Recovered from Orientation...almost

Well, we've officially been home for three days but I am pretty sure we're all still recovering from the trip. We all needed a weekend from our weekend! :) I just wanted to update from mine and Joe's perspective and let all of our readers know how proud we are of our girls (and our adopted one). :) This weekend was a great trip and we all got to know each other even better than before. Our girls looked poised and polished and have made a great lead on preparing for the state competition. It was so nice to spend the weekend and be excited with the girls and assist them along the way.
As Saundra noted, the lottery was stressful. I spent the early hours with Arianna, while Joe was with Saundra and strategized. In the end, I could not be more thrilled of their placements and am certain I will be more than stressed each night of competition, waiting to hear talent and evening gown winner announcements. While we were handling our lottery, PSZ and Tierra handled theirs and I must add that Tierra ended up with a fantastic spot as well. In the end, I truly don't think it will matter. I think if the judges are looking for any of our girls, they will find them but I am thrilled with the advantage I think they got.
All in all, I think the weekend was fantastic and definitely started off the season right! I can't wait to go back in 10 short weeks (who thought I'd ever say that?!) and watch our girls on that stage! It's going to be a great trip. I am VERY proud of all of girls and feel honored to be their ED. (:

Back Home!

Well I am finally able to write again, my last blog was interrupted by an unruly computer that decided it didn't want to work anymore! So I will go ahead and pick up where I left off...

As I mentioned before, we all had a wonderful 9 hour drive to Fresno and thankfully made it there in one piece. When we arrived we were greeted by several other contestants who had arrived shortly before us, and with that, the weekend of pageantry began! Although we arrived and were checked into our rooms at about 11:30, the three of us still found it absolutely essential that we work out, so we all headed to the gym where Alexander made sure that our machines - there were only about three of them in the room, so we took over - were set at a fairly high intensity in order to make sure that we were working our hardest! After about 30 minutes in the gym we headed back to our room to have a meeting with Kati and PSZ to make sure that we knew when we were meeting in the morning and what to expect for the next day. Because there was a lottery - which was a great addition to this year's competition - we decided it was best to get up at 5:30, yep, a.m., in order to be the first in line at 7! Keep in mind that it is now about 12:30 and we still needed to unpack and get ready for bed. Needless to say, it was time for bed, and with that our Friday ended.

The alarm could not have come earlier... at 5:30 we were awakened by, not birds chirping, but the loudest ringing of the loudest and most obnoxious phone in the world. We were absolutely exhausted, but were ready to see what the day had in store for us! We all got ready, surprisingly, we each had enough space for all of our make-up, hair supplies, and everything else that we needed, it just took a little shuffling around each other every once in a while. at 6:30 Arianna and I met Kati and Joe, and we headed down to the lobby. We were VERY early! But within 10 minutes of sitting and chatting, people began to arrive. Russ Gladden and Lynn Blackburn walked into the lobby and after hugs all around, began to set up the lottery. Arianna and I were the first in line to check in and to pick our lottery numbers. Lucky duck Arianna picked number 6! Which meant she was one of the first to pick her spot in the line-up. I, not so luckily, picked number 35... I guess that's why they call it a lottery, huh?

We had breakfast at 8 and then had our first meeting with Bob, where we were introduced to the state staff and, of course, Miss California 2009, Kristy Cavinder. Once this was over, it was time to start the days activities! The lottery went extremely quickly, and it was quite intense! There was strategizing involved in placement , and while every one kept saying, "if they're meant to find you they will no matter where you are," we all knew that having some advantage would maybe make their decision easier. :) Joe and I stood, hovering over the boards, in order to see which spots were being taken and who they were being taken by. We kept a watchful eye on my first priority spot, Delta group number 4, and watched and cringed as girls chose their positions. I have never been so stressed in my life! It was incredibly fun and went incredibly quickly! Before I knew it, it was my turn to pick... My first priority group was still open, but I didn't choose it immediately, I wanted to weigh my options, and after about 3 minutes of going back and forth, I finally chose Gamma group number 4 :) I am so thrilled with my placement and love all of the girls in my group! It will be a tough night, but I guarantee it will make for a great show.

