I was in the first group to model (yes, I look really good at 6:45 in the morning), and I got to wear this gorgeous Elan International summer lace maxi dress. 

Our Pre-Taping segment was up and running on YouTube within a few days of Miss Florida USA Seminar Weekend. Check us out, y’all! Oh, and don’t mind my overly animated inflection; it was early, and coffee makes me do and say weird things.

After quite a bit of shooting and a whole lot of keeping ourselves entertained, I basically fell in love with my sister queen, Bri, who I met while hosting the Miss Tampa USA Pageant. She’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, and all things aside, our friendship has made the stress and anxiety of competition worth it! Plus, we got to know some other awesome leading Florida ladies, like Ashley aka Miss Melbourne USA. The combination of their company and my Lilly Pulitzer Richelle Strapless Sweetheart Dress made this early morning completely tolerable.

NBD, just Team Tampa taking over Hollywood. Don’t mind my crazy hair, please, kthx.

As is usually the case, everything was right with the world once I had my Starbucks. I’m just sorry for anyone who had to converse with me prior to ingesting caffeine.

Approximately 45 hours later, our shoots were done, and it was time for lunch! One of our awesome pageant sponsors happens to be Pollo Tropical, so we carpooled on over for some solid Caribbean goodness. Bri and I were completely attentive and are not at all addicted to social media.

Dress: Lulu’s // Necklace: Forever 21 // Clutch: Vineyard Vines (No Longer Available), Similar Here

After dinner I basically collapsed in my hotel room and woke up to my 5:30 alarm for On-Stage Question taping on Saturday morning. I think it’s super cool that basically other contestants will be taped and pre-recorded asking the Top 16 their OSQs on finals night. Nobody knows anybody else’s question, and it adds an element of fun and comfort to the whole nerve-racking process of attempting to speak intelligently on stage in front of hundreds of people, including the pageant piranhas known as my unforgiving brothers.

Dress: Lulu’s // Shoes: Apt. 9

Annnd now I’m officially in freak out/catch-up mode, as the competition is just about ten days away! My laundry To-Do list is approaching three pages, so this may be my biggest time challenge yet. Wish me luck!