Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving and I am home alone… but in no means sad. While my family is enjoying delicious treats and the company of extended family members, I’ve opted to take this day to make final preparations and completely immerse myself in peace and tranquility. My day began by packing and organizing all of my weekend necessities and finding the time in between house cleaning and doing laundry to read and jot down some final thoughts in my journal. Throughout the day, I’ve received some amazing support text messages and it has definitely made this experience a lot more real.

For the most part, I’ve been doing a lot of self talk in order to get my mind focused but I know that in order to really live out this experience, I must live in the moment. Luckily, I’m not as nervous as one would usually think but I definitely am feeling a bit anxious. Later this evening, I will be joining my sister and heading out to Southern California where my life may change forever on Sunday.

Since it is Thanksgiving and all, I’d like to take a moment and thank all of my readers who have followed me on this amazing journey. Your comments, daily blog visits and emails have inspired me to continue my writing posts and I hope you have learned a lot about me and who I am as a person. To date, my heart is so happy with all of the opportunities I’ve had being part of this pageant and whatever the outcome may be, I know I will continue moving forward in life because if there’s anything I’ve learned this year, is that there is no other option but to.

As for now, I will go take my final walk as Miss San Jose Latina 2013 around my neighborhood breathing in the fresh air and admiring all that Mother Nature has to offer because that right there, is something to truly be thankful for.

Love,
Kassie P.

Let’s Get Physical…Physical!

I’ve always been physically active for as long as I can remember: I played basketball (spraining multiple fingers), ran on the track team (in brutally cold weather) and had a passionate love for fast pitch softball (up until my concussion). Sports and eating healthy have always been part of my life so as I grew older and eventually moved out into the “Real World,” making time for exercise and whipping up a fresh meal was nothing ever considered out of the ordinary. When I found out I had been selected to participate in Miss California Latina, my first thought was Sponge Bob Sqaure Pant’s home, “Bikini Bottom,” knowing that of course with any pageant comes along that portion of the competition.

As mentioned in a previous post, I will be wearing my Senior prom dress so that should tell you I haven’t really grown since high school (though I still can fit into 8th grade clothing items but that’s a whole other blog post itself). For the past 10 months, I’ve been doing my regular workout routines however, to be completely honest, I’ve recently kicked up my workout a bit. You see, I’ve always eaten anything and everything I wanted because I knew I’d “work it off later.” Yes, I was (and am) the type of girl to go on a 7 mile run and come home and eat raw cookie dough without a slight of care. Though this lifestyle is fun and worry free, I knew I’d have to make some small dietary changes for the pageant.

So for these past two months, I’ve been trading in cake for protein bars and organic juice for fresh squeezed lemon, grapefruit and ginger mixed flavored water. I’d be completely lying to you if I said I haven’t had a sweet or two…or too many to count *guilty smile*, within these months. Psychologically yes, I get down on myself thinking I just messed up but then again, I truly think about it and I realize I’m not entering a body building competition and I’d be fooling myself and everyone else if I said that I only eat “clean” because everyone who truly knows me, knows I’m a proud Choc-o-holic. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely happy with what eating a processed food free life has done for my body, toning wise, but I think what’s most important is that I practice what I preach and that is the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and occasionally livening up the party with a peanut M&M or two.

The pageant is only two weeks away and though I’ll be in a bikini in front of hundreds of people, this portion is just a mere slice of what the judges will be looking for. Though I have been in the gym almost every morning, what I’ve been training more is my mind because anyone can get an “ideal” body with professional help but not everyone can offer a special mind and heart.

Love,

Kassie P.