Once the lottery was done it was time to move on to all of our other appointments. Everything went very well and I got some wonderful feedback from the very capable state staff. They are always so helpful, and I feel blessed to have them as a part of the California team! After appointments it was time to go to dinner! We bought raffle tickets, and I am proud to say that the Miss San Diego table was by far the loudest, and won the most amount of dresses! GO MSD!! We had a quick dinner and then were excused for our first rehearsal from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. It was a looong day, and the last thing most of us wanted to do was rehearse, but it made for a wonderful opportunity to meet all of the girls, and in the end we all had a good time.

After rehearsal we finally went back to the room, but ended up staying up for another 3 hours discussing events of the day with our wonderful committee. It was so much fun, but made for a very long day.

The next morning we woke up at 6 a.m. Tierra had set an alarm for her and Arianna at 5:30, but neither of them even budged when the loud, obnoxious phone rang, so yours truly had the honor of jumping out of the cot to answer the phone in the bathroom, and of course as soon as I arrived to answer it, it stopped! I then attempted to wake the girls up, but neither of them budged! I decided to let them sleep, and I went back to bed. We finally got up at 6 and prepped to go to our final meetings and rehearsals.

We were finally done at 3 p.m. and headed back home. We had such a wonderful time, and I was thrilled to meet all of the girls. Each one of these young women is so incredibly talented and would make a wonderful Miss California. It's going to be a tough competition in July!

WHEW!! well at the cost of boring you, I will stop there for today! We have a busy few months ahead, and I will be sure to keep you all updated, until then...

Always,

Saundra Combs

Miss San Diego Cities

During Orientation!...but not quite completed... (:

I'm working on about 4 hours of sleep, so please bear with me if things are misspelled or if they don't make too much sense! It has been a loooong weekend already, and we have only gotten through one day! It's been fun meeting all of the girls that I haven't met before, and all of those that I've met before, but have not seen for quite some time; but before talking about orientation, let me fill you in on this past week...

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, we had to attempt to pack in one duffel bag, let's just say that didn't work out so well. I ended up having one VERY full duffel bag, one overflowing gym bag, and a loaded purse, just a bit more than I was allowed, but somehow we all fit, and we made it all the way to Fresno after a very long, but entertaining 9 hour drive. We attempted to leave at 11, but in true Miss San Diego fashion, we ended up leaving at 1, we just lost a one somewhere along the way. The van included the entire San Diego team, and one straggler - Miss Northern California Regional, Marina Inserra, and my roommate of course! We had a great time bonding and I am absolutely positive that we grew closer together than we ever thought we could! We may have learned a little more about each other than we wanted to, but we had a great time anyway. We know so much I guess we're stuck together!

More to come...

Arianna's week in Review...

Wow! This has been a crazyyyyy weekend!! It all started Saturday at the Relay for Life where my A Capella group: Scattertones performed and participated for a bit. I was able to sing the solo for Taking Chances which was a lot of fun. Our group unfortunately lost a member this year to cancer so we are always inspired by Brooks Paul! WE LOVE YOU!!!

So we started on the road around 5pm and stopped at the weird Dinosaur park. Yes Dinersaur not Dinosaur. The boys in our A Capella group were so excited for this adventure that the girls had to give in. It was around 8pm and we saw these Dinosaur statues and that was it. They had a great time so I guess it was worth it. Hahah ;] We then stopped at "Mad Greece" which was the only restaurant for miles in Baker. The food was decent for being in the middle of no where! Alexander!! I got the most healthy thing on the menu (but for this food that is not saying much)! ahaha OH side note! I also went swimming before we left in order to enjoy the rest of my day and not worry about working out ;] When we got to the hotel we immediately crashed because we had to wake up at 7am for the long day ahead.

We got to the MGM around 930 and checked in and directly headed to the dressing room. We began with the dress rehearsal and on the way over we saw Reba and she threw us a quick "How yall doing?" AHH she is so amazing! I love her! We then performed with Taylor who gave us a quick hello before she was whisked away to her dressing room. Then we were able to watch the rest of the dress rehearsal where we saw Carrie Underwood cry after her performance of "Temporary Home." She has such an amazing voice; her performance was perfect. We then ate lunch and started getting ready for the show. There was quite some downtime so I was able to finish an essay I had due that Monday! We were able to get our hair and make-up done by the professionals ;] and then sat in our seats for the show. It was such an enormous theater; I was just astounded. The first time I walked into the theater, I started tearing up. Hopefully in the future I'll be the one performing!!! We then quickly headed on stage and sang at the exhilarating performance. Afterwards we were lucky enough to watch the rest of the performance.

