Piper’s reaction when Miss USA was crowned Miss Universe. She oozed with pride and joy. No one was more excited than Piper!
Being Miss Texas USA is my daughter’s pageant dream. She got the pageant-buff bug from me and boy, are we in the right state to feed that addiction! Even at just a mere 8 years old, her sights are set on the most coveted crown of all the states!
Since she was old enough to walk, Piper has played pageant. She has played along with Miss USA, Miss Universe, Miss Teen USA, and Miss America — second by second, minute by minute.
When it’s time for swimsuit competition, she puts on a swimsuit. Evening gown competition, Piper wears (most often) a formal dress that she’s worn previously as a flower girl. When the interview portion hits, I better have a question ready. For crowning, we used to use the small tiaras that you got at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Disney World. Now, we’ve graduated to the crown that Piper won as Miss Petite Dance at the KAR dance competition.
I have no idea how or why she started “playing along” with the pageants, but she does. It’s serious business.
Oh, how has she faired in the pageants she’s been in? She’s been in 1. She was 8 months old, I think. She finished 2nd runner up in the Baby Miss Tennessee State Fair pageant. That’s it.
But, trust me when I say, she’s got the pageant bug. Bad.
Fast forward to September 1. A co-worker’s niece had won a preliminary pageant and had been prepping like mad for Miss Texas. She had borrowed Piper’s Dream Duffel to hang her gowns and swimsuits, etc., so we knew that the pageant was in town. Tickets were kind-of steep, so I had opted for us just to live stream the pageant onto our big screen at home. (That was a really dumb decision in hindsight. One of the times when my being frugal turns into sheer stupidity for not just paying the money and going!)
At any rate, the pageant started at 3:00 PM and we were counting down. We had been to church, eaten lunch and were settled in to see who was going to take the crown. That’s when it happened. At 2:35, my friend/co-worker/aunt of the contestant texted to say that she had an extra ticket and that Piper was more than welcome to sit with them if I wanted to bring her down. I quickly looked at Don and said “I probably can’t get to the Galleria in 20 minutes, can I?” He said “You definitely can.”
We threw on our shoes and off we went. I made it from our house to the Galleria in 27 minutes.
This was our first (obviously) trip to see Miss Texas crowned live. Piper had awesome seats with the Mott’s. I bought a ticket for the inside viewing area (a small ballroom that streamed the pageant inside). It was completely adequate and the next best thing to being there.
This was the final pageant. Prelims had taken place the day before. So, this pageant basically consisted of the introduction of the judges and then straight into the Top 15 (which turned out to be 17 because of a tie).
A quick look at the Top 17 and it was no wonder that Texas is the most competitive of all the state pageants. So.many.gorgeous.girls! Wow. I knew that Piper was in heaven.
Before I let Piper share her thoughts, let me say that during intermission €“ Piper got her picture made with Ali Nugent, Miss Texas 2013. Ali was so lovely to have her picture made with Piper. She was not in “media” mode – she was visiting with friends. Although Piper tried so hard to play it cool, that might have been the most exciting moment in her life (thus far). It’s nice to see beautiful women, who are role models, graciously agree to photos when you know that they have to be absolutely exhausted from it.
Here’s a video of Piper telling you all about the pageant!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/XEwEhQdccMA[/youtube]
The Miss Texas Teen pageant is in November in Houston. I think I can safely say that we’ll be there … with pre-purchased tickets. No doubt about it.