The Chosen One

After celebrating a late Father’s Day dinner with my family yesterday evening, I was finally able to show my relatives all of the thumbnails from my photo shoot. As you know, I’m required to send in a head shot to the pageant to be showcased on the website as well as the weekend booklet. Up until yesterday evening, I hadn’t yet chosen the final picture simply because I wanted my family’s input…aka my mother’s final approval. As we laid on the bed swiping from left to right and right to left on my mother’s IPad, we finally agreed to Photo #6518.*

When my photos first came in, I had screenshot a few pictures from my phone and excitedly sent them to my family showing a few snapshots. I hadn’t had much time to visit my parent’s house until the celebration of my step-dad so yesterday was the first real chance I had to show all of the thumbnails. As mentioned, we spent quite some time choosing the final picture and ironically we noticed the picture we chose yesterday happened to be the same exact one I randomly sent to my parents a few weeks back.

Since the photos were just proofs, I’ll now just need to let my photographer know I’d like to have Photo #6518 properly cropped and sized to send to Miss California Latina. As mentioned in previous posts, I’m very close to my family and I’m thrilled I’m getting to share this experience with them in all aspects of the pageant. I value their opinions very much and I enjoy taking their thoughts into consideration on the smallest details of this journey, like a simple picture, for I will not only be representing myself on stage but also my family.

*To view Photo #6518 please visit my Photos page.

Love,

Kassie P.

 

You’ve Got Mail

I am so happy to announce my photos have officially arrived! Yesterday morning, I received a text message from my photographer, Sergio Estrada, letting me know he would send me a link to view all of my photos by the mid evening. All day, as you could imagine, I was wanting the day to go by faster hoping to view my photos. After about 1 million phone checks with no new email notification, I finally got an email alert. I quickly opened up the link and I was so happy to see how amazing all of the photos came out! Though I had been a bit nervous over the week over how the pictures would come out, I must say I am very pleased with the results. Now that pictures are taken care of and out of the way, I will have to select the final photo to submit. The head shot will be put into the national pageant book and also be posted on Miss California Latina’s website. I’ve posted a few of the shots under the “Photos” page so feel free to go check them out!

Thank you to Estrada Photography for arranging a reasonable price, thank you to Mexico Lindo Restaurant for paying for the photo shoot and finally, a big thank you to Dry Bar-Santana Row for sponsoring my hair!

Love,
Kassie P.

Scored Another One!

!Viva Mexico!…Mexico Lindo restaurant, that is! A few months ago, I had the opportunity to meet the owner, Lino, through a mutual friend. We exchanged contact information as he suggested we could possibly collaborate and both benefit from one another during this pageant experience of mine. After much discussion (and even a job offer) Lino generously agreed to cover the entire cost of my professional photographs and offered to have multiple fundraisers/meet-and-greets at the restaurant, in San Jose. Luckily for me, Lino is quite familiar with pageants as he has sponsored other women who have competed for multiple competitions.

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have all of these sponsors support me through this journey and I’m very excited to start promoting these businesses as much as possible! As of now, I thankfully have all financials covered by my sponsors but that doesn’t mean I won’t be on the lookout for sponsors in other categories, like beauty!

Love,
Kassie P.

Search Word: Pageants

Today I had a bit of time on my hands, so I decided to go back to the drawing board and research pageant stuff online. I think it’s going to be very important for me to get an idea of what the pageant weekend is going to look like since I’ve never participated in an event like this before. Of course, I understand whatever past experiences I read about will not be the same as my own but I feel as long as I get a general idea of what the weekend will consist of, I will feel more secure of what to expect. I came across some great websites/blogs that I decided to bookmark, to refer back on, and I feel really good to know that most of the girls were nervous yet excited upon entering their first pageants, and even took home the title on their first try!

It’s sort of a funny feeling to realize that exactly one year ago, I was never doing any type of pageant research because I would have never expected to be part of an experience like this one. Now, I find myself “Youtube-ing” or reading blog posts about Latinas in pageants like never before! During long drives home or stopped at red lights, I catch myself visualizing what the pageant weekend is going to be like and what other amazing girls I will be able to meet. Though I am taking into consideration all of the tips and suggestions from previous winners of different pageants, I know that no amount of advice will matter if my personality and answers don’t shine from my heart.

Love,

Kassie P.