After the show we were heading back to a restaurant when we got a phone call: YOU ARE INVITED TO THE AFTER PARTY! Ahhhhh It was so exciting. It was like another concert all over again but up close and personal. We were able to see Gretchen Wilson who is undeniable one of the BEST country singers EVER. I have never been so amazed and starstruck!
We then headed out around 12 to get back at 5am! I then went to my 11am class (waking up at 9am to finish my essay) and headed out with the rest of my day. Conclusion: Craziest weekend EVER!

Honestly life has been so crazy lately. I have not had a free weekend in I don't event remember when! 2 trips to Vegas in one week? Unbelievable. Now I am heading off to Fresno this weekend. Sometimes I don't even understand how I keep up with everything, but I do it somehow and I absolutely love it! Being busy thrills me :] Going back to Fresno: I am SOOO excited for this weekend. I finally will be able to bond with all the wonderful, beautiful and talented girls. This will be such a different experience being a Miss and I can't wait! Well now I'm off to finish reading some articles for my Stem Cell Research class which is FINALLY getting interesting. Yesterday we had a heated debate and of course I was the liberal fighter! And then after 3B (calc bc) I'm off to the gym! bye for now

Arianna Afsar
Miss San Diego County 2010

Super cute picture!

Tried to add this picture into the last post, but for some reason it didn't work! The three of us have been having a great time together, and this picture totally sums it up! This is taken from our Artrero shoot from a few weeks back. HUGE thank you to Cheryl Daen for doing our hair and make-up, to Be Beauty for the great wardrobe, and to Ed for taking some great pics. We have a wonderful committee and I feel so blessed to have such a great team, and such wonderful girls as my sister titleholders!


Well back to packing...don't forget to follow us on facebook as well!

Always,
Saundra Combs
Miss San Diego Cities 2010

From PSZ...

hi y'all.. i'm not sure what i'm supposed to blog about now that saundra and kati already told you pretty much everything that's happened in the last few days :p

alexander and i went over to tierra's house saturday night to help her and lorena (t's awesome mom) decide what t should bring to orientation next weekend.. sometimes i wish i was a teen again, not only to be super skinny :p but to wear all the cute clothes, like tierra has - haha.. after talking about what to bring and a brief discussion of straight hair vs curly hair, the 4 of us headed to barefoot bar & grill at paradise pt for a lovely dinner bayside.. at dinner, we talked more about orientation, alexander gave t some "workout assignments", and we ended the night by celebrating alexander's "b-day" :)

as saundra and kati both blogged, we met sunday night to see saundra's G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S talent gown, wrap up last minute details before orientation, and really just to hang out.. while i know there are so many other committees that are a part of the miss ca organization, i have to say that i feel really fortunate to be a part of ours - we have been thru a roller coaster ride thru the years, and i know this year is going to be THE best one yet.. we have 3 talented, beautiful, intelligent, enthusiastic, super F::A::B::U::L::O::U::S ladies that we get to spend the year with - who could ask for more! :D

things could get crazy on the trip to fresno this coming weekend, so stay tuned! oh, and FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!!!! ;p

xoxo
~*psz*~

Orientation Week!

This is the first chance that I am getting to write after a very relaxing weekend! This was the first time that I have had a weekend free of appearances for Miss SD, although we somehow found a way to fit in a prep meeting. I think that Kati just likes hanging out with us :)We had a few last minute things to organize before the big weekend coming up, and we also got together to watch Arianna on the American Academy of Country Music Awards! She was chosen to sing back up for Taylor Swift during the awards ceremony, and we saw her front and center in the choir! It was so great to watch her and scream at the TV, "I SEE HER!! SHE'S RIGHT THERE!" People in the surrounding condos were probably wondering what was going on, but we were not shy in showing our excitement for Arianna. Great Job girl, you looked great!

