It's Officially Summertime!!!

Yay!! Yesterday was my first day of summer! I finished my last final on Wednesday marking the end of my second year in college. It has been such a great year! Since last September, I have taken in total 36 units, while working over twenty hours a week - in October while I was at Sea World it was 30 hours a week!! - and while holding my Miss Northern California Regional and Miss San Diego titles. Phew! I'll admit I'm very relieved that I don't have to worry about homework for a few months.
Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I will be on here a lot more often to fill you in on my life as Miss San Diego! :)

Until next time,
Marina - Miss San Diego <3

Your invited!!! Pink Bash for Cash 2011

Hello Girls!!

It was great seeing you this past weekend in Fresno. It makes me so excited to come back in the end of June!

On June 4th, I will be hosting the 3rd Annual “Pink Bash for Cash” in San Diego’s famous Balboa Park. I spoke with some of you about this event, but I wanted to reach everybody including those I didn’t get to speak with. I would like to invite you, not only to attend, but to perform at this wonderful event!

In the past two years, we have raised over $8,000, but this year, I am teaming up with The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and we hope to beat that! Our event this year will include a bake sale and a talent show. The goodies for the bake sale will be provided by local bakeries and friends who are willing to donate. The talent show will also help us to raise funds for SGK. Although the event is open to the public, we will be pre-selling VIP seats for a $10 donation to sit up close in reserved seating to watch the talent. So tell your family and friends to come down to San Diego with you!

This is where I need your help! I would like to invite all of you to come down to San Diego for the day to perform your talent and introduce your own platform. We will have an autograph table so bring your autograph cards or pictures to give out to the public if you have them.  We are so excited to have our event in the renowned Organ Pavilion in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The Organ Pavilion has the world’s largest pipe organ and this historic venue has been the home to many respected memorials and grand performances. I have included a picture below so you can see where you will be performing. I myself have never performed here and it is a part of the event that I am looking forward to the most!   

I understand that San Diego may seem a little far away, but we will all have a great time and have a chance to promote the Miss CA organization, promote our platforms, and best of all…perform! This is an event that the Miss San Diego committee would like to make a yearly event, so we hope that you would like to be a part of the first one! Please let me know if you need help with overnight accommodations here in San Diego.  If you have never been to the beautiful city of San Diego before, then this is a perfect excuse!! And it’s all in good doing as we are raising money for Breast Cancer Awareness and the Susan G. Komen Foundation of San Diego.

Please join me for this incredible event that will leave you feeling like you made a difference in someone’s life. Every little bit raised will help women struggling financially and emotionally with breast cancer. Any way you would like to help, please contact me through the many forms of communication that I will provide at the end of this email! Please RSVP by May 15th so that I can follow up with more information about performing. Remember, all talents are welcome!

I appreciate your support and look forward to seeing all of you here in San Diego!

With much love and appreciation,

Marina Inserra

Miss San Diego 2011

“Pink Bash for Cash”
Saturday, June 4th, 2011
4:00pm - 6:30pm
Spreckle’s Organ Pavilion
San Diego - Balboa Park


Contact Us:
Email: Marina@MissSanDiego.Org
Call: (619) 481-4493
Visit: www.MissSanDiego.Org
Visit: MissSanDiego2011@Blogspot.com
Visit: Facebook- – Miss San Diego Pageant & Scholarship Association

You may send checks made payable to:
Susan G. Komen San Diego (for Breast Cancer donations)
or
Marina Inserra (for baked good donations)


Directions to the Organ Pavilion:
From North of San Diego-
Take 5 South
Merge onto 163 South
Exit Park Blvd
Turn Left at stop light off of Fwy Ramp
Turn Left on President’s Way
The Organ Pavilion Parking Lot will be on your right behind the Organ
Pavilion on the corner of President’s Way and Pan American Road
Follow the pink balloons!!

Miss California Orientation

Hi there! Wow, I think I'm still recovering from this weekend!  I had such a blast with Team San Diego! 

It began on Friday as Joe, Kati, DanaMarie (Miss SD O/T) and I left from San Diego. I knew from the beginning that we were going to have a fun-filled road trip. It got even better when we picked up Shelby (Miss Cities of San Diego), Lauren (Miss Southern California Regional) and Ryan (Miss County of San Diego) from LA. As we all packed into the minivan we rented, we got nice and cozy and began creating memories that we will never forget!

