Whooooooo Hoooooooooo!  Welcome to our second Junkie wrap-up post of the year!

Because we just finished a FABULOUS weekend at Miss Minnesota, we’d be remiss if we didn’t give you a bit of insight into our weekend!  In short, it was AWESOME!  Besides witnessing the crowning of Miss Minnesota 2014 Savannah Cole (see above and below), we greatly enjoyed the hospitality and graciousness of the MN executive team as well as all of our new friends who “discovered us” during our time at the Pageant 🙂

It’s always interesting to visit different state pageants across the county… You can get a feel for the organization itself based on the leadership team and the kind of girls who are attracted to the competition.  When it comes to Miss Minnesota – we loved the fact that it felt so authentic.  Every single person we spoke with was extremely down-to earth, very genuine and completely ‘at ease’ with themselves.  They’re truly interested in guiding and mentoring young ladies to become the best they can be – and you don’t get an ‘air of pretentiousness’ whatsoever.

And in case you missed it on our Facebook page – we HAD TO POST this photo of Patricia Cummings, Miss MN 1944!  YES – Ms. Cummings celebrated her 70th Anniversary of being named Miss Minnesota this week!!!  SEVENTY YEARS!!!  What an honor to be in the room when she walked in… You can tell why she won the title – she’s tall, stately and still has a ‘presence’ about her.  Such an incredible moment to witness!!!

And of course, Miss Minnesota 2013 Rebecca Yeh was outstanding – exceptionally talented and super kind.  In short, she lived up to every expectation we have of state titleholders and is impressive to the core.

So here’s to you Miss Minnesota!  Thank you for rolling out the red carpet and giving The Junkies a weekend worth celebrating!  We’ll never forget it! 🙂

AND NOW – It’s time to tabulate the results from last night!  If you missed our last post, you can check out where we currently stand by visiting this link… But – how well did The Junkies predict last night’s winners???  Here’s the breakdown… in no particular order… 🙂

Miss Minnesota – 5 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Illinois – 2 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Rhode Island – 2 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Montana – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Delaware – 3 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss New Jersey – 3 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Michigan – 2 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss Pennsylvania – 3 for 5, missed the Winner
Miss Iowa – 5 for 5, listed the Winner
Miss DC – still to come tonight!

I consider this an ‘ok’ weekend of picks so far for us… We’ve done better – but, we’ve also done worse (lol!).  This weekend we were 8 for 9 on listing the winner – but only 29 for 45 when choosing the Top 5 (again – DC is still to come).

SOOOOOOOOO – When you add in the numbers from our previous post…  we’re now 75 for 108 when picking the Top 5 finishers (69%) and 18 for 22 when listing the Winner (82%). 

AND WE’RE GOING TO DO IT ALL AGAIN THIS WEEKEND!!!  In fact, this coming weekend is the SUPER-CRAZY-ARE-YOU-KIDDING-WHY-DO-I-DO-THIS-TO-MYSELF-OVER-AND-OVER-AGAIN weekend of pageants!  We’ll be crowning 14 ladies on Saturday, June 21st – which will be the largest weekend of the season!  That means we’ll be posting lots of state blogs this week in preparation for FOURTEEN NEW QUEENS to come – this weekend could likely ‘make us’ or ‘break us’ when it comes to our percentages above… Here’s hoping we can come out on the positive side of that equation!

As always – Thanks much for taking this journey with us!  Please remember – this whole thing is supposed to be FUN!!!  We’ve seen very few of these ladies compete on stage – and we’ve personally met even fewer of them!  That’s the challenge at hand – how many states can we ‘predict’ simply by looking at their bios and researching how they appear ‘on paper’?  So, please don’t be offended if your favorite competitor isn’t on our list… It doesn’t mean she won’t place and it doesn’t mean she won’t win (see above).  All it means is, we aren’t perfect (again, see above). 🙂

OK!  Must prepare the way for 14 new states to be crowned this week!  More Blogging, More Blogging, More Blogging…

Stick Around!!!

Junkies Unite!!!

MAJ

Miss DC Bindhu Pamarthi is driven, articulate and super-smart.  She’s also currently a law student at Georgetown University…  Yes – we said “currently”…  Meaning, she didn’t take the year off to serve as Miss DC.  Nope!  She’s been handling both duties ALL YEAR LONG!  We’re still trying to comprehend it ourselves… Can you imagine going back to classes on Monday morning after 2 weeks in Atlantic City at Miss America!?!  LOL!  That’s Crazy!