Anyway, we'll continue on with the rest of the week! Surprisingly, this week was very quiet! We didn't have any appearances, and I was able to focus on school - two 10 page papers due within two days of each other, so it was a much needed break to say the least! I had workouts with Alexander, I swear he was trying to kill me for eating that pancake at Denny's the week before, and met with Kati and Joe to discuss orientation and my talent gown. We have the dress, but that's about all I can tell you, it's top secret ;) Other than these few things, I really don't have a lot to report back as far as Miss San Diego activities. My new headshot is on the Miss California website, so be sure to check that out along with the pictures of the other beautiful young women that I will be competing against!

In addition to school, I was able to take this past week/weekend, to take in the beautiful city that I live in, and all that it has to offer. I went to a Padres game on Saturday, (they won, so that's always good!) went to the beach on Thursday, roller-bladed on the boardwalk Wednesday, and went shopping in Pacific Beach on Friday! Oh and of course, I got a pedicure with Tierra, our teen, on Sunday before we went to our prep meeting at Kati's house! She got pink with a flower design, and I got red with a design. Very appropriate for a teen and miss! I know, it's a horrible place to live, but someone has to! I am definitely a believer in doing things that make you happy and let you get away from the world, even if it's just for a few minutes or an hour. All of these things help me to relax and get geared up for all that is to come!

Speaking of all that is to come, orientation is this weekend, and I could not be more excited! I am thrilled to be able to meet all of the young women competing and be able to get to know them a lot better than I do now. I am also excited to be reunited with those girls that I have competed with in previous pageants. It really is like a big reunion every time we get together. A sisterhood is formed through the competition and I know that these girls are some of the best friends that I have. We can go for months without speaking, but when we get back together, it's as though we never left! It's hard to believe that this week has come so quickly, but I'm glad it's here! It will also be nice to see Kristy Cavinder, Miss CA 2009, and all of the directors and volunteers that work behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. They are such great people, and it is always a joy to see them.

Well, that's about all I have for today! I know it's not much, but I am sure that I will have much more to report back after this weekend. For now, I have to go figure out a way to fit 10 different outfits, hair supplies, toiletries, jewelry, and of course, shoes, into one, maybe two, duffel bags! There are 10 people driving up to Fresno in our van, so it's going to be a little crowded...We'll have a great time, and I'm sure we'll all know each other a lot better at the end! Although I'm not sure how much more I could know! I'll let you all know how it goes, wish me luck! Until then...

Always,
Saundra Combs
Miss San Diego Cities 2010

Miss CA Orientation THIS WEEK!

Last night was our last meeting before we leave on Friday for Miss California Orientation! This is SOOO exciting, as it really kicks off the state pageant. Tierra and Saundra came over about 7pm, following their pedicures, and we chatted about leaving on Friday, how much luggage they could bring and viewed Saundra's talent gown (shhh....but we LOVE it!)...after we hung out and watched the ACMA's, waiting for Arianna to be featured with Taylor Swift! It was very exciting to watch her in the Tri-tones (my apologies if the spelling is incorrect) singing choir singing with Taylor Swift on stage! Arianna looked great in purple with her beautiful smile! Congratulations on participating!

After watching Arianna, Tierra and Saundra were hungry so I took them and Aubri (my 2-yr old daugher) to Subway. Who knew you could shop at Subway?! Apparently the girls did as they are now proud owners of sandwich purses...Saundra's is Jamaican, Tierra's represents Antarctica and Aubri's is pink and all about Paris...so if you see little bags at orientation, you'll know they're meant to "hold" their sandwiches.

You will likely hear from the girls this week before orientation and then again after but as a director, I MUST state how proud Joe, Pey-Shiuan, Alexander and I are of all three of our young women. They did a great job getting excellent paperwork in ON-TIME and beautiful headshots (visit the Miss California website to view). We are very proud of their dedication to the program, their platforms and the hopeful success they will receive at Miss California. From all of us...thank you for being such hard workers and great ambassadors of the program and our community. We <3 you girls lots and can't wait for our fun ROAD TRIP this weekend!

~ Kati

Saundra's post from school...

