I’m back from our whirlwind Vegas weekend! My cousin Ellen looked beautiful during the Miss America pageant and while she didn’t make the top 15, we couldn’t have been more proud of her.
She had the best cheering section for sure! There were two Ohio groups located in the auditorium and we did some awesome O-H, I-O chants back and forth. Ellen said she could hear us cheering backstage, which was awesome!
The pageant was such a cool experience. 8,000 people packed into Planet Hollywood to see who got crowned. There were so many beautiful women, lots of sequin and teased hair. I wore a bright silver sequin dress and was not nearly the most glammed out person in the audience.
Watching the pageant live was pretty neat. It was funny to see the contestants show complete poise when on camera and then make a mad dash off the stage tearing at their clothes as soon as they knew they were off air.
The audience reaction was something you don’t get to see on TV either. During one part, they surprised the girls by letting one be “saved” by the other contestants. They had to literally go stand behind the girl they wanted to keep moving on in the competition. As soon as we went to commercial after that part, the whole audience started booing. Clearly that surprise stunt was not appreciated by the audience.
After the winner was crowned, our family met up with Ellen at the Toby Keith bar in Harrah’s for some beer and line dancing. We ended up staying out until 3am singing, dancing and having a ball.
Ellen’s year as a beauty queen has been so exciting for our family, but I think the best part is how it’s brought us all together. It’s not often you can get so many family members to convene in Las Vegas, so this weekend was very special.
Flying home on Sunday I kept thinking about how lucky I am to have such an amazing family. Everyone is so supportive, caring and FUN! I am very proud to be related to these people.
Congratulations Ellen! You’ll always be my favorite beauty queen. Thanks to the Cron family for making this weekend so memorable. You all are so great! And finally, thanks to my friend Molly for joining me this weekend. You are freaking hilarious.