August 26th-28th
On Wednesday morning, two of my Miss Rodeo Mississippi Association board members and supporters, Ms. Deborah Tucker and Ms. Cathy Brown, and I began a road trip to North Carolina to meet with one of my dress designers. We unfortunately had a very late start (due to my missing a turn on my way to meet them in Meridian) and hit Atlanta traffic exactly at rush hour. Between my mishaps and interstate traffic, we stretched our journey out a few extra hours!
We arrived at our hotel in Asheboro (about an hour and a half northeast of Charlotte) around midnight, but that didn’t slow us down from getting ready early the next morning to head to Jan Faulkner’s house. Ms. Jan is known for her intricate hand studwork and for always having a good fit on her garments. I had a magnificent time working with her; we spent the day designing my fashion show dress and fitting my muslin patterns for my interview dress and fashion show dress. A muslin pattern is a “dummy pattern” that the designer will make and then use the measurements and fitting from the pattern to fit the leather garment. I am extremely excited about the two outfits—I cannot wait to wear them in Las Vegas.
Ms. Cathy’s son, Drew, works for Joe Gibbs Racing and gave us an insider’s tour of their headquarters on Friday. For those of you who aren’t NASCAR buffs, Joe Gibbs Racing has three NASCAR drivers—Denny (FedEx Car), Joey (Home Depot Car), and Kyle Busch (M and M’s Car). I did not know very much about NASCAR prior to the tour, but Drew was a gracious host and answered all of my many questions. He let me look inside a car that he was working on and let me listen to one as they warmed up the engine for a test. I did not realize that they build each the cars to specifics of the different racetrack (i.e. different size brake pads for smaller tracks that you use the brakes more). I thoroughly enjoyed the tour—thank you Drew for giving me an insider’s look at NASCAR!
After the Joe Gibbs Racing tour, Ms. Cathy, Ms. Deborah, and I began our drive home. Ms. Deborah unfortunately hurt her back that morning, so it was a slow going trip again on the way home, but she was a great trooper and we made it back safely. We may have been slow on the road, but we shared a lot of laughs and a great three days. I really appreciate the generosity of Ms. Cathy and Ms. Deborah for going with me to Ms. Jan’s—thank you ladies!
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