Hello everyone!
I'm trying to fit in a quick post between classes and am sitting in one of the computer labs on the beautiful USD campus in order to keep all of you updated! I have been extremely busy in my last semester at USD, in two months I will officially be a college grad! It has been a long hard road, but the dedication and time that I have put in has definitely paid off. But you aren't here to see what's going on in my college life, let's talk about Miss San Diego!

I, along with my sister queen Arianna, traveled up north to the Miss Gavilan Hills, Miss Northern California Regional, Miss San Jose, and Miss Bay Cities pageant (boy was that a mouthful!). We had a great time and enjoyed cheering all of the contestants on; they all looked lovely, and I'm sure that any one of them would have made a great titleholder, I would have hated to be a judge! We had a couple of our San Diego girls competing, Shelby MacDonald and Marina Inserra - sorry if I spelled your last names wrong ladies, you think for an English major I would be able to spell! Both young women did an excellent job, and I am proud to announce that Marina is the new Miss Northern California Regional! She did a wonderful job, and is going to be my roommate for Miss California in July :) We will have a great time and will probably have a lot of late nights together, hopefully we can actually get some rest! In addition to seeing all of the girls compete, Arianna and I got to meet many of the titleholders that we will be competing with in July for the title of Miss California. They are all amazing young women, and such a great group of people. Miss California will be a blast, and I can't wait to get to know these girls better in just a couple of weeks at orientation!

Unfortunately I was not able to stay for the Sunday afternoon sweeps pageant because of a previously scheduled performance on Sunday morning. Mandi Reno and I drove all night in order to get back home to San Diego. We left at 1:00 a.m after having a great, slightly unhealthy, meal at Denny's and celebrating Marina's win, and got home at about 7:30 in the morning! After a couple of hours of sleep I woke up, got ready for the performance, drove to the school and discovered it was cancelled! I couldn't believe it, but was slightly happy to get to go back to bed! Arianna made sure to keep me updated on the pageant and I was happy to learn who the new titleholders were! Congrats to all of the girls that won this weekend: Jenna Harvey, Lindsey Becker, Lana Brewster, and Sara Risvold. You ladies are all beautiful, can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks!

After my whirlwind weekend, it was back to school Monday morning, and back to working out with Alexander, who assured me that we would work of my Saturday meal from Denny's - he was not kidding, let me tell ya! We've been having some great workouts, and he is absolutely determined to have me win swimsuit! The support that I have from the MSD committee is outstanding, and they make me want to succeed because of their belief in me!

Well, I'm about out of time and need to get moving on with the rest of my day which includes, grabbing a quick lunch before going back to class from 12:30 to 5:20, and then another workout with Alexander afterwards followed by a meeting with the Kati, Joe, PSZ, and Alexander, whew! Did I mention homework goes in there somewhere? It's a busy life, but I love every second of it! Until next time!

Always,
Saundra Combs
Miss San Diego Cities 2010

~Love, Arianna

Hey! Arianna here.
I currently just attended my last pageant before the big Miss California in July. It was a pageant bonanza weekend and my two friends from Miss San Diego, Shelby MacDonald and Marina Inserra looked beautiful! Congratulations to Marina the new Miss Northern California Regional 2010! We will both be competing for Miss CA 2010 including Saundra ;] This will be such an amazing experience that I can't wait to endure. School is really crazy now; I am currently an Undecided Life Science Major and we will see where this takes me. I have some very exciting news coming up this week but has to be on the down low until the final show so stay tuned for the next blog where I will reveal my exciting performance!! I also am apart of Spring Sing (UCLA talent competition) where I will be performing twice with Scattertones (my acapella group) as well as with my friend Kabir singing my original song! We will be recording for the Spring Sing albuml this Friday so if you can come up to UCLA on May 14th, you defintely don't want to miss this!!

Love
Arianna Afsar
Miss San Diego County 2010

WELCOME!

Hi Friends...thank you for checking out our new blog! We are thrilled to give you the opportunity to follow our 2010 Miss San Diego County, Miss San Diego Cities and Miss San Diego County's O/S Teen. We hope you enjoy hearing about their work within the community as well as their preparation for the Miss California competition in July! They have been VERY busy already and we anticipate it will get even crazier as the year continues! We are proud to have these young women as our ambassadors and look forward to following them as they grow!
Thank you again for your continued support!
~Kati Enea, Executive Director