MY JOURNEY TO NATIONALS: REFLECTIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED

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If you’ve been following along on my pageant journey you know I competed at in my first national competition for the Ms Full-Figured USA Pageant. I unfortunately didn’t win in this competition, but I am so grateful for the experience. Here’s to some lessons learned along the way which I’d like to share with you in this post:

I WASN’T THEIR FAV AND THAT’S OKAY

I’ve learned that I won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Sometimes, we have to accept that everyone won’t like us. In this case, my look was a not a judge fav and that’s okay. I’ll admit, I was sad at first , but I gave it my all, I was up for the challenge and well, I made it to nationals!

YELLOW IS MY COLOR

I’ve never really considered yellow the best color on me, but this gown did me all the way in. I was shocked and admittedly scared to order such an over the top color, but had to remind myself that pageants are meant for you to be over the top.

I’M STILL A WINNER

I did win, because I showed up and gave it my all. Someone out there saw me, I touched someone and that’s what my platform is all about. Wherever you are, I did this for you. .

IT’S OKAY TO BE VULNERABLE

I spent so much of my life trying to be strong, this pageant was the first time I let that go, cried tears in public and realized my emotions were valid. Why? Because they are. We should all be allowed to feel what we feel, heal, then pick ourselves up and get back to taking care of business again. Up until this night, I skipped the validating of emotions part and went back to business. .

BE IN THE MOMENT

Funny what some time off will help you realize. While I have pics to look back on these moments, in some of these I wasn’t present, caught in the emotional roller coaster of regret, worry, feelings of failure, etc…this is another lesson learned. .

We MUST be in the moment, NOW is all we have. Thankfully my wonderful husband captured these shots for me to look back on and my wonderful queen sisters wouldn’t hesitate to tell me every detail if I asked.

 

In the end, I’m still your queen. I’m still the curvy, chocolate-skinned, kinky-haired, big calves, full lips, bright colored wearing, excessive smiling queen. In the end, I AM A QUEEN. 👑

Till next time.

Sincerely,

Deidra Marie

MY FIRST GLOW UP WITH GLOBODY BY JENN

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My first glow up brought to you by GloBody By Jenn. Not gonna even lie guys, when she reached out to me about a glo, the only thing I thought was, hey, black girls don’t tan but boy was mistaken. In fact, a glo is amazing on brown skin and just makes are melanin pop even more. It gives a nice bronzy glo to the skin and it’s exactly what I needed to pop on camera for my pageant last weekend. By the way, all the deets on my pageant coming to the blog later this week.

So, how does this glo body business work anyways. Well, Jenn operates a mobile service so it was easy peezy for me as she dropped by the house for my 20-minute glo session. Yup, it only takes that long.

Rule #1: wear dark clothes you really don’t care for.

Rule #2: the less clothes you wear, the more glo coverage you get. In my case, I stripped down to just  a black bathing suit bottom and some pasties to cover my girls. If you’re not comfortable with nudity, this is not the glo for you. FYI, Jenn was an absolute gem about it. She sees nake bodies for glo sessions on a regular, so it wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward, she really understands and is just a lady on a mission to make that skin shine.

So, the glo takes about 24 hours to really activate and get the skin popping for that glowy, dewy effect. With that being said, you can’t shower or sweat for 8-12 hours if you’re seeking best results. I would suggest showering before your glo application. As you can see from the pics, she set up this cool black tent, you stand in it on these foot stickies and then it’s time to get your glo on. The glo is a spray machine contraption, when she sprays it is a little chilly at first, but it’s nothing compared to eyebrow threading or these other painful things we do to get dolled up.

Keep scrolling as I come bearing gifts…

So, as you can see, this was only day one and my skin glo is already popping. With proper daily skin moisturization, your glo application can last up to 1-2 weeks. It’s normal for it to run off in the shower within the first few days, but for me, I went back to regular no glo in about a week and a half, just enough glo for my pageant, and chilling with my bestie in NY for the week (check my IG and IG stories for deets on that).

Anyway, I want you to glo on with me so contact Jen at globodybyjenn@gmail.com or visit their website: www.spraymobibletanning.com and tell them I sent you for 10% off your first glo application. Hint Hint 😉 it’s mother’s day and a gift like this would rock her world, just saying.

See you back here later in the week for deets on my nationals pageant.

Till next time.

Deidra Marie

MS. FULL FIGURED NC 2018

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Extra extra, read all about it, I’m proud to announce that I am your new reigning Ms. Full Figured NC 2018. If you’ve been keeping up on IG and Facebook, you already know the good news, but for those that don’t do social media like that, I wanted to share a post with all the pics from this amazing day. I’m overwhelmed by the love and support of my family and friends and it’s all so surreal that I’m a pageant girl and even more surreal that I’m a pageant girl that won. NEVER in a million years did I think I’d be walking around with a crown on my head and the title of Queen. I’ve joked with my husband in the past about calling me Queen Deidra but who would have thought this would be a reality.

Everybody I love and care about was in the building and if they weren’t in the building, they were there in spirit. I can’t thank everyone enough for the love, their support, their guidance, their kind words, their gifts, their presence, their prayers, EVERYTHING. Did I mention I’m overwhelmed and my cup is completely full and better yet, overflowing.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

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Now keep scrolling for pics from pageant day.

Nelle and the best glow in the dark Krispy Kreme Sign EVER!

Nelle and Tay representing!

Big Bro

Charlie’s wonderful aunt Sarah

My sister in-law Selina, niece, Mari and nephew, Baby Will

Niece, Allie

My amazing friend, Ozi

My beautiful sister in-law, Selina

My grams and Dad

My best friends mom, Carrie and her lovely friend

My mom and baby sis, Danny

Big Bro and Shaquanna

Platform speech

My manager said it looks like a Ted Talk, LOL

Ms. Full Figured Talent winner, Jeaneen Nunn

My beautiful niece, Mari

My beautiful pageant sister, Ahlivia

2nd runner up, the beautiful, Key

Shout out to Formalwear Outlet for this amazing gown

1st runner up, the gorgeous, Nisi

My beautiful pageant sister, Sheena J

The lovely Jeanette Boyd

Ms. Full Figured Exquisite Winner, Kristy

Ms. Full-Figured Plus winner, Deirdre

When I found out I won

My beautiful pageant sister and fav babe, Telena

Royal Court

Royal Court and my amazing pageant director Purusha and CEO Theresa

 

Despite the stress, the weight-loss, the anxiety, the trials, lack of sleep, crazy journey to finding the right gown (changed my gown 3 times), not being able to spend time and hang out with family and friends, I wouldn’t trade this pageant experience for anything else in the world. I’ve learned so much, have grown so much and have made some pretty amazing friends and connections being apart of this amazing experience. I’ll be sharing about my gifts on the blog soon, as well as some confessions about the overall experience in a blogpost later in the year. In the meantime, I’m prepping for the Ms. Full-Figured USA competition which is the national competition taking place in New Jersey in April. All the deets on this to come at a later date.

Thanks for following along, not only the blog, but on this pageant journey, it’s been a crazy ride but I know I couldn’t do it without my loyal CCC readers.

Till next time.

Deidra Marie