#19: maurices Main Street Model Contest

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I decided to enter a modeling contest.  My mom was reading the paper or a magazine the other day and mentioned this "maurices Main Street Model" contest.  I laughed about the thought of entering but then I decided to look up the contest details.  I qualified in the age range and all of the other requirements so I figured, why not?  Part of my plan now that I'm going to be home for a year longer than I expected is to try new things I wouldn't otherwise try and to push out of my comfort zone a bit.

For the contest, I had to upload a 30 second - 2 minute video that describes me.  It had to be just me, no friends, family or pets (Jazz could have made a good addition to the video but oh well).  The guidelines for this video were vague and there was no example so of course, this was the hardest thing for me to figure out.  I need specific direction.  I ended up just talking about smiling.  They wanted to get to know me in this video and I boiled it down to one thing I do every day- smile!  So it was kind of a fun video to make even though the thought of other people watching it makes me anxious.  There's just something very nerve-wracking about putting myself out there for people to see.  Here I am, out of my comfort zone.

Another entry requirement was head shots with and without make up, a full body shot from the front and full body from the side.  I enlisted my dear sunflower Abby to take pictures of me when I was in Winona last weekend.  I love photo shoots with the girls (and it was on my list of 23 Things to Do Before I Turn 24) so I was really excited.  My friend Heidi came along and we had a blast taking pictures outside my home away from home,  Lourdes Hall.  These are some of my favorite pictures from that day:

Voting goes from today (April 10) through April 24.  You can vote once a day and I would love it if you would.  :)  After this round of online voting, the top 50 contestants move on to the next round where judges (including Christopher Staub from Project Runway- a MN native) pick the top 12.  I know the top 12 get a photo shoot in their hometown (I had to write a short essay about my hometown- I won't lie, I wrote about Bloomington AND Winona) and then a maurices gift card or something.  Honestly, I'm more excited about the hometown photo shoot if I were to make it to the final 12.

Here is the link: http://www.mauricesmainstreetmodel.com/3395/mary-palin

Obviously I only want your vote if you think I deserve it.  About 550 women entered this contest so it'll be interesting to see how voting goes.  I'm excited about the possibility of winning but I'm not going to get my hopes up (too much this year has ended up the opposite of how I wanted it so I'm not going to hold my breath for this one).  Thank you in advance for your vote!!