We still got it, right?!

Ahhhh Summer. To most people - normal people - it’s the time when we soak up the sun on beach trips with the girls and sit by bonfires with friends. But for those of us self-proclaimed “not normal” people, summer time means pageant season. That’s right, every state in America holds its preliminary competition to find out which lucky girl will grace the Miss America stage in Atlantic City. Which girl will grab her face in horrific excitement as she tries not to pee her pants while the new member of the "has been club” places that sparkling crown on her head.

Every girl who competes in a state pageant is enclosed for a week in the world of rehearsals, appearances and preliminary competition. It is a whirlwind week that you never forget. You also never want to give it up. And most of us don’t. But why should we? We still got it!

Preparing for pageant week as a has-been is very much the same as preparing for pageant week as a contestant. We just cram everything that needs to be done into the week prior to the pageant. We tell ourselves ahead of time that our New Years resolutions will stick and this year we’ll show up at the state pageant as a former contestant and feel like we could still walk out on that stage and win swimsuit. But a week before departure day comes and we realize that we’re running out of time. So we workout everyday and only consume 5 almonds, a banana and a gallon of water per day. All so we can fit into that dress that we wore 8 years ago when we were contestants. Then we pull out the old plastic storage box in the closet containing the “OMG amazing” shoes. Shoes that still have the tiny garage sale stickers on the bottom with our initials and local title written on them so we wouldn't lose them. If we’re going for the preliminary competitions as well, we make sure our dresses are combined and packed with a written checklist of jewelry, shoes, under-garments and how we will hair our hair with each outfit. At least we’re still organized!

And then it’s pageant day! We run into our old friends, both young and old, in the lobby of the hotel where we were contained during pageant week, way back when. We give hugs and pose for pictures with our wine buzz and enjoy the escalating chatter of who the front-runners are. We love being part of the rare club known as former state pageant contestants. Jobs have changed, zip codes have changed and marital status’ have changed. But the fact of matter is, we haven’t changed. We still got it!