However crazy it is – it goes to prove that Bindhu has an intense ability to achieve whatever goal she sets for herself.  In an interview she gave the night she won Miss DC, Bindhu stated that she asked her mom what she wanted for her 50th birthday.  Her mom ‘thought about it…’ and said, “I want to see you compete at Miss America.  After competing in pageants for over a decade, and in a couple of different states, Bindhu finally brought home the title of Miss DC and gave her mother the birthday present she said she wanted.  We’re guessing another great present might be graduating from Georgetown Law School with honors… one that Bindhu is likely to deliver as well. 🙂

Shifting gears now to this year’s Miss DC pageant – Which is…

W I D E  O P E N ! ! !   In fact, NONE of the Top 5 from last year are back – and only one of the ladies listed below even has MAO experience!  THIS COULD GO ANY WHICH WAY!

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Johanna King – NAM VA ’12, 3rd runner up at Nationals
Cassandra Roper – Semi-finalist Miss MD USA ’14
Teresa Davis – Non-finalist talent award GA ’13, Studied at Oxford
Tara Ward – 3rd runner up DC USA ’10
Amelia Wolf – 3rd runner up DC USA ’12
Ayanna Cowley – NAM – Miss TX Teen 3rd runner up Talent
Melicia Johnson – Miss Black Teen Atlanta ’11

ALL THE BEST LADIES!!!  JUNKIES LOVE OUR NATION’S CAPITAL!!! 🙂

MAJ

Miss Rhode Island 2013 Jessica Marfeo’s story is so amazing – we couldn’t do it justice by posting a link to it.  So – here it is instead – and completely worth the read!

From the Hasbro Children’s Hospital website…

“When she was five years old, Jessica was diagnosed with pneumonia. During her treatment at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Jessica had an x-ray that revealed a lesion behind her lung tissue.  Jessica’s medical team here, including accomplished pediatric surgeon Dr. Arlet Kurkchubasche — the children call her “Dr. K” — hoped and prayed that the spot was just a ganglioneuroma, an uncommon but benign growth.  But Dr. K. also worried that the lesion might be something far more dangerous…and she was right. Jessica had neuroblastoma, a rare form of pediatric cancer usually found in the abdomen…and usually found in children much younger than Jessica.

Dr. K urged the child’s shocked parents to let her perform surgery right away. She knew that in the hands of a highly skilled surgeon, Jessica could be cured with surgery, sparing her the lifelong side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.  Again, Dr. K was spot on. Jessica needed only one surgery. She was back home in Exeter soon after, and her Hasbro Children’s Hospital doctors followed her closely for 10 years. The cancer never returned.

Now 20, Jessica is a lovely young woman who truly has her whole life ahead of her. In fact, you might recognize her: Jessica recently was crowned Miss Rhode Island. She competed at the national Miss America Competition, where she was recognized as a finalist for two awards and earned scholarships to pay for college and graduate school.

“Hasbro Children’s Hospital gave me my life back,” Jessica says. Determined to pay the gift forward, Jessica volunteers as a counselor where she once was a camper, Camp Dotty, a summer program for children with cancer and their siblings at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. She also volunteers in the Tomorrow Fund Clinic, where our cancer patients are treated.

Today, Jessica is at URI studying to become a physician assistant, hoping to give her patients the caliber of care she received at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Her ultimate goal is to become the director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. Beautiful.”

Beautiful Indeed.  No wonder she was named the 2nd runner up for the Miss America Quality of Life award.  Excellent work, Miss RI 2013 🙂

Who will follow in Jessica’s footsteps?

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Ivy Depew – 1st runner up ’13, semi-finalist in TN
Alexandra Curtis – NAM Teen RI and National Winner ’11
Victoria Cuartas – 2nd runner up ’13
Amara Berry – would be the first open lesbian to compete at Miss America
Nicollette Peloquin – Miss Teen New England ’12, MA Teen USA Top 15 ’12 and ’14

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!  WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!! 🙂

MAJ

They say “Big things come in small packages”… and at 5’1 and a half (wink*wink), Miss Montana 2013 Sheridan Pope is the epitome of such a statement.  She’s got one of those ‘live out loud’ personalities – which makes some of us ‘laugh out loud’… Especially when reading her tweets!  We’ve copied a few here so you can see what we mean… Enjoy!

