I promised pictures...

I spent a good portion of today packing up for nationals in Nashville. You should see my room. There are quite a few suitcases piled on the floor, and I still have more to pack. It will be interesting to see how everything fits in the Ford Escape. I finished decorating my jeans. Let me tell you, using that little iron that glues on rhinestones is just asking for a finger to be burned. There was only one casualty - my thumb. It has a pretty good sized burn on it.

Before I travel to Nashville, I will be making a stop in Louisville. While there I will be auditioning for American Idol. I'm leaving very early in the morning on the 19th so I can hopefully get a wristband. Once you get a wristband, you may or may not sing for producers. It's quite a process. Then if the producers like you, you will be asked back to audition for Simon, Randy, and Paula in September. I'll be in Louisville until the 22nd. I heard there is a really good art museum with Ancient Egyptian pieces. That might be worth checking out. From there I'll be in Nashville until the 29th. I'll try and post pictures and write about what's going on while I'm done there. It really will depend on how much time I have.

Now for a quick update on what I've been up to in the community. As I have mentioned before, I am the "poster child" for the Briggs & Al's Run & Walk which takes place in September. I have set a goal to raise $5000. It really is the least I can do for a hospital which has done so much for me. If you would like to donate, please go to http://www.firstgiving.com/samanthajankins/. Honestly, every dollar helps. Because of my "poster child" status, I spoke at the Briggs retired workers' reunion. My grandma happens to be one of those retired workers. It was great to spend time with her, and she was quite proud to show me off. We both ended up winning flowers in a raffle.

There is another bit of exciting news. I was asked to assist a panel at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The panel's job is to evaluate new residents. I am going to help with the creation of a form that patients and parents can fill out to evaluate the residents they encountered during their stay or their child's stay in the hospital. That will start in August.

Now to the main point of this post. I took pictures today of my main outfits for nationals. I also took pictures of the accessories (jewelry, shoes, etc.) So now for the pictures:

It's hard to see, but the star has my name on it. Yes, that is a painting of Audrey Hepburn on the back. The string of rhinestones with the star is the belt for the jeans.

Here is the costume for my talent - "Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened to My Part)" from Spamalot. It is supposed to be a robe. I had it sewn together to prevent any kind of wardrobe malfunction.

The suit was modeled after a suit in the Louis Vuitton 2008 Cruise Collection. It was made by Alban Ltd. The skirt is having some last minute alterations as it became a little too big. The buttons have amazing seed bead detail on them.


There are no words to describe how much I love my evening gown. The pin in the picture is going to be placed somewhere on the gown. Not entirely sure where yet, but the gown needed some kind of sparkle.

The next post will be coming from Nashville, Tennessee. I am looking forward to meeting all of the other state queens, and spending what I know will be an amazing week in Nashville.