happy that we had the opportunity to run for office. We know that who ever is chosen by the student body will do wonders for our school and community and represent us well.

The announcement of the new student council will be next Tuesday morning, so until then, wish us luck!

Much love,

Haley