New Month, New Ideas

To kick off the new month of May (which also means one month that much closer to the pageant) I decided it would be very crucial for me to get out in the community and get more exposure and support! Typing “Latino-related events” in Google’s search engine, I luckily came across many upcoming amazing festivals and events celebrating the Latin culture that the great city of San Jose is offering. I quickly pulled out my 8 x 10 pink 2013 monthly calendar (that goes everywhere with me) out of my purse and grabbed some lime green post-its to start jotting down the names of the events, locations, and times. Thankfully and according to my calendar, all of the events mentioned on the internet (except for four) did not interfere with any prior engagements. By the end of my internet research, I had filled three post-it stickies full of events I could make appearances at and attend.

Though as you know from past posts I have never participated in pageant-like events, I want to make this experience the best it can be and take advantage of all of the opportunities I will have this year. I’m very excited to get out in the community and promote Miss San Jose Latina with grace and class.

Love,

Kassie P.

But I Am Latina!…

I remember my mother telling me stories at a very young age about her life and all of the accomplishments and struggles she went through in order to get where she was at that point of her life. She would tell me how she learned English in the 1st grade since my Nicaraguan grandmother and Salvadorian grandfather were constantly working to make ends meet while still being able to afford to send my mother and her two sisters to receive private school education. My mother would tell me stories about how once she made it to a prestigious private university, she lived off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for both lunch and dinner and would have to stick her hand out of the car window on raining days and use a rag as her windshield wiper. I remember constantly asking my mother to tell me stories about her youth, as I found them so fascinating, but I remember I used to find myself confused when she’d tell me stories about her difficulties being a fluent Spanish speaking Latina at predominantly white institutions. My mother told me many stories of how she was often called “Coconut” from both her white friends at school and her Latina friends, outside of school. I learned at a very young age, that my beloved mother had been a victim of racism but I never really thought that I too, would soon be able to pass down my own stories of racism to my future children.

I started preschool when I was one years old because like most Latino parents, mine had to work. I literally was raised by my preschool teachers, whom I loved very much, who also happened to only speak English. Though both of my parents are fluent in Spanish and learned English while in school, I can remember Spanish only being spoken at home, from time to time. Spanish music, Latin cuisine and Spanish speaking babysitters were a regular at the Peña household, however, for some reason the Spanish language was not made a priority to know. Spanish was something I knew was part of my culture but I had put it off to the side knowing that I at least knew the basics.

As time went by, I started realizing that though I identified myself as full Latina, others were quick to point out that perhaps I was not, as my Spanish grammar or conjugations were incorrect. Friends from all different walks of life referred me to being “white washed” and sure enough, it was something that became part of the norm. I would find myself in an identity struggle because in my heart and mind I did see myself as a Latina who loved reading Latin novels, listening to Mexican ballets, and traveling to Latin American countries but to a person who was quick to judge, I was a “white washed” Latina who didn’t speak, act or dress like the “true” Latina. In fact, in my Latino Identity class in college, my professor for some odd reason during a class discussion decided to ask the entire class to raise their hands if they felt I was “white washed.” Even though about everyone except for 3 people (me included) raised their hands, I felt no embarrassment as I quickly stated, while shrugging my shoulders, that it didn’t matter what others thought of me because I knew what I identified myself as.

As I continue with the pageant process, I know I may come across obstacles and those who oppose of me winning solely because my Spanish may not be up to par, however, this is the exact reason why I do want to win Miss California Latina. I believe there are thousands of other Latina women in California who are exactly like me: who identify themselves as Latina but who may speak little to none Spanish. I believe these women like myself, need to be represented in a professional way to show others that what matters most is what you truly believe in. I believe these Latinas are caught in an identity struggle as we are both judged from people in and out of our cultures. I’d really like to win this title because I think this would be a great platform for me to reach out to as many people possible, both males and females, who want to express their love and devotion to the Latin culture but may be embarrassed because they don’t know the language for whatever reasons they have.

Love,

Kassie P.