   – Apparently no one knows. So if you don’t hear from me again, vanilla black tea and NyQuil was my demise. #sicklife #goodnight
   – I bet housekeeping is always afraid of the random fake eyelashes scattered across the hotel room. #thoughts
   – 24 oz coffee…… I’m gonna pop a squat next to the highway if a rest stop doesn’t present itself ASAP. #montanaprobs
 

Lol… Yes, Sheridan is open with her thoughts, but she’s just as open with her heart… Here’s another set of tweets during the same month in which she posted all of the above comments…

    – Katie, a girl with facial deformity who is completely deaf & has a trache cried happy tears to her fave adult bc “Miss MT touched her face”

    – Can’t stop these tears. I’m going to design my cape and make my plan to change the world over ice cream and red wine. #brb

When someone lives their life this ‘open’, you know they’re going to give their all to everything they do… They ‘love greatly’ and are disappointed greatly.  They’re fiercely loyal and are righteously indignant when others don’t respond the same way.  The live big and love big.  And we’re glad Sheridan Pope was able to share all of herself with the state of Montana and the nation as Miss MT.  Keep it up Sheridan – there are many more ‘big things’ coming your way 🙂

When it comes to Miss Montana 2014 – Let’s just say… Montana isn’t one of those states that’s super easy to pick.  This year, there are lots of fresh faces, but there’s also a group of experienced contestants as well… So – Here’s our best shot!:)

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Victoria Valentine – MT OT ’08
Olivia Dowler – 1st runner up ’13
Katherine Sizemore – 4th runner up ’13
Ariana Lake – Univ. of Montana cheerleader
Desja Eagle Tail – Lovely voice
Aly Bjorneby – strong ballet dancer
Junkie Dark Horse – Allyson Peterson

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!  KNOCK ‘EM DEAD!  JUNKIES LOVE MONTANA 🙂

MAJ

From Miss Delaware 2013, Rebecca Jackson’s blog…

“Growing up, I had never dreamed of becoming Miss America.  My parents discouraged me from playing with Barbie Dolls, cable television, and the Miss America pageant as a whole.  I grew up seemingly not preparing for pageant life but the lure of scholarship money caught my attention and I decided to compete in locals. I competed at my first local using my Senior Prom dress as my gown!  While competing, I had still never seen a Miss America Pageant – meaning I had no idea I that I was given the opportunity to change my life. It wasn’t until I was competing for Miss Delaware 2012 that I envisioned myself becoming Miss Delaware and later competing on the Miss America stage…”

Just goes to prove… Miss America contestants come from ALL walks of life!  Thanks Rebecca for sharing your story 🙂 

And now – in case you didn’t know it… the state of Delaware has been on a roll…

Galen Giaccone – Miss DE ’08 – Top 15 and Prelim Talent Winner
Kayla Martell – Miss DE ’10 – Top 10, People’s Choice and 1st runner up Quality of Life
Maria Cahill – Miss DE ’11 – Non-finalist Talent Award
Alyssa Murray – Miss DE ’12 – Non-finalist Interview Award, Quality of Life finalist
Rebecca Jackson – Miss DE ’13  Non-finalist Talent Award
 

In “Junkie-land”… this is the kind of thing that reminds us… Big Things can come from Small States!  Pay Attention!  You gotta be someone special, if you’re going to win Miss Delaware! 🙂

And guess what??? DELAWARE HAS VIDEOS!!!  Check out their People’s Choice videos when you click this link 🙂  Say it with me… “Junkies LOVE videos!!!” 🙂

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Brittany Lewis – 2nd runner up ’13, 3rd runner up PA ’12
Amanda Longacre – Top 15 DE USA ’14
Amanda Debus – DE Teen USA ’11, DE OT ’08, non-finalist talent ’13
Rebecca Lusk -Top 10 ’13
Taylor DeMario – Miss DE United States, DE USA non-finalist interview ’12
Janemarie Covel – Great video, back to Miss DE after 3 years
Junkie Dark Horse – Keturah Braithwaite

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!  YOU HAVE SOME BIG SHOES TO FILL!!! 🙂

MAJ