Before we even got on the road, we stopped at Michael's to buy car paint and rhinestones for our new matching sweat suits. Right away, we had a problem... we couldn't agree on what type of rhinestones to buy!! I had already put Silver ones on my jacket, and I thought it looked very classy. But Shelby insisted on getting AB because they sparkled so much more. Ryan agreed with the silver ones and Lauren started to lean towards the AB ones as well. Oh the dilemma!!  Finally, Ryan got the bright idea that it was totally OK for us not to be matching. How we didn't think of this in the first place? I have no idea. But it was settled! All was great, except for the store clerk who assisted us with unlocking the rhinestones and then proceeded to carry them to the counter for us because "we were not allowed to do it by ourselves". As if six young girls with matching jackets, with names embroidered on them would be silly enough to steal rhinestones! Well, this lady thought we would. But soon enough we made it out of the store and back on the road!

The rest of our road trip was such a blast! It included a very interesting dining experience at Don Perico's Mexican Cantina just past the Grapevine where Shelby thought we were going to be food poisoned. I insisted on it for the chips and salsa... and luckily, the food was delicious! 

Finally, at 11:30 on Friday night, we made it to Fresno!! As tired as we were, we went upstairs and finished rhinestoning our jackets. Then it was off to bed for the long day that was ahead. Saturday morning, we went down stairs for the best meal of the day, breakfast. Soon after we turned in our paperwork at the registration table and picked our numbers for the lottery. These numbers would determine which order we were able to pick our spot in the lineup for Miss California competition. As Russ Gladden joked with me about picking first, sure and behold, I drew number ONE! I was in shock, but quickly grew excited to pick my spot. After much thought, I became number 13 in the Delta group. This means my week at Miss California will go as follows: 

Monday - Interview

Tuesday - On-Stage Question

Wednesday - Evening Gown

Thursday - Talent

Friday - Swimsuit

I am very excited for this lineup and it just makes me so much more excited for competition week to arrive!

The rest of the day went very well. It included a mock interview, a talent review, and a few meetings with Bob about current events. There are some very opinionated girls in this group! It was great sharing ideas and butting heads with different ladies. 

At dinner, Team San Diego won a few dresses in the raffle. It's always very exciting to win stuff!! ;)  Then as Ernie announced there being only ten minutes until rehearsal started, we inhaled the rest of our food, grabbed a few cupcakes from Shelby (Miss CA O/T's) birthday celebration, and ran upstairs to get changed. The show this year is Salsa themed!! The opening number dance is a little difficult for some of us who aren't dancers, but it is still a very fun dance. Being in group 3, I get to spend time with some NorCal buddies from last year - Marissa Santana, Sara Risvold, and Felicia Alvarez.

Saturday night, I crashed hard!! It was so difficult to wake up the next morning. I think Ryan, my roommate for Miss CA got a small preview of how much I hate mornings... I promise that this will not happen during Miss CA week!  As soon as we were dressed and ready, we dragged our still-sleeping bodies downstairs for another dance rehearsal. This time, we learned the evening gown routine. A very sexy number to Santana's "Black Magic Woman."  Thank goodness, our choreographer let us out after only 45 minutes to let us go eat breakfast. Then for the rest of the day, we had another pow wow with Bob, Arianna (Miss California), and our lovely hostesses. Being a returner, it was exciting to hear information that reminded me of how much fun I had at Miss California last year. I can't wait to share this experience with my new roomie Ryan!

After our meeting, we went to another dance rehearsal. Little did we know that it would be a very exciting one at that. Only twenty minutes before we were supposed to be released from rehearsal, the FIRE ALARM GOES OFF!! We quickly evacuated, not knowing if it was a drill or a real alarm. As we stepped outside, some of us realized how long it had been since we had seen daylight! Before we knew it, we were back inside, finished learning our swimsuit walking pattern, and were given the thumbs up to head home. It was such a relief!! We had a long drive ahead of us. As sad as we were to leave, all of Team San Diego were very happy to head home.

We dropped off the girls in LA, about the same time we learned that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan. It is always a sad day when a human being loses their life, but it does bring a glimmer of justice for the United States and the families who lost their loved ones on September 11th, 2011. I am proud to be an American just as much as I am proud to be a San Diego girl!!

This weekend is one I will never forget! I can't wait for Miss California to come!! Less than 8 weeks away!!  I will update you again soon as my preparation for Miss Ca starts to kick into full gear.

From my heart to yours, 

Marina Inserra

Miss San Diego 2011