Sunday, May 10, 2009

Americorps Pre-Mother's Day Celebration and Darling Divas Fasion Show!

Inga and I with one of the most flirtatious little dudes I've ever met. Don't let the photo fool you... he was totally into us!

At the Americorps Pre-Mother's Day Celebration!

Christina Joseph (Miss Barbados Heritage 2009), Melanie Gowrie (Miss Brooklyn's Outstanding Teen 2009) and myself at the Darling Divas Fashion Show!



What a week! Block Institute on Wednesday, Americorps on Friday, and Darling Divas on Saturday! I've already told you about my Earth Day Experiences at Block Institute, so I'll pick up with my appearance Friday with Inga (Miss Manhattan) at Americorp's Pre-Mother's Day Celebration at Project Reach Youth!

The day got off to a rough start when the usually reliable hopstop.com gave me atrociously inaccurate directions. After 20 minutes of texting Inga and calling my mom for help, we determined where I was, where I needed to go, and how I was going to get there!

I arrived at Project Reach Youth and was immediately greeted by Inga and the rest of the friendly Americorps staff, along with a bevy of adorable children and their fantastic moms! I salute Americorps for organizing such a fantastic celebration of some of Brooklyn's hardworking moms! Among the stations I observed were free massages, manicures and waxing, a lotion making table, and makeovers! After posing with the kids and their moms for some photos, Inga and I joined a classroom rehearsing a song and dance. They were having so much fun that we couldn't help ourselves, and then next thing we knew, we were both dancing and singing along (despite the fact that we didn't know the words to the song)!

We then enjoyed a delicious pot-luck lunch, where we got the opportunity to chat with the participants and their kids. Inga's platform is "Healthy Mothers: Healthy Babies"- and she got the opportunity to speak with one uninsured mother about her options for healthcare should she decide to have another baby- talk about a relevant, meaningful platform! I got the opportunity to discuss my platform as well, and I'm very excited about the new opportunities I was introduced to at this appearance! I'd love to work with Project Reach Youth in the future to provide performing arts opportunities to Brooklyn's youth.

Saturday evening, I rushed from work in Chelsea to Club Nocturnal on Flatbush Ave. to judge the Darling Diva's Fashion Show! I arrived just in time to watch Melanie (Miss Brooklyn's OT) perform her monologue, and then I took over judging where she left off! It was a reunion of sorts, seeing Amaris Acosta (Miss Caribbean United States 2008 and host of the Miss Brooklyn 2009 Pageant) and Christina Joseph (Miss Barbados Heritage 2009 and Choreographer of the Miss Brooklyn 2009 Pageant). I settled into judging, and enjoyed watching the girls perform talent routines and strut their stuff down the runway! Congratulations to all the winners! Check out the Darling Divas website!

All in all, a great weekend. Check back for photos from my experiences with Americorps and Project Reach Youth, coming soon!